Windows and Office deployment lab kit

Windows and Office deployment lab kit

Introduction

Microsoft just introduced an updated kit for IT pros to plan, test and validate deployment and management of desktops running Windows 10 Enterprise and Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. This was earlier known as “Windows insider lab for Enterprise” or “Olympia”.

 

The lab will cover technologies:

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager

Desktop Analytics

Office Customization Tool

OneDrive

Windows Autopilot and the list continues.

 

So why put the time into downloading this environment and set it up?

One thing is to plan your upgrade path if you are not already on Windows 10, this kit is ideal to test your upgrade path. It is an isolated environment build to test and plan, and that is why you should spend time on downloading and set this up, to minimize the risk of blowing up your production environment.

 

Requirements

– The lab builds on the Hyper-V platform.

– Hyper-V role installed

– Administrative rights on the host

– 300 GB of free disk space or more

– NVME / SSD drive recommended

– 16 GB ram or more

– Fast CPU

– An external virtual switch in Hyper-V for internet connectivity on the virtual lab.

 

A complete lab environment

Get the list of technologies you will have access to here:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/modern-desktop-deployment-and-management-lab?view=o365-worldwide#a-complete-lab-environment

Download the kit

download link

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Fill out all the blanks and press continue

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Be prepared to download 30 GB (it should start automatically)

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Setup your lab

Install Hyper-V

Right click your StartMenu

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Open PowerShell with admin rights

Paste this command to it

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V -All

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Restart if needed

 

Start Hyper-V Manager

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Create a Virtual Switch

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External and “Create virtual switch”

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I call it “Microsoft LAB” to identify where it is used in case, I want to change it later.

Press ok.

 

Unzip the downloaded content

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For my device it took only 40 seconds to unzip the whole 30 GB of content

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I have 2 drives on my device, and I have configured Hyper-V to place its content on my E:

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Go to the folder with your unzipped lab and copy it to E:

Note: The environment will be loaded from this directory, so it is important to place it correctly before executing setup.exe.

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Run the setup.exe

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Next

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Accept the license terms and next

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The setup process fount our external adapter called Microsoft LAB

Press next

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Next

Now patience! This process will unpack the Zpaq file containing all the virtual machines and afterwards import it to Hyper-V. Expect at least 30 minutes wait, so go for a cup of coffee or lunch

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Press next

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Now all the virtual machines are ready to use at a certain state.

 

Overview of the virtual machines:

Server Name

Roles & Products

HYD-DC1

Active Directory Domain Controller, DNS, DHCP, Certificate Services

HYD-MDT1

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit

Windows 10 2004 ADK

Windows Deployment Services

HYD-CM1

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager 2002

Windows Deployment Services

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit

Windows 10 2004 ADK

Windows Software Update Services

Microsoft SQL Server 2017

HYD-APP1

Microsoft BitLocker Administration and Monitoring

Microsoft SQL Server 2017

HYD-GW1

Remote Access for Internet Connectivity

HYD-INET1

Simulated Internet

HYD-VPN1

Remote Access for VPN

HYD-CLIENT1

Windows 10 2004 Domain Joined

HYD-CLIENT2

Windows 10 2004 Domain Joined

HYD-CLIENT3

Windows 10 2004 Workgroup

HYD-CLIENT4

Windows 10 2004 Workgroup

HYD-CLIENT 5, 6

Bare metal (No Installations)

HYD-CLIENT7

Windows 7 SP1 Domain Joined

User

Access Type

User Name

Password

Local Administrator

Administrative

Administrator

P@ssw0rd

Domain Administrator

Enterprise Administrator

CORPLabAdmin

P@ssw0rd

Go ahead and play with it.

If you like to add the cloud element to it, you should open the “Lab Kit_2004_lab_guide_v3.docx” from the folder Lab Kit_2004_Guides_v3.

See chapter 2.2.1 Set up Azure and Microsoft 365. Do not get scared it’s only a document on 275 pages

 

Summary

Microsoft released a set of virtual machines ready to use for test path and for developing practical skills. The document “Lab Kit_2004_lab_guide_v3.docx” guides you through a lot of stuff and will enable you to build future hybrid environments or at least upgrade your knowledge on how the different technologies works.

Happy testing!

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Mattias Melkersen is a community driven and passionate modern workplace consultant with 20 years’ experience in automating software, driving adoption and technology change within the Enterprise. He lives in Denmark and works at Mindcore.

He is an Enterprise Mobility Intune MVP, Official Contributor in a LinkedIn group with 41.000 members and Microsoft 365 Enterprise Administrator Expert.

Mattias blogs, gives interview and creates a YouTube content on the channel "MSEndpointMgr" where he creates helpful content in the MEM area and interview MVP’s who showcase certain technology or topic.

Official Contributor here "Modern Endpoint Management":
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8761296/

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Modern Workplace consultant and a Microsoft MVP in Enterprise Mobility.

Modern Workplace consultant and a Microsoft MVP in Windows and Devices.

Infrastructure architect with focus on Modern Workplace and Microsoft 365 security.

Cloud & security specialist with focus on Microsoft backend products and cloud technologies.

Cloud & security specialist with focus on Microsoft 365.

Cloud & Security Specialist, with a passion for all things Cybersecurity

Cloud and infrastructure security specialist with background in networking.

Infrastructure architect with focus on design, implementation, migration and consolidation.

Infrastructure consultant with focus on cloud solutions in Office365 and Azure.

Modern workplace and infrastructure architect with a focus on Microsoft 365 and security.

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