Reference Image

[Bankesy]

Good morning,

 

I've never used MDT in the way that I have inherited it in my current environment, we have a task sequence that installs a reference image and then that reference image is used in another task sequence.

 

I've never had to update a reference image, I know how change the OS for the reference image task sequence and all that but how do I capture it and upload to MDT after? Did I read correctly somewhere that I must deploy it to a VM rather than actual hardware?

 

Thanks

[Davit2005]

INMO Its best to put it on a VM to build because you can keep it very near driver free or even totally driver free.

 

We had 2 mages at the last place and we installed all the software on the images using task sequences. It meant we could easily rebuild a PC in lunchtime break and do a class of 25 PCs in 30-40mins with no additional software or minimal updates needed.

 

Getting the software installed was sometimes a PITA as needed to get somethings installed before another but we had minimal changes each year so normally 2-3 attempts and it installed all software without fail.

Edited November 27, 2023 by Davit2005

[DaveTheTech]

Its been a while, but I went the VM route.

I used the drivergroup to manage drivers - whilst using a VM, this provided a clean image.

 

You can update the WIM directly using PowerShell.

I went the capture route, I had a VM that had key software installed including office. I had a resume TS button on the desktop.

Hitting that started off the Windows Updates and then the capture.

 

Then its simple case of updating the TS and WDS with the generated WIM and boot file.

[ITGuyNW]

Create gold image in VM, take snapshot so its easy to return in case of an error, sysprep, PXE boot to capture image

 

I use that wim in MDT and then have task sequences depending on scenario. These task sequences call to PDQ and install staff or student specific apps depending on task sequence.

 

I also periodically inject the latest Windows updates so the install period is shorter . Add Windows Update Package to Windows 10 image (prajwaldesai.com)

[PotNoodleTech]

Great thread.

[Bankesy]

Thanks everyone for your responses, I've never used VMWare prior to here so maybe I'm just being a bit silly having created a VM but not being able to PXE boot it?

[Davit2005]

Thanks everyone for your responses, I've never used VMWare prior to here so maybe I'm just being a bit silly having created a VM but not being able to PXE boot it?

 

You can force VMWare to make the VM go into boot menu at next power on, then jus get it to boot via PXE. If the VM is on a different network to your WDS/MDT boot server you might need a helper on that network pointing to the WDS server or whatever you use to boot the PCs from the network.