7 steps to deploy Windows 7

Author: When Greg Shields

I think Microsoft's free Windows 7 deployment solution, a little sad. Don't get me wrong - the solutions themselves are great, they've done a great job of deploying Windows on thousands of desktops.

What makes me sad is not the function of these tools, but the way they exist. The documents you find on the Internet are only getting more and more confused, and a lot of Microsoft acronyms are like letter soup, which is driving me crazy.

Before you start reading, you should know that Microsoft wants you to PXE your computer to WDS by pre-preserving the GUID in ADUC and then doing this using the unattend.XML file built from WSIM in the WAIK. . Don't forget the MDT (formerly known as BDD), and its deployment workbench covers the entire process. If you love this method, congratulations, you can skip to the next article. As for the rest of us, we must find a simpler way.

Fortunately, here is the same solution: but the method is slightly different. For those IT professionals who are proficient in the door, there may be no effort to explain these terms, let alone string them. So I wrote this new book: “Automating Windows 7 Installation for Desktop and VDI Environments”, which is available for free from nexus.realtimepublishers.com/awidv.php.

In the book, I outlined a multi-step process that will allow you to start from scratch and end up with a fully automated Windows deployment solution. Automated deployment of Windows does not always require full automation. If you only need to deploy a few systems, the full automation may take longer than manually installing Windows.

I have an easier way: you can use the following 7 simple steps to generate a Win7 automated solution. It may take only one lunch time to complete these steps. If you have already generated a Windows image and are ready to go, you can upgrade your entire office computer to Windows 7 within the same day.

More importantly, you can use these steps as a starting point to create a fully automated solution with a full-featured Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT). Once you understand the basic concepts of the deployment scenario, these skills will be amazingly effective in interpreting the rich features of MDT.

Step 1: Install Windows Deployment Server

Are there any less busy Windows Server 2008 R2? This release adds a few nuances to Windows Deployment Services (WDS), making it a must. Install WDS on this server and run it & ldquo;Configure Server Wizard”. Add a Windows 7 image set from DVD media directly in its "Add Image Wizard". These images will come in handy soon.

Step 2: Configure WDS to Deploy over the Network

You can boot images from a USB hard drive or other bootable media, but WDS includes some nice boot-in features from the network. Deploying images over the network means you no longer have to move your computer in the office, but you should always be careful not to use too much bandwidth (which can cause WDS multicast network deployment issues).

Figure 1 "PXE Response" tab

The initial WDS settings contain nine different property tabs that you will need to view one by one. The settings for each tab are covered in the book, but only one of the tabs that requires extra attention is covered here. This tab is named “PXE Response", as shown in Figure 1 . One of the most difficult parts of using Microsoft free tools is to name the deployed computer. In addition to discovering and pre-populating the computer's GUID in Active Directory, there has been no ideal computer naming solution until recently.

Figure 2 "Name and Approval" Options

The following methods can be considered to replace the annoying pre-existing steps: Configure the PXE response. This configuration means that you have to "approve" all client computers that WDS does not know. It also shows the ability to name the client during the approval process. Looking at Figure 2, I am planning to approve a waiting client.

With the naming and approving client options, I can set the name at the beginning of the installation process. Later, I can automate every other installation part. Basically, after doing this, I can leave and return, and I will see a complete Windows 7 instance when I come back. This is easy.

To do this, you must configure permission delegation in Active Directory. (For more information on common administrative task permissions, see technet.microsoft.com/library/cc754005(WS.10).) If you do not configure permission delegation, then selecting “naming and approving> causes an error. While you can ignore some of the configuration details mentioned, you must be aware that "naming and approval" means an important new way you may have missed.

Step 3: Deploy the first Windows 7 image

After the WDS server is ready, you can begin deploying the first image. Since you have uploaded the "Basic" image from the Windows 7 DVD media, try one of them. The image should be deployed and you should be prompted for additional information in two different locations. The first one is located in the Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) served by WinPE. The second is at the end of the "Settings in Windows" wizard.

There are also important steps you may have missed. For deployment over the network, Microsoft offers three ways to set up multicast transmissions. You can start the transfer based on the number of clients or the countdown timer. However, the third way is even better. This method is called “Auto-Cast” and is selected in Figure 3 .

Figure 3 Selecting Multicast Types

Because Auto-Cast is essentially a multicast transmission that runs continuously, it is especially Amazing. Once you've set it up, you can connect to your computer at any time. The connected computer will automatically start receiving the OS after completing the correct boot sequence.

Auto-Cast is especially convenient. When I have an image to deploy, just let it run. After that, if you need to deploy, you can start the process from the client. If the client is known, it will start immediately. If the client is unknown, the system will prompt me to choose to approve and name the client at the beginning. Then, when the client is installed, I can do something else.