Product overview

Microsoft® System Center Configuration Manager 2007 provides a feature for operating system deployment and for many other configuration and management tasks. Operating system deployment installs a new operating system image to new or existing computers as well as to computers with no connection your Configuration Manager 2007 site. Operating system deployment can use task sequences and its driver catalog to install a dynamic operating system image on different types of computers and configurations.

You can use the Task Sequence Editor to create flexible automated task sequences that can deploy computers, distribute software, modify configurations, and perform other deployment tasks on target servers. Within the Editor, built-in actions help you quickly automate standard deployment tasks. You can also create and integrate new custom actions within the editor so that the new actions become as easy to use as the built-in actions.

The IBM® Deployment Pack for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 is a deployment kit that extends Configuration Manager 2007 by providing IBM utilities, drivers, and custom tasks for creating automated deployment scripts for IBM target servers. The IBM extensions are available as built-in actions within the Configuration Manager menus.

The IBM Deployment Pack includes various IBM and third-party tools that are needed to configure items such as RAID adapters, management cards, BIOS settings, and other vendor specific settings that are required when deploying servers. While it is true these types of activities can be manually added to the operating system deployment (OSD) process, the Deployment Pack is a much simpler solution that puts everything in the right place for the user, so the tools are ready to use in a custom task sequence. It also includes a custom boot image that is already prepared to work with Configuration Manager OSD. This tool is highly recommended and will save a huge amount of setup and preparation time for the deployment of x86 servers.

This documentation provides information about the IBM Deployment Pack for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007.

See the Microsoft TechNet for further documentation about Configuration Manager.

The IBM Deployment Pack for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 gives you a complete solution for deploying Microsoft operating systems on IBM servers.

• An overview of deploying operating systems
  Configuration Manager contains an integrated task sequence engine, wizard-based deployment templates, and a number of pre-defined actions to help you deploy new computers.
• Components of the IBM Deployment Pack
  The IBM Deployment Pack for Microsoft Configuration Manager 2007 includes an IBM server configuration toolkit that provides the functionality necessary to configure IBM hardware components prior to deploying the operating system.
• Supported target server hardware
  Learn which IBM systems and adapters are supported by version 1.0 of the IBM Deployment Pack.
• Known limitations, problems, and workarounds
  The following limitations, problems, and workarounds are applicable to the IBM Deployment Pack for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007, v1.0.
• Accessibility
  Accessibility features help users who have a physical disability, such as restricted mobility or limited vision, to use information technology products successfully.
• Conventions and terminology
  Paragraphs that start with a bold Note, Important, or Attention are notices with specific meanings that highlight key information.
• World Wide Web resources
  The following Web pages provide resources for understanding, using, and troubleshooting IBM System x™, BladeCenter® blade servers, and systems-management and systems-deployment tools.
• Notices
  This information was developed for products and services offered in the U.S.A. IBM may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document in other countries.
• A scenario for using the IBM Deployment Pack
  This scenario describes an end-to-end task path that includes the major tasks of installing, creating operating system deployment packages, and deploying the packages.