SCCM 2012 rebuilding a machine via collections

sccmsccm-2012

I am looking to have a process for our desktop team – that would allow them to be able to rebuild machines on the fly.
Currently the process is to delete the machine from SCCM and AD and then restart the build process from USB, and then begin the task sequence based on choice.

I would like to circumvent all that by having a machine dropping into a collection, either by using AD groups or manually and then the machine restarting and rebuilding itself.

Any ideas? Suggestions?

Best Answer

...allow them to be able to rebuild machines on the fly.

Some notes about the process:

  • SCCM OSD needs to be setup on one/the sccm server. It's best for the sccm administrator to do this.

  • An OSD task sequence needs to be created containing the base image and optionally any applications that should be installed at before deployment. A step should be added that joins the machine to the domain as well.

  • The task sequence should be advertised to All Unknown Computers and All SCCM Workstations. This should be the a non-mandatory advertisement, or you won't like the result. It won't be pretty. I recommend only advertising to PXE clients as well, to prevent it showing up in Software Center, where a user can accidentally upgrade their own computer.

  • Create an SCCM network pxe point, or if you have an existing wds server you can modify that so that it will boot your sccm boot image, which pulls down task sequences that are advertised to that particular node and gives a choice on which one to install. It can be password protected as well.

With this method, a machine shouldn't have to be deleted from SCCM or AD, though I would also recommend tuning the clean up settings for AD and SCCM both, just for proper maintenance.

...I would like to circumvent all that by having a machine dropping into a collection, either by using AD groups or manually and then the machine restarting and rebuilding itself

I don't recommend that, simply because of the number of times I've seen a computer mysteriously wind up in a collection or container in AD and wondering how it got there.

Lastly, there will be a lot of legwork involved in creating the infrastructure, refining this process, then keeping it up to date. It's best to have a dedicated SCCM administrator for the task, who's sole purpose is SCCM. If you have a sufficient number of clients, however, it is well worth it to automate workstation imaging.

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