MDT includes the following improvements for MDT deployments with Configuration Manager 2012 or Configuration Manager 2007 R3:

·     Support for Configuration Manager 2012 with SP1 Beta. MDT includes support for Configuration Manager 2012 with SP1 Beta for ZTI and UDI deployments, which allows MDT to leverage the new features in Configuration Manager 2012 that permit highly automated deployment, asset inventory, software deployment, and patch management for dynamic environments, such as cloud services. Specifically, Configuration Manager 2012 with SP1 Beta supports deployment of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 using ZTI and Windows 8 using UDI.

·     Support for new application model in Configuration Manager 2012. MDT includes support for the new application model in Configuration Manager 2012 in ZTI and UDI deployments, which includes improvements over the packages and programs model. For more information, see the “Application Management” section in What’s New in Configuration Manager.

·     Support for the user device affinity feature in Configuration Manager 2012. MDT includes support for the new user device affinity feature in Configuration Manager 2012 in ZTI and UDI deployments, which allows you to associate a user with specified devices. In this way, you can deploy software to a user rather than a device. For more information, see the “Application Management” section in What’s New in Configuration Manager.

·     Support for prestart command files. The Task Sequence Media Wizard includes steps to add prestart command files (formerly pre-execution hooks) to prestaged media, bootable media, and stand-alone media. MDT supports the use of this feature. For example, this feature allows you to create a separate software distribution package (such as the MDT scripts or wizards), and then include that package in the bootable media. For more information, see What’s New in Configuration Manager.

·     Support for automatically starting a specific task sequence. You can use the SMSTSPreferredAdvertID task sequence variable to specify the task sequence used for deployment. Doing so allows you to programmatically select a task sequence. For example, you could develop a custom UI to select a specific task sequence. For more information, see What’s New in Configuration Manager.

·     Support for Windows 8 application package deployment in UDI. UDI supports the deployment of applications based on the new Windows application package standard, which is used in Windows 8. The Windows application package standard is based on the OPC standard. OPC defines a structured means to store data and resources for the app using a standard ZIP file. Windows 8 and the Windows Store use the Windows application packaging standard for applications.

Users can select Windows 8 application packages in the UDI Wizard that are defined in Configuration Manager 2012. Support for Windows 8 application packages requires System Center 2012 Configuration Manager with SP1 Beta.

For more information on how to deploy Windows 8 application packages using UDI, see the section, Deploying Windows 8 Applications Using UDI, in the MDT document Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Samples Guide.

·     UDI Wizard user experience improvements. UDI allows you to interactively provide essential deployment configuration information to MDT at the time of deployment. UDI provides an easy-to-use interface to collect the necessary configuration settings, and then complete the deployment of Windows 7 and your applications.

The UDI Wizard has been completely revised to improve user experience. The improved UI makes deploying Windows 7 and your applications easier than the previous version. The wizard more closely models the UI in System Center products, such as Configuration Manager 2012.

For more information on the UDI Wizard, see the following resources:

·     The section, Running the UDI Wizard, in the MDT document Using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit

·     Quick Start Guide for User-Driven Installation

·     UDI Wizard Designer user experience improvements. The UDI Wizard Designer is used to configure the user experience in the UDI Wizard. The UDI Wizard Designer allows you to add and remove wizard pages, change the sequence of wizard pages, and customize the controls on the wizard pages.

The UDI Wizard Designer UI has been improved to make configuring the UDI Wizard even easier than previous versions. The UDI Wizard Designer supports a drag-and-drop UI that allows you to quickly and efficiently customize the UDI Wizard for your organization.

For more information on the UDI Wizard Designer, see the following resources:

·     The section, Configuring UDI Wizard Behavior, in the MDT document Using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit

·     Quick Start Guide for User-Driven Installation

·     Create custom wizard pages in the UDI Wizard Designer. There may be instances in which you want to collect additional deployment information to be used in UDI. You can create custom wizard pages to collect this information using the Build Your Own Page feature in UDI. This feature allows you to create a custom wizard page for collecting deployment information without requiring you to write code or have developer skills.

For more information on the Build Your Own Page feature in UDI, see the following resources:

·     The section, Creating Custom Wizard Pages Using the Build Your Own Page Feature, in the MDT document Using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit

·     Quick Start Guide for User-Driven Installation

·     Single MDT task sequence template for ZTI and UDI client deployment. MDT now has a unified task sequence template for performing client deployment. The MDT Client Task Sequence task sequence template can be used to perform ZTI or UDI client deployments. The Deployment Method wizard page in the Create MDT Task Sequence Wizard is used to configure the Client Task Sequence task sequence template for use with ZTI or MDT.

For more information, see the section, Identify the UDI Task Sequence Templates in MDT, in the MDT document Using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit

·     Support for enabling BitLocker in UDI. UDI now supports enabling BitLocker as a part of deployments performed using UDI. For more information see the section, BitLockerPage, in the MDT document Toolkit Reference.

·     Support for MDT Replace Computer deployment scenario. UDI now supports the MDT Replace Computer deployment scenario. For more information about the MDT Replace Computer deployment scenario and other MDT deployment scenarios that UDI supports, see the section, UDI Stage Reference, in the MDT document Toolkit Reference.

·     Localization of UDI Wizard. The UDI Wizard now supports localization of the information displayed on the wizard pages. This allows you to create wizard pages that are localized to the native language of the users using the UDI Wizard to perform deployments.

·     Guidance for customizing UDI. The User-Driven Installation Developers Guide has been added to the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Documentation Library. This guide provides information for developers who want to create custom UDI wizard pages, UDI wizard page editors, UDI tasks, or UDI validators. For more information, see User-Driven Installation Developers Guide.

·     Upgrade task sequences created in Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012. MDT upgrades task sequences created for Configuration Manager 2007 for use in Configuration Manager 2012 if the same version of MDT is used in both versions of Configuration Manager. For example, MDT 2012 must be used in both versions of Configuration Manager for the upgraded task sequences to run properly.

Some capabilities (such as the installation of applications using the new application model in Configuration Manager 2012) will not be present in task sequences that are upgraded. However, these steps can be manually added to upgraded task sequences, as required.

Note   Create a backup of the existing MDT infrastructure before attempting an upgrade.

·     Guidance for Configuration Manager 2007 R3. The Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Documentation Library has been updated to provide guidance for using Configuration Manager 2007 R3 in ZTI and UDI deployments. This guide helps you deploy your operating systems and applications using Configuration Manager 2007 R3 and MDT faster than previous versions of MDT.

Note   MDT has been tested and verified to work with Configuration Manager 2007 R3. MDT should work with Configuration Manager 2007 with SP2 and later, as well, but this has not been tested or verified.

In addition, this release of MDT includes many other small enhancements and bug fixes that relate to ZTI and UDI deployments.

Related Topics

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