Offline MDT ISO

[elyesusa]

I am not able to create offline ISO from PSD I am getting some errors, my work environment requires us to have an offline image just in case. Is there a workaround for this

[GeoSimos]

Hi @elyesusa,

Any sanitized logs to share please?

[Mase5150]

Hi @elyesusa,

Did you ever find a resolution for this issue. I would be interested to know what is was?

Thank you.

[Jamiep11]

We are getting the same results when trying to use offline media. When deploying the ISO it seems it's still looking for Litetouch.wsf. Is there a process to convert offline media backend to use new powershell scripts?

Error: Can not find script file "X:\Deploy\Scripts\LiteTouch.wsf"

[PowerShellCrack]

Please correct me if I'm wrong....

I don't believe Offline media is a supported feature in PSD. Is it? When you use the media option in Deployment workbench, it generates the content from the MDT installation's distribution folder, which contains the original MDT VBScripts. This won't work with PSD.

the source files comes from MDT....not what you want

As you see the scripts folder has the vbscritps in it

In theory, you could transfer some files from PSD deployment share's to the media folder, however, I'm concerned that the PSD process won't know how to view the contents; I'm not aware of any feature within the PSD modules to utilize a local drive; typically, it attempts to fetch from an HTTP path and then copy locally.

However, you got me thinking I will have to test this theory...I did these items:

• Created a new selection profile for the desired contents
• Created new Media001 from workbench with path to E:\PSDMediaTest
• Copied the autorun.inf from the _E:\PSDMediaTest\Content\Deploy\Scripts folder to the PSDDeploymentShare\Scripts folder (media creation will error it not done)
• Deleted the contents in the E:\PSDMediaTest\Content\Deploy\Scripts folder entirely
• Copied the PSDDeploymentShare\Scripts folder to E:\PSDMediaTest\Content\Deploy\Scripts folder
• Copied the PSDDeploymentShare\Templates folder to E:\PSDMediaTest\Content\Deploy\Templates overwriting all
• Copied the PSDDeploymentShare\PSDResources folder to E:\PSDMediaTest\Content\Deploy\PSDResources folder
• Copied the _PSDDeploymentShare\Tools\Modules folder to E:\PSDMediaTest\Content\Deploy\Tools\Modules folder overwriting all
• Modified the customsettings.ini to use PSD properties
• Modified the bootstrap.ini, removing the http path and account details
• Disabled Generate x86 Boot image option in the Media001 Properties

I then generated the media without encountering any errors!

I then booted it up with a VM

PSD does start....but it doesn't know what to do:

Since I was attempting to mimic an offline scenario, I didn't include the PSD HTTP path in the bootstrap.ini file. As you see, there doesn't appear to be any code designed to handle an offline situation.

I could see this working if the was an option in the Get-PSDContent function to look for a media drive when there is no http url specified...just saying...

[bretthexum]

Having offline media would be nice to have. I can see some scenarios for remote imaging offsite, or providing an MDT image to a vendor to load your image on new devices. Is this something that could be added as a supported feature?

[PowerShellCrack]

i will ping the team and see what can be done.

[PowerShellCrack]

@bretthexum in the meantime. I was thinking of alternative options, you could deploy a VM, with the PSD deployment share in place, in one the clouds (I prefer Azure), with a public IP and build a boot ISO from that and give that to vendors to boot from. It does save on sending HDD externals or large DVD's and you won't have to send new content each time...you can just update the deployment shares. Of course, if you update the PSD binaries, then that would need a new ISO or disc.

[bretthexum]

@bretthexum in the meantime. I was thinking of alternative options, you could deploy a VM, with the PSD deployment share in place, in one the clouds (I prefer Azure), with a public IP and build a boot ISO from that and give that to vendors to boot from. It does save on sending HDD externals or large DVD's and you won't have to send new content each time...you can just update the deployment shares. Of course, if you update the PSD binaries, then that would need a new ISO or disc.

Yep, I am actually looking at this solution now. Hoping we can get Branchecache etc to minimize the WAN traffic

[baronKanon]

Has there been any work on this topic lately?

[GeoSimos]

As far as I (we) know, that scenario is not yet covered by PSD and it's not targeted for such cases, it is built to provide the ability to deploy either from on-premises/remote/vpn web server, or over a cloud based one. Especially when a disaster hits and you need to recover your machines quickly, having a remote or cloud based deployment share that wasn't hit, would prove to be a life saver. Don't forget that PSD is not a 1:1 replica of MDT, it's based on the foundation but it changes significantly under the hood.