Windows Server 2008 R2 : Installing Windows Deployment Services (part 2)

DHCP Configuration

You must have a working DHCP server with an active scope on the network and, of course, DNS and Active Directory Domain Services are also required. The DHCP services are used to supply the PXE client computer with an IPv4 address during the installation of the image. When the WDS server is installed, it automatically registers in Active Directory with a DHCP server to allow for PXE clients to locate the WDS server without having to reconfigure any DHCP options. Of course, the WDS server also registers with the DNS server so it can be located during the network boot process. If this registration process by the WDS server is successful, it should have a DNS record and it should be listed as an authorized DHCP server when viewing the authorized DHCP server using the DHCP console. If the WDS server is not listed as an authorized server, the properties of the WDS server should be reviewed again for the settings in the Advanced tab, to authorize the DHCP server. If, for some reason, the WDS server is also the DHCP server, the WDS server property pages will need to be opened and the DHCP page will need to be enabled so that the DHCP server does not listen on Port 67 and so DHCP option 60 is added to the DHCP server, as shown in Figure 3.

If a DHCP server is running on the network but it is not a Microsoft DHCP server, option 60 will need to be added and configured on the DHCP server to enable PXE clients to locate the WDS server.

Adding a Boot Image to the WDS Server

After the WDS server is configured as desired, it is time to add the initial boot image to the server. When a system is booted using PXE boot and connects to a WDS server, a boot image is used to prepare the client system to install a Windows image. The boot image contains the WDS client and Windows PE. Legacy imaging systems utilized a flavor of DOS and DOS-based network drivers to boot a system and connect it to the imaging server. With the Windows 7 default boot image, boot.wim, the Windows PE contains an extensive list of network drivers and most systems can be booted to WDS and successfully install an image. Using the Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 boot.wim images allows for the largest inclusion of network and storage drivers for image deployment. Boot images are also used to create capture images and discover images. One important point to note is that the boot.wim from Windows 7 x86 architecture will list both x86 and x64 install images if the WDS client architecture can support both. x64 boot images will only list x64 install images once connected to the WDS server even if the hardware supports both x86 and x64. To add a boot image to the WDS server, perform the following steps:

Adding Install Images to the WDS Server

After the initial boot image is added to the WDS server, installation images can be added. Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1, and Windows Server 2008 R2 installation media contain the compatible Windows Imaging (WIM) format file. These WIM files can be directly added to the WDS server as install images. To install the initial install image, perform the following steps:

1.	Log on to the Windows Server 2008 R2 system that has the WDS role installed with an account with local administrator and domain administrator rights.
2.	Click Start, click All Programs, click Administrative Tools, and select Windows Deployment Services.
3.	When the Windows Deployment Services console opens, if the local server is not listed under the Servers node, it must be added by right-clicking on Servers in the tree pane and selecting Add Server. Specify the local server and click OK to add it to the console.
4.	In the tree pane, select and expand the WDS server.
5.	Right-click the Install Images node and select Add Install Image.
6.	On the Image Group page, either select an existing image group to store the file in, or create a new image group by typing in a valid name. For this example, we will create a new image group named Windows 7. When you are finished, click Next.
7.	On the Image File page, browse to the location of the install.wim Install Image file. For our example, in the Windows 7 installation media, browse to the Sources folder, select the install.wim file, and click Open.
8.	Back on the Image File page, verify the path, and click Next to continue.
9.	On the Available Images page, depending on the particular install.wim file, several images might be listed. Select only the images that the company or organization is licensed for. Select each of the desired images to install in the Windows 7 image group by checking the boxes next to the desired install images, as shown in Figure 4. Click Next to continue. Figure 4. Selecting the appropriate install images available in the install.wim image file.
10.	On the Summary page, review the list of install images that will be loaded into the WDS server, and click Next to begin the process.
11.	After the images are uploaded into the WDS server, click Finish on the Task Progress page to return to the WDS console.

If necessary or desired, the WDS administrator can now also add additional boot and install images for both x86 and x64 architectures.