Loading and Install Image to your Clients Using WDS

So far, we've loaded boot images to WDS; created a Capture image from the boot image, which is nothing more than a boot image that automatically goes into the Capture Image Wizard; used the Capture image to create an Install image; and created a Discover image to boot non-PXE-enabled devices. The end goal of all this engineering effort is to load Windows operating system images to bare metal or existing PCs with minimal effort. If you try PXE booting one of your test machines to load your newly created Install image, you will probably be wondering why the boot menu still shows only your boot and Capture boot images in the PXE boot menu, even though you've clearly created and added an Install image to WDS.

If you read through this tutorial, you should know that there are only three different types of boot images:

• The regular boot image that is taken from OS installation media (boot.wim)
• Capture boot images created from regular boot images
• Discover boot images that are also created from regular boot images

Notice how to create an Install boot image. There is no such thing as an Install boot image, since they are actually called Install images. The lack of the word boot in Install images is intentional, since Install images are not bootable. You will actually need to boot using either a regular boot image using PXE or a Discover boot image, and then selecting the appropriate Install image to load when prompted.

Installing Windows Server 2008 Using WDS and PXE Boot

1. Boot the server onto which you'd like to load Windows Server 2008 using PXE (press f12 when prompted).
2. When the boot menu appears, select Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Setup (x86). Note that this menu will not appear if you have only one boot image in WDS. Also, your selection will be based on the boot image you have available, and the actual text may be different. Simply select the option that loads the boot image for Windows Server 2008 that you added from the Windows Server 2008 installation media.
3. After it boots, select the locale and keyboard or input method; then click Next.
4. When prompted, enter the credentials for a user account that is minimally a member of the Domain Users group. This is important since this clearly allows you to delegate the ability to load images without having to give a user admin privileges. In the background, this credential is used to access the REMINST share on the WDS server.
5. Select the OS you want to install and then click Next. If applicable, you can also select the Language to install.
6. Select the partition to which you want to install, and then click Next. This will initiate the installation of Windows Server 2008.