Getting the GUIDs for pcs on the network

[HodgeHi]

Hello,

 

Nice to see it back up again (the site that is!).

 

I was wondering if there was any easier/quicker way to obtain the GUIDs for pre-staging computers and in particular whether theres an alternative to enabling boot form network and then writing down the GUIDs. The reason being that one of my machines has a problem that when booting from the network it scrambles the screen so i cannot read the GUID. The display is fine as it has no problems any where else during the boot process and even in windows.

 

I need to pre-stage for the ris today.

[ChrisH]

Dont bother prestaging. Just enable custom setup in group policy and you can give the computers a name as you go through the ris screens. You can even define which OU they go into but I generally leave that blank and change the default on the server to the room I am doing at the time.

I you really do want the GUIDs then you can get them through WMI and name is called netboot or something similar I think but I dont have a copy of a script to hand.

[HodgeHi]

I thought that windows itself would get the guids when joining the domain since if it did do that then all you would have to do would be to select "this computer is managed", and then choose your ri server. But that would be too easy i suppose. Looks like i will do as you suggested or just remove the option that says they need to be rep-staged (unknown client or something) then re-enable after completed.

 

Thanks anyhow.

 

I'm not that good at scripting at all. One of the things on my list of "To Learn.."

[ajbritton]

dim SystemSet

Set SystemSet = GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\.\root\cimv2").InstancesOf ("Win32_ComputerSystemProduct")

For Each SystemItem In SystemSet
 szUUID = SystemItem.UUID
 If szUUID = "FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF" Then
   boolWFMCapable = 0
GetUUID = ""
 Else
GetUUID = szUUID
   boolWFMCapable = 1
 End If
Next

MsgBox GetUUID

 

netbootGUID is the name of the attribute in Active Directory that stores the UUID.

 

EDIT: Tweaked the script fragment to it will run standalone

[NetworkGeezer]

@ajbritton

But won't what only work for RIS machines have been named manually (as per ChrisH's instructions).

 

Another important question and I would really love to know the answer is it possible to rename a machine server side or would I have to use a client side script featuring NetDom command or some ADSI construct with a similar function?

[john]

I do mine the ChrisH method just to chuck my 2p in

[ajbritton]

@NetworkGeezer: The script extracts the UUID from the PC on which it is run. The name of the computer is not relevant.

 

If you happen to have bought Dell OptiPlex PCs, then the UUID is usually written on the box the PC comes in.

[HodgeHi]

IS the GUID the same as the UUID. If not can i use the UUID to pre-satge clients for RIS? Never used it before if that is the case

[ITWombat]

I think that's the primary purpose of the UUID to help in prestaging.

If you plan to prestage machines which have already have been deployed on the network then use ajbrittons script.

 

If you have new computers where the manufacturer hasn't been considerate enough to put the UUID in the paperwork then you can find it by setting the BIOS to a boot from the network card (PXE boot). If RIS is deativated or you've pulled out the cable then you'll have a chance to read the UUID from the screen.

[ajbritton]

You can use the script on any PC, it does not need to be on the network. Obviously though, a new PC would need to go through the tedious XP setup screens before you could run the script. The other possibility is to boot using BartPE. I believe there is a plug-in that lets you run VBScript. I don't know if WMI calls would work however.

 

Some useful Microsoft RIS stuff (including script to get UUID) here

[ITWombat]

If you have School's Agreement, Select or any other Software Assurance based licensing scheme from Microsoft, then you can get the official Windows PE.

The 2005 version, based on Windows 2003 SP1, has support for ADO, HTA, and most importanlty for our purposes, VBS and WMI.

Apparently the Reatogo version of BartPE also has support for WMI.

 

That said, the benefits of running the UUID discovery script off the network is minimal unless you plan to save the results to a USB flash drive.

[PiqueABoo]

FFR, anyone can download WAIK & WinPE 2.0 (Vista) now.

[NetworkGeezer]

@ajbritton

 

Hope you didn't feel the question about renaming managed (RIS) computers was a dig at you.

 

My idea was more to with RISing the machines with the random name choosen by the client side wizard then the renaming the computer accounts when the UUIDs were established in Active Directory.

That way you can do a standard build via RIS and then move them into a destination OU to finish the app installs via AD.

[ajbritton]

@NetworkGeezer

 

Certainly didn't feel any digging going on! I thought you were saying that the script would only be useful against machines which were already on AD with given names.

 

I posted the script in response to the original post which was asking for a way of getting at the UUID.

 

In response to your question about doing 'server side renaming'. To my knowledge it is not possible. You can use Netdom, and provided the PC is switched on and not firewalled, then it can be done remotely.