There are plenty of ways to randomly add systems to a collection in SCCM, a common query being something similar to

select SMS_R_System.Name from  SMS_R_System where SMS_R_System.SMSUniqueIdentifier like “%0” OR SMS_R_System.SMSUniqueIdentifier like “%1”

 

In a recent instance, i needed to ensure that systems were randomly chosen for a product roll out across a 1500-ish servers. The client was specific about staging the deployment and wanted to selection process of what went when to be truly random… fair enough.

SCCM cant really do do random when limited to a number…. the query above for example is likely to retrieve approx 20% of your total client count…. where-as i needed a random 50.

I ended up using the following powershell to accomplish the task.

 

Function Connect-ConfigMgr {
Param(
)
write-host -ForegroundColor Magenta “Connect-ConfigMgr”
Try {
Get-WMIObject -ComputerName $CMSiteServer -Namespace “root\SMS” -Class “SMS_ProviderLocation” -ErrorAction Stop | foreach-object{
if ($_.ProviderForLocalSite -eq $true){$Script:SiteCode=$_.sitecode}
}
if ($SiteCode -eq “”) {
throw (“Sitecode of ConfigMgr Site at ” + $CMSiteServer + ” could not be determined.”)
Exit 1
}
}
Catch {
$ErrorMessage = $_.Exception.Message
$text = “Error, could not connect to Site server $CMSiteServer, check spelling, network connectivity, permissions etc.”
$text += “`nError message: $ErrorMessage”
Write-Error $text
Exit 1
}
#$CMNamespace = “Root\SMS\$($SiteCode)”

write-host -ForegroundColor Green “ConfigMgr Site Code: $SiteCode”
write-host -ForegroundColor Green “ConfigMgr Site Server: $CMSiteServer”
#write-host “ConfigMgr Name Space: $CMNamespace”

#Import ConfigMgr Module
if (!(Get-Module -Name ConfigurationManager)) {
write-host “PowerShell module not loaded.”
If (Test-Path -Path “$($ENV:SMS_ADMIN_UI_PATH)\..\ConfigurationManager.psd1” -PathType Leaf) {
write-host “Attempting loa PS module from: $($ENV:SMS_ADMIN_UI_PATH)\..\ConfigurationManager.psd1”
Import-Module “$($ENV:SMS_ADMIN_UI_PATH)\..\ConfigurationManager.psd1” | Out-Null
}
ElseIf (Test-Path “$($ScriptPath)\ConfigurationManager.psd1” -PathType Leaf) {
write-host “Attempting loa PS module from: $($ScriptPath)\ConfigurationManager.psd1”
Import-Module “$($ScriptPath)\ConfigurationManager.psd1” | Out-Null
}
Else {
$text = “Error, unable to load PowerShell module ConfigurationManager.psd1, file not found.”
Write-Error $text
Exit 1
}
}
if (!(Get-Module -Name ConfigurationManager)) {
$text = “Error loading PowerShell module ConfigurationManager.psd1.”
Write-Error $text
Exit 1
}

#Set the current location to be the site code.
Set-Location “$SiteCode`:”
write-host -ForegroundColor Green “————————————————————————”
write-host “”
}### End Connect-ConfigMgr ###

Function GetRandomCollectionMembers {
Param(
)
write-host -ForegroundColor Magenta “Getting collection members”
$CollMembers = Get-CMCollectionMember -CollectionName $SourcecollectionName

#Randomising and selecting first x members
write-host -ForegroundColor Magenta “Selecting $NumberofMembers members randomly”
$CollMembers = $CollMembers | Sort-Object {Get-Random}
$CollMembers = $CollMembers | Select -First $NumberofMembers

Foreach ($CollMember in $CollMembers) {
$CollectionName = $CollMember.Name
write-host -ForegroundColor Green “Adding $CollectionName to $DestinationCollectionName”
Get-CMCollection -Name $DestinationCollectionName | Add-CMDeviceCollectionDirectMembershipRule -ResourceId $CollMember.ResourceID
}

}

##############Start of Main Script ####################

#Begin {

## Get script path and name
$ScriptPath = [System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName($MyInvocation.MyCommand.Definition)
$ScriptName = [System.IO.Path]::GetFileNameWithoutExtension($MyInvocation.MyCommand.Definition)
$PowerShellVersion = [int]$PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Major

#Save current path, to return after CM operations
$path = Split-Path -parent $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Definition

#Set variables here
$CMSiteServer = ‘sccm01.adexis.com.au’
$Script:SiteCode = $null
$SourcecollectionName = “All Systems”
$DestinationCollectionName = “RandomSystems”
$NumberofMembers = “5”

Connect-ConfigMgr
GetRandomCollectionMembers

#} #End Begin