Datasheet
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ChAPTeR 1 Windows Server 2008 R2 Deployment Secrets
3. Create a separate image group for the WDS images. You can perform this
action from the WDSUTIL.exe command-line utility. For example, to create
an image group named VHD_Deployment, issue the command:
WDSUTIL.exe /Add-ImageGroup /ImageGroup:”VHD_Deployment”
4. To add the VHD image to the WDS server, you also use the WDSUTIL.exe util-
ity. For example, to add the VHD image c:\2008R2.vhd to the image group
named VHD_Deployment, issue the command:
WDSUTIL.exe /verbose /progress /Add-Image /ImageFile:”C:\2008R2.vhd”
/ImageType:Install /ImageGroup:”VHD_Deployment”
Once the VHD image is added to the server, you will need to create a special
unattend.xml le that will congure the installation procedure to use the VHD le.
You then need to associate this unattend.xml le with a pre-staged client. You can
nd an example unattend.xml le in the TechNet Article “Deploying Virtual Hard
Disk Images,” the address of which is listed in the Additional Sources section at the
end of this chapter.
Using Answer Files
Answer les allow you to automate parts of the installation process, such as per-
forming a domain join, selecting installation features, and partitioning the server.
When the installation routine starts, it performs a quick check to locate whether an
answer le is present. Although you can put the answer le on the volume on which
you are going to install Windows Server 2008 R2, it is generally easier to put it on a
USB stick. You can also place answer les on the WDS server, as shown in Figure 1-4.
Answer les on the WDS server are done on a per-architecture basis. With WDS, there
is also one answer le per architecture (× 86, × 64, IA64). This means that if you want
to deploy different server builds that require different answer les, you’ll need to
come up with some way to swap those answer les on the server level. If you are using
System Center Conguration Manager (SCCM), you are able to congure individual
deployments and associate them with specic answer les.
Windows Server 2008 R2 answer les are stored in XML format. Although it is
possible to create these les in Notepad, you should really use the Windows System
Image Manager (SIM), a tool included as part of the Windows Automated Installation
Kit (WAIK), to generate these les. To make this even more complicated, the easiest
way to obtain the WAIK is to download Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010 or
later.
Just so things
are clear, you
obtain MDT 2010
to get WAIK,
which allows you
to build Windows
Server 2008 R2
answer files using
Windows SIM.
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