Using DaRT 8 and MDT 2012 Update 1 Monitoring with ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 Beta

When integrating MDT 2012 Update 1 with ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 Beta (which you should, Capish!) you can enable its monitoring capabilities also for ConfigMgr 2012 OS Deployment. If you have access to DaRT 8 you can remote into WinPE when deploying the machines, great for troubleshooting.

Enable Monitoring in Deployment Workbench

To install the web service and database used for monitoring ConfigMgr 2012 you use Deployment Workbench. In this example my site server is named CM04.

1. On CM01, using the Deployment Workbench, right-click Deployment Shares and select New Deployment Share.
2. Use the following settings for the New Deployment Share Wizard.
   1. Deployment share path: D:\MDTProduction
   2. Share name: MDTProduction$
   3. Deployment share description: MDT Production
   4. Options:
3. Right-click the new MDT Production Deployment Share and select Properties.
4. In the Monitoring tab, select the Enable monitoring for this deployment share check box, and then click OK.

   Note: It will take a while for the Deployment Workbench to create the monitoring database and web service. The console even appears to hang, but no worries, just give it some time

Setup ConfigMgr to use Monitoring

After enabling the monitoring feature, you need to configure the CustomSettings.ini file in your settings package. In this example my settings package for ConfigMgr 2012 has its package source path on D:SCCM_SourcesOSDSettingsWindows 8 x64 Settings.

1. On CM01, using File Explorer, navigate to D:\SCCM_Sources\OSD\Settings\Windows 8 x64 Settings
2. Using Notepad, edit the CustomSettings.ini file, and add the following entry in the end:

   EventService=http://CM01:9800

3. Update the Distribution Points for Settings package
4. Start a deployment, and as soon as the task sequence has run the Gather action you see the machine in the Monitoring node.

Real time monitoring of the ConfigMgr 2012 deployments in the MDT Deployment Workbench.

Setup DaRT 8 to enable WinPE remote connection in ConfigMgr

One of the greatest benefits of the MDOP software assurance add-on is DaRT. With DaRT 8 you have the remote connection viewer that allows you to remote into WinPE during your ConfigMgr OS Deployments.

1. Install DaRT 8 on your site server
2. Using File Explorer, navigate to the C:\Program Files\Microsoft DaRT 8\v8 folder.
3. Copy the Toolsx86.cab file to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Deployment Toolkit\Templates\Distribution\Tools\x86
4. Copy the Toolsx64.cab file to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Deployment Toolkit\Templates\Distribution\Tools\x64
5. Create a new ConfigMgr Boot image using the MDT wizard; select the DaRT component during creation.
6. Configure your task sequence to use the new boot image, and start a deployment
7. When you see the client in the Monitoring node, you can double-click it, and then select DaRT Remote Control to remote into it.

Unsupported Tips and Tricks

The following configurations are useful, however not supported by Microsoft. Use at your own risk.

Problem 1

If you still run Windows Server 2008 R2 on your ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 Beta Site Server you get an "evil" error message when trying to install DaRT 8 (Microsoft DaRT 7.0 requires that your computer is running Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012.

The obvious fix is to use Windows Server 2012 for your site server, but what if you cannot upgrade right now, and still want to use DaRT 8 (which is required when using ConfigMgr 2012 SP1)?

Workaround 1

Well, you can trick the DaRT setup to install by doing an administrative install:

msiexec /a MSDaRT80.msi

Problem 2

OK, you got DaRT 8 installed, but when trying to click the DaRT Remote Control you see the error: Unable to launch DartRemoteViewer.exe. Or sometimes the console just crashes, but you see path not found errors in the crash text.

To figure out why MDT couldn't find the viewer, I started my good friend Process Monitor from Sysinternals, and configured it with a filter for DartRemoteViewer.exe.

Then I clicked the DaRT Remote Control again, and review the output:

Process Monitor output, showing that MDT looks in the C:Program FilesMicrosoft DaRT 7v7 folder, when installed on Windows Server 2008 R2.

Fix 2

Simply rename C:Program FilesMicrosoft DaRT 8v8 folder to C:Program FilesMicrosoft DaRT 7v7 folder J

Voila, remote connection works.

Happy Deployment!

/ Johan