WDS – Unattended file – Joining a Domain Automatically
KB ID 0000494 Problem During a large rollout the more things you can automate the better, before you continue though be aware of one thing… You can only automatically join a client to a domain if it has an auto generated random machine name!* *Note: This is not 100% true, if you pre-stage the computer objects into Active Directory with the GUID of the machine (you can see this on the screen at pXe boot time, or get it from the...
Windows Deployment Services – Asks for Locale and Keyboard
KB ID 0000734 Problem Seen when deploying images with WDS, even though you have specified language, and keyboard settings in your answerfile. The system still asks you to set the language and keyboard options. For a couple of machines you might put up with this, but for a few thousand machines it can get quite annoying! Solution There is a reason it’s doing this, and it’s because the next thing it asks you to do is...
WDS Deploying Windows Part 3: Carry Out an Unattended Deployment
KB ID 0000738 Problem In part two we built our reference machine and took an image of it using WDS. Now to automate the deployments we need to create some unattended answer files, these will answer all the questions that the Windows 8 machines will ask while they are building. We will take those files and import them into the WDS server we configured in part one. Finally to make sure everything is working we will deploy Windows 8....
WDS Deploying Windows Part 2: Prepare Windows, and Capture to WDS
KB ID 0000737 Problem In part one we built and configured the WDS Server. Now you need to prepare the reference Windows 8 machine so that you can ‘capture’ its image. Solution Before you start, make sure that the machine you are imaging has PLENTY of room on one of its local drive(s), because it copies the image locally, before it sends it to WDS. Place Your Reference Windows 8 Machine in Audit Mode To put all the software...
WDS Deploying Windows Part 1: Install and Configure WDS
KB ID 0000735 Problem You want to deploy the Windows 8 Client Operating System, to a number of clients using WDS. In this part we will configure the WDS Server, then we will move onto taking an image of your reference Windows 8 machine. Finally we will cover taking that image, and deploying it out to many target systems. Solution Add the WDS Role 1. From Server Manager (ServerManager.exe) > Local Server. 2. Manage > Add Roles...