I thought this was the right place to ask, let me know if somewhere else was better.
I have a classroom in a public school with around 30 PCs (windows) I need to install software on (python and codium). They are all the same PCs. In the past there was a management system but due to some licensing issues that does not work anymore.
How its been done before: Go to each and every PC and setup everything manually, or do it once and mirror the HDD 30 times … both ways very time consuming.
I thought there might be a better way to do this, do you have any idea?
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/configmgr/core/understand/introduction
Configuration Manager / intune / sccm / whatever they change the name to next is the first-party solution from MS. It has always been able to modify an existing install. Push out a fresh piece of software, reconfigure one, uninstall one, force a group to update a gpo or update windows, etc…
Most universities use intune/puppet/chef for this in labs and for deployed desktops/laptops to faculty/staff to keep things up to date and consistent.
Sure. We manage about 110,000 endpoints with it at the office. It’s just not infrastructure as code.
Intune is kinda point-and-clickey for sure, but would you not consider puppet and ansible IaC? What would you classify it if not?
As I understand it, IAC is not about managing devices. When a IAC created device needs an update, you update the config, blow away the device, and build new.
Ansible and puppet manage devices. If you need a change, you send the package or config or reg key. You can’t blow away a device and build identical, like you can with IAC. At least not easily and without lots of careful group management.
That said, IAC is changing fast and I may not be up to speed on all the features of those tools. We’re an MECM and intune shop, with a bit of jamf on the side.