Overview
When the deployment media is used to boot a computer, the WinPE Agent will be displayed. The WinPE Agent is a component that runs in the deployment media and enables communication between the booted endpoint and the SiteDeploy server.
Once the deployment media has booted, the message 'Startup complete. It is now safe to remove the boot media.' will be displayed. This indicates that the deployment media has booted successfully and the storage device that contains the deployment media can be removed and used to boot another computer if necessary.
Exploring the WinPE Agent
At the top of the deployment media, information about the connection to SiteDeploy is displayed:
|
Item
|
Description
|
|---|---|
| Connection | This shows the connection status of the WinPE Agent to SiteDeploy. If the connection status is shown as 'Connected' then the WinPE Agent is communicating with SiteDeploy. If the connection status is shown as 'Disconnected' the 'Connect' button on the right of the WinPE Agent can be used to connect to the SiteDeploy Server. |
| Login | In order to access golden image stores for golden image creation and endpoint-initiated golden image deployment, the user accessing the WinPE Agent must authenticate against the SiteDeploy server. You can read more about user management in this article. If the current user has not authenticated, this will show 'Unauthenticated', and options in the WinPE Agent, that require authentication, will be disabled. |
| Server | This shows the SiteManager Platform server that the WinPE Agent is connected to. |
| Agent | This shows 'Recovery:X', with the X being an incrementing number for each computer that is booted using the deployment media. This recovery number will also be shown in the SiteDeploy central management console and can be used to help identify endpoints. |
On the right of the WinPE Agent, there are several buttons that can be clicked:
|
Button
|
Description
|
|---|---|
| Disconnect/Connect | If the WinPE Agent is connected to the SiteManager Platform server, this button will show 'Disconnect' and can be used to disconnect from the SiteManager Platform server. If the WinPE Agent is not connected to a SiteManager Platform server, this button will show 'Connect'. Selecting this button will present a connection window, where a SiteManager Platform server's connection details can be specified. |
| Log In | This button can be used to authenticate against the SiteManager Platform server. The authentication details will be the same username and password that are used to access the SiteManager Platform. |
| Computer Details | This button will open additional information about the computer where the WinPE Agent is running. This includes information about the computer's hardware and SiteBackup Agent information if the computer is also being managed for backups by Macrium SiteBackup. |
| Reboot | This will reboot the computer. |
At the bottom of the WinPE Agent are buttons that can be clicked to perform operations, and a brief description of what the button does:
Restore Agent
This button will initiate a guided restore of the computer if it is also being managed by SiteBackups:
Launch Reflect
This button will launch the rescue media version of Macrium Reflect. If the user that has authenticated in the WinPE Agent has the relevant permissions, a repository can be mapped in Macrium Reflect to make manual image restores easier.
The repository can be selected from the listing of existing SiteBackup repositories and then mapped to a drive a letter:
The mapped repository share is then accessible in the explorer:
This article contains more information about restoring an image using the rescue media version of Macrium Reflect.
Deploy
Selecting 'Deploy' will start an endpoint-initiated deployment. The window that opens displays a list of available golden images.
Once an image has been selected, the deployment wizard will open.
This article contains more information about performing an endpoint-initiated deployment.
Take Golden Image
Selecting this option will open the 'Take Golden Image wizard'. This wizard is used to create golden images that are then deployed using Macrium SiteDeploy.
This article contains more information about creating a golden image.