Win 10 Ent. compared to Win 10 Ent. LTSB what would be the right decision?

x23piracy

I really like that there are no default apps by default in LTSB

JJ Fullmer

@x23piracy In 1607 and I believe it was improved in 1703, there is no the ability to set defaults via a xml file in group policy. There was a bug with defaults back in 1511 and I think it shows back up here and there at times.

Basically you set up your associations as you would like, then run an export command, I believe it is a part of dism. Then you can either

put the xml file in the system32 folder
Put it on a public file share and reference it with a AD gpo
create a provisioning package with ICD to deploy it locally as needed.

If you can’t find the documentation on this, I’ll try to find it again.
Also, an advantage to say the AD gpo of doing this is, let’s say some program suddenly stops working as a default for some file extension for whatever reason (it’s happened to me with chrome taking over as a pdf viewer, or after telling chrome through the google chrome admx group polices to not be used as a pdf viewer at all but it still being set as the default pdf application so pdf’s can’t be opened at all) then you can quickly change everyone’s default programs by just editing or replacing a file with the proper default associations.

JJ Fullmer

@psycholiquid In the past I have been creating scripts to create and deploy default profiles for each department. Giving a nice starting point with all the needed programs. UE-V looks intriguing, how do you use it? It looks like it’s a per user kind of thing from what I’ve read thus far. I would rather have a per department thing to start with then maybe add a user personalization backup kind of thing on top of that. If there’s any quick pointers you can offer, I would greatly appreciate it.

JJ Fullmer

@x23piracy One other caveat to consider is the amount of changes that happen. With each release I am having to adopt the official windows way of deployment and customization a little more. Granted a lot of that are things that weren’t able to be easily done with built-in tools. Point being, if you are keeping up with all the changes, the changes to your deployment infrastructure are relatively small and you’re constantly learning how to use all the new toys. If you only have LTSB, then you’re going to have to learn and adapt to 2-3 years of changes each time you update your image to a new iteration. That would be quite a lot of change to manage. If you only have a few ltsb devices, but also are keeping up on the latest releases on other devices, the new ltsb release won’t require changes because you’ll be up to date on whatever new features and settings are added to the next LTSB.

Honestly, I understand wanting to stick with LTSB. I finally convinced myself to step away from it and understand the way microsoft is trying to do it and instead of trying to manipulate their ideas to work for me, just using it as intended. In the long run it makes your life easier and helps you to keep up on the latest in Microsoft’s configurations. So I would strongly encourage anyone with normal desktop computers to not solely use LTSB to avoid the future headaches that are sure to strike without warning. I’m just trying to help save you from the many headaches that I am currently correcting as I fix my mistake of going to LTSB as my original windows 10 deployment and now as I want a more universal and dynamic support structure that the semi-annual channel releases provide more and more with each update. Of course it’s your choice.

x23piracy

@jj-fullmer i was working with Windows 10 Professional in the past, i know what your talking about but in the actual situation i am heavily prepared for LTSB 2016 because it’s based on 1607, i’ve started generaliziing with 1511 and the last i did was 1703.

But your right and it’s a good point to may have LTSB and Enterprise (without LTSB) combined. But in my dreams i just want to maintain one golden for all if possible.

Regards X23

JJ Fullmer

@x23piracy That is why I’ve just started to do one golden that I’ll fully update twice a year with each release and each monthly cumulative update to on a regular basis to simplify updates after imaging as well.

x23piracy

@jj-fullmer In the past i just did this only on half of the time when a new major has been released and directly after a major has been released. Since the updates are cumulative each month i am a bit lazy with it

Psycholiquid

@jj-fullmer said in Win 10 Ent. compared to Win 10 Ent. LTSB what would be the right decision?:

@psycholiquid In the past I have been creating scripts to create and deploy default profiles for each department. Giving a nice starting point with all the needed programs. UE-V looks intriguing, how do you use it? It looks like it’s a per user kind of thing from what I’ve read thus far. I would rather have a per department thing to start with then maybe add a user personalization backup kind of thing on top of that. If there’s any quick pointers you can offer, I would greatly appreciate it.

It is definitely a per user thing. I use it to backup the users Application settings such as Outlook and WinSCP and others. IT works alot better than Citrix or the old way of doing roaming profiles (Not folder redirection) as it uses xml files and small zipped packages to keep settings.

I can tell you that it is best to work with 1703 as the old version did not have t setup as a service making it a bit harder to work with but that is what I get for working in beta right? IT does work on the fly so it isn`t something you have to reboot every machine for either. Here is a custom script I use to backup users WinSCP settings:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<SettingsLocationTemplate xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/UserExperienceVirtualization/2013A/SettingsLocationTemplate">
  <Name>WinSCP: SFTP, FTP, WebDAV and SCP client</Name>
  <ID>WinSCP-WinSCP-v-5-9</ID>
  <Version>1</Version>
  <Author>
    <Name>Jeremy Gravel</Name>
    <Email>user@email.com</Email>
  </Author>
  <Processes>
    <Process>
      <Filename>WinSCP.exe</Filename>
    </Process>
  </Processes>
  <Settings>
    <Registry>
      <Path Recursive="true">Software\Martin Prikryl</Path>
    </Registry>
    <File>
      <Root>
        <EnvironmentVariable>APPDATA</EnvironmentVariable>
      </Root>
      <Path />
      <FileMask>winscp.rnd</FileMask>
    </File>
  </Settings>
</SettingsLocationTemplate>

This really just pulls their reg files ann some folders and files which I designate in the xml

Example of the files being backed up to the folders:

0_1506438499381_92b34776-9247-4c14-889f-874209bca6ec-image.png

Here is another example backing up all version of Chrome (allows for updates to versions):

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<SettingsLocationTemplate xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/UserExperienceVirtualization/2013A/SettingsLocationTemplate">
  <Name>Google Chrome</Name>
  <ID>Google-Chrome-chrome-v-58-0</ID>
  <Version>1</Version>
  <Author>
    <Name>Jeremy Gravel</Name>
    <Email>user@email.com</Email>
  </Author>
  <Processes>
    <Process>
      <Filename>chrome.exe</Filename>
    </Process>
  </Processes>
  <Settings>
    <Registry>
      <Path>Software\Google</Path>
    </Registry>
    <Registry>
      <Path>Software\Google\Chrome</Path>
    </Registry>
    <Registry>
      <Path>Software\Google\Chrome\BLBeacon</Path>
    </Registry>
    <Registry>
      <Path>Software\Google\Chrome\BrowserExitCodes</Path>
    </Registry>
    <Registry>
      <Path>Software\Google\Chrome\StabilityMetrics</Path>
    </Registry>
    <Registry>
      <Path Recursive="true">Software\Google\Chrome\PreferenceMACs</Path>
    </Registry>
    <Registry>
      <Path>Software\Google\Chrome\Extensions</Path>
    </Registry>
    <Registry>
      <Path>Software\Google\Chrome\NativeMessagingHosts</Path>
    </Registry>
    <Registry>
      <Path>Software\Google\Update\ClientState\{8A69D345-D564-463c-AFF1-A69D9E530F96}</Path>
    </Registry>
    <Registry>
      <Path Recursive="true">Software\Google\Software Removal Tool</Path>
    </Registry>
    <Registry>
      <Path>Software\RegisteredApplications</Path>
    </Registry>
    <Registry>
      <Path>Software\Clients\StartMenuInternet\FIREFOX.EXE\Capabilities</Path>
    </Registry>
    <Registry>
      <Path>Software\Clients\StartMenuInternet\FIREFOX.EXE\Capabilities\URLAssociations</Path>
    </Registry>
    <File>
      <Root>
        <EnvironmentVariable>LOCALAPPDATA</EnvironmentVariable>
      </Root>
      <Path>Google\Chrome\User Data\Crashpad</Path>
      <FileMask>settings.dat</FileMask>
    </File>
    <File>
      <Root>
        <EnvironmentVariable>LOCALAPPDATA</EnvironmentVariable>
      </Root>
      <Path>Google\Chrome\User Data\Crashpad</Path>
      <FileMask>metadata</FileMask>
    </File>
    <File>
      <Root>
        <EnvironmentVariable>LOCALAPPDATA</EnvironmentVariable>
      </Root>
      <Path>Google\Chrome\User Data\Default</Path>
      <FileMask>Preferences</FileMask>
    </File>
    <File>
      <Root>
        <EnvironmentVariable>LOCALAPPDATA</EnvironmentVariable>
      </Root>
      <Path>Google\Chrome\User Data\Default</Path>
      <FileMask>Secure Preferences</FileMask>
    </File>
    <File>
      <Root>
        <EnvironmentVariable>LOCALAPPDATA</EnvironmentVariable>
      </Root>
      <Path>Google\Chrome\User Data\Default</Path>
      <FileMask>Visited Links</FileMask>
    </File>
    <File>
      <Root>
        <EnvironmentVariable>LOCALAPPDATA</EnvironmentVariable>
      </Root>
      <Path>Google\Chrome\User Data\Default</Path>
      <FileMask>History-journal</FileMask>
    </File>
    <File>
      <Root>
        <EnvironmentVariable>LOCALAPPDATA</EnvironmentVariable>
      </Root>
      <Path>Google\Chrome\User Data\Default</Path>
      <FileMask>Login Data</FileMask>
    </File>
    <File>
      <Root>
        <EnvironmentVariable>LOCALAPPDATA</EnvironmentVariable>
      </Root>
      <Path>Google\Chrome\User Data\Default</Path>
      <FileMask>Bookmarks</FileMask>
    </File>
    <File>
      <Root>
        <EnvironmentVariable>LOCALAPPDATA</EnvironmentVariable>
      </Root>
      <Path>Google\Chrome\User Data\Default</Path>
      <FileMask>Last Session</FileMask>
    </File>
    <File>
      <Root>
        <EnvironmentVariable>LOCALAPPDATA</EnvironmentVariable>
      </Root>
      <Path>Google\Chrome\User Data\Default</Path>
      <FileMask>Current Session</FileMask>
    </File>
    <File>
      <Root>
        <EnvironmentVariable>LOCALAPPDATA</EnvironmentVariable>
      </Root>
      <Path>Google\Chrome\User Data\Default</Path>
      <FileMask>Cookies</FileMask>
    </File>
    <File>
      <Root>
        <EnvironmentVariable>LOCALAPPDATA</EnvironmentVariable>
      </Root>
      <Path>Google\Chrome\User Data\Default</Path>
      <FileMask>Cookies-journal</FileMask>
    </File>
  </Settings>
</SettingsLocationTemplate>

0_1506438641417_8d70454a-dba2-4535-a875-5c1de334aa02-image.png

JJ Fullmer

@psycholiquid So if I want to still have a starting point for new users I’ll still need to create custom default profiles. Thank you very much for your examples. I hadn’t found a clear definition of settings location template, it makes so much sense now, it’s a template for where to find the location of the settings to backup, duh. I think I just wanted it to be a template of starter settings.
I think I will most definitely be adding this to my infrastructure.

x23piracy

I am really glad that i started that discussion

Psycholiquid

@jj-fullmer Yeah M$ sucks at documenting this. I was able to get Windows Pinned items to work a little also, but I did all the testing on my own couldn’t find much on how to make templates so I just ripped apart others until I figured it out.

x23piracy

@psycholiquid hey if you say pinned do you talk about the startmenu?

Psycholiquid

@x23piracy Yeah this:

0_1506439427184_33fad7a1-b793-4045-a96c-a6871d51cb26-image.png

x23piracy

@psycholiquid i have something for this wait…

Psycholiquid

I am able to back it up but am unable to put it back yet, but I will figure it out one of these days

x23piracy

TaskbarLayout.xml:

<LayoutModificationTemplate xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout" xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout" xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout" Version="1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification">

<CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection PinListPlacement="Replace">
   <defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>
     <taskbar:TaskbarPinList>
       <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories\Internet Explorer.lnk"/>	   
	   <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools\File Explorer.lnk"/>
       <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%PROGRAMDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Outlook 2016.lnk"/>	   
     </taskbar:TaskbarPinList>
   </defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>
</CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection>  

</LayoutModificationTemplate>

Powershell:

Import-StartLayout -LayoutPath "C:\Support\Tools\TaskbarLayout.xml" -MountPath "C:\"

I am using this for 1607 and 1703, i execute it with my sysprep script. (Using copyprofile).

Psycholiquid

@x23piracy Yeah that wont work in UE-V though I am going for automated. I dont want ot ever have to mess with it again

x23piracy

@psycholiquid Sorry whats UE-V? Sorry i don’t know.

Psycholiquid

It is the new roaming profiles for Windows. IT just came out of beta a little while ago

x23piracy

@psycholiquid since which Windows 10 Version is it acting and what happens if you import like that?

Win 10 Ent. compared to Win 10 Ent. LTSB what would be the right decision?

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