Hardware Requirements for the Client Systems:

The hardware listed in this section is required by the default control files supplied with LinMin Bare Metal Provisioning.  You can provision clients with differing architectures if you create customized control files.  Instructions for creating customized control files are given in each chapter covering the provisioning of classes of operating systems.

 

q CPU – For the provisioning of Linux and Windows, verify the client has one of the following Intel or AMD CPU architectures:  x86 or x86_64 (also called AMD64 or Intel EM64T).

q Disk drive device drivers – Verify that each LinMin Server client has disk drive device drivers supported by the OS that will be provisioned to the client

q Pre-Boot Execution Environment (PXE) – Verify each LinMin Server client has PXE 2.1 or newer (or is equipped with a PXE-boot floppy disk or USB flash drive)

 

PXE systems older that 2.1 can be used by installing a legacy PXE server on your LinMin Server.  We suggest you try provisioning the older PXE clients first, as many of them can be readily provisioned by the LinMin Server.

 

q RIS-compliant NIC drivers – For any LinMin Server client that will be provisioned with a Windows Server 2003 or XP OS, verify that the client has Network Interface Card (NIC) drivers that are Windows Remote Installation Services (RIS) compliant. Instructions for obtaining and deploying these drivers can be found in this User's Guide.

q OEM disk controller drivers – For any LinMin Server client that will be provisioned with a Windows OS, verify the client has disk controller drivers that are included with the Windows installation programs.  If the Windows installation drivers are not available, this User's Guide has instructions for obtaining and deploying these drivers.

Headless clients (computers without a monitor and keyboard) can be provisioned by using a default MAC-Independent System Role with a Default selection or by using a MAC-specific Provisioning System Role.

 

Supported LinMin Server Client Operating Systems

LinMin Server Clients do not require any software before provisioning (hence the expression “bare metal” provisioning). LinMin Bare Metal Provisioning is an "agent-less" solution (no agent resides on any client system).

The current list of Linux distributions and Windows operating systems supported can be found at www.linmin.com/site/platforms.html.

 

For Virtual Clients, full virtualization is required.  VMware® Workstation and Server clients can be provisioned if you select a Virtual Machine type that corresponds to the OS or Hypervisor you are trying to install (select "Recommended Settings", not "Minimum Settings", especially for Windows Server 2008/R2 that requires 2GB RAM and 40GB disk) and configure the virtual disk to grow as you go (do NOT click “Allocate disk space now”). Also, when creating your VM, select “bridged networking”.

See the instructions on setting static MAC addresses in VMware Virtual Machines.