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OS Deployment
BigFix OS Deployment, which is part of the BigFix Lifecycle Management suite, provides a consolidated, comprehensive solution to quickly deploy new workstations and servers throughout a network from a single, centralized location. This solution saves time and money, enforces a standardized and approved image, and reduces risks associated with non-compliant or insecure configurations.
Configuring the OS Deployment Environment
To start working with OS Deployment, run the configuration Fixlets and tasks listed in the Setup Node.
Managing the Linux Image provider
The Linux Image provider component is needed for reimaging Linux systems in your environment and it can be installed on Windows computers only.

OS Deployment
BigFix OS Deployment, which is part of the BigFix Lifecycle Management suite, provides a consolidated, comprehensive solution to quickly deploy new workstations and servers throughout a network from a single, centralized location. This solution saves time and money, enforces a standardized and approved image, and reduces risks associated with non-compliant or insecure configurations.
- Product overview
- Configuring the OS Deployment Environment
  To start working with OS Deployment, run the configuration Fixlets and tasks listed in the Setup Node.
  - Update Server Whitelist for OS Deployment
  - Managing the Linux Image provider
    The Linux Image provider component is needed for reimaging Linux systems in your environment and it can be installed on Windows computers only.
  - Managing Bare Metal OS Deployment Servers
    The Bare Metal Server Manager dashboard manages the installation, upgrade, and uninstallation of Bare Metal OS Deployment servers.
  - Ports used by the Bare Metal OS Deployment Server
    To ensure correct communication, check the ports used for the different deployment scenarios.
  - Configuring the DHCP server
    To connect targets to the OS Deployment server, you might need to configure the DHCP server based on the characteristics of your network.
  - Deploying the Management Extender for Bare Metal Targets
    You can manage Bare Metal Targets from the BigFix infrastructure by installing and using the Management Extender for Bare Metal targets.
  - Activating Analyses
  - Health Checks Dashboard
  - Verifying Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA-256) readiness
    BigFix version 9.1 uses the SHA-256 hashing algorithm to increase file exchange security. OS Deployment manages file exchange within the application flows using SHA-256.
- Managing MDT Bundles and Deployment Media for Windows targets
  To perform OS Deployment of Windows operating systems, you prepare your deployment environment and resources using the Bundle and Media Manager Dashboard.
- Managing Drivers for Windows Deployments
  The Manage Images and Drivers node includes tasks to prepare and import drivers for deployment to Windows targets.
- Managing Linux OS Resources and Deployment Media
  You can import Linux OS Resources needed to create network boot media and to capture and deploy Linux images
- Managing Images
  The Manage Images and Drivers node includes tasks to capture, import and manage images for deployment to targets.
- Upload Mode
  By default, the OS images are permanently stored in the BigFix root server.
- Reimaging
  Reimaging is the process of saving the user state on a computer, installing a new image on it, and then restoring the user state.
- Installing Windows 10/11 or Windows Server using in-place upgrade
  To upgrade your existing Windows systems to Windows 10/11 or Windows Server you can use the in-place upgrade fixlets.
- Bare Metal deployments
  You can install and manage BigFix for OS Deployment servers and create profiles for bare metal deployments.
- Monitoring Deployment Activities
  You can track and monitor all deployment activities in your Endpoint Management network.
- Maintenance and troubleshooting
  You can monitor deployment activities, correct exceptions and adjust configuration settings specific to your environment through dashboards and tasks available for these purposes.
- Setting up OS Deployment in an air-gapped network
  You can choose to configure your OS Deployment and Bare Metal Imaging site in an air-gapped network.
- Deprecated and Superseded functionalities
  This topic lists the functionalities that are still present in OSD, but are deprecated.
- Create Ubuntu OS Resources manually

Managing the Linux Image provider

The Linux Image provider component is needed for reimaging Linux systems in your environment and it can be installed on Windows computers only.

To deploy images on Linux targets in your network, you must install the Linux image provider component on the relays to which your Linux targets are connected.

You cannot install the Image Provider component on relays that are Bare Metal OS Deployment servers, because this component is already embedded. You must send at least one Linux bare metal profile to the Bare Metal OS Deployment server for the image provider to be active.

If your targets are connected directly to an BigFix server, you must install this component on the server.

Before you deploy Linux systems, you must update the BigFix server whitelist to enable the Linux Image Provider to dynamically download the necessary files.

Installing the Linux Image Provider

From the OS Deployment and Bare Metal Imaging site, click Maintenance and Configuration. Select the corresponding task. When you deploy the action, the list of applicable relays is displayed in the Take Action menu. Select one or more relays from the list and click OK to begin installation.

This component is installed in C:\Program Files\OSdImageProvider. When the installation ends, the component is started automatically. The log file rbagent.log and trace file rbagent.trc are stored in the installation directory

Useful commands

You can start the Linux Image provider by running the "Start Linux Image Provider" Fixlet, which you can also include in your Server Automation Plans.

You can also run the following batch files to start or stop the Image Provider:

To start the Image provider process:
```
StartImageProvider.bat
```
To stop the Image provider process:
```
StopImageProvider.bat
```

To increase the log level for problem determination purposes, you can edit the StartImageProvider.bat file. For example:

osdimageprovider.exe -d -v 4 -o rad -startimageprovider

raises the log level to 4 from the default level of 3.

Uninstalling the Linux Image Provider

To remove the Linux Image Provider from a relay in your environment, run the "Uninstall Linux Image Provider " task on the relevant relays.