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Windows Deployment Services (WDS) boot.wim support

The operating system deployment functionality of Windows Deployment Services (WDS) is being partially deprecated. Starting with Windows 11, workflows that rely on boot.wim from installation media or on running Windows Setup in WDS mode is no longer supported.

When you PXE-boot from a WDS server that uses the boot.wim file from installation media as its boot image, Windows Setup automatically launches in WDS mode. This workflow is deprecated for Windows 11 and newer boot images. The following deprecation message is displayed:

Windows Setup

Windows Deployment Services client functionality is being partly deprecated. Please visit https://aka.ms/WDSSupport for more details on what is deprecated and what will continue to be supported.

Deployment scenarios affected

The following table provides support details for specific deployment scenarios. Boot.wim is the boot.wim file obtained from the Windows source files for each specified version of Windows.

Windows Version being deployed Boot.wim from Windows 10 Boot.wim from Windows Server 2016 Boot.wim from Windows Server 2019 Boot.wim from Windows Server 2022 Boot.wim from Windows 11
Windows 11 Not supported, blocked. Not supported, blocked. Not supported, blocked. Not supported, blocked. Not supported, blocked.
Windows 10 Supported, using a boot image from matching or newer version. Supported, using a boot image from Windows 10, version 1607 or later. Supported, using a boot image from Windows 10, version 1809 or later. Not supported. Not supported.
Windows Server 2022 Deprecated, with a warning message. Deprecated, with a warning message. Deprecated, with a warning message. Deprecated, with a warning message. Not supported.
Windows Server 2019 Supported, using a boot image from Windows 10, version 1809 or later. Supported. Supported. Not supported. Not supported.
Windows Server 2016 Supported, using a boot image from Windows 10, version 1607 or later. Supported. Not supported. Not supported. Not supported.

Reason for the change

Alternatives to WDS, such as Microsoft Configuration Manager and Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) provide a better, more flexible, and feature-rich experience for deploying Windows images.

Note

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) only supports deployment of Windows 10. It doesn't support deployment of Windows 11. For more information, see Supported platforms.

Not affected

This change doesn’t affect WDS PXE boot. You can still use WDS to PXE boot devices with custom boot images, but you can't use boot.wim as the boot image and run Windows Setup in WDS mode.

You can still run Windows Setup from a network share. This change doesn't change Workflows that use a custom boot.wim, such as MDT or Configuration Manager.

Summary

  • Windows 11 workflows that rely on boot.wim from installation media are blocked. You can't perform an end to end deployment of Windows 11 using only WDS.
  • This change doesn't affect Windows 10, Windows Server 2019, and previous operating system versions.
  • Windows Server 2022 workflows that rely on boot.wim from installation media show a non-blocking deprecation notice. The notice can be dismissed, and currently the workflow isn't blocked.
  • Windows Server workflows after Windows Server 2022 that rely on boot.wim from installation media are blocked.

If you currently use WDS with boot.wim from installation media for end-to-end operating system deployment, and your OS version isn't supported, deprecated, or blocked, it's recommended that you use deployment tools such as MDT, Configuration Manager, or a non-Microsoft solution with a custom boot.wim image.

Also see