Using SCCM 2012 RC in a LAB - Part 15. Deploying Windows 8 Consumer Preview using Configuration Manager 2012 RC2

[anyweb]

In Part 1 of this series we got our AD and SCCM servers ready, and then we installed System Center 2012 Configuration Manager as a standalone Primary site. In Part 2 we configured the SCCM server further by adding some Windows Server roles necessary for the following Configuration Manager 2012 functionality, Software Update Point (SUP) and Operating System Deployment. In Part 3 we configured the server further by Enabling Discovery methods and creating Boundary's and Boundary Groups. In Part 4 we configured Client Settings, Added roles and Distributed the Configmgr Client to our Computers within the LAB, then in Part 5 we enabled the Endpoint Protection Role and configured Endpoint Protection settings and targeted a collection called All Windows 7 Computers with these settings and policies.

 

In Part 6 we configured our SUP further to Deploy software updates to our All Windows 7 Computers and Build Windows 7 X64 collections. In Part 7 we used the Build and Capture process to create our Base Windows 7 X64 wim image. In Part 8 we created a USMT 4 package to migrate the users data using hardlinking and then we imported the captured image into ConfigMgr and created a Deploy Windows 7 X64 task sequence. We created a Deploy Windows 7 X64 Collection and set some User Device Affinity collection variables.

 

In Part 9 we created an Application, and created a deployment type for that application to only install if the Primary User was True for that device (User Device Affinity), we then copied our Task Sequence (duplicated it), deployed the new Task Sequence, added a computer to the new collection and then PXE booted the computer to the Deployment Menu. In Part 10 we monitored the Deployment process in a lot of detail to how UDA sent state messages and we verified that our application installed on the users Primary Device, in addition we modified our collection variables, and added a prestart command to our boot image to prompt for the SMSTSUdaUsers. In Part 11 we setup the Reporting Services Point Role and verified that reporting was working.

 

In Part 12 we demonstrated a new feature in ConfigMgr which allows us to Patch operating system WIM images using Offline Servicing. This means that you can apply Windows Updates by using Component-Based Servicing (CBS) to update the your previously captured WIM images. In Part 13 we looked at how Role Based Administration is used within ConfigMgr and we created a new custom role to allow a user (or users within a Security Group) to view Software Update Reports. This is useful because you will probably want one team to take care of configuring and deploying software updates, and to grant another (Management etc) the capability of reviewing Compliance Reports. In Part 14 we performed a side-by-side migration from Configuration Manager 2007.

 

Now we will test deploying Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

 

Note: This is a Windows 8 Consumer Preview OS being installed using a release candidate product so your results may vary and of course it's not supported by Microsoft. I'm only doing this because I want to see if it's possible to deploy Windows 8 with the current release of Configuration Manager 2012 and of course it's fun :-)

 

Windows 8 Consumer Preview System Requirements

 

 

Windows 8 Consumer Preview works great on the same hardware that powers Windows 7:

• 
   
  Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
  
• 
   
  RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
  
• 
   
  Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
  
• 
   
  Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device or higher
  
• 
   
  To use touch, you need a tablet or monitor that supports multitouch
  
• 
   
  To access Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768
  
• 
   
  To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768
  

Step 1. Get the ISO and Extract the contents on your Configuration Manager 2012 server

 

 

Download Windows 8 Consumer Preview from here, I used the X86 ISO (Windows8-ConsumerPreview-32bit-English.iso) for my Guide.

I then Mounted that ISO in my Configuration Manager 2012 RC 2 Hyperv virtual Machine and extracted the contents to \\sccm\sources\os\Windows 8 X86 Beta

 

 

Step 2. Add the Operating System Installer Image and Distribute Content

 

In the Configmgr Console, expand Software Library, Operating Systems, Operating System Installers, right click and choose Add Operating System Installer

 

 

browse to the path where we extracted it in Step 1

 

 

fill in some details about the image

 

 

and click next through to the summary

 

 

Once added, distribute the content to your DP's by right clicking the image and choose Distribute Content.

 

 

and continue through the wizard just like you've done before with Windows 7's installer image.

 

 

Step 3. Create the Build and Capture Task Sequence

 

In task sequences, right click and choose Create Task Sequence

 

 

Choose the Build and Capture a reference operating system image option

 

 

fill in the details and choose a X86 boot image as we are Build and Capturing the X86 Windows 8 image...

 

Note: if you are trying with the X64 image, then use a X64 boot image.

 

 

for the Install Windows step, select the following options, for Product key, use the key listed here otherwise the Setup Windows and Configmgr step will fail (error 31) later on in the process.

 

for network select to join a workgroup

 

 

select your Configmgr Client in the next step then next your way through on to the Capture image step, fill in your capture details

 

 

click next through to summary

 

 

Now right click the task sequence and choose Edit, Disable the Entire Capture Group (for now) and also disable the apply device drivers step.

 

 

 

Step 4. Deploy the Build and Capture Task Sequence

 

Right click on the task sequence and choose Deploy,

 

 

point it to the All Systems Collection (this is a LAB so this is OK, don't deploy task sequences to All Systems in production please....)

 

 

make sure it's set to Available and enable PXE

 

 

click your way through to completion of the wizard..

 

 

 

 

Step 5. PXE boot a new virtual machine and start the process

 

PXE boot your Virtual Machine (create a new one in hyperV), Press F12 for Network boot then you'll see the now familiar and very nice Configuration Manager 2012 splash screen

 

 

select your Build and Capture Task sequence and press enter, it starts applying the OS

 

 

and the Operating System installation starts..notice the color scheme is slightly different to what we are used to, and I like it !

 

 

before it reboots it might be an idea to monitor the SMSTS.log file using cmtrace

 

 

and after the first reboot we get our first look at Windows 8 Consumer Preview setting up :-)

 

 

and another reboot takes place..before Windows 8 finalizes settings

 

 

and then Setup Windows and ConfigMgr does it's work..

 

 

and we are done !

 

 

Conclusion: ConfigMgr rocks, and Windows 8 Consumer Preview rocks !!

 

 

more screenshots coming soon when bandwidth allows...currently it's worse than 56k dialup !!!

[zymme]

Thanks for a great article! I thought it would be easy like that but sadly I recived problem during the capture.

 

Following error could be found in the smsts.log,

 

Unable to sysprep the machine, hr=d000004

Syspreping the machine failed, hr=d000004

Failed to run the action : Prpare OS. The system cannot open the file (error 00000004: Source Windows)

 

I used the key from Microsofts webpage, and the image (x64) was downloaded from their webpage.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance!

[anyweb]

disable the entire Capture group and it'll work just fine.

[zymme]

disable the entire Capture group and it'll work just fine.

 

will try that, but then we will not be able to capture and then later deploy?

[anyweb]

not using this method as its unsupported and missing some vital files, in my guide i purposely disable the capture group, you can still capture it with imagex

[zymme]

Thanks. I used ImageX and created the image. Works like a charm to deploy it :-)

[techguyben]

I ran into trouble with the x64 deployment. It will not join the domain after installing Windows OS. It is identical to the x86 setup, which will join the computer to the domain, so I'm not sure what the deal is.

[ceraxton]

I was able to deploy Win 8 following this guide w/o any issues...except that upon reboot the VM tells me BOOTMGR is missing? I followed this guide step by step, although I did use 64bit version of Windows 8.

 

Any ideas on why the drive would not have been configured correctly?

[ceraxton]

I was able to deploy Win 8 following this guide w/o any issues...except that upon reboot the VM tells me BOOTMGR is missing? I followed this guide step by step, although I did use 64bit version of Windows 8.

 

Any ideas on why the drive would not have been configured correctly?

 

Ah ha...I am actually failing out of the of the Task Sequence w/ the error code 0x80004005. I must have missed this earlier, and it rebooted before I had a chance to see it.

 

Any ideas on what could be causing this error code?

 

Also, sorry for the noob question, but how did you get cmtrace to load in the console of the image while it is deploying?

[anyweb]

cmtrace is in the boot image by default now, just press F8 (make sure you enable this ability in the boot image properties) and you'll get a command prompt you can then cd to x:\sms\bin\x64\cmtrace.exe and launch it from there if a x64 boot image or x:\sms\bin\i386\cmtrace.exe for x86