Allmost every time I get a call from a customer, or want to answer a question in the TechNet Forums about OS Deployment, I always start by asking for logfiles. There are MANY log files when it comes to ConfigMgr 2012 R2, and most of them are normally located in the same folder every time you need them. But when you are troubleshooting OS Deployment using, one of the most common log files you almost always want to check, is the SMSTS.log. And this log file is moving around depending on the phase of the deployment process. There are plenty of blogs…
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This morning, one of my customers called me and told me that they bought some new Lenovo laptops (Lenovo ThinkPad S540), but they was unable start OS Deployment using SCCM/PXE. Normally when I see this behaivor, it’s caused by a missing driver in the boot image, so I told them to verify that the driver was loaded correct. Here is a guide to verify the network driver in a SCCM Boot Image: https://www.ronnipedersen.com/2009/04/importing-network-drivers-into-the-windows-pe-boot-image/ But the driver was loaded correct, so I requested the SMSTS.log and found another common issue. The SMSTS.log file can be found here: https://www.ronnipedersen.com/2014/08/sccm-2012-r2-smsts-log-located/ In the SMSTS.log…
Before you start adding drivers to Configuration Manager, you should spend a few minutes to decide where and how you wish to structure your drivers. There is no “one-size fits all”, but this model should fit most customers. The Driver Source The driver source, is the path where the drivers are imported from. The source files should always be placed on at network share, that can be accessed from the Configuration Manager Site Server. I always prefer to use DFS, as it provide me the flexibility I need when migrating ConfigMgr or the file servers hosting the source files. This…
The built-in migration tool in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager is a great tool to help you in the process of migrating from Configuration Manager 2007 to System Center 2012 Configuration Manager. It can migrate all your content like packages, drivers, Task Sequences, OS images etc. But if you’ve integrated the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 Update 1(MDT) in your current environment, the Task Sequence might have steps that can’t be migrated to the new version. To migrate an MDT 2010 Task Sequence, you need to integrate MDT 2012 with the ConfigMgr 2012 site. But the wizard can only migrate MDT…
When running certain applications and commands through the “Run Command Line” task sequence in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 for a 64-bit Operating System you might find that the task will fail. This is true for applications that don’t fully support 64-bit mode. Some commands are not available by default when running in 32-bit mode, for example “manage-bde.exe” or “winsat.exe. To work around this issue, simply disable the “64-bit file system redirection” in the task sequence when running such applications or commands.
Lets say you need to change/rename the volume name of the C: drive to the computername, as part of your OS deployment Task Sequence. This script will help you do that: strComputer = “.” Set WshNetwork = WScript.CreateObject(“WScript.Network”) Set objWMIService = GetObject(“winmgmts:” _ & “{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\” & strComputer & “rootcimv2”) Set colDrives = objWMIService.ExecQuery _ (“Select * from Win32_LogicalDisk where DeviceID = ‘C:'”) For Each objDrive in colDrives objDrive.VolumeName = WshNetwork.ComputerName objDrive.Put_ Enjoy +Ronni Pedersen Next
If you need to deploy Internet Explorer 9 using the Configuration Manager OSD Task Sequence, this is the command line that you should use: ie9_package.exe /quiet /norestart /update-no You should use the /update-no command-line option to prevent the Internet Explorer 9 package from checking for updates. If you do not use the /update-no command-line option, the Internet Explorer 9 package will require an Internet connection during installation. To uninstall Internet Explorer 9.0 (unattended), run this command twice from an command prompt (cmd.exe) with admin rights: FORFILES /P %WINDIR%servicingPackages /M Microsoft-Windows-InternetExplorer-*9.*.mum /c "cmd /c echo Uninstalling package @fname && start /w…
If you wish to deploy Windows 7 32-bit using Configuration Manager, and you need to enable AERO during deployment, you needs to add a “Run Command Line” step to the Task Sequence with the following command: WinSAT.exe formal If you do the same while deploying Windows 7 64-bit, the step will fail. The is due to the File System Redirector, and the fact that the Tack Sequence is running in 32-bit context. To workaround this minor issue, make sure that you select Disable 64-bit file system redirection, on this step.
By default, the "Enable BitLocker" task of a System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Task Sequence defaults to an encryption method and cipher strength of "AES 128-bit with Diffuser". However, the "Enable BitLocker" task does not have any way of changing from the default encryption method and cipher strength to any of the other options: AES 256-bit with Diffuser AES 128-bit AES 256-bit Normally the BitLocker encryption method and cipher strength is controlled by Group Policy. This policy can be found in the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) under the following node: Computer Configuration –> Administrative Templates –> Windows Components –> BitLocker…
Microsoft is currently preparing for an update for MDT 2010 that will add some new enhancements to the product. One of the most exciting ones is the new “user-driven OS deployment task sequence template”, which will enable “self-service OS deployment” with System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2. The idea for user-driven OS deployment was first developed by Microsoft IT under the codename “Modena” (http://blogs.technet.com/osd/). Modena was first “announced” to the public at Microsoft Management Summit 2009 (MMS) in Las Vegas, where Chris Adams delivered one of the best presentations I’ve ever seen at MMS. According to several rumors and now…