Optimizing K2000 Workflow

Dell World 2014
Optimizing K2000 Workflow
Charles C. Ruffino, Endpoint Systems Management Sales Engineer
Jayson Mounivong, Endpoint Systems Management Sales Engineer
November, 3, 2014
Dell World
User Forum

Dell World 2014
Agenda
• Introduction
• Preparations
• Auditing the K2
• Golden Image
• Workstation Configuration
• Preparing the Image
• Deployment
• Test
• Track
• Re-Deploy

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Auditing the K2000
• Storage
• Review the amount of free space available on the appliance
• Keep a minimum of 20% free
• Images
• Backup and Remove un-used images
• Remove test images
• Remove outdated images
• Remove images that “don’t work right”

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Golden Image
• Create
• Create your golden image in a virtual machine
• Test
• Deploy a single partitioned scripted install of the OS to a workstation
• Use only volume license media (OEM licenses cannot be reused)
• Update
• Deploy a non-sysprepped image back to the original workstation (updates)
• Repeat
• Update your images every couple of months to keep everything clean

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Workstation Configuration
• KACE Provisioned
• Script or Image Install – Delete %ALLUSERSPROFILE%DellKACE
• Sysprepped
• Delete sysprep_succeeded.tag from ..WindowsSystem32Sysprep
• Profiles
• Create an Administrator Profile and Customize as Default
• Recommendations from KACE
• Thin Image
− Use Post Installation Tasks
• Fat Image
− Avoid Applications that Require Constant Updates
• Any Image
− No Anti-Virus, Encryption, Virtual Device Emulators

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Preparing the Image
• First Capture
• Don’t Sysprep
• Back it up
• Be Descriptive
• Use Notes in K2
• Second Capture
• Use sysprep_creator_wizard
• Copy “default” Account
• <copyprofile>True</copyprofile
> in Unattend.xml
• /generalize /oobe /shutdown
/unattend
• Capture
• Verify Mini Setup Runs Correctly
• Test Everything is Working as
Desired

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Task It, Track It, Re-Deploy It
• Task It
• Pre-Installation
• Mid-Level
• Post-Installation
• Consistent Naming Scheme
− App-****, Script-****, OSConfig-****, Mid-****
• Clean-up
− Remove Unattend Files (%WINDIR%Panther and %WINDIR%System32Sysprep)
• Task Order
− Place Prerequisites Before Dependencies
• Deploy to a Different Workstation
• Validate Everything Works as Desired
• Repeat

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Audit the K2000 Before you Begin
 20% of space should remain clear on the appliance.
 Backup and remove images no longer needed and then copy and
remove them from the restore share.
 Remove images that were being tested, or that have been updated.
 Do not image or create a golden master of a machine that comes
directly from the manufacturer.
 Never run a purge or delete an image while capturing an image.

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Network Requirements
• DHCP Options 66 and 67 must be configured or you
must use the onboard DHCP server
• Option 66 Value: IP address of your KACE Appliance
• Option 67 Value: k2000.0
• KACE Appliance must be on same subnet as target
machines or use an IP helper to direct TFTP and Netboot
traffic across subnet

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Start Fresh
 Deploy a single partition scripted install of the operating system
you would like on the machine, only volume license media should
be used, avoid using OEM media, or
 Deploy a non-sysprepped image back to original machine to apply
updates that occurred after capturing. Every couple of months is
a good time frame to update an image.

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Boot Environment
Creation

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Download and Install WAIK (Windows Automated
Installation Kit)
The KBOX makes use of several tools that Microsoft has
bundled into the Windows Automated Installation Kit for
Windows 7 (WAIK). To perform several of the exercises below,
you will need to first download and install the WAIK onto your
computer. It is recommended that you use a Windows 7,
Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2008 machine to create the
boot environment. Windows XP Machines will not work to build
the boot environment

Dell World 2014
Download and Install WAIK
• Download the Windows AIK
from the Microsoft website.
• While WAIK is downloading, you
can continue below by installing
the Media Manager application.
• Burn the downloaded ISO file
(KB3AIK_EN.iso) to a DVD, or
use an ISO mounting utility to
access the files.
• Run the WAIK installer
(StartCD.exe).

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Download and Install the K2000 Media Manager
The KBOX 2000 Media Manager is an application that can upload Windows media
to the KBOX for use in automation of OS installation, and also upload some
deployment tools that the KBOX requires in order to function. The Media Manager
can be downloaded from the KBOX on the Library > Overview page.
**NOTE: You will install the Media Manager on the same machine that you install
the WAIK on.
• Visit the Library page on the K2000.
• Click on the Download Media Manager link in the Source CDs section.
• Note that the Media Manager for Windows requires .Net 4.0 to be installed.
• Click on the Download for Windows link. Save the kmediamanagerwin.msi
file to the administrator computer.
• Run the kmediamangerwin.msi installer.

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Download and Install the K2000 Media Manager

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Add Driver Pack from KACE
Before creating the boot environment, we recommend adding the supplemental
KACE driver pack supplied on our support site. This driver pack contains many of
the NIC and mass storage drivers that are missing in WinPE 3.0. You can
download the driver pack by clicking on this link.
• Download and extract KBE_driver_pack to your desktop
• Browse to the folders kbe_windows_x64 and kbe_windows_x86
• Copy and replace the folders and files into the drivers directory on your KACE
appliance by mounting the driver share <yourk2000>drivers
• If you cannot mount the driver share from Win7 or Vista, you must change your
local security settings.

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Add Driver Pack from KACE
 Re-cache all drivers from Library  Manage Drivers

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Building the Boot Environment
The KBOX Systems Deployment Appliance uses a customized version of Windows
Pre-installation Environment 3.0 (WinPE) as a network Boot Environment to
perform scripted operating system installation and system imaging. The Media
Manager utility can be used in conjunction with the WAIK to build the boot
environment and upload it to the KBOX.
This build process creates a version of WinPE 3.0 that is compatible with the
KBOX, and integrates any drivers that you have put into the kbox_winpe3_x86 and
kbox_winpe3_x64 libraries on the KBOX. You will only need to add the mass
storage and NIC drivers to the WinPE 3.0 folders. For more information on driver
management on the KBOX, click here.

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Building the Boot Environment
Because the integration of drivers into
the Boot Environment is performed at
build time, you will need to repeat this
build process whenever you add or
remove drivers to the libraries above.
• Launch Media Manager and select
‘Create K2000 Boot Environment’
• Enter KACE Appliance hostname
or IP address and share password
• Select architecture radio button
• Name your KBE (ie. KBE_30_x86,
KBE_x64, etc)
• Start upload
View the details in the UI under
Deployments > Boot Environments.

Dell World 2014
Create USB Bootable Flash Drive
Click into your created boot environment
and select ‘Create bootable USB flash
drive image for this Boot Environment’ and
then save. This will rebuild your boot
environment and create a downloadable
zip file that will be available the next time
you click into the detail of that environment.
If you are unable to use PXE to boot your workstations into the KACE Appliance,
you can create a bootable USB device. The USB drive then can be used to boot a
machine to KBE without enabling network booting. It is recommended that you use
a flash drive of at least 1 GB as the boot environment will grow in size as you add
more drivers.

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Create USB Bootable Flash Drive (Continued)
 Download file by clicking on the disk icon in the KACE UI. Once the download is complete, extract the
files to the C: drive of your machine.

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Create Bootable Flash Drive (Continued)
 When finished, a dialog box saying ‘completed’ will appear and your USB flash drive should be ready to
go. If you want to verify that the files were copied, you can browse the completed USB drive.
• Insert the USB flash drive into your machine and then open a command prompt and navigate to
C:name_of_your_KBEinstall.exe and launch.

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Create Bootable CD
If you are unable to use PXE to boot your workstations into
the KACE Appliance, you can create a bootable CD. The CD
will be used to boot the workstation into the KACE appliance.
• Download the bootable ISO
• Mount ISO and burn the files to the disk

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Scripted Installation
Creation

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Upload Windows Media
You can import the OS source from a
CD/DVD or use ISO mounting software
to mount an ISO and load it onto the
KACE K2000 Appliance. You transfer the
files onto the KACE Appliance using the
Media Manager. Once on the KACE
K2000 Appliance, you can use the OS
source in Scripted Installations without
having to use physical CDs. The KBOX
will not accept OEM media. The
Windows Media must be genuine in the
form of CD/DVD or ISO.

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Define Pre/Post Installation Tasks
Pre/Post Installation tasks can be used to customize scripted installations both
before and after you deploy the operating system. There are a number of examples
that ship with the appliance. Some examples of pre-installation tasks are: create
partition and format C: as NTFS. Some examples of post-installation tasks are:
rename a machine, join to the domain, and install software.
Version 3.4 and above of the K2000 appliance added a more robust driver injection
engine that happens automatically after image deployment. Drivers can be pulled
from the Dell Driver Feed within the K2000, uploaded from the Driver Harvesting
Utility, or manually copied to the K2000. There may still be some cases when
drivers, including chipset, graphics, and sound, may need to be installed as post
installation tasks. Refer to this KB article as a guideline on how to set up a driver
installation post install task.

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Define the Scripted Installation
To define or build the scripted installation, navigate to the Deployments > Scripted
Installation tab and click ‘Add New Scripted Installation’
You will give the scripted install a name, select the source CD to use for your build, and
click next. The next screen will ask how you want to create the answer file.

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Define the Scripted Installation (Continued)
The KACE Appliance supports multiple methods for creating an answer file for the
purposes of automating Windows Setup. The easiest way to create an answer file is to walk
through the answer file wizard. KACE collects the information required, and formats an
answer file for use in the Scripted Installation.
Alternately, you can upload existing answer
files that you may have on hand because you
have previously automated Windows setup.
Finally, you can choose to perform an
attended setup, in which case Windows Setup
will prompt you for every piece of information
as it progresses. This is identical to running
Windows Setup from the install media, but you
get the benefits of centralized deployment.

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Once you have completed the answer
file, you can choose which pre and post
installation tasks you want to use with
your build. The available tasks are on
the right hand side and you add them
to your build by dragging them over to
the installation plan on the left.

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Once you have selected your appropriate tasks, click next and KACE will build your scripted
installation. From there, you can stage a deployment (deploy the scripted installation to a
system), create another scripted installation, or view the scripted installation details.

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Scripted Installation Deployment
There are two options for deployment of a scripted installation. One method would entail
setting the boot actions via the scripted installation details through the UI. The other
method is to boot the machine into KBE and choose the installation you want from there.

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Configure the Workstation
 Install all patches and updates.
 Create an administrator profile and customize the profile you want to set up as
default, if desired.
 We recommend creating just a base image, using post installation tasks to deploy
your software at a later time when possible, and thereby making your images more
flexible when deploying to numerous departments, or different types of users.
 If you are making a "full" image, avoid installing software that is updated
regularly (flash, reader, etc.), make these into post install tasks and leverage the
K1000 for updates.
 Do not install applications such as anti-virus, encryption, security, virtual CD
software, any software that emulates hardware, or the K1000 agent in your
image.

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Image Capture and
Deployment

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Image Capture
To start the image capture, you must boot a
machine into the KACE 2000 using PXE or
Netboot depending on your image. Once you
boot the machine into KBE, you should
navigate to the KBE UI for image capture.
Note: If you want to capture an image and
deploy to multiple machines you will have to
use sysprep before you capture the image.
The KACE 2000 Appliance uses a proprietary image format called a K-Image. This image is
a file based image instead of a sector based image where you copy and store the entire
disk. It gives us flexibility* when capturing, deploying, and storing images.
*WIM will be faster to deploy but K-Image can be easier to use if just repairing an install

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Capture your Image Without Sysprepping
 Capture a non-sysprepped version of your golden image
first. Sysprep issues happen often, and if there is an issue it is best
to restore a non-sysprepped image to the original machine, which
will also avoid rearm issues.
 Be descriptive in your naming of captured images, including if the
machine is sysprepped, a version or date of capture, this will allow
system administrators in your environment to choose the best
image to deploy from the drop-down list in KBE. In addition, use
your notes field in the K2000 UI as a change/audit log.

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Manipulating the Image
Images are accessible in the UI from the Deployments > System Images tab. You can modify
the images you capture directly through the UI of the KACE 2000. Only K-Images can be
manipulated in this way. To browse through the files:
 Click into the image name
 Click ‘Browse Files’

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Sysprep your Image
 Use sysprep_creator (Tools menu) if you don't have an
unattend.xml file.
 If you configured a "default" account, then make sure that
<copyprofile>True</copyprofile> is set in the unattend file.
 When running sysprep make sure to use /generalize /oobe
/shutdown and the /unattend switch.
*Shutdown is preferred so that pxe boot isn't missed on a reboot. If using the
<copyprofile> option, sysprep must be run from the customized account.

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Capture you Sysprepped Image
 Capture the sysprepped image to the K2000 (follows the same
process as capture without sysprep), verifying that enough space
exists for the capture (first step).
 After capture, reboot the sysprepped machine to make sure that
mini setup runs correctly.
 Test to make sure everything in the image works as desired.

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Image Deployment
Image deployment is very similar to deployment of a scripted installation. You can stage
the image deployment by setting boot actions as well as deploy from the boot
environment UI (same method as capturing an image). You also have the ability to deploy
images from a USB drive.

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USB Image Deployment
To create the USB image, click on the ‘Create bootable USB flash drive image for this System
Image’ from the system image detail

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USB Image Deployment (Continued)
This will take you to an instruction page where the file will be created. Once the file is
compiled, you can download the file and follow the instructions for image build. The USB
image build will be very similar to the USB boot environment creation.
NOTE: The USB image process is much slower than the network based image deployment.

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Common Post Installation Tasks
Post installation tasks are a way of customizing your image or
scripted installation deployment. These tasks can include scripts,
applications, etc. Some of the common installation tasks that you will
use with your deployments are join domain, rename workstation,
install product key, and activate Windows.

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Join Domain
You can choose to join a workstation to the
domain as a part of your image or scripted
installation. If you choose to join outside of the
actual OS installation, you will have to use a
post install task to join the systems to the
domain. We have an example task that you can
use to join the systems to the domain. The
example can be found in the post installation
task tab.

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Rename Workstation
To rename workstation, we leverage the
application wsname.exe. The application has
multiple commands that you can use to
rename workstations. The tool will allow you
to use variables as well as create custom
names read from a file. Here is an example of a
task that renames the workstation using
variables

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Rename in Domain
The wsname tool can also be used to rename the machine in the domain. The command line
for that would look similar to the following:
 Wsname.exe /N:$SERIALNUM /RCID mydomain.com /USER:myuser /PASS:mypass
/DELETEEXISTING /RESPACE
**NOTE: Even though the KBOX 2000 has both join domain and rename computer post
install tasks, they will not work when run in tandem. When the computer is renamed
using WSNAME, it has to reboot before the Domain_Join routine can run in order for the
new name to take effect. Failure to reboot the computer means the computer will join the
domain but with the old name rather than the one intended
KACE created a new routine that will allow you to run the domain join and rename the
computer at the same time. Click here for instructions on how to apply this.

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Installing the Windows Product Key and Activating Windows
The product key you use will depend on how your licensing is setup.
For information on using KMS, please see this Microsoft article for information on what key to
use and other information.
If you are using MAK then you can use the information below to load the key and activate the
client:
To activate Windows 7 as a post installation task using your companies MAK, create a new
batch script and copy the following information, substituting the "x"s for your product key.
cscript C:WindowsSystem32slmgr.vbs /IPK xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
cscript C:WindowsSystem32slmgr.vbs /ato

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Installing the Windows Product Key and Activating Windows
If you are using OEM or retail media then you
will need to activate the machine with the
product key that is on the computer or with
your media. You can either change this task
for each machine you deploy or just enter it
manually on each machine.
Note: You may need to install the Windows 7 Activation Patch as a post installation prior to this batch file. You can
find the Microsoft patch here.
Upload the file as an application item, and in the command line, put the name of the file with the switches /quiet
/norestart

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Post Installation Best Practices
 Be consistent with naming tasks, like adding "App-" or "Script-",
"OSConfig-" "Mid-" as a prefix to help keep tasks organized.
 Create a task to remove both unattend files to keep sensitive data
safe. These files are usually in %windir%panther
and %windir%system32sysprep
 Consider the ordering of your postinstallation tasks in terms of
placing prerequisites before the applications that require them.

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Post Installation Best Practices (Continued)
 If using 3.5 SP1 or earlier
o Use the "start /wait" command when deploying software via K2000
Postinstallation Tasks
o Use "call" when utilizing .bat scripts in application tasks; call myscript.bat
o Use "cscript" with vb scripts; cscript myscript.vbs
o When zipping up an application task, make sure you select the contents to be
zipped so that the file you call is in the root of the zipped file
o For .msi deployment, use the install switch last, as in: msiexec /qn /norestart /i
agent.msi
o Use CLONEPREP=1 on the .msi agent install if you don’t want the agent to
check in and create a kuid until the next reboot; msiexec /i agent.msi
HOST=yourK1 CLONEPREP=1

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Links
KKE Recordings for the Gold Image Week sessions:
http://www.kace.com/support/training/kke/archive?tag-system%20imaging&language=en
Microsoft Golden Image Reference: http://goo.gl/FTkkVg
KACE KB for System Imaging Best Practices: https://support.software.dell.com/kb/121734
Americas KKE - Gold Image Week: Factory to Custom Image
Americas KKE - Gold Image Week: Deployment Considerations
Americas KKE - K2000 Useful Scripts (this is your deployment workbench on the K2 > Tools)

Optimizing K2000 Workflow

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