The Essentials Series

Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

sponsored by

by Greg Shields

The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

Article 1: Best Practices in Planning & Executing a Windows 7 Migration..........................................1 XPs Time Is Running Out.................................................................................................................................1 The Seven Key Migration Activities..............................................................................................................2 Analyzing Inventory........................................................................................................................................3 Verifying Application Compatibility.........................................................................................................3 Creating and Managing OS Instances.......................................................................................................4 . Migrating User Personality...........................................................................................................................4 Automating OS Distribution.........................................................................................................................5 Distributing Applications and Updates.....................................................................................................5 Project and Status Reporting........................................................................................................................6 . Migrations Require Tools...................................................................................................................................6 Article 2: Untangling Microsofts Alphabet Soup of Migration Tools....................................................7 Microsofts No-Cost Migration Tools............................................................................................................7 MSIA for Analyzing Inventory....................................................................................................................8 ACT for Verifying Application Compatibility.......................................................................................8 WAIK, ImageX, and DISM for Creating and Managing OS Instances.........................................9 USMT for Migrating User Personality......................................................................................................9 WDS for Automating OS Distribution......................................................................................................9 GPSI and WSUS for Distributing Applications and Updates........................................................10 . MDT for Project and Status Reporting..................................................................................................10 . Integration Comes at a Cost. Integration Saves Cost.............................................................................10 Article 3: Ensuring Windows 7 Migration Success with Integrated Solutions..................................11 The Success Is in the Data...............................................................................................................................12 Using Agents to Gather & Analyze Inventory....................................................................................12 . Cross-Checking Inventory with Hardware & Application Compatibility..................................12 Hardware Agnosticism Extends the Value of OS Instances...........................................................13 Migrating User Personality, During and Beyond the Upgrade......................................................13

The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

Fully Automating OS Distribution..........................................................................................................13 Regularly Distributing Applications and Updates..............................................................................14 Ongoing Project and Status Reporting...................................................................................................14 Desktop Management Solutions Are the Best Practice.........................................................................14 .

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The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

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The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

Article1:BestPracticesinPlanning& ExecutingaWindows7Migration
Windows7ishereanditsreadyfordeploymenttoenterpriseseverywhere.Ifyoureone ofthemanywhoavoidedtheXPtoVistaupgrade,thenbepreparedforsomedramatic changesinhowMicrosoftsnewoperatingsystems(OSs)aredeployed.InstallingWindows 7canbeaccomplishedthroughremarkablyautomatedmeans,ifyoureawareoftheright technologiestodoso. Sometimesthemostobviouspathsformigrationmightnotbethesmartestnorthosethat willensurethegreatestsuccess.WrappedaroundtheactualinstallationofeveryWindows deploymentisamuchlargersetofplanningandautomationactivitiesthatyoumust leverageifyouretoensuresuccess. ThisEssentialsSerieswillassistyouinunderstandingthoseactivitiesaswellastodays enablingtechnologiesforplanningandexecutingaWindows7migration.Startingwiththis firstarticle,youlllearnthesevenkeyactivitiesthatarerequiredforeverysuccessful migration.Thesecondarticlecontinueswithadiscussionofthefreetoolsthatarenatively availablefromMicrosoft.Althoughthesetoolsarelowincost,youllquicklyfindthattheir nonintegratedapproachmightnotmakethebestsolutionforyourbusinessneeds. Concludingtheconversationisafinalarticlethatproposesanalternativeandintegrated approach.Thatapproachdirectlymapsthesevenactivitiesintoautomatedprocessesto ensuremigrationsuccess.

XPsTimeIsRunningOut
IfyouvedownloadedthisEssentialsSeries,itslikelythatyoureawareofWindowsXPs impendingsunset.ReleasedinOctoberof2001,WindowsXPhasseenalongand prosperouslifeinhomesandbusinessesallaroundtheworld.YetalthoughWindowsXP remainsapopularOSdueinparttoitswidespreadapplicationcompatibility,thecoreof thisOSremainsatopcodethatwasdevelopednearlyadecadeago.Inalmost10years,the worldhasseenadramaticgrowthinmalware,theintroductionofregulatorycompliance, andagreaterdemandforcohesivecentralizedmanagement.Thesenewrequirements mandateanewOSthatsbeenspecificallydesignedwithtodaysneedsinmind. AlthoughmanyelectednottoupgradefromWindowsXPtoWindowsVista,thosesame businessesfindthemselvesperhapsunknowinglysufferingunderawebofbandaids,code updates,andthirdpartyaddonproducts.Theserequiredbutcostlycomponentsare fundamentallynecessarytokeepWindowsXPoperatinginasafeandsecuredmanner whilemeetingtodaysnewcomputingrequirements.

The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

MicrosoftsreleaseofWindows7inOctoberof2009changedthelandscapeforthe businessdesktopOS.IncorporatingWindowsVistasmuchneededkernelsecurityre architecturewithaseriesofperformanceoptimizations,userinterface(UI)changes,and usefulnewcapabilities,Windows7istheOSthatsreadytotakeXPsplaceinyour business. XPsSunsetIsHappeningNow MicrosoftofficiallyendedmainstreamsupportforWindowsXPonApril4thof 2009.AlthoughthisactiondoesntceaseMicrosoftsmonthlysecurity updatesforthisOS,itdoesendnonsecurityrelatedhotfixes,designchanges, andsometypesoftechnicalsupport.Theenddateforextendedsupport, ceasingalleffortswiththisOS,iscurrentlysetforApril8thof2014.

TheSevenKeyMigrationActivities
WhatyoumaynotknowisthatyourcentralhurdleinmigratingtoWindows7liesnotin actuallyinstallingitsbitstoyourhardware.WindowsVistaandWindows7bothleverage thenewWindowsPreinstallationEnvironment(WinPE)astheirmechanismforcompleting theactualOSinstallation.AstheOSdoesntrequirealimitedfidelityDOSbased installationenvironment,actuallygettingWindows7sbitsontoyourharddrivesisin manywaystheeasiestpart. MuchmorechallenginginanyWindows7migrationprojectaretheactivitiesthatsurround theinstall.Theseactivitiesyoullfindareabsolutelyrequiredtoplan,automate,and managethedeployment,toverifyhardwareandapplicationcompatibility,andtoensure thatyouruserspersonaldataisassuredlytransferredfromoldOSinstancetonew. Lackingtherighttools,eachoftheseotheractivitiescanbefantasticallydifficult. Attemptingtocompletethemthroughnonautomatedmeanscreatesmultiplesetsof stovepipeddata,whichcomplicatesyourprojectplanningandexecution.However, environmentsthatleverageintegratedmigrationsolutionswillfindthateachactivityis welldefinedandeasytoaccomplishwithinthattoolsetsmanagementinterface.Inshort, thebestpracticeinplanningandexecutinganyWindows7migrationistoleverage solutionsthatcanaccomplishtheseactivitiesinanintegratedmanner. Tohelpyouunderstandwhy,letstakeaquickspinthrougheachofthesevenkey migrationactivities.Understandingtheirscope,youllbebetterpreparedtoincorporate theiractionsintoyourmigrationplanning.

The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

AnalyzingInventory
ThefirststepinanyWindowsmigrationinvolvesalookatyourenvironmentsexisting inventory.Thisprocessgathersandanalyzestheexistinghardwareandsoftwareinyour environmentwithaneyetowardsansweringtwocentralpredeploymentquestions: WhathardwarewillworkwiththenewOS,andwhathardwarefirstrequiresupgrade orreplacement?MicrosoftdocumentsWindows7sminimumrequirementsat http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows7/get/systemrequirements.aspx. Comparingyourexistingequipmentwiththeserequirementsisfundamentally importantbecauseinstallingaWindowsOStosubstandardhardwaregenerally resultsinapooruserexperience.Themosteffectivewaytoobtainthiscomparison isbyleveraginganetworkbasedinventorysolutionthatinterrogatesmachineson yournetworkandconsolidatesinventoryintoasingledatabase.Itsresultingreports willassistyouwithrecognizingwhichpiecesofhardwaremustbeupgradedor replacedpriortoupgrading. Whatsoftwareexistsonhardwaretodayandmustbereinstalledaftertheupgrade? Anothercriticalpartofinventoryisthesoftwareinstalledtonetworkcomputers. TherecurrentlyexistsnodirectupgradepathbetweenWindowsXPandWindows7. Further,upgradingOSsratherthancompletelyreinstallingthemhastraditionally ledtoproblemsdowntheroad.ThesetwofactsmeanthatyourWindows7upgrade islikelytoinvolveafullreinstallationofboththeOSanditsinstalledapplications. Youshouldalsoplantoleverageyourautomatedinventorytoolfordiscovering installedapplications.Itsreportsgiveyouthenecessarydatatoensuretheright applicationsgetinstalledtotherightmachinesaftertheupgrade.

VerifyingApplicationCompatibility
Unfortunately,noteveryapplicationfunctionscorrectlyatopWindows7.Somefailtowork atallwiththisnewOS.Thishurdleplacesapriorityonpremigrationtestingtodetermine whichofyourapplicationswontfunctionaftertheupgrade. Automatedtoolsexistthatassistwiththistestingandvalidationprocess.Thesetoolswork withcentralizedclearinghousedatabasesofalreadytestedapplications.Theirdataabout applicationsthathavealreadybeentestedwillgreatlyspeedyourownactivities,especially inenvironmentswithlargenumbersofapplicationsundermanagement. Anotherquestionisbeggedthroughthisactivity:Whatdoyoudowithapplicationsthat wontworkinthenewOS?Thisapplicationcompatibilityproblemhasbeenamajorhurdle formigrationactivitiesinthepast.Youveheardthestorieswhereafeworevenasingle unsupportedmissioncriticalapplicationpreventsabusinessfromupgrading.Windows7 eliminatesthishurdleinitsentiretythroughanewfeaturecalledXPMode.Thisfeature leveragesvirtualizationatthedesktoptomaintainacompatibleWindowsXPenvironment withintheWindows7environmentfortheseproblemapplications.

The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

XPModeisavailablewiththeProfessionalandUltimateeditionsofWindows7,andrelies onanupdatedversionofWindowsVirtualPCasitscorevirtualizationengine.Actually usingWindowsVirtualPCrequiresspecialcapabilitiesthatarebuiltdirectlyintoyour desktophardware.Thus,acriticalstepinthissecondactivityisinventoryinghardwareto ensureitscompatibilitywithXPModesvirtualizationengine.

CreatingandManagingOSInstances
Inconcertwiththefirsttwopreviouslymentionedactivitiesistheextendedprocessof buildingandconfiguringtheOSinstancesthatyouwilleventuallydistributetousers. Traditionally,thisprocesshasbeendonethroughoneoftwoverydifferentmechanisms. Thefirst,genericallycalledimaging,involvesthecreationofoneormorediskimages thataredistributedtosimilarlyconfiguredhardware.Oneoftheprimarybenefitsof imagingisinitseaseofcapturinganddeployingimages.Aftercreatingagoldmaster referencemachinethatincludestheOS,installedsoftware,andspecialconfigurations, administratorscancaptureanimageofthegoldmasterandstoreit.Thatimageisthen deployedthroughanautomatedmechanismtoselectedhardware. Imagingbecomesmorecomplicatedasthevarietyofhardwareinanorganizationgrows. Imagedeploymentstendtobesuccessfulwhenthehardwareconfigurationofthetarget machinematchesthehardwareconfigurationonwhichtheimagewascreated.Thus, multiplehardwaretypesmeansthatmultipleimagesmustbecreated. Thesecondtechniqueisgenericallyreferredtoasscripting.Differenthereisthe mechanisminwhichtheOSinstanceiscreated.Insteadofcreatingareferenceimagefrom areferencemachine,scriptingusesbuiltininstrumentationintheWindowsinstalleritself tocustomizeinstallationparametersatthepointtheOSisinstalled. Theprimarybenefitofusingthistechniqueisthatasinglescriptcanbeusedtoinstallto everyclassofhardware.Scriptscandynamicallyensurethattheappropriatedriversare installedbasedontheOSchosenfordeploymentandthetargetmachineshardware configuration.Earlyattemptsatusingscriptingwerechallenging;however,todays integrateddeploymentsolutionsnowincorporatesmartconfigurationenginesthatgreatly enhancethecreationprocess.

MigratingUserPersonality
InstallingafreshcopyofanOSwipesaharddriveclean,takingwithiteveryuser customization(thatis,userspecificfilesandsettings).Usersneedtheirpersonal workspaces,andrelyonthemasafunctionoftheirjobs.Thus,yourmigrationprojectwill beafailureunlessitcanassuredlyreturnusercustomizationsbacktoupgradedcomputers afteraninstallation. TheproblemwithuserpersonalityisthattheWindowsOSanditsapplicationsspreaduser personalitystorageinnumerousandunobviousplaces.Attemptingtomanuallylocateand offloaduserpersonalityhasnotablyandhistoricallyresultedinmisseddataandunhappy users.Somuchsothatitisacommoncomplaintbyusersinalmostanymigrationproject.

The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

AlthoughthisdataisspreadallaroundanOSinstance,smartusermigrationsolutions knowwheretofindit.Thesesolutionsarealsoconfiguredwiththenecessarylogicto seamlesslyconvertuserpersonalitybetweenthedifferentstructuresusedbydifferentOSs. Yourmigrationprojectmustincorporatesuchasolutiontoensurethatthisdatais assuredlyrestoredafterthemigration.

AutomatingOSDistribution
ThisarticlebeganbytalkingabouttheeaseofdistributingtheWindowsOS.Runningatop WinPE,thatinstallationprocessnowenjoysallthenetworking,scripting,andautomation benefitsofWindows(ascomparedwithitsearlierDOSbasedroots).Yetwhileinstallinga singleinstanceofWindowsisfantasticallyeasy,distributingittotens,orhundreds,or thousandsofcomputersinanautomatedfashionstillrequiresautomationsolutions. Dependingontheconfigurationofyournetwork,thescopeofyourmigrationproject,and thewaysinwhichyouplantoactuallyinvoketheupgrade,youmaychooseanetwork basedupgradepathoronewheremachinesmustbephysicallyrelocatedtospecialITareas first.Ineithercase,lookcarefullyattheoptionsavailableinyourmigrationsolution.You maydiscoverthatfullautomationorevenselfserviceautomationcapabilitiesareentirely possible.

DistributingApplicationsandUpdates
Oneapproachthatgoesfarintocreatinganenvironmentoffullmigrationautomationisin integratingyourmigrationsolutionwithadesktopmanagementsolution.Doingsoextends thevalueofyourinvestmentbecausethesamesolutionthatmigratedyourenvironment canlaterbeusedtomanageit. Nowhereisthismoreapparentthanwiththeneedforapplicationandupdatedistribution. Theprocessofautomaticallydistributingapplicationsandupdatestocomputershasbeen aroundforaverylongtime;yetmanyITorganizationseventodayfindthemselvesstill installingapplicationsthemanualway. Yourmigrationprojectwillnotbecompleteuntilafteryouveinstalledeachofyourusers necessaryapplicationsbacktotheirupgradedcomputer.Attemptingtodothisthemanual waywilldramaticallyincreasethetimeandcostofyourmigrationproject,potentiallyto thepointwhereitisntcosteffectiveatall.Incontrast,automatedapplicationinstallation solutionsexisttodaythateliminateallthemanualwork.Consideritanotherbestpractice toseekintegratedmigrationsolutionsthatcanalsoserveaslongtermdesktop managementsolutionstoprovidejustthislevelofservicebothduringandafterthe upgrade.

The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

ProjectandStatusReporting
Finallyaretheallimportantneedsofprojectmanagementitself.Ifyourmigrationproject onlyupgradesadozencomputers,keepingtrackofthosecomputersisntallthathard. Managingaprojectofhundredsorthousands,however,isanotherthingentirely. Thecentralproblemwithnonintegratedsolutionsisinhowtheycreatesilosofdata betweeneachpointsolution.Forexample,ifyourapplicationcompatibilitytoolcantshare datawithyourautomatedapplicationinstallationtool,youhavenoseamlesswaytoensure thattherightapplicationsgetreinstalled.Toensurethehighestlevelsofsuccess,consider theuseofintegratedsolutionsthatenablesharingofdatabetweeneachoftheseactivities. Theresultwillbethecreationofprojectandstatusreportsthattrackyourprogressand ensuremistakesarenotmade.

MigrationsRequireTools
Thesesevenkeyactivitiesarefundamentallyimportanttoasuccessfulmigrationproject. AndyetmanyofthemareoftenforgottenorneglectedbyITorganizationsthatdont effectivelyplantheirmigrations.Windows7isreadyfortodaysbusiness,asarethetools togetyouthere. Microsoftitselfprovidesasetoffreetoolsthatassistinthisprocess.Areviewofthosetools isthesubjectofthisseriesnextarticle.Althoughfree,thesetoolscanbechallengingand costlytosuccessfullyimplement,andevenkeepingtheirlonglistofacronymsstraightisa demandingactivityinandofitself.Thenextarticlewilldiscussthesetoolsandassistyou withunderstandinghowtheyalignwiththesesevenactivities.

The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

Article2:UntanglingMicrosoftsAlphabet SoupofMigrationTools
MostITorganizationsquicklydiscovertwohurdlesinbeginninganOSmigration.Thefirst isinfindingthetruebusinessbenefitsofanewoperatingsystem(OS).Thosebenefitscant beexpressedintermsofrawfeatures;theymustdirectlyrelatetomeasurable improvementsinbusinessprocesses.Thesecondisincontainingthecostsassociatedwith themigrationitself.Keepingthesecostslowiscriticalasbusinessestendtoviewmigration activitiesassunkcosts. YetwhatmanyITorganizationsdontrealizeisthatthesetwoseeminglyseparatehurdles areinfactquiteinterrelated.Firstandforemost,businessesmustseeameasurable improvementinvalueiftheyretomakethejump.Atthesametime,thecosttotransition mustntnegateanybenefitsgainedbyjumpinginthefirstplace.Asaresult,manyIT organizationsfindthemselvessteeringtowardsfreetoolstocheapenthecostofmigration, onlytolaterdiscoverthatthetoolslimitationsendupcostingmore. Thecentralproblemisthatmanymigrationactivitiesarentwellplannedfromthestart.OS migrationsareuncommonoccurrencesinITslifecycle.Thismeansthatinternal organizationsoftendonthavethebackgroundandexperiencetoensurethehighestlevels ofsuccess. ItisforthesereasonsyoufindsomanysolutionsavailablethatassistwithOSmigration. EvenMicrosoftitselfrecognizesthevalueinstreamliningthemigrationprocess, developingandreleasingasuiteofnocosttoolsthatsupporteachofthesevenkey activities.ThissecondarticlewilloverviewthoseMicrosofttools,explainingwheretheyfit withineachactivity.

MicrosoftsNoCostMigrationTools
Youveprobablynoticedtheunderlyingthemebehindthelastarticlesdiscussiononbest practices.There,theuseofintegratedsolutionswashighlightedrepeatedlyasabest practiceformigrationsuccess.Thefocusonintegratedsolutionsiscriticalduetotheneed fordatasharingbetweeneachofthesevenactivities.Lackingaunifiedrepository, individualtoolsrequiremanualeffortsthatreduceyourefficiencyandresultinlessthan desiredresults. ThatrepositoryisakeyomissioninMicrosoftsfreetoolsets.Spanningoverahalfdozen pointsolutions,Microsoftsacronymalphabetsoupcanbechallengingtointegrate successfully.Letstakealookatthesolutions,andthepileofacronymsyoullneedtolearn. EachofthesecanbedownloadedfromtheMicrosoftWebsite.

The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

MSIAforAnalyzingInventory
TheMicrosoftSoftwareInventoryAnalyzer(MSIA)isafreetoolthatremotelyinterrogates computersthroughoutyourWindowsdomain.Thistoolscansidentifiedcomputersfor knownsoftwareinstallations,withthegoalofreportingthoseinstallationsinaMicrosoft Excelspreadsheet. MSIAiscurrentlylimitedtoscanningenvironmentsof250orfewercomputers,and generatesreportsinHTML,XLS,andtextonly.Further,MSIAwillonlyreportonMicrosoft productsandapplications.Productsfromothervendorsaswellassoftwareupdatesand hotfixesarenotenumerated. Thistoolprovidesareasonablelevelofinformation;however,onlyifyourenvironment makesexclusiveuseofMicrosoftapplications.Thirdpartyapplicationsmustbe inventoriedthroughadifferentandcompletelyseparatesolution.Also,thistoolstext basedreportsdonotstoretheirinformationinalocationthatcanbeeasilyusedbyother tools.

ACTforVerifyingApplicationCompatibility
Asmentionedinthefirstarticleofthisseries,someapplicationssimplywillnotrunatop Windows7.Otherswillrun,butwithreducedfunctionalityoronlyafterspecial modification.Thisapplicationincompatibilityoccurspredominantlyduetothedramatic kernellevelsecuritychangesthatwerefirstintroducedinWindowsVista. MicrosoftsApplicationCompatibilityToolkit(ACT)iscomprisedofasetoftoolsthatassist administratorswithanalyzing,classifying,andresolvingjusttheseincompatibilities.Its toolsincludeacompatibilitymanagerandastandarduseranalyzeraswellasanalysistools fortrackingthemostcommonproblems.AdministratorsusingACTbegintheprocessby creatinganddeployingDataCollectionPackages(DCP),whichcollectinformationabout applicationsalongwithpotentialcompatibilityissues.OnceDCPshavebeenlatercollected andanalyzed,applicationscanbeprioritizedbybusinessneedandassessmentratingwhile workaroundsarecreated. ACTincludesabuiltinsetofpretestedapplications;however,thislistisbynomeans complete.Thistoolcanbeconsideredaworkbenchforapplicationtestingactivities, providingadatabasewhereinformationaboutbusinessapplicationscanbeconsolidated. AswithMSIA,theinformationgatheredthroughthistoolisnotstoredinaformatthatis usedbytheothertools,creatingyetanothersiloofdataforamigrationproject.

The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

WAIK,ImageX,andDISMforCreatingandManagingOSInstances
ActuallycreatingOSimagesandscriptsisaccomplishedusingtheWindowsAutomated InstallationKit(WAIK).Thislargedownloadincludesthenecessarycomponentstocreate andcustomizeOSinstancesforlaterdeployment. MicrosoftsprimarytoolforimagecollectionisthecommandlinetoolcalledImageX.This toolcapturesimagesfromreferencecomputersandcanbeusedforsingleinstanceimage deployment.CapturedimagesarestoredintheWindowsImaging(WIM)fileformat,which isafilebaseddiskformatthatwasfirstintroducedwithWindowsVista.ImageXalsohas theabilitytomountexistingimagesforcommandlinemodificationoffilesandfolders. MicrosoftssolutionforscriptedinstallationsistheDeploymentImagingServicingand Management(DISM)tool.Thistool,areplacementforthepreviousWindowsSystemImage Manager(WSIM),providesaworkbenchforcustomizingadefaultinstallation.DISM,while easiertousethanWSIM,stillrequiresadvancedknowledgeofduringtheinstall configurationrequirements,andassuchcanbechallengingforinexperienced administrators.TheoutputfromaDISMcustomizationactivityisanXMLbased unattendedinstallationscriptthatisusedinconjunctionwithadefaultinstallation.

USMTforMigratingUserPersonality
AnothercomponentoftheWAIKistheUserStateMigrationToolkit(USMT).This commandlinesolutionmigratesuserfilesandsettingsduringaWindowsOSdeployment. USMTleveragestwocommandlineexecutablesScanStateandLoadStatealongwitha seriesofXMLbasedconfigurationfilestogatheruserdataandultimatelyredeployitontoa replacementOSinstance. AlthoughUSMTsScanStateandLoadStatetoolsareeffectiveforhandlingtheautomated transferofuserdata,thesetoolsmustbeintegratedintoanotherOSdeploymentsolution tobefullyautomated.Thisintegrationprocesstypicallyinvolvesthemanualadditionof theirexecutablestothatsolutionspreandpostdeploymentsetofactions.Effectively usingthesetoolsrequiresthemanualconfigurationofaseriesofXMLfilesthatcontain informationaboutthedatatobetransferred.

WDSforAutomatingOSDistribution
Inanotherseparationoftoolcapabilities,MicrosoftsWindowsDeploymentServices(WDS) providestheinfrastructureforactuallydistributingOSstotargetmachines.Thistool ingeststhescriptedcustomizationsthatwerecreatedusingtheWAIKSDISM,combininga DISMXMLfilewithadefaultWIMtocreateacustomizedinstallation.WDScanalsohost customWIMimagesthatwerecapturedviaImageX. WDSsupportsthedistributionofimagestosinglecomputersthroughunicastorgroupsof computersthroughmulticasting.ItisinstalledasaroleatopaninstanceofWindowsServer 2008.Aswitheachoftheothertoolsthusfar,configurationswithinWDSmustbecreated manually.WDSimagedeploymentcanoccurthroughtheuseofhardwarePreboot ExecutionEnvironment(PXE)extensionsorthroughmediadeployment.WDSdoesnot supportthehandsfreedeploymentofOSimages,requiringanactionateachtarget computertoinvokeanupgrade. 9

The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

GPSIandWSUSforDistributingApplicationsandUpdates
Althoughnottechnicallydeploymenttools,Microsoftssolutionsfordistributing applicationsandupdatesarrivethroughthecombinationofGroupPolicySoftware Installation(GPSI)andWindowsServerUpdateServices(WSUS).MakinguseofGPSIfor automatedapplicationdeploymentrequiresthecreationofspeciallyconfiguredpackages ofsoftware,whicharesettorunsilently.GPSIlackscentralizedsuccess/failurereporting capabilities,andhasrelativelylimitedtargetingcapabilitiesfordiscretelydefiningwhere softwareshouldbeinstalled. WSUSisyetanotherinstallablerolewithinWindowsServer2008.Thissolutionisusedto installMicrosoftupdatesandhotfixesaswellasanextremelylimitedsetofthirdparty drivers.WSUSdoesnotsupporttheautomatedinstallationofthirdpartyupdatesthrough itsgraphicaluserinterface(GUI);however,customupdateinstallationcanleverageits infrastructurethroughtheuseofcustomscripts.

MDTforProjectandStatusReporting
MicrosoftssolutionforlargerscaleprojectsistheMicrosoftDeploymentToolkit(MDT). Thissolutionacceleratorintegrateslimitedprojectandstatusreportingwiththeservices oftheWAIK(includingitssubcomponents),theACT,andMSXML6.0.Theseextraservices mustbedownloadedandinstalledseparatelyfromMDT. MDTaugmentstheseindividualtoolsthroughthecreationofaDeploymentWorkbench, withinwhichdeploymentrelatedactionsarecreatedandinvoked.MDTsupportstwo typesofinstallationsnamedLightTouchInstallation(LTI)andZeroTouchInstallation (ZTI).LTIinstallationsrequireadministratoractionstoinvokeanupgradeateachtarget computer.ZTIinstallationscanbecentrallydeployedtotargetcomputerswithoutendpoint attentionbutrequiretheservicesofaSystemCenterConfigurationManager(SCCM) infrastructure.

IntegrationComesataCost.IntegrationSavesCost.
MicrosoftsnocostsolutionscanindeeddeployOSinstancestohardware.However,asyou canseeinthisarticle,thesavingsinsoftwarecostcomeswithoutbuiltinautomationand withanassociatedlearningcurve.WithevenMicrosoftssolutions,ifyoudesirean integratedapproach,youllneedtoinvestinforcostinfrastructuremanagementsolutions suchasSCCM. Tyingallthesedisparateactivitiestogetheristhedata.Thatdatadescribestheasis environment.Itpredictsthesuccessforthetobeenvironment.Anditprovidesthe configurationcharacteristicsthatareabsolutelyrequiredinorderfortheentireprojectto successfullyreplicatetheusersexperienceatopthenewOS.Thatsthethemebehindthis seriesthirdandfinalarticle.Thatarticlewillexplorewhatanintegratedsolutionlooks like,managingdatathroughouttheprojectlifecycletoensuremigrationsuccess.

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The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

Article3:EnsuringWindows7Migration SuccesswithIntegratedSolutions
Whenyouplanyourmigrationproject,itstopprioritymustbeinminimizingthe inconveniencetoyourusers.Thatinconveniencecanoccurinanynumberofdifferent ways:Userscantworkwhiletheirmachinesareupgraded.Computersarereturnedwith incorrectormissingapplications.Userdatagetslostoraccidentallydeleted.Anyofthese orahundredotherminormistakescanquicklyturnamigrationprojectintoanIT nightmare. Itisforthisreasonthatthisserieskeepsrepeatingtheassertionthatthemostimportant partsofamigrationprojecthavenothingtodowiththeoperatingsystem(OS)installation itself.Correctlyplanningyourmigrationprojectreducestheopportunityformistakes,with gooddatabeingthekeytogoodplanning. Integrateddeploymentsolutionsusebydefinitionacentralizedsetofdatathroughoutthe projectslifecycle.Datacollectedduringtheinitialinventoryisusedtovalidatehardware andapplicationcompatibility.Thatsamedatadrivesthetargetingofupgradesaswellas thepostupgradeinstallationofapplications.Byusingautomationtoeliminateasetofvery specificlaborcosts,mostprojectmanagersfindthisclassofintegratedsoftwaretoquickly payforitsinitialcost. Whatsinterestingisthatthesameclassofsoftwarethatcanmanageyourdeploymentand upgradeactivitiesisperfectlysuitedforongoingadministrativeactivitiesaswell.Asyou probablynoticedinthefirstarticleofthisseries,theactivitiesthatarenecessaryforan upgradelookverysimilartotheeverydayactivitiesofITadministration:inventory, applicationdeployment,usermanagement,updateandhotfixinstallation,reporting,andso on.Alltheseareactivitiesthatarecommonlyavailableintodaysdesktopmanagement solutions.Asaresult,thosesamesolutionsareoftenaverygoodfitforOSmigrations. Inshort,byinvestinginadesktopmanagementsolutiontofacilitateanupgrade,youalso gainaveryeffectiveplatformforongoingmaintenance.

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The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

TheSuccessIsintheData
Suchasolutionsrealvaluepropositionliesinitscentralizationofdata.Whetherthrough theuseofonsystemagentsorthroughagentlessremoteactions,thesesolutionsstartby creatingadatabaseofyourentireenvironment.Insidethatdatabaseareallthedatapoints youneedtomanageandmaintainthatenvironmentinadditiontomerelyupgradingit. Withthisinmind,letsexplorehowsuchasystemmightusethisdatainthecourseofa migrationandduringthoseallimportantongoingoperations.Unlikethefirstarticle,this discussionwillfocusonthetasksthatneedtobeaccomplished,aswellashowthose actionsmakeuseofanintegratedsolutionscentraldatarepository.

UsingAgentstoGather&AnalyzeInventory
Inventorydataisthebackboneofasuccessfulmigration.Thisdataiscommonlycollected throughoneoftwomechanisms.Thefirstinvolvestheuseofonboardagents,whichmust befirstinstalledtoeachcomputer.Eachindividualagentscansitscomputerandtypically deliverstheresultstoacentralserverfordatabasestorage. Analternativeistheagentlessapproach,wherethecentralserverinterrogatescomputers overthenetworkthroughcommonAPIs.Theagentlessapproachhastheobviousbenefitof notrequiringanagentoneveryendpoint;however,thelackofinstalledagentslimitsthe actionsthatcanbedonebythecentralserver. Acommontacticintodaysdesktopmanagementsolutionsinvolvestheuseofboth approaches.Initialdiscoveryofsystemsisaccomplishedusingtheagentlessapproach.This firstsweepgathersthenecessarytopologyandstructureoftheenvironmentthatenables agentstobeproperlyconfiguredandautomaticallyinstalled.Onceinstalled,agents completetheinventorytofillouttheplatformspictureoftheenvironment.

CrossCheckingInventorywithHardware&ApplicationCompatibility
Onboardagentscollecthardware,software,andconfigurationinformationfromeach targetedcomputer.IntheWindowsenvironment,thisconfigurationdataisstoredwithin eachcomputersWindowsManagementInstrumentation(WMI)repository.TheWMI repositorysdetailedinformationprovidesthenecessaryspecificsaboutthecomputers hardware,makingapiecewisecomparisonpossibleagainstOSrecommendations. Computersthatlacktheappropriatehardwarecanbeimmediatelyidentifiedalongwith thenecessarypremigrationrecommendations(suchasupgradeversusreplace). Thirdpartyplatformsalsobenefitfromtheircapacitytoinventorytheentirerangeof installedapplications.Eachcomputerinanenvironmentstoresinformationaboutits installedapplications,makingpossiblethecreationofreportsaboutapplicationsandtheir compatibility.Comparingyourinventoriedlistofapplicationswithknowndatabasesof incompatibilitiesassistsyouwithrecognizingwhereadditionaltestingisrequired.

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The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

HardwareAgnosticismExtendstheValueofOSInstances
ThecreationofOSinstancesforlaterdeploymentisanontrivialtask,especiallywhen multipletypesofhardwarearepresentinanenvironment.Heterogeneousenvironments requireavarietyofdevicesandtheirdriversthatmustbemanagedduringtheupgrade. Thirdpartyplatformsbenefitherethroughtheincorporationofdriverlists.TheWindows OSincludesthebuiltinplugandplaysupportforautomaticallyinstallingthecorrect driverifitisavailable.Anintegratedmigrationsolutionwilltypicallyarrivewithan extensivesetofdriversforknownhardware.Thisenablesthecreationofahardware agnosticinstallationthatautomaticallycustomizesitselfatthepointofinstallforeach hardwareclass. Hardwareagnosticinstallationsbecomeparticularlyusefulastimeprogresses.Witha hardwareagnosticinstallation,thesameinstallationcanbeusedoverandoveragainas newhardwareispurchased.Theonlynecessarystepistoensurethatnewdriversare alreadycontainedoraddedtothesolutionsdatabasepriortodeployingadditionalOSs.

MigratingUserPersonality,DuringandBeyondtheUpgrade
Theprocessofgathering,storing,andrestoringuserpersonalityinformationisalso enhancedthroughanintegratedmigrationplatform.Here,userpersonalityinformation canbedeployeddirectlyalongsideanOSinstallationordiskimage.Thisenablesuser personalitytobereliablyandefficientlydeployedtotheappropriatetargetsystems. Bycollectinguserpersonalityonaregularbasis,usersgaintheabilitytorefreshtheir computeratanytimeasopposedtotheonetimeuseduringamigrationproject.Usersin suchanenvironmentcanchoosetohavetheircomputerseamlesslyrebuiltwhena problemcannotbesolved.Thesameholdstrueafteracomputercrash,enablinga computertobequicklyprovisionedwithlittletonolossofuserdata. Allofthesecapabilitiesenhancethecoreneedforuserpersonalitymigrationduringan upgrade.Allarealsopossiblewhentheplatformformigrationalsoservesasadesktop managementsolution.

FullyAutomatingOSDistribution
Exceptionallycriticalduringanymigrationprojectparticularlyasthesizeoftheproject scalesupwardistheabilitytofullyautomateOSdistribution.Inthepreviousarticle,it wasmentionedthatmanysolutions,suchasMicrosoftsLTIinstallationoption,stillrequire anactiontooccuratthecomputerfortheupgradetobegin.Thisactionrequires administratorstobepresentfortheupgradeandcansignificantlyslowtheentireprocess. FullyautomatingthedistributionofOSsgenerallyrequirestheuseofanonboardagentor WakeonLAN.ThesetwosolutionsallowthetargetmachinetorebootintoWinPEand automaticallybegintheinstallationafterreceivingtheappropriatesignalfromthe centralizedplatform.

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The Essentials Series: Automation Tools for Windows 7 Migration

Greg Shields

RegularlyDistributingApplicationsandUpdates
Anonboardagentcanbefurtherinstructedtodownloadandinstallthecorrectsetof applicationsaftertheinstallationiscomplete.Alongwiththereturnofuserpersonality data,thisautomateddistributionofapplicationscompletestheentireprocessofrebuilding thecomputer.Theneededdataforthisautomationisassuredlyavailablebecauseeachof theseactionsoccursasapartofthegreaterdesktopmanagementsolution. Applicationsandupdatesarealwaysinneedofinstallation.Whethernewapplications requiredeployment,monthlypatchesneedinstallation,orapplicationupdatesforcea quickreinstall,adesktopmanagementsolutionenablesITtoextendthesameautomation intoongoingmaintenanceactivities.

OngoingProjectandStatusReporting
Lastlyistheneverendingrequirementforstatusreporting.Bothduringthemigration projectaswellasafteritscompletion,ITrequiresmetricsoncomputercharacteristicsfor internalconsumptionaswellasreportingtobusinessleadership.Leveragingadesktop managementsolutionastheplatformforanOSmigrationautomaticallycreatesadatabase ofjustthesemetrics.Thatsameplatformcanbeusedinongoingactivitiesforrealtime licensecompliance,configurationreportingandbaselining,andconstantmonitoringofthe environment.

DesktopManagementSolutionsAretheBestPractice
EnsuringWindows7migrationsuccessrequireseffectiveplanning,gooddata,andthe supportofanautomationplatform.Therightplatformintegratesthesevenkeyactivities withthedatathatensurestheirsuccess.Furthermore,aneffectiveWindows7migration platformcanalsobeusedasyoursolutionforongoingadministrationandmaintenance. Windows7ishere,anditsreadyfordeploymenttoyourenterprise.Doyouhavewhatit takestobesuccessfulinplanningandexecutingyourWindows7migrations?

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