Community Tools and Tips: Update 2022

Last year I wrote an extensive overview of many community tools. I then did several deep dives demoing some of them. You can find all of this information in the ConfigMgr Community Tools area of Recast’s ConfigMgr Docs, or you can go straight to the ConfigMgr Community Tools Webinar Series. One great thing about our community is that it is constantly innovating and updating, just like the developers here at Recast. Given the constant innovation, it was necessary to update the Docs page with some new tools and to refresh ones where tools have been modified.

Over the past couple years, one thing I’ve noticed is the shift in community tools and scripts from supporting Configuration Manager to now supporting Intune. This new focus is trying to help make life easier for those who are taking the leap to cloud-only management and the extra complications that come with it.

Each month I try to stay on top of all this innovation and change by letting you know what’s happening in my monthly Endpoint Management Recap. Oftentimes, I find myself looking back at previous editions to grab the info I need.

New Content / Tip Sources

Besides tools, the community has started to produce content like crazy! Here are a few of my favorite newer places to learn from the community:

• Office Hours – Community Edition (viamonstra.com) – This is your chance to join us every week for Q&A and roundtable discussion on anything related to Windows deployment, MDT, ConfigMgr, or Microsoft Intune. We bring the experts; you bring the questions.
• [YouTube Channel] Let’s Chat: PowerShell – Jordan Benzing (@JordanTheITguy)
• [YouTube Channel] MECM World – Yagnesh Malaviya (@YagneshMalaviya)
• [YouTube Channel] Intune Training Series [@OnPremCloudGuy and @AdamGrossTX]
• [YouTube Channel] MEM – tips and tricks – Mattias Melkersen – (@MMelkersen)
• [YouTube Channel] Namaste Techies [@anoopmannur and @Hoorge]
• [YouTube Channel] PatchMyPC – All sorts of amazing content around ConfigMgr.

YouTube channels seem to be an outlet that has gained a lot of traction in the community this past year, and I look forward to additional creators posting their tips and walk-throughs for Intune and ConfigMgr.

Community Tools – New and Updated

I am not going to cover my top 10 tools of all time in this blog post. Instead, I’m highlighting some new, or heavily modified tools that I have become aware of recently. If you’re looking for more Community Tools, please check out my Community Tools page.

• OSDCloud – David Segura (@SeguraOSD)
  • Whenever David builds and shares something, it’s always impressive. David’s tools, documentation, and scripts are on par with paid products, and OSDCloud is no different. The ability to boot to a custom WinPE flash drive and pull all the content required from the internet to build a Windows client, fully patched and with drivers installed, is nothing short of amazing. You can see a full write-up here, OSD Cloud – Recast Software

• Windows Startmenu Creator Tool – Intune – Nicklas Ahlberg (@AhlbergNicklas)
  • This tool allows you to easily create a customized Start Menu, then upload and deploy it via Intune. The site has a great demo that walks you through the creation process.
• Reporting – Several reports from the community that help surface additional info:
  
  • ConfigMgr Client Connectivity Status Report – Trevor Jones (@SMSagentTrevor)
    
  • Windows Update Compliance Workbook Community Edition – Maurice Daly (@modaly_it), Sandy Zeng (@sandy_tsang), Jan Ketil Skanke (@JankeSkanke)
    
  • MEMZoneDashboards – A group of reports focused on updates, BitLocker and the OS. – Ioan Popovici (@IoanPopovici)
    
  • Syst & Deploy – Several Intune reports focused on hardware. – Damien Van Robaeys (@syst_and_deploy)
    
  • Free Readiness MEMCM / SCCM Windows 11 Report (systemcenterdudes.com)
    
  • Task Sequence Automated Documentation – This script will take any Task Sequence and document it in a form that is easy to share and attach to change logs or other rigid requirements-based processes that require obscene amounts of documentation. – Gary Blok (@gwblok)
  • OSD Reporting – This script will query the ConfigMgr database for Task Sequence status messages. The output is parsed and built into a webpage that will automatically refresh every 90 seconds. The script should be setup to run as a scheduled task. – T. Cox (u/tcox8)
    
• CloudLAPS – CloudLAPS is a community developed solution, maintained by Nickolaj Andersen (@NickolajA), from MSEndpointMgr, including community members Thomas Kurth (@ThomasKurth_ch) and Simon Wåhlin (@SimonWahlin). This tool aims at providing an end-to-end local administrator password solution (LAPS) for cloud managed devices e.g., Azure AD joined devices.
  
• Win32App Migration Tool – Ben Whitmore (@byteben) – PowerShell Gallery – The Win32App Migration Tool is a free community tool. It was developed to do the scoping and heavy lifting for you as you consider building Win32apps in Intune while using your ConfigMgr apps as a reference. The tool is designed to inventory ConfigMgr applications and deployment types, build .intunewin files and create Win32apps directly in the MEM admin center.
  
• WVDAdmin – A native administration GUI for Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) / Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD). – Marcel Meurer (@MarcelMeurer)
  
• TSCommander – Adds the possibility to run server-side commands from a running MEMCM task sequence. It consists of two parts: an extension to the task sequence editor in the MEMCM console and a Windows service. The service must be installed on the site-server (PSS), and the extension should be installed on any (all) computers running the MEMCM console. –  Johan Schrewelius (@josch62)

We here at Recast have also updated the Community Edition of Right Click Tools, bringing additional features to everyone, as we partner with you to boost your productivity. Some of the more notable updates include the Remote Windows Security tool. You can read more about this tool by checking out this blog post.

Thanks for checking out my post, and as always, if you’re creating content for the community, please connect with me on Twitter @gwblok.