Installing Site System Roles : State Migration Point

Think of the state migration point role as a reverse distribution point. The state migration point is a Configuration Manager site system role that provides a secure location to store user state information as part of an operating system deployment. User state is stored on the state migration point while the operating system deployment proceeds and is then restored from the state migration point to the new computer at the appropriate time during imaging. Each state migration point site server can be a member of only one Configuration Manager 2012 R2 site, but each site may have multiple state migration points if needed.

If the state migration point role has not yet been added, you will need to select it, as shown in Figure

1. Choose the site where the state migration point will be located, and select the role in the Add Site System Roles Wizard.
2. Click Next to proceed to the State Migration Point page of the wizard, shown in Figure

This page allows configuration of the state migration point.
3. First, choose the folder that will host user data sent to the state migration point. This includes choosing the drive, the folder name, the maximum number of clients that may be served by the state migration point, and also the minimum amount of disk space that should be reserved.

4. Configure the Deletion Policy to show how long user state data is held following a successful operating system deployment before being deleted. 

This raises an important point. When user state data is stored on the state migration point, it is with the intention that the state data will be restored to either the same system or a different system as imaging nears completion. If the state data is never restored, it is never marked as eligible for deletion because there might have been problems during the imaging process, and allowing deletion would remove potentially needed data
from the system. This is particularly true if the deletion settings specify to remove data immediately.

5. Finally, flag the state migration point as being in restore-only mode. This special setting, disabled by default, allows administrators to configure a state migration point so that it doesn’t receive new state data but is available for use in already stored state data. Typically you would set this option if you have a state migration point server that is scheduled for maintenance or replacement; you could also use this option if you
are building a new state migration point but you don’t want it to go into service yet.

6. Groups page of the wizard, shown in Figure

 

Like the distribution point, the state migration point needs to be added to an appropriate boundary group to make it available for use by clients. If the state migration point is being installed on a server that already hosts the distribution point role, then the boundary group may be prepopulated.

7. Make any needed changes and click Next to continue through the wizard and finish up.