What is the ZfD Preboot Services Menu Editor?

If you want to create a custom Preboot Services Menu, you can use the ZfD Preboot Services Menu Editor to set and run your own actions and DOS utilities on the client workstation. Novell^® provides this utility as a service; no custom DOS or Linux* utilities have been developed by Novell.

The Menu Editor is a Windows*-based, option-driven utility that lets you do the following on the Preboot Services menu:

• Add menu items or submenus to the Preboot Services menu
• Add executable commands to be performed on the client workstation
• Delete a submenu or an action from an existing menu

The Menu Editor generates menu files and stores them on the ZfD Preboot Services server. These files can be selected from the Menu Editor interface and downloaded to a Preboot Services client workstation.

Installation

If you chose the PXE component during the ZfD 3.2 Preboot Services installation program, the Menu Editor is automatically installed on Windows NT*/2000 servers you designate as a Preboot Services server. For more information, see Preboot Services CD Installation Options in ZENworks for Desktops 3.2 Getting Started. The Menu Editor is not installed to a NetWare^® server during the Preboot Services installation and must be accessed manually from a Windows workstation.

Accessing the Menu Editor

If you installed to a Windows server, you can access the Menu Editor from the Windows desktop (after the PXE-enabled Windows workstation is imaged) by clicking Start > Programs > ZEN Preboot Services > ZEN Preboot Services Menu Editor.

If you need to access the Menu Editor from a NetWare server, locate the files on the ZENworks for Desktops 3.2 Preboot Services CD in the \MENU EDITOR folder > copy them to your NetWare server. Then, from a Windows machine, you can map a drive to the location on the server and run the Menu Editor.

The Menu Editor Interface

The Menu Editor interface is not available unless you are creating or editing an existing menu. Add and delete functions are available from the Options menu or from icons on the toolbar. Menu Editor functions can also be initiated with keyboard commands from a Windows workstation. For example, pressing the Insert key while in the Menu Editor adds a menu item, and pressing the Delete key deletes a menu item.

You can enter descriptive text about the menu in the Information field. You can also add help by entering appropriate text in the Help field.