Add the Boot Environment
You now have a WDS environment, but you're missing two critical components:
a bootable environment to which to send the PXE clients to allow the deployment
of images and the Windows images themselves. WinPE is the environment WDS uses
to deploy images, and although the WAIK installs a WinPE version that's based
on Vista into the Tools\PETools\ <processor architecture> subfolder of
the WAIK installation, this version isn't suitable for use with WDS. The Vista-based
WinPE included with WAIK is perfect for building media that you can use with
the rest of the WAIK (e.g., the ImageX command that you use to capture and deploy
images), but it doesn't contain the WDS client binaries that are needed for
WDS to function. Instead, you need a WinPE version that's based on Windows 2008.
The boot.wim file in the Sources folder of the Vista media is a WinPE version
that's based on Window 2008 and includes the WDS client binaries.
You can add a new WinPE boot image to WDS by right-clicking the Boot Images
leaf in the left panel of the WDS snap-in and selecting Add Boot Image. After
you specify the name and location of the boot image to add (e.g., D:\sources\boot.wim),
click Next and enter a name and description. The default is the name contained
in the WIM file, for example, "Microsoft Windows Longhorn Setup (x86)." However,
you can change the name to anything you want (e.g., "Microsoft Windows Deployment
Services environment"). Then select the WIM images to install (although the
WinPE WIM image file consists of only one image), and click Next to copy the
WIM file to the Boot\<architecture>\Images subfolder of the RemoteInstall
folder selected during WDS configuration.
Add the Installation Image
You now have a boot image that clients can use to boot via PXE into the WDS
deployment environment. The next step is to add an OS installation image, which
in this case is Vista. To add the image, open the Windows Deployment Services
snap-in, right-click the Install Images leaf of the navigation panel,
and select Add Install Image. You'll be prompted to select an Image Group to
add the image to or to create a new Image Group (e.g., Windows Vista). Click Next and select the name of the WIM file to import (e.g., the install.wim
file in the Sources folder of the Vista DVD). Remember, WIM files are an XML
type format that can contain more than one image. The Vista WIM file contains
all the available versions of Vista (except Enterprise). However, because the
different versions share much of the same content, the WIM format can take advantage
of Single Instance Storage (SIS) technology and the total file size is smaller
than you'd expect. Clear the check boxes of the versions you don't want to make
available. When finished, click Next to display a summary of the selected versions. Accept by clicking Next, and the Add Image Wizard will perform an integrity
check on the selected WIM file and import the images.
Now when you boot a PXEenabled client, you're prompted to press F12 to boot
to WDS (which will be familiar to users of RIS). Select the basic language settings
and the credentials to use in the domain. Then select an OS from the list of
OSs known to WDS, as Figure 2 shows, and click
Next. You'll be prompted for a partition to install to, then WDS will install
the OS, asking minimal information such as registered owner and time zone information.
There's also a version of the boot ROM
that doesn't require you to press F12. To use
that version, right-click the WDS server in the
Windows Deployment Services snap-in and
select Properties. Select the Boot tab. Click the
Browse button next to the appropriate client
architecture, and select the .n12 version of the
boot ROM (e.g., instead of pxeboot.com, use
pxeboot.n12). Now, you'll no longer need to
press F12 to boot to WDS.
Discover Images and Unattended Installs
You now have a WDS installation that can deploy Vista over the network, but
what about machines that can't boot over the network? WDS has a bootable media
(called Discover boot image ) for machines that don't natively support booting
over the network. The Discover boot image CD-ROM lets you avoid having to load
WinPE over the network. To create a Discover boot image CD-ROM, right-click
the Windows 2008-based WinPE under the Boot Images section of the Windows Deployment
Services snap-in and select Create Discover Boot Image. Enter a location and
filename for the new WIM file, along with the WDS server to contact for OS images,
as Figure 3 shows.
Next you convert the WIM to an ISO file so that you can burn it to a CD-ROM
to enable bootable deployment. To convert the WIM file, follow the steps outlined
in the article "Windows Deployment Services Update Step-by-Step Guide for Windows
Server 2003" at http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windows-Vista/en/library/9e197135-6711-4c20-bfadfc80fc2151301033.mspx?mfr=true.
Finally, how do you avoid having to enter information during the installation?
The WAIK includes the Windows System Image Manager, which lets you create the
XML answer file that stores custom settings and automates OS installations.
The use of the Windows System Image Manager is beyond the scope of this article,
but you can find instructions and a list of settings and values in the "Unattended
Windows Setup Reference" Help file that ships as part of WAIK.
In the initial WDS stage in which you select
the OS that you want to deploy, you assign the
answer file you created by selecting the Properties of the WDS server. Under the Client tab,
select the Enable unattended installation and
select the answer XML file for the architecture.
To select the answer file for a particular image,
right-click the image and select Properties
from the Install Images, Image Group section.
Then under the General tab, select the Allow
image to install in unattended mode and select
the XML install file to use (which must be part
of the RemoteInstall folder structure where
images are stored). You can now deploy Vista
without having to enter information with each
installation.
Getting Better All the Time
WDS is a powerful component of Windows 2008 and Windows 2003, giving us a unified
method to deploy both server and client OSs. If you've been using RIS, then
WDS will be far more intuitive. The next step is to look at the Business Desktop
Deployment (BDD) 2007 solution accelerator which builds on technologies such
as WDS and Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) to help in the complete
desktop deployment experience, including inventory of existing systems, application
packaging, hardening the desktops, and following a best practice deployment.
The BDD will be the focus of a future article.
SOLUTIONS SNAPSHOT
PROBLEM: Deploying Windows Vista to enterprise
computers
SOLUTION: Use Windows Deployment Services to implement
an image-based OS installation.
WHAT YOU NEED: Windows Server 2003, Windows Automated Installation
Kit, Vista installation media, a reference computer, a central deployment
computer
DIFFICULTY: 3 out of 5 |
SOLUTION STEPS:
1. Download and install WAIK.
2. Install and configure WDS.
3. Prepare the boot environment.
4. Create an OS installation image.
5. If necessary, create
a capture disk for nonnetworked computers.
6. If desired, create and install an answer file for unattended installs.
7. Deploy the Vista image to client computers. |
End of Article
