SCCM OSD

anything I don't mind

anything I don't mind

anything I don't mind

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Has anyone deployed windows 7 via sccm operating system deployment?

There are a lot of guides on the internet and it is looks like a very unnecessarily convoluted process.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/gborger/...a-windows-7-capture-image-using-sccm-osd.aspx

In the past I have just created a windows 7 installation with all the applications and used sysprep and scripting to automate the whole process. For deployment i have just used manual or pxe boot. (using clonezilla)

With the sccm method it definitely appears to be less customizable because it appears that you just specify a basic windows 7 reference image (which is the normal windows 7 disk) then you use sccm to add it to the domain and deploy applications within it. This seems very restricted in terms of advanced application deployment that requires a lot of registry changes.

Microsoft have also gone out of their way to use strange terminology like reference images, boot images, task sequences. Seems a bit gimmicky.

Has anyone actually used this method to deploy advanced enterprise images?

It appears to me that SCCM OSD is basically just installing a basic windows image with no customizations and then depends on SCCM afterwards to actually install applications and customizations. is that correct ?
 
Actually SCCM is very customisable. You can tell it to do a ton of things whilst it's installing Windows (resizing the disk, joining domains, installing apps, etc.).

Obviously it's going to install apps via itself rather than dump them straight into the image. It's also very 'English'. i.e. install Windows 7, expand the disk for all space, join this domain with these credentials, install Microsoft Office, restart.

The terminology, in my opinion, is very logical. The boot image is basically winpe. The reference image is the Windows 7 / XP / Vista ISO. The task sequence is the sequence to install Windows and run all of the taks.

I set this up at my current company and it works superbly. I don't use it day to day as it's a Desktop task but, from what I've seen and initally configured, it's very, very powerful.


M.

P.S. for reg files you can still build an application for them and get SCCM to deploy this.
 
I was going to say, SCCM makes it more customisable imho.

Want a reg change? Put it in a post image task sequence.

SCCM does it the 'right' way imho, keeping the base image as such very clean with just the core OS and sticking the apps on after.

Most people don't do it like this, they stick a bunch of apps and stuff in the image which from my experience creates more work in the long run when you start having to update stuff.

I've setup robust and reliable build and imaging systems in a couple of companies now and it's always been a very slick and quick system, albeit neither were SCCM based. Just for the reason that when I was putting them in SCCM wasn't around and the OSD add on in SMS wasn't great.

Had it working brilliantly at the last place I did it, Ghost deployed the image then ran a post image task of my custom installer which added in everything else required on top of the os and office which was on the image. And for laptops it even sorted out all the encryption product + config.

Need a new app on the build? 2 minutes to edit the installer and it's done, no fannying around redoing images every time and no risk of out of date apps on an image not being updated properly.
 
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I read that it takes 1 hour per pc to install with sccm and that is not including post image tasks. If you are installing applications and running scripts then you might have to restart a few times. You also have to create the profiles of all the users. The first time they log in they will have to wait 20 mins and a few reboots. Unless sccm can do that automatically?
 
groen said:
I read that it takes 1 hour per pc to install with sccm and that is not including post image tasks. If you are installing applications and running scripts then you might have to restart a few times. You also have to create the profiles of all the users. The first time they log in they will have to wait 20 mins and a few reboots. Unless sccm can do that automatically?
Click to expand...

Installation time depends on numerous things... mainly the time it takes to transfer the WIM to the machine. I always recommend a thin image (minimal amount of applications/configuration) with applications and configuration layered on using task sequence steps. Taking this approach allows you to upgrade applications or alter the configuration without having to re-capture your image :)

The key is to make sure you end up with a consistent configuration across your entire desktop estate, that is as automated as possible and repeatable for all machines. Your image should be hardware independent...built on a VM with no drivers... these should be installed during OSD using WMI queries to select the appropriate model. If you meet the above and maintain this consistent configuration, troubleshooting becomes easier as you know what you have got, upgrading becomes easier and life, well... becomes easier :) ~ start looking into DCM after you've got your head around this as that will help you to maintain the configuration once deployed! You might find the above massively overkill if you've only got a couple of hundred machines in your environment... this methodology becomes key when you start talking big numbers. I'm working on a project at the moment where we're imagining, 3-500 machines a day. Pay's for itself....

You can do whatever you like with an OSD task sequence.... reboot, install software, run command lines, install drivers, apply updates, install roles and features, capture user state... the possibilities are endless :)

Not quite sure what you mean about users having to wait 20 minutes to login? There are numerous ways of configuring profiles, the most popular at the moment being profile virtualisation using redirected folders/roaming profiles.

If you are learning SCCM, drop 2007.... grab the RC of 2012 and get playing. It's changed, and for the better!
 
I just want to point out that the old way of just imaging with sysprepped machines does not require a full reimage when an application has an update. I would like to ask is sccm capable of detecting already installed applications within a domain on client machines and then act as management tool for these applications ? Does deploying the package via sccm rather than just a scripted install make any difference within sccm. Is it recommended?
 
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That was another reason I didn't use SCCM OSD, a build for me took 10 minutes including post build app installation using the creaky Ghost system I inherited :p

But helped that all desktops were the same model/hardware, and only a few models of laptop.

groen said:
I just want to point out that the old way of just imaging with sysprepped machines does not require a full reimage when an application has an update.
Click to expand...

Sorry just to clarify, we're not saying if Flash needs updating on all your machines you reimage them all if that's what you're getting at.

What we're saying is if you installed flash on your sysprepped image, then ideally when flash got updated you'd want to update the image which takes time.

One thing you need to try and remember is when you say 'but I need to do xyz, reboot, add a reg key' etc, as said above you can pretty much do anything using SCCM :)

NiCkNaMe said:
Installation time depends on numerous things... mainly the time it takes to transfer the WIM to the machine. I always recommend a thin image (minimal amount of applications/configuration) with applications and configuration layered on using task sequence steps. Taking this approach allows you to upgrade applications or alter the configuration without having to re-capture your image :)
Click to expand...

What I said but written better :p

I kind of miss my old SMS/SCCM jobs.
 
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OK fair point, but generally I would not remake an image like that. I would just run an update or uninstall reinstall after the image. But yea i am sure SCCM makes things easier and faster, it would have to considering it costs £1000s. If it didn't then it would be a waste of money right?

Well I might be working on a project for updating 2000s machines to windows 7. But they want to use SCCM which i am not too happy about.
 
SCCM takes longer as it's basically installing everything as it goes. This is good as you can use the same image and task sequence for all clients (dell desktops, hp laptops etc etc)

You can also send it to branch DPs so if you want to re-install a remote machine, just ask the user to press F12 and do a PXE boot.

There's nothing that can't be done through OSD as you can use VBScripts within the task sequence to change any reg settings etc etc (or even better, use GPO!)
 
Well if you take for example the document management system that we use. It requires installation of two applications that require reboots, then requires applying local machine reg files, copying configuration files. Then within the user context, it requires additional set up, reg files to the local user and more copying of configuration files.

What about powershell scripts, I would guess i can use powershell scripts in task sequences.

It doesn't sound easier, from what ive seen it looks like MS have just added a layer of BS to make money. But i could be wrong.


The reason people prepare images with applications preinstalled is because using group policy or scripting installation of advanced applications post login can be problematic. I can't see how adding fancy words like task sequence is going to make that process any smoother.
 
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groen said:
Well if you take for example the document management system that we use. It requires installation of two applications that require reboots, then requires applying local machine reg files, copying configuration files. Then within the user context, it requires additional set up, reg files to the local user and more copying of configuration files.
Click to expand...

All of that can be done through SCCM no problem, so you can get full automation and deployment.

groen said:
What about powershell scripts, I would guess i can use powershell scripts in task sequences.
Click to expand...

You can use anything you like.

Think of SCCM as a fancy app launcher if you will, you tell it to run something and it'll run it. Just that with SCCM you can run it on 1000s of machines, target where it's run, and importantly get reporting information back as to where it ran, where it failed etc.

groen said:
The reason people prepare images with applications preinstalled is because using group policy or scripting installation of advanced applications post login can be problematic. I can't see how adding fancy words like task sequence is going to make that process any smoother.
Click to expand...

As above, SCCM won't magically make your installer for you, SCCM is there once you have a working installer to deploy and manage that deployment.

App packaging will still play a big part, SCCM is not an app packaging tool, it's a deployment and management tool.

A big advantage is it's audit/reporting capability, reporting on deployments so you know what's worked and what hasn't (especially coupled with DCM).
 
groen said:
Well if you take for example the document management system that we use. It requires installation of two applications that require reboots, then requires applying local machine reg files, copying configuration files. Then within the user context, it requires additional set up, reg files to the local user and more copying of configuration files.
Click to expand...

Providing you can create some sort of silent installation method for the installation bits and any configuration you need to do then a task sequence is perfect... reboots, etc. can all be handled. Although for such a dirty app i'd be looking at App-V :p

What about powershell scripts, I would guess i can use powershell scripts in task sequences.
Click to expand...

Yup. :)

It doesn't sound easier, from what ive seen it looks like MS have just added a layer of BS to make money. But i could be wrong.
Click to expand...

You are part right. It isn't easier... it takes time and patience to configure but once it is configured then configuration and management is a breeze. I've been in companies that pay a fortune in staff expense travelling the width and breadth of the country (and even overseas) to do simple tasks that SCCM has then taken over. It's reliable and consistent but it requires some initial investment.

You can also do Zero-Touch installation with SCCM when you integrate it with MDT. That means you can deploy a Windows 7 Task Sequence to a running machine and rebuild it, with user data, computer name, networking configuration all kept in tact :) If a user has an issue, you don't need to spend hours investigating it anymore, just schedule a rebuild to happen overnight. It's also great for upgrading an OS.................

The reason people prepare images with applications preinstalled is because using group policy or scripting installation of advanced applications post login can be problematic. I can't see how adding fancy words like task sequence is going to make that process any smoother.
Click to expand...

When you say people, what people? A task sequence is a group of steps you can advertise to a machine that will execute, e.g.;

  • Install Software Package A
  • Reboot
  • Run Configuration Script
  • Install Software Package B
  • Run Final Configuration Script
  • Reboot

The success/failure of each step is reported back in the advertisement, so you know the exact state of the installation. You can query on each step, e.g. if your application requires a tweak if it's installed on WinXP, then you can add an additional step and put a query rule on that states it will only run if XP is detected. It's so customisable! What's not to love? :D

Gone are the days of slagging Microsoft off just because it's Microsoft... the upcoming System Center wave of products are just awesomeness.

EDIT: Check out SCCM 2012 with it's new User Centric features... it puts a user at the heart of the configuration, as opposed to putting the computer at the heart. Applications track users... for instance, if a user logs on to a device frequently this would become their primary device... therefore all applications could be configured to traditionally install on that machine. If a user logs on to a secondary device, then if available the app could be deployed via App-V/Citrix/RemoteApp.
 
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SCCM is veryyyy powerful. It does a lot more than just deploying operating systems. It does rollouts of updates, it can do session remote desktops, it can roll out software at scheduled time, it can wake on lag scheduled apply updates e.t.c.

It's amazing basically. The god of IT system PXE rollouts.
 
I've done it but ended up going back to MDT/WDS as our SCCM box multicast transfer speeds were poor for some reason, and WDS works well anyway.

We've already paid for 2012.. they just need to hurry up and release it :D
 
Always wanted to get to MMS, funnily enough I've been in Vegas a couple of times when it's been on but on my own time rather than work.

Didn't think saying to the wife I'm just popping along during our wedding would go down too well.

(although we did have a wonder over one day so I could at least see it going on, sad I know).

Not in that line of work anymore but loved it when I was.
 
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