Best practice / strategy for handling installation of multiple applications during Post-Installation?
I'm in the process of trying to move my MDT workflows over into the K2000 SDA appliance and am having some challenges strategizing some of them.
I currently have around 11 Task Sequences (Image Workflows) within MDT.
One of the features within MDT that I've been relying heavily upon to reduce overheard when making changes to workflows is using package references.
This allows me to create package bundles of items common to multiple images in a single location opposed to having to update each workflow.
This is especially useful when changes such as introducing new applications is done.
We primarily utilize a thin imaging workflow where most systems receive the same Wim containing Windows and MS Office + updates then package installation and configuration is done during the post-imaging phase.
Here is a technical example of one of my MDT Image workflows. This one is for Employee Workstations.
- MDT applies the wim file.
- Standard MDT mid level tasks are preformed.
- Administrator account credentials are set based upon the deployment share (RSA)
- Packages are installed depending upon the image workflow.
- Package group applicable to all systems within the orginization are installed.
7-Zip
Mozilla Firefox (ESR)
Google Chrome Enterprise
Adobe Air
Adobe Flash Player
Adobe Shockwave Player
FileZilla FTP Client
Java Runtime Environment
VLC Media Player
Enterprise Baseline configuration package (Includes settings for windows as well as settings that are applied to the default user profile)
- Package group applicable to all Employee Workstations within the organization are installed.
VOIP Desktop Client
Accessibility Software
Screen Capture Software
Employee Workstation configuration package (Includes settings for windows as well as settings that are applied to the default user profile)
- Package group applicable to Employee Workstations at the specific site are installed.
Items such as additional bookmarks, applications and configurations which vary site to site.
- Applications selected within the deployment wizard are installed.
- Generic local account is created
There are several workflows which are essentially a copy of the one above but have department specific software or configurations that are applied on top of them.
What I want to avoid is having several images that are essentially duplicates of one-another with minor over the top differences and having to make modifications to each one when there are changes to the baseline workflows, such as adding, updating or dropping a package/script.
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Posted by:
Nico_K
5 years ago
use the task groups in the SDA for doing the same.
Alt. you can add the post installs step by step.
But honestly:
If you have a SMA too, use this for deploying software.
Alt. you can add the post installs step by step.
But honestly:
If you have a SMA too, use this for deploying software.
Posted by:
cserrins
5 years ago
Task Groups were introduced in SDA version 6.0, which sounds like it will accomplish most of what you want. However if you apply a task group to an image and then add another application to the task group, that additional application does not get assigned to your workflow.
Hope that makes sense.
Comments:
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I experimented with the task groups a bit and they hopefully did not do what I'm hoping to accomplish. I got my hopes quite high when I saw the verbage groups but found they are moreso templates then anything else, in order to effectively use them I would have to clear out the contents of each imaging workflow and reapply the task groups and then the one-off items for that workflow. This unfortunately doesn't scale well as a direct replacement for our current structure. What I'm currently considering doing as a stop-gap replacement is bundling the software stacks into single application entries within the K2 that contain multiple apps. - Kiyolaka 5 years ago
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There is a "clear all tasks" button to easily remove assigned tasks. I understand it isn't exactly what you are looking for, but makes it quicker than the manual process. You may also want to add a detailed description to http://kace.uservoice.com - cserrins 5 years ago
