Developing

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Figure 3 shows the activities that occur during the Developing Phase. Most of these activities involve preparation of the servers used to back up computers, store operating system images, install applications, and migrate existing user data. These tasks may be repetitive, depending on the deployment strategy. Some deployments may require that the following sequence of server installation, stabilization, and deployment be repeated several times, either serially or in parallel, to complete an organization-wide deployment.

Figure 3. Activities during the Developing Phase

Figure 3. Activities during the Developing Phase

On This Page

Roles and Responsibilities Roles and Responsibilities
Preparing the Deployment Environment Preparing the Deployment Environment
Preparing the Windows DS Server Preparing the Windows DS Server
Configuring Resource Access Configuring Resource Access
Configuring Operating System and Windows PE Images Configuring Operating System and Windows PE Images
Configuring Processing Rules Configuring Processing Rules
Milestone: Deployment Infrastructure Complete Milestone: Deployment Infrastructure Complete

Roles and Responsibilities

In addition to the tasks defined in the process description that follows, take note of the following responsibilities allocated to the role clusters. Table 6 defines these focus areas for the different role clusters during this phase.

Table 6. Team Roles and Responsibilities in the Developing Phase

Role

Focus

Product Management

  • Managing customer expectations

Program Management

  • Managing the functional specification

  • Project management

  • Updating plans

Development

  • Code creation

  • Documentation

  • Image creation

  • Infrastructure development

Test

  • Documentation review

  • Functional testing

  • Issues identification

User Experience

  • Training

  • Usability testing

Release Management

  • Creating the deployment servers, deployment checklists, and updated pilot plans

  • Operations plans

  • Site preparation checklists

Preparing the Deployment Environment

For both ZTI and LTI, the team must prepare the deployment environment. This process includes creating at least one deployment point in Deployment Workbench.

For more information on this process for:

  • ZTI, see “Preparing the Deployment Environment” in the Zero Touch Installation Guide.

  • LTI, see “Preparing the Deployment Environment” in the Lite Touch Installation Guide.

Preparing the Windows DS Server

For both ZTI and LTI, prepare the computer running Windows DS. Windows DS is used in ZTI to initiate Windows PE on the target computers (and subsequently initiate the deployment process). For LTI, use Windows DS to initiate Windows PE or Windows Vista on the target computers.

For more information on this process for:

  • ZTI, see “Preparing the Windows DS Server” in the Zero Touch Installation Guide.

  • LTI, see “Preparing the Windows DS Server” in the Lite Touch Installation Guide.

Configuring Resource Access

For both ZTI and LTI, configure access to resources for the deployment scripts. These resources include deployment points, shared folders, and database servers. For ZTI, configure access to these resources for the following accounts based on the type of resource being accessed:

  • The distribution point by using the user credentials supplied by the:

    • SMS 2003 Advance Client Network Access Account.

    • UserID, UserDomain, and UserPassword properties in CustomSettings.ini.

  • Other servers by using the Connect to UNC action

For LTI, configure access to these resources for the following accounts based on the type of resource being accessed:

  • The distribution point by using the user credentials supplied by the UserID, UserDomain, and UserPassword properties in CustomSettings.ini.

  • Other servers by using the Connect to UNC action.

For more information on this process for:

  • ZTI, see “Configuring Resource Access” in the Zero Touch Installation Guide.

  • LTI, see “Configuring Resource Access” in the Lite Touch Installation Guide.

Configuring Operating System and Windows PE Images

For both ZTI and LTI, configure the operating system and Windows PE images. For ZTI, these steps are done through Deployment Workbench, the SMS OSD Feature Pack, and manual steps. For LTI, these steps are done through Deployment Workbench and manual steps.

For more information on this process for ZTI, see:

  • “Developing” in the Computer Imaging System Feature Team Guide.

  • “Configuring the ZTI Operating System Image” in the Zero Touch Installation Guide.

  • “Configuring the ZTI Operating System Image Installation CD” in the Zero Touch Installation Guide.

  • “Preparing the Windows PE CDs and Legacy Images” in the Zero Touch Installation Guide.

For more information on this process for LTI, see “Developing” in the Computer Imaging System Feature Team Guide.

Configuring Processing Rules

For both ZTI and LTI, configure the processing rules used to identify the correct image to deploy and the configuration settings to use. Modify the CustomSettings.ini file to configure the configuration rules.

For more information on this process for:

  • ZTI, see “Configuring the Appropriate Processing Rules” in the Zero Touch Installation Guide.

  • LTI, see “Configuring the Appropriate Processing Rules” in the Lite Touch Installation Guide.

Milestone: Deployment Infrastructure Complete

Milestones are synchronization points for the overall solution. For more information, see the Plan, Build, and Deploy Guide.

At this milestone, the teams have completed the tasks listed in Table 7. All the necessary steps prior to deploying the target operating system to the target computer are complete.

Table 7. Developing Phase Project Milestones and Deliverable Descriptions

Developing Phase Milestone

Deliverable description

Owner

Deployment environment prepared

At least one deployment point is created and configured. Operating system images are configured and installed. Deployment customization is complete.

Development

Windows DS server prepared

The server running Windows DS is configured. Appropriate Windows PE and Windows operating images are placed on the Windows DS server.

Development

Appropriate resource access configured

Shared resources (such as shared folders for user migration data) are configured to allow access to the appropriate service accounts.

Development

Operating system and Windows PE images are created

Images and media used to deploy Windows PE and target operating systems are created and configured.

Development

Processing rules configured

Rules for processing the ZTI or LTI installation are configured and stored in the appropriate location for deployment.

Development

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