Contents
Document Purpose and Conventions
This document has the following aims:
- To provide instructions to delegates to enable completion of the practical training labs
- Where relevant, provide guidance which can be used during real world implementations
The following conventions are used to highlight important information.
Lab Information
The lab environment consists of the following computers:
Computer | Role | Subnet | AD Site |
1ETRNDC | Domain controller for the 1ETRN.LOCAL domain. The ConfigMgr package source folder is located on this server. | 10.0.0.0/24 | Datacenter |
1ETRNCM | ConfigMgr server with a local SQL instance. All ConfigMgr roles are installed in this server. | 10.0.0.0/24 | Datacenter |
1ETRNAP | Application server that hosts ContentDistribution and other databases. SQL is installed locally. | 10.0.0.0/24 | Datacenter |
1ETRNW71 | Windows 10 client computer | 10.0.1.0/24 | Remote Office - Floor 1 |
1ETRNW72 | Windows 10 client computer | 10.0.2.0/24 | Remote Office - Floor 2 |
1ETRNW73 | Windows 10 client computer | 10.0.1.0/24 | Remote Office - Floor 1 |
1ETRNW101 | Windows 10 client computer | 10.0.1.0/24 | Remote Office - Floor 1 |
1ETRNW102 | Windows 10 client computer | 10.0.2.0/24 | Remote Office - Floor 2 |
Ignore any patching popups on our servers. We have deliberately left them unpatched to show patching via Patch Success and/or Nomad
Tachyon – Using Nomad as Content Provider
Our lab currently has Tachyon v4.1 installed. In this lab we will install Nomad 7.0 and enable the Nomad module of the 1E Client which is already installed on our devices. We will then deliver 2 instructions that have content associated with them and watch the Nomad processes take place. This lab will not get into the configuration details of Nomad. For that information, please consume the content for Nomad – Implementing and Using and register for a Nomad – Hands on Lab Session.
When a Tachyon instruction has content associated with it and Nomad is not installed Tachyon will use the Background Channel to point the devices to the location of the content for download. This functionality is observed in the Tachyon Operator course. We will be working with Nomad for our content transfers in this mini-lab. For Tachyon to use Nomad as the content provider Config Mgr is not required.
Preparing to Enable the Nomad Module of the 1E Client
Since the 1E Client 4.1 has been deployed to all our devices we simply need to deliver an action that enables the Nomad module of the 1E Client.
Prepare to Enable the Nomad Module of the 1E Client
- Log into 1ETRNAP as 1ETRN\AppInstaller
- Open the OneDrive Shortcut and download 1E Tachyon - Course Content\Tachyon – Nomad as Content Provider\1ETRN-EnableNomadModule.xml to c:\temp
- Right click on the file you just copied and select Edit with Notepad
- Look at the code in the instruction. Notice that we are editing the 1EClient.conf file and restarting the service to enable the Nomad Module
- Open file explorer and navigate to c:\Program Files\1E\Client right click on 1EClient.conf and choose Open With, Choose Notepad
- Scroll down to the bottom of the file and notice that the line for the Module.Nomad.Enabled = false close the file without making any changes.
- Launch Google Chrome and Use the Shortcut to open the Tachyon Portal
- Launch the Settings Application and Navigate to Configuration – Instructions – Instruction Sets
- Click the Upload button and navigate to c:\temp Select 1ETRN-EnableNomadModule.xml
- Move the instruction into the 1E Client instruction set so that we can deliver it to our devices
Enabling the Nomad Module of the 1E Client
We are going to use the Tachyon instruction that we just uploaded to enable the Nomad module of the 1E Client, we could just as easily use Config Mgr Compliance to do this. 1E provides the Configuration Items that you can import into Config Mgr to enable any of the other modules of the 1E Client. We have a course in the Course Library that covers this functionality see 1E Client – Installing and Upgrading. There is also a mini lab that only takes 1 hour to complete on the 1E Client. Config Mgr is not needed for Tachyon to use Nomad. The Nomad elected master will use the Background channel to download the content just as the elected master downloads the content from a Config Mgr Distribution Point. Once the elected master has the content Nomad operates in the same way as it does in a Config Mgr environment. In this lab we will not demonstrate the advanced functionality of Nomad (fan out, SSD, PBA, PXE Everywhere, etc) for that please see our Nomad – Implementing and Using course and labs.
Enable the Nomad Module of the 1E Client
- Log into 1ETRNW71 as 1ETRN\Tachyon_Admin1
- In Google Chrome switch app to launch the Explorer Application
- In the I want to know field type in Enable
- Select the Enable the Nomad Module of the 1E Client instruction that we just uploaded
- Click Perform this action
- Since this is an Action, we must enter our password – do that now
- Open LiveMail and grab the one-time code to authenticate for instruction x
- Log into 1ETRNW102 as 1ETRN\Tachyon_AdminPP
- Launch the Explorer Application and navigate to Notifications
- Approve instruction x
Validating the Nomad Module Enablement
- Still logged into Explorer Application view the responses from the instruction
- When all 7 devices have responded open File Explorer and navigate to c:\ProgramData\1E\Client\1E.Client.log and open the file to view the contents
- Look for Running Instruction (InstructionID=XXX) with XXX being the instruction number that you just improved. Notice it does a -reconfigure Nomad.Module.Enabled=true with a -restart
- Open c:\Program Files\1E\Client\1EClient.conf
- Scroll down to the bottom and notice the Module.Nomad.Enabled = true close the file without making any changes.
- Open the Services applet and notice the 1E Nomad Branch Service is now running
Delivering Content
We will now deliver an instruction that contains some content so that we can see the Nomad module in action.
- Still logged into 1ETRNW71 as 1ETRN\Tachyon_Admin1
- Launch the Explorer Application and in the I want to know field type in Tachyon
- Select the Tachyon Platform Verification Stage 2 and click Perform this action
- Type in Passw0rd and then open livemail to get the authentication code
- Type the code for Instruction XX in the open window
- Still logged into 1ETRNW102 as 1ETRN\Tachyon_AdminPP
- Refresh the Chrome page and notice the Notifications for Instruction XX
- Approve the pending instruction xx
- Navigate to Instructions – History – Launch our Tachyon Verification Stage 2
- Wait for all 7 devices to respond
Tracing the Content Delivery
In this task we will look at the Nomad steps for the content. Keep in mind that our instruction's content is very small.
- Open c:\ProgramData\1E\NomadBranch\Logfiles\NomadBranch.log
- Scroll down and find Request Election for our file GetConfig.ps1
- Notice which device was elected the master. We have 2 subnets in our lab so we will have one master on the even numbered subnet (even named machines) and one on the odd numbered subnet (odd named machines)
- Open the NomadBranch.log on this machine and look at the lines for our getconfig.ps1 download
- Notice that this subnet had a different master elected
- Take a moment to look at the other entries in the log
Deploying the Nomad Client Health in Guaranteed State
Nomad Client Health is one of our Integrated Product Packs for Guaranteed State. In this Task we will assign and deploy the policy and then view the results from the rules.
- Log into 1ETRNW72 as 1ETRN\Manager1
- Open the Guaranteed State Application if it is not already opened
- Navigate to Administration – Policies select the Nomad Client Health policy and click assign on the right.
- Click the + sign at the top of Management Groups and choose All Devices. Click Save.
- Click the deploy button at the top
- Click Ok
Viewing the Results of the Nomad Client Health Policy
- Navigate to Overview
- Change the drop down at the top from All Policies to Nomad Client Health
- Notice the first tile Device State. You can drill into both sections of the donut – Compliant and Non-Compliant. Drill into each one and look at the individual devices
- Notice that we have numbers in each of the columns. Each of these are links, and we can drill in for additional details. Do that now.
- Click on View History to see the details of the rules in this policy
- Take some time to look at all the results for the different devices.
- Navigate around and notice the different data points that the rules are looking at.
Lab Summary
In this lab, we learned how to enable the Nomad module of the 1E Client in order to use Nomad as the content provider in Tachyon. We were able to deploy an instruction that contained a powershell script and see the Nomad election and content transfer process on each of the subnets. We then deployed the Nomad Client Health Policy in Guaranteed State and took a look at the different items that it is checking for and the results that are returned.