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I am deploying Windows 7 using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit on a Windows Server 2012.

Is it possible to test my settings, particularly in regards to the CustomSettings.ini file without committing to a full deployment? It is very time consuming having to run an entire deployment every time I want to fine tune a setting.

pgunston
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2 Answers2

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Copy it to a disk/USB device and use it on a VM or spare computer. If you have access to VMs then you can set the custom settings to run a certain deployment based on the hardware found.

I would recommend the disk/USB deployment test as it is easier to contain in case something goes wrong.

here are instruction on how to deploy via offline media: http://www.vkernel.ro/blog/creating-an-offline-mdt-deployment-media

If the deployment size is larger than 4GB then I would recommend a USB device as they are cheap for a lot of storage. Plus you can update the settings if you need to fix some of the settings.

Hope this helps!

Elliot Huffman
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Virtual machines are the best method of testing a deployment. You mention that you have Windows Server 2012, the easiest solution may be to enable Hyper-V on that server, create a virtual switch, and create a VM test client. A few tips which might help you streamline your testing:

  • If you use model specific settings in your customsettings.ini file, the model for a Hyper-V virtual machine is Virtual Machine. Duplicate the [ModelName] section of your rules to [Virtual Machine].
  • If you are testing deployments to UEFI systems, you will a Generation 2 virtual machines Generation 2 virtual machines require Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2.
  • If you are only testing the way that rules are processed, create a task sequence that doesn’t apply an image, or create an image much smaller than a full operating system.
  • Remember that you can duplicate the deployment share. Create a second deployment share for testing and copy the elements you want into it so that your production deployment share is unaffected.
  • As Elliot Labs suggested, you can create offline media, which uses a different set of customsettings.ini and bootstrap.ini files.
  • The one exception to using a virtual machine for testing is when testing the application of drivers or verifying that model specific settings use the correct model name.
WinOutreach2
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