To multicast an image is to take an image of one workstation (the master), immediately send it over the network to multiple other workstations (the participants), and put it down simultaneously on those workstations. You can specify a workstation as the session master, or you can specify an image file that you have previously saved and customized.
If the session master is a workstation, a base image is taken of all the partitions on the hard disks and other storage devices (such as Jaz drives) of that workstation.
Before the image is put down on the participating workstations, all existing partitions are removed from the hard disks and writable storage devices of those workstations.
For multicasting to work properly, the routers and switches on the network must have multicast features configured. Otherwise, multicast packets might not be routed properly.
In versions of ZENworks for Desktops prior to 3.2, the master had to be a Linux workstation, which formerly restricted multicasting to exact "cloning" of the workstation.
The following sections contain additional information:
Multicasting is the way to use ZENworks Desktop Management Imaging services for mass re-imaging with the least amount of overhead. It is useful if you have one workstation with a clean software configuration that you want to duplicate on several other machines, or if you have a single image that you want to set up on multiple machines.
With multicasting, all you need is a physical network with modern routers and switches.
If you will be setting up multicasting by visiting each workstation, you will also need imaging boot diskettes (SP1 only), an imaging boot CD or DVD, or the workstations must be PXE-enabled. For more information, see Preparing an Imaging Boot Method.
The workstations to be imaged must be physically connected to the network. They can be workstations with existing operating systems of any kind, or they can be new workstations with no operating system installed.
One significant limitation of using multicast without installing any ZENworks Desktop Management software is that it results in a set of workstations that have duplicate network identities. The IP addresses, Computer (NETBIOS) names, Workgroup memberships, and Security Identifiers (Windows 2000/XP only) are all the same and will cause conflicts if deployed on the network without change.
For a handful of workstations, this might not be a problem. But for a larger number, if the workstations have Windows, you should install the Desktop Management Imaging Agent on them before doing the multicast. (See Step 4 of Enabling a Workstation for Auto-Imaging Operations.) The Imaging Agent saves the workstation's network identity settings before the multicast session and restores them afterwards.