Some New OSD Tools
Summary: as part of our deployment of Windows 7 to Microsoft IT's users we developed some tools to enhance the experience. In case you have similar needs, we're pleased to be able to share them with you.
These are especially exciting times on the team that I work on: our implementation of OSD is being used extensively in the migration of Microsoft’s internal computers to Windows 7 RTM (the ‘gold’ version). Historically Microsoft users have relied on RIS, WDS, DVDs, or file shares to get the new operating systems. For our technical users that was ‘good enough’ but of course they were missing out on the data migration and other features of OSD.
In preparing to use OSD we not only ensured our infrastructure was ready for this new workload but we also created some tools to enhance the experience:
- OSD Tools
- These provide administrator-configured preflight checks and input wizards that are user-friendly. They take ConfigMgr OSD, which is primarily designed for administrator-driven OS deployments, and make it more user-driven
- Driver Synch Tool
- The Driver Synch tool is built to simplify adding drivers to your WSUS-based SUP servers, since your ConfigMgr clients can’t pull drivers directly from WU/MU. This tool allows drivers listed in a spreadsheet to be populated into WSUS, or based on Configuration Manager device hardware data. This is especially important for Windows 7 since Windows 7 expects to check WU/MU for the latest and greatest drivers.
We’re pleased to share these tools with you. We’re doing that via the Microsoft Connect site. The overall project is called “Modena” and you can get details on how to subscribe at:
http://blogs.technet.com/osd/archive/2009/07/29/joining-modena-beta-tools-program.aspx
Additional background and technical details are at this blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/osd/default.aspx
We’ve also talked about Modena at MMS (see your conference DVD) and in a webcast.
Note that Modena is not a product, nor a product extension, and so there is no official support. You can post questions at the Connect newsgroups.
p.s. Yes, I know I haven't been posting much lately - the summer has been a distraction, and Facebook has been a fun alternative to blogging, though less serious.