Deploy Linux OS via Configuration Manager

Q. How can I deploy a Linux OS to bare metal from Configuration Manager?

A. There is no built-in capability to deploy Linux to bare metal (it can be done to a VM using SCVMM and templates) nor are there any partner solutions that I am aware of. One solution is to leverage Task Sequences and call 3rd party Linux imaging tools to deploy a Linux image. Microsoft have a blog article that walks through this at http://blogs.msdn.com/b/steverac/archive/2014/01/02/osd-for-linux-imaging-yes-really.aspx however be advised this would not be "supported" by Microsoft. I found another article at http://systemcenter.no/?p=509 which also leverages the same imaging tool (DD) to deploy Linux via SCCM. The solution works and if you have this requirement is certainly worth investigating.