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recipe for a WDS test environment

  • Article

See also: all the recipes and the intro

This is an instruction on how to set up a test environment for the network install with the Windows Deployment Services. It's very terse, so I've categorized it under "recipes". As a short intro, there are two ways to install WDS: either as a part of the Advanced Deployment Kit (ADK), or as an optional role already available on any Windows Server. The optional role way is easier and faster. Note also that you specifically don't need all the Advanced Directory components, only AD DS, installing more of the AD components will inflict much pain. And now the recipe:

Use 2 machines (beside the target VMs) on an internal network:

ON THE HOST, SET STATIC IP ON THIS NETWORK or the DNS on it will get screwed up

1. AD DS, DNS, DHCP (also configure a static address)  will be thost101
2. WDS will be on thost102

AD machine:

  • rename to thost101
  •  Configure DHCP (click on the yellow triangle)
  •  Restart DHCP service
  • Promote computer to domain controller (on yellow triangle)
    •  Create a new forest
    • name wdstest.local
    • don't need DNS delegation
  • It reboots and renames itself to WDSTEST
  • in Tools -> DHCP
    • r-click on IPv4, New Scope, select the address range
    • r-click on machine name (still old!), Authorize
    • r-click on IPv4, Refresh, it shows green (2nd machine gets the IP address now)
  • in Tools ->DNS
    • click on machine, Forward Lookup Zones, right-click on wdstest.local, Properties, allow non-secure updates
      • explicitly add static 192.168.5.1 -> thost101.wdstest.local
    • click on machine, Reverse Lookup Zones, add 192.168.5 with secure and non-secure dynamic updates

WDS machine:

  • rename to thost102 & join the domain (use the domain admin password entered when promoting the domain controller)
  • install Windows Deployment Services role
  • start Tools -> Windows Deployment Services
    • r-click on server name, properties
      • select "respond to all clients"
      • skip "add images"
    • add boot image from $media\en-us\sources\boot.wim
    • add install image: wim, vhd or vhdx, from the media or generalized with sysprep
    • r-click on server name, properties
      • PXE response -> respond to all
      • Boot -> continue PXE booth (both kinds) with F12; select the default boot image (maybe optional)
        (if continue in any case, the network boot and install will retry on 1st reboot)