WINTEL Folks!! How are you doing? 🙂
This post is mainly to help Wintel folks who are managing servers on Azure Cloud. I started working on a new project which focus mainly on Azure. So we started client installation on those VM’s to manage clients centrally from ConfigMgr. I was able to understand the pain of Wintel folks who try to install ConfigMgr client on VM’s one by one or by Script by logging into any one/ VM’s.
Note: We haven’t configured any GPO for client installation and we don’t have direct access to perform client push installation from console.
Being lazy guy who hates manual installation of client, I thought of using PowerShell for client installation. I was assessing the infrastructure and came to know we have multi-forest/domain environment with incoming/outgoing trust.
I started using RunPowerShellScript feature from Azure portal instead of logging into VM’s. This helped me to eliminate manual efforts. Since we have very vast environment, we have multiple subscription and resource groups in Azure. I used few logic to select resource group automatically.
Script has been created purely based on wintel / azure admin logic/view. Folks who are having expertise on ConfigMgr might be using multiple ways to install client like Console Push, GPO, via Software-Update and Scripts.
Use Case:
Couple of Windows VM’s. Few machines are domain joined and few are not. Selected machines have client installed.
I assume you don’t have access neither to ConfigMgr nor Group Policy.
Process-Flow:
Script-Flow:
- Checks if the machine has client installed. If yes, exit.
- Checks if the machine is part of domain, if yes, copy setup file and trigger installation, else add host entry in the server then copy file and trigger installation.
- Exit Process.
ConfigMgr Client Installation [Script]:
Clear-Host
if(test-path -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SMS\Client\Configuration\Client Properties")
{
"Client Already Installed"
}
else
{
if((gwmi win32_computersystem).partofdomain)
{
"Domain Machine - Installing Client"
Copy-Item '\\SVR1.UNICORN.ORG\client$\ccmsetup.exe' -destination $env:windir\temp -force -verbose
Invoke-Expression -Command:"$env:windir\temp\ccmsetup.exe SMSSITECODE=ONP /mp:SVR1.UNICORN.ORG DNSSUFFIX=ONE.OFC.LOC" -Verbose
}
else
{
"Non-Domain Machine Installing Client after adding Host Entries"
Add-Content "$env:systemroot\system32\drivers\etc\hosts" "10.0.0.11 SVR1.UNICORN.ORG" -Force -Verbose
Copy-Item '\\SVR1.UNICORN.ORG\client$\ccmsetup.exe' -destination $env:windir\temp -force -verbose
Invoke-Expression -Command:"$env:windir\temp\ccmsetup.exe SMSSITECODE=ONP /mp:SVR1.UNICORN.ORG dnssuffix=UNICORN.ORG" -Verbose
}
}
Note:
You have to save this script on the local disk of the machine from where you run Invoke-AzureRmVMRunCommand.
In this script I've used share path for client setup, you can use azure blob storage and fetch files across VM's.
Script to Initiate Installation:
Clear-Host
$CSV = IMPORT-CSV 'C:\USERS\g.praveen\Downloads\AzureSuscription.csv'
foreach($line in $csv)
{
$rg = $line.Az_ResourceGroup
$name = $line.Az_Name
if($line.Az_Status -eq "VM running" -and $line.Az_OSType -eq "Windows")
{
"Running for $($name)"| Tee-Object $env:windir\temp\ExecutionLog.log -Append
Invoke-AzureRmVMRunCommand -ResourceGroupName "$rg" -VMName "$name" -CommandId 'RunPowerShellScript' -ScriptPath 'C:\Users\g.praveen\PSScripts\ReplaceCCMClient.ps1' -Verbose | Tee-Object $env:windir\temp\ExecutionLog.log -Append
}
else
{
"VM $($name) is not matching client installation criteria, Aborting action"| Tee-Object $env:windir\temp\ExecutionLog.log -Append
}
}
For performing this action, I used our inventory stored in CSV file and added few logic into it. Basically, the VM should be Windows and it should be in running state.
Pre-Requisite:
- Your system must have Azure PowerShell module installed.
- You need to login into Azure using PowerShell.
- You need to select subscription if you want to perform client installation on few selected ones.
Hope this helps someone who's in need !🙂
-Praveen
