February, 2008

We'll be coming out with an update for Microsoft Deployment sometime later this month (February) to fully support Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista SP1 deployment with the Windows Automated Installation Kit 1.1, all of which were released to manufacturing this week.  To give you an idea of what this deployment process looks like, I recorded a video that walks through the steps of installing Windows Server 2008 using Microsoft Deployment's Lite Touch capabilities.  To make things a little more interesting, I decided to use the Server Core installation option.  All total, the recording lasts just under 10 minutes, although that includes some editing to remove the boring parts.

Lite Touch Windows Server 2008 Walkthrough

Note that there is no wizard screen at the end of the process to show the results.  This is because the Server Core installation option does not include Internet Explorer (among other things).  So using HTA applications isn't possible.

The next step in this process would be to customize the task sequence, perhaps adding an additional "Install Roles & Features" step to install additional roles for this computer.  For example, this step could be used to install DNS, DHCP, and Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (ADAM) on the server:

Our Microsoft Deployment scripts will take care of installing the roles.  We also have additional actions that can be added to configure some of these roles, e.g. to perform the Active Directory DCPROMO process, to create DNS zones and DHCP scopes, etc.

Because the Server Core installation option is a reduced version of Windows, it doesn't support all of the roles and features of the full product, but it does have a decent subset (DHCP, DNS, WINS, Active Directory, IIS, etc.).  You can see the full list of supported roles by running "OCLIST.EXE" from within the OS.

It's also worth noting that the server and client virtual machines used for this demo are running on the beta version of Hyper-V, included in the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2008.  It supports both x86 and x64 OSes, so I could have just as easily (and as quickly) deployed an x64 version of Windows Server 2008.  (The first time I went to create a new 64-bit virtual machine, I couldn't find the option to do so -- that's when I realized that all the virtual machines are x64-based; I had just never installed an x64 OS in one.)

And no, I still don't like recording the audio (or worse, listening to it played back), so if you'd prefer just simple screen captures with no narration please let me know :-)

It seems like it's been a long time coming, but it's finally happened: Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 have been released to manufacturing.  So are you ready for them?  Let's talk a little about deploying them, FAQ-style:

• What new tools will be made available with Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008?
  A new version of the Windows Automated Installation Kit will be released, with full support for these new OSes.  It also includes the new Windows PE 2.1 version, a minor update to the existing Windows PE 2.0 version.  Images created with WAIK 1.0 are fully compatible with those created with WAIK 1.1 -- there are no changes to the WIM file format.
  
• How can I add Windows Vista SP1 to my existing images? 
  There will be a documented process for doing this.  However, I would suggest rebuilding your image using the integrated (slipstreamed) version of the Windows Vista SP1 media.  Since you already have automated reference build processes in place using Microsoft Deployment (I hope) this is pretty simple:  Add the new SP1 OS image, update your task sequence to use the new SP1 image instead of the RTM image, then rebuild and recapture your custom image.
  
• Why is it better to capture a new image using SP1 media?
  It's not that it's better; it's just quicker.  The process of installing Windows Vista SP1 to an existing RTM image can't be done offline.  Instead, you have to deploy the OS to a computer, install SP1 (which can take a while), reboot, clean up after the install, sysprep, and capture the newly-upgraded image.  The integrated (slipstreamed) media lets you avoid these time-consuming steps.  (So you won't see Microsoft Deployment include detailed instructions on how to add SP1 as an application in an existing task sequence.  We just don't think people will want to do it this way.)
  
• Will the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit support deploying Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 images?
  Yes, we will be releasing updates in February to add support for Windows Vista SP1, Windows Server 2008, and WAIK 1.1.
  
• What about BDD 2007?  Will it be updated as well?
  Yes, we will release a new update for BDD 2007 to support Windows Vista SP1 and WAIK 1.1.  This will also be available in February.  However, it's a great time to consider making the move to Microsoft Deployment (the next version of BDD 2007) instead.  (Microsoft Deployment is effectively BDD 2008, if you prefer to think of it that way: it's the evolution of BDD 2007, with new support for server OSes and many other new features.)
  
• How will I upgrade already-deployed Windows Vista computers?
  You will be able to deploy the service pack using WSUS, SMS 2003, ConfigMgr 2007, and other means.  White papers will be made available to describe the deployment options.

See http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2008/02/04/announcing-the-rtm-of-windows-vista-sp1.aspx for the official Windows Vista SP1 release announcement, and http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver/archive/2008/02/04/windows-server-2008-rtm.aspx for the Windows Server 2008 announcement.

See http://blogs.technet.com/technetplussubscriptions/archive/2008/02/04/technet-plus-windows-server-2008-rtm-available.aspx for the details.

So why haven't you installed it yet?  :-)

Here's a completely off-topic (on vacation) post, feel free to stop reading now :-)

Over the years, between my current and previous jobs as well as personal vacations, I've visited a variety of places.  Eventually you start to lose track of them all.  So, I thought I would plot them all with Live Search maps, adding virtual pushpins for each, using simple criteria: I must have spent at least one night at each location.  You can see the full collection via:

http://maps.live.com/?v=2&cid=46C682579903FDC8!141&encType=1

I'm sure I've left some out and will add them as I think of them.

I'm still looking for good reasons to visit more places, so if you've got a good reason (especially for Asia and Australia) let me know :-)