Contents

Creating a Restore User Data and Applications WSA Deployment Application

Who can do this?

Shopping administrators with the privileges to create WSA applications in Shopping.

What is it for?
To enable users to self-service their OS deployments using the Windows Servicing Assistant.
Before you start
You must create the deployment task sequence in Configuration Manager – you'll need this for the General Details screen.

Preparation

Before creating a Replace Restore Windows Servicing Assistant Deployment Application in Shopping, ensure you have completed the following in Configuration Manager

  1. Create a restore Task Sequence following the guidelines for creating a Restore User Data and Applications Task Sequence.
  2. Create an empty Collection that will be targeted with a deployment of the WSA Replace Restore Task Sequence
  3. Deploy the WSA Replace Restore Task Sequence created in step 1 to the empty Collection created in step 2. The deployment must be configured as Available (not Required), and scheduled to become available 10 years in the future as indicated below. This prevents the deployment from appearing in Software Center until the available date, thereby preventing the user from executing the Task Sequence outside of the Windows Servicing Assistant.
On this page:

Specifying the settings to control your your deployment Setting a schedule for your deployment


Preparation for zero-touch restore deployments

Zero-touch restore enables the user to run the capture deployment on their old machine and have the restore deployment automatically deployed to their new machine (so the user doesn't have to launch the WSA on their new machine).

A Zero-touch Restore requires an additional WSA Replace Restore Task Sequence deployment that should be prepared as follows.

  1. Create a new, empty Collection that will be used for zero-touch restore.

  2. Deploy the WSA Replace Restore Task Sequence (same task sequence used for standard restore) to the empty Collection created in step 1. This deployment must be configured as Required, with an assigned schedule As soon as possible as illustrated below:
    Specifying the settings to control your your deployment Setting a schedule for your deployment

    The default re-run behaviour is Rerun if failed previous attempt. In most cases this is appropriate. However, if you are repeating tests on the same workstations, you will need to change this to Always rerun program.

Creating the Replace Restore WSA Deployment Application

  1. In the Shopping Admin Console, right-click the Applications node and from its context menu, choose New Windows Servicing Assistant Deployment.
    Creating a new Windows Servicing Assistant deployment
  2. On the Welcome screen, click Next.

  3. On the General Details screen:

    Populating the General Details screen for your deployment

    1. Select Replace Restore from the Type of Windows Servicing Deployment drop-down.
    2. In the Name field, enter the name of this application as you want it to appear to the end-user in the wizard.
    3. Optionally enter a brief description in the Description field (note that the description, cost and icon are never displayed to the end-user for WSA Deployment Applications).
    4. Click Next.

  4. On the Config Mgr collection screen:

    Configuring the deployment in the Config Mgr collection screen

    1. Select the Collection that the Restore Task Sequence was deployed to (see Preparation above).
    2. From the Deployment drop-down, select the deployment that was created to deploy the Restore Task Sequence to the Collection selected previously.
    3. Click Next.

  5. On the Permissions screen:

    Setting restrictions for the deployment in the Permissions screen

    • If you want this Restore Deployment to be available to everyone, click Next (i.e. do not restrict the deployment to any users or computers)
    • If you want to restrict this Restore Deployment to specific users, click Add to the right of the User Permissions list and add the user or group that you want to restrict access to. Repeat to add multiple users or groups
    • If you want to restrict this Restore Deployment to specific computers, click Add to the right of the Machine Permissions list and add the computer or group that you want to restrict access to. Alternatively click the Add OU button to add an OU that contains the computers that you want to restrict access to. Repeat as appropriate to add multiple computers, groups or OUs.
  6. On the Completing the Windows Servicing Assistant Deployment Wizard screen, click Finish.


Configuring the Replace Restore WSA Deployment

Locating the WSA application you just createdOnce the Replace Capture WSA Deployment has been created, it may be necesary to configure additional properties that are applicable specifically to Replace Capture deployments.

In the Shopping Admin Console, select the Applications node and double-click the Replace Restore WSA application you just created (it will be listed under WSA as illustrated – use the search feature if necesary) to open the Properties dialog box.

We are going to walk you through the each of the tabs in the Properties dialog for the Replace Restore WSA Deployment and show you what the respective settings do and how they impact the behavior of the deployment in terms of the user experience. There is a masterclass on how to create the deployment at the end of this section.

The General tab

Properties in the General tab

The General tab is populated with the settings defined when the application was created. It controls what is displayed on the Start screen. You can change the name of the deployment (changing the description, cost and icon has no effect as these are never displayed to the end-user). However, Type cannot be changed.

For example, if you change the name of the deployment from Restore my data and apps to Restore My Data and Apps to a New PC, users see this on the Start screen.

The ConfigMgr Collection tab
Properties in the ConfigMgr Collection tab


The ConfigMgr Collection tab is populated with the selections made when the application was created. These can be modified if necessary, but not recommended unless it is to correct an error. If you do modify these, ensure you select a deployment of a Replace Restore Task Sequence.

If you prepared a Zero-touch deployment (see Preparation for zero-touch restore deployments) then in the lower half of the dialog:

  1. Select the Enable Zero touch restore option.
  2. Select the Collection that is the target of this restore deployment.

  3. Select the restore deployment from the Restore Deployment drop-down.

When you enable Zero-touch, its deployment collection must be different from the normal collection. However, the task sequence should be same for both cases. If you don't do this, it will lead to the following error:
 




The Permissions tab

Properties in the Permissions tab

  1. The Permissions tab is populated with the selections made when the application was created. You can modify the permissions from this tab to restrict access to specific users and/or computers.

Other operational errors

Exceptions on Completion screen and how to fix them

Error codeLikely causesRemedial action
0xA0070700The task sequence failed to start.This is not likely to happen happen unless the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is corrupted. If this happens, get the user to rerun the deployment.

Error is displayed on the Completion screen as follows:

  • Something went wrong with the deployment. Please contact your local administrator. 
0xA0070701SCCM execution history is missing.Check the status messages in Configuration Manager for the task sequence deployment as well as the ExitCode in the WSA execution history for the Task Sequence package id ( HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\1E\WSA\TSExecutionHistory\TSPkgID)

Error is displayed on the Completion screen as follows: 

  • Something went wrong with the deployment. Please contact your local administrator. 
0xA0070702

WSA execution history is missing – most likely cause is that the task sequence failed in WinPE.

Check the status messages in Configuration Manager.

Error displayed on the Completion screen as follows:

  • Something went wrong with the deployment. Please contact your local administrator. 
0xA0070703Unable to establish a WIFI connection.

Get the user to run the deployment again with the emphasis on providing their correct connection credentials – on the Connection screen, click Reveal to check the accuracy of the password they entered.

Error displayed on the Completion screen:

There was a problem connecting to the WiFi network. Please rerun the Assistant and ensure that the WiFi connection details are entered correctly
0xA0070704Unable to establish a VPN connection.

Get the user to run the deployment again with the emphasis on providing their correct connection credentials – on the Connection screen, click Reveal to check the accuracy of the password they entered.

Error displayed on the Completion screen:

There was a problem connecting to the VPN. Please rerun the Assistant and ensure that the VPN connection details are entered correctly
0xA0070705

WSA execution history is invalid.

Contact 1E Support for assistance.

Error displayed on the Completion screen as follows:

  • Something went wrong with the deployment. Please contact your local administrator. 

Masterclass video

A masterclass in creating a Restore User Data and Applications WSA Deployment Application