Machine driver management

To create a deployable driver image a hardware inventory scan is required for each machine, the hardware scan is generated by Zdrivers. Hardware scans can be imported in Build Console. Each machine model will appear in the File Library view as follows: Drivers>Machines>[Manufacturer]>[Model].

The latest drivers for a given machine and Windows operating system platform can be searched for by sending the hardware scan to the ENGL Driver Repository. Once search results have been received by Build Console a Driver Pack for the Windows operating system platform will appear below the machine model in the File Library.

Devices and drivers in the driver pack can be managed from the Driver Pack Properties view. Recommended drivers can be downloaded to the File Library and if required additional drivers can be manually imported. Analysis can then be performed that opens the driver archive and using analysis rules will determine the best installation method to install the driver.

A WIM driver image can be created from a driver pack. When the driver image is deployed as part of the Imaging Toolkit build process, drivers will be installed with the added benefit of real-time hardware compatibility checking for each driver.

The following tasks can be performed with machine hardware inventory scans.

Importing Zdrivers Inventory

The following are steps to import machine hardware inventory scans into the File Library.

  1. Do one of the following:

    • Click the Add Drivers button in the Task View.

      OR
    • Right-click the Drivers folder in the File Library and select New Drivers.

      OR
    • Right-click the Drivers>Machines folder in the File Library and select Import hardware scan.

    The Import Drivers Wizard opens.
  2. Select Machine hardware scan then click Next.
  3. Do one of the following:

    • Click Import a single Zdrivers XML file.

      OR
    • Click Import all Zdrivers XML files in a folder.
  4. Select Search for drivers to search for drivers immediately after import.
  5. Click Next.

    Note: If you are prompted to confirm the import click Yes. To prevent future confirmation prompts from appearing ensure Import without prompting is checked.

  6. If Download drivers was selected continue to the step Searching for drivers, otherwise click Finish to close the Import Wizard.

Manually Creating a Machine

The following are steps to manually add a machine to the File Library

  1. Right-click the Drivers>Machines folder in the File Library view and select Import hardware.

    The Import Inventory Wizard opens. 
  2. Select Manually create machine.
  3. Click Next.
  4. At the Create Manual Machine page, specify the machine Manufacturer and Model.
  5. Click Finish to create the machine.
Note: You cannot Search for Drivers for a manual machine entry. Drivers can be added using Manually add driver file

Searching for Drivers

The following are steps to search for drivers for a previously imported hardware inventory scan.

  1. Do one of the following in the File Library:
  2. Select Search for Drivers.
  3. Click the Windows Operating System down arrow and select a Windows version and platform to search for compatible drivers.
  4. Select Download drivers to automatically download all missing drivers after driver searching completes.
  5. Click Next.
  6. Click Next again to begin the search process.

    Note: Your driver search request will be sent to an ENGL web server. If this is the first search you have performed since starting Imaging Toolkit, you may notice a delay before the driver list is displayed. The ENGL driver service will return the latest available version of a driver as made available by the manufacturer.

  7. If a list of drivers are displayed, select the drivers to download then click Next.
  8. Click Finish to close the Import Wizard.

    Driver Packs for the Windows operating system and platform will appear below manufacturer models in the File Library view. Drivers will be downloaded if the Download drivers option was selected.

    Note: There may be devices listed under the No Drivers section in the Driver Pack properties. This does not necessarily mean that a required driver is missing because the device may be handled natively by Windows. If there are no Unknown Devices listed in Windows Device Manager then no further drivers are required. If there are unknown devices then right-click the device and select Report Issue to notify ENGL that a driver is required. Also review the section below for steps to Manually Add a driver.

Download Drivers

The following are steps to download available drivers for an existing driver pack.

  1. Do one of the following in the File Library view:
  2. Select Download drivers to download all available drivers.

    Drivers will download.

    Note: Drivers that have already been downloaded or disabled will be skipped. To force a driver to be re-downloaded, use the Driver Pack Property View download menu option. Selecting to download drivers from a level in the Machine view that includes multiple manufacturer models and Driver Packs may take a long time.

Manually Add Driver File

The following are steps to manually add a driver file to a previously imported hardware inventory scan.

  1. Do one of the following:



    • Right-click the Drivers>Machines>[Manufacturer]>[Model] in the File Library then select Manually add driver file.

      OR
    • Right-click the Drivers>Machines>[Manufacturer]>[Model]>[Driver Pack] in the File Library then select Manually add driver file.

    Import Wizard opens.
  2. Click the Windows Operating System down arrow and select a Windows version and platform to which the driver will be added.



    Note: If the Windows Operating System down arrow is disabled, continue to the next step.

  3. Click the Driver class down arrow and select a driver class matching the driver file being added.
  4. Enter a brief Driver description.
  5. Enter a Driver version.
  6. Click Next.
  7. Click the Browse button and select a .CAB, .EXE, .MSI, .RAR, .ZIP or .7z file containing the driver to import. Use the original driver package as supplied by the OEM or driver manufacturer, do not extract or modify the original package in any way.
  8. Click Next.
  9. At the Import into File Library prompt, click Yes to import the driver.



    Driver is imported.
  10. Click Finish to close the Import Wizard.

Analyse Drivers

The following are steps to analyse drivers in an existing driver pack.

  1. Right-click the Drivers>Machines>[Manufacturer]>[Model]>[Driver Pack] in the File Library then select Analyse drivers.

    Driver pack analysis will be performed on un-analysed drivers.

Create Driver Image

The following are steps to create a driver image containing all drivers and configuration for an existing driver pack.

Note: Since Imaging Toolkit 10.0.3, driver images are created with an encrypted configuration file. After upgrading to Imaging Toolkit 11.0.9, the Deployment Wizard must be used to recreate the Ztoolkit build process add-on image to ensure that driver images will be correctly processed and installed.

  1. Do one of the following:

    • Right-click the Drivers>Machines>[Manufacturer]>[Model]>[Driver Pack] in the File Library then select Create driver image.

      OR
    • In the global toolbar, click to launch the Deployment Wizard then select Driver image creation.

      OR
    • Select one or more driver packs based on either the Machine Type or Windows Version.

      Driver image will be created.

Create Images.ini

The following are steps to create an images.ini for all machine driver packs in the File Library.

  1. Right-click Drivers>Machines in the File Library.
  2. Select Create images.ini.

Images.ini will be created then opened in a text editor.

Note: See Imaging Configuration Files (.INI) for more information on the images.ini file and where it is created.

Open Folder in Windows Explorer

The following are steps to open the folder of previously searched for driver pack.

  1. Right-click the Drivers>Machines>[Manufacturer]>[Model]>[Driver Pack] and select Open Folder in Windows Explorer.

    Windows Explorer opens.

Deleting

The following are steps to delete previously hardware inventory scans and driver packs from the File Library.

  1. Do one of the following:

    • Right-click the Drivers>Machines and select Delete.

      OR
    • Right-click the Drivers>Machines>[Manufacturer] and select Delete.

      OK
    • Right-click the Drivers>Machines>[Manufacturer]>[Model] and select Delete.

      OK
    • Right-click the Drivers>Machines>[Manufacturer]>[Model]>[Driver Pack] and select Delete.