Take a look at the posted document for step by step instructions on Windows 7 Migration with SCCM SP2.  This document includes how to create an image using SCCM, Installing drivers, Installing Applications, Creating Hardlinks with the User State Migration Tool, and Renaming and Joining the domain.  This document allows IT technicians to create an Win 7 image, deploy it to their environment using collections, and upgrade their existing Windows XP clients to Windows 7 clients without having to remove the data and put the data back.  Included in this guide is some tips and hints on getting the image deployment to work for your company.

http://communities.intel.com/docs/DOC-4079

Webinar Recording

If you missed the live event, you can now watch the recording! You can also download the webinar.

Webinar Slides

Want to download the deck? It's attached to this blog post (scroll to the bottom).

Links

• Microsoft Management Summit 2010
• OS Deployment in MS ConfigMgr
• MS ConfigMgr Doc Library
• Virtual Labs
• ConfigMgr Tech Center
• Quick Start Guide for Microsoft ConfigMgr SP1
• Online Training for Microsoft ConfigMgr SP1

If you are using Out Of Band (OOB) Management in Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007 SP1 (or greater) to manage your Intel vPro clients, you may have noticed that computer objects are created in your Active Directory domain during provisioning of the Intel vPro firmware. These computer objects are created by the amtproxymgr component of an OOB Service Point, and allow Intel vPro to communicate directory with Active Directory, regardless of the operating system state.

Since these vPro computer objects appear very similar to standard computer objects that are created when joining a Windows OS to an AD domain, it may be hard to distinguish which ones are vPro accounts, and which ones aren't. This situation can be worsened if you somehow have Windows computer accounts mixed into the same OU that contains your AMT objects.

As you'll see below, it's very easy to locate these computers using some simple PowerShell code:

$vprosearcher = [adsisearcher]"(&(objectclass=computer)(serviceprincipalname=*:16993*)(samaccounttype=805306368))"
$vproaccounts = $vprosearcher.FindAll()

These two lines of code simply create a System.DirectoryServices.DirectorySearcher instance, with some LDAP search criteria to identify the accounts, and then assigns the results of this search to a PowerShell variable called $vproaccounts. The default search root is the top-level of your Active Directory domain, and the default search scope is already set to SubTree, so you don't have to specifically configure these settings on the DirectorySearcher. Once you're at this point, you can simply enumerate the accounts, or pipe the results into a PowerShell ForEach loop, and perform some operation against them (for example, givem them a Description attribute value).

Because this code sample uses the "adsisearcher" type accelerator (aka. type shortcut), it will only work with PowerShell v2.0 (included as part of the Windows Management Framework), unless you modify PowerShell v1.0 to include it. There's almost no reason not to be using PowerShell 2.0, now that it has been officially released, however.

I recommend using the free Quest PowerGUI tool to develop and debug PowerShell scripts.

Cheers,

Trevor Sullivan

We've started to add some new content to the community over the last couple of months that we're pretty excited about - Use Case Reference Designs. Have you checked them out yet? We have a team focused on creating these drop-in solutions that help you start seeing the benefits of Intel vPro technology as soon as possible.

Check Them Out

Radmin* - Help Desk Tool for Use With Intel vPro TechnologyHelp desk personnel don't usually have access to the management console. This use case reference design shows how the help desk tech can use Radmin to perform basic Intel® AMT functions.

Windows* 7 OS, Microsoft* ConfigMgr SP2 and Intel® vPro™ Technology Use Microsoft ConfigMgr to wake up your vPro systems that are running Windows XP, install Windows 7 on them, link the data back & *poof* the machine will be migrated the next time the user logs in.

Intel AMT Firmware Update Using Microsoft Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 and Intel vPro TechnologyThis use case reference design is helpful if you are activating your vPro fleet on your own - and helps you perform Intel AMT firmware version detection and updates using Microsoft Configuration Manager 2007 SP1.

Local Setup and Configuration Using a USB Flash DriveThis is a new one from Jake Gauthier- just published today! This use case reference design shows how a small/medium business can speed up the setup and configuration process.

And here's the library of Use Case Reference Designs:Use Case Reference Designs for Intel vPro Technology

What's Next?

The team has some really cool stuff planned:

Remote remediation solution which will allow a help desk tech to mount the vPro client's drive remotely - the help desk tech could then do things like run local anti-virus software to do a remote scan for threats on the mounted drive.

Remote KVM. The engineers are developing a standalone solution so that you can start using the remote KVM functionality the day that Intel AMT 6.0 launches. Why is this big? Because your management console won't have this support yet!

Take a look at the posted document on Radmin (Remote Administrator).  This free tool (Viewer) allows technicians to gain access to AMT basic functions and will work with any provisioned ISV under SMB or Non-TLS Enterprise Mode.  This tool can be provided to IT Techicians who may not have access to the ISV console to perform the basic AMT functions on a provisioned client.

http://communities.intel.com/docs/DOC-4309

Our most recent issue of the Intel vPro Technology Heartbeat was published this morning. This newsletter is a compilation of Intel vPro resources that were collected over the last two weeks. In this issue, check out the article series on Intel Active Management Technology that was published by our partners at the Intel Software Network's Manageability community. We also have a bunch of webinars coming up around Windows 7 and Dynamic Virtual Computing. Registration links are in the newsletter!

Read the newsletter, or subscribe to receive it in your inbox automatically.

Over the last week I decided to take a journey, one without social media and interacting with folks online.  What I learned is the following:

• Took longer to do my job (it’s true!!)
• Missed out a few key interactions that would have helped me – it’s true, I am now combing back through to look a few posts – example:  Spiceworks just announced a new plug in capability that is leveraging vPro
• Realized I was not sharing as much as I could have – I was working on win7 & vPro for SMB, defining the ease of use of both technologies in the 3-5 PC space.  I missed sharing this information out to the team and group.
• Had a few dialogues around me missing something online – a few folks ping’d me throughout the week if I had seen certain things (from technology to people movement inside Intel)

So why does this matter to vPro?  Well, I believe part of the success of realizing your vPro value is to use our community, interact with us on twitter and be a part of the technology adoption and usage.    I also realized that usage of our technology is not confined to how we believe it will help you, but also how it will be used in different situations, location’s, and relevant to your business.   

If you want to connect with us, here’s who’s on twitter for vPro?  Here’s a few accounts.

IntelvPro twitter.com/intelvpro

SmartchickPdx twitter.com/smartchickpdx

Joshprostar twitter.com/joshprostar

I also missed the interactions online that I usually participate in throughout the week.