Features added in previous versions

In this section, you can find the feature updates from the previous versions.

The following updates were released with OSD 3.11 site 109

Added support
Windows 11 version 22H2
Windows 10 version 22H2
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.7
Windows tools update
WADK for Windows 11 version 22H2 (build 22621) support in MDT Bundle

The following updates were released with OSD 3.11 site 105

New Feature
Decentralized Image Library: You can now upload an OS image to a different repository other than the BigFix Root server. For more information, see Upload Mode.
Added support
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.5
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 15 SP3
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 15 SP4
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15 SP3
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15 SP4
Added certification
Nutanix virtualization environment is now certified for Windows images.
Linux OS Resource improvement
SLES/SLED resources now exploit grub2 as UEFI image loader.
Removed Content
Fixlet 135 - Deploy MDT 2013 or MDT 2013 Update 1 already superseded is now removed from the OSD site.

The following updates were released with OSD 3.11 site 103

New Operating System support
  • Ubuntu 20.04 (deploy to)
Added support
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 support (deploy to)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.3 support (deploy to)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.9 support (deploy to)

The following updates were released with OSD 3.10 site 102

New Operating System support
  • Windows 11 (deploy to and deploy from)
  • Windows Server 2022 (deploy to and deploy from)
Added support
Windows 10 version 21H1
Windows tools update
WADK for Windows 11 (build 22000) support in MDT Bundle
Flash removal
All the Flash dashboards (already deprecated) are now removed from the OS Deployment and Bare Metal Imaging site.

The following updates were released with OSD 3.10 site 99

New Operating System support
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) version 15 up to SP2
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) version 15 up to SP2

The following updates were released with OSD 3.10 site 96

Flash removal from BigFix OS Deployment dashboards
All OSD dashboards are now fully Flash free.
Note: The old Adobe Flash based dashboards are still available, but they are deprecated. They will be removed in a future release.

The following updates were released with OSD 3.10 site 92

Flash removal from BigFix OS Deployment dashboards
Following OS Deployment dashboards are now Adobe Flash free with some limitations:
  • Bare Metal Server Manager
  • Image Library
  • Health Checks
  • Bundle and Media Manager
Note: The old Adobe Flash based dashboards are still available and are fully functional.

The following update were released with OSD 3.10 site 90

Added support
Windows 10 Release ID 20H2 (displayed as 2009) support (deploy to).
Flash removal
The Capture and Activity Dashboard are now JavaScript based. The old Flash supported wizards are still available as deprecated content.
Reorganized content
The Modify Associated Driver Binding Grid tab is removed from the Activity Dashboard. This feature is already available in the Driver Library.

The following update were released with OSD 3.10 site 89

Updated link
Fixlet 137: Deploy MDT build 8456

The following updates were released with OSD 3.10 site 88

Added support
  • Windows 10 Release ID 2004 support (deploy to)
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 support (deploy to)
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.8 support (deploy to)
  • CentOS Linux 7.8 support (deploy to)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) version 12 up to SP5
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) version 12 SP4
New Windows tool support
This release supports WADK 10 Release ID 2004 to use with MDT 8456
New File System support
btrfs file system is now supported for capture/deploy-of-the-capture-image of SLES/SLED 12
Linux OS Resource improvement
  • The OS resource of Setup images is now visible on dashboard and shared with other Linux tasks. It is uploaded with ISO, if missing, and can be updated.
  • RHEL/CentOS resources now exploit grub2 as UEFI image loader. This solves issues with some machines with new hardware.

The following updates were released with OSD 3.10 site 87

New Operating System support
CentOS Linux 8 support up to update 1 (deploy to)
Added support
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.1 support (deploy to)
Added support
ESXi 6.0 support up to update 3 (deploy to)
Added support
ESXi 6.5 support up to update 3 (deploy to)
Added support
ESXi 6.7 support (deploy to)
New feature
Reset the status of a bare metal target via new Task 303
New feature
SELinux support for RHEL and CentOS deployments
Database support
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Express is now the default database server for the Bare Metal OS Deployment Server on 64-bit architectures
Database support
Added support to preinstalled Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Express for Bare Metal Server

The following updates were released with OSD 3.10 site 86

New Operating System support
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.0 support (deploy to)
New Operating System support
CentOS Linux 7 support up to SP 7 (deploy to)
Added support
Windows 10 Release ID 1909 support (deploy to)
Added support
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.7 support (deploy to)
Added support
Ubuntu Desktop 18.04 and 19.04 (Capture and Deploy the Capture Image)
New feature
Allow the user to manage DHCP proxy feature of Bare Metal Server from BigFix console
New feature
Allow the user to manage the TLS protocols for Bare Metal Server Web Interface
New feature
Allow custom certificate for Bare Metal Server Web Interface
Usability improvement
Environment support in RHEL 7/8 and CentOS 7 setup image deployment
Usability improvement
Added the option to ignore warnings in Windows In-place Upgrade fixlet wizard

The following updates were released with OSD 3.10 site 85

Added support
Windows 10 Release ID 1903 support (deploy to)
Added support
Windows Server 2019 support (deploy from)
Windows tools update
WADK 10 for Windows 10 Release ID 1903 support in MDT Bundle
Database support
Preinstalled MSSQL Express 2017 support for Bare Metal Server
Usability improvement
Display multicast session information on the target computer
New feature
Bitlocker configuration in the bare metal profile wizard
New feature
Allow high-performance deployments with target computer lid closed

The following updates were released with OSD 3.10 site 83

Added support
Windows 10 Release ID 1809 and Windows Server 2019 support (deploy to)
Added support
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6 support (deploy to)
Added support
MDT 8456 support

The following updates were released with OSD 3.10 site 82

Linux deployment
NVM Express controller support
Windows tools update
WADK 10 for Windows 10 Release ID 1809 support.

The following updates were released with OSD 3.10 site 81

Added support of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.10
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.10 is supported for capture, reimage, and bare metal deployments.
Added support of Windows 10 Release ID 1803
You can capture, reimage and complete in-place upgrades and bare metal deployments of Windows 10 Release ID 1803.
Added support of Windows Server 2016 Release ID 1803
You can capture, reimage and complete bare metal deployments of Windows Server 2016 Release ID 1803.
New Windows tools
This release supports WADK 10 Release ID 1803 for use with MDT 8450.

The following updates were released with OSD 3.10 site 78

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and Desktop (SLED) Version 12 (x64) up to SP3
Extended support of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and Desktop (SLED) Version 12 up to SP3.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Version 7 up to update 4 (x64 )
Extended support of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Version 7 up to update 4 (x64).
ESXi 6.5
Support of ESXi 6.5 hypervisor.
Windows tools update
In this release we have certified MDT 8450 for use with WADK 10 Release ID 1709.

The following updates were released with OSD 3.10 site 77

Added support of Windows 10 Release ID 1709
You can capture, reimage and complete in-place upgrades and bare metal deployments of Windows 10 Release ID 1709.
Added support of Windows Server 2016 Release ID 1709
You can capture, reimage and complete bare metal deployments of Windows Server 2016 Release ID 1709.
New Windows tools
This release supports WADK 10 Release ID 1709 for use with MDT 8443.
The following features were added in OSD Version 3.10
Added Support of Ubuntu Desktop 16.04 and 17.04 for Capture and Bare Metal deployments
To capture and deploy Ubuntu, you create OS Resources via Fixlet or manually and import them into the Bundle and Media Manager dashboard. You can then capture Ubuntu images for bare metal deployments.
Added Support of Windows 10 Release ID 1703
You can capture, reimage and complete in-place upgrades and bare metal deployments of Windows 10 Release ID 1703.
New Windows tools
This release supports WADK 10 Release ID 1703 for use with MDT 8443.

The following update was released with OS Deployment 3.9 site 71

Added support for BigFix Platform version 9.5 Patch 5
OS Deployment now runs on BigFix Platform 9.5.5. You can capture and reimage computers with BigFix client version 9.5.5.
Added support of Windows Server 2016:
You can install the Bare Metal OS Deployment Server on a system with Windows Server 2016.
You can capture, reimage and perform bare metal deployments on Windows Server 2016.
Added support of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.8
RHEL 6.8 is supported for capture, reimage, and bare metal deployments
Added support of new Microsoft Tools (MDT and WADK)
OS Deployment now supports Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 8443 and WADK 10 Release ID 1607
New direct boot feature for Windows deployments on UEFI targets with Secure Boot option enabled
You can capture, reimage, and perform bare metal deployments on UEFI targets that are Secure boot enabled. You can also create network boot and offline deployment media for these targets.
You can customize log settings for the Bare Metal OS Deployment Server
From the Bare Metal Server manager dashboard, you can customize the number of log files to use for circular logging and the maximum log file size.
The following update was released with OS Deployment 3.9 (and subsequent site updates up to site 70)
Added support for BigFix platform versions 9.1 Patch 8 and 9.2 Patch 8
Support of Windows 10 for the Bare Metal OS Deployment Server
You can install the Bare Metal OS Deployment Server on a system with Windows 10.
Use permanent caching in Unicast deployments
When deploying images in unicast mode, images are stored in the permanent cache on the Bare Metal Server.
Support of ESD image formats for Windows 10 setup images
Support for images in ESD format was added for Windows 10
Enhancements for Windows 10 in-place upgrades:
Improved Usability and Serviceability
Support of Windows 10 to Windows 10 in-place upgrade deployments
Multicast support for in-place upgrade deployments
Added support for Microsoft SQL Server 2014 SP1 as database for the Bare Metal OS Deployment Server on 64-bit architectures.
If an already installed and configured database is not found, Microsoft SQL Server Express 2014 SP1 is downloaded and installed on the Bare Metal Server.
You can specify custom client settings during Bare Metal deployments of Linux captured images
During a Bare Metal deployment of a captured Linux image, you can optionally specify custom settings for targets.
You can assign relays during Bare Metal deployments of Linux captured images
When deploying a captured Linux image, you can optionally assign a relay to the target of the bare metal deployment.
You can specify target network configuration settings for bare metal deployments
You can specify both static and dynamic network configuration settings for targets in three different ways:
  • In the bare metal profile.
  • With the corresponding task (354).
  • At the target computer with a dedicated user interface.
You can also specify a hostname rule for the targets of the deployment.
You can install or upgrade a Bare Metal server from the network, without previously uploading the corresponding installers manually.
In this release, you can automatically install the latest available version of the Bare Metal OS Deployment server directly from the network
New features for Linux deployments:
You can specify custom client settings during Linux Reimage and Bare Metal deployments
You can define custom client settings that can be used for running other tasks when deploying Linux targets.
Linux Partition editor in the Bare Metal Profile creation wizard simplifies partitioning.
You can specify partitions and logical volume layout (LVM) for Linux deployments for both BIOS and UEFI targets.
You can capture a Linux reference image for bare metal deployments
A new task is available to capture Linux images that you can use for bare metal deployments.
Linux Boot media
You can create Linux network boot media for targets that do not use PXE.
Multicast deployments
You can deploy Linux bare metal profiles using multicast for both captured and setup images.
New features for Windows Deployments
Windows 10 in-place upgrade
You can complete an in-place upgrade to Windows 10 of your existing Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 Update your clients by using the corresponding task (202).
You can choose a BigFix Client version to be installed during a Bare Metal deployment of a manually captured Windows Image
If you are deploying a manually captured Windows image that does not contain a BigFix client, you can choose which version to install from the Wizard tab of the Bare Metal Profile. If the captured image already contains a BigFix client, the dashboard selection is ignored.
New tasks to capture and restore user state (USMT) on Windows targets, independently of deployments
Depending on the operating systems in your environment, two pairs of tasks are available. Captured data is stored on a network share. The tasks can be customized to include additional file extensions and content to be captured and restored on the target system.
Important: To use the features available in release 3.9 or later, you must upgrade your Bare Metal OS Deployment Server to version 7.1.1.20. This upgrade is also needed to run task 350 which was modified to include partition resizing.

The following features were added with OS Deployment Version 3.8

Multicast support for Reimaging and Bare Metal Deployments on Windows targets
This release adds the support for deployments using multicast communication.
  • You can customize Bare Metal Profiles for multicast deployments
  • You can create reimaging profiles for both captured and Setup (ISO) images for multicast deployments
All profiles that are deployed using multicast communication must be pre-cached on the Bare Metal OS Deployment servers.
Driver management enhancements
New Check Drivers Tab in the Driver Library
You can select an image and computer model, or all images and all computer models in your environment and check if all the needed device drivers are available before you begin deployment. Based on the resulting table, you can import the missing drivers selectively and bind them to the computer models and images that you plan to deploy.
Non_PCI drivers can be bound to WinPE engines
You can now bind non-PCI drivers to WinPE engines from the Bindings tab.
Windows Bare Metal Deployment final action
After a Bare Metal deployment, you can specify a final action that will be completed on the target computer.
Assigning the Primary and Secondary Relay to targets Bare Metal Profiles
When you create a Bare Metal Profile for Windows images, you can choose to assign the Primary and Secondary relays for the targets to the Bare Metal Server and to the BigFix server respectively.
New Operating System support:
VMware
This release adds the support of VMware ESXi 6 for Bare Metal deployments.
Windows 10 support for capturing, imaging, and Bare Metal deployments (Version 3.8.1)
OS Deployment 3.8.1 adds the support of Windows 10 and related tools (WADK 10 and MDT 2013 Update 1). To deploy Windows 10, you must create an MDT Bundle using the new tools.

The following features were added with OS Deployment Version 3.7

Extended Linux support (SUSE) for targets
This release adds the support of the following Linux operating systems:
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) Version 12
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) Version 12
For Reimaging (install mode only) and Bare Metal deployments.
Support of VMware
This release adds the support of VMware ESXi 5 and later for Bare Metal Deployments.
Device Driver Management Enhancements
The Windows Driver Library dashboard was enhanced with several new features:
  • Increased efficiency when importing driver packages provided by hardware vendors.
  • During driver import, you can associate the imported drivers to one or more computer models that are known in your network.
  • You can assign labels to imported drivers so that they can be easily retrieved within the driver library, and managed as a single unit.
  • You can edit existing drivers by adding or removing associated models and labels.
  • Support of non-PCI drivers with the possibility to import them and manually associate them to a Windows image (WIM).
  • Improved usability:
    • New and enhanced driver import wizard
    • New dashboard layouts
    • New search capabilities
Serviceability Improvements for Bare Metal Deployments
From the Deployment Activity Dashboard you can
  • Upload the Bare Metal deployment logs from the Bare Metal Server to the BigFix server for Linux and Windows deployments
  • For Windows, LiteTouch and Windows deployment logs are uploaded from the target to the Bare Metal Server at the end of the deployment for both successful and failed deployments.
  • You can view the deployment activity end time in the activity details
  • During the reimage of a Windows target you can enable real time logging of the LiteTouch phase on a user-defined network share for debugging purposes
  • BigFix client installation during a Bare Metal Deployment is completed through the network instead of from stored setup files in the MDT Bundle.

The following features were added with OS Deployment Version 3.6

Bare Metal target management from the BigFix console
This version introduces the Management Extender for Bare Metal Targets Plug-in that discovers and registers Bare Metal targets to theBigFix server Server. When targets PXE boot to the Bare Metal OS Deployment server, you can manage them from the console. You can:
  • View inventory information for the targets
  • Perform deployment tasks
  • Define custom variables and associate them to bare metal targets so that tasks can be triggered on these targets after a deployment
  • Wipe the disk contents of bare metal targets

    The Wipe Disk functionality is typically used when the hardware needs to be dismissed or re-provisioned and allows you to erase the system disk content in a secure manner, so that the data originally stored on the hard disk can no longer be retrieved.

Deploy a scripting environment on a bare metal target
You can leverage vendor scripting toolkits to implement configuration tasks on your bare metal targets. Through a dedicated dashboard, you can import scripting environments and deploy them to your Bare Metal Targets. The product can deploy configurations created with hardware-specific scripting toolkits from IBM, Dell, and HP.
Copy image settings from an existing image to an image that has no objects associated to it.
From the image library, you can copy the following settings from a reference image: bare metal profiles, targeting rules, associations to the bare metal server where the profile is stored, and binding rules. When you copy the bare metal profiles from the selected image, you can specify a prefix or suffix for these profiles in the target image.
Create offline deployment media for Windows targets
You can create CD/DVD or USB media for offline deployments on targets that are not connected to the network.

The following features were added with OS Deployment Version 3.5

Linux Enterprise Support for image creation from installation media (ISO), reimaging and Bare Metal deployments
This version introduces support for the following Linux Enterprise Versions:
  • RedHat Enterprise Linux Versions 5, 6, and 7
  • SuSE Linux Enterprise Server Version 11
You can import images from ISO for Linux reimaging and Bare Metal deployments. You can reimage Linux systems both as an upgrade or as a fresh installation. You can perform Bare Metal deployments on Linux targets.
New image creation from installation media (ISO) for Windows Deployments
You can create and import images directly from ISO ( Setup Images). From the Image Library dashboard you can:
  • Import images for Windows deployments from ISO installation media:
    • in archived format by specifying the file name (.iso)
    • by selecting an ISO folder containing the uncompressed image files.

The new import from ISO feature enhances the reimaging capabilities for Windows platforms. You can now perform reimaging and Bare Metal deployments choosing between two different sources: from a captured image of a reference machine, or by deploying an image created from ISO. In the latter case, you can choose between different flavors of the operating system (if available) from the ISO image that you imported.

Windows OS Resource creation directly from the Image Library
You can create and upload OS resources (from ISO installation media) for Windows deployments directly from the Image Library, concurrently with the import of the ISO image. Previously, you could create OS resources only from the MDT Bundle Creator machine.

The following features were added with OS Deployment Version 3.4

New Bundle and Media Manager Dashboard
A new dashboard was implemented to perform the following tasks:
  • Install the MDT Bundle Creator and all its prerequisite software.
  • Create a MDT Bundle with or without OS resources.
  • Create OS resources only
  • Create CD, DVD, or USB bootable media for deployments to targets when PXE-boot through the network is unavailable.

The new Bundle and Media Manager dashboard simplifies the bundle creator installation and the bundle creation process by checking for installed prerequisites and helping you to make the correct choices for the operating systems you plan to deploy. The version of the User State Migration Tool (USMT) included in the bundle is displayed on the dashboard.

Join Domain usability improvements during reimaging
The following usability enhancements were added:
  • Information was added to the Image library dashboard to help you to provide the correct Domain Credentials when you are creating a Bare Metal Profile, and when you are deploying an image.
  • Improved documentation to explain the Domain and Organizational unit fields.
Support of Microsoft Windows 2012 R2 for capturing, imaging, and bare metal deployments.

You can capture, reimage, or perform bare metal deployments on Windows 2012 R2 targets. You can also install a Bare Metal Server on this operating system. Deployment of Windows 2012 R2 requires a new version of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT 2013) and of the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (WADK) 8.1, which includes Windows PE 5. These new versions can also be used for earlier supported operating systems.

The following features were added with OS Deployment Version 3.3:
Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA-256) enhanced security support for deployment objects (with BigFix 9.1 Platform)
The BigFix platform Version 9.1 supports the NIST security standards and provides an enhanced security option. This setting enables SHA-256 as the hashing algorithm for digital signatures and content verification. SHA-1 and SHA-256 values for deployment objects (MDT Bundles, images, drivers) are calculated and assigned at creation time. Objects that were created with platform versions earlier than 9.1 only have SHA-1 hashing values. Objects created with version 9.1 or later have both SHA-1 and SHA-256 hashing values. OS Deployment version 3.3 supports deployment operations in a mixed environment for compatibility with previous versions. If you decide to set the enhanced security option for your environment, all objects must have been updated with SHA-256 hashing information. A new health check is provided to display non- compliant files and from which you can start a remediation action to update the affected objects.
Bare Metal and reimaging usability and customization enhancements
  • You can define a timeout when you are creating or editing a bare metal profile. This value defines the maximum time the LiteTouch script that installs the WIM image is allowed to run.
  • You can set a time limit for the caching of an image on the relay (Bare Metal Server) during a deployment.
  • You can start, stop, restart, or view the status of Bare Metal server services.
  • You can view if errors were recorded on server logs.
  • For any given image linked to a system profile, you can view whether the corresponding WIM image is cached on the relay.
  • You can customize the boot partition in the partition mapping for reimaging and bare metal deployments
Support of Microsoft Windows 8.1 for capturing, imaging, and bare metal, and corresponding Microsoft tools

You can capture, reimage, or perform bare metal deployments on Windows 8.1 targets. You can also install a Bare Metal Server on this operating system. Deployment of Windows 8.1 requires a new version of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT 2013) and of the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (WADK) 8.1, which includes Windows PE 5. These new versions can also be used for earlier supported operating systems. When you create a new MDT Bundle, you can choose the version of the tools that best suits your needs. A matrix of supported combinations is available.

MDT Bundle usability improvement
In the Upload MDT Bundle dashboard, you can view information about the WinPE version included in each bundle and its corresponding MDT version.
The following features were added in OS Deployment version 3.2:
  • Support of Microsoft Windows Server classes, (2003, 2008, 2008 R2, 2012)
  • Enhanced Bare Metal profile deployment, by defining rules for target selection based on computer properties.
  • Support of UEFI (x64 ) for capture, reimage and bare metal deployments
  • Optional creation of baselines for future use from the Deploy Image to Computer wizard.
  • Possibility of specifying a computer name during bare metal profile creation and deployment.

The following features were added in OS Deployment version 3.1

  • Support of Microsoft Windows 8 and MDT 2012 Update 1.
  • Ability to upload multiple MDT Bundles and specify which to use during capture and deployment.
  • Multiple partitions support when capturing, editing, and deploying an image.
  • Ability to manage driver bindings at a global level before deployment.
  • Improved driver binding grid editor in the Activity Dashboard.
  • Improved options for encrypting actions with passwords using the V9.0 platform.

The following features were added in OS Deployment version 3.0

  • Seamless bare metal provisioning through integration with Tivoli Provisioning Manager for OS Deployment
  • Dashboard content to configure and manage Tivoli Provisioning Manager for OS Deployment servers for bare metal provisioning
  • Activity dashboard to monitor of reimage, capture, and bare metal deployment tasks
  • Image Library dashboard expanded to support reimage task and bare metal profile creation
  • Enhanced templating features
  • Ability to edit CustomSettings.ini directly from the Deploy Image to Computer wizard.