3TGKB-0066 : How to...Windows Vista PE, WDS and Ghost 8

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3TGKB-0066
Last Edited :	24-11-06
Revision :	1.0

How to...Windows Vista PE, WDS and Ghost 8!

I have been playing around with the new Deployment options with Windows Vista.

I have achieved a working setup that now uses Windows Deployment Services and Windows PE to deploy our Ghost images.

Our Deployment Setup (What this procedure helps acheive)

To deploy our Ghost images on our student machines we use PXE capable machines.
The client machines boot up we choose F12 to initiate Network Boot.
At this stage the client machine receives a DHCP address and then contacts a RIS/WDS server to receive a boot menu.
The RIS/WDS server displays a menu on the PXE client machine and then we can choose from a number of *.wim images configured on the RIS/WDS server.
*.wim images are a new Microsoft Image format allowing more flexibility in the area of OS deployment.
The procedure below specifies how to create a customised Windows PE *.wim file to be used in this deployment strategy.

If you are interested in the setup then read onwards….

Pros:

1.     The WinPE/Ghost32 image works on most machines simultaneously. Thus we can use one client image for all machine types.

2.     WDS allows for quick and easy installs of Windows Vista etc.

3.     No need for RIS 3^rd party software like RISME

Cons:

1. Speed? The WinPE/Ghost32 images take longer to boot up than the old DOS/Ghost images.

2. New skill needed to create/customise the WinPE images

What do you need?

The Business Desktop Deployment Tools for Vista 2007.

I downloaded them as part of my connect.microsoft.com subscription (The New Microsoft Beta site).

The parts of the BBD 2007 you need are:

· Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK)

o Windows PE

o PETools

· WDS update

The STEPS

Install the BBD 2007 on an administrative PC

The WDS update will be installed as part of this under c:\program files\BDD 2007\WAIK\WDS\

Install WDS (Windows Deployment Services) on the image server

Firstly to enable us to use the new Microsoft *.wim format of their CD images I had to deploy WDS (Windows Deployment Services) on our image server.

WDS has the ability to work in conjunction with Microsoft RIS, so while I was tweaking things to work with Windows PE images we are still able to use the old legacy RIS images (using the RISME product) to deploy our course Ghost images.

Install the Windows AIK on the administrative PC

This will be found under c:\program files\BDD 2007\WAIK\

You will install the WAIK to c:\program files\Windows AIK\

Use the Windows AIK to create a customised Windows PE image

You will need to do this for every *.wim image you wish to create. I have used the example below when I created the Windows PE client image to start a Ghost32 client Mulitcast session called auto1.

1.     Open a command prompt as administrator

2.      C:\program files\windows AIK\tools\PETools\

3.      copyPE x86 winpeghost32-auto1
            ***this creates a WinPE working directory called “winpeghost32-auto1”***

4.      imagex /mountrw winpe.wim 1 mount
            ***this mounts the *.wim file as a sub-directory called “mount”***

5.      cd mount

6.      cd windows

7.      md ghost8

8.      copy ghost32.exe into the ghost8 directory
            ***you can use Windows Explorer to do this***

9.      go to the \mount\windows\system32\ directory

10.   edit the startnet.cmd file
            ***you can use Notepad to edit as follows***

wpeinit

wpeutil disablefirewall

%systemroot%\ghost8\ghost32.exe -clone,mode=restore,src=@mcauto1,dst=1 -sure -rb -fdsp

wpeutil reboot

                        ***this will tell WinPE how to start up***
                        ***wpeinit – starts the PE networking components and PnP***
                        ***wpeutil disablefirewall – this must be done for multicast to work***
                        *** %systemroot%\ghost8\ghost32.exe -clone,mode=restore,src=@mcauto1,dst=1 -sure -rb –fdsp    will start ghost client***
                        ***wpeinit reboot – will reboot the client once the Ghost client is finished downloading***

11.   cd..

12.   cd mount

13.   peimg /prep windows
            ***this will shrink the size of the image***

14.   yes

15.   cd..

16.   imagex /unmount /commit mount
            ***this will unmount the image as save your changes***

17.   You will now have a customised WinPE.wim file in the /winpeghost32-auto1/ directory.

18.   I have been then renaming the WinPE.wim file to something like winpeghost32-auto1.wim to avoid confusion.

Deploy the winpeghost32-auto1.wim to the WDS server

Do this by opening up WDS in administrative tools

Add the winpeghost32-auto1.wim boot image to the boot images folder by using right click.

Test out the WDS client

When you boot up you client PC’s now you will still need to choose F12 to initiate the Network Boot. When you do this a new WDS menu will appear with the deployed *wim images listed.

If you wish to still use you old RIS based images then choose Remote Installation Services which should be the bottom menu option.

I hope this helps

Matt Rowston

KB Keywords: Vista, WDS, Deploy, BDD, RIS, Ghost