After creating and customizing an image for deployment, you need to boot the target computers into a suitable environment. This is a crucial step, as the media used for booting carries the WinPE component, which is a major part of initiating deployment in target computers.
WinPE is a light-weight Windows OS that acts as a temporary OS in target computers during the deployment process. ManageEngine OS Deployer offers three types of boot options: USB, ISO, and PXE.
Settings associated with booting can be configured within the product console and stored in a USB drive. Upon inserting the USB drive into the target computer, booting will be done and deployment will be initiated. You can use this method if you're planning deployment on a small number of computers.
Configured settings can be downloaded as an ISO file and burned onto a CD or DVD. Upon inserting the CD or DVD into the drive of the target computer, booting and deployment will begin. ISO media is well suited for booting virtual machines. This option can be used to boot machines using Windows 10 ISO/ Windows 11 ISO media.
Boot settings and components can be hosted on a PXE server, which in turn, will access the target computers and perform the booting process. To simplify this PXE server setup, OS Deployer comes pre-bundled with a PXE server. All you have to do is configure a DHCP server with the target computer details. This media type boots multiple computers more quickly than other media types; therefore, you should use this option when installing operating systems on a wide range of computers. To know more about PXE boot server, click here.