Robert Smit MVP Blog   Azure and Microsoft Windows Insider Server Cloud Blog

• Fully use of the capabilities provided by System Center Configuration Manager 2012 for OS deployment.
• Improved Lite Touch user experience and functionality.
• A smooth and simple upgrade process for all existing MDT users.

With MDT 2012 Beta 2, the feature improvements span all installation scenarios. The latest version of MDT offers new User-Driven Installation components and extensibility for Configuration Manager 2007 and Configuration Manager 2012. MDT 2012 offers integration with the Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolkit (DaRT) for Lite Touch Installation remote control and diagnostics. Beta users now also have the ability to migrate MDT 2012 task sequences from Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012. MDT 2012 offers improved support for Configuration Manager 2012 while still supporting Configuration Manager 2007. New monitoring capabilities for currently running deployments ease Lite Touch Installation through an improved deployment wizard user experience, and enhanced partitioning support ensures that deployments work regardless of the current structure.

New Features:

For System Center Configuration Manager customers:

• Support for Configuration Manager 2012 (while still supporting Configuration Manager 2007)
• New User-Driven Installation components for Configuration Manager 2007 and Configuration Manager 2012:
  Extensible wizard and designer, additional integration with Configuration Manager to deliver a more customized OS experience, support for more imaging scenarios, and an enhanced end-user deployment experience
• Ability to migrate MDT 2012 task sequences from Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012

For Lite Touch Installation:

• Integration with the Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolkit (DaRT) for remote control and diagnostics
• New monitoring capabilities to see the progress of currently running deployments
• Support for deploying Windows to computers using UEFI
• Ability to deploy Windows 7 so that the computer will start from a new VHD file, “Deploy to VHD”
• Improved deployment wizard user experience

For all customers:

• Integration with configuration templates from the Security Compliance Manager Solution Accelerator, ensuring Windows is secure from the start
• A simple mechanism for running Windows PowerShell scripts during a deployment, with task sequence environment and logging integration
• Better partitioning support, creating the recommended partitioning structures on new computers and ensuring deployments work regardless of the current structure
• A smooth and simple upgrade process for all existing MDT users
• Many small enhancements and bug fixes

 

The following issue is not specific to any deployment scenario:

· Domain join fails when an organizational unit (OU) contains special characters in Unicode format. Select one of the following methods to resolve this problem:

· Use the MachineObjectOU property, as shown in the following example, to specify the organizational unit for the computer in the CustomSettings.ini file or in the MDT database (MDT DB).

[Settings]

Priority=MacAddress, Default

Properties=MyCustomProperty

[Default]

OSinstall=Y

[00:15:1d:ee:2a:aa]

OSDComputername=WDG-CLI-01

MachineObjectOU=OU=HelpDesk,OU=Corp,DC=Woodgrovebank,DC=com

· Use the DomainOUs property, as shown in the following example, to create a list of OUs in the CustomSettings.ini file or in the MDT DB that can be selected in the Deployment Wizard.

[Settings]

Priority=MacAddress, Default

Properties=MyCustomProperty

[Default]

OSInstall=Y

SkipAppsOnUpgrade=YES

SkipCapture=YES

SkipAdminPassword=NO

SkipProductKey=YES

DoCapture=YES

DomainOUs1=OU=Users,OU=Corp,DC=Woodgrovebank,DC=com
DomainOUs2=OU=HelpDesk,OU=corp,DC=Woodgrovebank,DC=com

· Use the DomainOUList.xml file, as shown in the following example, to create a list of OUs that can be selected in the Deployment Wizard.

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″?>

<DomainOUs>

<DomainOU>

OU=Users,OU=Corp,DC=Woodgrovebank,DC=com

</DomainOU>

<DomainOU>

OU=HelpDesk,OU=corp,DC=Woodgrovebank,DC=com

</DomainOU>

</DomainOUs>

You can create the DomainOUList.xml file using any XLM editor. Place the DomainOUList.xlm file in the Scripts folder in a deployment share for LTI or in the MDT Files package for ZTI and UDI.