Control Device Driver Deployments Using Configuration Manager 2012 for ZTI

ZTI deployments in Configuration Manager 2012 use the driver catalog in Configuration Manager as the central repository for device drivers. After you import device drivers into the driver catalog, you can organize them by:

· Device driver packages. Like software packages, device driver packages are distributed to distribution points so that they are accessible to the target computers. You can create multiple device driver packages to group device drivers to be deployed to the target computer, such as the make and model of target computer. You can control the device drivers deployed based on the device driver packages using the Apply Driver Package task sequence step.

· Device driver categories. Device driver categories allow you to specify a category for each device driver you import into the driver catalog. Categories allow you to group device drivers based common characteristics, such as all network adapter drivers or by processor architecture. You can control the device drivers deployed to the target computer based on the device driver categories using the Auto Apply Drivers task sequence step.

Most of the ZTI task sequences created using the MDT task sequence templates include the Auto Apply Drivers task sequence step. By default, this step configures the task sequence to deploy all device drivers to the target computer, allowing the target operating system to select the device drivers required.

The list that follows provides strategies for configuring task sequences to control the deployment of device drivers for ZTI deployments in Configuration Manager 2012:

· Create multiple device driver categories that are configured in multiple Auto Apply Drivers task sequence steps. Control the deployment of device drivers by performing the following steps:

a. Create device driver categories based on the level of granularity you want in controlling the device drivers to be deployed.

b. Add multiple Auto Apply Drivers task sequence steps based on the number of combination categories you want to deploy.

c. Configure the Auto Apply Drivers task sequence step to use the proper combination of device driver categories using the Limit driver matching to only consider drivers in selected categories list box.

d. Configure the task sequence step conditions based on the contents of the device driver package.

For example, if the device driver packages are based on the make and model of the target computer, configure the task sequence step to run when the Make and Model task sequence variables equal the make and model for the device driver package.

· Create multiple device driver packages that are configured in multiple Apply Driver Package task sequence steps. Control the deployment of device drivers by performing the following steps:

a. Create device driver packages based on the criteria for limiting the device drivers to be deployed.

b. For each device driver package, add an Apply Driver Package task sequence step for each category.

c. Configure the Apply Driver Package task sequence step to use the corresponding device driver package.

d. Configure the task sequence step conditions based on the contents of the device driver package.

· Configure a single Auto Apply Drivers task sequence step in your task sequence, and then override the selection profile specified in the Auto Apply Drivers task sequence step using the OSDAutoApplyDriverCategoryList task sequence variable in the CustomSettings.ini file or the MDT DB. Control the deployment of device drivers by performing the following steps:

a. Create device driver categories based on the level of granularity you want in controlling the device drivers to be deployed.

b. Add a new or an existing Auto Apply Drivers task sequence step in your task sequence.

c. Configure the Auto Apply Drivers task sequence step to use any of the device driver categories using the Limit driver matching to only consider drivers in selected categories list box.

Note The device driver category you select is not important, as the category will be overridden by the OSDAutoApplyDriverCategoryList task sequence variable.

d. Determine GUIDs for each device driver category you created by running the following script, substituting strSiteCode with your site code, strServer with you Configuration Manager site server, and strDriverCatName with the name of a device driver category you created:

strSiteCode = "NYC"

strServer = "CMSERVER"

strDriverCatName = "Fabrikam"

set objWMIService= GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationlevel=impersonate}!\\" & strServer & "\root\sms\site_" & strSiteCode)

set DriverGUIDS = objWMIService.ExecQuery("select CategoryInstance_UniqueID from CMDB_categoryinstance where LocalizedCategoryInstanceName = '" & strDriverCatName & "'")

For each DriverGuid in DriverGuids

wscript.echo DriverGuid.CategoryInstance_UniqueID

e. Modify the CustomSettings.ini file as follows, substituting SECTION with the name of a section (such as [Default]) and GUID with the GUID you retrieved in the previous step:

[Settings]

Properties=OSDAutoAPplyDriverCategoryList

[SECTION]

OSDAutoApplyDriverCategoryList=DriverCategories:GUID

· Deploy mass storage device drivers for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 using an Apply Driver Package task sequence step. The Auto Apply Drivers task sequence cannot be used for mass storage drivers for these operating systems, because you must explicitly deploy the correct mass storage drivers and only the Apply Driver Package task sequence step can do so.

Note Deploying mass storage drivers using the Apply Driver Package task sequence step will overwrite any mass storage sections in the Sysprep.inf file.

· When performing deployments using stand-alone media, use an Apply Driver Package task sequence step, because the Auto Apply Drivers task sequence requires connectivity to a management point, and the stand-alone media will not attempt a connection to a management point.

Related Topics

Managing Device Drivers