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Forums > Deployment Solutions > MDT 2008
Subject: confused on deployment points
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DavidUser is Offline

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07/28/2008 12:56 PM  

I recently bought into the whole automating reference machine setup (build) and then capturing image of that... I used to setup reference machine manually, then capture image. I state that up front for the reason that as I am learning MDT 2008 (never used previous versions) this practice muddys the waters a bit for me... especially with the 'deployment points' node in MDT 2008... in fact as I started reading documentation I'm thinking they are talking about deploying an already captured image when in fact they were talking about deploying the 'build' (reference machine)...

so should I be setting up a seperate deployment point for deploying images? (when I say deploying images, I mean deploying images, not building a reference machine!)

should I be creating a deployment point for each image to deploy? or just one deployment point for all the images I will be deploying? this being aside from the main deployment point of the whole distribution share used for making the builds (reference machine setups)

I'm sure this toolset is great once you learn it but right now I'm missing the simplicity of manually setting up a reference machine, sysprepping it, and capturing image to a file server (ghost/drive image/imagex, whichever). Of course customizing sysprep.inf before capture so that the deployments are automated. So simple. I'm not saying that MDT is not good or that I don't think it will provide a much better deployment environment... I just wish someone had taken the time to write the 2-3 page document that containes *all* the information I need.

FarmerPeteUser is Offline

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08/04/2008 8:04 AM  
You only need a minimum of 1 deployment point. Most people setup a deployment point for each location so they don't image over slow links. I recommend that your "Lab" deployment point not be your live deployment point. This allows you to use your master lab deployment point for testing and tweaking without disturbing the production environment. Also, if you mess something up, your live deploy point should be a good backup.
DavidUser is Offline

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08/04/2008 8:36 AM  
thanks for the info, I appreciate it.
bn2huntUser is Offline

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08/05/2008 6:22 AM  
We have our deployment points setup that way. One testing with another production. What it is the best way to move objects from testing to production? We have been just redoing all of the setup steps on production that we did in the lab but I have to wonder if we are ever forgetting anything.

Is there a better way?
FarmerPeteUser is Offline

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08/06/2008 5:16 AM  
Just right click on the production distribution point and click Update Server....
bn2huntUser is Offline

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08/06/2008 7:20 AM  

We setup our lab on a seperate computer and installed everthing as a stand alone server.  Differnet dhcp server, database, everything. 

I don't think I can have the two deployment servers talk to each other can I?

FarmerPeteUser is Offline

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08/07/2008 12:08 AM  
Not if you set them both up as labs. You should have 1 lab deployment point, and then use the network share option for the primary one. This allows you to not send all task builds to the live deployment point. For instance, if you use MDT to create your base images, you might not want to distribute your base image creation task sequences to your live deployment point. As far as how you connect to each deployment point...You could load each to WDS and have the primary distribution point be the default WDS image with only a few second timer on the selection screen. That would make it easy to PXE boot to either distribution point. You could also just use a CD boot system for your lab point if you want to make it harder for other techs to get to it.

As far as how you could migrate to this from what you currently have...Just delete your entire production server MDT system. Then create (or leave) an empty shared folder called delpoy or distribution (I made my folder called deploy, but the share name is deploy$. Make sure whomever needs to have access to this folder has access (including yourself). Then go to your current test MDT install and create a new distribution point. Make it a network share type and point it to the other server/location. Modify the cs.ini, bootstrap.ini and any other settings on the distribution point. Then right-click on the new distribution point and click "update". Take the boot image on the new deployment point and load it into WDS.

If you don't want to do something this drastic...You could keep doing it like you are, but instead of manually making the changes on the 2nd server, just copy the entire distribution point from the test system to the live system. It will take a bit of time, but it will definitely replicate ALL the changes.

P.S. As an added procaution, make sure you backup your live MDT before you delete it. Maybe just rename the folder or whatnot. Also, be aware that you should probably remove the SQL database from one of these servers and point them both to the same SQL database.
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Forums > Deployment Solutions > MDT 2008 > confused on deployment points



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