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Issue with MDT 2010 Update 1 and Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 Supplement

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With the release of the Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement (see https://blogs.technet.com/b/mniehaus/archive/2011/02/17/windows-aik-for-windows-7-sp1-released.aspx for details), there is a new version 3.1 version of Windows PE available.  If you plan to install this update, you need to be aware of an issue when using this with MDT 2010 Update 1.

To explain the issue, first you need to understand the way the MDT boot image creation process works.  Fortunately, I explained that almost two years ago (https://blogs.technet.com/b/mniehaus/archive/2009/06/27/mdt-2010-new-feature-7-boot-image-creation-optimized.aspx):

With MDT 2010, Deployment Workbench will look for a “boot.wim” file from one of the imported operating systems that has the same build number as Windows AIK (e.g. “boot.wim” from a Windows 7 RC, build 7100, operating system to go with the Windows AIK for Windows 7 RC). If it finds a match, it will use that WIM instead. Why do we do this? Because the “boot.wim” contains the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE), a component that isn’t available in Windows AIK. 

That’s kind of high level, so let’s get a little more specific.  First, some background details:

  • The build number for the RTM version of Windows 7 is 6.1.7600.16385.
  • The build number for Windows AIK for Windows 7, released with Windows 7 RTM, is also 6.1.7600.16385.  This is stored in the registry.
  • The build number for Windows 7 SP1 is 6.1.7601.17514.
  • The build number for the files included in the Windows 7 AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement, including Windows PE 3.1 and all the Windows PE feature packs, is also 6.1.7601.17514.  But since this supplement is installed by replacing files in the Windows AIK installation directory using XCOPY, the registry isn’t updated so MDT still thinks the Windows 7 RTM version (6.1.7600.16385) of Windows AIK is installed.

Now, let’s assume that you have Windows 7 RTM x86 installation files present in your deployment share, and you haven’t installed the Windows 7 AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement.  MDT’s processing when creating a boot image will look like this:

  • Is there a boot.wim available with the same version number as Windows AIK (6.1.7600.16385 = 6.1.7600.13685)?  Yes, copy it to a temporary folder and mount it.
  • Inject the required Windows PE optional components from the Windows AIK installation directory into this mounted boot image.
  • Inject the needed MDT scripts.
  • Commit the changes to the WIM file and copy it to the deployment share.

Now, install the Windows 7 AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement and update the deployment share:

  • Is there a boot.wim available with the same version number as Windows AIK (6.1.7600.16385 = 6.1.7600.13685)? Yes (because MDT doesn’t know that Windows AIK has been updated, the registry still says it is version 6.1.7600.16385), copy it to a temporary folder and mount it.
  • Try to Inject the required Windows PE feature packs from the Windows AIK installation directory into this mounted boot image.  All fail, because they are for Windows PE 3.1 and won’t work with the Windows PE 3.0 boot image copied from the Windows 7 RTM files.
  • Stop.

The actual error will look something like this (repeated for each Windows PE feature pack):

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 6.1.7600.16385
Image Version: 6.1.7600.16385
Processing 1 of 1 - Adding package WinPE-HTA-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~x86~~6.1.7601.17514
Error: 0x800f081e
The specified package is not applicable to this image.
The DISM log file can be found at C:\Windows\Logs\DISM\dism.log
Exit code = –2146498530
DISM /Add-Package failed for component C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\amd64\WinPE_FPs\winpe-hta.cab, rc = -2146498530.

Uh oh – you can’t get past this error to generate boot images.  So what should you do?  There are two options:

  • Reinstall Windows AIK for Windows 7 RTM (version 6.1.7600.16385) so that the Windows PE 3.0 feature packs are again used.

  • Modify the Settings.xml file in the deployment share’s “Control” folder to tell MDT to never use the boot.wim.  The settings look like this:

    <Boot.x86.UseBootWim>True</Boot.x86.UseBootWim>
    <Boot.x64.UseBootWim>True</Boot.x64.UseBootWim>

    They should be changed to instead say:

    <Boot.x86.UseBootWim>False</Boot.x86.UseBootWim>
    <Boot.x64.UseBootWim>False</Boot.x64.UseBootWim>

    As a result of this change, MDT will no longer use the boot.wim from the Windows 7 RTM installation files.  Instead, it will always use the winpe.wim from Windows AIK.  And since the Windows PE feature packs in Windows AIK should always match the winpe.wim in Windows AIK, this will always work.

There is one downside to the second option, which goes back to why MDT attempts to use the boot.wim in the first place:  The winpe.wim doesn’t contain Windows RE.  Since there’s no way to add Windows RE to a Windows PE image built from the Windows AIK winpe.wim, that means the resulting Lite Touch boot WIM won’t have Windows RE.  If you aren’t using Windows RE, that doesn’t matter.

Let’s look at some other scenarios too to see what will happen:

  • You have installed the Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement, added Windows 7 SP1 source files to your deployment share, and removed the Windows 7 RTM source files from your deployment share.
    • In this case, MDT won’t find a boot.wim whose version matches the registry version for Windows AIK (6.1.7600.16385).  So everything will work, using winpe.wim and feature packs from the Windows AIK supplement.
  • You have generated Lite Touch boot images in the past without issue.  Now you install the Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement, but you don’t see any issues – you can still update your boot images.
    • This is because MDT sees that all the needed Windows PE feature packs are already present in the Lite Touch boot images on the deployment share.  It’s a temporary success though:  The next time MDT completely regenerates the boot images (which happens when MDT is upgraded or when you check the box in the “Update Deployment Share” boot image), the process will fail.
  • You have installed the Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement.  You have Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM installation files in your deployment share, but no Windows 7 installation files.
    • This will result in the same error as above.  The boot image generation process will try to use the boot.wim from Windows Server 2008 R2, just like it tries to use one from Windows 7 RTM.
  • You have installed the Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement.  You have Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 installation files in your deployment, but no Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM installation files.
    • This is just like the Windows 7 SP1 scenario above:  the update process will work fine, using the Windows AIK SP1 Windows PE 3.1 WIM and corresponding feature packs.

Note that this will never be an issue with MDT-generated boot images used with ConfigMgr 2007, as MDT will always use the winpe.wim from Windows AIK when generating these.  (ConfigMgr 2007 doesn’t yet support Windows PE 3.1, so don’t install the Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement yet if you are using ConfigMgr.)

If there are any additional questions about this, let me know (mniehaus@microsoft.com).

Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    The Settings.xml file can be edited with Notepad.  Make sure after you change it that you "comletely regenerate" the boot image when you next update the deployment share.

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    There's a very long story about why there isn't an installer or a re-release for the Windows AIK update.  In the end, I was just happy that it was released :-) -Michael

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    こんにちはマイケルさん、私はTechnetのチュートリアルを参考にしてWindow RE イメージの作成を勉強していています。するとその他のパッケージ追加コマンドを実行したところで、0x800f081eエラーが発生してパッケージは追加できない。その理由を調べたがTechnetオプション コンポーネントのセットアップ ログ診断ツール記載の0x800f081eエラーコードの説明では｢適用可能なパッケージではありませんでした｣のわかりきった答え、ユーザーが求めているのはなぜ適用可能とならないのかと言うことなのです、また解決策も結局は「CSSに問い合わせてください」となっていていて、これではエラーの理由もその解決策も解らずさらに調べていてビルド番号が違いが原因と言うことが解りましたが、WindowsREイメージ作成でのパッケージの追加の解決策が不明なため質問します。 　WindowsREイメージ作成方式では0x800f081eエラーが発生し既定パッケージ外のパッケージは追加できないので、WindowsPEイメージ作成方式でWindows RE作成をしようとすると、パッケージの追加処理はどれでもエラーなく実行できるけれども、WAIKにはWinPE-SRTパッケージは含まれていないのでWindowsREイメージ作成そのものが不可能と言うことになります。 　ということは、Windows 7とWAIKではパッケージをWinPE-HTAパッケージなどをカスタマイズ追加したWindows REは作成できないことになります。 カスタマイズパッケージ追加したWindowsREイメージ作成をしたいときはWinPE-SRTパッケージの含まれているWindows 7のWindows OPKを使用するよりほかにない、ということになります。 　しかしせっかくWAIKが入力されているのに、Windows OPKのダウンロードから始めるのは面倒です。Windows 7SP1とWAIKのパッケージファイルのビルド番号の違いを解決してその他のパッケージ追加を行う良い方法はないのでしょう？教えてください。

  • Anonymous
    March 13, 2011
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    March 13, 2011
    I'd like to me more polite than other posters may be inclined to be, but this illustrates perfectly why SP1 warranted a clean reissue of WAIK. In fact another blog I subscribe to is titled "Setup isn't XCOPY". It isn't. As an off-topic aside, VS2010 SP1 breaks SDK 7.1. Microsoft's luck with SP1 Anything has been quite star-crossed lately.

  • Anonymous
    March 14, 2011
    Any news on when MDT will be updated for Windows 7 SP1 so we can restore RE functionality? Thanks

  • Anonymous
    March 16, 2011
    Thank you for the explanation of the problem. We actully just started using EFI-based servers, so having a version of AIK / MDT that allows us to use the SP1 WinPE is a big help. Our issue manifested itself when we updated the boot images, then tried to boot from them...WinPE did exactly what it should do. It tried to run the wizard HTA, found that there was no HTA processor available because it was an optional pack, and just fell off the end of the script and rebooted. Here's a question about a third option -- couldn't we just modify the registry (which keys?) to point MDT to the later AIK files? That would allow the Toolkit to search for boot files with the updated version number in the deployment share, while keeping all of our RTM media in the deployment share. What do you think of that?

  • Anonymous
    March 24, 2011
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    April 05, 2011
    As Eric T mentions... can we update the registryvalue to get it working? I'm about to set up MDT2010 but have no installation to test on.

  • Anonymous
    April 11, 2011
    I am still waiting on that answer too. It seems most logical to update the registry and all would be fine. That could have been scripted as part of the update. Xcopy, regfix, done.

  • Anonymous
    April 27, 2011
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
    Thank you so much for this. It fixed my problem right away. We shouldn't have to deal with bugs like this though.

  • Anonymous
    February 23, 2012
    I changed the settings.xml file but it still just reboots. Can I do this in "notepad" or do I need to use another editor. Is there a better solution for this now?

  • Anonymous
    April 18, 2012
    I'm having similar issues in MDT 2012 with the AIK SP1 supplement installed.  The error isn't identical, and I unfortunately don't have it in front of me, but DISM reports something along the lines of unable to open winpe-hta.cab.  In some cases, there were two sequential backslashes (like C:Program FilesMicrosoft Deployment Toolkit\something\something) in the directory given in the error output, which I thought may be related. I've removed AIK SP1 and the error has disappeared. Is this a known issue? Modifying settings.xml in the above fashion did not make a change. Sorry for the inexact error reporting. Thanks!