PENDING Captured image from reference machine fails to deploy

[robertnavarro]

Dear all,
We have created a virtual machine (VMWare) using the Windows 11 version 24H2 (updated Feb 25) x64 iso. The idea is to apply OS tweaks that we are having difficulty in installing in the Task Sequence, and have this a reference machine that can then be captured. An example is changing the Network Stack order so that Microsoft Windows Network is at the top of the list.
We may also want to include in the reference machine a "heavy weight" application, that is currently taking about 30 minutes to install and deploy as part of the Task Sequence.
Note, that when installing Windows 11 had to create an in order to continue with the installation.
On SCCM went through the procedure to create the Capture Media.iso. Copied this to the VM and after mounting clicked LaunchMedia to run the Image Capture Wizard. Initially there were a couple of stumbling blocks where sysprep crashed, but this was due to a couple of packages, which once removed allowed sysprep to work and let the capture process to complete.
Created a new folder in Operating System Images, and then went through the Add Operating System Image Wizard. Once completed Distributed the content. We already had a Task Sequence setup, so just changed the reference to the wim file in the Apply Operating System.
Up to this point no error messages, everything looking good.
PXE Boot the target laptop successfully, select the Task Sequence in Configuration Manager, Partition of disk and formatting is OK, can see the the Apply Operating System task is downloading the correct wim file. Then as soon as the Applying Image 1 starts, the deployment crashes with 0x80070490. I have retrieved the smsts.log but not very revealing because the last meaningful item is about the disk partition, doesn't log why it actually crashed.
So, I am looking for some help to see where this process might be falling over.
We do have a Task Sequence with the basic install.wim extracted from the iso, and this deploys without issue, but as mentioned above some of the OS tweaks are proving very difficult to achieve and hence the idea of the Captured reference machine.
Thanks, Robert

 

[Prajwal Desai]

If i have understood clearly, you were successful in capturing the VM OS, but the issue occurs when you're deploying this captured image to a VM. I believe smsts.log should tell you at what step did the TS crash. You can also try monitoring the TS progress remotely from the console: https://www.prajwaldesai.com/monitor-sccm-task-sequence-progress/

 

[robertnavarro]

If i have understood clearly, you were successful in capturing the VM OS, but the issue occurs when you're deploying this captured image to a VM. I believe smsts.log should tell you at what step did the TS crash. You can also try monitoring the TS progress remotely from the console: https://www.prajwaldesai.com/monitor-sccm-task-sequence-progress/

Hi Prajwal, thanks for getting back to me. Although the reference machine is a VM, the captured image is being deployed to a physical laptop, an HP 840 G9 in this occasion. As I said the smsts.log wasn't very illuminating, but I can recheck it and I will see if there is anything on the console. Thanks

 

[Stanley Road]

Hi Prajwal, thanks for getting back to me. Although the reference machine is a VM, the captured image is being deployed to a physical laptop, an HP 840 G9 in this occasion. As I said the smsts.log wasn't very illuminating, but I can recheck it and I will see if there is anything on the console. Thanks

It's handy that you know where it's failing at least. What i do in these situations is create a copy of the TS and deploy it in debug mode, then you can put a 'break' just before the OS deployment step, make sure you have the smstslog in view, then whatch it in real time as the step fails, it can be quite revealing. Also just before you start that step it's worth making sure that the disk is recognised in diskpart and the pc has an ip address.

 

[robertnavarro]

It's handy that you know where it's failing at least. What i do in these situations is create a copy of the TS and deploy it in debug mode, then you can put a 'break' just before the OS deployment step, make sure you have the smstslog in view, then whatch it in real time as the step fails, it can be quite revealing. Also just before you start that step it's worth making sure that the disk is recognised in diskpart and the pc has an ip address.

Hi Stanley, thanks the advise. Normally, when the TS has failed and get the error message, I just power off the laptop and don't let it run through to it's 15 minute time out. However, on the last attempt I did, and this produced a much different smsts.log with much more detail about the failure. I was then able to research the errors a bit more which then led me to realise that I hadn't been understanding the significance of the 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 in the Image Index section of the Apply Operating System. I had been leaving it on 1-1, but as soon as I changed to 2-2 the deployment worked. This matches up when checking the Operating System Image. Properties > Images tab it shows 1-1, and when you look at the properties it is just 20MB in size, but when you change to view 2-2 it shows the OS version, architecture, size etc and this shows that this is the captured C: drive.
So, all part of the learning process.
I hope this can help someone else in similar situation.