What do I want to say with this sentence, because for the first sight, it makes not a lot sense, but if we looking deeper…
With System Center 2012 Configuration Manager R2 the Task Sequences got a new step called “Set Dynamic Variables”. With this, you can set variables a lot easier than before, and you can set multiple TS variables in one step.
I would like to use two useful TS variables for OSD to explain this new step in the Task Sequence.
The first variable is “SMSTSErrorDialogTimeout” (referring to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632442.aspx), this variable let you define, how long the error dialog is shown, before the System reboot is initiated, and you might lose your smsts.log. The value has to be in seconds, and the Default value is 15 minutes, usually an hour is a value I use. But this Settings should only be active when my custom TS variable OSD-DevMode is existing, to achieve this, simply click on add Rule and then Task Sequence Variable:

The upcoming wizard is filled up and accepted by clicking on OK:

The TS step will then be updated with your rule:

Now it is time to add our TS variable, click on Add Variables and Existing variables:

In the following window you can select the right one from known variables:

The variable is then added to the list, and by a click on the line, you can edit the value, which I set to 3600:

Now I will set the second variable, this is the SMSTSRebootDelay, it controls how long the Dialog is shown, when a System initiated reboot is pending. Usually you don’t need to see this message. The Default value is 30 seconds, and I will set it to 0, this means no Dialog is shown. You can repeat the steps from above, expect to create a rule:

So this will set the second variable even when the TS Variable OSD-DevMode is not present. I highlighted the Move Up and Move Down buttons to show, even, if you created a rule or variable setting in the wrong order, you can change it afterwards, no need to copy/paste like in the options.

Have fun with faster and even slower reboots 🙂
Martin