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Setting up the MDT Web Front End

January 16, 2011 2 comments

At long last I managed to convince a customer to start using the MDT Database so that we could have more control over the deployment process and build in better automation.  While I’d love to get into that topic at some point, for now just read the article over at Xtreme Deployment: http://deployment.xtremeconsulting.com/2009/11/24/understanding-the-mdt-configuration-database-part-1/

My customer is always worried about security and access to the MDT database (even though it happens to be deployed on the same server), I showed them the MDT web front end that I was running in my lab and they agreed it’d provide a better (and more secure) way to access and manipulate the MDT database. This is what helped get creating the MDT Database approved, since I showed the ability to manage and delegate access of specific and granular levels of control over MDT.

Since I couldn’t find any good deployment articles out there other than the install documentation on codeplex (found here), I figured this’d be a good first technical blog post.

Without further ado, here are the steps to deploy it:

Software Installation

Install IIS Roles

Instructions 

Details / Screenshots 
 
“Server Manager”

  • Right-Click “Roles”.
  • Click “Add Roles”.
“Before You Begin”

  • Click “Next”.
“User Account Control”

  • Click “Yes”.
“Add features required for Web Server (IIS)?”

  • Click “Add Required Features”.
  • Click “Next”.
“Web Server (IIS)”

  • Click “Next”.
“Select Role Services”

  • Under Application Development, Enable:

“ASP.NET”, “.NET Extensibility”, “ASP”, “ISAPI Extensions”, “ISAPI Filters”, and “Server Side Includes”.

  • Under Security, Enable:

“Basic Authentication”, “Windows Authentication”, and “Digest Authentication”.

  • Enable: “Management Service”
  • Click “Next”.
“Confirm Installation Selections”

  • Click “Install”.
“Installation Results”

  • Click “Close”.

 

Extract MDT Web FrontEnd Source

Instructions 

Details / Screenshots 
Download software from http://mdtwebfrontend.codeplex.com/releases/view/35756 and extract to C:\Support\Downloads.
“Windows Explorer”

  • Type the path to the MDTWebFrontEnd .zip file.
  • Right-Click the file, and click “Extract All”.
“Extract Compressed (Zipped) Folders”

  • Click “Extract”.

 

Add IIS 7 Web Application for the FrontEnd

Instructions 

Details / Screenshots 
 
“Server Manager”

  • Expand “Web Server (IIS)” à “Internet Information Services” à “SERVER” à “Sites” à “Default Web Sites”.
  • Right-Click “Default Web Sites”.
  • Click “Add Application”.
“Add Application”

  • Enter Alias: “MDTWebFrontEnd_Prod”.
  • Enter Physical Path: “E:\MDTWebFrontEnd_x64_v1_0_1\MDTWebFrontEnd\”.
  • Click “OK”.

NOTE: Repeat this process for each environment that needs to be managed by the MDT Web FrontEnd.

 

Configure IIS Authentication

Instructions 

Details / Screenshots 
 
“Default Web Site à [WebApp]”

  • Double-Click “Authentication”.
“Authentication”

  • Right-Click “Anonymous Authentication”.
  • Click “Disable”.
  • Enable “Windows Authentication” and “Basic Authentication”.

 

Create “MDTWebFrontEnd” Application Pool

Instructions  Details / Screenshots 
 
“Application Pools”

  • Right-Click “Application Pools”.
  • Click “Add Application Pool”.
“Add Application Pool”

  • Enter Name: “MDTWebFrontEnd”
  • Click “OK”.

 

Configure Application Pool Identity

Instructions  Details / Screenshots 
 
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  • Click “Next”. 
“Advanced Setting”

  • Under “Identity”, Click “…”.
“Application Pool Identity”

  • Click “Custom account”.
  • Click “Set”.
“Set Credentials”

  • Click “OK”.
“Application Pool Identity”

  • Click “OK”.
“Advanced Settings”

  • Set “Load User Profile” to “True”.
  • Click “OK”.

 

Configure Web Application to use custom Application Pool

Instructions  Details / Screenshots 
 
“IIS Manager”

  • Right-Click on the MDT Web FrontEnd Web Application.
  • Click “Manage Application à Advanced Settings”.
“Advanced Settings”

  • Beside “Application Pool”, Click “..”.
“Select Application Pool”

  • Select “MDTWebFrontEnd”.
  • Click “OK”.
“Advanced Settings”

  • Click “OK”.

 

MDT Web FrontEnd Configuration

Configure Database Connections

Instructions  Details / Screenshots 
 
“Internet Explorer”
“Configuration”

  • Enter MDT Database Information.
  • Click “Test MDT DB connection”.

Confirm the connection is successful.
“Configuration”

  • Click “Upgrade Database”.
“Configuration”

  • Close Internet Explorer.

 

Upload MDT Applications

Instructions  Details / Screenshots 
 
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  • Click “Admin”.
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  • Click “Next”. 
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  • Click “Next”. 
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  • Click “Next”. 
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  • Click “Next”. 
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  • Click “Next”. 
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  • Click “Next”. 
  
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