I set up MDT 2010 Beta (from Microsoft Connect) tonight for the first time on some Hyper-V virtual machines. The idea is to get to a point where I can take an XP PC, capture the user state, deploy Windows 7 and restore the user state.
My first experience with MS’s advanced OS deployment tools was back when Windows Server 2003 SP2 was in beta/RC stages. I was researching WDS to write a whitepaper for this blog. I downloaded the BDD and quickly abandoned it. It was a circular maze with no start point. It was awful. I know that the Deployment team got feedback that they had produced less than stellar documentation. I personally think that was part of the problem with businesses not accepting Vista with open arms.
I need to say here that I have never used MDT before. I’ve only ever seen deployment MVP, Rhonda Layfield, demo it.
So I downloaded the tiny MDT 2010 installer. Of course, it needs the humungous WAIK for Windows 7/Windows Server 2003 ISO (I think it’s 1.6GB now). I also needed the Windows 7 ISO.
I set up 3 VM’s:
- A DC running DNS and DHCP
- A MDT server
- A blank PC
I installed WAIK and MDT 2010 on the MDT server. Nothing went wrong there. I fired up the Workbench. It’s pretty simply laid out. Documentation is the first thing you see – INCLUDING a start up guide for a lab! *round of applause *
Steps to configure MDT to do a simple Lite Touch deployment:
- Create a MDT deployment share: this creates a set of folders in the share and in the workbench. There are tasks associated with the folders.
- Import the OS image: provide the DVD and point at the root.
- Import your drivers: I had extracted the CAB from the Hyper-V Integration Components ISO into the C:Temp folder. I pointed at this. All the drivers were imported. Do this for your PC and laptop (and server because you can deploy a server OS using MDT too!) drivers.
- Create a task sequence: This is the set of steps that will be performed. I went with the “Standard Client Task Sequence” to test out my implementation.
- Update the deployment share: This creates Lite Touch boot image WIM’s and ISO’s for each of the supported CPU architectures.
I then took the ISO for my OS architecture (x86) provided it as media for the blank PC VM hardware configuration and booted it up. I was asked to pick a task (e.g. deploy and OS), log in, pick a task sequence and then sit back. Windows 7 was installed and then logged in automatically.
I reckon I could have alternatively taken my boot image WIM and stuck it up on a WDS server … that’s next in the lab. I also want to go ahead and extend this:
- Capture a Windows 7 OS image with all the typical office apps.
- Create a task sequence to: 1) capture an XP user state 2) deploy my captured Windows 7 image and 3) restore the captured user state.
I’ll update the blog as things progress.