End User Scheduler

1 What the scheduler does

The End User Scheduler lets administrators create automated deployments for large-scale projects, such as upgrading the organisation's operating systems.

It pre-caches the operating system upgrade automatically. With a customisable splash screen, end users can schedule or skip the upgrade. From the Status window, administrators get a quick overview of how far the upgrade has got and can export the data.

Everything is configured from the configuration page for the End User Scheduler, which is located under the Settings menu. The picture is an earlier version of that menu; the current menu was not recaptured.

To set up an upgrade, follow these steps:

• Import the new Operating System Upgrade Package into the SCCM server.
• SoftwareCentral automatically creates two new task sequences for pre-caching and upgrading the operating system.
• Modify driver packages in the pre-cache task sequence if needed.
• Create and configure the end user splash screen.
• Let your end users decide when to perform the upgrade, within a predefined time frame.
• Get a detailed compliance report from the Status page.

The main window has these buttons in the left menu: Add new Scheduler, Deploy Scheduler, Copy Task Sequence and a search box. The list shows each scheduler with its Deployment ID and Is deployment value, and the links Status, Edit and Delete.

Deploy Scheduler creates a scheduler for a set of computers you select. Such a scheduler is listed with Is deployment set to True; see Edit and delete schedulers for what that changes when you delete it.

2 Create a new operating system upgrade

Start by importing the new Operating System Upgrade Package with SCCM, and distribute it to the appropriate distribution points.

Then click Copy Task Sequence in the left menu.

A new window will open. From the new window, select the previous used pre-cache and upgrade task sequences. Name the new task sequences. Finally select the new Operating System Upgrade Package.

Click Copy Task Sequences. SoftwareCentral will now copy the existing task sequences and change the variables pointing to the Operating System Upgrade Package. It will also create new collections and deploy the task sequences to those collections.

Task Sequences and Collections will be placed in the same folders as the originals.

The advantage of copying the existing task sequences is that any custom steps will be added to the new task sequences.

Once the new task sequences have been created, you can modify the driver packages in the pre-cache task sequence if needed.

If you want to pre-cache any additional packages, you must do that in a separate step, before the pre-cache OS step. The picture below is from the Configuration Manager console (an external product); it shows the PreCache Packages step placed before PreCache OS.

3 Create a scheduler and splash screen

To add a new scheduler, click Add new Scheduler in the left menu. A new window will open.

Give the new Scheduler a name in Scheduler Name, and select the deployment of your new upgrade in Deployment. Both are required. The arguments are auto generated when you select a deployment.

Note that under Other Settings you must also provide a command line, for executing the actual upgrade. The Command line box starts with cscript.exe, and Arguments is filled in for you. If the arguments include a PowerShell script (.ps1), the command line changes to the Windows PowerShell program.

Once the scheduler is saved, you can see a preview of it: the Open Preview link becomes available. You can change the design of your scheduler any way you like with the HTML editors on its tabs. The changes take effect only after you save.

End users may run this tool from a PowerShell script. An example of this PowerShell script with the required values will appear in the PowerShell Example box, once the scheduler is saved. The picture is from a saved scheduler.

Copy the script to a new ps1 file and configure and deploy it to all computers, which are a member of the upgrade OS collection.

Set the script to launch at startup.

End users will now be presented by the splash screen and may choose when to perform the operating system upgrade.

4 Status

Click Status on the row of a scheduler to open the status window. It lists all computers the deployment is deployed to.

Use the drop-down box on top of the grid to show Show All, Show Run Now, Show Scheduled, Show Do Not Run or Show Missing. You can also use the filter boxes in the header of each column.

You can export the currently viewed computers to a CSV file using the export button in the upper right-hand corner of the grid.

5 Edit and delete schedulers

To edit a Scheduler, click Edit on its row. The window has the same tabs as the Add new Scheduler window: Settings, Content, Prompts and Confirmation Pages.

To delete a Scheduler, click Delete on its row. A confirmation asks Do you want to delete the scheduler's name. Note that when you delete a scheduler, all historical data from the status list is also removed.

If you delete a Scheduler that is not a deployment (Is deployment is False), the upgrade itself is not deleted and clients will still be upgraded.

To stop an upgrade, you must remove the clients from the collections.

This can be achieved from the Collection Management interface.

6 API

You can read more about the API here: End User Scheduler API.

7 Best practice

• Save before you test. The preview link and the PowerShell example appear only after a save, and the changes you made take effect only when you save.
• Do not delete a scheduler to stop an upgrade. Deleting it removes its status history. To stop the upgrade, remove the clients from the collection.
• Check Is deployment before you delete. A scheduler from Deploy Scheduler also deletes its collection.
• Pre-cache additional packages before the pre-cache OS step. They must be in their own step, placed before the OS step in the pre-cache task sequence.
• Keep Run as AD-Group empty unless users must interact. An empty field runs the task as the SoftwareCentral Service Account; the Domain Users group lets users interact with it.

8 Troubleshooting