My Network Boot Setup - WDS and Syslinux - Inst Windows in mins + boot CDs over LAN

[crashtech]

Been having great fun with this, Thanks FoolishTech!

Now I need to integrate an unattended install into this method, if it's possible.

 

[cyabro]

Anyone know if it is possible to add the WD and Seagate Acronis versions to the menu and boot to them?

 

[TLE]

Anyone know if it is possible to add the WD and Seagate Acronis versions to the menu and boot to them?

I have my Acronis Boot CD running via WDS and SysLinux and it works great.

 

[cyabro]

I have my Acronis Boot CD running via WDS and SysLinux and it works great.

Is that a bought/paid for Acronis?

I have my ShadowProtect IT Edition booting from the WDS server fine as that was easy. Just created another boot image and used the .wim file from the USB stick, done. Still need to run the license server though.

I want to know if it's possible to do the same with the WD or Seagate Acronis versions, they seem to be different to the bought versions.

 

[TLE]

Is that a bought/paid for Acronis?

I have my ShadowProtect IT Edition booting from the WDS server fine as that was easy. Just created another boot image and used the .wim file from the USB stick, done. Still need to run the license server though.

I want to know if it's possible to do the same with the WD or Seagate Acronis versions, they seem to be different to the bought versions.

It is indeed a bought and paid for Acronis Boot CD. Not sure about the free version from WD, as I don't think it is supposed to be used in a business enviroment as it will go against the EULA. You'll need to check that out.

 

[Spartan PC Services]

Awesome guide, can't wait for some spare time to try this out.

 

[Eric_whitbypc]

I think this is a great idea, i've not implimented the linux menu but it got me thinking about using WDS as its a good few years since i last used it!
Its exactly what i've been looking for over the last couple of years, its much better (in our environment) than trying to clone drives / images to get systems set up with 100+ updates (xp& vista)
I've been testing this morning and with XP (home/ pro) with all updates, software pack etc installed i'm deploying to an old p4 laptop in under 15mins! Thats brilliant considering building the image on the same machine with all the updates etc took about 4 hours!
Thanks for the guide!

 

[markcuk11]

I have just got this going with sbs2011. had to manually inject a driver pack into the boot.wim has the wizard kept crashing.

one thing before i do the syslinux is it easy to go back to the normal booting option ie

if i run these commands can i undo them?

Next we tell WDS to boot to Syslinux.

Server 2008 R2 and above, open an administrator command prompt, and paste in the following commands:
wdsutil /set-server /bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.com /architecture:x86
wdsutil /set-server /bootprogram:boot\x64\pxelinux.com /architecture:x64
wdsutil /set-server /N12bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.com /architecture:x86
wdsutil /set-server /N12bootprogram:boot\x64\pxelinux.com /architecture:x64

cheers

Mark

 

[jbartlett323]

I have just got this going with sbs2011. had to manually inject a driver pack into the boot.wim has the wizard kept crashing.

one thing before i do the syslinux is it easy to go back to the normal booting option ie

if i run these commands can i undo them?

Next we tell WDS to boot to Syslinux.

Server 2008 R2 and above, open an administrator command prompt, and paste in the following commands:
wdsutil /set-server /bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.com /architecture:x86
wdsutil /set-server /bootprogram:boot\x64\pxelinux.com /architecture:x64
wdsutil /set-server /N12bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.com /architecture:x86
wdsutil /set-server /N12bootprogram:boot\x64\pxelinux.com /architecture:x64

cheers

Mark

Definitely by removing and reinstalling WDS... pretty sure you can run the same command and just point it at the original PXE boot file too, but dont quote me on that, i removed and reinstalled!

 

[markcuk11]

thanks for the reply but i think i found the answer

These are the default boot programs:

wdsutil /set-server /bootprogram:boot\x86\pxeboot.com /architecture:x86
wdsutil /set-server /N12bootprogram:boot\x86\pxeboot.n12 /architecture:x86
wdsutil /set-server /bootprogram:boot\x64\pxeboot.com /architecture:x64
wdsutil /set-server /N12bootprogram:boot\x64\pxeboot.n12 /architecture:x64

found from here http://social.technet.microsoft.com...l/thread/fcbb3fb7-99ff-4382-a739-818f2fbefe38

 

[killaduck]

Thanks FoolishTech, This is brilliant and i can't thank you enough for the time you have put in for this

I have one problem with capturing a sysprep image, wonder if anyone can tell me what i have done wrong

I've installed windows 7 64 bit and installed updates and programs then ran sysprep, when i boot into WDS select capture image (x64) it starts the capture and gets to 1% then stops with error message 'not enought free space'.

The sbs 2011 has a seperate hdd just for remote install folder and it has over 400gb free space what have i done wrong

Thanks in advance

Brad

 

[markcuk11]

I have set up syslinux had no luck getting linux based iso's to work. Anyone got any ideas would like to get kaspersky rescue cd on there.

does anyone know a good antivirus boot cd based on msdart?

Cheers

Mark

 

[FoolishTech]

Thanks FoolishTech, This is brilliant and i can't thank you enough for the time you have put in for this

I have one problem with capturing a sysprep image, wonder if anyone can tell me what i have done wrong

I've installed windows 7 64 bit and installed updates and programs then ran sysprep, when i boot into WDS select capture image (x64) it starts the capture and gets to 1% then stops with error message 'not enought free space'.

The sbs 2011 has a seperate hdd just for remote install folder and it has over 400gb free space what have i done wrong

Thanks in advance

Brad

When you are asked to save the image file, you are doing it on the local hard drive (the same OS partition you are trying to capture), right?

 

[markcuk11]

nod32 rescue cd works

 

[killaduck]

When you are asked to save the image file, you are doing it on the local hard drive (the same OS partition you are trying to capture), right?

Hands up I was doing something silly when i was saving the image i was saving it to the the local disk but i was picking the 100mb system reserved lol it works now

 

[FoolishTech]

Hands up I was doing something silly when i was saving the image i was saving it to the the local disk but i was picking the 100mb system reserved lol it works now

LOL I pretty much knew what you were doing I think because I've made the same mistake in the past

 

[killaduck]

LOL I pretty much knew what you were doing I think because I've made the same mistake in the past

Haha thanks for the guide its brilliant its even better when i follow it properly lol

 

[DocGreen]

Just read the guide on your website and I'm really looking forward to trying this!! I did have a couple questions though.

First question might be a dumb one, but... when I put a boot image on the WDS, say from one of my boot CD's, I'm just putting the ISO in, right? So does the WDS work as a virtual drive for the client then? Does anything get copied to the client HDD?

Second question... you went over adding extra boot images briefly... is there anything special needed to add things like Parted Magic or a Win7 PE, or are those just as easy as copying the ISO's and adding them to the boot menu?


Thanks Nick!

 

[DocGreen]

Thought of another question... you said that one image of Windows will allow you to install all editions. What about OEM vs Retail? Will we need to have different images for each?

 

[brandonkick]

I realize that what I just wrote was a book, so if you want to skim past the steps I've taken in getting windows server 2008 R2 set up and installing the necessary Roles then skip down to the sunglasses smiley face.

I have several questions about this:

Yesterday I found this guide and it hit me that this is exactly the thing I was looking for. Before I found this guide I was wanting to somehow build a disc that had all the editions of windows on it, realizing that this would be impossible to fit onto a DVD (even DVD +R DL). However THIS is so much better then that simply because you can also put all your linux based tools on the server as well and deploy across the network!! And as a side benefit it made me dive into windows server 2008 (something I know nothing about).

Luckily the repair shop in town (guy who wanted me to try to create such a boot disk) had a copy of server 2008 he was willing to give me as he got two copies on ebay and wound up not using them.

So I set off and installed Server 2008 R2 on my laptop. That took quite a while. Ran into an issue where the installer kept freezing and gave an error. Turns out the error was because of the 100MB partition that windows 7 puts on the drive. I deleted it (leaving the windows 7 partition intact) because I can always put it back later (if I move windows server to something else) or try to figure out some way to dual boot. Enough about that though

So I get to setting up server 2008 on my dell xps M1530. I find a lan driver and install it and run driver genius to get most of the rest of the drivers installed. Still one or two stragglers but the machine was working fine (and I'll get those if server 2008 stays on the laptop, not sure that it will).

I install an Active Server Domain Services under Roles. I set up a new domain in a new forest (as I don't have anything else at home with server on it, so I figured there would be no other existing forests). I named the FQDN xps.local and set forest function level to server 2008 forest as again no other machines running windows server. For selected options I left DNS sever checked and Global Catalog was checked (and also unable to be deselected). I got a warning about my computer using dynamic IP addresses so I went into my adapter settings and set up a static IPv4 address (disabled IPv6). I just picked an arbitrary number. My router uses IP addresses ranging form 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.199 so I just picked 192.168.0.57

It gave me another delegation warning which I ignored after some research.

Next it asks me where to install database, logfiles and sysvol. I leave them set to default.

I enter my directory services restore mode password.

Things finish up and I'm prompted to restart my computer which I do.

Now ADDS and DNS server are installed and show up under roles (but both have warnings some of which I can't figure out).

So I install the DHCP Server role. I set the IP to 192.168.0.57 and validate it. I enter my parent domain of xps.local. I left the WINS setting to default that it was not required (not sure what WINS is for).

So I add a DHCP "scope". I enter 192.168.0.58 to 192.168.0.65 for ranges, standard subnet mask, and default gateway. I disabled DHCPv6. I left it set to default credentials and then it gave me a summary and completed the install.

At this point I installed Windows Deployment Services which was straight forward. I left both options check during install (Deployment Server, Transport Server).

Then I configured my WDS by selecting a remote install folder (left it at default), DHCP option 60 (checked both boxes) and set it to respond to all client computers. Then I clicked add images to WDS now and stated by making a boot image of my windows 7 x86 disk. I then add all of the windows 7 imagines from the install.wim file. I took my windows 7 x64 disk, added its boot.wim and then add all the windows 7 x64 images by selecting install.wim on that disk. I put those in install groups (windows 7 (x86) and windows 7 (64) ) and made a third install group for windows Vista x86. I only added the install.wim from the vista disk though, I did not add its boot.wim as the directions on foolishit website said not too.

So I figure everything is good to go. I fire up my custom built desktop that I built three years ago (core i7, 6GB ram) and configure the motherboard to allow me to boot via onboard lan. I hit f11 and select network PXE boot and it finds the server on 192.168.0.57 and brings up a list of boot images to select. I hit enter on the first one and it starts loading files. At this point I figure it is going to work and i alt-ctrl-del out of it so that my workstation isn't formatted. Didn't want to risk it.

Now we finally get to my questions! I don't know that much about windows server (just started fresh yesterday) and this is why I'm asking.

My home network setup is fairly simple. I have a cable modem going into a belkin wireless router. Connected to that router via ethernet are two desktop PC's, and sometimes a laptop via wireless. When I plugged my laptop into the network it seems like the other computers on the network now want to use the DNS server on my XPS laptop?

A window popped up on my workstation screen asking me to choose a network location (home, work, or public) and it was "xps.local". Running an ipconfig /all confimed that it was using the DNS server on my laptop.

I don't want that to happen (if that's possible). I want to plug the laptop into the network and then I can plug in client computers to deploy images to. The clients finds the server and then can make use of WDS. What settings do I have to change (both on my server and on the other normal computers on my network) so that the other computers on the network leave their networking settings as they were before I ever plugged the server into the network? If I can't do that, then what do I need to learn about a DNS server to properly configure my computers. The desktop workstation was able to get online just fine, and my iphone 4s was able to connect via wireless with no issues. However my mothers droid 4 wouldn't work on wireless and only after shutting down the server would it start working again.

Knowing as little as I do, it's amazing that it looks like I'll be able to deploy windows across the network at all. I need to learn a lot more about windows server and networking in general. They only showed us the basic networking stuff when I was studying for a bachelors of science degree in computer science (nothing windows server at all).