Dynamically assign MDT’s DeployRoot rule based on IPAddress001’s 2nd or 3rd octet.

No DefaultGateway = No Problemo…

Oracle VirtalBox‘s built-in DHCP server does not pass a DefaultGateway to clients. This introduced a challenge when attempting to dynamically assign a “DeployRoot” in MDT’s BootStrap.ini rules file. The standard process relies on using the DefaultGateway variable (i.e. https://deploymentbunny.com/2012/04/21/back-to-basic-customsettings-ini-explained/).

To work around this limitation, I found a quick and easy way to use either the 2^nd or 3^rd octet of the client IP (IPAddress001) to dynamically assign the DeployRoot.

Here is my BootStrap.ini:

[Settings]

Priority=Default, SecondIpOctet, ThirdIpOctet

Properties=SecondIpOctet, ThirdIpOctet

[Default]

SkipBDDWelcome=YES

SecondIpOctet=SecondIpOctet-#Split(“%IPAddress001%”,”.”)(1)#

ThirdIpOctet=ThirdIpOctet-#Split(“%IPAddress001%”,”.”)(2)#

[ThirdIpOctet-56]

DeployRoot=\\192.168.56.1\aio

UserId=mdt

UserPassword=*******

UserDomain=bg

With this configuration, additional section breakouts can be added for either the IP’s 2^nd or 3^rd octet.

Here is a screenshot of the ZTIGather.wsf log output:

ð Don’t forget that a Deployment Share update is required for this change to become active.