1. Developing Migration Files
USMT ships with three
standard migration .xml files. You can customize these files to control
the behavior of USMT during migration. In addition to the three standard
files, you can develop custom .xml files to migrate special application
settings and files. The three migration .xml files included with USMT
are:
MigApp.xml Contains rules to migrate application settings.
MigDocs.xml
Contains rules that can find user documents on a computer automatically
without creating extensive custom migration .xml files. Use this
migration file if the data set is unknown. Don't use this migration file
and MigUser.xml together.
MigUser.xml Contains results to migrate user profiles and user data. Don't use this migration file and MigDocs.xml together.
1.1. Customizing USMT
You manage USMT through
command-line options and the migration .xml files. You could modify the
default files to control some aspects of the migration, but this is not
recommended. The better option is to create custom .xml files to migrate
specific application settings and data. The following list describes
customization points for USMT:
Command-Line Control You can use command-line options, such as /ui and /ue,
to include and exclude specific users during the migration process. You
can also specify custom .xml files and manage encryption and
compression options.
Customizing the Migration XML Files
You can modify the migration .xml files to exclude portions of a
standard migration or to redirect data and settings during the migration
process. This capability is helpful for scenarios in which you want to
consolidate migrated data, but a better alternative to customizing the
existing migration files is creating custom migration files.
Generating Config.xml You can generate a Config.xml
file to exclude an entire feature from the migration. For example, you
can exclude the entire Documents folder or exclude all of the settings
for a specific application. Using this file to exclude features is
easier than modifying the migration .xml files because you don't have to
understand the migration rules or syntax. Using this file is also the
only way to exclude operating system settings when migrating to Windows
7. For more information about Config.xml, see the USMT.chm help file in
the Windows AIK.
Note:
You can use migration .xml
files that you created for USMT 3.0 with USMT 4.0. To use new USMT
features, you must refresh your migration files to use new XML elements
and command-line options.
1.2. Control File Syntax
The default migration .xml
files use XML elements to control migration behavior. These files cover
the most common applications, documents, and settings. If you want to
migrate settings and application data that the default migration .xml
files don't cover, you should create a custom .xml file. The full XML
reference for USMT is in the USMT.chm help file in the Windows AIK.
Additionally, the XML reference in USMT.chm contains good examples that
you can use as your starting point for creating custom migration .xml
files.
Note:
The best practice is to create
custom migration .xml files instead of adding application data and
settings to the default migration .xml files. Doing so makes maintaining
those settings easier over time and prevents confusion.
1.3. Deploying Migration Files
The following list describes how to deploy custom migration .xml files for stand-alone use, with MDT 2010, and with Configuration Manager:
Stand-alone use You can store the migration .xml files in the USMT
program folder or place them in a central location. You must specify
the full path to each migration .xml file (Scanstate \\server\share\computer /I:\\server\share\migration.xml).
Microsoft Deployment Toolkit MDT 2010 has a specific organization for deployment shares. You must store custom migration .xml files in the USMT\platform folder of the deployment share, where platform is either x86 or x64.
Configuration Manager
Configuration Manager uses USMT to migrate user state data during
operating system deployments. You can specify the location of migration
.xml files and data stores during the configuration of Configuration
Manager. See the System Center Configuration Manager 2007 documentation
for more information.
2. Using USMT in Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
User state migrations can be started and controlled in a number of ways. Among these are direct command-line execution, scripting, MDT 2010, and Configuration Manager.
2.1. Specifying the Data Store Location
Performing hard-link migrations is the recommended action in Refresh Computer scenarios, and this is the default behavior of MDT
2010. For other scenarios, you can create the data stores within the
MDT 2010 deployment share. However, creating a share for the data stores
on a separate server is better than putting the data stores in the
deployment share because it spreads the load and allows you to dedicate
resources to user state migration more easily.
After creating the share for
the data stores, you configure the data store location by customizing
properties in each deployment share's CustomSettings.ini file, as shown
in Figure 1.
To configure CustomSettings.ini, right-click a deployment share in
Deployment Workbench and click Properties; then configure
CustomSettings.ini on the Rules tab. You can also customize these
properties in the MDT 2010 database. Table 1 describes these properties.
Table 1. USMT Properties in MDT 2010
| PROPERTY | CONTROLS |
|---|
| LoadStateArgs=arguments | The
arguments passed to LoadState. MDT 2010 inserts the appropriate
logging, progress, and data store parameters. If this value is not
included in the settings file, ZTIUserState.wsf uses LoadStateArgs=/v:5 /c /lac. |
| ScanStateArgs=arguments | The
arguments passed to ScanState. MDT 2010 inserts the appropriate
logging, progress, and data store parameters. If this value is not
included in the settings file, ZTIUserState.wsf uses ScanStateArgs=/v:5 /o /c.
Use the property USMTMigFiles to specify the .xml files to be used by Scanstate.exe instead of using the /i parameter in the ScanStateArgs property. This prevents the ZTIUserState script from potentially duplicating the same list of .xml files. |
| UDDShare=Path | The network share in which to create data stores, such as UDDShare=\\server\MigData$. This value is ignored when performing hard-link migrations. |
| UDDir=Folder | The
folder where the user state migration data is stored. This folder
exists beneath the network shared folder specified in UDDShare. For
example, UDDir=%ComputerName%. This value is ignored when performing
hard-link migrations. |
| UserDataLocation=[blank | AUTO | NETWORK | NONE] | The location in which user state migration data is stored:
BLANK
For LTI, the Windows Deployment Wizard prompts for the storage
location. For ZTI, this is the same as setting the property to NONE. AUTO MDT 2010 performs a hard-link migration. NETWORK MDT 2010 creates the data store in the location designated by the UDDShare and UDDir properties.
|
| UDProfiles=Profile1, Profile2, ProfileN | A
list of user profiles to save during the MDT 2010 State Capture phase
by Scanstate.exe, such as UDProfiles=Administrator, Patrice, Dave. |
Note:
You can also use removable
media and local data stores during a user state migration by not setting
the UserDataLocation value. The Windows Deployment Wizard will prompt
you for the user data location. See the Toolkit Reference in MDT 2010
for more details about these properties.
2.2. Adding Custom Migration Files
MDT 2010 will use only the MigApp.xml and MigDocs.xml
files unless you indicate the path to your custom .xml files. As with
other properties in MDT 2010, you can configure them in each deployment point's CustomSettings.ini file or add them to the MDT 2010 database.
Set the property USMTMigFiles
to the name of each custom migration .xml file. If you don't configure
this property, MDT 2010 uses the default migration files: MigApp.xml and
MigDocs.xml. If you do configure this option, MDT 2010 uses only the
files specified in the property. Therefore, if you configure this
property, it must also include the default migration .xml files. For
example, the following line in CustomSettings.ini adds Custom.xml to the
default .xml files.
USMTMigFiles1=MigApp.xml
USMTMigFiles2=MigDocs.xml
USMTMigFiles4=Custom.xml
Note:
Do not try to customize the script that drives the USMT process (ZTIUserState.wsf)
to add migration .xml files by adding the /i command-line option. This
can potentially cause the script to work improperly and may make
upgrading to future versions of MDT problematic. Add custom migration
.xml files only by customizing the USMTMigFiles property.
