NEW PC SETUP

[Tkinnie]

Hey all, was wondering if any of you know of an easy way to do the below:
- ) Assign PC new name
- ) Add to domain
- ) Add domain user to administrators Group
- ) Make sure all updates are current
- ) Install new software

Is it possible to do all of this form lansweeper, and is it possible for this to automate as soon as its on our companies network?

I have to do all of this manually to each machine before deploying... this is a pain to say the least, any thoughts?

Thank you!

[CyberCitizen]

This sounds very similar to what we do, we don't have an image to say.

Our machines all come with Windows 10 Pro (no preloaded junk from the factory).

We boot them up as per normal, create a local admin account, and join to the domain manually as we manage 3x different domains.

We then restart the PC so it boots as a domain PC, we log into the machine with our network admin account.

I run a batch file that has the Lansweeper vbs script for setting permissions / ports etc, then it calls the lspush for the initial scan.

Once the machine has been scanned, in Lansweeper we edit the asset and add it to the SOE deployment group. This is a bunch of scheduled deployments we have set if the machine is in that group. We initiate a scan of the asset so it picks up the scheduled deployments, we then remove it from the SOE group, otherwise it will keep trying to deploy the packages, it's not ideal and I could put more smarts into the packages etc to prevent re-deployment. But for our needs it works.

[Tkinnie]

CyberCitizen wrote:
This sounds very similar to what we do, we don't have an image to say.

Our machines all come with Windows 10 Pro (no preloaded junk from the factory).

We boot them up as per normal, create a local admin account, and join to the domain manually as we manage 3x different domains.

We then restart the PC so it boots as a domain PC, we log into the machine with our network admin account.

I run a batch file that has the Lansweeper vbs script for setting permissions / ports etc, then it calls the lspush for the initial scan.

Once the machine has been scanned, in Lansweeper we edit the asset and add it to the SOE deployment group. This is a bunch of scheduled deployments we have set if the machine is in that group. We initiate a scan of the asset so it picks up the scheduled deployments, we then remove it from the SOE group, otherwise it will keep trying to deploy the packages, it's not ideal and I could put more smarts into the packages etc to prevent re-deployment. But for our needs it works.

Mind sharing that script?

[CyberCitizen]

TKinnie wrote:
Mind sharing that script?

My apologies, I never saw the reply to this message.

It is just a simple batch file that loads the Lansweeper.vbs script. If you search the forums here for that file name you will find it / download.

"\\SERVERNAME\Apps$\Lansweeper\lansweeper.vbs"
"\\SERVERNAME\Apps$\Lansweeper\lspush.exe" LANSWEEPER.SERVER 9524 /showresult

[JacobH]

I mean, yes, you could in theory use Lansweeper once you get the machine online and set the local credentials to something LS has in its credentials... and use deployment packages that run commands and installs software, renames the computer, moves the computer to a specific OU, etc...

but - you can use MDT and just boot the computer from network, it pulls up the deployment GUI, and you tell it the name, have it fully patch the machine, have it install whatever software (or choose from a menu - don't forget ANTIVIRUS), have it patch again (in case there's microsoft office or something you installed), then have it join the domain, where you want to place the computer in active directory.. etc.

Then you use lansweeper to check to make sure everything is compliant - you can make a compliance dashboard or reports (missing antivirus, missing office 365, etc.)

[JacobH]

there are commands that can do that, (I don't give scripts/etc. out in case something I provide causes issues with someone else's stuff hehe)

but if you wanted to learn more about deploying pc's, I would recommend Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) if its a small environment (its free) or use SCCM in a large enterprise environment.


You can learn about MDT on youtube - here's an example walkthrough

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWRvQgCi4aI