While many of the Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 default policies are good (somewhat) for production environment, they will sure mess up your classroom virtual labs when doing trainings. Here is a list of settings I use for my classroom virtual machines, and sometimes the Hyper-V hosts, to prevent most of the annoying […]
During the MVA Windows 8.1 Deployment Jump Start session, I demonstrated a PowerShell that Mikael Nystrom and I put together for an upcoming book. You find the script below. The Script sets correct permissions in AD for a Domain Join Account to work in OSD. The scripts sets the following permissions: Scope: This object and […]
Earlier this week I was following a distribution list thread about setting scratch space size in WinPE 5.0, which both MDT 2013 and ConfigMgr 2012 R2 is using, and I thought it needed some explanation. So here is short post on scratch space in WinPE 5.0, and why you, most of the times, don't need […]
Every once in a while you need to install SQL Server. It could be the SQL Server Express edition because you are using the Database for MDT 2013 Lite Touch, or the full SQL Server to support a System Center 2012 R2 product. Either way, both versions supports installing updates as part of the setup, […]
If you ever need a script that deploys and activates 25 virtual machines against a KMS Server, here it is. The solution is based on a MDT 2013 deployment share, and a script that deploys the VMs. The script is for Hyper-V only, but can easily be adjusted for VMware.
For those of you doing OSD Deployment with ConfigMgr 2012 R2, you quickly learned that the RTM code was badly broken. PXE didn’t work on the site server, and deployment was just dead slow. Luckily Microsoft produced, in record time, a hotfix that address both issues. That hotfix was KB 2905002. Update 2014-04-08: The CU1 […]
This is an update to an old post, this time using PowerShell. Anyway, by adding a few files to a folder you can simulate the gather process of MDT, and figure out why settings fails in seconds rather than hours… Create a MDT simulation environment – here is how:
Update July 30, 2014: You also might want to look into this post about creating a MDT simulation environment for your PowerShell scripts: http://www.osd-couture.com/2014/07/mdt-2013-create-simulation-environment.html
When using the build and capture task sequence in MDT Lite Touch it make perfect sense to add date information to the WIM file name created. Since CustomSettings.ini understands inline VBScript you can simply set the following:
In the February 2014 release of Smart Update Manager (SUM), part of HP Service Pack for ProLiant, HP decided to change the setup behavior, and of course breaking my existing sequences for server deployments. The new SUM is available here: http://h17007.www1.hp.com/us/en/enterprise/servers/products/service_pack/spp/index.aspx and as part of their new strategy for server downloads (which sucks beyond belief), […]
With the merger of MMS into TechEd it is quite likely that TechEd 2014 in Houston will be filled to the borders. So MMS in Vegas was cancelled, Techmentor did not want me, but luckily the TechEd folks (Microsoft) did. I’m happy to announce I got a bunch of breakout sessions at TechEd in addition […]
The ConfigMgr team recently published a blog post on the supported use of Data DeDuplication with ConfigMgr 2012 R2. Here is a Geek's summary of the 1500 word blog post: 1. Data DeDuplication is awesome! 2. ConfigMgr 2012 R2 supports Data DeDuplication on the following ConfigMgr folders only: Content Library (SCCMContentLib) SMSPKGx$ Note #1: This […]
I got a great tip from fellow OSD specialist Oskari Kampman who had been troubleshooting OS deployment to HP ZBook 15 (and a few others) with ConfigMgr 2007. It turned out to be a known issue, here is the info from Oskari: I managed to find the root cause for this issue. It turns out […]
Here is a download that builds a complete System Center2012 R2 infrastructure, and a few supporting infrastructure servers, as either virtual machines (Hyper-V and VMware tested) or physical machines. The kit can also deploy Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 clients, and is built upon MDT 2013. The Hydration Kit contents The kit allows you […]
I'm so happy! This has been an awesome, creative week, and every once in a while it needs to be said: I'm a genius! (but a humble and helpful one, ok maybe not so humble, but at least helpful) 🙂 This is the story on how to store 183 GB of virtual machines in a […]
Last summer I posted an article on how to generate computer names based on a prefix + sequence number. Since then I have received a few requests to modify it to also inject the serial number, and finally decided to post a quick how to. The original post is here: Generate computer names in MDT […]
This post was contributed by Patrick Zovistoski, a fellow community member. Thanks! The following steps show how to configure your Task Sequence to automatically install an Office 2013 Language Pack that matches the language selected during the Deployment Wizard. Since it is deployed dynamically, it eliminates the need to include the Office Language packs in […]
About two weeks ago I was finishing up writing an upcoming PowerShell book together with fellow MVP Mikael Nystrom. During the book development process we ran into having to configure a MDT deployment share, and since it's a PowerShell book, of course we wanted to do it in PowerShell. So, here is how. Creating a […]
Cumulative Update 4 (CU4) for ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 was released today (January 28, 2014). Info about the CU4 update is found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2922875 here follows a short guide on upgrading to it. The high-level steps are: Check for pending reboots Install the CU4 update Update the boot images Create/Update Client Package Update Task Sequences Check […]
I recently stumbled across and issue when the updates house-cleaning in the automatic maintenance task in Windows Server 2012 R2 spiked the CPU pretty bad. Here is some background info, and workaround for this issue. Update 2014-11-25: It appears that the http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/2975719 (http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/2771431 for Windows Server 2012) updates solves this issue. Background Shorthand, there is […]
Thank you all of you who visited my sessions at NIC 2014, it was great fun! Here are the slides, sample command lines, and PowerShell scripts used in the demos. If you miss anything let me know. Slides from my three presentations Building the perfect Windows 8.1 image Deploying Windows 8.1 in the Enterprise Troubleshooting […]