Imaging and Deployment Software

[WinOutreach2]

Got my test deployment share set up with an 8.1 image as well as Dell and Lenovo PE drivers and OS drivers. I have the drivers for each make and model.

I was able to get my server (running 2012) to do DHCP and WDS which then allowed me to use a Dell Optiplex 7020 and Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 12 to PXE into PE. I was then able to deploy the image which is just stock 8.1 with only the administrator account password set.

Now that I got the base OS installed, where do I go from here? I need to get the desktop computer and laptop set up for our environment. The problem is that we use a network login via Novell on the desktops, and on the laptops, we use a local login and then a VPN to connect to our network.

I just don't know how to build the certain profiles or task sequences so that each version has the appropriate software and is then set up via the unattend file correctly.

Can anyone help lead me down that path?

Thanks!

I would definitely use the same deployment share. Why import apps and drivers more than once?

If you are automating the deployment rather than making selections in the Windows Deployment Wizard, you would create a task sequence for each department/configuration. In that task sequence you would include an install application step for each required app. Then once you run that task sequence the apps would be deployed automatically.

You could also use multiple deployment shares, and remember that content between deployment shares can be copied and pasted from one single MDT deployment workbench, making life easy.

I’d really recommend you check out the Surface Pro 3 Deployment and Administration guide. The deployment concepts outlined in it apply to all makes and models of computer and it provides some clear guidance on how to set up explicit application installation, selection of driver profiles for a specific make/model, etc.

Brandon
Windows Outreach Team- IT Pro
Windows for IT Pros on TechNet

 

[xSauronx]

Can you please explain what you mean by running Hyper V as the server and 2012 as the deployment OS? I'm not sure what you mean by that.

you are losing a ton of time testing by deploying to a spinning drive machine and waiting for errors. if you have an SSD then its not too bad. VMs are much faster, so im looking at it as a multi-role server, best case i guess

also, really, get MDT logging configured. it will log error numbers and give you an idea of what step borked up so you can fix it. do this before you keep testing deployment in a trial and error sort of way.

Those are nice tools and all, but I'm looking more along the lines of what my next step should be and what the best practices are.

We need to have a couple of pieces of software always installed. Would it be better to build the software into a custom .wim and use that as our deploying OS, or is it better to have the applications installed one-by-one as we're loading the OS?

It seems like right now it takes about 20 minutes on a LAN with no internet connection or other devices running. That is only loading the OS + drivers to the machine.

Any suggestions on where to go from here?

if the software is on all PCs, i put it in the image. 95% of our pcs use office, so office goes in. it takes time to install and update it, im not taking that time on each pc. remove it after deployment if a pc doesnt need it. i think deploying an image for me now, that has office, full windows updates, oracle ODBC drivers and a couple of program agents takes me about 30 minutes or so.

i install smaller programs as applications as needed during deployment- vpn software, voip software, adobe reader, etc.
-- most of these are selected by default or based on the machine being a desktop/laptop/vm

 

[WinOutreach2]

xSauronx points out an important factor. You want as little as possible in your image for the greatest compatibility with multiple makes/models/configurations… but you want as much in your image as possible for the greatest deployment speed. A full, thick image complete with drivers, applications, and updates is going to deploy much faster than a thin image that adds in drivers, applications, and updates at the time of deployment.

The great thing about using a virtual machine for your reference system and MDT for deployment is that you can change things around easily whenever you want to. The granularity of a deployment share being a simple file share means that you can easily swap out an Office containing base image for a non-Office base image and back again simply by copy and pasting a WIM. You can even automate image creation with a task sequence that deploys automatically to your test VM, updates and installs your desired configuration, then captures itself back into MDT.

Brandon
Windows Outreach Team- IT Pro
Windows for IT Pros on TechNet