MDT vs WAIK vs WDS

WDS to enable PXE booting.
WAIK to allow validation and editing of Unattend.xml files.
MDT 2010 to create and deploy WIndows 7/Windows Server 2008 images.

Reference: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/mdt/thread/5731ae3f-1802-4922-9a4f-87e48b2c2f8b/

MDT - Microsoft Deploymnet Toolkit

MDT Lite Touch Screencast: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/Video/ff711679 (better)

MDT Zero Touch Screencast: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/video/system-center-configuration-manager-2007-and-microsoft-deployment-toolkit-screencast (best)

MDT Setup step-by-step: http://www.scribd.com/doc/34545158/MDT-2010-Setup-Step-by-Step

MDT Demo: Deploying Windows Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V with MDT
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/video/mdt-demo-deploying-windows-server-2008-r2-and-hyper-v-with-mdt

MDT Demo: Using MDT to quickly and efficiently deploy WIndows 7 across your organization.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/video/microsoft-deployment-toolkit-mdt-demo-using-mdt-to-quickly-and-efficiently-deploy-windows-7-across-your-organization

Advanced Deployment Scenarios: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/video/advanced-deployment-scenarios- using-the-microsoft-deployment-toolkit-2010-part-1-of-7-reviewing-the-available-options-in-the-deployment-workbench (part 1 of 7)

MDT Demo: Tols to plan and deploy Winodws 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/tools-to-plan-and-deploy-windows-7-or-server-2008-r2.aspx

MDT TechNet: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee376932.aspx


Reference to MAK: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff793438.aspx
1. Activating MAK Clients Using VAMT
VAMT allows automation of MAK deployment and activation over the network by distributing MAKs from a centralized console, as Figure 1 shows. VAMT queries Microsoft activation servers to get the number of remaining activations for a given MAK, then lists the activation status of all MAK-activated systems in the environment. This count is a snapshot in time, not a real-time count. VAMT version 1.2 is included in the Windows AIK.

2. Integrating MAKs with Deployment Workbench
Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) also provides a solution for deploying MAKs. In Deployment Workbench, administrators configure the MAK in task sequences , which add the MAK to the Unattend.xml file used during installation. Administrators can prepare the reference image for KMS activation, then, during deployment , MDT activates the installation by using a MAK as long as it does not detect a KMS infrastructure. MDT applies the MAK after installing the image.

How to install Adobe Reader using a MST file ?

In order to deploy Adobe Reader X using an MST file, you wil need to first extract the installation source and then use the Adobe Customization Wizard to generate an MST file.

To do this open a command prompt and run the following on your Adobe X executable.

> AdbeRdrX_en_US.exe -nos_oFOLDERNAME -nos_ne

By running that command you’ll be able to select a folder to place the installation source at. Once the source has been extracted launch the Customization Wizard for Adobe Reader/Acrobat X. Go to File, Open Package, and open the AcroRead.msi for Adobe Reader X. You can then go through and make your customizations to the application. Once you’ve finish customizing the deployment, click Transform at the top and then Generate Transform. Save the MST file in the same folder as the installation source.

Now open up the folder in which your installation source is located at, and open the Setup.ini file in Notepad. Under the [Product] section, add without quotes ” CmdLine=TRANSFORMS=”unattend.mst” ” under “msi=AcroRead.msi”.

You can now run the setup.exe and it will automatically pickup all your customizations from the MST you’ve created.

Windows AIK - WAIK

The Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK or WAIK) is a tool designed to help corporate IT professionals customize and deploy the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 family of operation systems.

Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) can be used for :
- unattended Windows installations
- capturing Windows images using ImageX
- creating WinPE images

Windows Automated Installation Kit includes the following tools :
- Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM)
- ImageX- Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM)
- Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE)
- User State Migration Tool (USMT)

List installed 32/64 bits apps using Powershell

Output:
PS C:\tools> .\list-apps4.ps1
DisplayName
-----------
AD LDS Instance instance1
Adobe Reader X
Adobe Reader X (10.0.1)
Calculator

Reference: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winserverpowershell/thread/1fd035f3-a170-4721-a6b5-d4809ca2e39d

List installed apps without using Powershell

Putting WMIC to Work
As often, the local WMI database contains all the information we need. The simplest way of extracting the required data is via the WMI command line, wmic:

wmic product

Yes, that is all. It runs for a while and then spits out very detailed information on what is installed on the local system. If you need the information in a file for later processing, use the following variation of above command to have wmic create a CSV file:

wmic product get /format:csv > Software_%Computername%.csv


Reference: http://www.sepago.de/helge/2010/01/14/how-to-list-all-installed-applications-from-the-command-line/

How to run a PowerShell script ?

powershell.exe -File C:\my_path\yada_yada\run_import_script.ps1
-or-
powershell.exe -noexit "& 'c:\Data\ScheduledScripts\ShutdownVM.ps1'"

Note: use absolute path and no relative path.

If you are running from inside PowerShell environment then
navigate to the directory where the script lives
PS> cd C:\my_path\yada_yada\ (enter)Execute the script:
PS> .\run_import_script.ps1 (enter)

Powershell - List Programs installed on Remote Computer

Now we COULD just use a GET-WMIOBJECT Win32_Product to query installed applications but that’s only good for applications registered via the MSI (Windows Installer)

Reference: http://www.energizedtech.com/2010/09/powershell-list-programs-insta.html


Function to uninstall a program:

function uninstallapp ($x) { 
   $app = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object { 
      $_.Name -match "$x" 
   } 

   $app.Uninstall() 
}

Scala notes

In Scala a function value is an object. Function types are
classes that can be inherited by subclasses. This might seem nothing more
than an academic nicety, but it has deep consequences for scalability. In fact
the actor concept could not have been implemented without
this unification of functions and objects.

Scala is more advanced than most other languages when it comes to composing
objects. An example is Scala’s traits. Traits are like interfaces in Java,
but they can also have method implementations and even fields. Objects are
constructed by mixin composition, which takes the members of a class and
adds the members of a number of traits to them. In this way, different aspects
of classes can be encapsulated in different traits. This looks a bit like
multiple inheritance, but differs when it comes to the details. Unlike a class,
a trait can add some new functionality to an unspecified superclass. This
makes traits more “pluggable” than classes. In particular, it avoids the classical
“diamond inheritance” problems of multiple inheritance, which arise
when the same class is inherited via several different paths.

Functional programming is guided by two main ideas. The first idea is
that functions are first-class values. In a functional language, a function is a
value of the same status as, say, an integer or a string.
The second main idea of functional programming is that the operations
of a program should map input values to output values rather than change
data in place. Another way of expressing this is that strings are immutable in Java whereas they are mutable in Ruby. So looking at just strings, Java is a functional
language, whereas Ruby is not. Immutable data structures are one
of the cornerstones of functional programming.

Domain Controller

Only domain controllers can host Active Directory. All servers that are not domain controllers must access the directory in the same manner as the workstations. They send requests for information to a domain controller, which processes the request and returns the information back to them.

Domain controllers store and maintain portions of the directory. They also have services that allow them to directly store and retrieve information from the directory. These services are referred to as the Active Directory. When you install Active Directory on a Windows 2000based server, it becomes a Windows 2000based domain controller.Reference: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727049.aspx

IaaS vs PaaS

A major difference between IaaS and PaaS is the amount of control over the system available to users of the services. IaaS provides total control, PaaS typically provides no control. This also means virtually zero administration costs for PaaS whereas IaaS has administration costs similar to a traditional computing infrastructure.

Reference: http://cloud-computing.learningtree.com/2010/08/25/comparing-paas-and-iaas/