Windows 7 / Getting Started

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Windows Automated Installation Kit

WAIK installs as part of your ConfigMgr installation and is available as a separate download from Microsoft. Version 2.0 is installed with ConfigMgr 2012. This version of WAIK includes Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) 3.1 boot images that are based on Windows 7 SP 1.

The WAIK is a set of tools designed to automate a Windows installation. ConfigMgr automatically uses some of the WAIK tools such as ImageX and the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool during the deployment process. WAIK also includes user guides on how to use these tools, reference documents on the various unattended setup files, and WinPE.

Using OSD fully automates and completely integrates the many details of using the tools in WAIK. You can, however, also manipulate images outside of OSD using WAIK tools.

ImageX

ImageX is a stand-alone tool that creates and deploys Windows Imaging Format (WIM) files from a Windows volume; because the tool is completely integrated into ConfigMgr, you do not need to install additional software. ImageX is also part of WAIK and can be installed and used separately by installing WAIK. Because of the tight integration, you can seamlessly use images created using ImageX outside of ConfigMgr in OSD; the opposite is also true.

ImageX can also "mount" previously created WIM files for read or read/write access. This allows you to access the files and folders stored in a WIM using a previously existing empty folder on the system. You can then add or modify files using Windows Explorer or any other tool, just as if they are part of the host system.

WIM files are the next generation of Microsoft's proprietary archive cabinet (.CAB) files. Using WIMs adds the ability to store metadata about the files and folders it contains; this capability allows you to restore a complete volume. Here are the advantages WIMs have over alternative, sector, or bit-based images created by third-party tools:

• File system independent: You can capture WIMs from or deploy them to either NTFS (NT File System)- or FAT (File Allocation Table)-based file systems.
• Volume size independent: WIMs do not store any information about the volume from which they are captured. You can deploy WIMs if enough room is available on the destination volume.
• Processor architecture independent: ImageX works identically on x86, x64, and Itanium processors. The WIMs created on each are the same format and interchangeable. This doesn't mean you can capture a 64-bit OS in a WIM and deploy it to a 32-bit system and expect it to run-just that the WIM file itself is processor architecture agnostic.
• File-based compression: Files are independently compressed inside the WIM; this often leads to better compression ratios than bit-based images.
• Multiple images in one file: Multiple distinct volume images can be contained in a single WIM file.
• Single instancing of files: Multiple identical files are stored only one time. This leads to huge space gains when a WIM contains multiple images.
• Nondestructive image application: Images can be applied to a volume without destroying existing files and data.

The WIM file has proven to be so useful and versatile that Microsoft chose to drop the previous method of installing Windows with a file copy and instead uses a WIM file! Installation media for Vista and beyond have a single WIM file containing the OS taking advantage of all the items listed in this section.

WinPE

WinPE is a mini-OS currently based on Windows 7. It includes support for networking, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), VBScript, batch files, and database access. Most things that run on a full-blown Windows 7 system also run in WinPE. The advantage of WinPE is that it is much smaller than the full-blown OS (typically approximately 150MB), loads from a read-only disk, and runs in a RAM disk. (A minimum of 512MB of memory is required for the version of WinPE included with and used by OSD in ConfigMgr 2012.) This makes WinPE suitable for booting from a CD/DVD, or over the network using PXE. OSD uses WinPE as a boot environment, ensuring the currently installed OS will not interfere with the deployment process.

Windows System Image Manager

Windows System Image Manager (WSIM) is part of the WAIK tools. WSIM is a GUI tool that builds unattended answer files for Windows 7. Instead of having to worry about the syntax of the answer file (particularly because the Windows 7 answer file is stored in XML), this tool graphically presents all available options and generates the unattend.xml file for you. This same file format is utilized for Sysprep equivalent files (sysprep.inf in Windows XP) used by the mini-setup to complete the setup of Windows 7 systems when Sysprep is used.

Deployment Image Servicing and Management

DISM is a command-line tool for manually servicing and managing Windows (Vista and above) and WinPE images. Servicing involves changing the content of the image and managing involves listing the content of the image file or combining two image files together. Servicing specifically includes adding updates and drivers to the image-both of which OSD uses DISM for.

These images can be either offline-not the currently booted OS-or can actually be online. Offline images also can be in one of two forms: in a WIM file or extracted to the disk. This makes managing many aspects of Windows seamless, no matter where the OS is or its current state.