1E WSA Actions

The 1E WSA Actions action is an essential component of the WSA deployment task sequence. Its position and configuration within the task sequence is critical to ensuring the task sequence completes successfully. The action performs one or more of the following functions depending on the selection made when configuring the step:

Initialize
Refresh Content Location
Switch between online and offline content
Finalize

This custom action is available in the 1E OSD task sequence actions.

Actions	Notes
1E WSA Actions (Initialize) Contacts the Shopping server and attempts to identify a valid WSA order record for the host.	Initialize step should be placed at the very beginning of the task sequence. If the checkbox for Initialize is enabled, then all other checkboxes must be disabled. Using the Shopping URL provided, the step will attempt to obtain a WSA order record for the localhost. Only orders in the "TS Running" state are considered. If a valid WSA order is found, the step will download the order attributes and populate the task sequence environment. The many order attributes dictate the behavior of the task sequence. For instance, they indicate if USB media is required, they provide the credentials for the WiFi and VPN connections to be made and indicate if Application Migration is required. If the step cannot contact the Shopping server it will fail. Once the attributes have been obtained, if these indicate that USB media is required, and it has not been detected, then it will notify the user for the USB media.
1E WSA Actions (Refresh Content Location) Ensures task sequence referenced content paths, defined in the current task sequence environment, are refreshed and always valid.	Refresh Content Locations step should be placed after any step that repartitions a disk. The checkboxes for Refresh Content Locations and Switch between online and offline content can be both enabled at the same time. Under certain circumstances, a deployment may require the use of USB media for content or user data storage. In the case of content, the environment must reflect the correct local file system path before allowing the task sequence to attempt access. Operations such a restart of the host, re-partition of the disk and installation of the new OS may impact the validity of existing paths. The step updates the paths if required ensuring access to the content is maintained for the running task sequence.
1E WSA Actions (Switch between online and offline content) Switches the task sequence between online and offline mode, based upon prevailing network connectivity, and attempts to establish a network connection when building over WiFi.	Switch between online and offline content step should be placed... The checkboxes for Refresh Content Locations and Switch between online and offline content can be both enabled at the same time. If network connectivity is unavailable, and the step is running in WinPE, then the step will configure the task sequence to run in offline media mode. Offline mode requires _SMSTSMediaType is set to FullMedia and the content locations defined in the task sequence environment are set to local file system paths. When in the full OS, the step will configure the task sequence to run in online mode by setting _SMSTSMediaType to BootMedia if it has been previously set to FullMedia. The step will also attempt to establish a network connection if the deployment is being performed over a WiFi connection.
1E WSA Actions (Finalize) Performs WSA finalization tasks once the main body of the task sequence has completed.	Finalize step should be positioned as the last step in the task sequence. If the checkbox for Finalize is enabled, then all other checkboxes must be disabled. The step will perform cleanup operations at the end of the task sequence. USB Cleanup If USB media was required to complete the deployment, then the step may be required to remove all content stored on the device. Cleanup is based upon the setting made in the WSA deployment published in Shopping. Note Content stored on the USB device will always be restored to the local Nomad cache in the new OS. For any captured user data, this will always be removed from the device if the USMT restore succeeded. Task Sequence status The step will record the outcome of the task sequence in the registry: Software\1E\WSA\TSExecutionHistory\TaskSequenceId For zero touch restores, the step will also update the order status in Shopping to indicate that the order is closed.

Actions

Notes

1E WSA Actions (Initialize)

Contacts the Shopping server and attempts to identify a valid WSA order record for the host.

Initialize step should be placed at the very beginning of the task sequence.

If the checkbox for Initialize is enabled, then all other checkboxes must be disabled.

Using the Shopping URL provided, the step will attempt to obtain a WSA order record for the localhost. Only orders in the "TS Running" state are considered. If a valid WSA order is found, the step will download the order attributes and populate the task sequence environment. The many order attributes dictate the behavior of the task sequence. For instance, they indicate if USB media is required, they provide the credentials for the WiFi and VPN connections to be made and indicate if Application Migration is required.

If the step cannot contact the Shopping server it will fail.

Once the attributes have been obtained, if these indicate that USB media is required, and it has not been detected, then it will notify the user for the USB media.

1E WSA Actions (Refresh Content Location)

Ensures task sequence referenced content paths, defined in the current task sequence environment, are refreshed and always valid.

Refresh Content Locations step should be placed after any step that repartitions a disk.

The checkboxes for Refresh Content Locations and Switch between online and offline content can be both enabled at the same time.

Under certain circumstances, a deployment may require the use of USB media for content or user data storage. In the case of content, the environment must reflect the correct local file system path before allowing the task sequence to attempt access. Operations such a restart of the host, re-partition of the disk and installation of the new OS may impact the validity of existing paths. The step updates the paths if required ensuring access to the content is maintained for the running task sequence.

1E WSA Actions (Switch between online and offline content)

Switches the task sequence between online and offline mode, based upon prevailing network connectivity, and attempts to establish a network connection when building over WiFi.

Switch between online and offline content step should be placed...

The checkboxes for Refresh Content Locations and Switch between online and offline content can be both enabled at the same time.

If network connectivity is unavailable, and the step is running in WinPE, then the step will configure the task sequence to run in offline media mode. Offline mode requires _SMSTSMediaType is set to FullMedia and the content locations defined in the task sequence environment are set to local file system paths.

When in the full OS, the step will configure the task sequence to run in online mode by setting _SMSTSMediaType to BootMedia if it has been previously set to FullMedia. The step will also attempt to establish a network connection if the deployment is being performed over a WiFi connection.

1E WSA Actions (Finalize)

Performs WSA finalization tasks once the main body of the task sequence has completed.

Finalize step should be positioned as the last step in the task sequence.

If the checkbox for Finalize is enabled, then all other checkboxes must be disabled.

The step will perform cleanup operations at the end of the task sequence.

USB Cleanup

If USB media was required to complete the deployment, then the step may be required to remove all content stored on the device. Cleanup is based upon the setting made in the WSA deployment published in Shopping.

Note

Content stored on the USB device will always be restored to the local Nomad cache in the new OS.

For any captured user data, this will always be removed from the device if the USMT restore succeeded.

Task Sequence status

The step will record the outcome of the task sequence in the registry:

Software\1E\WSA\TSExecutionHistory\TaskSequenceId

For zero touch restores, the step will also update the order status in Shopping to indicate that the order is closed.

Configurable Parameters

Parameter	Default Value	Description
Name	WSA Actions	Name for the custom task sequence action.
Description	Action to configure Windows Servicing Assistant environment	Description for the custom task sequence action.
Initialize	Checked	Used to initialize the deployment.
Shopping URL		Specifies the URL of the Shopping server.
Refresh Content Locations	Unchecked	Used to maintain access to cached content.
Switch between online and offline content	Unchecked	Used to ensure the task sequence continues to function when connectivity to the ConfigMgr site is unavailable.
Finalize	Unchecked	Used to clean up the deployment.