WDS and XP Part 3

Intro

In this part 3 I will cover the sysprep process including how to make your reference image generic enough to be deployed to any machine you have.

Driverpacks

There are many ways to get a reference image installed with enough drivers to make it install on any machine and driverpacks is one of them.

In this case I will cover the basic procedure:

1. Download the latest version of DriverPack Base from the website
2. Extract the archive to a folder somewhere
   1. Copy DPsFnshr.ini to the C:\
   2. Extract the DPsFnshr.7z archive to the c:\
   3. copy roe.exe to c:\sysprep
   4. copy DevPath.exe (inside M2.7z) to c:\
3. Download the driver packs you wish to integrate.
4. Extract them to the C:\
   1. You should have a whole lot of files ending with wnt5_x86-32.ini
   2. There should also be a folder called “D” inside there should have the DriverPacks folder structure
   3. If you are integrating DP_Graphics_A.
      1. Create a empty file called ATICCC.ins if you wish to have the Catalyst Control Center
      2. or Create an empty file called ATICCP.insif you want the Catalyst Control Panel installed
   4. Remote any drivers from DriverPacks in c:\D that you don’t need
5. Run “c:\DevPath.exe C:\D
6. Edit the file DPsFnshr.ini to suit your needs
   1. Here you can change the KTD options (Keep the Drivers)

HAL Setup

This process is not required under WDS if you have used the hotfix describe in part1.

If you haven’t used the hotfix, I would recommend you do.

The only thing you need to note here are these options http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309283/en-us.

These provide the lines required for sysprep

Sysprep

Initial Setup

In order to sysprep the system, you need to get the sysprep files and extract them to c:\sysprep.

You then need to create your answer file. Make sure you create a syprep setup answer file and that its fully automated.

Use the wizard to create the reference sysprep answer file.

Mass Storage

One this is done make sure the following entries are merged to the sysprep answer file:

[Unattended]
UpdateInstalledDrivers = Yes
DriverSigningPolicy = Ignore

[SysprepMassStorage]

Once this is done run the command “c:\sysprep\sysprep.exe -bmsd”. This will add a whole lot of drivers to the [SysprepMassStorage] heading in the sysprep answer file.

You can now add mass storage drivers that you want detected during windows initial startup. There is a script available to help you generate this list.

I would keep this list as short as possible as not all of the drivers can be added to the sysprepmasstorage section of the sysprep file.

Domain

When using WDS, the sysprep file requires the following entry:

[Identification]
DoOldStyleDomainJoin = Yes

Other Options

You may wish to add these other options. These options can be merged with your current answer file:

[Unattended]
 InstallFilesPath=C:\i386
 oempreinstall=Yes
 ConfirmHardware=No
 OverwriteOemFilesOnupgrade=No
 DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore
 updateInstalledDrivers=Yes

[GuiUnattended]
 AutoLogon=Yes
 AutoLogonCount=1
 OEMSkipRegional=1

[SetupMgr]
 DistFolder=C:\i386
 DistShare=windist

[Identification]
 DoOldStyleDomainJoin = Yes

[sysprep]
BuildMassStorageSection=Yes

Capturing XP

When you come to this part, its a good idea to create a snapshot if you using VMware or similar since to be able to install more applications you need to get back to this spot. Once you proceed with the following there is no going back. The reason is that the machine will restart and run the mini-setup, install the driverpacks, and remove all traces of sysprep and related files. Hence, you would have to start from step 1 again. This would be one of the main reasons why administrators use a virtual machine as their reference machine.

XP can be captured in 3 steps:

1. Run C:\sysprep\ROE.exe 937
2. run sysprep.exe andreseal
3. When the reference machine reboots, boot into the Windows Deployment Capture Image by network booting the PC via PXE.

Once in the Windows Deployment Capture Image, its pretty straight forward to capturing the system. There is a shortcut key, “shift-F10″, that will get you a windows command line box. You can use this to mount windows shares so you can save the image to that location.