James Bannan22 December 2006, 1:19 AM
Microsoft RIS is a great free deployment tool for admins. But get ready for WDS - Windows Deployment Services - the new, Vista-capable deployment system. Still free, but much better.
With Vista Business and Enterprise editions out and about, tools and infrastructure utilities which support Windows are getting an overhaul.
One extremely useful tool for desktop admins wanting to centrally deploy Windows is Microsoft’s Remote Installation Services (RIS). It ties in to Active Directory and NTFS security, and lets individual workstations connect to a central deployment server via PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) and TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol – a lightweight version of full FTP).
RIS enables admins to store Windows installation files locally on the server which makes it easier to slipstream services packs, updates and system drivers, and then deploy the OS using standard or customised unattended install scripts.
The next generation of RIS is WDS – Windows Deployment Services – which supports Windows Vista deployments. It’s a component of the WAIK – Windows Automated Installation Kit – and can be run on Windows Longhorn Server or Windows Server 2003 SP1.
And what's so great about WDS? It's completely compatible with Vista's new WIM imaging format, which makes it a highly flexible, centralised deployment tool.
RIS won't support Vista or Longhorn, so WDS really is the only upgrade available. However, it's also fully supports all the RIS images, so it's a genuine upgrade with no feature loss.
For the purposes of this article, I used a Windows Server 2003 SP1 system with RIS as a base for the tutorial.
To upgrade an existing installation of RIS to WDS, insert the WAIK CD into the system.
 WAIK Menu |
In the main menu on the left, choose the option “Windows Deployment Services”. This just opens up the WDS folder in the root of the CD, so you could also just navigate straight there via Windows Explorer. There are four files in this folder – two readme files and two EXEs. The EXEs provide the WDS service update – one for x86 platforms and the other for AMD64 platforms.
 WDS EXEs |
Double-click on the relevant EXE and the update application kicks off. Accept the license agreement and the installation goes through very quickly – basically just like a standard Windows patch. Once done, the system has to be restarted.
 WDS Install |
 WAIK Install 2 |
 WAIK Items |
When the system restarts, there are some new entries in the Administrative Tools folder – Windows Deployment Services and Wndows Deployment Services Legacy (which is also in the Start Menu).
Windows Deployment Services Legacy replaces the Remote Installation Service Setup item which is installed to Administrative Tools under RIS, and is used to configure the server for legacy RIS installations. When you click on the WDS Legacy icon, it launches a setup wizard which is very similar to the RIS setup wizard, and you can use it in exactly the same manner as RIS to add legacy deployment images to WDS.
 WDS Legacy |
This legacy component of WDS is managed in the same way RIS is – go to Administrative Tools, Active Directory Users and Computers, and then Domain Controllers. Right click on the server which has WDS installed and select Properties, then go to the Remote Install tab, and Advanced Settings. This is where you can modify install images and configure the WDS Legacy service.
 WDS Console |
The main new feature is, of course, WDS itself. Launch Windows Deployment Services from Administrative Tools, and you get a management console screen with the available WDS servers listed in the left hand navigation pane. As with a new install of RIS, you can’t start using WDS until the server has been configured, so right-click the server object and choose Configure Server.
 WDS Config |
The WDS Configuration Wizard kicks off at this point. The first screen talks about the system requirements, which are the same as RIS. The next screen looks for a folder to store system images. Because RIS was already installed and configured, WDS automatically chooses the same folder (in this case D:\RemoteInstall). If you’re upgrading from RIS, this folder is mandatory and not configurable.
 WDS DHCP |
The next screen configures DHCP. If the WDS server is also a DHCP server, then WDS has to be set NOT to listen on port 67.
All DHCP servers, Microsoft or non-Microsoft, have to have DHCP option 60 set to “PXEClient”.
The next screen configures how the WDS server should respond to known or unknown clients. As a general rule it’s much easier to set RIS/WDS to respond to unknown clients, otherwise you can’t use it to deploy an initial image. WDS has one new option here – to notify system administrators when an unknown client attempts to connect, and then service the client once approval has been given.
 Add Image |
And that’s it – WDS is configured, and is ready to accept new OS images. To add a new Vista image, expand the server in the WDS console window, right-click on Install Images and select Add Install Image. If there are no Image Groups defined, you’ll be prompted to create one.
 Add Image Group |
Now you’ll be prompted to browse for the image source. Unlike RIS which looked for the standard folder structure of a Windows 2000/XP/2003 CD, WDS looks for the .WIM file which contains the images you want to deploy. On the Vista DVD, that file is \SOURCES\INSTALL.WIM. Select the file, click Next and you get a list of all the available Vista images stored in the WIM file.
 WDS Vista Images |
Remember that WIM is a file-based imaging format and can store a large number of individual system images, all configurable by XML. Choose the images you wish to make available and click Next. WDS checks the integrity of the source image and starts copying from the DVD to the local WDS folders.
Once the images are copied across, you need to add a Boot Image to get clients connected. Right-click on Boot Images and select Add Boot Image. Choose the \SOURCES\BOOT.WIM file as the image source. Then, right-click on the server in the WDS console and click Properties.
 WDS Boot Image |
Go to the Boot tab and hit Select next to “x86 architecture” under “Default boot image (optional)”. Select the newly-created boot image and then OK. Then right-click on the server name again, All Tasks, Restart. Now your PXE-enabled clients will be able to boot from the WDS server, and will load the standard Windows Vista boot installer.
Cool, huh? I’ve been using RIS for image deployment for quite some time, and it’s a very useful utility to have at your disposal.
It’s also very flexible and modular – you can add third-party tools easily and quickly. Being able to distribute all sorts of content across the network without using boot disks or CDs is a major help.
WDS goes several steps further than RIS. It supports all the legacy RIS features, and you won’t lose any of the work you’ve put into RIS, but WDS’s integration with WIM and Windows PE 2.0 makes it a major asset for desktop administrators. And it’s free!
In the next few articles, I’ll be going into more depth about the features of WDS, look at creating a customised, unattended Vista install DVD and WDS image, and creating customised boot images using the WAIK.