The Hydration Kit for ConfigMgr 2012 RTM is available for download

NOTE: This Hydration kit has been updated, you probably want to use this one instead:

The Hydration Kit for System Center 2012 R2 is available for download
https://deploymentresearch.com/Research/tabid/62/EntryId/149/The-Hydration-Kit-for-System-Center-2012-R2-is-available-for-download.aspx

Here is a download for deploying a complete ConfigMgr 2012 RTM infrastructure in either Hyper-V or VMware: One Domain Controller and one ConfigMgr 2012 RTM member server – Including pre-requisites like .Net Framework, SQL 2008 R2 SP1 CU6 (or higher) and IIS – all fully automated.

Once configured, the total build time for the full ConfigMgr 2012 RTM lab environment is about 1.5 hours (on my laptop).

Download the Hydration Kit for ConfigMgr 2012 RTM (315 kb).

Update 2012-05-11: The Hydration Kit has been updated to support the new SQL Server 2008 requirements for ConfigMgr 2012 that were published April 16, 2012

Update 2012-09-20: The Hydration Kit has been updated to support MDT 2012 Update 1 (since MDT 2012 RTM was removed from Microsoft downloads). Hardcoded values was also removed from all scripts, all settings are now read from the .ini files.

Update 2012-10-09: Fixed a bug in the Install Roles and Features action (causing IIS, BITS and RDC not to be installed).

Overview

To build the lab there are three steps you need to do

1. Download the necessary software
2. Prepare the hydration deployment solution
3. Deploy your virtual machines

Detailed instructions are further down this page… see the Step-by-Step Guide section

Step-by-Step Guide

Note: By default the Hydration is using the C: drive of the host, if you want to use another drive, simply change C: for D: in the powershell scripts.

Step 1 – Download the necessary software

On the machine (client or server) that you use to manage Hyper-V or VMware, create the C:\Downloads folder and download the following software (trial versions are ok too):

• MDT 2012 Update 1
• SQL Server 2008 R2 x64
• SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 Update x64 (KB 2528583)
• SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 CU6 Update x64 (KB 2679367)
• Sysinternals BGInfo
• ADK
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise with SP1
• ConfigMgr 2012 RTM
• ConfigMgr 2012 RTM PreReqs

Note: to download the ConfigMgr 2012 pre-requisites, run the SMSSETUP\BIN\X64\Setupdl.exe application from the ConfigMgr 2012 installation files, specify a temporary download folder and click Download.

Running the Setupdl.exe to download the ConfigMgr 2012 PreReqs

Step 2 – Prepare the Hydration Environment

Create the hydration deployment share

1. On the Windows machine that you use to manage Hyper-V or VMware, install ADK (adksetup.exe) selecting only the following components:
   • Deployment Tools
   • Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE)
     
2. Install the Microsoft .NET FrameWork 3.5.1 feature
3. Install MDT 2012 Update 1 (MicrosoftDeploymentToolkit2012_x64.msi) with the default settings.
4. Extract the HydrationCM2012RTM.zip sample file to C:.
5. You should now have the following folder containing a few subfolders and PowerShell scripts.

   C:\HydrationCM2012RTM\Source

6. In an elevated (run as Administrator) PowerShell command prompt, configure Execution Policy in PowerShell by typing the following command:

   Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Force

7. In the PowerShell command prompt, change directory (CD or Set-Location) to C:\HydrationCM2012RTM\Source and create the hydration deployment share by running the following command:

   1_CreateHydrationDeploymentShare.ps1

8. Merge the hydration kit content with the new deployment share by running the following command:

   2_MergeDeploymentShareWithHydrationKit.ps1

Populate the hydration deployment share with the downloaded files

1. Copy the BGInfo file (bginfo.exe) to the following folder:
   
   C:\HydrationCM2012RTM\DS\Applications\Install – BGInfo\Source
   
2. Copy the SQL Server 2008 R2 installation files (the content of the ISO, not the actual ISO) to the following folder:
   
   C:\HydrationCM2012RTM\DS\Applications\Install – SQL Server 2008 R2\Source
   
3. Copy the SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 x64 installation file (SQLServer2008R2SP1-KB2528583-x64-ENU.exe) to the following folder:
   
   C:\HydrationCM2012RTM\DS\Applications\Install – SQL Server 2008 R2 x64 SP1 (Update)\Source
   
4. Copy the SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 CU6 installation files (SQLServer2008R2-KB2679367-x64.exe) to the following folder:
   
   C:\HydrationCM2012RTM\DS\Applications\Install – SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 CU6\Source
   
5. Copy the ConfigMgr 2012 installation files to the following folder:
   
   C:\HydrationCM2012RTM\DS\Applications\Install – ConfigMgr 2012\Source
   
6. Copy the ConfigMgr 2012 PreReq files to the following folder:
   
   C:\HydrationCM2012RTM\DS\Applications\Install – ConfigMgr 2012\PreReqs
   
7. Copy the ConfigMgr 2012 EXTADSCH.exe file (SMSSETUPBINX64) to the following folder:
   
   C:\HydrationCM2012RTM\DS\Applications\Configure – Extend AD for ConfigMgr 2012\Source
   
8. Copy the .NET Framework installation file (dotNetFx40_Full_x86_x64.exe. found in the C:tmpprereqs folder) to the following folder:
   
   C:\HydrationCM2012RTM\DS\Applications\Install – NET FrameWork 4.0\Source
   
9. Copy the Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 installation image (install.wim, found in the Sources folder) to the following folder:
   
   C:\HydrationCM2012RTM\DS\Operating Systems\Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Eng x64

Create the hydration ISO (MDT 2012 Update offline media item)

1. Using Deployment Workbench (available on the start menu), expand Deployment Shares, and expand Hydration CM 2012 RTM.   
2. Review the various nodes. The Applications, Operating Systems and Task Sequences nodes should all have some content in them.

   

   Deployment Workbench listing the hydration task sequences
   
3. Expand the Advanced Configuration node, and then select the Media node.   
4. In the right pane, right-click the MEDIA001 item, and select Update Media Content.

   Note: The media update will take a while to run, a perfect time for a coffee break.

After the media update you will have a big ISO (HydrationCM2012RTM.iso) in the C:\HydrationCM2012RTM\ISO folder. The HydrationCM2012RTM.iso should be about 10 GB in size.

Step 3 – Deploy the virtual machines

Deploying DC01

1. Using Hyper-V Manager or VMware Sphere, create a virtual machine with the following settings:
   1. Name: DC01
   2. Hard drive: 100 GB (dynamic disk)
   3. Memory: 1 GB
   4. Network: Your lab network
   5. Image file (ISO): C:\HydrationCM2012RTM\ISO\HydrationCM2012RTM.iso
2. Start the DC01 virtual machine. After booting from HydrationCM2012RTM.iso, and after WinPE has loaded, select the DC01 task sequence.
3. Wait until the setup is complete and you see the Hydration Complete message in the final summary.
4. Leave DC01 running while deploying the other virtual machine (CM01).

Deploying CM01

1. Using Hyper-V Manager or VMware Sphere, create a virtual machine with the following settings:
   1. Name: CM01
   2. Hard drive: 300 GB (dynamic disk)
   3. Memory: 6 GB (minimum, 16 GB RAM recommended)
   4. Network: Your lab network
   5. Image file (ISO): C:\HydrationCM2012RTM\ISO\HydrationCM2012RTM.iso
2. Start the CM01 virtual machine. After booting from HydrationCM2012RTM.iso, and after WinPE has loaded, select the CM01 task sequence.
3. Wait until the setup is complete and you see the Hydration Complete message in the final summary.

Additional Configuration Notes:

If you need to change server names, IP addresses, domain names, installation paths etc. in the environment, the main configuration is stored in the four .ini files in the ISO\Content\Deploy\Control folder.

For SQL and ConfigMgr settings you need to update the following files in the DS\Applications folder:

• Install – ConfigMgr 2012ConfigMgr2012Unattend.ini
• Install – SQL Server 2012ConfigurationFileCM2012.ini

If you change the Administrator password, and/or domain name, you also need to update the Authorize DHCP credentials in the DC01 task sequence.

/ Johan