Linx 8 Integration

[GRitchie]

Morning,

Prior to be getting the job I'm in now, my predecessor had purchased about 32 Linx 8 tablets to integrate into the network. There are 1 or 2 knocking about already being used.

 

I've now got the task if integrating these, but my biggest concern is that they need to be Windows 8 to be 'tablet-friendly' and the domain is only are 08R2 level.

 

What large security risks could this pose, that can help me to put this task off until I get around to rebuilding the domain?

OR, is it safe to do? But I'd be surprised...

 

Thanks!

[dry]

You can import the ADMX templates into your 2008 domain, so you can start locking them down. There will inevitably still be exploits and workarounds but there are plenty of threads on here, especially the security section, detailing how to avoid them. Win8 is still supported by MS so still updated and patched. Guessing the rest of your network is using Win7 or similar?

[GRitchie]

Hm, bit sceptical about importing templates. The DC is already in a bit of a state, I really don't want to break it further

 

The rest of the network is Win7 yes (aside from me on Win10 haha)

[dhicks]

I've now got the task if integrating these, but my biggest concern is that they need to be Windows 8 to be 'tablet-friendly' and the domain is only are 08R2 level.

 

Can you join your Linx 8 tablets to your domain? I thought they came with Windows 8.1 / 10 Home - have you managed to get a different version of Windows installed on them?

[dry]

Hm, bit sceptical about importing templates. The DC is already in a bit of a state, I really don't want to break it further

 

It's a fairly standard procedure tbh, otherwise you'd find businesses etc needing to update all server OSs at every significant client OS update (which isn't neccesarily a bad thing but quite impractical for a lot of places).

 

We're on Server 2008 R2 and it's an absolute mess that I've inherited. The school went ahead and bought a batch of new laptops without my knowledge so they were left to me to 'make them work'. I can feel the pain you're going through but sometimes you have to make do with what you've got until decision makers listen to your argument fully.

[3s-gtech]

Hm, bit sceptical about importing templates. The DC is already in a bit of a state, I really don't want to break it further

 

The rest of the network is Win7 yes (aside from me on Win10 haha)

 

It's not even as technical as that, you just copy and paste the newest ADMX template files into the Central Store. This won't break anything if done correctly (making sure you put them in the right directory along with the ADML files in en-US). You can use the newest Windows 10 templates as these are backwards compatible. You will find that a few Windows 8+ settings don't show in GPMC though. Also, avoid Windows 8 and make sure they have 8.1 on them, 8.0 is horrible and unsupported.

Edited January 12, 2016 by 3s-gtech

[GRitchie]

Sounds good, could anyone point me in the direction of the templates and/or where they go?

We definitely are in a similar situation @dry!

 

Yes, @dhicks. I haven't looked into it myself properly, but my predecessor was using CloneZilla to do it; IIRC

[GRitchie]

I was also thinking, I could just go up to Win10? But not sure if I should use the 'Education' version?

[3s-gtech]

If you have built your GP and profiles around Windows 10, or plan to soon, then you can go to 10. Much like 8.1, don't expect an AD/GP setup tested and working with Windows 7 to work nicely with later versions until you've been right through it. We're still tweaking 8.1 here - haven't even started on 10 yet!