Deploying the First Install Image
After
a WDS server has at least one boot image and one install image, the
imaging process should be tested before any additional configurations
are performed. Prior to testing the imaging process, we need to check
the properties of the WDS server and the DHCP server scope options. To
verify these settings, perform the following tasks:
Using the WDS console,
open the properties of the WDS server and click on the Advanced tab to
verify or to select the appropriate option buttons to ensure that both
the Authorize This Windows Deployment Services Server in DHCP and the
Allow Windows Deployment Services to Dynamically Discover Valid Domain
Servers (Recommended) check boxes are checked. Click OK to update the
server settings if any changes were made; otherwise, click Cancel to
close the WDS server property pages.
Using
the WDS console, open the properties of the WDS server again and click
on the PXE Response tab and verify that the Respond to All Client
Computers (Known and Unknown) option button is selected and verify that
the check box that would require administrator approval is not checked.
Click OK to update the server settings if any changes were made;
otherwise, click Cancel to close the WDS server property pages.
Using
the DHCP console on the appropriate DHCP server, open the properties of
the appropriate IPv4 DHCP scope, assuming a Microsoft Windows Server
2008 R2 DHCP server is deployed, and verify that the DNS domain name and
DNS server DHCP options contain the proper values for your company’s
environment. DHCP option 60 is not required if the DHCP server is on the
same subnet as the WDS server and both of the servers are running
Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2.
After these precheck steps
are completed, the imaging process can begin. To deploy an image to a
system using PXE boot, perform the following steps:
1. | Select
the desired system that will be imaged using WDS and connect the
system’s primary network adapter to a live switch port that is on the
same network as the DHCP and WDS server.
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2. | Boot
up the system and enter the system BIOS. Verify that PXE network boot
is enabled for the primary adapter and verify that PXE network boot is
listed in the boot menu before the system hard disk or disk arrays.
Depending on an organization’s server or workstation configuration and
build specifications, configuring PXE boot to be listed before the hard
disk in the BIOS boot order might not be the desired configuration, but
for this testing it will help put all the administrators and different
systems into a similar configuration so this process can proceed.
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3. | Save
the BIOS settings and exit the BIOS to start a system bootup sequence.
When the PXE network boot starts, keep a close eye on it to verify that
the PXE client is obtaining a DHCP IPv4 lease. When prompted with the
Press F12 for Network Boot message, press the F12 key to start the WDS
imaging process. If PXE boot is getting an IPv4 address from the DHCP
server but the system never prompts to press F12 for network boot, there
is most likely some issue with the DHCP server configuration and
defined options.
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4. | If
the system is able to connect to the WDS server after the Press F12 for
Network Boot prompt and after the F12 key is pressed, the boot image is
downloaded from the WDS server to the client, and the imaging process
starts. If multiple boot images have been added to the WDS server,
pressing F12 will use the network boot to connect to the WDS server to
get the list of boot images, then the boot image selected will be
loaded, including the appropriate network drivers to allow the WDS
client to connect to the WDS server to locate and begin installation of
the install image selected.
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5. | After
the system completes loading the boot image system files, the Windows
Preinstallation Environment is loaded and the WDS client install
application is started. The page name that appears is named Windows
Deployment Services. Select the desired locale and keyboard or input
method, and click Next to continue.
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6. | An
authentication window opens. Enter the domain and username of the
account used to install WDS and the password, and click OK. For a domain
with a NetBIOS name of COMPANYABC, the username should be entered as COMPANYABC\username
along with the correct password for that user account. If the
authentication window never opens or does not connect to the WDS server
after the correct username and password combination are entered, this
most likely means that the boot image does not contain suitable network
drivers for the client hardware and network drivers will need to be
added to the boot image and this process should be started over.
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7. | On
the Install Windows page, each of the install images loaded in the WDS
server that match the boot image architecture, x86 or x64, will be
listed as available selections. Select the desired operating system
install image, and click Next to continue.
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8. | The
next page lists the available or detected disks that can be used for
the image installation. If no disks are listed, this is a red flag for
WDS imaging and requires adding disk controller driver files to a boot
image for WDS imaging to work on this particular hardware platform.
Select the disk to install the operating system on, click Next to allow
the imaging process to create the volume, format it, and install Windows
7 on the WDS client system.
Note
When selecting hardware for
server and desktops that will be deployed using WDS images, ensure that
the hardware is certified to work with Windows Server 2008, Windows 7,
Windows Vista SP1, and/or Windows Server 2008 R2 and verify that all of
the drivers are certified and signed by the Windows Hardware Quality lab
to simplify operating system deployment to these systems.
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9. | After
the disk selection is made and the Next button is clicked, the disk
volume is created and formatted and the operating system installation
begins by expanding and
copying the necessary files and installing the default operating system
selections. When this phase of the installation completes, Windows Setup
begins.
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10. | On the Set Up Windows page, select the correct country, time & currency and keyboard layout, and click Next to continue.
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11. | Depending
on the install image selected and if any unattended files have been
created the next few pages will ask for input to set the PC name,
product key, accepting the end-user licensing agreement, Windows Update
settings, date and time, and network zone settings. These pages will
appear in a different order depending on the install image, and some
pages might not appear at all if Windows XP or Windows Server 2003
images are being deployed. Follow the necessary steps to complete the
installation of this image to the WDS client.
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12. | Most
install images will be able to join the domain automatically, but some
might not and, most likely, the default name of the PC will need to be
updated using the WDS server property pages or custom unattended file.
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This completes the installation process of a default WDS image.
WDS Boot and Install Image Troubleshooting
Getting a WDS system to work
the first time will either work without issue or it can be a real
hassle. This section provides a short list of issues and troubleshooting
steps that might help make the implementation of WDS more successful.
Issue 1: WDS clients never prompt to boot from network by pressing F12.
When this occurs, the issue
might be related to the boot order on the client. Go into the BIOS on
the client and first verify that the network interface card has network
boot functionality enabled. Next set the boot order to make the network
interface card first in the boot list or boot priority and try again.
If the PXE boot option
starts, the administrator should see the IP address that is leased from
the DHCP server. If no IP address is leased, check to see that the WDS
server is listed as an authorized DHCP server using the Microsoft
Windows Server 2008 R2 DHCP console. If it is not listed, add it by
changing the DHCP server advanced property page settings. If DHCP is on
the same server as WDS, check the WDS server DHCP property page settings
to ensure that both check boxes are checked. Also verify normal DHCP
server operation by checking that a client on the same network can
acquire a DHCP IP address.
Issue 2:
WDS clients can press F12 and get the list of boot images. After the
boot image is loaded and the locale and keyboard layout are chosen, they
are never prompted for credentials or cannot proceed any further even
after entering the correct credentials.
When this occurs, the most
likely issue is that the boot image selected does not contain a suitable
network card driver for that workstation or server network interface
card. To determine if this is the case, after the boot image is loaded
at the Windows Deployment Services page, press Shift and F10 to drop to a
command prompt. Type in Ipconfig and press Enter. If an IP address is listed, run Ipconfig /all
to check the DNS server settings as the DHCP server might not be giving
the correct scope options. If no IP address is listed, the network
interface card drivers for this hardware will need to be manually
injected or the drivers can be added using the Windows Server 2008 R2
WDS console.
Another issue that can cause
this is if the NTFS and share permissions of the deployment share on
the WDS server are not configured correctly. The share and NTFS
permissions should allow all desired user groups to read and execute.
These groups might be limited based on the delegation of administration
desired to control who can deploy WDS images.
Issue 3: After entering credentials, the list of install images only shows x64 images.
This issue is by design
if the boot image selected is an x64-based boot image. Selecting an x86
boot image, for example from Windows 7 Ultimate, allows the WDS client
to show both x86- and x64-based images.
Issue 4:
Regardless of whether the x86 boot image or the x64 boot image is
selected from an x64-compatible WDS client, some install images still
are not listed.
This issue can be caused by
architecture discovery being disabled on the WDS server. Before changing
this setting, however, it is a good idea to restart the WDS server
after any new boot or install images are loaded as the first step in
troubleshooting. If after restarting the WDS server, if some install
images are still not showing, toggle the architecture discovery
settings, restart the server, and check the client. Toggle the setting
back, restart the server, and check again to see if all the install
images are listed. To check and, if necessary, modify the architecture
discovery and other WDS server settings, perform the following steps
from the WDS server:
1. | Log on to the desired WDS server with an account that has local administrator membership.
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2. | Open a command prompt and type the command WDSUTIL /get-server /show:config |more and press Enter. This shows the WDS configuration in the Command Prompt window one page at a time.
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3. | On
the second or third page look for architecture discovery and note
whether it is enabled or disabled. Change the value and restart the
server and check the client. If there is no effect, change the value
back.
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4. | If the WDS server architecture discovery is shown as disabled, type in the command in the Command Prompt window WDSUTIL /Set-Server /architecturediscovery:Yes and press Enter.
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5. | If the WDS server architecture discovery is shown as enabled, type in the command in the Command Prompt window WDSUTIL /Set-Server /architecturediscovery:No and press Enter.
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6. | After changing the architecture discovery setting, restart the WDS server in the Command Prompt window by typing in Net Stop Wdsserver and press Enter to stop the service. Then type the command Net Start Wdsserver and press Enter to start the service.
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Issue 5:
The WDS client can boot into the boot image and select the install
image, but no disks are listed as options to install the WDS image on
to.
This
issue is most likely caused by a missing storage controller driver in
the boot image. The resolution to this issue is to add storage
controller drivers to the boot image the same way network card drivers
are added.
Issue 6:
After selecting the install image and the destination disk, the
installation starts but after the install completes, many devices are
listed as unknown in Device Manager.
This issue indicates that the
drivers for these unknown devices are not included in the install image
and they should be added to the desired install image the same way
drivers are added to the boot image.
