Scripting

Forgive my ignorance but i've no idea what a Wise code is - but this is all available in group policy!

I wouldn't normally post here so tell me to sod off if i'm of no help what so ever. scripting this just seems like hard work though, and a quick google will bring you up many results about the Group Policy(s) required to acheive this.

WiseScript is/was designed for installing applications. Turning it to this kind of task is a bit like cutting your lawn with nail scissors: painful, arduous and not to be recommended. As The Squeak says, use Group Policy.

Thank you VBScab for your reply,

I know that Wise is for software installations, but something after installing a software we need to configure it and customize it to our needs and these settings can not be done while installing by using switches and other configuration methods.

anyway thank u again and I'm still looking for someone who can help me [:)]

Mahmoud

what is the full scenario you're wanting to do this for? there maybe a way to apply group policy with some foresight and planning in such a way that meets your needs....

My question is general, I dont have a specific scenario but can consider the above wallpaper example a scenario :).

By the way, I've to use SCCM not group policy.

but SCCM is for distributing and managing software and patches. configuring user's desktop wallpaper is a user configuration, easily manipulated and organised in Group Policy - you're making a break for your own back sticking to just SCCM.

Using a package installer or script for that much for setting user registry settings is not practical for a couple of reasons. The first is that the User's hive is stored in their profile on the disk and not in %systemroot%\system32\config like the others. This posses a couple of potential problems, the first being, and I am not 100% positive on this, but I do not believe the user portion of the registry is loaded until a user logs in. So a user's hive may not show up in HKEY_Users. The second is that because the default security permissions on the newer OSs, vista and 7, are highly restrictive on profiles, even for other administrators. So you may not necessarily be able to load the hives without first change some of the security on them. Again this is different from the environment that I work in so I am not 100%.

As for the second reason, and this I do know something about, profiles are designed to have the ability to roam from computer to computer. Not many organizations take advatage of this however as it tends to be a pain in the ass. With that said if you are planning on writing a script or package that will be deployed to a network with roaming profiles, you cannot assume that the user's hive will even be on the system as at logoff the files are uploaded to a server and at logon they are downloaded again (10,000' view).

I suggest you use GP, as this is what GP is designed for, as SCCM is designed for software patches and distribution, not setting configuration.

I know that Wise is for software installations, but something after installing a software we need to configure it and customize it to our needs and these settings can not be done while installing by using switches and other configuration methods.That's what an application packager can do for you. Properly set up, the installation itself can set pretty much any setting - be that file-based or registry-based - that an application might want. That can be done either through Active Setup (if the application package has no advertised entry-point, such as a shortcut) or through a properly constructed feature tree.

You're looking for Active Setup (http://itninja.com/blog/view/appdeploy:-articles:-activesetup.) Active setup will run whatever script or program you'd like it to run the first time each unique user logs in. In this instance, all you'd have to do is create a script that would change the wallpaper registry pointer to whatever you want by using the HKCU hive, create an active setup key for your script, and the system will take care of the rest.

EDIT: too slow. That's what I get for talking to people that come into my office mid-reply.

Thank you guys for your replies.

Jsaylor: Active setup seems a valid solution I'll try it.

also guys, I wanna try the GPO way. can you explain it to me?


Mahmoud

@spottedcoin:Using a package installer or script for that much for setting user registry settings is not practical for a couple of reasons.How so? As mentioned, a properly constructed feature tree can be made to trigger self-healing when the logged-in user uses an advertised entry-point. This is meat and potatoes to any halfway competent packager.

@jarrma0b:Active setup seems a valid solutionRemember, though, that AS doesn't self-heal so if the user deletes the settings, they'll need to be fixed by some other method, such as a new version of the AS "package".

Thank you VBScab for your reply.

But still I'm look for retrieving all profiles under HKEY_USERS :-) by using Wise.

FYI, I work in a big corporate and we support more than 45000 workstations. My unit uses SCCM only for deploying software and configuration scripts.

Mahmoud

In which case, I wish you all the luck in the world. I'll end my participation in this thread by repeating: use the right tool for the job in hand, rather than trying to force usage of the wrong tool.