Assigning computer names to multiple computers using MDT/WDS

[mehrdadi]

Hi All,

 

I was wondering what the best approach would be to assign multiple machines each with their own unique computer name during my deployment. I have been given the responsibility to deploy about 100 computers in an environment and needed to assign different computer names to each machine. Currently I have a setup using MDT for the actual deployment and WDS that is used for the PXE boot. Is there a way (preferable without using a PowerShell script) that I can deploy these machines? The reason I say preferably without PowerShell script is because I'm a rookie with scripting. If there is any other way to do this, please let me know!

 

Thanks for any help you guys can provide!

 

-Mehrdad

[Jorgen Nilsson]

Hi,

Are you using a sequence of names or is it specific names? if you want to generate them randomly: http://www.deploymentresearch.com/Blog/tabid/62/EntryId/24/Generate-Computernames-in-MDT-2010-based-on-prefix-and-a-sequencenumber.aspx is a great solution for MDT.

 

I use this alot, yes it is a powershell script but it is really straight forward to use:http://ccmexec.com/2010/10/import-computers-into-mdt/

 

I hope that helps

Regards,

Jörgen

[mehrdadi]

Hi Jorgen,

 

Thanks for your input. I will check it out and get back to you as to whether or not it worked. One question I do have though: When I'm deploying using MDT to reference a SQL db, would I need to use the Asset tag, UUID, MAC address or Serial Number? The reason I ask this is because my company is setting up a brand new rack of servers and they need a fresh copy of Server 2008 R2 (or Server 2012) and I wasn't sure which variable to configure in the db so that the machines can be identified and deployed to accordingly. For test purposes I used a MAC address of a local server and it worked perfectly. I was told however that the MAC addresses for the VMs that will be created on the hosts (blades) will be dynamically assigned so using a MAC address might lead to some confusion.

 

Thanks again - I appreciate the help!

 

Regards,

Mehrdad

[WinOutreach4]

Another method to accomplish computer naming during deployment (although not automated) is to set WDS to require administrator approval for all unknown computers, then once they PXE boot they can be named and approved at the same time in the WDS console on the server. This TechNet magazine article shows how this is accomplished. This method would work for the VM's that you spoke of, but for actual hardware PC's, you can pre-stage them in AD and have WDS pull the name from AD.

 

Hope this helps,

David

Windows Outreach Team - IT Pro

[mehrdadi]

Hey! Thanks for that. Sounds interesting, I'll definitely look into it.

 

Would there be a way to actually capture the UUID's of the computers I want to deploy to without having to check each of them individually?

 

Thanks a bunch,

Mehrdad

[mehrdadi]

Anyone?

[Yan]

I use the MAC address and can be very flexible...

 

CustomSettings.ini

 

[VMware Virtual Platform]
OSDComputerName=VM-#Replace("%MacAddress001%",":","")#

 

http://deploymentbunny.com/2012/04/21/back-to-basic-customsettings-ini-explained/

 

Most asset inventory software already has the MAC addresses in your environment.