Note: This is an archived article:

The latest version is available on deploymentresearch.com (http://deploymentresearch.com/Blog/tabid/62/EntryId/17/Final-Configuration-for-MDT-2010-Lite-Touch.aspx)

This script will clean out any Leftover MININT or Sysprep folders. Enable WindowsUpdate, Set a default domain value (read from the JOINDOMAIN environment variable), and then do a proper final reboot…

Note: You need to set SkipFinalSummary=YES in customsettings.ini (the script will check for it)

Download from:
http://www.deployvista.com/Repository/tabid/71/EntryId/51/DMXModule/396/ctl/EntryDetails/mid/396/language/sv-SE/Default.aspx

Note: the script was updated 2008-11-11 to address an issue where the domain name was not set. Thanks to Isaac Woida for finding the solution, and to Jonathan Kort for pointing it out.

Just kick of the Z-FinalConfig.wsf as your last action in the Task Sequencer. The script will kickoff the Z-FinalConfig.hta script, which will wait for Task Sequence to end, and then do the final configuration.

 

Did you ever want another user then administrator to login and run the final stages of the Windows XP Lite Touch setup (State Restore etc..) Well here is how…

Background
When using Lite Touch for deployment, the administrator is used to autologon to finalize the setup process. Since sysprep resets the autologon user during sysprep minisetup, we have to set the name after that. The solution is to make use of cmdlines.txt, a feature in sysprep minisetup to launch scripts just before it saves it’s settings.

So I created two scripts, one that will change the user account, and one script that will stage cmdlines.txt to run it (and copy it to the local disk)

Step-by-step

1. Download the scripts from this link
   http://www.deployvista.com/Repository/tabid/71/ctl/EntryDetails/mid/396/EntryId/40/language/en-US/Default.aspx
2. Copy the scripts to your scripts folder and create en action in the Postinstall phase that will run the Z-UpdateCmdLines.wsf script.

Note: This sample script assumes that you have the new local admin user in the reference image already.

I just learned that the company I work for will be part of the Windows 7 TAP Program, how cool is that?

These are the scripts, task sequences and other samples I used for my demos when presenting at MMS 2008 in Las Vegas and at TechEd 2008 North America in Orlando.

Thanks everyone who took their time joining my sessions.

Download:
http://www.deployvista.com/Repository/tabid/71/EntryId/43/DMXModule/396/ctl/EntryDetails/mid/396/language/en-US/Default.aspx

Note: The sample Task Sequences are for MDT 2008 Lite Touch only

Integrating .NET Framework (any version) into Windows PE (WinPE) is a bit challenging. Running it, however is not…

The solution to get support for tools like PowerShell in Windows PE is to have .NET Framework running. This can be solved by virtualizing .NET Framework and the .NET application you want to run.

I have successfully used Thinapp (beta) from Vmware to run PowerShell (and other .NET apps) in WinPE:

Tip!
Since the systemdrive in WinPE is X:, make sure to select the WriteCopy isolation mode when capturing .NET Framework (or any other app) for use in WinPE.

Try the Thinapp beta at:
http://communities.vmware.com/community/beta/northstar

 

 

 

During my “Building the Perfect Master Image” session at MMS 2008 in Las Vegas last week, I did a terribly blunder…

I said that Ben Hunter was from Australia… of course he’s not, he’s from New Zealand…

Ben: I’m very sorry… 

Deploying Windows Server 2003 R2 in MDT 2008

Credit goes to another Setup and Deployment MVP, Mikael Nyström (Who just happens to work at the same company I do :  )

1. Add the Windows Server 2003 R2 Operating System (CD1) to the deployment workbench, and create a Task Sequence for it.in my example is was added it into D:\Distribution\Operating Systems\Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise SP2 Eng x86
2. In the above folder, create a subfolder structure starting with $OEM$. It should look like this:
   D:\Distribution
   -Operating System
   –Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise SP2 Eng x86
   —$OEM$
   —-$1
   —–R2
3. From Windows Server 2003 R2 CD2, copy the CMPNENTS folder to D:\Distribution\Operating Systems\Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise SP2 Eng x86\$OEM$\$1\R2
4. In the $OEM$\$1\R2 folder, create a batchfile named InstallR2.cmd (using below content)
   
   reg add HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup /v SourcePath /t REG_SZ /d C:\Windows\Source\i386 /f
   reg add HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup /v ServicePackSourcePath /t REG_SZ /d C:\R2\CMPNENTS\R2 /f
   C:\R2\CMPNENTS\R2\setup2.exe /q /a /sr

   Note: There are only three lines, line 1 and 2 beginning with “reg”, line 3 beginning with “C:\R2” these lines may have been wrapped.

5. For the Windows Server 2003 R2 Task Sequence, update the [GUIRunOnce] section in Unattend.txt to look like below:

   [GUIRunOnce]
       “C:\R2\InstallR2.cmd”
       “cscript.exe C:\MININT\Scripts\LiteTouch.wsf /start”
       “cscript.exe D:\MININT\Scripts\LiteTouch.wsf /start”
       “cscript.exe E:\MININT\Scripts\LiteTouch.wsf /start”
       “cscript.exe F:\MININT\Scripts\LiteTouch.wsf /start”

Note: If you also want to disable the Windows Server Post-Setup Security Updates window, you have two options for doing that.

Option 1:

Set “HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ServerOOBE\SecurityOOBE\DontLaunchSecurityOOBE” to “0”

This will disable the Windows Server Post-Setup Security Updates window without turning off the firewall (Thanks Rob for the great tip)

Option 2:

Turn off the firewall in unattend.txt using the below settings (Warning, make sure you are building your reference images on an isolated segment before doing this)

[WindowsFirewall] Profiles = WindowsFirewall.TurnOffFirewall

[WindowsFirewall.TurnOffFirewall] Mode = 0

When using the SCCM 2007 CD boot image to deploy operating systems, the default behaviour is to show the deployment wizard, even if you have a mandatory advertisment.

If you want to automate this, the set Unattended=true in the \sms\data\tsmbootstrap.ini file before burning the iso to a CD

This is an articlel on how to use WDS to deploy SCCM images without the SCCM PSP Integration

Background info:
When you add the PSP Role for to SCCM, SCCM will control the WDS, making it hard to coexist with for example other boot images, like the Lite Touch boot image from MDT 2008.
But since you can generate winpe 2.0 boot images in SCCM that will deploy images, wouldn’t be nice if ýou could use it for PXE booting as well?
The answer is, you can, and I will tell you how shortly.

First, some info on the SCCM boot image:
When you boot a SCCM 2007 boot image it will read a few configuration files, the most important ones are tsmbootstrap.ini and variables.dat. They are present in the SCCM CDBoot image, but not inside the actual wim.file. And you cannot the CD Boot image (iso file) to WDS, you need to add the wim-file. The solution is to simply extract the wim-file from the CD Boot Image, add the configuration files to the wim-file, and then upload the wim-file to WDS.

Step-by-step guide for booting SCCM CD boot media using WDS without the PSP Role configured in SCCM

1. In SCCM, created a CD boot media, D:\ZTI_Install_CD.iso in this example
2. Extract the D:\ZTI_Install_CD.iso to the D:\ZTI_Install_CD folder
3. Using Imagex, mount the D:\ZTI_Install_CD\Sources\boot.wim to a folder, D:\Mount in this example 
    
   imagex /mountrw D:\ZTI_Install_CD\Sources\boot.wim 1 d:\mount
    
4. Copy the D:\ZTI_Install_CD\SMS\DATA folder to D:\Mount\SMS
5. Using Imagex, unmount the image and commit the changes. 
    
   imagex /unmount /commit D:\Mount 
    
6. Add the D:\ZTI_Install_CD\Sources\boot.wim as boot image to the WDS Server

Tip! Setting EnableDebugShell=true in tsbootshell.ini (living in \sms\bin\i386) will give you a command prompt by pressing F8, this the same as selecting the “Enable Command support” on the boot image properties in the SCCM 2007 Console.

Network Timeout bug in Windows PE 2.1 causes MDT 2008 Lite Touch to fail.

Symptoms:
You get the following error message in MDT 2008 Lite Touch Deployment even though you have the correct nic drivers in Windows PE and the correct bootstrap.ini settings. “A connection to the deployment share \\Server\Distribution$ could not be made. The Deployment will not proceed”

Cause:
A network initializion timeout issue in wpeinit.exe in Windows PE 2.1 causes MDT 2008 Lite Touch Deployments to fail.

Workaround:
Give WIndows PE 2.1 a few more seconds by editing startnet.cmd on your LiteTouch_x86.wim (or iso) to look like below

startnet.cmd

wpeutil InitializeNetwork
ping localhost
wpeinit

If you want the Deployment Workbench to include the updated startnet.cmd every time you update the Deployment Point just follow the below steps

Configure MDT to use the updated startnet.cmd

1. Create a folder named D:\ExtraFiles\Windows\System32 and copy the updated startnet.cmd to it.
2. In the Deployment Workbench, right-click the Deployment Point and select Properties.
3. In the Windows PE Tab, in the Extra directory to add textbox, type in D:\ExtraFiles
4. Click OK