MDT 2010 New Feature #15: Finish actions

When you perform a Lite Touch deployment, the task sequence runs through to completion, and then you will see a summary wizard that shows you any errors or warnings that may have occurred during the process.  That wizard could be skipped by setting “SkipFinalSummary=YES” in CustomSettings.ini.  (One behavior worth pointing out:  With MDT 2010 Beta 2, if the task sequence fails, the SkipFinalSummary setting will be ignored and the wizard will be shown anyway.)

A common request we received was to provide a mechanism for specifying what should be done after the wizard is completed (or if it is skipped).  With MDT 2010 Beta 2, we have provided that through a “FinishAction” variable that you can set in CustomSettings.ini.  Valid values include:

  • SHUTDOWN.  When the process is complete, turn off the computer.
  • RESTART or REBOOT.  When the process is complete, reboot the computer.
  • LOGOFF.  When the process is complete, log off.

If you don’t specify any value, the default is to just exit like was done in MDT 2008.  The shutdown, restart, or logoff activities happen after the Lite Touch scripts have cleaned up the machine (copying logs to the network, removing MININT, removing autologon settings, etc.).  In the case of restart or logoff, the machine will end up at the logon screen, ready for a user to log on.