WDS, Sysprep?

Banzai_Joe · 28 Jul 2011 at 15:18

Hi all,
been reading some similar threads about sysprep'ing.
I am awaiting delivery of 20 Dell Vostro desktops that come complete with Win 7 Pro x64 and MS Office 2010 H&B.
Now, i have a few other applications that need installing on each pc. I don't want to have to go to each one and install it, cos it's a ball-ache to do so.
We're on a 2008 R2 domain, and i've absolutely no clue about WDS, although i'm feverishly reading up on it.
I've also never sysprepped a pc either, but am willing to try, although there seems to be a lot to do and is often fraught with problems, and i may not have the resources to learn AND troubleshoot at the same time.
Each pc would obviously need to be renamed regardless of how the deployment plan is implemented.

So....i was wondering can the server deploy software other than MS products?

Basically, i need to deploy:

Acrobat Reader / or full Acrobat
Autodesk Design Review 2012
YouSendIt
ABBBY Pdf Convertor

If so, please advise on the best method of doing so.
Is it easy to sysprep. Some tutorials suggest it isn't.

Thanks for any advice offered.

Banzai_Joe · 28 Jul 2011 at 15:46

Thanks paradigm. Got technet subscription so am grabbing all 5GB of it from there right now.

Just tried sysprepping a win7 Enterprise install on a laptop and it failed to reboot. So...first time and it failed and now it won't boot, so i guess its knackered. This is what i'm afraid of happening if i try sysprepping for all 20 machines.

edit: whilst its downloading coudl you give me a brief of your experience of it please? Ease of use? practicality?
I'll probably install it onto one of my 2008 R2 Hyper-V's for testing.

Banzai_Joe · 29 Jul 2011 at 08:25

Wizzkidy said:
Can you not install these applications in sysprep /audit mode and then run the WDS capture wizard to just capture it to the WDS server and deploy out?

Well, that's the plan, but i'm new to WDS and a little lost already.
That aside my first sysprep attempt (post #3) failed already.
So i tried again by installing a fresh win7 pro x64 onto the test laptop...that actually failed to install. Don't think there is an issue with the laptop itself, it was running xp fine till i messed with it. :rolleyes:

So....so far...not so good!

I've downloaded SCCM, my as well install it onto one of my server 2008 R2 VM's and see. Can i put it on the same one that has thw WDS roles installed?

Banzai_Joe · 29 Jul 2011 at 09:11

Guys,
i'm part way through syprepping a fresh win7 pro x64 install. I've skipped adding the activation key. I'll install Offcie 2010, i have to enter a key but i won't activate it. There is a registry edit where you can delete the key, so i can do that.
Once i've created my image, how do i bring it into WDS?
The instructions for WDS say to install a boot.wim and install.wim from the Server 2008 RD dvd (which i have). But don't i have to import my newly created sysprepped image that's residing on a usb stick with the winpe thingy?

Hope this question makes sense.

Banzai_Joe · 29 Jul 2011 at 09:22

err....think i just found the answer. I guess i just plug the USB stick into the server and slect the winPE.wim for the boot one, and when i get the image on there, choose that for the install.wim ????

Feel free to confrim

Also, as i'm totally new to WDS and SCCM, which would you advise using? I know WDS is a role (so is free), but i have technet subscription so i can fully evaluate the SCCM.

Banzai_Joe · 9 Aug 2011 at 11:10

Update on this:
i'm totally lost folks.
Got some people advising to use WDT now not WDS.
I have 20 brand new Dell pc's all around my office.
I can't get GPO deployment of the apps to work for some reason, otherwise that would be the easiest way to sort all this out.

Any more advise would be greatly appreciated. From a deployment noobs pov, which would be the easiest for me to implement?
1. WDS
2. MDT
3. SCCM
4. GPO deployment

Banzai_Joe · 10 Aug 2011 at 11:44

Thanks PAz,
Right now, i can only foresee the need to deploy these 20 pc's. I'm really trying to avoid logging into each pc and installing the extra software as that would take me ages.
GPO seems to be proving troublesome already, i used an .exe to .msi convertor, but it didn't work for one of my apps, so that scuppers the plan already,
I'm quite keen on using MDT with WDS, i'm just unsure of what to do for the best with these Dell pc's as they already have win7 pro x64 on and the office 2010 pre-install, where if youinput your activation code then it installs the version appropriate to that code.
I'm wondering how that would/could be implemented into an image that i could deploy across the other 19 target machines. Could MDT also incorporate the other apps i want to install on these pc's?
My 3rd party I.T. support company don't tend to deal with 'enterprise' style deployments like this. Although i wouldn't class 20 pc's as enterprise, it would just save me eons in time.

Banzai_Joe · 10 Aug 2011 at 13:20

Ok, a bit confused now, if anyone is subscribed to this thread and knows about MDT;
why on earth do i have to start the target pc with a boot disk???
That kind of defeats the point of remote deployment for me. I thought it would allow PXE booting. Or am i missing something big time here?

Banzai_Joe · 10 Aug 2011 at 14:47

I know, that's not a problem Burnsy.....the learning and implementing of it all however.....that's the minefield! :rolleyes:

Banzai_Joe · 11 Aug 2011 at 08:03

teaboy5 said:
It's only 20 machines.

Build the computer how you want it. sysprep it and then just image it with something like acronis and just restore it on the other 19 computers and off you go.

Should take you a day for 20 depending on the size of the restore.

Well that was the original plan, however;

I've already had isues with sysprep testing (it failed)
Not sure how to configure the answer file so that it doesn't input or activate the codes for windows and office 2010
How/at what stage would i give the computer a unique name?
At what stage does it join the domain? Is this a manual thing?

SCCM does seems like the best method to use for deployment all software and updates. So I'm going to install the 2012 beta on a VM and have a play.
Would still like to learn the sysprep method though.

Banzai_Joe · 11 Aug 2011 at 10:45

Mr-White said:
What sysprep are you using and what problem are you having ?

You can configure the answer file to request input for domains and activation codes during the configuration stage of the installation.

MW

Well i just tried it on a laptop the other day as i'd never done it before, and after installing as couple of extra apps, it failed when sysprepping. It did seem to work without the extra apps, but that defeats the object.

Wouldn't know how to configure an answer file.

PAz, i read that link the other day, but it leaves holes in how to do it.
I actually did manage it yesterday, sort of, but i'm not convinced.
So i've downloaded the SCCM 2012 beta2 and will have a play later today.
Any pointers for it?

Banzai_Joe · 11 Aug 2011 at 12:28

Thanks guys.
To a few, SCCM etc may sound like overkill, but physically visiting each pc to install the extra apps would take far too long and is a no-go tbh.
I've got one of the Dell's loaded up with the extra software (reference machine).
So what should i do now, sysprep or just image it, using something like Acronis?
I would have thought sysprep otherwise each cloned pc will have the same windows and office activation codes as windows comes pre-activated, but office is pre-loaded (not installed until code is put in).
I'd need to buy a VL for imaging win7, which isn't a problem.
FYI, the extra apps are:
- DesignReview2012/TrueView (takes over 20 mins to install)
- PDF converter
- YouSendIt Express

Sadly only the PDF converter will succesffully deploy via GPO, hence the need to properly deploy and image somehow.