Stephan Wibier

Windows Installer Error Codes

Feb

11

2016

When working with Windows msi installers you sometimes run into some kind of error or message. Here is an overview of the most common errors or messages. They are most commonly found at the end of your installer log (always install with logging ;-)) usually prefaced by “MainEngineThread is returning”. This is the place where ...

Version (build) numbers Microsoft products

Dec

2

2015

Hi! Just a short post for reference. In my line of work I sometimes need to find the product description or version (build) number of a product. While searching for them I stumbled upon a perfect website for most regular Microsoft products! https://buildnumbers.wordpress.com/ Products like AX, CRM, Exchange, Office, SCCM, SCDPM, SCOM, SCSM, SCVMM, Sharepoint, ...

Task Sequence Built-in Variables in ConfigMgr 2012 R2

Feb

26

2015

This is just a reminder for the built-in Task Sequence variables in ConfigMgr 2012 R2. You can also find them at: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh273375.aspx Built-in Variable Name Description _SMSTSAdvertID Stores the current running task sequence deployment unique ID. It uses the same format as a Configuration Manager software distribution deployment ID. If the task sequence is ...

ConfigMgr Client Log locations during OSD

Aug

1

2014

Just a quick reference for finding the client logs during an Operating System Deployment. As we all know ConfigMgr moves the logs during a deployment depending on the stage of deployment. We can define 4 major stages in regard to the log file locations: System has started in WinPE, no hard drive configuration has taken ...

Deploy the Windows 7 Kernel Mode Driver Framework (KMDF) with ConfigMgr 2012 11

Aug

1

2014

So you got your brand new Dell or other manufacturer’s hardware, deploy an OS with ConfigMgr 2012 and he, no go – chrash – missing drivers etc. Well you might need the new Kernel Mode Driver Framework 1.11 (here) or the User Mode Driver Framework 1.11 (here). But wait, this is an Windows Update! And ...

(Re)-Creating a boot image for ConfigMgr 2012 using Windows ADK

Aug

1

2014

When you are having problems with your boot images (corruption or just malfunctioning) there might come a time you need to (re)-create one or maybe both. This is a very straight forward process which will be described below. You use the Windows ADK for this process. Depending on your version of ConfigMgr this will be ...

Monitoring Task Sequences in ConfigMgr 2012 R2 console 4

Apr

17

2014

When doing OSD in SCCM 2012 R2 you can view the deployment information in the Task Sequence reports, but the Status Messages is really the preferred place for this. First thing you need is to get the deployment ID of the Task Sequence you wish to monitor. You have to setup a query for each ...

UEFI, Generation 2 VM, Windows 7 SP1 and Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 (or Windows 8.1) 6

Mar

8

2014

With the new features of Hyper-V in Server 2012 R2 one of those is the Generation 2 VM. There is a lot to be said on this topic but here is a caveat when using Gen2 VM’s for systems older then Windows 8 or Server 2012. Let’s start with a spoiler: It doesn’t work for ...

Windows Server 2012 R2 / Windows 8.1 KMS Service Activation

Mar

8

2014

This is an update from another post I did https://wibier.me/windows-server-2012-kms-service-activation/ In that post I describe how to add support for Server 2012 and Windows 8. Now we are at the point where we want to add support for Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1! And that is possible. So when you activate a Server 2012 ...

Configuration Manager 2012 – Software Updates That Require Multiple Reboots may Cause Task Sequence Failure 2

Mar

5

2014

Oke so sometimes your OSD Task Sequence in ConfigMgr 2012 (or even 2007..) fails on you? Tried all the usual troubleshoot steps.. Well maybe not all, check your Windows Updates! Yes, Microsoft has confirmed that there are updates out there that will break your Task Sequence. This is the KB about that: KB2894518 – Software ...