MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING BOOT DECISIONS FROM A NETWORK POLICY DIRECTORY BASED ON CLIENT PROFILE INFORMATION

A system and method for controlling boot options for a workstation on a computer network includes initiating a boot on a workstation in communication with the network, downloading an application to the workstation from a server in communication with the network, gathering information about the workstation using the bootstrap code and forwarding the information to a policy server in communication with the network. The system and method also include determining, by the policy server, based on the forwarded information and based on a boot policy stored in a policy directory of the network, at least one boot option for booting the workstation, forwarding the boot option to the workstation, requesting, by the workstation, a boot image corresponding to the boot option, forwarding of the boot image to the workstation and completing the boot of the workstation based upon the boot option received by the workstation.