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Image deployment infrastructure

With ADS, you can deploy an operating system onto one or more devices or can repurpose those computers. By automating the deployment and repurposing processes, ADS reduces the overhead of maintaining diverse systems in your data center.

The image deployment infrastructure is an essential part of the server deployment and repurposing processes. The image deployment infrastructure can deploy an image onto any device that is running the Deployment Agent.

Art Image

The diagram highlights the primary components of the image deployment infrastructure.

The imaging tools 

imaging tools
A collection of scripts and executable files that are used in the creation and deployment of images using Automated Deployment Services (ADS).
communicate with the Controller service to coordinate image capture 
capture
Convert the content of a physical disk or volume into an image file.
 and deployment. The Controller service 
Controller service
A service in Automated Deployment Services (ADS) that acts as the central point of control for remotely deploying images to devices and running jobs on the devices.
 determines which image belongs on a device 
device
A computer that can be controlled by the Controller service within Automated Deployment Services. It has or will have a data record in the Controller database.
 and then sends this information to the Deployment Agent 
Deployment Agent
A memory-resident, minimal operating system that is dynamically created for a device by the Deployment Agent Builder service. The Deployment Agent supports secure communication and provides an internal execution environment that is used by the Controller to run programs that deploy an operating system image to a local volume on the device.
 so that the image 
image
A file that contains the contents of a disk volume. The contents of an image can be stored as an exact physical representation of the volume or as a collection of files.
 can be transferred to the device.

The following components make up the image deployment infrastructure:

ADS Management snap-in

The ADS Management snap-in enables you to manage images. Communication between the Controller service and the image store is sent through a secure BMCP 

BMCP
An Automated Deployment Services (ADS) protocol that is used for managing the communication between ADS services and devices. The Controller initates BMCP sessions with the Deployment Agent and the Administration Agent, and uses BMCP as the transport protocol to send commands to devices and receive command status.
channel.

Imaging tools

The imaging tools accept commands from the Controller service to prepare disks to receive an image and write that image to disk. The imaging tools include:

Bmpart
Bmpart is a disk partitioning utility that enables you to create primary partition onto which Imgdeploy can install images. Bmpart does not create extended partitions and therefore only creates up to four partitions per disk. For more information about the Bmpart tool, see bmpart.
Imgbmdeploy
Imgbmdeploy is responsible for receiving the image as it is delivered from the Image Distribution service 
Image Distribution service
A service that is part of Automated Deployment Services (ADS). The Image Distribution service manages the transfer of image files to and from the image store.
, and restoring the image to disk from the Deployment Agent. It downloads the image from the Image Distribution service, writing it to disk as it goes. It can also receive images over multicast 
multicast
Communication that takes place over a network between a single sender and multiple recipients.
. Imgbmdeploy also remotely captures an image and sends it back to the Image Distribution service to which stores it in the image store 
image store
A directory that contains one or more image files. You can configure the image store in Automated Deployment Services (ADS).
. For more information about the Imgbmdeploy tool, see imgbmdeploy.
Bmfilexfer
Bmfilexfer enables the Controller service to transfer files to a device as a single data stream. For more information about the Bmfilexfer tool, see bmfilexfer.
Bmsetreg
Bmsetreg enables administrators to set registry values in an image that has just been installed. For more information about the Bmsetreg tool, see bmsetreg.
Bmstrrep
Bmstrrep enables administrators to edit the Sysprep.inf 
Sysprep.inf
An optional answer file used by Sysprep that automates Mini-Setup and further customizes the installed operating system.
 file to make an image unique so that when an image is multicasted across a network, the computers all have different names. For more information about the Bmstrrep tool, see bmstrrep.

Image Distribution service

The Image Distribution service manages the transfer of images to and from devices. The Image Distribution service is capable of sending files over TCP/IP multicast, allowing multiple servers to be purposed at once. The Image Distribution service sends an image encrypted using RC4 to a device where it is and installed. Image Distribution service security is assured through the use of session ID's as they are sent from the Controller 

Controller
The Controller is the central point of control for Automated Deployment Services (ADS). Administrators can use the Controller to remotely run jobs on devices in a data center and to set system-wide settings.
.