After determining the groupings of target computers and configuration settings to be applied to each group, determine the method for identifying individual computers and the configuration settings to assign to each computer. The rules for target computers allow the override or augmentation of group-based processing rules based on the priority of the computer-based rules.

For more information about determining the priority of processing rules, see Priority Reserved Property, earlier in this guide.

Whenever possible, use group-based rules for most client computer configuration settings. Group-based rules allow the same configuration settings to be applied to a group of computers. After applying group-based rules, you can apply computer-specific configuration settings using computer-based rules.

As when grouping computers, more than one method is available for identifying individual computers. After selecting the method for identifying an individual target computer, select the appropriate properties.

The processing rules allow the identification of computers based on any property that you might apply to an individual of computer (such as AssetTag, MACAddress, UUID, and so on).

Table 156 lists the methods of identifying individual computers, a description of the method, and the properties that you can use to identify the individual computers.

Table 156. Methods for Identifying Individual Computers

Identification method	Description	Properties
Target computer hardware attributes	Identify the target computer using the hardware configuration.	AssetTag, MACAddress, SerialNumber, UUID, Product, Make, and Model
Target computer software attributes	Identify the target computer using the software or firmware configuration.	OSVersion, IsServerOS, and OSSKU
Target computer user-defined attributes	Identify the target computer using attributes that are assigned to the computer but not part of the hardware or software configuration.	AssetTag SerialNumber

 

Example: Computer Identification Method Selected by Woodgrove

Listing 12 shows an example of how Woodgrove Bank identified computer-based configuration settings. In this instance, Woodgrove used the MAC address of the computer to identify the corresponding configuration settings for the computer (for example, 00:03:FF:CB:4E:C2 and 00:0F:20:35:DE:AC). The configuration settings for each computer are listed immediately after the section that corresponds to the computer’s MAC address.

Listing 12. How Woodgrove Identified Client Computers

[00:03:FF:CB:4E:C2]

ComputerName=WasW2K

OverRideProductKey= TTTTT-VVVVV-WWWWW-XXXXX-YYYYY

 

[00:0F:20:35:DE:AC]

ComputerName=HPD530-1

OverRideProductKey= AAAAA-BBBBB-CCCCC-DDDDD-EEEEE

 

[00:03:FF:FE:FF:FF]

ComputerName=BVMXP

OverRideProductKey= 11111-22222-33333-44444-55555

Example: Computer-based Configuration Settings Selected by Woodgrove

Listing 12 also shows the computer-based configuration settings that Woodgrove Bank selected. Table 157 lists the computer-specific configuration settings applied to each computer.

Table 157. Woodgrove Client Computers and the Corresponding Configuration Settings

Target computer	Settings and description
[00:03:FF:CB:4E:C2]	ComputerName is the name of the computer after deployment—in this case, WasW2K. OverRideProductKey is the product key to be assigned to the computer—in this case, TTTTT-VVVVV-WWWWW-XXXXX-YYYYY.
[00:0F:20:35:DE:AC]	ComputerName is the name of the computer after deployment—in this case, HPD530-1. OverRideProductKey is the product key to be assigned to the computer—in this case, AAAAA-BBBBB-CCCCC-DDDDD-EEEEE.
[00:03:FF:FE:FF:FF]	ComputerName is the name of the computer after deployment—in this case, BVMXP. OverRideProductKey is the product key to be assigned to the computer—in this case, 11111-22222-33333-44444-55555.

 

Related Topics

Configuring MDT Deployments