Table of Contents
Introduction
If you are working with MDT, you will most likely create or modify task sequences now and then.
When managing task sequences, you might either create a new task sequence from scratch or copy another task sequence.
You can run many issues when copying a task sequence in MDT and re-using it. Therefore I strongly recommend creating task sequence templates, as mentioned in this blog post.
This blog post covers what a task sequence in MDT is and how to create a task sequence template.
What is Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT)?
MDT or Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, is a deployment system provided for free by Microsoft.
MDT can be used as a stand-alone product or by using the MDT integration feature built into SCCM.
How do I download Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT)
You can download Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) for free from Microsoft here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/configmgr/mdt/.
What is an MDT task sequence template?
A task sequence is the main player in any operating system deployment in MDT or SCCM.
The task sequence is a sequence of steps, including, but not limited to:
- Hardware configuration
- Deploy Windows 10 OS images
- Install applications
- State restore
- Configuration scripts
There is not much difference between SCCM and MDT OS deployment in this sense.
MDT task sequence templates explained
Now you know what an MDT task sequence is. But why do you want to create one? The main reasons are re-usability and quality assurance.
The main issue with copying an MDT task sequence is that the task sequence ID is carried over.
How to create a task sequence template in MDT
Creating a template in MDT is very simple:
1. Create a task sequence that you will use as a template.
2. Browse to your MDT deployment share and locate the Control folder.
3. In the Control folder, there should be a subfolder with the name of the task sequence
4. In The subfolder, there should be a file called ts.xml, which is the task sequence
5. Copy the ts.xml and rename it to ts_template.xml or similar:
6. Go to the installation folder for MDT, by default C:\Program Files\Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, and go to the folder called Templates.
7. Paste the ts_template.xml here:
8. Open up the ts_template.xml in notepad and edit the top row, with a proper name and description for your task sequence template:
9. Open Deployment Workbench, right-click task sequences and select New Task Sequence.
10. Give your new Task Sequence a name:
11. Select your newly created Task Sequence template and edit the task sequence according to your preferences!
References
- Microsoft Docs – Microsoft Deployment Toolkit documentation
- Microsoft Docs – Create a task sequence with Configuration Manager and MDT
Thanks! This just came in extremely handy.
This guide was a great help. Thanks.
This is a life saver thank you!
Thanks Daniel, wasted a lot of time in the past creating each task sequence with custom settings each time and was always wondering if this was possible. Works a charm, cheers.
Glad to hear the post helped you!
/Daniel
Hi,
Thanks, glad that it helped you!
/Daniel
Appreciate the guide! I was stuck and couldn’t figure out why my template was not showing up. I forgot to rename the ts.xml after transferring it over!