That helps a lot. Thanks. I was hoping to avoid targeting an “all workstations” equivalent collection, but maybe with all the other safeguards in place it is not too risky. Switching to this new method would let me avoid the problem of direct membership adds for new objects taking a long time in SCCM 2012.
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Niall Brady Sent: Monday, July 21, 2014 2:57 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [MDT-OSD] SMSPreferredAdvertID experiences? hi Todd, the way we use it is to create an OSD collection which is limited to All Systems, that OSD collection contains queries to include only workstations running Windows 7 or XP, select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name,SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System where SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion like "Microsoft Windows NT Workstation%" or SMS_R_System.OperatingSystemNameandVersion like "%Windows 7%" and it also includes direct membership queries for All Unknown computers (All X86 Unknown Computers - and All X64 Unknown Computers...) we target (deploy) OSD task sequences to that collection and they are either visible or hidden (6 task sequences in total) the deployment of the task sequences are always set to a Purpose of Available (we never use mandatory/Required), in addition, the task sequences are set to only run on Windows Vista X64 (which we dont have in the company) and are deployed to Only Media and PXE (for the visible task sequences) and Only Media and PXE (Hidden) for the hidden task sequences (we don't start any task sequences in Windows). This is working well so far (27k clients) and the collection update refresh is every 7 days with Incrememental updates also selected. Lastly, the PXE enabled distribution points and USB media are all password protected. I hope that helps, cheers niall On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 1:13 AM, Miller, Todd <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I did read through your posts initially on a google search for answers to my question before I posted, and they were pretty helpful. But I am still a little lost on what I guess is a key question. The Task Sequences must still be advertised to the computer object that is going to run the task sequence, and the only way for that to really work in all cases is to deploy all potential task sequences to a collection that contains all systems. Isn't that very risky? Or does everyone think limiting it to PXE/Media makes that OK? My current method is that i have 6 task sequences that are deployed to 6 empty collections. I have an pre-execution hook that runs a HTA to ask the user to select a task sequence. Then I use a web service to Direct Membership add that computer object to the collection targeted by the selected Task Sequence. When the OSD is started, I remove the object from the collection. It is only in there to get to OSD Task Sequence kicked off. With this new method, I would have those same 6 task sequences but instead of advertising them to 6 unique collections, I would advertise them all to one single collection, but set it to PXE/Media (hidden). And that collection would contain the equivalent of "All Systems" + Unknown Systems. Instead of adding the computer object to a collection, I set the SMSTSPreferredAdvertID to the DeploymentID of the chosen Task Sequence. I am pretty nervous about deploying a task sequence to a collection that is all systems equivalent, even though I can set it to run only for Windows XP SP1 64bit, PXE/Media Only, and hidden. Should I not be nervous about that? The only problem with my current method is that the direct membership adds to collections takes a long time, I have a workaround where I script a refresh of the All Systems collection, wait, and then refresh the targeted collection that i added the machine to. That all takes ~ 60 seconds and places an unknown burden on the site server - is it ok to refresh the All Systems collection every time someone kicks off an OSD? (40-60 times per day?) Trying to figure out which way is better going forward. ________________________________ From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>] on behalf of Niall Brady [[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>] Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2014 3:04 AM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [MDT-OSD] SMSPreferredAdvertID experiences? how did you DEPLOY the task sequence Todd, that's key, hint look for 'hidden' in the deployment (see screenshot) below are two guides I've written which will help you with this variable and using it to it's full advantage http://www.windows-noob.com/forums/index.php?/topic/6456-how-can-i-deploy-a-hidden-task-sequence-in-configuration-manager-2012-sp1/ http://www.windows-noob.com/forums/index.php?/topic/10374-how-can-i-make-multiple-hidden-task-sequences-available-on-demand-in-configuration-manager-2012-r2/ On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 3:52 AM, Miller, Todd <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Anyone have experience with this ts variable? I am having trouble getting it to work and have a couple of questions. Does the computer need to be in a collection that is targeted for several task sequences and then this variable is used to chose one of them without asking the user for which of the assigned TSes to run? Or can the variable be used to run a task sequence that is not targeted to the computer in question? I am using a pre-execution hook to assign this variable, but I get the no task sequences available error. I thought I read in the documentation that this variable is to be used to run task sequences independently of assignments, but clearly I am doing something wrong. If I have to add the computer to a collection or multiple collections (which is newly problematic in ConfigMgr 2012 - takes forever for direct adds to show up in the target collection) what is the point of the variable? Doing bare metal fresh installs. I've been using web services to add the computer to sccm and to the target collection for the chosen task sequence. This is pretty slow and takes about 60-90!seconds for the computer to show up in the collection and find an assigned task sequence. I was hoping to speed the process by just defining what ts deployment to run, but it looks like instill need to make sure the computer is in the target collection, so I can't figure out what is gained by this new variable. ________________________________ Notice: This UI Health Care e-mail (including attachments) is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. 2510-2521, is confidential and may be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any retention, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Please reply to the sender that you have received the message in error, then delete it. Thank you. ________________________________ ________________________________ Notice: This UI Health Care e-mail (including attachments) is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. 2510-2521, is confidential and may be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any retention, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Please reply to the sender that you have received the message in error, then delete it. Thank you. ________________________________ ________________________________ Notice: This UI Health Care e-mail (including attachments) is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. 2510-2521, is confidential and may be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any retention, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Please reply to the sender that you have received the message in error, then delete it. Thank you. ________________________________
