Centralized Automation

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

With centralized automation, you can extend the efficiencies available through the scripted-manual method for migrating user state. To centralize automation of user state migration, you refine the user state collection and restoration scripts to such a degree that no onsite input from a technician is required. IT technicians can deploy the scripts to targeted computers from a remote location.

Centralized automation enables enormous cost savings and provides a common migration experience corporation-wide. Centralized automation does not work well in parallel deployments because of the complexity in determining target and destination computer addresses for a large number of computers, but it is ideal for wipe-and-load deployments.

Table 6.6 summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of using centralized automation to migrate user state. Centralized automation is the ideal solution for wipe-and-load deployments.

Table 6.6   Advantages and Disadvantages of Centrally Automating User State Migration

Advantages Disadvantages
  • Allows simultaneous migration of user state for large numbers of computers (limited only by network bandwidth and server storage).

  • Produces results that can be replicated.

  • Produces a common user experience.

  • Scales well to distributed or remote office scenarios.
  • Requires that script files be created.

  • Does not work well in parallel deployments.

The key challenges in the centralized automation of user state migration are:

  • Targeting and deploying scripts so that they run on the user’s computer in the appropriate context.

  • Associating user state with a specific computer.

  • Creating scripts that create a temporary store for each user’s state and then access that store to restore the state on the destination computer.

  • Automatically deploying the Windows XP image with no one attending the remote computer to accept the RIS image.

Targeting and deploying scripts to run in the appropriate context   Follow these rules when targeting and deploying automated scripts during user state migration:

  • The collection script must run under the user’s logon account.

  • The restoration script must run securely in the administrator’s context with no one attending to the remote computer to log on.

  • The computer’s user should not be using the computer when the script is run.

  • No applications can be running when the script is run.

Several options are available for automatically running the script at a specific time and under in the appropriate context. It is best to use a management solution such as Microsoft® Systems Management Server (SMS) for this. SMS provides advanced targeting options, contains software deployment structural components, and can target packages to run at specific times in specific contexts. Other options include logoff scripts, e-mail that includes the script (which automatically shuts down the mail client), or deployment automation delivered by way of a Web site.

For more information about Systems Management Server, see the SMS Product Information link on the Web Resources page at https://www.microsoft.com/windows/reskits/webresources.

Associating user state with a computer   When deploying a standard image to a series of computers, plan how to discover which user’s state to restore to which computer. Two common methods for identifying computers are by the media access control (MAC) address for the network adapter or by the serial number of the processor.

For example, you can write a script that collects both the network adapter MAC address of the computer and the logon name of the user. This data pair is stored in a central database along with the mapping of the user state storage location. When restoring user state, the script looks up the network adapter MAC address to find the user’s logon name and user state storage location, and restores the user state to the appropriate computer.

Storing and restoring the user state   In centralized automation, you can use the same scripts that collect and restore user state in the scripted-manual method, with these adjustments:

  • The collection script must be able to create a separate subdirectory for storing each user’s state during the migration. Appending the user’s logon name to the root storage path (for example, \\State\Username) is a good solution. If the user has multiple computers, use both the computer name and the user’s logon name (for example, \\State\Username\Computername).

  • The restoration script must read the user state storage path from the central database that the collection script wrote to and restore the user state from the appropriate storage location.

Automating Windows XP image installation   Microsoft offers several options for deploying operating systems. For information about your options for automating the deployment of a Windows XP image, see "Choosing an Automated Installation Method" in Automating and Customizing Installations of this kit.