Specifying Application Dependencies

Using Deployment Workbench, you can specify dependencies between applications. For example, if application A is dependent on application B, Deployment Workbench will ensure that application B is installed before installing application A.

To create a dependency between two applications, perform the following steps:

1. In the Deployment Workbench console tree, select the Applications folder (or a subfolder) in your deployment share.
2. In the details pane, right-click the application that has a dependency and then click Properties.
3. Click the Dependencies tab, perform any of the following actions, and then click OK:
   • To add an application to the dependencies list, click Add, and then select an application. Deployment Workbench displays only those applications that have already been added to the deployment share.
   • To remove an application from the dependencies list, select an application from the list, and then click Remove.
   • To reorder the applications in the dependencies list, select an application in the list and then click Up or Down. The Windows Deployment Wizard installs the dependent applications in the order specified in the dependencies list.

Installation Reboots

Do not allow an application to restart the computer. The Windows Deployment Wizard must control reboots, or the task sequence will fail. For example, you can use REBOOT=REALLYSUPPRESS to prevent some Windows Installer-based applications from restarting. You can cause the Windows Deployment Wizard to restart the computer after installing an application by selecting the Reboot The Computer After Installing This Application check box on the Details tab of the app_name Properties, where app_name is the name of the application.

To restart the computer after installing an application, perform the following steps:

1. In the Deployment Workbench console tree, select the Applications folder (or a subfolder) in your deployment share.
2. In the details pane, right-click the application for which the Windows Deployment Wizard must restart the computer after installation and then click Properties.
3. Click the Details tab and select the Reboot The Computer After Installing This Application check box. Selecting this check box causes the Windows Deployment Wizard to restart the computer after installing the application and then continue with the next step in the task sequence.

Reboots in MDT 2010

When a user first logs on to the computer, he can run commands in different ways. One way is to add RunSynchronous to the <Microsoft-Windows-Setup> child element FirstLogonCommands during the oobeSystem pass.

MDT 2010 doesn't use RunSynchronous because it needs to support more complex installation scenarios. For example, an MDT 2010 installation needs to support reboots between application installations, and RunSynchronous doesn't support reboot-and-pick-up-where-it-left-off. Instead, MDT 2010 adds a command to RunSynchronous to initially start the task sequence. Then, if the task sequence needs to restart the computer, it adds a shortcut to the StartUp group, which continues the task sequence after the computer restarts.