Remote installation of operating systems and applications

Kaspersky Security Center allows you to create operating system images and deploy them on client devices on the network, as well as perform remote installation of applications by Kaspersky or other vendors.

To create images of operating systems, install the Windows ADK's deployment tools and the Windows PE add-on for the Windows ADK tools on the Administration Server. You can create an image of any version of Windows operating system that meets the requirements of the Kaspersky Security Center.

Kaspersky Security Center does not support the 64-bit versions of Windows ADK and Windows PE.

Capturing images of operating systems

Kaspersky Security Center can capture operating system images from devices and transfer those images to the Administration Server. Such images of operating systems are stored on the Administration Server in a dedicated folder. The operating system image of a reference device is captured and then created through an installation package creation task.

The functionality of operating system image capturing has the following features:

• An operating system image cannot be captured on a device on which Administration Server is installed.
• During capture of an operating system image, the sysprep.exe utility resets the settings of the reference device. If you want to restore the settings of the reference device, select the Create backup copy of the device state check box in the OS Imaging task creation wizard.
• The image capturing process provides for a restart of the reference device.

Deploying images of operating systems on new devices

You can use the images received for deployment on new networked devices on which no operating system has been installed yet. A technology named Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) is used in this case. You select a networked device that will act as PXE server. This device must meet the following requirements:

• Network Agent must be installed on the device.
• A DHCP server cannot be active on the device because a PXE server uses the same ports as a DHCP server.
• The network segment that includes the device must not contain any other PXE servers.

The following conditions must be met to deploy an operating system:

• A network card must be mounted on the device.
• The device must be connected to the network.
• The Network boot option must be selected in BIOS when booting the device.

Deployment of an operating system is performed as follows:

1. The client device establishes a connection with the PXE server during the boot up process.
2. The client device boots in Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE).

   Adding the device to WinPE may require configuration of the set of drivers for WinPE.

3. The client device is registered on Administration Server.
4. The administrator assigns the client device an installation package with an operating system image.

   The administrator can add required drivers to the installation package with the operating system image. The administrator can also specify a configuration file with the operating system settings (answer file) that is to be applied during installation.

5. The operating system is deployed on the client device.

The administrator can manually specify the MAC addresses of client devices that have not yet been connected, and assign them the installation package with the operating system image. When the selected client devices connect to the PXE server, the operating system is automatically installed on those devices.

Deploying images of operating systems on devices where another operating system has already been installed

Deployment of images of operating systems on client devices where another operating system has already been installed is performed through the remote installation task for specific devices.

Note that a clean install of the operating system is performed. All data will be deleted.

Installing applications by Kaspersky and other vendors

The administrator can create installation packages of any applications, including those specified by the user, and install the applications on client devices through the remote installation task.