SmartDeploySupport

Hi Brad,

Just to clarify you want to send your image (made with SmartDeploy) to a manufacture for them to apply the image and drivers to machines? You could ship them an offline USB which would contain everything needed to deploy. Or you could send them the image via USB/Internet share, then the manufacture could install SmartDeploy and create offline USB media on their end. https://support.smartdeploy.com/support/solutions/articles/48000960965-create-usb-media

If that's not what you're trying to accomplish, let me know and if you could provide a bit more detail that could be helpful. If it's easier, feel free to email support@smartdeploy.com with more detail.

Thanks,

Devon

SmartDeploy Support

From there reboot or shutdown the machine as necessary.  Then boot the machine to a SmartDeploy USB stick.

Hi Brad,

Good question! I can tell you, our current recommendation is to install the SmartDeploy console onto another computer if that makes it easier to create USB media. So you don't need to walk to a server in another office, as long as you have another computer at your office where you can install the console.

From a licensing standpoint, this is fine, as SmartDeploy is licensed per deployed endpoint, and there is no restriction on installing the console on multiple hosts as needed. Creating some sort of light, Media-Wizard-only version of the console has been suggested before, but as a practical matter, this wouldn't take up much less space than installing the full console, because they still need to include the ADK tools and uncustomized WindowsPE boot images, which take up a few GB of space.

All of that said, we do welcome all feature requests, and our engineers do read all of them - if this is a feature you would find useful, please send an email to feedback@smartdeploy.com explaining what you'd like to see in this feature, if it should be included in a future version.

Glenn
SmartDeploy Support

Hi Brad,

Sounds like it's crashing during mini-setup, and we'd need to review log files to see.  Once it gets to the point where it's stuck at the logon screen, forcefully reboot it to SmartDeploy.  Cancel any unattended deployment, on the splash screen click where it says to Collect Logs. Save the resulting .zip to USB or network and submit those to us in a new ticket.

https://support.smartdeploy.com/support/tickets/new

Hi David,

The answer file definitely isn't "losing" credentials (if you access the XML file from within PE, you'll find the credentials hashed there as expected, assuming you used the same media for all 5 laptops), but there are several reasons why this sort of failure might occur.

I'll go ahead and give you a KB article in case it's helpful for future reference:

https://support.smartdeploy.com/support/solutions/articles/48001166138-prompted-for-image-location-during-unattended-deployment

For your specific scenario, you've actually ruled out quite a bit with the details you have there - most likely, there is some restriction that is preventing the administrative share path (\\computername\c$) from being used reliably. Try creating a standard share (e.g. \\computername\SmartDeploy, which corresponds to C:\SmartDeploy), then update the answer file to use this instead, recreate your media (making sure to include Platform Packs for all devices you plan to deploy to), then retry deployment.

The other possibility is that there's nothing wrong with the answer file or media, and the network is initializing faster on some devices than others. Increasing the unattended countdown clock can help with this - try setting it to 60 seconds, then save the answer file, recreate media, and retry deployment.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to support@smartdeploy.com.

Glenn
SmartDeploy Support

Hi Dareman, 

We will need to take a look at a log from the endpoint. Can you send us your C:\Windows\SysWoW64\SmartDeploy\Clientservice.console.log to support@smartdeploy.com? Please reference this thread.

Thanks,

Devon

SmartDeploy Support

Hi Aaron,

Using the short hostname for this would be ideal. The client should attempt to connect for 5 minutes (as if on a local network), and once it fails to reach the hostname, it should then reach out to our cloud services, and it should appear in the console shortly, with a connection type of Cloud. If that is not occurring, then we'll need to troubleshoot that further - go ahead and reach out to support and we'll be happy to assist further. support@smartdeploy.com

Glenn
SmartDeploy Support

Good to hear! Have a good day!

Devon

SmartDeploy Support

Hi all,

Aaron is correct - USB passthrough to a VM is tricky and often difficult to make work as a practical matter. Easiest to just install another SmartDeploy console instance onto a physical computer. SmartDeploy is licensed per deployed VM, so if you do decide to purchase the software, you are free to install the console on as many computers as needed. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to support@smartdeploy.com.

Glenn
SmartDeploy Support

Hi Rober,

Error message 1231 means the network location cannot be reached, which makes sense if you're not receiving an IP address in the SmartDeploy boot environment. Be sure when you created your boot media you selected the Platform Pack for the machine you're attempting to deploy to. That will inject the Ethernet driver into the boot.wim so you get an IP address in the boot environment. 

If you have done that and still not getting an IP address, send us an email at support@smartdeploy.com and we can take a look.

Thanks,

Devon

SmartDeploy Support

Hello,

Currently, you do have to select one at a time and there is no filtering. In a few months we should have a new version out with more options. If you would like to send this feedback to our team, please email feedback@smartdeploy.com.

Thanks,

Devon

SmartDeploy Support

Hi AGeister,

The command-line should execute immediately, but it's difficult to say with certainty how long it should take after that point - it's a Windows utility, and it proceeds at its own pace from there. If you'd like to reach out to us at support@smartdeploy.com, we can take a look at a logset and confirm whether the command executed as expected, at FirstLogon.

Glenn
SmartDeploy Support

Hi Jemin,

The short answer is no - enabling kiosk mode is not a SmartDeploy product feature, but there are several options available for this, and we will follow-up via email with more details.

Glenn
SmartDeploy Support

Hi Aaron,

Unfortunately, we were not able to reproduce this issue. We'll be in touch via email.

Glenn
SmartDeploy Support

Hello,

How are you changing the language now? Through the answer file and it's not working? Do you have the United Kingdom Language Pack installed on your image?

Try setting the language via a post image task. In this example the script would use the following:

Set-WinSystemLocale en-GB
Set-WinUserLanguageList en-GB -Force

Then if your script is in C:\Temp\MyScript.ps1 the task command would look like:

Powershell.exe -NoProfile -NonInteractive -ExecutionPolicy bypass -file C:\Temp\MyScript.ps1 

If you still have issues, email us at support@smartdeploy.com and I can continue to help.

Thanks,

Devon

SmartDeploy Support

Hi Aaron,

That's no problem - I'll send you an email shortly - please note you can always submit logsets via email (support@smartdeploy.com) or the Support Form :

https://support.smartdeploy.com/support/tickets/new

If a file exceeds 20MB, just shoot us an email and let us know, and we can provide a method for you to submit it.

Glenn
SmartDeploy Support

Hello,

Please email us at support@smartdeploy.com and we can get your account created.

Thanks,

Devon

SmartDeploy Support

Hi Aaron,

Ah, you had referred to imaging "through the Console" so I assumed you meant console-initiated deployment (from the Computer Management view). I'd suggest you try the same thing for WDS - build a new answer file, build new WDS boot media, replace the boot image in the Boot Images node on the WDS server, and retry deployment.

If the issue persists, go ahead and pull a logset (you can do this by booting back to your SmartDeploy media, canceling any pending deployment, and clicking Collect Logs. Save the zip file to an external location (such as a USB stick), and submit it via the Support Form here:

https://support.smartdeploy.com/support/tickets/new

Glenn
SmartDeploy Support

Hi Aaron,

This appears to be a photo of a WindowsPE environment - is that right? So if I understand the issue correctly, you're still able to initiate deployments from the console, and your endpoints reboot into SmartPE, but then they throw this error? Does Deploy Wizard launch and does the deployment proceed, or does it halt with this error?

If you click Deploy an image, does the deployment proceed?

From the text of the error, I'd say the most likely issue here is a syntax problem in your answer file. Try re-running Answer File Wizard to create a brand new one (do not edit the previous one), then re-run Media Wizard to recreate your deployment package, and then retry deployment.

Feel free to reach out to support if you have any questions - support@smartdeploy.com.

Glenn
SmartDeploy Support

6 hours ago, DudeSweet said:

 

Don't forget Platform Pack updates.

This can't hurt, but it is not necessarily required. Some Platform Packs include additional WindowsPE drivers (which may be needed for the Ethernet or Storage controllers, or occasionally other components), for the device to have full functionality while deploying in WindowsPE. If you're adding support for a model whose pack contains WindowsPE drivers, then you must indeed recreate your media, selecting Platform Packs for all devices you plan to support, so that these new PE drivers can be injected automatically into the WindowsPE boot image. Then replace the boot image on the WDS server, and you're all set.

If the newly added model does not have PE drivers, however, then recreating the boot image is not strictly necessary.

Glenn
SmartDeploy Support

Andejo5,

Please reach out to support either via email, (support@smartdeploy.com) or the ticket for to request this script; https://support.smartdeploy.com/support/tickets/new

Sorry about that, missed you were saying letters.  The hash signs are random numbers, don't believe we don't have a way of doing random letters.

The hash signs do represent random characters.

Hello Chad B,

Unfortunately, the only way to confirm that an application pack properly deployed and installed would be to check on the target machine. If you're experiencing any issues with any of these custom application packs, please send a request to support@smartdeploy.com and we can further troubleshoot. 

-Chris M.

SmartDeploy Support

Aaron is quite right - whenever you create SmartDeploy media of any type and select an answer file, a copy of that answer file is written into the WindowsPE boot image. It is that copy of the answer file that is loaded when you boot to SmartDeploy media - the copy back on the console host is not involved. Thus, if you make any changes to the answer file, you also need to recreate your media.

Likewise, if you update the SmartDeploy console version, you also need to update your media - otherwise the media would still be using the old version of Deploy Wizard to apply your image.

For WDS boot media, once you've recreated your media, you need to replace the boot image on your WDS server, and then you're all set.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to support@smartdeploy.com.

Glenn
SmartDeploy Support