MAC-Specific Provisioning -- an automated mode that does bare-metal provisioning of a system with the distro or OS, applications and unique parameters (network settings, password, host name, etc.) based on a system’s unique MAC address.

 

MAC-Independent Provisioning -- an interactive mode in which the user selects the Provisioning Role (OS plus applications) to be installed from the client system’s user interface (display and keyboard) at Network Boot (PXE Boot) time.

 

Disk Imaging – an automated mode that performs a disk image snapshot (backup) or restore when that a uniquely identified client performs a network boot. Disk imaging can also be used to "clone" systems by restoring an image to another system with identical hardware.

 

System Rescue -- a mechanism to deploy into RAM of client systems complete "Rescue Operating Systems" or "Rescue CDs" in order to remotely diagnose and recover systems.

 

 

LBMP performs these functions when triggered by an authorized PXE boot event from a Client system. Multiple provisioning, imaging and rescue events can take place concurrently, the number of which depends on your environment (see Performance Considerations). It is recommended that the start of each event be separated by several seconds to allow completion of low-level network operations (TFTP) prior to engaging more robust network protocols (HTTP or NFS). LBMP does not use multicast.