MDT 2013 Windows 10 and the MSP Part 3

March 1, 2017 4 Comments

mslogo2In Part 1 we looked at Installation, Part 2 was configuring the basics of MDT. In Part 3 we will look at some more advanced settings for CustomSettings.ini.

When a client connects up to MDT, via PXE, USB or UNC it will launch LiteTouch.vbs. This is the script that kicks off the whole MDT process.

LiteTouch.vbs itself then kicks off a lot of other scripts and wizards that finally present you with your TaskID choices that you create with Task Sequences.

Before those TaskIDs are shown, your system has been interrogated for information about the architecture, vendor, bios version etc. This information can be used to shape the choices that MDT presents to you.

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MDT 2013 Windows 10 and the MSP Part 2

March 1, 2017 Leave a comment

mslogo3In part 1 we looked at installing our MDT Server. In Part 2 we will look at some initial configuration of MDT.

The first time you open the Deployment Workbench you will want to create a Deployment Share.

A deployment share is the resource that holds all of your MDT Data, including Operating System Images, Applications, Drivers and Patches.

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MDT 2013 Windows 10 and the MSP Part 1

March 1, 2017 Leave a comment

mslogo1I am relatively new to the MDT scene. I did use it before on a project to deploy around 60 Windows 7 machines but, knowing what I know now, I really got the wrong end of what MDT is all about.

Recently I had another project to deploy an amount of machines, in deployment terms a small number (20) but in laziness terms, I didn’t want to walk around 20 computers manually installing things.

Of course WDS (or RIS) has been around since the good old days of Windows 2000 but it doesn’t suit every scenario, and hopefully by the end of this article you will be as much a convert to MDT as I am, because as you will see, MDT is much, much more than an alternative to WDS. Read more of this post

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PowerShell Password Reminder Script Updated!

February 21, 2017 19 Comments

mslogoToday I finally released my updated version of the now infamous, PowerShell Password Reminder script.

It has been a long time coming, and I have tried to incorporate a lot of the feedback (if not all from the 230 Q&As from the TechNet Gallery.

Now on GitHub https://github.com/titlerequired/public

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DHCP Option Values and PowerShell

February 16, 2017 2 Comments

Following on from my previous post, i wanted to share a small bit of PowerShell i created whilst on a site visit.

This was before i had worked on Vendor Classes but actually follows on quite nicely. In the previous post i mentioned a requirement to set an alternate NTP Server address, and used 1.uk.pool.ntp.org.

For those who may have worked with those NTP Servers in the past you may know that (as the name suggests) they are a pool of servers and the IP address returned changes frequently. So, setting that value statically and forgetting about it led me to find a new Phone on a clients desk was not syncing the time.  Read more of this post

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DHCP Vendor Class Polycom Phones

February 15, 2017 2 Comments

Bit of a change of pace for me today. No Essentials and No PowerShell.

I am setting up a new DHCP Server for a client. It is a small LAN that has no VLANs or any other advanced configuration, which leads their Polycom phones to sharing the same configuration as the client computers. This is generally OK of course however I wanted to specify specific NTP information to the phones. Of course I could do this with DHCP Reservations tied to MAC addresses, but I decided that after twelve years working in IT, I should probably try out DHCP Vendor Options.  Read more of this post

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Using DMARC with Small Business Server or Office 365

January 4, 2017 Leave a comment

The title is a bit misleading, so lets just acknowledge that straight away. Publishing DMARC is not related to the system you use to host your email. In the same way that SPF is not related to the system that you use to host your email.

As part of my day job I deal with several large organisations, who, for various reasons have not moved their email infrastructure to the cloud. As part of this, I have the unenviable and thankless task of trying to prevent spam, and guarantee deliver-ability of their sent mail. Read more of this post

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