Creating a Discover Image

Although PXE boot is a very useful tool for a seamless, over-the-network installation of Windows Server 2008, it does have limitations. For example, if the computer doesn't have PXE boot capabilities or is on the other side of a very slow WAN link, loading an OS image over the network may not be the ideal solution. In this example, we create a Discover image that is created to a file and then burned onto CDs or DVDs to be distributed and loaded at a later time.

1. Open the Windows Deployment Services console.
2. Expand your server in the left pane.
3. Click the Boot Images folder.
4. Right-click the boot image from which you want to create a Discover image and choose Create Discover Boot Image. (This assumes you've already added a boot image to your Boot Images folder.)
5. Enter the Image Name and Image Description.
6. Enter the full pathname where the image will be stored.
7. Enter or browse to select the Windows deployment server that will respond to the request, and then click Next. Enter the credentials for an account with administrator privileges if prompted.
8. Click Finish.

The result of the preceding steps is a Discover boot image. That solves only half of our problem. Since Discover boot images are designed to be burned onto CD or DVD media, we still have to create a bootable ISO image that we can burn onto removable media. Before you begin with this part of the exercise, download the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) from Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com) and install it. This is a 992MB download, so it will take a while to pull it down. The AIK is set up to be burned to a DVD, so you will need to download this to a workstation or server that supports DVD burning. This doesn't have to be done on the WDS server; it can be installed on Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1 and later, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008.

TIP: Because the Windows AIK is constantly being enhanced, check Microsoft's Web site to see which operating systems support the current Windows AIK.

1. Open a command prompt.
2. Change the current directory to C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools.
3. Run the following command to create a WinPE directory structure:
   Copype x86 c:\WinPEx86
4. Delete C:\WinPEx86\ISO\sources\boot.wim.
5. Copy the Discover boot image you created earlier to C:\WinPEx86\ISO\sources and rename it boot.wim.
6. You should now have only one file in C:\WinPEx86\ISO\sources, and the filename has to be boot.wim.
7. Change the current directory to C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools.
8. Run the following command to create the ISO file:
   Oscdimg -n -bC:\WinPEx86\ISO\boot\etfsboot.com c:\WinPEx86\ISO c:\WinPEx86.iso
9. You will now have an ISO file (C:\WinPEx86.iso) that you can burn onto a CD or DVD and use to bootup a system.