Installation and Configuration of SDA Appliances

  • Virtual or Physical Appliance
  • IP Configuration
  • Creation of WinPE
  • PXE Configuration
  • Backup Management

Appliances

Virtual Appliance

Download

Download link: download-new-releases

Prerequisites

RequirementDetails
ProcessorTwo or more vCPUs
Memory4 GB or more (Dedicated/Shared = High)
Network InterfaceOne Ethernet Port
Available Disk Space500 GB, 1 TB, 3 TB (VMware®); 500 GB, 1 TB (Microsoft® Hyper-V®)

Physical Appliance

If you have opted for physical appliances, here is a KACE article on configuring iDRAC cards: idrac-for-k-appliances

With a diagram of the Appliances:

Appliances Diagram

Used Ports

The appliance must have an internet connection for driver downloads and appliance activation:

  • 80 — HTTP
  • 139, 135, 445 — SAMBA share
  • 22 — SSH (outbound only for tethers, and for syncing to RSA and single sign-on)
  • 389 — LDAP (if using LDAP authentication)
  • 636 — LDAPS (if using secure LDAP authentication)
  • 67 — DHCP
  • 69 — TFTP
  • 4011 — PXE
  • 8108 — Media Manager

Source: kb 129799

Network Configuration

Reserve an IP address for the Appliance and create a DNS alias. Follow the detailed steps to properly configure your network.

From the VM console:

  • At the platform’s startup, we use the native KACE account:
    • Login: konfig
    • Password: konfig
  • At this point, the platform prompts the administrator to enter essential information for its proper functioning on the target network.
  • Once the various fields are filled in and saved, the platform automatically restarts to finalize its internal settings.
  • Upon restart, we confirm the successful validation of the information entered:
Configuration Validation

License and Admin Password Configuration

From the web console: http://SDA

  • The first page to which the QUEST platform redirects corresponds to its initial setup.
  • You must enter the first pieces of information necessary for the platform’s proper functioning.
Initial Setup
  • Once the initial configuration is applied, the KBOX SDA restarts.
SDA Restart
  • You can then log into the Appliance (with the admin account).
Login Admin

Password Configuration

Summary of passwords in SDA:

In “Settings and Maintenance” \ “Control Panel” \ “General Settings”:

Password Settings

Three passwords are essential in K2000. Make sure to configure them properly to avoid any security issues:

  • Samba Share Password
    • This password is used to connect to KACE shares (driver uploads, etc.) and by the WinPE environments.
    • If you change this password, you will need to recreate the WinPE images.
  • Boot Manager Password
    • This password is used by the PXE and prevents WinPE boot for those who do not know the password.
    • Attention: The password will be entered on the physical station with a QWERTY keyboard, while from the interface, the password will be entered with an AZERTY keyboard.
  • VNC Password
    • This password allows control over the WinPE environments.
Password Details

DHCP Server Configuration

DHCP in 2008 R2

  • Add option 67
    • BIOS machines => option 67 = undionly.kpxe
    • UEFI machines => option 67 = ipxe.efi
  • Add option 66 with the SDA’s address
DHCP Configuration

DHCP in Windows 2012 or Later

Note that version 4 supports UEFI but not secure boot.

  • Add option 66 with the SDA’s address
DHCP Option 66
  • Add a new “Vendor Classes”
  • Click on “Add”
  • Specify the name: BIOS PXE Boot
  • Enter the ASCII field PXEClient:Arch:00000
  • Specify the name: BIOS Arch 7 PXE Boot
  • Enter the ASCII field PXEClient:Arch:00007
  • Specify the name: BIOS Arch 9 PXE Boot
  • Enter the ASCII field PXEClient:Arch:00009
  • Set a New Policy for the DHCP scope
  • Indicate the name “BIOS PXE Boot Policy”
  • Select “BIOS PXE Boot”
  • Enable “Append Wildcard”
  • Click on Add
  • Do not specify an IP range
  • Activate option 67 with the value undionly.kpxe
  • There will be one policy with two UEFI vendor classes
  • Indicate the name “UEFI PXE Boot Policy”
  • Select “UEFI Arch 7 PXE Boot”
  • Enable “Append Wildcard”
  • Click on Add
  • Select “UEFI Arch 9 PXE Boot”
  • Enable “Append Wildcard”
  • Click on Add
  • Do not specify an IP range
  • Activate option 67 with the value ipxe.efi
  • There will be 2 PXE policies in total
  • And overall, 1 option 66 and 2 options 67

WinPE Environments Management

See Managing WinPE Images

Backups

Schedule regular backups to avoid data loss. Whether you choose to back up manually or automatically, we guide you through the process.

Scheduling

  • To perform the backup, SDA must export packages. Package export can be done manually or automatically.
  • In “Setting & Maintenance”, select the “Package Management” tab
  • Then select the packages to export and choose “Schedule export for selected”
Schedule Export
  • Schedule the export time
Schedule Time

Package Export

If your Appliance crashes, it is necessary to export the packages, for which there are two solutions:

  • By backing up the share \SDA\restore
  • By exporting the packages to an FTP server

EXPORT TO AN FTP SERVER

  • To enable the backup of the SDA Appliance, go to “Settings and Maintenance \ Package Management” and select “External Package Transfer”
  • Then activate the option “Enable backup.”
  • The backup can be performed on an FTP server.
FTP Backup

Be cautious, when adding new images or tasks, you will need to schedule the export of these new packages.


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