How to install SCEP client during OSD

Some might claim that installing the SCEP client during OSD is an unnecessary step, but I’d claim otherwise.

Installing the SCEP (System Center Endpoint Protection) client as an step in your OSD task sequence, will provide instant protection against malware, whereas waiting for the automatic installation through the client policy, will leave the OS unprotected for the duration of the client policy polling interval + the time needed for the actual installation.

With that said, I’ll recommend to install the SCEP client during OSD. You can do that by separating the scepinstall.exe from the SCCM client installation folder (\\SITESERVER\SMS_<SITECODE>\Client\) and create a standard package and program running following command: scepinstall.exe /s /q /NoSigsUpdateAtInitialExp

Distribute the package to your distribution points, and add the step to your OSD Task Sequence as any other package.

/NoSigsUpdateAtInitialExp will prevent the installation to reach out to Microsoft.com for definitions updates, and therefore limit the WAN usage, which is considered good practice. Definitions should be installed from your Software Update Point:

SCEPOSD

Install the SCCM client using a script

There are several ways to install the SCCM client. As you know, it may be installed during OSD using a package, or the built-in push feature after discovery, but sometimes it might come handy to be able to install it using a script. (More about Client Deployment here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg682132.aspx)

Nothing really fancy, just a plain .bat file containing following information:

“\\SITESERVER\SMS_SITECODE\Client\ccmsetup.exe” /mp:FULLY QUIALIFIED SERVERNAME SMSSITECODE=SITECODE

Replace everything in bold with your own details.