KACE Product Support

1. An image will be easier and faster to setup than a scripted install. However, if you plan on using RSAs then Scripted Installs are better in the long run. A change to an image means you push the ENTIRE image out to the RSA. A change in a task in a scripted install means only that change is replicated to the RSA.

2. This can be done in either. You are either relying on sysprep configuration in an image or the scripted install config (basically still sysprep) or post-install task.

3. This is not a K2000 question, really. I'd suggest Googling for command line parameters.

4. In the case of the image, you would install Office before capturing the image. In the case of a scripted install, you would install Office as a post-installation task.

Being new to KACE myself I don't have any true best practices but what I am currently working on is a very similar problem. Here is the recipe I am using:

1. Scripted Install - Seems to be more robust with the different hardware types. And this is the method the KACE guys always talk about
2. I've hack together a simple Powershell script to join computer to the domain and add to a specific OU:

$User = $args[0]
$Pass = ConvertTo-SecureString $args[1] -AsPlainText -Force
$Credentials = New-Object -TypeName System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList $User,$Pass

Add-Computer -domainname <DOMAIN> -OUPath $args[2] -cred $Credentials

Restart-Computer

I have the <DOMAIN> set to our domain and I have a few variables that get passed in at runtime. There was another post in the Forum that helped with the starting a a PowerShell script from a command line so I create a Post Installation Application with my PowerShell as the file and run the following command:
powershell.exe -nologo -executionpolicy bypass -noprofile -file ATCCJoinDomain.ps1 "Domain\User" "Password" "OU=W7_Laptop,DC=DOMAIN,DC=COM"

3. You'll find information about WSNAME at the authors web site: http://mystuff.clarke.co.nz/MyStuff/wsname.asp

4. You can install Office as a Post Installation Task by creating an answer file. Just run "setup.exe /admin" on the Office DVD create your answer file and zip that up with the installation files then create a post installation task with "setup.exe /adminfile file.msp"

Hope that helps

This is very useful guys Thx. I am sure I ll be back for some more [:D]