Windows Client Management

What's the issue with client management

easy to install and maintain five clients manually but difficult and expensive to manage 5000 clients

How is client management expensive

the cost of implementing and maintaining a new client for 3 years normally exceeds the cost of its purchase

What is system imaging

standardized client software installation including the OS

What are the pros of system imaging

-reduced time required to install the OS and applications on each machine individually

-ensures the software is installed in a consistent manner across the enterprise

What is the process of system imaging

software images are made of a completed installation and are then copied to each machine

What are the cons of system imaging

may require that the machines be very similar in terms of hardware

How is system imaging consistent for software installation

applications have a common installation directory and is important when a fix requires a file be replaced with a newer version

-default system parameters are used

What are some example imaging technologies

-symantec ghost

-acronis true image

-Partimage is Not Ghost (PING)

-FOG project

-SCCM

What is the process of image create

1. install window and all applications on a machine with similar hardware

-prepare the system for imaging

-restart the system into its pre-installation environment

-use imaging software to create the image

-distribute the image to other machines and use imaging software to load it

What does sysprep do

remove all identifying information from the machine

What happens if sysprep is not used

duplicate SIDs

How can images be distributed

-images copied using direct hard drive to hard drive copies

-images are copied over network

Why copy images using direct hard drive to hard drive copies

hardware vendors will normally do this if buying enough machines

How are images copied over network

computers configured to "network boot" and start the image installation process and can occur on "blank" or pre-configured machines

What are pros of standardized hardware

-greatly reduce your software operating expenses

-fewer variables meaning less time required to troubleshoot problems and knowledge from troubleshooting one problem can be carried over to other machines

-easier to use imaging and automated software distribution techniques

What are tips to achieve hardware consistency

-upgrading entire departments at once rather than single upgrades here and there

-purchasing "business class" computer hardware

-running an occasional hardware audit

What is are the cons of hardware consistency

its almost impossible to have a large number of machines purchased over time to be identical

What is business class hardware

most major computer vendors offer "business class" machines that are designed for business use

What are the pros of business class hardware

-longer lifespan than their consumer class equivalents

-easier to expand

-more consistent hardware

-typically higher ost but with better warranties

What are some examples of business class hardware

-dell optiplex

-HP prodesk

-ects

What are the methods of client software installation

-manual installation

-install from server

-install to server and run remotely

-install using Group Policy

-automatic installation & distribution

-software images

-application/desktops virtualization

What is manual installation

-relatively easy

-very labor intensive and time consuming

When should you use manual installation

-can be the only solution if machine base (hardware or software) is inconsistent

-best for relatively few clients (<20)

What is install from a server

many applications support remote installation options natively

What is an example of install from a server

MS office offers a server install option by using the /a flag on the setup command

What is the process of install from a server

-installation files are copied to a distribution point

-assuming permissions are correct, clients hit that resource to start the install

-clients can install the software locally or specify that the application should run from the server

What is install to server and run remotely

-install the software on a server and have the clients run the application from the server

-clients still need to configure some things

What are the pros of install to server and run remotely

provides a single point of maintenance and support for the application

What are the configurations a client must do for install to server and run remotely

-installing a link or shortcut to the server based application

-some applications require certain DLLs be installed locally

What is installing using group policy

group policy used to assign software to a user or computer

-the publish option will make the software available to the users/computers

When is the software installed for users in group policy

install software when the user logs in

When is the software installed for computer in group policy

install software when the computer boots

What does group policy require

.msi package file to reside in the distribution point location and a GPO to tell users/computers to execute the .msi file

What is automatic installation and distribution

-ultized dedicated software to push software "packages" out to users across the enterprise

-agent is placed on each machine which then installs the packages on their machine automatically with little or no user intervention

How can automatic installation and distribution be configured

to happen at night or on weekends when no one is using the machine

When is automatic installation and distribution most efficient

if the machine in question have standardized hardware and software

What are the pros of automation installation and distribution

greatly reduces the labor required to implement a new application or upgrade across the enterprise

What are the cons of automation installation and distribution

does not eliminate the need to manually resolve problems that might arise on specific machines due to hardware or software interactions

What are example technologies of automation installation and distribution

-microsoft system center configuration manger (SCCM, formally SMS)

-IBM cloud and smarter infrastructure (C & SI)

-etc

Why do updates need to occur

no OS is perfect and all needs to be patched periodically

How are OS updated

most have mechanisms for automatic patching

What is windows automatic patching mechanism

windows update

What is linux automatic patching mechanism

various solutions depending on distribution

What should an enterprise not do when updating

automatically install all patches without testing as patches can create conflicts with required applications

What is windows server update service (WSUS)

-microsoft provided tool to automate server updates

-managed update solution

-can work with existing automatic update mechanisms on windows machines

-used to be SUS

How to mange update solutions with WSUS

install update local to your location, then download released patches and test them in your environment. if everything is okay release to be automatically installed on your clients

What is WSUS versions 10

for MS server 2016 and 2019 with the default port # is TCP 8530

What is the difference between SUS and WSUS

SUS only did the OS while WSUS includes all MS products

What is software/hardware adults used for

assist in building and maintaining a hardware database as it is helpful for a number of purposes

What is software audit and version controll

-what software is installed on each workstation

-what version of the software

-is the software approved/legal/licensed

-software interactions

Why is the version of software important

important for troubleshooting and upgrade paths