Applies to LANDESK Management Suite 9.0[, 9.5
In LANDESK Management Suite 9, LANDESK introduced new Hardware Independent Imaging (HII) tools. These tools can be used in conjunction with OSD or Provisioning to apply drivers for particular hardware devices when deploying a generic Windows image.
Hardware Independent Imaging Components
HII Driver Repository
This is where the actual driver files are stored. This can be ANY machine with a UNC and HTTP share available to client machines. It is recommended that the HII Driver Repository be located with a high-speed, low-latency connection to the Core Server. The drivers can be organized in any manner and should include the inf files and all supporting files. The location of the HII Driver Repository is configured in the LANDESK Management Console.
The "master" HII Driver Repository can be replicated to Preferred Servers as needed. The Preferred Servers do not have to have both UNC and HTTP shares available as long as clients are configured to use the available share.
For more information on the HII Driver Repository see HII Driver Repository
HII Driver Database
Once drivers are placed in the HII Driver Repository, and the HII Driver Repository Manager configured to point to the drivers, the HII Driver Repository Manager will generate the HII Driver Library Database. A progress bar will indicate the progress of the database creation and when the database is complete. The HII Driver Database is not updated automatically so it should be updated anytime new drivers are added to the HII Driver Repository
The driver library is created at the root of the HII Driver Repository and is named drivers.db3. This file is distributed to clients and used to determine the correct drivers and the associated files necessary for any given hardware device and the corresponding driver.
For more information on the HII Driver Library Database see HII Driver Database
HIIClient
HIIClient is the client side application that is run in order to get drivers installed on target devices. HIIClient will use HTTP by default, but can be configured to use UNC. No other configuration is necessary.
When HIIClient runs it will automatically detect the Windows® version (Windows XP®, Windows 7®) that is installed, the architecture that is installed (x86, x64) and all the individual devices connected to the client (Hard drive controller, video card, sound card, chipset etc.). HIIClient will then use the HII Driver Database to find the best matching drivers available in the HII Driver Repository. The best drivers are determined by a number of factors and should match the drivers that Windows would choose. Only the best matching and most recent driver for each device is downloaded.
The drivers are downloaded from Preferred Servers (if configured) and then installed on the device. The installation method for the drivers varies depending on the Windows version being deployed. For more information about HII Client see HIIClient
Preferred Servers
With LDMS 9 SP3, HII has been improved to allow the use of Preferred Servers via HTTP or UNC and download speed has been improved. All Preferred Server configuration requirements are the same as for LANDESK features that use Preferred Servers.
Because HII runs in WindowsPE, some special considerations are worth noting. Windows PE will assign a random hostname to the device when it boots. Also WindowsPE will not have any domain access or credentials natively. This means that it is very important that any Preferred Server that will be used by HII have the client Read-only credentials configured. For more information on Preferred Server configuration see:
LANDESK Content Replication - Preferred Server (Target) Configuration
How to Configure a Preferred Package Server
How to set up a HTTP share for a Preferred Package Share
Important Information
The HII tools use information contained in driver files and information obtained from devices in order to match up the right drivers and devices without requiring the user to manually configure or match up anything. In order to do this, LANDESK pulls information from drivers files in accordance with standards published by Microsoft. Occasionally device manufacturers will take shortcuts or have an error in a driver file. When this happens it can cause LANDESK to match the wrong drivers to a machine and can result in problems. In every case if the Windows were pointed to the driver, it would also incorrectly identify the driver as applicable and install the driver.
To reduce the potential impact of such errors, it is recommended that drivers be obtained from official sources whenever possible and any errors should be reported to the device manufacturer or vendor. Large packages of drivers (aka driver packs) have been found to often contain many errant and corrupt drivers that can cause problems. Additionally driver harvesting utilities often do not gather all the necessary information or files for a driver and can produce problematic drivers as well.