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Client Provisioning of Rancher Desktop

Automated deployment of Rancher Desktop and DevContainer Toolbox to developer machines via Intune (Windows) and Jamf (macOS). A developer gets a new machine, the scripts install everything, and they open any project in a fully configured devcontainer within minutes.

Active Started January 2025
Summary

Automated Rancher Desktop deployment to Windows and Mac machines — via Intune, Jamf, or USB stick

A developer gets a new managed machine. The scripts install Rancher Desktop and the DevContainer Toolbox automatically. They open any project in a fully configured devcontainer within minutes.

groups Who This Is For

Operations teams in larger organizations responsible for setting up and managing PC/Mac fleets. If your developers use managed machines deployed via Intune (Windows) or Jamf (macOS), these scripts automate the entire developer toolchain rollout.

What Gets Installed

desktop_mac macOS (Jamf)

Rancher Desktop
DevContainer Toolbox
No reboot needed

desktop_windows Windows (Intune)

WSL2 (Windows features)
Rancher Desktop
DevContainer Toolbox
Reboot required after WSL2

build_circle Why This Matters for Maintenance

The biggest benefit isn't just onboarding new developers — it's maintenance. When the maintenance team needs to fix a bug in a system they didn't build, they check out the repo and get the exact same environment the original developer used. Same tools, same versions, same configuration.

usb USB Testing

No Intune? No problem. Scripts can be copied to a USB stick for manual testing on Windows PCs — useful for testing in isolated environments or before MDM is set up.

Script Standards

pin
Version number and unique ID

Every script is versioned and identifiable.

error_outline
Numbered error codes

ERR001, ERR002, etc. for consistent troubleshooting.

help_outline
--help flag

Consistent help format across all scripts.

receipt_long
Structured logging

log_info, log_error, log_success for CI/CD visibility.

help_outline Help Wanted: Silent WSL2 Install

The biggest unsolved problem: automating WSL2 install on Windows via Intune. WSL2 requires enabling Windows features and a reboot, which is tricky to do silently in an MDM pipeline. If you have experience with Intune and WSL2 deployment, we'd love your help.