System Center Configuration Manager 2007 : Windows Imaging and Image Management (part 1) - ImageX

Imaging is the process of deploying computer operating systems with the necessary settings and applications by overwriting the hard drive structure with a file that is a clone of another PC, usually referred to as the reference PC or master. Typically, companies have used one image for each hardware platform, and sometimes even one per department. This generally was because imaging technology was sector based, and swapping HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) types was not possible and not supported. The total cost of ownership (TCO) to image computer systems this way is very high, because it requires administrators to update numerous images (often dozens in large environments) as frequently as there are software changes, new patches, and so on. Image management therefore has been a full-time job in many enterprise environments.

In recent years, due to evolving hardware and software technology, imaging is again “sexy.” Administrators can create hardware-independent images, layering on dozens of applications, build those applications into the image, and perform maintenance on images in minutes. Previously, image deployments took between 30 minutes to 1 hour. Today, with ImageX , PCs are turned on, booted into WinPE, imaged, set up, and at the sign-on screen within several minutes. Sending users to go get a cup of coffee is now a viable window to perform a PC refresh for them!

In discussing imaging, a few key scenarios cover 99% of the imaging performed by system administrators. These are the New PC, Refresh, and Replace PC scenarios, which are covered in the following sections.

1. New PC Scenario

In the New PC scenario, there is no data backup. The system boots from PXE, CD/DVD, USB, or a locally installed bootable operating system such as WinPE. Once booted, the system then has the hard disk overwritten entirely with an image written to the drive. This scenario is sometimes referred to as “bare metal.”

Several conditions may warrant the use of the New PC scenario:

• A PC is brand new, and it needs the corporate image put on it.

• The user of an existing system is no longer with the company, and the system needs reimaging for a new user.

• There is no concern with backing up the current user’s state or data of an existing system and it needs reimaging. This scenario could exist in a training room, lab, kiosk, and so on.

2. Refresh PC Scenario

In the Refresh PC scenario, the PC has an existing user and it needs reimaging. This is sometimes called an in-place migration. The scenario requires backing up the user’s state using some automated process, such as the User State Migration Tool (USMT). The USMT allows the backup and storage of the user’s state to a network location or locally on a part of the hard drive. By default, OSD will use the state migration point (SMP) to store user state during an OS migration. The Refresh PC scenario can use the SMP, a folder on the hard drive, or a network share to store data from the OS the user was initially running. WinPE is copied to this same hard drive location, which the PC boots into and downloads the image into. It then applies the image to the disk, reboots again, and finally in the destination OS performs the necessary deployment tasks. In short, the Refresh PC scenario is the New PC scenario, but with a user state backup in front and no possibility of doing a disk wipe because of the minint folder.

Several conditions may call for the use of the Refresh PC scenario:

• The organization is upgrading from one version of Windows to another.

• The organization is deploying a new desktop due to implementing a large number of configuration changes or a standardization effort.

• The system is having problems, and the amount of time already spent troubleshooting makes reimaging cost effective.

3. Replace PC Scenario

The Replace PC scenario is the most complicated because it is similar to the Refresh PC scenario, but the user state backup occurs on the user’s old PC and the rest of the deployment occurs on the new PC. This may also be referred to as a side-by-side migration. The Replace PC scenario is used in the following situations:

• Replacing old hardware for newer hardware

• Hardware failure

Table 1 reflects the high-level phases of the three primary types of imaging scenarios. This does not reflect task sequences or all scenarios, but rather to clarifies how the scenarios differ.

4. ImageX

Microsoft’s Windows imaging utility, ImageX.exe, is a file-based imaging technology that is hardware independent and highly compressed. ImageX, introduced in Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) 0.9, allows for the capturing, maintenance, and deploying of Windows Imaging Format (WIM) images. Unlike sector-based imaging technologies, which make images of the 1’s and 0’s on the drive, ImageX copies all the files into its image, a WIM file. Because ImageX is file based, it has the ability to make only a copy of a file one time, no matter how many instances of that same file exist. This intelligence, along with file exclusion, allows WIM images to be substantially smaller than other sector-based imaging or cloning tools. It is not uncommon for ImageX WIM images to be one-third to one-half the size of other utilities’ images.

WIM images have the ability to hold multiple WIM images inside a single WIM image. For instance, the Windows Vista WIM has seven different versions or SKUs of Windows Vista in it. You can mount WIM images on an NTFS file system and customize them. This means there is no need to redo an image when most administrative types of changes need to occur. After you mount a WIM image, the following items can be modified within the image:

• Settings

• Modules

• Language packs

• Drivers

• Packages

• Files

Here’s the ImageX capture syntax:

imagex /config config.ini /capture [source] [image file] "IMAGEDESCRIPTION"

Here’s the ImageX append syntax:

imagex /append  [source]   [image file] "IMAGEDESCRIPTION"

Here’s the ImageX apply syntax:

imagex /apply [image file] [Destination Path] [Index]

And, finally, here’s the ImageX info syntax:

imagex /info
							img_file  [img_number
							|
							img_name] [new_name] [new_desc] {/boot | /check | /logfile}

Here’s the process in which WIM images are edited offline: