Zero Touch Implementation with Configuration Manager 2007 R3 – Part3

In my previous article Zero Touch Implementation with Configuration Manager 2007 R3 – part2, we went over the required configuration for ZTI. We also installed and configured MDT integration with Configuration Manager.

Throughout this article, we will build and capture a reference image to be used later for production deployment.

Before starting with the package creation that we will build later for our reference image, let us add and configure an authoring rule in WebDAV.

For that, expand Server Manager, expand Roles, and expand Internet Information Services. From the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager pane, expand Default Web Site, and double click WebDAV

Click Enable WebDAV, and click Add Authoring Rule…

Under Allow access to this content to: select All Users, and under the Permissions check Read, and click OK

From the WebDAV Authoring Rules page, click WebDAV Settings. Under the Property Behavior section, select True on the Allow Anonymous Property Queries, select False on the Allow Custom Properties, select True on the Allow Property Queries with Infinite, and select False on the Allow Hidden Files to be Listed

At this point, we need to create packages for our Reference Image. For that, we will be creating packages for the User State Migration Tool (USMT), the Configuration Manager Client Agent, and the WinPE 3.0 (x86 and x64).

Expand Software Distribution, right click Packages, and select New Package. On the New Package Wizard, and on the General page, fill the information as shown in the below figure, and click Next

On the Data Source page, check This package contains source files, click Set and browse to USMT folder

For the remaining pages, click Next and accept all the default settings.

To update the distribution point, expand Packages, expand USMT package, right click Distribution Points, and click New Distribution Points. On the Welcome page click Next, on the Copy Package page select the distribution point, click Next and Close

To create the Configuration Manager Client Agent, expand Software Distribution, right click Packages, and select New Package. On the New Package Wizard, and on the General page, fill the information as shown in the below figure, and click Next

On the Data Source page, check This package contains source files, click Set and browse to Client folder

For the remaining pages, click Next and accept all the default settings.

To create a Program for the Configuration Manager Client Agent, expand the package, right click Programs and select New Program. On the General page, fill the information as shown in the below figure, and click Next twice

On the Environment page, select the option “Whether or not a user is logged on”

For the remaining pages, click Next and accept all the default settings.

To update the distribution point, expand the Configuration Manager Client package, right click Distribution Points, and click New Distribution Points.

On the Welcome page, click Next, and on the Copy Package check the distribution point, click Next and Close

For WinPE images, we will have to create a package for x86 platform and a second one for x64 platform.

To create an x86 WinPE image, expand Operating System Deployment, right click Boot Images and select Create Boot Image using Microsoft Deployment. On the package source page, specify the UNC path for the package source, and click Next

On the General Settings page, fill in the information and click Next.

On the Image Options page, select the x86 platform, and click Next

On the Summary page, click Next to start generating the WinPE x86 boot image.

To update the boot image to the PXE distribution point, expand Operating System Deployment, expand Boot Images, expand WinPE3.0 x86, right click Distribution Points, and click New Distribution Points.

On the Welcome page, click Next, and on the Copy Package page select the PXE distribution point

Click Next and Close.

To create an x64 WinPE image, expand Operating System Deployment, right click Boot Images and select Create Boot Image using Microsoft Deployment. On the package source page, specify the UNC path for the package source, and click Next

On the General Settings page, fill in the information and click Next.

On the Image Options page, select the x64 platform, and click Next

On the Summary page, click Next to start generating the WinPE x64 boot image.

To update the boot image to the PXE distribution point, expand Operating System Deployment, expand Boot Images, expand WinPE3.0 x86, right click Distribution Points, and click New Distribution Points.

On the Welcome page, click Next, and on the Copy Package page select the PXE distribution point

Click Next and Close

The next step would be to add the Operating System Install Package.

Expand Operating System Deployment, right click Operating System Install Packages, and click Add Operating System Install Package.

On the Data Source page, browse to the OS source directory that contains the installation source, and click Next

On the General page, fill in the information as shown in the below figure, and click Next

On the Summary page, click Next and Close

To update the distribution point with the OS package, expand the Windows 7 x86 Default Image package, right click Distribution Points and click New Distribution Points.

On the Welcome page click Next, and on the Copy Package page, check the distribution point

Click Next and Close

The next step would be to create a task sequence.

For that, expand Operating System Deployment, right click Task Sequences and click Create Microsoft Deployment Task Sequence.

On the Choose Template page, select the Client Task Sequence, and click Next.

On the General page, type a name for the Task Sequence name, and click Next.

On the Details page, Join a Workgroup , fill Windows Settings information, and click Next

On the Capture Settings page, locate the capture destination location and the capture account, and click Next

On the Boot Image page, select Specify an existing boot image package and browse to select the WinPE 3.0x86 boot image, and click Next

On the MDT package, select Create a new Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Files package and specify the UNC path for the package source folder to be created, and click Next

On the MDT Details page, fill in the package properties, and click Next

On the OS image page, select specify an existing OS install package and browse for the Windows 7 x86 Default Image, and click Next

On the Client Package page, select Specify an existing ConfigMgr client package, browse and select the Configuration Manager Client, and click Next

On the USMT package, select Specify an existing USMT package, browse and select the package, and click Next

On the Settings page, select Create a new settings page, and set the UNC path for the package source folder to be created, and click Next

On the Settings Details page, specify the settings package properties, and click Next

On the Sysprep Package, select No Sysprep package is required, and click Next

On the Summary page, click Next, and on the Confirmation page, click Finish

Go to the Capture Settings folder, and open the CustomSettings.ini file

Copy the below to be able to capture the reference image:

[Default]

DoCapture=YES

ComputerBackupLocation=NONE

BDEInstallSuppress=YES

We need to assign distribution point to the newly created package, and mainly to the MDT 2010 package and the Capture Settings package.

For the MDT 2010, expand the package, right click Distribution Points, and click New Distribution Points.

On the Welcome page, click Next. On the Copy Package page, select the distribution point

Click Next and Close.

Expand Windows 7 Capture Settings package, right click Distribution Points, and click New Distribution Points.

On the Welcome page, click Next. On the Copy Package page, select the distribution point

Click Next and Close.

Next, we need to edit the SLP parameter in the Configuration Manager Client Agent properties before installing it. For that, expand Operating System Deployment, select Task Sequences, right click the newly created Client Task Sequence and click on Edit.

Under PostInstall group, select Setup Windows and ConfigMgr, and in the installation properties type SMSSLP=SCCMPRIMARY where SCCMPRIMARY is the server hosting the Server Locator Point.

Your Task Sequence should look as below:

Click Apply and OK

The last step would be to Advertise the Task Sequence.

For that, right click the Windows 7 x86 Default Image Task Sequence, and click on Advertise

On the General page, on the Collection field, click Browse to select the desired collection.

Select All Unknown Computers, and check Make this task sequence available to boot media and PXE

For the remaining pages, click Next till you hit Close

Next, we need to create a WinPE media.

To create a bootable media, right click the Windows 7 x86 Default Image Task Sequence, and click Create Task Sequence Media.

On the Select Media Type page, select Bootable Media

Click Next, and specify the file name and location for the media file

On the Security page, uncheck Protect Media with a password and click Next

On the Boot Image page, specify the boot image that will be run from the media

Click Next twice, and click Close

At the end of this process, you should see a bootable WinPE ISO file that will be used to boot the machine that will be used to build and capture the reference image.

If you will be using Hyper-V to build and capture the reference image, you will need to attach the “iso” file to be able to boot to the Windows PE. If you are using a physical machine you can burn the “iso” file to a CD/DVD.

Once the machine is booted, WinPE will start and you will receive the Welcome screen

At this stage, you can click Configure to configure a static IP address, or you click Next and the machine will get an automatic IP address from the DHCP server.

On the Task Sequence Wizard page, click Next

And the Task Sequence will execute

At the end of this process, the Windows 7 will be installed, and an image will be captured and ready to be used for production deployment.

This comes to the end of Part 3. In this article, we went over the required steps to build and capture a reference image.