End User Scheduler

1 What the scheduler does

The End User Scheduler lets administrators create automated deployments for large-scale projects, such as upgrading the organisation's operating systems.

It pre-caches the operating system upgrade automatically. With a customisable splash screen, end users can schedule or skip the upgrade. From the Status window, administrators get a quick overview of how far the upgrade has got and can export the data.

Everything is configured from the configuration page for the End User Scheduler, which is located under the Settings menu. The picture is an earlier version of that menu; the current menu was not recaptured.

The Settings menu with the End User Scheduler item highlighted, between Mail Template Editor and Health Check. Earlier version of the menu. — The **End User Scheduler** item in the **Settings** menu. This is an earlier version of the menu; the current menu was not recaptured.

To set up an upgrade, follow these steps:

Import the new Operating System Upgrade Package into the SCCM server.
SoftwareCentral automatically creates two new task sequences for pre-caching and upgrading the operating system.
Modify driver packages in the pre-cache task sequence if needed.
Create and configure the end user splash screen.
Let your end users decide when to perform the upgrade, within a predefined time frame.
Get a detailed compliance report from the Status page.

The main window has these buttons in the left menu: Add new Scheduler, Deploy Scheduler, Copy Task Sequence and a search box. The list shows each scheduler with its Deployment ID and Is deployment value, and the links Status, Edit and Delete.

The End User Scheduler window. The left menu has Add new Scheduler, Deploy Scheduler and Copy Task Sequence buttons and a search box. The grid lists schedulers with the columns End-User Scheduler Name, Deployment ID and Is deployment, and the links Status, Edit and Delete on each row. The names in this picture are example values. — The main window. Click **Copy Task Sequence** in the left menu to start an upgrade, or **Add new Scheduler** to add a splash screen. The scheduler names in this picture are example values.

Deploy Scheduler creates a scheduler for a set of computers you select. Such a scheduler is listed with Is deployment set to True; see Edit and delete schedulers for what that changes when you delete it.

2 Create a new operating system upgrade

Start by importing the new Operating System Upgrade Package with SCCM, and distribute it to the appropriate distribution points.

Then click Copy Task Sequence in the left menu.

The Create new Task Sequence window with the fields Existing Pre-Cache Task Sequence, New Pre-Cache Task Sequence Name, Upgrade Task Sequence, New Upgrade Task Sequence Name and Operating System Upgrade Package, and the Copy Task Sequences and Cancel buttons. — The **Create new Task Sequence** window opened by **Copy Task Sequence**. The fields are explained in the table below.

A new window will open. From the new window, select the previous used pre-cache and upgrade task sequences. Name the new task sequences. Finally select the new Operating System Upgrade Package.

Field	What to choose
Existing Pre-Cache Task Sequence	The pre-cache task sequence to copy. The label says it is optional.
New Pre-Cache Task Sequence Name	The name of the copy. The window asks for this name whenever an upgrade task sequence is selected, so enter one even if you leave the existing pre-cache task sequence empty.
Upgrade Task Sequence	The task sequence that performs the upgrade. Required.
New Upgrade Task Sequence Name	The name of the copy that performs the upgrade. Required.
Operating System Upgrade Package	The new upgrade package. The copies refer to this package. Required.

Click Copy Task Sequences. SoftwareCentral will now copy the existing task sequences and change the variables pointing to the Operating System Upgrade Package. It will also create new collections and deploy the task sequences to those collections.

Task Sequences and Collections will be placed in the same folders as the originals.

The advantage of copying the existing task sequences is that any custom steps will be added to the new task sequences.

Once the new task sequences have been created, you can modify the driver packages in the pre-cache task sequence if needed.

If you want to pre-cache any additional packages, you must do that in a separate step, before the pre-cache OS step. The picture below is from the Configuration Manager console (an external product); it shows the PreCache Packages step placed before PreCache OS.

Configuration Manager console, external product: the pre-cache task sequence with the PreCache folder containing PreCache Packages above PreCache OS, and a red arrow pointing at PreCache Packages. — From the Configuration Manager console (an external product, from an earlier setup): **PreCache Packages** is placed before **PreCache OS**.

3 Create a scheduler and splash screen

To add a new scheduler, click Add new Scheduler in the left menu. A new window will open.

The Add new Scheduler window on its Settings tab. Fields include Scheduler Name, Deployment, Load settings from, Computer Template, Add assigned software as variables, Maximum days for schedule, Maximum times of reschedules, Dimensions, Background Color, the button texts, the Do Not Run File Name and the Command line and Arguments fields. The window is cropped at the bottom of the screen. — The **Add new Scheduler** window, **Settings** tab. The window is cropped at the bottom of the screen in this picture; its **Save** and **Close** buttons are below.

Give the new Scheduler a name in Scheduler Name, and select the deployment of your new upgrade in Deployment. Both are required. The arguments are auto generated when you select a deployment.

Note that under Other Settings you must also provide a command line, for executing the actual upgrade. The Command line box starts with cscript.exe, and Arguments is filled in for you. If the arguments include a PowerShell script (.ps1), the command line changes to the Windows PowerShell program.

Once the scheduler is saved, you can see a preview of it: the Open Preview link becomes available. You can change the design of your scheduler any way you like with the HTML editors on its tabs. The changes take effect only after you save.

Save first Open Preview and the PowerShell Example are available only for a scheduler that has been saved. Click Save before you test.

End users may run this tool from a PowerShell script. An example of this PowerShell script with the required values will appear in the PowerShell Example box, once the scheduler is saved. The picture is from a saved scheduler.

The PowerShell Example box of a saved scheduler, with the Open Preview link above it and the Save and Close buttons below. The script sets $timeZone with Get-TimeZone, builds the SoftwareCentral address with the computer name and the time zone, opens it with the Internet Explorer COM object and runs it with Invoke-Expression. The host name is an example value. — The **PowerShell Example** box of a saved scheduler. The host name in the address is an example value.

Copy the script to a new ps1 file and configure and deploy it to all computers, which are a member of the upgrade OS collection.

Set the script to launch at startup.

End users will now be presented by the splash screen and may choose when to perform the operating system upgrade.

Setting	What it does
Scheduler Name	The name of the scheduler. Must be unique (names are compared without regard to capitals).
Deployment	The deployment the scheduler runs. Required.
Maximum days for schedule and Maximum times of reschedules	How far into the future a user may schedule the upgrade, and how many times the user may schedule it, including the first time. The default is 14 days and 3 times.
Dimensions and Background Color	The size of the splash screen (default 1075 by 655 px) and its background.
'Run Now' button text, 'Run Later' button text, 'Do Not Run' button text	The text on the three buttons. The defaults are Upgrade Now, Upgrade Later and Do not Upgrade. Leave the text empty to hide a button.
Do Not Run File Name	If a user chooses the Do Not Run option, an empty file with this name is created on the user's C drive. The default is `temp\DoNotUpgrade.txt`. Leave the field empty if you do not want a file created.
Command line	The command that runs when a user chooses run now or when a schedule is reached. Required. The default is `cscript.exe`.
Run as AD-Group (optional)	Leave the field empty to run the task as the SoftwareCentral Service Account. To let users interact with the task, select the Domain Users group.

4 Status

Click Status on the row of a scheduler to open the status window. It lists all computers the deployment is deployed to.

Use the drop-down box on top of the grid to show Show All, Show Run Now, Show Scheduled, Show Do Not Run or Show Missing. You can also use the filter boxes in the header of each column.

You can export the currently viewed computers to a CSV file using the export button in the upper right-hand corner of the grid.

The Status window of a scheduler. A drop-down at the top shows Show All. The grid has the columns Date, Computer, Username, #Executions, Run Now, Scheduled Run Date, Do Not Run, Reason and Installation Status, with filter boxes. Refresh and the CSV export icon are above the grid. Computer names and user names are example values. — The **Status** window. Use the drop-down at the top and the filter boxes to narrow the list; **Refresh** and the CSV export icon are above the grid. Computer and user names are example values.

Column	What it tells you
Date	The date and time stored for the record. It shows 01-01-0001 00:00:00 when nothing has been stored yet.
Computer and Username	The computer and the user who was logged on.
#Executions	The number of executions stored for the computer.
Run Now, Scheduled Run Date, Do Not Run, Reason	Whether the user chose to run now, the time the upgrade is scheduled for, whether the user chose not to run, and the reason given.
Installation Status	The status message of the upgrade on the computer, for example No messages have been received or Program will not rerun.

5 Edit and delete schedulers

To edit a Scheduler, click Edit on its row. The window has the same tabs as the Add new Scheduler window: Settings, Content, Prompts and Confirmation Pages.

To delete a Scheduler, click Delete on its row. A confirmation asks Do you want to delete the scheduler's name. Note that when you delete a scheduler, all historical data from the status list is also removed.

If you delete a Scheduler that is not a deployment (Is deployment is False), the upgrade itself is not deleted and clients will still be upgraded.

Schedulers from Deploy Scheduler If Is deployment is True, deleting the scheduler also deletes the collection the deployment uses. Computers in that collection will no longer be targeted by the upgrade. Check the value before you delete.

To stop an upgrade, you must remove the clients from the collections.

This can be achieved from the Collection Management interface.

6 API

You can read more about the API here: End User Scheduler API.

7 Best practice

Save before you test. The preview link and the PowerShell example appear only after a save, and the changes you made take effect only when you save.
Do not delete a scheduler to stop an upgrade. Deleting it removes its status history. To stop the upgrade, remove the clients from the collection.
Check Is deployment before you delete. A scheduler from Deploy Scheduler also deletes its collection.
Pre-cache additional packages before the pre-cache OS step. They must be in their own step, placed before the OS step in the pre-cache task sequence.
Keep Run as AD-Group empty unless users must interact. An empty field runs the task as the SoftwareCentral Service Account; the Domain Users group lets users interact with it.

8 Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	What to do
“A name is required.” in the scheduler window	Scheduler Name is empty.	Enter a name.
“This name already exists.”	Another scheduler has the same name.	Choose a different name.
“Deployment ID is required.”	No Deployment is selected.	Select the deployment of the upgrade.
“Command line is required.”	Command line is empty.	Enter the command line, for example `cscript.exe`.
“Failed to save end user scheduler”	The scheduler could not be saved.	Open the Log and look for the entry that explains the failure, then try again.
“You must select an upgrade task sequence.” or “You must select an operating system upgrade package.”	A required field in the Create new Task Sequence window is empty.	Select the task sequence or the upgrade package.
“Pre-Cache Task Sequence cannot be the same as the Upgrade Task Sequence.”	The same task sequence is chosen for both.	Choose a different pre-cache task sequence.
“The new Pre-Cache Task Sequence must be given a name.” or “The new Upgrade Task Sequence must be given a name.”	A name for the copy is empty.	Enter the name.
“The new Pre-Cache Task Sequence name already exists.” or “The new Upgrade Task Sequence name already exists.”	A task sequence with that name already exists.	Choose a different name.
“The task sequence names cannot be the same.”	The pre-cache and upgrade copies have the same name.	Give each copy its own name.
“Please select some resources.” in Deploy Scheduler	No computers were selected.	Select the computers, then deploy again.
“No End-User Schedulers match your criteria”	There are no schedulers, or the search matches none of them.	Clear the search, or check that the scheduler exists.
“No computers found” in Status	No computer has reported to this scheduler yet, or the filter excludes them all.	Choose Show All and clear the filter boxes. Wait for the computers to report.
Open Preview does nothing	The scheduler has not been saved yet.	Click Save, then open the preview.