Deploying Windows in a Windows Server 2008 R2 Environment (part 2) - Windows Deployment Fundamentals - Windows Automated Installation Kit Tools

Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) 3 The Windows AIK for Windows 7 helps you create a Windows PE 3.0 CD by using tools such as Copype.cmd and Oscdimg.exe. (If you install the Windows AIK Supplement for Windows SP1, the version is Windows PE 3.1.) Windows PE is a lightweight and customizable version of Windows with which you can start a computer from a CD/DVD, from a removable USB drive, or from a network source. Installations of Windows PE vary in size, but a typical installation requires about 200 MB of storage space.

The main purpose of Windows PE is to provide an environment from which to capture or apply a Windows image, but you can also use it to troubleshoot or recover an installed operating system or to perform any specialized function. Windows PE can run many familiar (typically command-line) programs and even communicate over IP networks. If you start a computer from a typical Windows PE disk, a command prompt appears from which you can run built-in tools and other programs you have made available through customization.

Although Windows PE starts from the CD drive, Windows PE 3 does not actually run from the CD when it is fully started. Windows PE 3 instead creates a RAM disk (a portion of RAM used as a drive), loads the operating system into that drive, and then runs from that RAM disk. This RAM disk is assigned the drive letter X by default. From this command prompt, you can then run various tools and utilities, many of which can be added through optional packages.

ImageX ImageX is a command-line utility you can use to capture, modify, and apply WIM images for deployment. The main function of ImageX is to enable you to capture a volume to a WIM file image and apply a WIM file image to a volume. For example, to capture an image, you can start Windows PE and use the Imagex.exe /capture path\wimfilename.wim “Image_Name” command, by which “path” is the path to the file. To apply an image to a volume, use Imagex /apply path\wimfilename.wim 1. (In this case, the value 1 indicates the index number of a particular image stored in the wimfilename.wim file.)

Windows SIM Windows System Image Manager (SIM) is the tool used to create unattended Windows Setup answer files. In Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2, answer files are XML-based documents used during Windows setup to supply information needed by the Windows installation. For example, you can use Windows SIM to create an answer file that partitions and formats a disk before installing Windows or that changes the default setting for the Internet Explorer home page. By modifying settings in the answer file, you can also use Windows SIM to install third-party applications, device drivers, language packs, and other updates.

Windows SIM uses catalog (.clg) files along with Windows images (WIM files) to display the available components and packages that can be added to an unattended answer file. Catalog files and WIM files contain configurable settings that you can modify after the component or package is added to an answer file. Figure 3 shows the Windows SIM tool.