Configuration Manager and 1E

This is an old post (July 2012) that I never got round to finishing and posting as I was typing it up during the session.  It's readable (just about) and would be a shame just to bin so I thought I'd just post it RAW anyway...




I'm in Reading today for a ConfigMgr day with Wally Mead which is sponsored by 1E.

So 1E kick off the event with a session on who they are and beating records on deploying Win 7.
A quick poll of the room shows lots of people migrating to Windows 7 but few are finding it quick or easy job.
Application packaging and compatibility seems to be the biggest problem for people and then the scope/number of devices to upgrade.

1E tend to see some of these challenges:

• Data Transfer - Terabytes daily - Business app impact?
• Many locations - Many servers/site visits
• Many Applications - Rationalisation exercise?
• Migration Schedules - End user disruption
• Complex Project - People, time, resources and associated costs.

Where 1E can add value are:

• User driven processes - increase satisfaction
• Remove legacy software
• Minimise infrastructure requirements
• Tame complex projects and scenarios

1E feel that Windows 7 migration projects shouldn't be treated as "special projects" but should be considered as a business as usual project which is perfectly inline with how myself and Trustmarque approach Desktop Migration projects.
This is with the view of keeping skills in house, building processes and skill sets so that next time round for example Windows 8 can be smoothly rolled out with the infrastructure, methods and skills already in-place.

1E used Verizon as an example where they helped migrate around 90,000 devices.

1E Solution Set:
Shopping + AppClarity + Nomad

Example Nomad implementation - reduced 76 Sites, 1 Cent, 12 Primary, 63 Sec, 98 Dist

Nomad Features were demoed:

• USMT utilising peer to peer for storage
• PXE anywhere - No server requirement, use local client peers to auto elect one and use that as a PXE deployment point.  Keep OSD imaging within the local subnet and reduce network traffic.

1E can help with record breaking deployments:
Speed - Terabytes of data with zero business impact
Flexibility -

Bypass Corporate WSUS for update check

I've had an issue a couple of times now when testing/running Windows 8 in an environment where group policy enforces WSUS settings causing a problem as the WSUS server hasn't been updated to support Windows 8 clients or hasn't had the required updates published.

Sometimes this can easily be got around by simply clicking the "Check online for updates from Windows Update" link, however this was removed by GPO in these cases.

In these cases I've had to fall back to using this simple batch file script:

REG ADD "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU" /v UseWUServer /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
net stop "Windows Update"
net start "Windows Update"
control /name Microsoft.WindowsUpdate

After running this batch file, you can run Windows Update as normal and it will go directly to Windows Updates to check.

This is obviously not something a normal "user" should use, but then they shouldn't have the access rights to run this anyway!  Neither is it a permanent workaround, just a quick fix while the WSUS server is updated to provide Windows 8 updates.

Previous blog post on preparing WSUS for Windows 8/Server 2012:
http://systemscentre.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/preparing-wsus-for-windows-8-and-server.html

Error when creating MDT Packages for ConfigMgr 2012

Recently I ran into an error while creating the MDT 2012 packages for use with ConfigMgr, unfortunately the error message was not the most useful one to be seen...

Ok, so access to the path is denied... but what's the path that it's trying to access???


This occurs when stepping though creating a new MDT task sequence and selecting to create new packages for the first time and unfortunately you have to re-step though all of the wizard options from scratch each time while trying to troubleshoot.

Anyway, long story short, running Process Monitor while trying to create the packages showed it failing while trying to create an autorun.inf as part of the MDT Package.

 

While the screen shot above shows a successfully built package, the folder we were seeing contained a temp file only.

 

A bit more digging narrowed it down to McAfee Anti-Virus running on the server that was blocking the creation of Autorun.inf files.  Strangely enough though it didn't block the MDT installer or the creating of the deployment share.

 

After messing with disabling the AV and stopping services to prevent the ePO restarting the AV we ran through the MDT Task Sequence wizard again and it installed successfully.

 

 



I suppose I should have paid more attention to the note by Michael Niehaus on this old blog post for MDT 2010 Update 1

Extended Virtual Machine Discovery Management Pack

Infront released a new management pack, a while ago, for FREE, to the community via System Center Central.

http://www.systemcentercentral.com/tabid/143/indexid/94055/default.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+systemcentercentral%2Fblogs+%28Blogs+at+System+Center+Central%29

This management pack will give you a deeper insight into your virtual machines including recognising which platform (Hyper-V, VMware & Citrix), which hosts they're located on, if VM Tools are installed and the version.

(footnote. I actually wrote this post the day they released it, but forgot to post it /facepalm)

AWOL

Posts have been very light on the ground of recent I'm afraid due to just how busy I've been both at work and personally.

I'm on the road and in hotels for the next week or so and hopefully that will give me the some time to catch back up.

Some of the posts I'm hoping to get done soon will be around:

• SCOM noise and advice
• System Center installation PowerShell scripts
• Orchestrator Runbooks
• Windows 8 deployment customisation
• SCSM customisation and extension
• System Center console deployments via ConfigMgr
• Other random bits...

So hang fire, I'm still around, just stupidly busy...