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Tag Archives: BIOS

How to Remotely PXE Boot a Computer

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You have your MDT task sequence perfected! All of your machines are configured in the MDT database. When you boot a machine into MDT, it looks up its name and images without any prompts. If only you didn’t have to physically PXE boot the computer! If only you had a way to remotely PXE boot a computer…

Remotely PXE Network Boot a Computer

Rethinking a PXE Boot

Your goal isn’t to PXE boot a computer; your goal is to set the onboard-NIC as the primary boot device. That small difference is so important! When a machine is online, changing the boot order this way will allow it to boot into a MDT task sequence the next time it starts up. This post will focus on remotely PXE booting a Dell computer. This same concept can be applied to any make/model that allows you to edit the boot order.

Your first step is to build a BIOS settings package that sets the onboard-NIC as the primary boot device. If you haven’t made a BIOS package yet, this guide covers the steps in detail. Download and install the Dell Client Configuration Toolkit. The download can be found here.

Launch the Client Configuration Toolkit, select Create Package, and choose Multi-Platform file. In the boot management section, double click on bootorder. Select View/Change – Edit – Add Device. Your first device should be the embedded NIC with a Device Instance of 0. The second device should be the Hard Disk with a Device Instance of 1.

Remotely PXE Network Boot a Computer

Save the boot order and export the configuration as an EXE. If your machines contain a BIOS password, specify it now. Copy this EXE to a network share.

 

Running a Batch File Remotely

Now we need to create a batch file to execute this package on remote machines. We will be using the PSTools suite. A download can be found under the Desktop Management section here.

Copy the psexec and psshutdown tools to the root pf your local profile. Create a new batch file in the same folder. Paste in the following:

xcopy "\\SERVER\SHARE\Dell\forcepxe.exe" "\\%1\\C$\Users\Public\"
psexec \\%1 -u DOMAIN\USERNAME-p PASSWORD -h "C:\Users\Public\forcepxe.exe"

psshutdown.exe -r -t 60-c -m "This computer has been scheduled for a remote image. If you would like to delay this process, please select cancel" \\%1

pause

You will need to edit the xcopy path to point to your BIOS settings EXE. You will also need to specify credentials for the psexec line. The user specified needs to be an admin on the remote machine. You can now run this script from the run box.  I named my batch file forcepxe.bat. By pressing WIN + R, I can simply type forcepxe REMOTECOMPUTERNAME to run this script.

03

Remotely PXE Network Boot a Computer

In the script output, you should see that the BIOS package successfully copied and executed on the remote machine. The machine will pause for 60 seconds to allow a user to cancel the reboot. After a minute, it will restart and boot off of the NIC! Pretty awesome right? One problem though – we are now stuck in an endless loop. The machine will install the OS and reboot back into a MDT task sequence. On the bright side, you don’t need deepfreeze anymore. 🙂

In our next post, we will edit our task sequence to prevent this endless loop by changing the boot sequence in Windows PE. Do you have another way of PXE booting a remote machine? What hurdles prevent you from getting to a Zero Touch image?

What is WMI and How to Quickly Use It

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How would you handle the following scenarios?

  • You have a Wireless Configuration and Offline Files GPO but only want laptops to see it.
  • You have a BIOS update but only want a particular manufacturer to grab it.
  • You have hardware (ex: SmartBoards) and want the software to automatically install when the device is connected.

In the past, I’ve tried to solve these issues with security groups, shadow groups, and careful OU placement. All were a pain to manage until I learned how to use WMI! In this three part series, we are going to cover WMI basics, using it with Group Policy, and integrating it with SCCM.

 

What is WMI and Why Should I Care?

Honestly, I can never remember what WMI stands for. I am sure that it is something like Windows’ Magical Interface but I could be wrong. In technical terms, it provides a standard method to query and store data. It gives an you a common way to extract hardware and software information! Ever wondered where inventory programs (like SCCM or Spiceworks) get their data? They are using WMI! Accessing this information is super easy and can save you a ton of time! But first, we need to briefly cover some terms.

WMI is organized into classes. Think of a class as an organized folder. The class Win32_BIOS will contain everything related to the BIOS. Win32_Processor stores the processor information. You can see available classes by typing wmic /? in a command prompt.

What is WMI and How to Quickly Use It

Each class contains members (objects). For example, the BIOS class contains a member named SerialNumber. We’ve made use of this before when we inventoried our serial numbers into Active Directory. Remember this: Classes Come Before Members.

Finally, you interact with members by using verbs. The two most common verbs that you will use are get and set. Let’s look at a few quick examples that shows how powerful WMI can be.

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Adding BIOS Updates to Your Imaging Process

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Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Matt Robertson

I am quickly learning that there are multiple ways to achieve the desired result within MDT. I set out to add BIOS updates to my task sequence and found a few posts that walked you through this. The steps in this article got me most of the way but it needed tweaking. In this article, we will cover adding BIOS updates to your Task Sequence. These will only update if the BIOS does not have the latest version that you have downloaded!

Prework: Organizing Your BIOS Updates

I used the same basic setup that I learned from the link above. I created a folder under my Applications folder in my Deployment share, named Dell. Under the Dell folder, I created a folder for each model of computer we have.

Adding BIOS Updates to Your Imaging Process

Under each of these folders I download the latest BIOS update for the corresponding model. I then rename the executable BIOSUpdate.exe and create a .txt file named with the version to make sure I don’t get confused. An example is below:

Adding BIOS Updates to Your Imaging Process

Once this prework is done, open the Deployment Workbench and edit your task sequence as follows.

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Setting Power Options with Group Policy to Get a Raise!

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Most organizations see IT as a necessary expense. After all, it is a rare month when we aren’t needing a new tool, hardware, or service. Reducing power consumption is one way that IT can generate some serious savings! How much? We reduced power by just 30% and  saved $65,000 per year! So if you have been looking for a way to get a raise (or to hire an extra person or two), read on!

What is Your Current Usage?

If you plan on highlighting how much money IT saves the company, you need a rough baseline to start with. To do that, you will need to know three things:

  • How much power is being used?
  • How much does that power cost?
  • How long is the device used for?

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Updating BIOS Versions with MDT

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Updating BIOS versions is best done while the machine is imaging. Fortunately for us, the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) provides a built-in mechanism for updating BIOS versions. In this How-To guide, we are going to cover:

  • Creating a central BIOS version repository
  • Modifying your Task Sequence to install the BIOS Update

The examples shown are geared toward Dell machines. This layout should work for any Make and Model though. The only client requirements relate to the actual BIOS update file. It must initiate silently. If you are ready to get your BIOS updates under control, keep reading!

Updating BIOS Versions

 

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