KACE (Upgrading Windows 7 to Windows 10)


Creating the Windows 10 Installation Package

  1. Download or create the ISO for the version of Windows 10 you plan to deploy.
    1. Download the Windows 10 ISO from the Microsoft Volume Licensing Center or the Rutgers Software Portal.
    2. Create the ISO from a Windows 10 Machine.
      1. Download the Media Creation Tool from the Microsoft website.
      2. Launch the tool.
      3. When it asks "What do you want to do?" choose Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC.

             

      4. Click Next.
      5. If recommended options for language, architecture, and edition are desirable, click Next. Otherwise, adjust as needed before proceeding.

             

      6. For Choose which media to use select ISO file and click Next.
      7. Choose a name (example: Win10_1803_English_x64.iso) and location to save the ISO file. The utility will now build the ISO file.

  2. After you have downloaded or created the ISO, mount it and compress its contents into a .zip file.
    1. In Windows 10, the ISO can be mounted by right-clicking on the file and choosing Mount or simply double-clicking on the ISO file.
    2. Once mounted, select all of the files within the ISO (not the directory/drive, but the files within it), then right click, and choose Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder.

           

    3. After compression completes, the zip file will be created. Rename the zipped file appropriately (example: Win10_1903_English_x64.zip). This zip file will be used in the following steps.
    4. Unmount the ISO (right-click the drive and click Eject), then store/discard the ISO, as desired.

Uploading the Package to the KACE SMA

Due to several file size limitations in KACE, the Windows 10 file zip will need to be uploaded to the SMA via the client drop samba share. The Samba shares are already enabled on all Rutgers KACE Appliances at the System level.

  1. Ensure that the Samba share is also enabled at your ORG level and you know credentials for the client drop (admin) Samba share. If not, the password can be reset on the Settings > General Settings page in the Admin UI.
  2. Take note of the client_#, and the admin_# you will need this information to access the share.

         

  3. Connect to the client drop share. This can be done in Windows by opening a Windows Explorer window and typing in the share address for the SMA (example: \\kbox5.rutgers.edu\client_8, replacing kbox#, and the client_# with the appropriate appliance #, and share number).

         

  4. Drag and drop the .zip file (example: Win10_1903_English_x64.zip) created earlier into the client drop share.

Mapping the Zip with a Software Title

  1. Log into the In the Admin UI for the KACE appliance your ORG is located in - https://kbox#.rutgers.edu/admin
  2. Navigate to Inventory > Software.
  3. Select Choose Action > New.

         

  4. Fill in the Name, Version, Publisher, and Notes fields as desired.

         

  5. In the Custom Inventory Rule we will use the ReleaseId registry value in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion to detect the build number. This may not work in all editions/branches of Windows 10 (e.g. LTSB).

         

  6. Next under Upload and Associate File click on Choose File and select the .zip file you just uploaded to the Samba share from the drop down. This will automatically move the file into the proper location in the KACE SMA filesystem and remove it from the Samba share.

         

  7. Click Save. Note: After the page is saved and the file is reassigned, Samba can be safely disabled if desired.

Creating the Managed Installation

This Managed Installation is created exactly as you would create any other.

  1. Log into the In the Admin UI for the KACE appliance your ORG is located in - https://kbox#.rutgers.edu/admin
  2. Navigate to Distribution > Managed Installations.
  3. Select Choose Action > New.

         

  4. Input a Name (example: Windows 10 x64 Build 1903).
  5. Set the Execution option based on the environmental requirements and preferences of your Organization. Note: Something must be chosen other than Disabled or the Managed Install will not deploy.
  6. For the Inventory selection, Software must be selected.
  7. In the Software drop-down, choose the Software Title you created in the previous section.
  8. Select Use associated file under Associated File to use the file you attached to the record in a previous step.
  9. Selecting Delete downloaded files can be enabled to purge the installer from cache after installation on the client.

         

  10. For Installation Options, choose Override default installation and ensure Don't prepend msiexec.exe is checked.
    • In the Full Command Line, this example shows an auto upgrade with no UI output on the endpoint and no OOBE upon reboot.
    • A list of all command lines for Windows 10 upgrades can be found here.
    • Full Command Line: setup.exe /auto upgrade /quiet /showoobe none

           

  11. In the Deploy section, assign the Managed Install to specific labels and devices.
    • We strongly recommend that you test with a small set of machines in a test label before rolling out to a large number of machines.
  12. Configure the Notify section according to the environmental requirements and preferences of your Organization.
  13. Configure the Schedule section according to environmental requirements and preferences of your Organization.
    • Note: Adjusting the deployment window is not advised. Managed Installs are only run during the inventory interval. If the scheduled window is not long enough for all systems to run an inventory interval, then affected systems will never attempt to deploy the build upgrade. The Order defines the order in which Managed Installs are run in versus other Managed Installs and their order values. If the value in Maximum Attempts is exceeded due to installation failure, the Managed Install will cease deployment attempts for those devices.
  14. Click Save.
  15. If you wish to run a test immediately choose Run Now to push out the deployment to all assigned devices, otherwise, the Managed Installation will deploy based on the Execution option.