Best practices: Create a KACE Boot Environment (KBE) for Windows

Some business environments can have strict policies and software that may keep the KACE Media Manager from creating a KACE Boot Environment (KBE) successfully.

You may need to set up an isolated system for the purpose of creating KBEs. Here is the recommended flow of actions:

•	Set up a system or a virtual machine (VM) that can reach the appliance with the following software:

◦	Windows 7, 8, 8.1 or 10

◦	Windows AIK, Windows ADK 8, Windows ADK 8.1 or Windows 10 ADK

◦	The latest version of the KACE Media Manager

• Do not add that system to your domain. • Do not install any security or anti-virus software.

The recommended process for creating a new KBE is provided below.

1.	Prepare the KBE drivers.

a.	Move out (or delete) any items in the kbe_windows_xXX directories located in the appliance drivers share (\\appliance\drivers).

b.	Download the KBE Driver Pack for the desired WinPE version. For more information, visit https://support.quest.com/kb/SOL111717.

c.	Extract the downloaded driver pack and copy the contents from the desired architecture's folder into the kbe_windows_xXX directory located in the appliance drivers share.

NOTE: You should only have the drivers for one WinPE version at a time in the kbe_windows_xXX directories.

2.	Build the KBE.

a.	Open the KACE Media Manager.

b.	On the General Settings page, enter the appliance IP address.

c.	Enter the Samba share password.

d.	Ensure the WAIK or WADK Path field points to the correct version of Windows AIK or Windows ADK:

▪	WinPE 3 needs to point to the Windows AIK installation directory.

▪	WinPE 4 needs to point to the Windows ADK 8.0 installation directory.

▪	WinPE 5 needs to point to the Windows ADK 8.1 installation directory.

▪	WinPE 10 needs to point to the Windows ADK 10 installation directory.

e.

On the Create KBE page, on the General tab, review the automatically generated name for the boot environment. You can edit this value, but keep in mind that the KBE name must be unique. Quest recommends that you include the architecture, WinPE version, and the date in the name. For example: WinPE 5 x64 4-5-2019.

f.	Select the desired architecture.

g.	Select the desired language.

h.	Click Upload KBE.

If you need to add additional drivers for your model to work, contact Quest Support to ensure the driver pack is updated with those drivers.