Prerequisite Skills and Lab Requirements

To build Windows 7 images-with or without MDT 2010-you should be familiar with the following tools and concepts:

• Unattended setup answer files (Unattend.xml)
• Windows AIK 2.0, including the following tools:
  • Windows SIM
  • DISM
  • ImageX
• Hardware device drivers and hardware-specific applications
• Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript)
• Disk imaging technologies and concepts, including Sysprep
• Windows PE 3.0

Lab Requirements

While developing and testing Windows 7 images, you will copy large volumes of files between the build server and destination computers. Because of these high-volume data transfers, you should establish a lab that is physically separate from the production network. Configure the development lab to represent the production environment as much as possible.

Lab Hardware

Ensure that the following hardware is available in the lab environment:

• Network switches and cabling 100 megabits per second (Mbps) or faster is recommended to accommodate the high volumes of data.
• Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM) switches It's useful to have the client computers connected to a KVM switch to minimize the floor space required to host the computers.
• CD and DVD burner A system should be available in the lab for creating CD-ROMs or DVD-ROMs.
• Client computers In the lab, duplicate any unique type of computer configuration found in the production environment to allow for testing each hardware configuration. n Build server This computer (running Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1, or a newer version of Windows) can be a client- or server-class computer. The computer should have at least 50 gigabytes (GB) of disk space and backup equipment, such as a tape drive or a storage area network (SAN). Using Windows Server 2008 R2 is recommended because it already includes the MDT 2010 prerequisites.

Network Services

Make sure that the following network services are available in the lab environment:

• A Windows domain for the computers to join and to host user accounts This domain could be a Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Server 2008 domain.
• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) services DHCP provides Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) addresses to client computers.
• Domain Name System (DNS) services DNS provides TCP/IP host name resolution to client and server computers.
• Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS) WINS provides NetBIOS name resolution to client and server computers. This service is optional but recommended.
• Windows Deployment Services Windows Deployment Services delivers Windows PE to computers that do not yet have an operating system. Windows Deployment Services servers require a Windows Server 2003 or later domain.
• Internet access The lab (or a portion of the lab) should have access to the Internet for downloading software updates.

Note Windows protects users against malicious programs by warning them when they try to run a program that they have downloaded from the Internet. Users must acknowledge the warning to continue. This warning, however, prevents MDT 2010 from installing applications automatically during the build process. After verifying that the file is safe, disable the warning by right-clicking the file, clicking Properties, and then clicking Unblock. Windows does not display this warning when files are downloaded from sites listed in the Trusted Sites security zone, and Windows Server 2003 SP1 or later versions do not allow program downloads from untrusted sites.