SCCM Offline USB Media Standalone – Creation, Steps, Tips

Table of Contents
. Some notes regarding SCCM Offline USB Media creation
. Step to Create SCCM Offline USB Media
. Checking for Logs and possible errors
. Applying the ISO to USB Disk on Key

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Some notes regarding SCCM Offline USB Media creation

You need SCCM Offline USB Media for Operating System Deployment, if you don’t have an online network connection to your Distribution Point with PXE enabled.
Before you start the ISO creation process for the USB, you need to know that TEMP folder will be used for the process. The most important, it is the TEMP folder on the server that you run the task on.

In our environment, there is a server with a console and a server that is a primary site. You can run the console on both, but the image will be created on the server that you run the ISO creation task on. The log file will also be created on that server. Only after the ISO is created in the TEMP folder it will be copied to the destination path that you chose in the wizard.
*** More information about SCCM Standalone Media usage without network connection and SCCM Standalone Media Creation can be found in Microsoft Docs.

Step to Create SCCM Offline USB Media

. Open SCCM Console
. Goto => Operating Systems => RightClick "Task Sequences" => Create Task Sequence Media

    "Select the type of media"
         (*) Stand-alone media
        *** This is full offline bootable media that will not connect to any part / server of SCCM during deployment
        *** "Bootable Media" is an ISO file that its WinPE will be connected to SCCM environment. It will only act like PXE boot.
        [V] Allow unattended operating system deployment
        *** Select this if you don't need network connection at all and you have only 1 task sequence. If you have more than 1 don't select it.
        [Next]
    "Specify the media type"

*** You may select “Removable USB drive” and it will write the media straight to the USB, but it is strongly not recommended. If the USB drive isn’t stable, you will lose your media and you will need to start over. USB may be slow, so it will take much more time than it should. The best practice is to create ISO file and to apply it to the USB media later.

         (*) CD/DVD set
        Media size: Unlimited
        *** You can set Media size to DVD 4.7GB and you will have several ISO files that you can install with them the system. You will need to insert the first and you will be prompted when to insert the others. We build a USB Media with 64GB storage, so this is not needed.
        Media file: [Browse] for location of your file to save.
        [Next]
    "Select security settings for the media"
        *** In our organization it is a must to protect the installation with a password and it is strongly recommended.
        [V] Protect media with a password
        Password: SuperComplicatedPass
        Confirm password: SuperComplicatedPass

*** When we build an offline USB media it won’t (and it can’t be) be updated by the techs onsite. So, we set expire date to the ISO. When the date is reached, they won’t be able to setup and they will need to apply updated image. In our organization it is every month, but you can set anything you want.

        [V] Select date range for this stand-alone media to be valid
        Set start date: *** Now ***
        Set expiration date: *** Month from now ***

*** This was checked in working environment. We set the start time to 01:00 PM and expiration time to 02:00 PM. When it was 02:30 PM we manually changed the time of the computer to 01:30 PM and the installation didn’t start – error message with expiration date was produced. So, this is great feature if you want your offline Media to be updated regularly and without compromises.

        [Next]
    "Select the task sequence"
        Task sequence: [Browse] for the task sequence you want to deploy
        This task sequence references the following content:
        *** Here you will see all the content that is associated with the Task Sequence ***
        [V] Detect associated application dependencies and add them to this media
        *** Add all the dependencies to the ISO file
        [Next]
    "Select application content to add"
        *** Here you will see all the applications that are assigned with the task sequence. You can [Add] more.
        [Next]
    "Select package content to add"
        *** Here you will see all the packages that are assigned with the task sequence. You can [Add] more.
        [Next]
    "Select driver package content to add"
        *** Here you will see all the driver packages that are assigned with the task sequence. You can [Add] more.
        [Next]
    "Select the distribution points for the media"
        *** Here you need to select the Distribution Points from which the content will be added to the ISO.
        . Available distribution points containing content required by the task sequence:
        *** On the first half of the window you will be presented with available DPs. Select all the DPs that you want the content to be downloaded to the ISO (or only 1 DP).
            . Select the DPs
            . [Add]
        . Selected distribution points containing content required by the task sequence:
        *** Here on the bottom half of the window you will see all the DPs that you added from the top part
        [Next]
    "Customize the task sequence media"
        *** Here you can set variables and prestart command
        [Next]
    "Confirm the settings"
        [Next]
    *** After you hit the button, the stage will take time depending on how many packages and files you have.
    "The Create Task Sequence Media Wizard completed successfully"
        [Close]

Checking for Logs and possible errors

You can check the “CreateTsMedia.log” for the Media Creation progress with cmtrace.exe.
*** You can check our guide about CMTrace Usage.
The log is located on the server that you’re running your console on:

\ConsoleServer\c$\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Configuration Manager\AdminConsole\AdminUILog\CreateTsMedia.log

Off course, if you get an error that you don’t have enough disk space – you need to enlarge the partition where the TEMP folder resides. Possible error line that you might get:

"The drive 'C:' where users' temporary directory is located does not have enough disk space to stage content for the media".

Alternatively, you can change the path of the TMP Environment variable, which is not recommended. There might be a process in the system that rely on specific location and not the environment variables. So, if you change the variable, these processes might still use the old location.

To change Environment Variables:

. Control panel => System and Security => System => 
    [Advanced] tab => [Environment Variables...]

        . Select "TMP" => [Edit]
            . Change the "Variable value:" to desired location with needed space
            . [OK]
        [OK]
    [OK]

Applying the ISO to USB Disk on Key

When the Media creation process will finish, you may apply the ISO to USB Media with Rufus (follow the link to read about Rufus usage).