I was reading a post about driver management recently by Johan Arwidmark and he takes it a step further. To ensure the Dell doesn’t get an HP driver, or vice versa, he uses driver groups. I took it one step further and added the make and model.

So my folder goes, Windows 7 –> Make –> Model.  To get the make and model, run the command cscript ZTIGather.vbs and look for the make and model.

Here is the screen shot of my drivers folder.

Next edit the task sequence and setup which folders to look at when deploying the operating system.

Finally, we need to tell MDT not to use all the drivers. So at the inject drivers task, we tell it to use Nothing. It will inject the drivers specified in the DriverGroup

Check out the Springboard Series Blog for information on the new features. Highlights for me are:

• support for Microsoft Office 2010
• improved driver importing
• cosmetic changes to the UI

Support for Office 2010 is pretty simple; there is no need to explain. The improved driver importing is something I found helpful in my environment. What MDT does now is check the drivers and see what platforms they support rather rely on what the drivers say they support. The benefit of this is that you will have less deployment problems. I have imported drivers that stated they were 64 bit. MDT checked them and said (rough translation):

“Even though ACME Corp says they are 64 bit, these are 32 bit.”

It’s nice to have the deployment environment checking that for you.

The other change is the update to the environment. Gone is the guy helping the lady with the computer.Now we just have a basic blue screen, throughout the prompts. Of course, you can change the picture and make it whatever you want.

Looking for the download, go to the MDT Download Center page.

This file basically has tells the Deployment wizard where to find the information it needs on the network. The file looks like this.

[Settings]
Priority=Default

[Default]
DeployRoot=\\SERVER01\DeploymentShare$

You can modify this file to point to a different location, so a different server and enter in credentials.

[Settings]
Priority=Default

[Default]
DeployRoot=\\%WDSServer%\DeploymentShare$

UserID=MDTAccount
UserDomain=yourdomain
UserPassword=Password123

SkipBDDWelcome=YES

Looking at the above file, I have done a few things. The first was to change the deployment root to point to the WDS Server that the boot.wim booted from. %WDSSERVER% is a variable that will populate with the WDS server name at launch time. If I have a specific server I want to run MDT from, then I would enter it in on DeployRoot instead. So if I wanted to use Server1, the line would be DeployRoot=\\Server1\DeploymentShare$

Another thing you can do is set the deployment share based on the default gateway. I seen the information on how to do that at the TechNet forums. Here is the URL -> http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/mdt/thread/62809d7e-553d-41b7-a92e-93ba3b1972c7

The next three lines show the user credentials used to connect to the deployment share.
The last line, self-explanatory, skips the BDD Welcome information.

Lets have a look at my customsettings.ini file, the file is found in the Control folder. This file is on my memory stick and installs my Patron computer builds. What I do is block all pages except the computer name field. I manually enter the computer name and I am off to the races. It also will give me the final summary letting me know if everything worked or not.

[Settings]

Priority=Default

Properties=MyCustomProperty

[Default]

OSInstall=YES

SkipAdminPassword=YES

SkipApplications=YES

SkipAppsOnUpgrade=YES

SkipBDDWelcome=YES

SkipBitLocker=YES

SkipCapture=YES

SkipComputerName=No

SkipComputerBackup=YES

SkipDeploymentType=YES

DeploymentType=NEWCOMPUTER

SkipDomainMembership=YES

JoinDomain=yourdomain.local

DomainAdmin=Deployment_Account

DomainAdminDomain=yourdomain

DomainAdminPassword=Pa$$w0rd

SkipFinalSummary=No

SkipLocaleSelection=YES

KeyboardLocale=en-US

UserLocale=en-US

UILanguage=en-US

SkipPackageDisplay=YES

SkipProductKey=YES

SkipSummary=YES

SkipTaskSequence=YES

TaskSequenceID=VISTAPATRON

SkipTimeZone=Yes

TimeZone=035

TimeZoneName=Eastern Standard Time

SkipUserData=Yes

In order for this to work properly, we need ensure we modified our task sequences to install software we want installed. We also need to ensure when setting up the task sequence we entered in a license key (if needed) and the admin password.

I’ll be covering these customizations of a few blog posts. I am also going to be creating some instructional podcasts around MDT as well, so this could be included in that.

For more information on this as well, check out fellow MVP Mitch Tulloch’s posts on the subject at http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Deploying-Windows-7-Part7.html. He has a whole series dedicated to Windows 7 Deployment.

The people I met spend the majority of their day building images. For me, I do this a couple of times of year. They had some great experiences which they shared and one of those things was a pause task sequence routine they are using. What it is a call to pause the machine sequence build. Some of them are using a VBscript which essential calls notepad and leaves it open while you do all the extra work you need to do. When you close notepad, MDT continues on with its task sequence. Also new to MDT 2010 is a script called LTISuspend.wsf.

The method I chose was to create a batch file called pausetask.bat with one line:

START /WAIT Notepad.exe .\SomeTextFile.txt

Then, I saved it in a folder and created a new application called Pause Task Sequence – Notepad. Here is a snapshot of the properties of the application.

Next thing you want to do is ensure that the pause task runs on your fresh builds. On my Windows 7 install task (and I should note, this works with all versions of Windows you can deploy with MDT, even Windows XP), I added an install application task to my task sequence. To do this, click Add and general and Install Application. I add the new task sequence right after I install my applications.

As long as I keep notepad open, the task sequence pauses to let me do other things. I was able to install some custom line of business applications to my builds yesterday and install Windows Updates prior to capturing the image. You can even reboot the computer and as long as you don’t manually close notepad, the computer reboots and notepad pops back up, continuing to pause the MDT task sequence.

If you want to use the new method of calling LTISuspend.wsf in MDT 2010 then add a command line task instead of an install application task.

In the command line enter

cscript.exe %SCRIPTROOT%\LTISuspend.wsf

Then when this one executes, the LTI process suspends, you do what ever you need to do and then when you are ready to continue on, you click a desktop shortcut to resume the process.

While there is a capture image task sequence now part of MDT 2010 as well, capturing the image while building the computer is the preferred option.

A couple of articles to check out on this subject:

http://blogs.technet.com/deploymentguys/archive/2008/07/07/useful-script-number-6-pausing-the-task-sequence.aspx

http://www.eggheadcafe.com/software/aspnet/33524765/how-to-pause-the-capture.aspx

http://blogs.technet.com/mniehaus/archive/2009/06/27/mdt-2010-new-feature-3-suspend-and-resume-a-lite-touch-task-sequence.aspx

Highlights of Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010

• Unified tools and processes required for desktop and server deployment in a common deployment console and collection of guidance.

• Reduced deployment time and standardized desktop and server images, along with improved security and ongoing configuration management.

• Fully automated Zero Touch Installation deployments by leveraging System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 Release Candidate and Windows deployment tools. For those without a System Center Configuration Manager 2007 infrastructure, MDT leverages Windows deployment tools for Lite Touch Installation deployments.

New Features for Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT)2010

• Access deployment shares from anywhere on the network and replicate files and settings across organizational boundaries or sites.

• Organize and manage drivers, operating systems, applications, packages, and task sequences with an improved UI.

• Automate UI functionality using the new Windows PowerShell command line interface.

Now that you know what it can do for you, your next step is to download Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010. You can learn more about MDT by visiting the MDT site on TechNet.

The post from the Deployment Guys blog explains how to deploy Windows 7 using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 (MDT 2010) to a computer and instead of deploying to Disk 0 Partition 1, it is set to deploy to VHD file.

How to Setup MDT to Create a Boot from VHD Deployment

So how do we do this? Here’s the point form version. (You can get pictures from the Deployment Guys blog)

1. Create a task sequence to deploy Windows 7
2. You are going to insert 3 steps in the Pre-Install \ New Computer only phase
3. Edit the task sequence that changes how the drive is partitioned (I presented how to do this at TechDays Ottawa). In this case we don’t want to partition or format the drive. Disable this task sequence.
4. Insert a Set Task Sequence Variable Step named Set Boot VHD Location. You set the location of the VHD file is by setting the Task Sequence Variable to BootVHDLocation and set the Value to the location where you want the file to exist. (for example C:\Boot1Windows7.vhd) Ensure that the file you named in the variable doesn’t already exist.
5. Insert a Set Task Sequence Variable Step named Set Boot VHD Size. Set the task sequence variable to BootVHDSize and set the value to the maximum size you want the VHD to be. Ensure you have enough space to grow to the maximum.
6. Insert a Run Command Line Step and call it Setup VHD. The command line is cscript.exe “%SCRIPTROOT%\ZTIDiskPartVHD.wsf (There is no start in value.)
7. Download the script ZTIDiskPartVHD.wsf and copy is to your Distrobution$\Scripts folder. The link to the script is at ZTIDiskpartVHD.zip
8. Run your task sequence on a computer and it will install Windows 7 into a VHD.

This doesn’t work on machines that use Bitlocker to encrypt the drive.

The full article can be found at: http://blogs.technet.com/deploymentguys/archive/2009/03/03/deploying-win-7-to-boot-from-vhd-with-mdt-2010.aspx. They have pretty pictures to help you out.

This is a really smart way to boot into different environments. You can have different VHD images for different tasks, ie. One for programming, one for gaming, etc. Pretty sweet and easy to deploy when using MDT

What’s New?

• Support for deploying Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 in addition to deploying Windows Vista SP1, Windows Server 2008, Windows XP SP3, and Windows 2003 SP2
• Hard Link Migrations using USMT 4 for Refresh scenarios which will dramatically reduce your user state backup and restore time
• Integration of the new Windows AIK 2.0 Beta toolset such as DISM and BCDBOOT, and Windows PE 3.0

Also note, this version is for LAB deployments of Windows 7 using Lite Touch. Michael Niehaus recommends you not deploy this into your live environment which, for most people, is smart idea. No one has ever accused me of being smart or being like most people, but since I don’t want to break my existing MDT setup, I’ll install this to a Hyper-V server and make a test environment for myself. If I get a chance to give it a thorough test and it doesn’t break what I have working already, it might just end up in my live environment before Groundhog’s Day.

diskpart

select disk 1

clean

create partition primary

select partition 1

active

format fs=fat32

assign

exit

Note:The value of disk 1 is equal to the UFD’s disk ID.
Ensure that you are using the correct disk ID.

Once you completed that, go to your Media deployment point. This is important, you need to create a deployment point for removable media and then update the files so it populates the share. It will then create a content folder so copy the contents of that folder to the root of the USB stick and make the bootmgr file on the USB stick a system file and you’ll be off to the races.

Remember to get your hands on a fast USB stick, as I followed these instructions on a slow USB stick and it ended up taking 15 minutes to put 1.5gb on the stick and it was taking a long time to boot into PE. I was called out so I had to give up for the time being but I will be getting a faster and a few more USB stick to handle the roll out in the smaller branches.

The solution

After lunch, I came back to my laptop and did some searching. I came across the solution via the The Deployment Guys Blog.

In a nutshell, here’s what one has to do.

First, create a new driver group called No Drivers, don’t add any drivers to that group.

Create a separate deployment point (the second option in the deployment points)

Right click on the new distribution point  and click properties. In properties, hit the rule tabs and add below [Default]

DRIVERPATHS1=\\SERVERNAME\SHARE\%Model%

You will need to make the folder you specified above, share it and create directories in the share folder which correspond to the value the WMI gathers during the MDT deployment process. Put in the drivers you want into the model directories.  For example, the model name on my VM is Virtual Machine, I would need a folder called \\Servername\Share\Virtual Machine

Next in the properties, jump over to drivers tab, select the no drivers option. 

Click okay. Rebuild you file index and you have the solution to the problem.

Config Manager Pre-execution Hook

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb694075.aspx

The Deployment Guys Blog

http://blogs.technet.com/deploymentguys/

Michael Niehaus’ Windows and Office deployment ramblings

http://blogs.technet.com/mniehaus/

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Team Blog

http://blogs.technet.com/msdeployment/

The USMT Team Blog

http://blogs.technet.com/usmt/default.aspx

So far so good.

I built my computer the way I wanted it for a base image, syspreped it and then booted using my WDS capture boot image. This is good so far. The image was captured then I copied it to my deployment server and added it as a operating system. I also added a few applications and gave it the proper silent install command line. Again so far so good. Then I decided to try rolling out the image.

This was not so good.

First off I was missing the install files. The easy fix for this is to add Vista as an operating system from the DVD, so I did that and that error was solved. Then I ended up not having any images show up when I tried using my custom WIM file in my script. Weird, so I tried a fresh Vista install, that worked but all the options I set in MDT weren’t being picked up. Turns out, using a Dell Vista DVD has an $OEM$ folder in the sources directory. You need to remove the items in this folder from your deployment point as MDT will inject its own files. So the settings problem is fixed on fresh installs using the tool but why no images when I try to use a custom image? Turns out using the WDS capture tool fails to add an edition to the WIM file. Using ImageX you can add an addition flag to the file, or use the Capture tool within MDT.Just a note, the capture tool within BDD builds your operating system from what ever operating system you select, installs any drivers, applications you select then captures the machine. Don’t use it to capture an already formed baseline. I used ImageX to add an edition flag then re-added to MDT. Then I was able to apply my custom image to a new computer and the proper applications were installing and I was good to go. Took me a couple of days of poking around with MDT to make it go properly, but it went pretty slick once I did.

A really good website for information for me was http://www.windows-noob.com. They had a lot of useful articles for MDT which helped me out with the Dell DVD source directory issue, which was what I needed to get things going properly.

My next project with it is to play with Windows XP on MDT and get things installed using it.