Creating image for mass deployment

U

USMCGrunt

2[H]4U
Joined
Mar 19, 2010
Messages
3,103
So with the death of WinXP, I am going to be embarking on a quest to install 33 new PCs and recondition another 20 at the speed of lightning. I want to take one of the new PCs, install the apps that I want to install, then create an image to use on the other PCs so that I only do one actual install. Unfortunately, I don't know how to do this and I can't seem to find a good guide on the net. I had a smaller 16 PC deployment I did a few months back using an Acronis Live disk and did a partition clone which worked well enough but there were some oddities that still required at least 15-30 minutes of time spent with each machine. I'd like to be able to image them and they're ready to go. They're all Dell machines with Windows 8/8.1 Pro(I didn't order them so I don't know which exactly) who's Windows product keys are embedded in BIOS. The image would also contain an installation of Microsoft Office...if that matters any.

Also, if it can be done using Deployment services that would be awesome...though that's still a bit of a mystery as to how I would get an image created and then imported into WDS properly...

HELP my fellow [H]er's...HEEELLPPP
 
maxius said:
you need to do a sccm deployment
Click to expand...
:rolleyes: no he doesn't.

You need WDS at the minimum.

If you want to get crazy with it you can also learn WAIK and MDT. That is the route I recommend.

taking things to the SCCM level for 30-40 machines is a waste of time and money.


At a very high level: take your machine you want as your golden image. Get everything exactly how you like it. Run sys prep. PXE boot into WDS using a capture image. Capture the machine. WDS will make an "image".
Then PXE boot all your other machines using a boot image and pull down the windows image. Sys prep will run on each new machine and you can join the domain, etc through the OOBE.
You can automate a lot of that process through scripts and/or MDT.
 
cyr0n_k0r said:
:rolleyes: no he doesn't.

You need WDS at the minimum.

If you want to get crazy with it you can also learn WAIK and MDT. That is the route I recommend.

taking things to the SCCM level for 30-40 machines is a waste of time and money.


At a very high level: take your machine you want as your golden image. Get everything exactly how you like it. Run sys prep. PXE boot into WDS using a capture image. Capture the machine. WDS will make an "image".
Then PXE boot all your other machines using a boot image and pull down the windows image. Sys prep will run on each new machine and you can join the domain, etc through the OOBE.
You can automate a lot of that process through scripts and/or MDT.
Click to expand...

Yep. I didn't even use MDT to do ours.
 
cyr0n_k0r said:
:rolleyes: no he doesn't.

You need WDS at the minimum.

If you want to get crazy with it you can also learn WAIK and MDT. That is the route I recommend.

taking things to the SCCM level for 30-40 machines is a waste of time and money.


At a very high level: take your machine you want as your golden image. Get everything exactly how you like it. Run sys prep. PXE boot into WDS using a capture image. Capture the machine. WDS will make an "image".
Then PXE boot all your other machines using a boot image and pull down the windows image. Sys prep will run on each new machine and you can join the domain, etc through the OOBE.
You can automate a lot of that process through scripts and/or MDT.
Click to expand...
I did something like this when I used the Acronis disk cloning except after Sysprep I cloned the disk. Here's where I need a thorough guide though, as I don't remember what options I chose in sysprep nor do I know what options I should set. I have WDS installed on the server and have used it to deploy a stock Windows 7 image that came off the installation disk. Outside of that, the rest of the process is an unknown to me...I know how to PXE boot into a broadcasting image from WDS but how do I capture an image? Hell, im sure my language is off to the point that you can get an idea of how deep into the sauce I am lost.

I also went so far as to install MDT on my workstation but can't really figure out what I need to do next or if it needs to be on the server or what....
 
Try Clonezilla. Build one machine, clone it and put the image on a shared network then boot each pc with the clonezilla usb or cd, restore the image from the network location onto the workstation.
 
My client is a majority Mac shop, but have a sizeable group of Lenovos with Win7. When I started there they were just opening the box, starting the laptop, installing Office and whatever, and off it went, bloat and all. I was never even told to make an image, but jeez it was bad. I had no approval for a full imaging solution with a server and such, so I whipped up a quick & dirty thing.

I made a stock Win7 install on a gold master machine, figured out how to activate "like OEMs do" with the certificate, updated it to current day, and installed the bare minimum line of business stuff. I imagex'd it to a USB stick with an autounattend.xml that auto-partitions the disc and removes most install prompts. Then I wrote a batch file that installs everything else, either silently or with minimal interaction (not everyone gets Office Pro/etc.). After installing from the USB stick, on first login, the just-created user triggers the batch file. It's fast, fairly hands-off, and modular, so I don't have to recreate the image just because they want to add or change something. Even most of the drivers get bolted on in the batch file. The actual image only gets updated every several months when Windows Update gets uncomfortably long or requires several reboots.

I was inspired by OS X imaging, which I also made at work, and it's very similar but ironically much smoother (though for some reason less reliable). I got a laugh recently, I was never told to make an OS X image either, but I've now been instructed to tweak it for the branch offices.
 
I found a step by step guide to walk through capturing an image and deploying it with WDS, unfortunately it lacks any sort of explanations, its just the steps to get from A to B. I was able to successfully complete the process using VMs so I could become familiar and proficient with the process. It was also written with an older version in mind and Win2012 + Win8 streamline it a bit so I am working on removing any steps that are unnecessary at this point to streamline it.

Unfortunately, I run into a different issue when I go about trying to set it up to run as an unattended install. Part of setting up the answer file, as far as I have researched so far, is that you have to indicate a Product Key for Windows or the install will fail. These Dell machines have the Product Key embedded in the BIOS though so I am not sure how to go about getting around that part. Basically, I am at the point I was last time using Acronis to clone disks except that I could do 4-5 machines at a time instead of 1 and I don't have to rely on a third party software solution, but I still have to spend 5-10 minutes with each system doing initial setup and joining each machine to the domain.

If anybody knows anything about the product key/unattended install for Win8 machines let me know.
 
Maybe outside the rules here (technically?) but there are keys to get Win8 "going" in an unactivated state. If you google around you'll find them, they are not exactly secret. For the OEM "burned in the firmware" models I don't know what else you'd need to do after it actually got installed. There might be additional coaxing to get it to register as activated.
 
MDT + WDS(OR SCCM)

This video series covers everything you need. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/video/tdbe12-deployment-day-session1.aspx

MDT Deployment Workbench :
  • Download everything, this will take a long time. Depending on your connection. MDT
  • Workbench, Windows ISO's. WinADK, oem drivers/packs.
  • Create a Deployment share
  • Import OS ISO's, remove whatever you don't need.
  • Create a Standard Deployment Task, leave all options default, Update Deployment Share, Create deployment images

Prepare Boot Media Type :

  • Either Burn the Litetouch iso to cd, convert to usb boot disk, or add the boot.wim to your WDS/SCCM Server
    If you're dealing with subnets, Setup DHCP Relay helpers or modify your DHCP subnets to point to your WDS/SCCM server.
    Usb booting is fine, but WDS is preferred. Avoid burning cds as any changes to the boot.wim requires regeneration, which takes time, which means burning more disks whenever you make a change.

Create Reference Image :

  • In Hyper-V, or VM Workstation, or Virtualbox, or whatever create a new blank windows VM.
    Boot to your Litetouch iso, Deploy your task sequence
    Go into system Audit mode when you see the Welcome screen (Ctrl+shift+f3), Save a snapshot.
    Update windows, install your apps, configure your desktop settings. Save another snapshot. Name this your Reference Image Snapshot.

Capture Custom Wim :
  • In MDT Deployment Workbench create a Sysprep & Capture task sequence, update your deployment share
  • In your VM browse to the deployment share eg \\server\deploymentshare\. Goto the scripts folder, Run litetouch.vbs or wsf file.
  • Select the Sysprep & Capture sequence, continue through all the prompts, tell it to save the capture.wim somewhere
  • When your done, revert your VM to the Reference Image Snapshot

Create your Reference Image Task Sequence :
  • In deployment workbench, import the capture.wim into the OS Section, Name it Reference Image(or Golden or whatever)
  • Create a new Standard Task Sequence, under Install Operating System select the Capture.wim
  • Create a new VM, boot litetouch, test your Reference Image Task Sequence, if it works continue

Import Drivers, Customize your task sequence :
  • Import Network, Disk, Chipset drivers for the various computer models into the Workbench
  • In Reference Image Task Sequence select your drivers under the Inject Portion
  • In the Boot options section, select network and disk drivers
  • Update your deployment share.(This can take a while because of the added drivers to the boot.wim)

  • Test your deployment on a real machine, if all goes well your done with your first setup

I currently update my reference images once every 3 months or so. I have ones with Office 2007, 2010 installed, along with all updates. At my company we use some pretty difficult to install applications(IE Multiple reboots, lots of prerequisites) My reference images average 7GB and are deployed via WDS.

I do have a lot of applications listed in MDT, but I rarely need to select them, it's kindof a pain creating silent install packages in general so I rather have them in the reference image. Updates are easy as hell, add some drivers, update some applications and I'm done. I revert to my Reference Image snapshot, install what i need, remove what I need, capture the new image and I'm done. I can have a Reference created in less than an hour.

You'll need to add your activation key, point to KMS or use MAK keys or something for licensing.
 
Last edited:
USMCGrunt said:
I did something like this when I used the Acronis disk cloning except after Sysprep I cloned the disk. Here's where I need a thorough guide though, as I don't remember what options I chose in sysprep nor do I know what options I should set. I have WDS installed on the server and have used it to deploy a stock Windows 7 image that came off the installation disk. Outside of that, the rest of the process is an unknown to me...I know how to PXE boot into a broadcasting image from WDS but how do I capture an image? Hell, im sure my language is off to the point that you can get an idea of how deep into the sauce I am lost.

I also went so far as to install MDT on my workstation but can't really figure out what I need to do next or if it needs to be on the server or what....
Click to expand...


The deployment share does not need to be on a server, but it is recommended as your limited to 10 connections from a Workstation OS. The better the server, the more connected it is, the more deployments you can do at once, Enable multicast and you gain even more simultaneous deployments. The share can be on anything that does CIFS shares, At home my deployment share is on my Freenas server.

The real magic of MDT is it creates a badass WinPE image that injects drivers and installs applications as needed. The WinPE image looks for the deploymentshare on the network, the task sequence defines what to do with the files in the deploymentshare.

MDT is really the way to go. Microsoft did a fantastic job with it, and it keeps getting better, yes it takes some learning and there are a lot of components set up to get it working. But it's damn awesome, my deployments take 10 minutes on average. I even carry a deployment share on a 64GB thumbdrive. I can go anywhere and have them up and running imaging machines in no time.

I've used Ghost, I've used FOG, Clonezilla, Acronis, Macrium(great for home), dd and many others. Clonezilla/FOG is great for Linux, but for windows anything, MDT is the way to go.
 
Last edited:
+1 on MDT. Once you get it working its great.

Just a note. Forget about the magical 1 image 4 all. Although it is possible, its a lot easier to do several images to fit your needs.

Last weekend I did a windows 7 x64 Pro deployment with office, visual studio and sqlserver for 9 pcs. It took about an hour to get it all done. plus 2 windows 2012 servers.
 
Stoly said:
+1 on MDT. Once you get it working its great.

Just a note. Forget about the magical 1 image 4 all. Although it is possible, its a lot easier to do several images to fit your needs.

Last weekend I did a windows 7 x64 Pro deployment with office, visual studio and sqlserver for 9 pcs. It took about an hour to get it all done. plus 2 windows 2012 servers.
Click to expand...

This organization is pretty basic, nobody has any specialized software needs so, outside of different makes of PCs, they all get the same loadout making a single image possible.
 
Running into the same area as well but we will be using LANDesk for our Hardware Independent Image. Is it possible to create the image on a VM and then capture it? This seems to be the one area in computers I just always run into a brick wall.
 
AthlonXP said:
Running into the same area as well but we will be using LANDesk for our Hardware Independent Image. Is it possible to create the image on a VM and then capture it? This seems to be the one area in computers I just always run into a brick wall.
Click to expand...

It's possible as this is how I tested the process to learn the steps and whatnot. Using Win8.1 I fired up Hyper-V manager and setup two VMs. First, I setup a Server 2012 installation and installed WDS onto it. Next, I setup a Windows 8.1 VM and went through complete setup and everything then did a sysprep using OOBE, check the box for generalize, and then had it set to shutdown after it was done. After that, I set the Windows 8.1 VM to boot from its network adapter and was able to generate a captured image. Obviously, there's a lot of steps I left out for the actual WDS setup for image capture and whatnot but those are the things I specifically did to test capture capability from VMs. The generalize option, from my understanding, removes all specific information from the OS...windows product keys, installed drivers, domain membership, etc. This means that you SHOULD be able to capture the image and deploy it to multiple hardware configurations without running into issues.
 
It may be very few machines in the grand scheme of things but 55 PCs to have to image in one way or another by one person with a deadline of last Tuesday as well as maintain everything else that is involved with an IT department...that's a lot, lol. Not to mention I have a desire to make my resume all pretty with an MCSE certification...so learning the Microsoft way is important.
 
If you are looking to do things the “Microsoft way”, then MDT is the way to go. The Windows 8.1 Jump Start is a much more recent resource for deployment and is highly recommended for anyone who deals with deploying Windows. Using the tools manually and independently is functional, but MDT provides a cohesive interface that streamlines the process and provides greatly enhanced functionality.

AthlonXP said:
Running into the same area as well but we will be using LANDesk for our Hardware Independent Image. Is it possible to create the image on a VM and then capture it? This seems to be the one area in computers I just always run into a brick wall.
Click to expand...

AthlonXP, not only is it possible to create the image in a VM, it is recommended. While Generalize does prepare an image for hardware independence, it can miss items like “control panel” applications installed with drivers, which remain stuck in the image.

A great deal more information on deployment is available on the Deploy Windows 8.1 page from the Springboard Series on TechNet.

Brandon
Windows Outreach Team- IT Pro
The Springboard Series on TechNet
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top