Ronni Pedersen's Blog Site

I’ve just got an email from Microsoft, saying that I’ve received the Microsoft MVP Award on System Center Configuration Manager. I'm truly honored…

Thanks to my lovely wife and to my son, for being so patient when I spend (too much) time working for the Danish IT community.

Living in a non-english speaking country like Denmark, I often have to deal with deploying English versions of Windows XP and/or Windows Vista, with other Regional Settings, Keyboard Settings, Time Zones etc.

In the past I've created a VBScript to modify the sysprep.inf or the unattend.xml, after laying down the image on the client. The values were configured with Collection Variables or Computer Variables. The script collected the value during deployment, and replaced the value in the sysprep.inf or unattend.xml file before restarting into mini setup.

This year at TechEd in Orlando, I attened a great session on Windows Deployment with Configuration Manager (Part 1 of 4) with Michael Kelly. In this session he showed a demo, where he created a custom variable ("XRes" and "YRes"), and typed the variable direct in sysprep.inf like this:

sysprep.inf:
[Display]
   XResolution=%XRes%
   YResolution=%YRes%

This was a simple example, but it gave me a lot of ideas to work with. And as a result of this, I no longer need my "fancy" script to take care of my deployments anymore. This is how I do it now (example):

For my Windows XP deployments I've created a sysprep.inf that looks like this:
(This can also be done with Windows Vista deployments, but you’ll need to use the unattend.xml and the format should be in XML).

sysprep.inf:
[GuiUnattend]
   TimeZone=%LAB_OSDTimeZone%
[ResionalSettings]
   SystemLocale=%LAB_OSDSystemLocale%
   SystemInput=%LAB_OSDSystemInput%
[Display]
   XResolution=%LAB_OSDXResolution%
   YResolution=%LAB_OSDYResolution%

The sysprep.inf file should be place in a package in order to use it from the task sequence.

In the “Deploy Windows XP” Task Sequence, you need to specify the sysprep.inf file in the “Apply Operating System” section, like this:

In order to use the sysprep.inf containing the variables we need to assign some variables to our collection first.

How to Create Collection Task Sequence Variables:

	In the Configuration Manager console, System Center Configuration Manager / Site Database / Computer Management / Collections.
	To assign a variable to a collection, right-click the collection, and then click Modify Collection Settings.
	Open the <New> Variable dialog box, click the Collection Variable tab, and then click the New icon.
	In the New Variable dialog box, specify a name (example: “LAB_OSDSystemInput”) for the variable. On the Value line, specify the Value (Example: 0406:00000406 for danish keyboard) of the variable, and if the value is masked, enter the value again to confirm the variable on the Confirm Value line, and then click OK.

You can also specify Precedence by selecting a numeric value from the drop-down list, where 1 is the lowest precedence, and 9 to specify the highest precedence. The Precedence level will be used when a computer is a member of multiple collections with differing precedence levels assigned.

You can also specify per-computer task sequence variables, by right-clicking the computer object, click Properties, and then click the Variables tab. Per-computer variables will allways overwrithe per-collection variables.

That’s all folks… No more scripting for modifying the sysprep.inf file during deployment :-)

Additional resources:

TimeZone codes: (scroll down to the end where you’ll find “TimeZone”)
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/1cd05ce1-7eaa-4b03-bef5-772bb2d799eb1033.mspx?mfr=true

Locale ID’s and Input Locale:
http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/reference/winxp/xp-lcid.mspx

A few weeks ago Don Hite ran across my blog on Windows Live. He liked the information on the blog, and asked me if I would be interested in moving my blog to myITforum.com.

I mainly blog about System Center Configuration Manager and other desktop management technologies, so moving to the myITforum.com site feel like the right thing to do.

The next 2-3 months I’ll cross-post all my post on both myITforum.com and my current blog.

Thanks to both Don Hite and Rod Trend for this great opportunity.

Hyper-V, one of the key features of Windows Server 2008, has now released to manufacturing (RTM) and is available for deployment into production environments. A beta of Hyper-V was included with Windows Server 2008 and this update provides the final release. The Hyper-V update will be available through Windows Update from July 8th.

I’ve upgraded my test lab running Hyper-V RC1 to the RTM version, and so far everything is running smoothly.

The official Press Release from Microsoft.

Additional information:

• http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization/default.mspx
• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950050
• http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/c513e254-adf1-400e-8fcb-c1aec8a029311033.mspx?mfr=true
• http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/e/7/2e7387d3-1391-4176-abe8-44e481100694/relnotes.htm

Download:

• http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=F3AB3D4B-63C8-4424-A738-BADED34D24ED&displaylang=en

First thing on the agenda was the Keynote... As usual Bob Muglia was doing this presentation. I don’t want to go into any details about the keynote or the sessions. But if I say the keynote was both predictable and a bit boring I don’t think I’ll offend anyone. Better luck next year :-)

My first real session was “What’s new in SP1 in ConfigMgr”. Not a “tech sexy” topic, but I think Wally did a good job. The focus was on Asset Intelligence 1.5 and the Intel AMT feature (Out of band management).

After lunch I went to a “Steve Reilly” session about security (do remember the session name). As always Steve was both entertaining and inspiring. He didn’t spend much time on specific products, but talked about privacy in general. During the years I’ve went to a lot of Steve’s sessions. This one was one of the best.

The last to session was both presented by Michael Kelly. The sessions were part 1 and 2 in a series of four sessions on Operating System deployment with Configuration Manager 2007 and MDT 2008. I have seen similar session at both TechEd IT Forum in Barcelona and at MMS in San Diego last year, so my expectations were not that high… Shame on me… Both sessions were fantastic. Not only did he managed give allot of useful tips on OS deployment, Task Sequences and User State Migration, both he also managed to talk about level 300-400 content in a “non-sleepy way”… Great Job!

After the conference we went to the “IT Pro Party”. The topic was the launch of the Springboard site. Free beer and… hmm… nothing else... really boring. So we went to the Jam Session instead. THAT was true fun. Amazing how many tech guys that can play the blues :)

Today the Microsoft TechEd 2008 North America starts. What we traveled half around the globe to attend had finally begun.

Monday was Pre-Conference day. I attended the “Deploying and Managing a System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Environment” with Wally Mead as speaker. He started by telling us that we properly wouldn’t be able to complete the content of the session within the 7 hours available for the pre-conference :-)

During the first half of today’s pre-conference, we was continually disturbed by the noise from the KeyNote practice. Loud bongo drums, and a hysteric woman that were yelling, for literally hours, did make the first part of the pre-conference a true pain. After lunch the bongo drums diapered. But after a few minutes they started testing the conference speakers… over and over…

Somehow Wally got through the session without getting crazy. And I think he did a great job, but when you consider that we actually paid to be there, they should give us all a refund or at least an excuse.

The content of the session covered the following topics (95% hands-on):

Scenario 1 – Deploying a System Center Configuration Manager Environment

• Preparing the Active Directory for Configuration Manager Integration
• Installing Microsoft Configuration Manager 2007
• Configuring the Configuration Manager Site for the Lab

Scenario 2 - Deploying Configuration Manager Clients

• Installing Configuration Manager 2007 Clients using Client Push
• Reporting Configuration Manager 2007 Client Deployment Status
• Installing Configuration Manager Clients using Software Update Client Installation
• Installing Configuration Manager Clients using Group Policy

Scenario 3 – Using Client Inventory Data

• Viewing Client Inventory Data with Resource Explorer
• Viewing Client Inventory Data with Reports Using Inventory Data for Queries and Collections

Scenario 4 – Distributing Software to Clients

• Distributing a Program to Clients
• Implementing Maintenance Windows
• Implementing Branch Distribution Points

Scenario 5 – Deploying Software Updates to Clients

• Synchronizing Software Updates in Configuration Manager
• Generating Update Status on the Configuration Manager Client
• Generating Software Update Compliance Reports
• Distributing Software Updates Using Configuration Manager Software Update Management
• Validating Current Software Update Compliance

Scenario 6 – Identifying Desired Configuration Compliance

• Creating and Importing Configuration Items
• Creating Configuration Baselines
• Scanning Configuration Manager Clients for Compliance

Scenario 8 - Deploying Windows Vista via Network Boot

• Preparing the Environment for Configuration Manager OSD
• Installing a Configuration Manager PXE Service Point
• Preparing the Operating System Image for Deployment
• Preparing for Bare Metal OS Deployment
• Deploying an OS Image Using Configuration Manager 2007
• Installing the Image at the Target Client Computer
• Viewing Status for the Image Deployment

I knew yesterday was going to be exciting, but it went beyond my imagination. We left the Hampton Inn in Fort Lauderdale at 8 am. We drove south, heading for the Tamiami trail (route 41).

The first stop was the “Shark Vally Visitor Center”. At the entrance we saw the first amazing animal. I have no idea what the turtle is called, but check out these pictures:

At the parking lot we saw this little fellow:

Baby aligators… Cute…!

The adult aligators…

And a lot of amazing birds.

We arrived at the hotel in Orlando 10 pm last night. We have no plans for today, but think it’ll be either another day of shopping, or we’ll spend the day in SeaWorld… Lets see what happens.

Tomorrow the Microsoft TechEd events starts, and I’ll start focusing on the technical stuff again :-)

Yesterday was amazing… We actually managed to spend more than 9 hours of non-stop shopping. Not even my wife can beat that :-)
We got a lot of cool stuff, and to a very good prize… When you live i Europe, almost everything is about 50% off.

Today we are heading for Orlando. We plan to drive through the Everglades National Park. The largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, visited by more than one million people each year. This is how our trip is planned, and hopefully we’ll arrive at our hotel in Orlando around 8 pm tonight.

Yesterday, my travel mates (Peter Schmidt and Jens Ole Kragh) and I, arrived at the hotel in Fort Lauderdale (Hampton Inn), where we’re staying for the next couple of days. The flight from Frankfurt in Germany to Miami was almost 10 hours. The flight was less than 50% booked, so even on “monkey class”, the flight was comfortable.

Last time I visited Miami was 15 years ago, so I wanted to check out downtown Miami to see if anything has changed. We went to the Bayside Marketplace to grab some food and a beer at Hooters. Everything looked excalty the way it did 15 years ago… Amazing.

Today we’re going to “shop ‘till we drop” in the “Sawgrass Mill”. The Sawgrass Mill is one of the biggest shopping malls in the United States, so I might have a chance to find something great to bring home to my wife and my son.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we’re going check out from the hotel early, and drive though the Everglades National Park. The Everglades National Park is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States. The area boasts rare and endangered species, such as the American crocodile, Florida panther, and West Indian manatee.

We plan to arrive in Orlando late Saturday night.