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Windows deployment (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 year ago by electric_nan@lemmy.ml to c/sysadmin@lemmy.world

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I'm new to Windows deployments, and I need some help. I've gotten as far as setting up a new system from a Windows 11 image downloaded from MS, configuring it/installing software, and then running sysprep. I made a WinPE boot thumbdrive, but I'm stuck at capturing the Windows image part. Part of my problem is that I'm trying to make this in a VM. Is that more trouble than it's worth?

Is there an easier way to do this? I've seen people saying I can use Linux tools like Clonezilla, which sounds good to me, since I'm very comfortable with Linux-- but I read that might cause problems. One thing mentioned was licensing.

I would be deploying these images 100% onto Lenovo machines that we purchase from CDW, so I'm not sure how licensing would work. Is the license tied to the MAC? Will they auto-register once I boot them with the new image?

Thanks for anyone that takes the time to help me understand this :)

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[–] Nollij@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Everyone suggesting WDS or MDT is overlooking something very important- both are being phased out, and have limited or no support for Win 11.

If you are building a new workflow, you should not build on these tools. You should build on something supported going forward.

Thick/captured WIMs are generally not recommended anyway due to their higher maintenance needs. What are you trying to do in the first place? There are probably better approaches to solve that instead of capturing an image.

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm trying to save myself some time. I have a few boxes to setup per week. They are all either Lenovo ThinkCentres or Lenovo laptops. They all need uodates, a few things uninstalled, and a minimum set of things installed, including: Office365, Adobe Reader, OoenVPN, a remote desktop connection, etc. Some of the software requires manual registry edits.

[–] Nollij@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What's your endpoint management/MDM? It sounds like your org has about 500 PCs, which means you definitely need something to manage them after deployment. That's where I would start.

If you don't have an MDM, you need to push upper management that you do. Intune or PDQ are probably right for your size. Each comes with strings and complications, but they will save you a significant amount of time and money in the long run

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah... We don't use any endpoint management. We probably have closer to 150 PCs, but we are growing. I am half the IT dept and I've been here about 6 months. This is my first IT job, so I'm learning as I go, and the other guy did the same. I will definitely look into implementing Intune.