Boot media is the term for the different methods for booting a device into the SmartDeploy Pre-Installation Environment (SmartPE), created using the SmartDeploy Media Wizard. The types of boot media include:
- Boot media: A bootable USB hard drive, DVD set, or ISO file. Contains SmartPE, along with any WindowsPE 10.0 drivers included in the Platform Packs that you select, and an answer file pointing to a network location where your image and Platform Packs are located. Allows you to perform network-based deployment by booting to an external boot media device from each endpoint.
- Offline deployment media: A bootable USB hard drive, DVD set, or ISO file that also contains all the components that are required to boot target computers and deploy an image. Contains your captured image and Platform Packs, SmartPE, along with any WindowsPE 10.0 drivers included in the Platform Packs that you select, and (optionally) an answer file pointing to the location on the USB stick ([USB-root]:\z by default) where your image and Platform Packs are located. Allows you to perform offline deployments with no network connectivity required, with the exception of SmartDeploy trial users, which, by default, require an internet connection in SmartPE.
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WDS boot media: Functionally similar to boot media, WDS boot media is designed for use with Windows Deployment Services (WDS), which will distribute the boot image to any endpoints that you PXE boot. Contains SmartPE, along with any WindowsPE 10.0 drivers included in the Platform Packs that you select, and (optionally) an answer file pointing to a network location where your image and Platform Packs are located. The answer file may also be configured to support WDS multicasting.
For more information, see our guide for integrating SmartDeploy with your existing WDS service. -
Deployment package: A Deployment Package contains all the necessary components for a network-based deployment initiated from the SmartDeploy Console to endpoints which have the SmartDeploy Client installed. A deployment package exists as a bootable .wim file containing SmartPE, along with any WindowsPE 10.0 drivers included in the Platform Packs that you select, and an answer file which points to a network location where your image and Platform Packs are located. Can be used for unattended deployments only, with the exception of an optional per-deployment check box to allow the user to defer deployment from within the existing OS.
Note: For more information, see our Console-Initiated Deployments article.
