Creating a Customized Installation Image
One of the biggest benefits of learning how to use the Windows deployment solutions is that you can deploy a customized image. This process allows you to create an image that contains preinstalled software with all your configurations. This approach eliminates a huge amount of time in the deployment process.
You will now learn how to prepare a reference (also referred to as a template or gold) machine, use WDS to capture an image, and add that image to your WDS server for deployment to other machines.
Prepare a Reference Machine
The goal here is to prepare a typical machine with Windows 7, install any software that is required by all recipients of the new image, and configure the operating system and software. You can use WDS to deploy a normal installation of Windows 7. After that you will install all the software that you want to be included in the new image. This stage is where things can get a little interesting. Organizations will adopt different strategies, including, but not limited to, the following:
Minimal Customizations: Only a small number of applications will be installed, such as a software distribution client. This client would be able to automatically install software on a policy basis once the image is deployed to a machine and it boots up.
Moderate Installation: An identified set of software that is standard across the entire organization might be installed on the reference machine. This image will be deployed to every machine. Any customizations can be installed afterward using manual or automatic mechanisms.
One-Size-Fits-All: This option is not likely to be chosen in anything but the smallest organizations. A single image will be deployed to all computers. It will contain all required software.
Customized Images: You might want to create images for individual teams, departments, offices, or divisions. Each image will contain all the software required for the recipient machines.
You can make configurations to the operating system and software. However, it would probably be best if you did so using Active Directory Group Policy where possible. Group Policy allows changes to be implemented more easily and provides more granular control.
You will need to generalize the reference machine once it is ready for image creation. As with all the Windows deployment solutions, you use Sysprep to accomplish this. (Unlike with Windows XP and earlier operating systems, you do not need to copy this utility onto the machine. It is preinstalled and kept up-to-date by service pack installations.) You can find Sysprep in C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep. Run sysprep.exe when you are ready to generalize the machine. By default, Enter System Out-Of-Box-Experience (OOBE) is specified and the Generalize check box is selected. Be sure to configure what the machine should do once the generalization is complete. The default is to reboot. We do not recommend using the default, even if you do intend to start the WDS capture client right away. The reason is that you might miss the POST prompt to start a network boot and the machine will start to configure the generalized operating system. This will force you to generalize it once again. Instead, we recommend configuring the machine to shut down after the generalization. You can power it up and start a network boot when you are ready.
How Many Times Can You Run Sysprep?
Microsoft does not recommend that you run Sysprep more than once on an image. In other words, they don't like it when you generalize a machine, capture an image, deploy that image, generalize it again, and capture it again. However, Microsoft does support running Sysprep up to three times on a single image.
The next step will be to create an installation image from this reference machine.
Create an Image
You will now use this capture image to boot up the reference machine and capture the generalized image.
Power up the reference machine and boot it up on the network. Choose the capture boot image when the PXE client starts. The boot image will download over the network and start. You can skip the welcome screen to get to the Directory To Capture screen below.
You have to enter three pieces of information. You should select the volume letter that you want to capture using WDS. This highlights a limitation of WDS; you can only capture and deploy a single volume. You might notice something odd here. The volume we are capturing is shown as D:, even though it is the C: drive when the reference machine is booted up. There is a handy solution you can use if you are a little confused about the volume that you are capturing.
- Start a command prompt in Windows PE by pressing Shift+F10.
- Navigate the volumes (cd) and list their contents to see which volume letter it is that you need to select. You can do this using DiskPart and by running the list volume command.
- Enter the image name and description as you want them appear in the WDS console and
to users when they are deploying images to their machines. You can change the name and description later in the console.
The New Image Location screen is where you configure the location of the new image that is to be created and if and how you want the image to be uploaded to the WDS server. - Click Browse to select a location to create the new installation image in and to name the file. You can create the new image on the same volume that you are capturing if there is sufficient space. You will need an additional local (not network-based) volume or drive if there is not enough space.
- Optionally select the option to upload the new image to the WDS server. If you do want to do this, click the Connect button to authenticate with the WDS server. Once you have entered valid credentials, you can select an Image Group to add the new image to. This will use single instance storage to reduce the amount of disk space that is needed to store the image. Make sure you choose an image group that matches the operating system, edition, and architecture of your new image.
Now you can put your feet up while the capture image does the work for you. The image is captured and will be uploaded to your WDS server if configured. The image will then be available for further configuration (such as access permissions) and deployment to other machines using the same process as described earlier for the Microsoft-supplied installation image. Remember that you will need to refresh the WDS console (if it was open already) to see the new installation image.
