Although the Windows OS has evolved significantly over its lifetime, the Windows
installation process has remained virtually unchanged. Media containing compressed
versions of the files comprising the OS are installed and uncompressed one by
one, then the install process detects hardware and performs configuration. Likewise,
the method of network installation, Remote Installation Services (RIS), has
changed little since Microsoft introduced it in Windows 2000. The Windows installation
process is slow, both over a network and via physical media because it requires
the installation and configuration of numerous small, isolated components one
at a time. This design has the advantage of isolating each component so it can
be easily changed without affecting the rest of Windows, but it also produces
a lengthy installation process.
All this has changed in Windows Vista. In developing the Vista installation process, Microsoft went
back to the drawing board. All Vista installations
use an imaging process, which essentially allows a
reference machine to be installed and configured,
then executes a program (usually Sysprep) to wipe
machine-uniqueness information and prepare the
OS on the machine for duplication, and finally captures the reference system's contents to a file, which
contains the OS to deploy on clients.
To better support this image deployment environment, Microsoft created Windows
Deployment Services (WDS), which is a new deployment tool that replaces RIS
and is compatible with Vista's new Windows Imaging Format (WIM). Although these
technologies have made installing Windows much easier, there's still a lot to
learn, so let me walk you through the process of preparing your custom OS installation
image and deploying it to client machines over the network.
Install WDS
WDS runs on Windows Server 2003, and will be a core part of Windows Server 2008
(formerly code-named Longhorn). It's available as part of the Windows Automated
Installation Kit (WAIK), which you can download from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c7d4bc6d-15f3-42849123679830d629f2&DisplayLang=en,
and although it's a very large download (more than 800MB), it includes everything
you need to deploy Vista, including:
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The WDS update for Windows 2003 SP1 servers with RIS. You must install
RIS prior to installing the WDS update on Windows 2003 servers in both 32-bit
and AMD 64-bit versions
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Whitepapers and documents about using WAIK and WDS
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Vista-based Windows PE (WinPE) environments, which help you create bootable
media to capture and deploy images
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The Windows System Image Manager, which you use to create the automated
answer XML files that you can use with WDS and to add or modify components
(e.g., drivers) in the images
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Various tools including the ImageX command-line tool, which you use to
capture and deploy WIM images, as well as mount WIM images to the file system
to enable easy manipulation of the WIM content
After you download and install the WAIK, you
need to install WDS on the Windows 2003 server from
which you'll deploy the OS image (if you're running
Windows 2003 SP1—Windows 2003 SP2 comes with
WDS). To install WDS, navigate to the WDS folder of
the WAIK media and run the .exe file for the processor
type (i.e., 32-bit or 64-bit) update. Accept the license
agreement and reboot your server.
WDS on Windows 2003 runs in one of three modes—Legacy, Mixed, or Native—to
enable backward compatibility with existing RIS-based installations that you
might still need to deploy and support. To learn more about these modes, see
the Webexcusive sidebar "WDS Server Modes," http://www.windowsitpro.com, InstantDoc
ID 96099. You can check which mode a server is running in by right-clicking
the server in the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Windows Deployment Services
snap-in (which you'll find in the Administrative Tools menu after you install
WDS) and selecting Properties. The mode is shown on the General tab, as Figure
1 shows. You can also check the mode by using the following command:
wdsutil /get-server /show:config
Configure WDS
To run in any mode other than Legacy, you'll next need to configure WDS. (Note
that WDS on Windows 2008 will support only Native mode and deploy only WIM OS
installations.) You can configure WDS by using either the command line or the
Windows Deployment Services snap-in. For this article, I outline the snap-in
method, so launch the snap-in from the Administrative Tools menu and perform
these steps:
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Right-click the WDS server and select Configure Server, which opens the
Windows Deployment Services Configuration Wizard. Click Next.
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The wizard displays the network requirements (i.e., the computer must
be member of an Active Directory—AD—domain, you must have
a DHCP server and a DNS server on the network, and you need an NTFS partition
for image storage). Click Next to indicate you have these prerequisites.
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Enter the path to a folder where you'll store the images that WDS will
use, which best practice dictates shouldn't be the system drive (and your
system will warn you if you enter such a path). Click Next.
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On the DHCP Option 60 screen, you'll see options to make WDS listen on
port 60 rather than the regular port 67 and to configure DHCP to tell Preboot
Execution Environment (PXE) clients to communicate on port 60. If DHCP is
installed on the WDS server, you need to select the Do not listen on
port 67 option. If you're using Microsoft DHCP, also select the Configure
DHCP option 60 to PXEClient; otherwise, you'll need to manually configure
the option on your DHCP server.
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Next, select options for how the WDS server responds to clients (i.e.,
respond to no clients, known clients, or all clients), depending on the
security of your environment. There's also a suboption that requires WDS
to wait for administrator approval before responding to unknown computers.
Click Finish.
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You now have the option to add images. I prefer to clear the Add images
to the Windows Deployment Server now check box and manually add the
images later. Click finish.
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