Hardware Configuration
As part of the deployment task sequence, specific hardware configuration tasks can be accomplished using a Virtual Floppy. Using the tools supplied with ADS, an administrator creates a floppy disk containing a subset of MS-DOS version 6.22 and adds the MS-DOS utilities needed to configure the specific hardware items. The floppy contents are then captured into a single file—the virtual floppy image That image is then used in the deployment task sequence, in which it is downloaded to the device during the PXE boot sequence. The MS-DOS utilities must be scriptable from the command line, they must automatically execute when the virtual floppy is booted into memory, and they must complete the cycle by rebooting the device so that the deployment can continue with the next task sequence. Using this method, the administrator can configure RAID controllers, flash BIOS items, or perform any other hardware-specific feature for which the manufacturer provides utilities that can be run from this Virtual Floppy.