3.15 Remote Imaging over SSH

An on-demand SSH server has been introduced for the ZENworks Imaging distro. If the server is turned on, it can be reached over the network from another device. This feature is useful in the following scenarios:

  • If your device keyboard or keypad is not detected or not working in the distro environment, you can still perform imaging from another machine.

  • On devices that have a very high-resolution, the imaging GUI might not display correctly. You can connect to these devices from another device and perform imaging.

  • To troubleshoot or access the Imaging distro environment from another device.

The SSH server is turned off by default. To turn it on, use the boot parameter SSHD=1. In the manual mode, the IP address of the device will be displayed in the console before the distro prompt appears. You can use the IP address to connect to the device using an SSH client. If you are not able to view the machine, use the ZENworks Control Center device details or the imaging preboot logs to identify the IP address.

To perform imaging with a server, run the export PROXYADDR=SERVER_IP command.

To work in the UEFI mode, run the export NOVELL_FIRMWARE_UEFI=true command.

The SSH shell runs in a non-elevated mode. To elevate it (to use commands such as reboot and halt) you need to source /bin/bashrc by running the . /bin/bashrc command or the source /bin/bashrc command. if any other device that is able to connect to the pxe client from another machine