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Subject: using %computername% with SLShare

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donnie

Posts:27

07/02/2008 11:46 AM
Anyone know of a way to use the real computername with the SLShare variable? When I mean real I mean the new computername that I provide during the deployment, not the MININT-blahblah auto generated machine name that is created during a WinPE boot. I want to redirect the final bdd.log file to a network share which it appears the SLShare variable would allow me to do. However using things like %serialnumber% or the autogenertated MININT computername as a foldername do not provide any value. I would like a folder created using the final machine name. I tried setting the SLShare variable later in the Task Sequence process rather then the beginning during WinPE (customsettings.ini) however it still uses the original MININT-xxx machine name. I know I can probably easily write a script that would copy the bdd.log file to a network location of my choice outside of MDT but I'd rather have MDT to it if possible rather then going outside the box, so to speak. Anyone ever try to do anything similar? Thanks for any help or suggestions!

FarmerPete User is Offline

Posts:168

07/02/2008 2:34 PM
I would love to learn if MDT can do this on its own. It is a PITA to find the correct log when you are deploying 20 systems at once.

Jamal Ibrahim User is Offline

Posts:4

07/02/2008 4:22 PM
Hi Donnie! I try to do this in my LAB but, doesn't work .... I'll try again! Maybe we can do that :-) [ ]'s Jamal Ibrahim http://jamal-ibrahim.spaces.live.com/

donnie

Posts:27

07/15/2008 8:31 AM
I wanted to come back and post what I did incase anyone else was curious... I ended up changing a reference from OSDCOMPUTERNAME to HOSTNAME in the ztiutiliy.vbs script. There is a section called "Figure out the Computer Name". I changed the sComputer string to reference HOSTNAME instead of OSDCOMPUTERNAME and now the folder created with SLShare shows the real computer name which is much more helpful. This should be a feature enhancement with a future release :-)

bn2hunt

Posts:95

07/15/2008 1:26 PM
Did you make this change in the Computername function or the copylog function or both? Never mind, figured out it is just the copylog function. Thanks for figuring this out Dan

Pyrosoft

Posts:48

07/17/2008 6:41 AM
Where possible I try and leave the MDT scripts as un customised as possible to make future upgrades easy. I found that the best way to get the SLShare to use the right folder name is to overwrite the OSDCOMPUTERNAME variable in my task sequence. If it's blank then it used the correct name when making the folder. Just use the Set Task Sequence Variable function to empty out the value. Dont set it to "", just leave the "Value" box completely empty and it should work just fine.

donnie

Posts:27

07/17/2008 1:46 PM
Ah, thank you very much! Blanking out the OSDCOMPUTERNAME value did work so I don't have to edit ztiutility which is preferable. I've had to edit a couple scripts before to create my own custom VARIABLES like the ztigather.xml and deploywiz_definition.xml to allow me to put in custom windows during the LTI install. I know this isn't the recommended method but is there other ways to do this that I'm missing maybe? Just curious to see what others have been doing. (One caveat...I haven't used the DB backend portion of MDT due to some internal SQL issues so that has caused me to create a bunch of variables that would normally be resolved by using the DB) Thanks!

bn2hunt

Posts:95

07/17/2008 3:17 PM
Does it matter where in the task sequence I blank the variable? Is there one spot that would be recommended over another? I have put it as one of the last tasks to be completed but if there is a place that would be better I can move it. Thanks Dan

donnie

Posts:27

07/17/2008 3:31 PM
It needs to be before a "Gather" routine is run I believe. The Gather routine will empty out the Variable. For my test, I used a Standard Server Template and put it right before the Gather Local Only sequence in the State Restore group.

donnie

Posts:27

07/17/2008 3:42 PM
actually, scratch that last post...I was thinking about something else totally different at the time i was replying...been a long day trying to customize MDT :-) I believe you are right that you can put it anywhere. The SLShare piece doesn't run until you click FINISH on the summary screen I believe.

Pyrosoft

Posts:48

07/17/2008 4:29 PM
It needs to be any time after the gather that you do inside WinPE. The OSDCOMPUTERNAME variable is populated in PE (With MININT-*) so as long as you are in XP/Vista then you should be OK. Blanking the variable in PE should be OK as long as it is after a gather, but I prefer to do it as my first action once I reboot into PE for the first time. If anyone tries clearing the variable in PE then let us know, I've not changed my sequence because it works the way I do it, but it would be useful to know other options. Although you could in theory leave it to being the absolute final item in the TS this wouldn't help you much if for whatever reason your build fails half way though and the FINISH routine runs as it would then copy logs up and still go to a MININT folder name. And it's the logs that show failures that you're going to be most interested in. Donnie - I don't have a problem editing the xml forms you mention there, custom wizard screens are required so I imagine that modifying the XML is supported by MS whereas changing their core scripts might not...not too sure but that's the logic I follow anyway.

Eric Giroux User is Offline

Posts:22

08/06/2008 2:27 PM
It appears this issue has been fixed in MDT 2008 Update 1. ZTIUtility.vbs references the following fix: Changed the ComputerName utility function to also look at the _SMSTSMachineName variable. Modified the CopyLog function to use the ComputerName function.

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