Are you planning a Windows 10 rollout in the next few weeks? Are you looking for an easy-to-manage, fully automated solution that also supports different hardware types? Are you using ZENWorks Configuration Management and are you struggling with Microsoft Deployment Tools (MDT)? If you answered "Yes" to at least 2 questions, you should read more.

Based on the experience we gained from numerous successful desktop management projects with ZENWorks Configuration Management (ZCM), Micro Focus Consulting now provides a best practice document that describes all the steps required to build a fully automated installation process for Windows 10 without using MDT.

The following topics are covered:

• General Overview

• Automated Deployment of Windows 10

• Typical problems and solutions

• Using NCSTools (a small set of tools to extend Windows 10 deployment process)

• Setting up required imaging and software bundles in ZCM

In addition to the best practice documentation, we provide all necessary configuration files, scripts and our NCSTools. NCSTools?

Do you know them already? With our NCSTools you can extend the entire windows setup without touching the windows automation files again and again.

Here are some examples:

Installation of additional drivers using DPInst:

Put the following config file into a specific folder using an addon-image and additional driver and tools are installed:

DRIVER.CFG

------snip------

[Control]
CustomerName="Micro Focus"
ProgressTitle="Deployment Solution for $CustomerName$"
ProgressMainText=Installing Plug and Play Drivers
ProgressSubText=Please wait ...
ProgressHide=0
CommandWindow=MAX
[Commands]
Key=C:\INSTALL\DRV\INF\DPINST.EXE /S /SH /SA /SW /EL /SE /PATH "C:\INSTALL\DRV\INF"

------snip------

Installing driver & tools

Installation of Language Packs

Language Packs can be installed by creating an addon-image with the language pack files and the following configuration file:

LANGUAGEPACKS.CFG

------snip------

[Control]
CustomerName="Micro Focus"
ProgressTitle="Deployment Solution for $CustomerName$"
ProgressMainText="Installing Language Packs"
ProgressSubText="$v_NCSFile$"
ProgressDelay="1"
ProgressPos_X="75"
ProgressPos_Y="150"
ProgressHide="0"

ExitOnError="0"
DisplayMessageOnError="0"
DisplayMessageOnErrorTimeout="60"

CommandSection="LANGUAGE.%GLOBAL_REGIONAL_ID%"

EvalEnvVariables="1"
EvalEnvVariablesFromRegistry="1"
EvalEnvVariablesFromRegistryHive=""

[INFOS.MF]
Variable %GLOBAL_LANGUAGE_ID% will be exported during imaging phase
In addition make sure that an AddOnImage which contains the language pack is transferred to the client

[LANGUAGE.DE_DE]
key1=lpksetup.exe /i de-DE /s /r /p "C:\INSTALL\SETUPS\LanguagePack\WIN10x64\DE_DE\lp.cab"

------snip------

Installing language packs

Installing the ZCM Agent

Installing the ZCM agent not easy when using an automated process.

NCSMonitorProcess can control the entire process. Adding a config file to specific folder using an addon-image:

ZCMAGENT.CFG

------snip------

[Control]
MenuItem=Installing ZCM Agent...
ProgressMainText=Monitoring ZCM Agent

[Commands]
Key1=NCSMonitorProcess --MonitorProcess=ZENPreAgent.exe --ExecuteCommand="PreAgentPkg_AgentComplete.exe" --CommandPath="C:\INSTALL\SETUPS\ZCM-AGENT" --CommandParameter="-q -x" --CommandWindow=HIDE --ProgressMainText="Installing ZCM Agent" --POS_X=-1 --POS_Y=150

------snip------

Now the ZCM agent is installed during first logon

Running first logon commands

To add or remove commands you do not need to touch Windows 10 "unattend.xml" anymore.  Just use our NCSTools and ZCM addon-images to customize your Windows 10 setup.

The documentation provides a step-by-step to prepare the Windows 10 base-image and all required addon-images containing all files to get a fully-automated Windows 10 deployment. After installing the ZCM Agent on your new devices, ZCM will do the job to install all required software using bundles.

Please download  and read the documentation to get the detailed description and all tools and configuration files.

Here is the step-by-step documentation:

windows-10-best-practices-using-zcm-v1-1-2-en-20170113.pdf

Here are the required tools and some basic configuration files:

NCS Configuration

NCS Tools 2017

Thank you for reading and downloading!