How to add Drivers in MDT 2012

How to add drivers in MDT
Select the deployment share you wish to add the drivers to (C:\Deployment Share)

How to Import Packages in MDT 2012

Importing OS Packages or Hotfixes

In our example, we will import a hotfix kb2028749 within our MDT Packages console. Similarly you can add any other package like Language packs.

1.       Download the OS Package and Import it in a folder on MDT server

User State Migration Tool (USMT) 4.0 update for Office 2010

I came across a scenario where I needed to migrate Windows XP with Office 2003 installed to Windows 7 with Office 2010 along with the user data and backup.

In my setup I used Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT 2012) on Windows 2008 R2 SP1. I used the default USMT migration process, it migrated the Office components along with data and user outlook settings. But it didn’t attach the pst which was saved in D drive rather than the default location.

Then I came across the USMT 4 update for Microsoft Office 2010. You can request and download the hotfix from HERE. The update includes fixes and support for migration scenarios for when the source or destination computer has Microsoft Office 2010 installed.

SCCM/MDT: WMI Script to check computer Make & Model

Below is the WMI script to check computer Make & Model, output of which can be used in SCCM/MDT for make & model based driver deployment query.

Hope, this will find a place in your requirement J.

Go to Start and open Run.

1.       WBEMTEST

MDT: Deploy Windows 7 without DHCP

We came across a scenario at one of our esteemed clients where we needed to deploy Windows 7 on hundreds of machine without the DHCP environment. So all the clients had Static IP assigned to it. When system boots into WinPE it doesn’t get the IP. It is easy in NEW COMPUTER scenario as when the system boots up into WinPE you can assign the Static IP from Welcome screen. But in case of REFRESH scenario we don’t get the Welcome screen in MDT 2010. To achieve the above requirement i have done the customization in the Task Sequence with script as shown below.

Use ImageX to capture a Windows 7 Image

In the EARLIER post we showed you how to create WinPE boot disk to capture the Windows 7 reference machine. Now we will discuss the steps to be used to capture the reference machine using ImageX.

1.       Configure Windows 7 the reference machine as per the requirement (applications and settings).

2.       Make sure you have 2 partitions on reference machine, one OS partition and other to capture and save the image.

3.       Go to Windows 7 reference machine Start type cmd , run the command prompt as administrator.

Create WinPE boot disk with ImageX

To create a build of Windows 7 we need to capture Windows 7 image from the reference machine with required configurations. We can do this using MDT or SCCM but here I am going to demonstrate you how you can create WinPE image with ImageX and use it to capture Windows 7 image. Below are the steps to create WinPE image using WAIK tools.

1.       Install Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) on your technician machine

Unable to load DLL "wimgapi.dll" the specified module could not be found ( Exeption 0X800700E7 )

Issue:-

When you try to import OS in MDT Workbench you receive an error: Unable to load DLL "wimgapi.dll" the specified module could not be found (Exception 0X800700E7)

Resolution:-

After you installed Windows AIK you'll find wimgapi.dll is located in C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\x86

Copy the wimgapi.dll file to this location C:\Windows\System32. Then everything works fine as expected.

Hope this helps!!!

MDT: BootStrap Settings for Deployment

Below is the MDT 2010 Update 1 Bootstrap Settings for Windows 7 Deployment

[Settings]
Priority=Default

[Default]
DeployRoot=\\MDTSRV\DeploymentShare$

MDT: Custom Settings for Refesh Deployment

Below is the MDT 2010 Update 1 Custom Settings for Refresh (XP to Windows 7) scenario automated Deployment

[Settings]
Priority=Default
Properties=MyCustomProperty

MDT: Custom Settings for New Computer Deployment

Below is the MDT 2010 Update 1 Custom Settings for New Computer scenario automated Deployment

[Settings]
Priority=Default
Properties=MyCustomProperty

MDT: XP to Windows 7 Migration (Refresh)

Steps to perform upgrade user data from Windows XP to Windows 7

When doing the Windows 7 installation on a Windows XP machine through MDT LiteTouch.vbs script to upgrade the user data and settings, Please follow the below steps:

Start the Windows XP machine and open the deployment share folder located on MDT Server. Navigate to DeploymentShare$ -> Scripts -> LiteTouch.vbs and run LiteTouch.vbs.

MDT 2010 Deployment and Configuration

In this blog we will cover step by step process to install and configure Microsoft Deployment Toolkit for Windows 7 Deployment.

Pre-requisite:-

Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) Installation Procedure

Please note that installing WAIK for Win7 on Windows Server 2008 doesn’t need these pre-requisites to be installed.

Launch Startcd.exe utility and install MSXML6.0 and .NET Framework 2.0 if you have not already installed via Windows Update or any other means.

SCCM 2007 R3 OSD Deployment

Through SCCM, OS can be deployed on multiple numbers of computers simultaneously. In SCCM, operating system can be deployed on machines using PXE boot method. This method is used to deploy OS on bare metal machines. OS deployment feature can be also used to upgrade an existing OS on the system. Multiple set of customised OS images can be created. As per the requirement, different OS images can be used for deploying on a particular set of computers.

In this section, the complete procedure for deploying OS is provided. Operating System deployment consists of the following configurations which have to be carried out as given below:-

· Installation of Pre-requisites for PXE boot method

· Installing PXE Service point role on SCCM server

· Creating a separate Collection for OS deployment

· Configuration of Boot Images

· Creating Computer Association for bare metal computers

· Capturing customised OS image from a reference computer

· Creating OS image package

· Creating Task Sequence for OS image

· Advertising Task Sequence on the Collection for deploying OS

Where is smsts.log located?

To troubleshoot the SCCM OSD deployment issues we can enable the F8 feature in our Windows PE boot images. Below is the process for the same:-

ü Enable the Command Prompt on your boot image
Boot images have an option to enable a command shell while running in Windows PE. This is turned off by default for security reasons but can be enabled on the “Windows PE”property page.