3.12 Managing Preboot Bundles

The Settings page of a bundle lets you manage bundle settings, including the ZENworks system variables that are available for use on bundles, content replication settings for ZENworks Primary Servers and Satellite devices, sandbox settings, Endpoint throttle, and Image bundle flags.

Settings can be inherited from the following locations:

  • (System): The bundle is inheriting the setting established for the Management Zone (Configuration tab > Management Zone Settings).

  • Folder: The bundle is inheriting the setting established for one of its parent folders.

  • Device: The bundle is not inheriting the setting, but the setting is configured directly on the bundle.

  • ---: The bundle is not inheriting the setting and the setting is not configured directly on the bundle. In other words, the setting is not configured at the system level, the folder level, or the bundle level.

For detailed information about the settings that you can configure for a Preboot bundle, review the following sections:

3.12.1 Configuring Settings for a Preboot Bundle

  1. In ZENworks Control Center, click the Bundles tab.

  2. Click the Preboot bundle whose settings you want to configure.

  3. Click the Settings tab.

  4. In the Bundle Management panel, click the setting you want to configure:

    • System Variables: Lets you manage the ZENworks system variables that are available for use on devices, including those inherited from the Management Zone and new variables that you define.

      For more information on system variables, see Using System Variables in the ZENworks Control Center Reference.

    • Primary Server Replication: Lets you manage content replication to Primary Servers. You can specify whether or not new Primary Servers added to the system are assigned to host the bundle. You can also specify that the bundle is included or excluded from being hosted on a specified Primary Server.

      For more information on content replication, see Content Replication in the ZENworks Primary Server and Satellite Reference

    • Satellite Server Replication: Lets you manage content replication to Satellite devices. You can specify whether or not new Satellites added to the system are assigned to host the bundle. You can also specify that the bundle is included or excluded from being hosted on a specified Satellite.

      NOTE:ZENworks images are not replicated from one Primary Server to other Primary or Satellite Servers.

      For more information on content replication, see Content Replication in Content Replication in the ZENworks Primary Server and Satellite Reference

    • Sandbox Settings: Lets you configure the settings for the sandbox.

      For more information on the sandbox settings, see Section 3.12.3, Configuring Sandbox Settings.

    • Endpoint Throttle Settings: Lets you configure the throttle rate settings at a bundle and bundle folder level. The throttle rate determines the bandwidth for distributing content to devices associated with a location.

    • Image Bundle Flag Settings: Lets you configure Image bundle settings that are used when restoring an image by applying a bundle.

      For more information on Image bundle settings, see Section 3.12.4, Configuring Image Bundle Flag Settings.

  5. If the setting is configured at the system or folder level, click Override settings to enable you to configure the setting at the bundle level.

  6. Fill in the fields.

    To get information about the fields, click the Help button or select the appropriate topic from the following list:

3.12.2 Managing Bundle Variables

The Bundles Settings page lets you manage the system variables that are available for use on the Imaging Script, AutoYaST, and Kickstart bundles.

You can define the system variables in the ZENworks script that you specify while creating the Imaging Script bundle. For more information, see Section 3.4, Configuring Imaging Script Bundles for ZENworks Imaging.

You can define system variables in the AutoYaST XML script and the Kickstart configuration file that are required to create AutoYaST and Kickstart bundles respectively. While creating a bundle, you must choose to import the AutoYaST XML script or the Kickstart configuration file so that the variables can be automatically resolved when the bundle is applied on the managed devices. If you choose to create a bundle in which the AutoYaST XML script or the Kickstart configuration file that contains system variables is accessed by using a protocol, the system variables are not resolved, and consequently the bundle is not applied on the managed devices. For more information about the AutoYaST bundle, see Section 3.5, Configuring the AutoYaST Bundle, and about the Kickstart bundle, see Section 3.6, Configuring the Kickstart Bundle.

The Inherited panel displays all system variables that are inherited from the ZENworks Management Zone or parent folders. You cannot delete or modify inherited variables. However, if you add the same system variable, but give it a different value, the new variable value overrides the inherited variable value.

When specifying the variable in a script, use the following syntax:

Replace with the name of the ZENworks variable.

The System Variables panel lets you define that can be used to replace paths, names, and so forth as you enter information.

You can define system variables at three levels:

  • Management Zone: The system variables are inherited by the following: device folders, devices, and bundles.

  • Device Folder: The system variables are inherited by all devices contained within the folder or its subfolders.

  • Device or Bundle: The system variables apply only to the device or bundle for which they are configured.

The following table lists the tasks you can perform to manage the system:

Task

Steps

Additional Details

Add a variable

  1. If you are configuring system for an object (not for the entire Management Zone), click Override settings to activate the System Variables panel.

  2. Click Add, provide the name and value for the variable, then click OK.

  3. Click Apply.

When configuring system variable for an object, you can override an inherited variable by defining a new variable with the same name but a different value. For example, if Var1=c:\ is inherited, you can override it by defining Var1=d:\.

Variable names cannot include spaces and must be unique at the level where they are defined. For example, you cannot have two variables named Var1 defined at the device level (unless one is inherited, in which case the device level variable overrides the inherited variable).

Variable values cannot include the characters & and <.

Remove a variable

  1. Select the check box next to the variable or variables that you want to delete.

  2. Click Remove.

  3. Click Apply.

 

Edit a variable

  1. Select the check box next to the variable.

  2. Click Edit.

  3. Modify the Name and Value fields as desired, then click OK.

  4. Click Apply.

Variable names cannot include spaces and must be unique at the level where they are defined. For example, you cannot have two variables named Var1 defined at the device level (unless one is inherited, in which case the device level variable overrides the inherited variable).

Variable values cannot include the characters & and <.

For more information about system variables, see Using System Variables in the ZENworks Control Center Reference.

3.12.3 Configuring Sandbox Settings

  1. In ZENworks Control Center, click Bundles.

  2. Click the desired Preboot bundle for which you want to configure sandbox settings.

  3. Click Settings.

  4. Click Sandbox Settings.

  5. Configure the desired settings:

    • Sandbox Content Replication Status: Select the Sync Sandbox content to content servers option to enable the Primary Server Replication settings and Satellite Server Replication settings of the published version of the bundle to be applied to the sandbox version of the bundle. This enables the sandbox content to also be replicated to the specified Primary and Satellite servers.

    • Sandbox Chained Bundles Settings: Select the Consume Sandbox version of chained bundles option to enable the test device to receive the sandbox version of the dependent bundles if it exists. If this option is not selected, the device receives only the published version of all the dependent bundles.

    • Sandbox Addon Image Settings: The Enable creation of addon image for Sandbox option is available only for the Windows bundles. Select this option if the published version of the Windows bundle has an add-on image and if you want a new add-on image to be created for the sandbox version of the bundle.

      If the Enable creation of addon image for Sandbox option is not selected, the add-on image is not automatically created for the sandbox version of the bundle. Also, you cannot manually create an add-on image to the bundle at a later time.

      Even though you can have multiple published versions for a bundle, add-on images are available only for the latest published version and the sandbox version of the bundle. The add-on image of an existing published bundle is deleted when you create a new published version.

  6. Click Apply > OK.

3.12.4 Configuring Image Bundle Flag Settings

The Image Bundle Flag settings allow you to retain the IP address and other identity information of a device while restoring an image. You can choose to retain the IP address and other identity information from the existing ISD or from the restored image.

These options are only applicable when the Preboot bundle is applied to a specific device. The image used in this bundle must contain the device’s previous IP address and ZENworks Control Center object information.

  1. In ZENworks Control Center, click Bundles.

  2. Click the desired Preboot bundle for which you want to set Image Bundle Flag settings.

  3. Click Settings.

  4. Click Image Bundle Flag Settings.

  5. Select one or both of the following options:

    • Use the IP Address from the Bundle Image Rather Than from Image Safe Data  

      Use this option if you have previously taken an image of the device and are using that image with this Preboot bundle. This option causes the imaging agent service to write the device’s IP address that is contained in this image to the Image Safe Data location on the replacement hard drive.

      Do not use this option if the image being used for this bundle was not previously made from this device.

      If you do not select this option, then:

      • If the device that this Preboot bundle is applied to is still using its primary hard drive to boot from, the IP address in its Image Safe Data continues to be used.

        or

      • If the device that this Preboot bundle is applied to has been given a new hard drive to boot from, but you do not have a previous image of the old hard drive, then the IP address is assigned according to your ZENworks Management Zone configuration for non-registered devices.

    • Use Identity Information from the Bundled Image Rather Than from Image Safe Data  

      If you are using a previous image of this device, this option writes ZENworks Control Center object identity information as contained in the image to the new hard drive’s Image Safe Data location, which allows the device to retain its ZENworks Control Center object.

      However, if the image contained in this bundle was not previously made from this device, it receives the new ZENworks Control Center object that is defined in the image.

      If you do not select this option and the device that this Preboot bundle is applied to has been given a new hard drive to boot from, then a new ZENworks Control Center object is created according to your ZENworks Management Zone configuration for non-registered devices.

  6. Click Apply > OK.