Writing custom scripts with MDT 2010 November 3, 2009

Posted by tmintner in MDT 2010, VBscript.
Tags: custom script, MDT 2010, VBscript
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Ben Hunter wrote a great blog post a few years ago on how to create a custom VBscript to use with BDD 2007 (http://blogs.technet.com/benhunter/archive/2007/04/15/bdd-2007-ndash-tips-and-tricks-ndash-how-to-write-a-custom-script.aspx).  Ben’s script template will still work with MDT 2010 however If you have spent any time looking at the scripts in MDT 2010 you will notice that the format of the built in scripts have changed.  So you might be wondering how to create a custom script with MDT 2010.  MDT 2010 introduced some script structure changes to better handle error reporting and to make the scripts a bit easier to read and test.  The new template is listed below.  So how do you use the template?  Start by pasting the following code into a script file with a WSF extension (somefile.wsf).  After creating the file edit the Class ScriptName  with the name of your script.  As an example if you named your custom script somescript.wsf then the Class would be Class SomeScript.

Now that you have your script and your class named correctly you can add your code under the Function Main.  Once you are finished you just need to save the file and put it into the scripts folder in your deployment share. 

So what does the new structure give you beyond what Ben’s post originally pointed out?  First it gives you some nice debugging capabilities.  Normally you would run your script by calling cscript.exe “%scriptroot%\somescript.wsf” in the task sequence.  If you want to use the advanced debugging you can add /debugcapture.  Adding the /debugcapture will turn on advanced debugging features by disabling the standard On Error Resume Next in the scripts and capturing any errors in the script that might occur and displaying them to the screen.  For example if you forgot to declare a variable the /debugcapture will display the variable that could not be found and the line number that the error occurred on.  You can also use your own test hook scripts to unit test the different functions in the script (more on that later).  For right now, enjoy the template and we will definitely be posting more custom script samples over the next few months!

<job id=”ZTIConnect”>
   <script language=”VBScript” src=”ZTIUtility.vbs”/>
   <script language=”VBScript”>

Option Explicit
RunNewInstance

‘//—————————————————————————-
‘//  Global Constants
‘//—————————————————————————-

Const ANSWER_TO_LIFE_THE_UNIVERSE_AND_EVERYTHING = 42

‘//—————————————————————————-
‘//  Main Class
‘//—————————————————————————-

Class ScriptName

    ‘//—————————————————————————-
    ‘//  Global constant and variable declarations
    ‘//—————————————————————————-

    Dim iRetVal

    ‘//—————————————————————————-
    ‘//  Constructor to initialize needed global objects
    ‘//—————————————————————————-

    Private Sub Class_Initialize

    End Sub
    ‘//—————————————————————————-
    ‘//  Main routine
    ‘//—————————————————————————-

    Function Main

‘Insert your code here

    End Function

End Class

   </script>
</job>

 

Tim Mintner is a Principal Consultant with Xtreme Consulting Group