Windows Deployment Services Phase I

Description

We currently received 30 new Dell desktops and I wanted to begin using an automated deployment process. We are constantly repairing issues with workstations and will be rolling out at least a hundred more within the next year so this was extremely important for me to accomplish.  We have used Ghost and RIS in the past with limited success. For our organization I felt using Windows Deployment Services with PXE boot would be the most compatible and end user friendly solution. My basic goal was to deploy a Windows XP SP3 image over the network preloaded with our most common applications.

To begin the process Windows Deployment Services has been installed to a Windows 2008 server. To configure the server and workstations I followed most of the steps located at http://datanotes.wordpress.com. I would like to highlight a couple issues and points below.

1.    Steps 1-8. Follow them exactly and in order. For example I got disrupted, returned to the computer and typed the following command on my source machine

Diskpart {enter} Select disk 0 {enter} Clean {enter}

Oh I felt like a DumbE when I rebooted my computer.

2.    From Step 3, The most current revision is MicrosoftDeploymentToolkit 2008

3.    From Step 5, It is mentioned to “Navigate to Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\x86\WinPE.WIM” It wasn’t quite clearly stated but to accomplish this you will need to download the Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 AIK as an ISO, extract, and install the application to your deployment server. Then I was able to locate the WinPE.WIM file and continue.

4.    Step 6, When creating the Sysprep Master Image. DO NOT boot into Windows after you have Resealed the computer and shut it down. If you don’t follow this exactly your OS and image is toast (more on this below). Also if you try and image the workstation after you have selected Factory but before you select Reseal you will not see an option to select your C:\ to image. If you follow Step 6 correctly Windows Deployment Services will return your original workstation back to a usable state. Never perform this step on a machine that has anything important on it and has not been backed up.

This should get you in business with you initial deployment process. I am working to improve my imaging and deployment process even further and I will document my findings. I also learned some other interesting this during the process so I will be adding a section called “Oh by the way…”