Applications in a PXE deployed task sequence

Question

Hello forum,
Can someone confirm, if SCCM2012 is working as intended when considering the following:
I created MS Lync 2013 as an application (A), superseding an existing application of MS Lync 2010 (B). This in itself works fine when application A is being deployed
to a collection of computers. (Lync 2010 is being uninstalled, and 2013 installed)
What baffles me is if I put application A into a task sequence which is only available to PXE (e.g. my OSD task sequence), I will see computers evaluating the application
and start uninstall/install Lync inside the OS. (AppEnforce.log, AppIntentEval.log)
Is this really as intended? The TS itself is only available to PXE, but yet will applications in the TS still be evaluated by the OS, and cause Lync (and other application
if not present on the client) to be uninstalled/installed (when software inventory is run).
Thanks in advance
Martin
Martin Bengtsson | Blog: www.imab.dk

Answer 1

Hello,
I am having a similar problem where an application that is not deployed to any collections is being installed or attempted to be installed.
The application is one I use during an OSD TS to upgrade computer BIOS if there is a newer version available. There is a query that runs to find what version is installed and if there is a newer version, it gets installed. I do not have Supersedence configured,
but I do use dependencies for situations (maybe 3 models) where you can't just go immediately to the current version but must install a previous BIOS to get to the latest. (So to get to current you have to go from v3 > v7 > v19 > current). I don't
think this though has anything to do with the issue. All the deployment types for all the models are contained within this one application.
The only place this application is used like I said is in the OSD TS. Much like in your link, I do have my TS deployed to an "All Workstations" collection (sort of like your All Systems but limited to only workstation class OS's). And like in your link,
I do understand the danger of doing this and have taken similar precautions to prevent "really bad things" from happening.
We are moving from CM07 to CM12 and during the first pilot I had one user report after the new client was installed that they were prompted to reboot and during that time their BIOS was upgraded. Checked the logs, sure enough, it was SCCM that did it.
This week while troubleshooting another issue I was looking through the AppEnforce.log on another workstation. I noticed on this one that also the BIOS is attempting to be updated, as well as on my own workstation. Luckily for the person who did get their
BIOS upgraded there was not a problem.
I have checked on the servers to see if there is any reference to any of the OSD applications being attempted to be installed on them but it does not appear so. They don't have an AppEnforce.log (most likely since we don't deploy apps via CM (yet) to servers).
So it appears  that this most likely has something to do with my TS being deployed to a collection where all the workstations are at. Somehow they are randomly "picking" things to try to install that are in the TS which does not make sense. If the workstations
suddenly rebooted, formatted, installed OS, drivers, apps, etc and so forth (basically ran through the TS) that would make sense. (I'd be horrified, but I would at least understand why it is happening.
I guess I'm not making the connection in how an application which only exists in a TS, with no outside dependencies/or superceedence can run.
I'm wondering if this is a bug or something? It seems that the TS should be treated as a box. TS is presented to the computer and it can only get to things inside that TS once it opens that box and goes through that
sequence of steps. Instead, it seems like the TS is presented as a "glass window" where the computers can see everything that is inside and somehow those things inside are now available for computers to install.
to me at least it isnt making sense.