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Architecting Base Server OS Image Deployments with Wi
Hello Friends
I am looking for guidance and a "How to Brief" for a current project to do with Microsoft Windows Pre-Installation Environments for the purposes of standardising a Windows Server 2003 SP2 Image Base Build for large Citrix Farm in sunny Bracknell, UK.
The situation is that I've just joined a new company and there is an existing WinPE image and corresponding services/folder shares on the network. However I need to modify this WinPE Image to suite a new dispatch of Blades.
Some of servers are virtual, some hardware-based. The Hardware is DELL PowerEdge Blade 1955. Which brings us to the context: The current WinPE image does not have the drivers for the SAS 5i/R RAID Controllers used by these new Blades. And of course the installation fails with an error message to that effect.
Alas, after Michael Warmington's blog, I am OK with how to add mass storage drivers into the WinPE image, sort of. http://blogs.msdn.com/archon_team/archive/2005/02/09/MassStorageDriversInWinPE.aspx But also, with the help of Wes Miller and we are "smokin" here.
The BIG Question I've got is this:
How do I “burn or lay the WinPE image down", as Michael puts it, to begin with. How to start?
Please help in getting me started on how to burn or lay the WinPE image, after edited. In other words, how to get this thing going.
So far I have figured that I am going to need the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIT) so this is installed and ready to go on a dedicated W2K3 Ent Ed Management Server.
I've got two critical tools now with the AIK it seems
1.Windows System Image Manager and
2. Windows PE Tools Command Prompt
But that's it.
I've located quite a few Source Server Build files at :
\\EAHMGT01\d$\Server Builds
Directory of D:\ServerBuilds\W2k3\
$oem$. ..
Archived builds
ENTERPRISE_10200
ENTERPRISEx64_10200
Software
STANDARD_10200
STANDARDx64_10200
WEB_10200
As far as existing DELL Blade Images, at present, I have several Ghost images, for example: \\EAHAHMGT01\e$\DellImage\DELLent_10200\w2k3_ent_10200.GHO and w2k3_001.GHS files.
Volume in drive E:\ is SvrImages
Directory of E:\DellImages
DELLent
DELLent_10200
DELLent_10200SAS
DELLent_x64
DELLent_x64_10200
DELLstd
DELLstd_10200
DELLstd_10200SAS
DELLstd_x64_10200
DELLweb
DELLweb_10200
EAHREVDEV02
Ghost
PEiso
PowerISO
WinPEAvis_x10200.iso 194169 KB 24/08/2006
WinPEAvis_x10200SAS.iso 194169 KB 24/08/2006
WinPEAvis-working.iso 190405 KB 15/12/2005
WINPEboot.iso -1538065 KB 03/03/2006
And of note are the ISO images at the root.
\\EAHAHMGT01\e$\DellImage\WinPEAvis_x10200.iso and WINPEboot.iso
Another question is why are the GHOST images here and what is their purpose in the mix/relationship between WinPE and GHOST? It might be that after:
Configuring BIOS boot order and Disks using SAS RAID controller POST interface. (Mirrored RAID, 1 Pair, Disk Size >= 36GB)
• And booting server, the WinPE environment will load.
• Once inside WinPE, a DOS prompt will be available. ("the beauty of WinPE")
• So I will type something along the lines of the following:
NET USE z: \\ebr2k3vmutil01\dellimage /u:ebr2k3vmutil01\serverbuild serverbuild <Return>
CD.. <Return>
CD build\ghost <Return>
Ghost32.exe <Return>
So this explains the purpose of GHOST. And so I will be at the Ghost32 GUI, and will see several images appear. So another question evolves:
HOW TO MODIFY the GHOST IMAGE. Looks like this will be handy to get some ideas on.
Thank you kindly
2nd Post:
Wes Miller:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2006/09/WindowsPE/default.aspx
Getting Started with Windows PE © 2006 Microsoft Corporation and CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved; reproduction in part or in whole without permission is prohibited
"Alas, mass-storage controllers aren't so easy.
Options:
1. press F6 very early as Windows PE boots and specify a floppy disk that contains a txtsetup.oem file and the driver to use
or
2. use the following steps (specific to the Windows PE install we've been building) to add the driver.
(Note that you can't use a USB Flash Drive or any other kind of media here.)A. Create a directory called Driver1 under C:\Staging\I386\System32.
B. Copy the entire contents of the floppy disk/image provided by your vendor to the Driver1 directory. This is the best way to ensure you don't omit any DLL or other files required by the driver in order for it to load.
C. Using Notepad, open C:\Staging\I386\system32\winpeoem.sif.
D. Remove all semicolons from the [OEMDriverParams] section (three lines total).
E. Add Driver1 to the OEMDriverDirs line. Do not include quotes, and if you need to repeat the first step for multiple drivers, add them here as well, separated by commas.
Note that you may have to edit the vendor's txtsetup.oem file to ensure the device you are trying to load is the one specified in the [Defaults] section of txtsetup.oem. Only one default can be specified
Hello Friends
I am looking for guidance and a "How to Brief" for a current project to do with Microsoft Windows Pre-Installation Environments for the purposes of standardising a Windows Server 2003 SP2 Image Base Build for large Citrix Farm in sunny Bracknell, UK.
The situation is that I've just joined a new company and there is an existing WinPE image and corresponding services/folder shares on the network. However I need to modify this WinPE Image to suite a new dispatch of Blades.
Some of servers are virtual, some hardware-based. The Hardware is DELL PowerEdge Blade 1955. Which brings us to the context: The current WinPE image does not have the drivers for the SAS 5i/R RAID Controllers used by these new Blades. And of course the installation fails with an error message to that effect.
Alas, after Michael Warmington's blog, I am OK with how to add mass storage drivers into the WinPE image, sort of. http://blogs.msdn.com/archon_team/archive/2005/02/09/MassStorageDriversInWinPE.aspx But also, with the help of Wes Miller and we are "smokin" here.
The BIG Question I've got is this:
How do I “burn or lay the WinPE image down", as Michael puts it, to begin with. How to start?
Please help in getting me started on how to burn or lay the WinPE image, after edited. In other words, how to get this thing going.
So far I have figured that I am going to need the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIT) so this is installed and ready to go on a dedicated W2K3 Ent Ed Management Server.
I've got two critical tools now with the AIK it seems
1.Windows System Image Manager and
2. Windows PE Tools Command Prompt
But that's it.
I've located quite a few Source Server Build files at :
\\EAHMGT01\d$\Server Builds
Directory of D:\ServerBuilds\W2k3\
$oem$. ..
Archived builds
ENTERPRISE_10200
ENTERPRISEx64_10200
Software
STANDARD_10200
STANDARDx64_10200
WEB_10200
As far as existing DELL Blade Images, at present, I have several Ghost images, for example: \\EAHAHMGT01\e$\DellImage\DELLent_10200\w2k3_ent_10200.GHO and w2k3_001.GHS files.
Volume in drive E:\ is SvrImages
Directory of E:\DellImages
DELLent
DELLent_10200
DELLent_10200SAS
DELLent_x64
DELLent_x64_10200
DELLstd
DELLstd_10200
DELLstd_10200SAS
DELLstd_x64_10200
DELLweb
DELLweb_10200
EAHREVDEV02
Ghost
PEiso
PowerISO
WinPEAvis_x10200.iso 194169 KB 24/08/2006
WinPEAvis_x10200SAS.iso 194169 KB 24/08/2006
WinPEAvis-working.iso 190405 KB 15/12/2005
WINPEboot.iso -1538065 KB 03/03/2006
And of note are the ISO images at the root.
\\EAHAHMGT01\e$\DellImage\WinPEAvis_x10200.iso and WINPEboot.iso
Another question is why are the GHOST images here and what is their purpose in the mix/relationship between WinPE and GHOST? It might be that after:
Configuring BIOS boot order and Disks using SAS RAID controller POST interface. (Mirrored RAID, 1 Pair, Disk Size >= 36GB)
• And booting server, the WinPE environment will load.
• Once inside WinPE, a DOS prompt will be available. ("the beauty of WinPE")
• So I will type something along the lines of the following:
NET USE z: \\ebr2k3vmutil01\dellimage /u:ebr2k3vmutil01\serverbuild serverbuild <Return>
CD.. <Return>
CD build\ghost <Return>
Ghost32.exe <Return>
So this explains the purpose of GHOST. And so I will be at the Ghost32 GUI, and will see several images appear. So another question evolves:
HOW TO MODIFY the GHOST IMAGE. Looks like this will be handy to get some ideas on.
Thank you kindly
2nd Post:
Wes Miller:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2006/09/WindowsPE/default.aspx
Getting Started with Windows PE © 2006 Microsoft Corporation and CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved; reproduction in part or in whole without permission is prohibited
"Alas, mass-storage controllers aren't so easy.
Options:
1. press F6 very early as Windows PE boots and specify a floppy disk that contains a txtsetup.oem file and the driver to use
or
2. use the following steps (specific to the Windows PE install we've been building) to add the driver.
(Note that you can't use a USB Flash Drive or any other kind of media here.)A. Create a directory called Driver1 under C:\Staging\I386\System32.
B. Copy the entire contents of the floppy disk/image provided by your vendor to the Driver1 directory. This is the best way to ensure you don't omit any DLL or other files required by the driver in order for it to load.
C. Using Notepad, open C:\Staging\I386\system32\winpeoem.sif.
D. Remove all semicolons from the [OEMDriverParams] section (three lines total).
E. Add Driver1 to the OEMDriverDirs line. Do not include quotes, and if you need to repeat the first step for multiple drivers, add them here as well, separated by commas.
Note that you may have to edit the vendor's txtsetup.oem file to ensure the device you are trying to load is the one specified in the [Defaults] section of txtsetup.oem. Only one default can be specified
Last edited:
