Archive for category Tips and Tricks MDT

MDT 2010: Creating a repository

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When doing a simple setup I create 3 folders – MDT, MDTLogs and MDTSetup. MDT is the production share, MDTLogs is for log files and MDTSetup is for my drivers (to be imported), my custom scripts and the applications (copy of).

Every installation is different – some use DELL, others HP and some even ACER, so what about creating a batch that can setup folders within the repository for a specific hardware vendor.

A simple batch like this with 4 parameters (make, model, architecture & revision) will create the folder structure for you

Note. If you are deploying DELL machines then just go here and download their CAB files, extract them (using WINRAR) to the newly created folders and finish off with importing them into MDT using the workbench.

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MDT 2010: Injecting Intel storage drivers into a XP WIM

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This is GREAT news for admins working with MDT and Windows XP deployments – a script that can inject Intel storage drivers into a XP WIM.

So build your base XP image using Virtual PC and do a capture. Now deploy the WIM and during the deployment use the script to inject the storage drivers like you would do in SCCM.

If I count the hours that I’ve spent on written the perfect sysprep.inf file to build my XP Master image and at the end do a capture … damn

Get the script here and give the man some love and respect!

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MDT 2010: Trace32 replacement?

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Looks like Specops is working on a Logviewer for use with MDT and SCCM.
Could this be a replacement for Trace32 (SMS Trace)?

Get the Beta here (Microsoft .Net Framework 4.0 is required to install and run the Specops Logviewer)

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MDT 2010: Troubleshooting MDT 2010 LTI – 2

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In Johan’s presentation on Troubleshooting MDT 2010 LTI (go to 55:16) Johan shows how to troubleshoot your CustomSettings.ini file

He creates a folder called MDT, copy the files ZTIDataAccess.vbs, ZTIGather.wsf, ZTIGather.xml, ZTIUtility.vbs, CustomSettings.ini and Microsoft.BDD.Utility.dll to the folder and then creates a batch (Gather.cmd) that run cscript.exe ZTIGather.wsf /debug:true

This is a great trick for troubleshooting your CustomSettings.ini file without actual doing an OS deployment

I added the following bits to the trick:

I’ve copied Trace32.exe (from the SMS 2003/ConfigMgr 2007 Toolkit) to the MDT folder
Created a .reg file called Trace32.reg that set Trace32.exe as the default logfile viewer and placed it in the same folder

Then I’ve added these 4 lines of code to Johan’s batch

mkdir C:\MININT\SMSOSD\OSDLOGS\ & echo. 2>C:\MININT\SMSOSD\OSDLOGS\BDD.log
regedit /s “%~dp0Trace32.reg”
start /max “%~dp0Trace32.exe” C:\MININT\SMSOSD\OSDLOGS\BDD.log
start “ZTIGather” /min cscript.exe “%~dp0ZTIGather.wsf” /debug:true

You can download Trace32.reg and Gather.cmd here

Now SMS Trace (Trace32.exe) will start maximized and show BDD.log will it’s being written to

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MDT 2010: Application export example

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Here is an (untested) ps script exported using MDTApplicationExport.exe

The script will create Applications containing some of the registry tweaks that I use during an Windows XP deployment

The CONFIGXP Application calls all the tweaks and is configured as a mandentory application in Customsettings.ini

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MDT 2010: Friendly names when Selecting the Domain OU

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I use this tweak from Xtreme Consulting to get friendly names when Selecting the Domain organizational unit (OU) in MDT 2010.
But how do I get the correct format into DomainOUList.xml?

I run these commands:
Dsquery ou –name “*Desktop*”> “%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\DesktopOU.txt”
Dsquery ou –name “*Laptop*”> “%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\LaptopOU.txt”
(Based on an Active Directory structure with desktops placed in an OU called Desktop and laptops placed in an OU called Laptop)

More on Dsquery here

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MDT 2010: Do not install WDS and Office Live

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I have dedicated TS’s to build my base images. In these TS’s I patch the installation (call me a control freak). During OSD I then use ZTIWindowsUpdate.wsf to get the latest patches installed.

Now, I don’t want Windows Desktop Search, Live Essentials and Office Live add-in in my deployments (which would get installed per default).

Adding these 3 entries in Customsettings.ini will skip the 3 installs:

WUMU_ExcludeKB1=940157
WUMU_ExcludeID1=af5c516f-1764-4dc0-b1e9-1e20dbee815c
WUMU_ExcludeID2=9514bb43-f49d-499b-a655-9d64caf68976

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MDT 2010: Win7 and that pesky System Partition

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A great MDT 2010 hint taken from XTREME Consulting’s blog (posted here):

If you have installed Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2 through either the Windows media or MDT then you have noticed that a 100 – 300 MB system partition is created that is hidden when you finish in the final operating system (well it is not really hidden, it just doesn’t have a drive letter). 

The Microsoft Windows team made that decision so that bitlocker could easily be enabled at a later time without having to repartition the disks.  However if you don’t ever plan on enabling Bitlocker on your Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2 systems you can use MDT with an extra variable in the customsettings.ini and MDT won’t create the extra partition.

The variable is: DoNotCreateExtraPartition = YES

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MDT 2010: Create a custom Template

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I have a custom client and a custom server template in my MDT lab.
I use MDT to create the images I deploy in my SCCM production environment.

From the Deployment Workbench
1.) Create a new Task sequence and give it a TaskID
2.) Make your changes
3.) Now close the Deployment Workbench
4.) Go to \\<deploymentshare>\Control\<TaskID>\
5.) Make a copy of ts.xml and rename it to my-new-custom-template.xml and copy the file to c:\program files\Templates.  Edit the XML file and change the second line with your own name and description:
<sequence version=”3.00″ name=”My Custom Client Template” description=”Client Template for installing Windows Clients”>

The next time you walk through the wizard to create a new task sequence the template can be chosen from the drop down menu…sweet!

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MDT/SCCM: WMIC CSProduct Get Name results

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I use a lot of WMI queries during OSD. I use the command ‘WMIC CSProduct Get Name’ to get the correct Vendor and Model number, but I also use this list whenever I do not have the machine to install in front of me.

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