Get Started with the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT)

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Applies To: Windows 8.1

This topic will help you gain a better understanding of how to use the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT), and MDT 2013 in particular, as part of a Windows operating system deployment or upgrade. MDT 2013 is one of the most important tools available to IT professionals today. You can use it to create reference images or as a complete deployment solution. MDT 2013 also can be used to extend the operating system deployment features available in Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager.

In addition to familiarizing you with the features and options available in MDT 2013, this topic will walk you through the process of preparing for deploying Windows 8.1 using MDT 2013 by configuring Active Directory, creating an organizational unit (OU) structure, creating service accounts, configuring log files and folders, and installing the tools needed to view the logs and continue with the deployment process.

For the purposes of this topic, we will use two machines: DC01 and MDT01. DC01 is a domain controller and MDT01 is a Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard server. MDT01 is a member of the domain contoso.com for the fictitious Contoso Corporation. For more details on the setup for this topic, please see Proof-Of-Concept Environment.

Figure 1. The machines used in this topic.

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