Hi All

What's best practice when cloning app loaded servers?  For example, one of my collections will be hosting the Office suite + several MS tools.  To avoid all the install I would like to use VMware to clone, change the name and voila add it to the collection.  Obviously I need to ensure the apps are all happy with this especially as we know of a few which require attention post cloning (Symantec Endpoint, WSUS etc), but what's the situation with Sysprep on 2012R2 these days?  A while back practice would be to simply use NewSID, but maybe Syspre /generalize now does the trick?

I see this page indicates RDSH servers can be cloned and Syspreped...but it this pre app loading?

Thanks

Lea

Hi Lea,

I'd install the apps, configure the server (no AV & do Windows Updates online) and use SysPrep (OOBE) to get the server ready for cloning: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766514(v=ws.10).aspx.

Regards,

Matthijs

P.S. One tip: make a snapshot before doing the SysPrep, so you always have a template ready.

• Proposed as answer by M. ter Horst Monday, July 27, 2015 12:29 PM
• Marked as answer by LeaUK Tuesday, July 28, 2015 8:53 AM

Hi Matthijs

Thanks for your recommendation, pretty straight forward - like!

I also like the template tip; however I suspect a clone rather than a snapshot would be better choice otherwise the delta file would continually grow and consume storage.

Having said this, why create a template at all?  In order to create additional RDSH servers, surely all that's needed at time of farm expansion is a clone of an RDSH and subsequent SysPrep OOBE +generalize?  

Cheers

Lea

• Edited by LeaUK Monday, July 27, 2015 2:57 PM

Something to bear in mind!

• Sysprep runs only if the computer is a member of a workgroup, not a domain. If the computer is joined to a domain, Sysprep removes the computer from the domain.

Hi,

Always SysPrep before adding to the domain.

Regards,

Matthijs

Hi Lea,

You create the snapshot before making the clone.
It's two different things.

Regards,

Matthijs

P.S. If you appreciate my help, please click to vote up or click answer... ;-)

Hi Lea,

In addition, here is a related thread below for your reference:

Imaging or cloning RDSH servers

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/47643d1d-70e5-461f-a840-d126bb478112/imaging-or-cloning-rdsh-servers?forum=winserverTS

Best Regards,

Amy

Awesome article, thank you Amy.

I want to create a template/clone from a RDSH server which is already part of a farm.  However I find that the cloned server's rename/sysprep causes temporary profiles to be created for each and every subsequent logon.  I suspect this is caused by using UserProfileDisks and ACL/SID permissions issues on the UPD share?

So I need to introduce a step which removes the RDS UPD settings for the new cloned server, however at this stage it's NOT strictly part of an RDS deployment, and has no network connectivity so it's orphaned.  

How can UPDs be disabled without RDS Server Management functionality?  Powershell?

Set-RDSessionCollectionConfiguration -DisableUserProfileDisk

??

Update - this fails with: A remote desktop services deployment doesn't exist on <new server name>...

There must be a way to revert UPDs back to traditional logon profiles?

Thanks

Lea

• Edited by LeaUK 14 hours 58 minutes ago

Hi Lea,

Since this thread has been quiet for a while, and this is a new question, I would suggest you start a new thread to get more efficient support from the forum community.

Best Regards,

Amy