Hints and tips
Hints and tips can help resolve common issues when installing
and using the Operating System Deployment feature.
- PXE issues
Recreate the PXE service point to troubleshoot a file not
found PXE error. You can also use the Reboot to PXE / USB custom action
to circumvent a problem that can occur during multiple rebooting of
a target system.
- The problem when rebooting to PXE or USB
When deploying a new, unconfigured server, there are no
configured disks from which to boot. This means that the system must
boot from other media, such as a CD or DVD drive, from a USB port,
or from the network using the Pre-boot Execution Environment (PXE).
At times, the installation might reboot the server being deployed
during the task sequence to complete initialization of a configuration,
such as defining array disks.
- How the Deployment Pack solves the problem
IBM provides a state
variable during the task sequence to control which steps are run in
the sequence. The installation uses Windows® Management
Instrumentation (WMI) remote calls to reset the PXE advertisement
for the computer so that when it reboots it will rerun the task sequence
appropriately.
- Manual workaround method
You can manually work around the PXE reboot issue by creating
the task sequence steps and groups and using the procedure that the
Deployment Pack uses to solve the problem.
- The Reboot To PXE / USB custom action
Insert the PXE / USB custom action to control multiple
rebooting when booting to PXE or USB.
- Preventing a server from looping during multiple reboot processing
A possible problem that might occur during the multiple
reboot processes of an operating system deployment on a server is
an improper setting for the state variable that controls the overall
installation. The improper setting can occur when an error occurs
that does not stop the installation.