[wds] Deploying Department Specific images

[Ben-BSH]

In WDS, if you do not want to deploy altered Vanilla installations without software, i know you can capture .wim images of a reference computer and then deploy them to the other client PC’s so it is a kind of cloning process.

 

However, here is my scenario, and requirements :

 

Capture image of a reference PC, which is setup with all the software / settings for a certain department

 

Be able to boot into that image, in something like Virtual PC / VMWare and edit the image, uninstalling / installing / updating software, drivers etc, to keep the image current, and not require a full re-capture if the department decide they need a new application.

 

Be able to sysprep the image and then deploy using WDS.

 

 

So really, the only feature i requre which i am unsure if a .wim allows me to do is to boot into the captured image as a virtual machine and edit it. if this can be done, great, i am just unsure, i remember something vaugely about capturing VHD's instead.

 

Does anyone have any guides on how to do this, or any tips, as i can bash my way through it (it was covered in an exam i did a while ago, so i have studied imagex etc), but with me being a WDS virgin (in live enviroments) i would rather take others advice and experience onboard now to save headaches later.

 

Many Thanks in advance.

 

Ben.

[ChrisH]

Build your images ion a virtual machine and take advantage of snap shots on the vm or look at audit mode which is an option of sysprep under windows 7.

[Ben-BSH]

Does this work With Windows 7 Professional? as we do not have licenses for Enterprise or Ultimate.

[ChrisH]

Should work fine. The only things you gain with enterprise are bit locker, applocker branch cache and direct access.

[Ben-BSH]

Should work fine. The only things you gain with enterprise are bit locker, applocker branch cache and direct access.

 

deploying a vhd from wds

 

Thats what made me think otherwise, have you sucessfully deployed 7Pro via VHD?

[ChrisH]

Never used VHDs but you are right I think they also need to be enterprise. What I was suggesting was make a virtual machine which maybe stored as a VHD disk but I did not intend you to mount it to be bootable in another copy of windows 7. Instead just use it in the virtual environment, that it was created.