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OS-deployment scenarios

Use these scenarios to help you customize and deploy operating systems to your managed servers.

  • Deploying RHEL with custom device drivers
    This scenario installs the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) operating system and additional device drivers that are not available in the base operating system. A custom profile is used that includes the additional device drivers. The custom profile can then be selected on the Deploy OS Images page.
  • Deploying RHEL and a Hello World PHP application using a custom unattend file
    This scenario installs the RHEL operating system along with custom software (Apache HTTP, PHP, and a hello-world PHP application). A custom OS-image profile is used that includes the custom unattend that registers the operating system with the internal Lenovo RHEL subscription service so that it can use the yum repositories, installs the Apache and PHP packages, configures the firewall to allow Apache connections, creates a Hello World PHP application and copies to the Apache web server directory, and configures the Apache configuration files to support PHP.
  • Deploying RHEL and a Hello World PHP application using custom software and a post-installation script
    This scenario installs the RHEL operating system along with custom software (Apache HTTP, PHP, and a hello-world PHP application). A custom OS-image profile is used that includes the custom software and a post-installation script that registers the operating system with the internal Lenovo RHEL subscription service so that it can use the yum repositories, installs the Apache and PHP packages, configures the firewall to allow Apache connections, creates a Hello World PHP application and copies to the Apache web server directory, and configures the Apache configuration files to support PHP. The custom software packages are exported to the host during the deployment and made available for the custom post-installation script to use.
  • Deploying SLES 12 SP3 with custom packages and time zone
    This scenario installs the SLES 12 SP3 operating system (in English) and several optional SLES packages. It also prompts for the time zone. A custom OS-image profile is used that includes a custom configuration file and custom unattend file. This custom profile can be selected on the Deploy OS Images page. Then, the SLE packages that you want to deploy can be selected and time zone can be specified on the Custom Settings tab. The selected values are substituted for the custom macros in the custom unattend, and the SLES autoyast installer uses those values in the unattend file to configure the operating system.
  • Deploying SLES 12 SP3 with custom software
    This scenario installs the SLES 12 SP3 operating system along with custom software (Java and Eclipse IDE). A custom profile is used that includes the custom software and post-installation scripts to install and configure the custom software. The custom software packages are copied to the host during the deployment and made available for the custom post-install script to use.
  • Deploying SLES 12 SP3 with a configurable locale and NTP servers
    This scenario installs the SLES 12 SP3 operating system with either English, Brazilian, or Japanese enabled for the keyboard and operating-system locales. It also configures the IP address for up to three NTP servers. A custom OS-image profile is used that includes an unattend file (with predefined and custom macros) and a configuration-settings file for selecting the locales and NTP-server settings. This custom profile can be selected on the Deploy OS Images page. Then, the locales and NTP-server settings can be selected on the Custom Settings tab. The specified values are substituted for the custom macros contain in the custom unattend file, and the SLES autoyast installer uses those values in the unattend file to configure the operating system.
  • Deploying VMware ESXi v6.7 with Lenovo Customization to a local disk using a static IP address
    This scenario installs the VMware ESXi v6.7 with Lenovo Customization operating system to the local disk using the static IP address of the host server. A custom OS-image profile is used that includes an unattend file with predefined macros. This custom profile can be selected on the Deploy OS Images page. Known values are substituted for the predefined macros in the custom unattend file, and the VMware ESXi kickstart installer uses those values in the unattend file to configure the operating system.
  • Deploying VMware ESXi v6.7 with Lenovo Customization with a configurable locale and second-user credentials
    This scenario installs the VMware ESXi v6.7 with Lenovo Customization operating system with a configurable language enabled for the keyboard locale and credentials for a second ESXi user. This example also uses basic network and storage settings that are defined in the UI. A custom OS-image profile is used that includes an unattend file (with predefined and custom macros) and a configuration-settings file for selecting the password. This custom profile can be selected on the Deploy OS Images page. Then, the password can be specified on the Custom Settings tab. The specified value is substituted for the custom macro in the custom unattend file, and the ESXi installer uses those values in the unattend file to configure the operating system.
  • Deploying Windows 2016 with custom features
    This scenario installs the Windows 2016 operating system and several additional features. A custom profile is used that includes a custom unattend file. The custom profile can then be selected on the Deploy OS Images page.
  • Deploying Windows 2016 with custom software
    This scenario installs the Windows 2016 operating system along with custom software (Java and Eclipse IDE). A custom profile is used that includes the custom software and post-installation scripts to install and configure the custom software. The custom software packages are copied to the host during the deployment and made available for the custom post-install script to use.
  • Deploying Windows 2016 for Japanese
    This scenario installs the Windows 2016 operating system to multiple servers with Japanese enabled for the keyboard and operating-system locales. A custom profile is used that includes a custom WinPE boot file and unattend file. The custom profile can then be selected on the Deploy OS Images page.