How to Deploy a Windows 10 image using IMAGEW.EXE

Overview

This document contains the steps necessary to deploy a Windows 10 image in provisioning using ImageW v2. Although it mentions Windows 10, the same steps will work for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1.

Capture the Windows 10 image

For help with capturing the image, refer to the following Community article:

How to capture a Windows 10 image using IMAGEW.EXE.

Import the UNATTEND.XML file

1. Copy the Winx64Unattend.xml file to a directory on the Core Server. The file is in the Provisioning.zip file attached to the following Community article:

How to Deploy a Windows 10 image using IMAGEW.EXE

2. In the Operating system provisioning tool in the LANDESK Comsole on the Core Server, click on Provisioning templates in the left pane.

3. Click Tools at the top of the window then click Install Scripts.

4. In the Install scripts window, click the Browse button and browse to the folder where the Winx64Unattend.xml file was copied and select it.

5. In the Script name box, enter a name for this unattend file to uniquely identify it.

6. In the Description box, enter a description if desired.

7. Select Windows for the Target operating system.

8. Click the Import button to import the unattend file into the database. The Script name will appear in the Install scripts list if it is successful.

Import the Provisioning Template

1. Copy the provisioning template Win10Deploy.xtp to a folder on the Core Server. The template is in the Provisioning.zip file attached to the following Community article:

How to Deploy a Windows 10 image using IMAGEW.EXE

2. In the Operating system provisioning tool in the LANDESK Console on the Core Server, click on Provisioning templates in the left pane.

3. Click the Import templates icon along the top of the Operating sytem provisioning tool.

4. Click the Browse button in the Import templates window and browse to the location where the template was copied in step 1 and select it.

5. Click the Import button.

6. Click OK.

7. Click the Close button in the Import templates window. The imported template will show up in the Operating system provisioning tool under Provisioning templates | My templates | All my templates with a name starting with Win10Deploy and includes a Date/Time stamp. The template name can be changed after it is imported.

Modify the Imported Provisioning Template

1. In the Operating system provisioning tool, double-click the provisioning template that was imported in the Provisioning templates | My templates| All my templates folder.

2. Expand the OS-installation section of the template and click on the Deploy Image action.

3. Make sure that LANDESK ImageW V2 is selected for the image type.

4. Enter the UNC path including the filename to the Windows 10 image to be deployed. The file will have a .TBI extension.

5. Click the Validate button which updates the Command-line then click Apply.

6. Click on the Inject unattend file action under the Post-OS installation section of the template.

7. Select the unattend.xml file that was imported earlier from the Script name drop-down list.

8. Click the Apply button.

9. If the OS being deployed already has the drivers for the computer to be imaged or you are not planning on using LANDESK Hardware independent imaging, the Hardware independent imaging action can be deleted from the template in the Post-OS installation and System configuration sections.

10. Click on the Install LANDESK Agent action in the System configuration section of the template.

11. Select the desired LANDESK Agent from the Configuration name drop-down list.

12. Click the Apply button.

13. Add additional actions to the template if desired. Do this by right-clicking the section of the template and select the Add Action option. There is an action to join the domain and an action to run software distribution packages as well as many others. After adding any actions, be sure to click the Apply button.

14. Click OK to save the changes to the template.

Enter the Variables

1. In the Operating system provisioning tool, click on Provisioning templates in the left pane.

2. Click Tools and click Public Variables.

The public variables shown in the screenshot above are there by default. The Replace value for the variables corename and coreIP can be changed if needed but do not change the Search value (variable name) for them or it will break provisioning. The Search values are case-sensitive.

3. Click the Add button.

4. Enter AdminPass in the Search value box. This variable is used in the unattend.xml file.

5. Select Sensitive data from the Type drop-down list.

6. In the Replacement value and Confirm replacement value boxes, enter the password which will be assigned to the local Administrator account on the computer when the image is deployed.

7. Click OK.

AdminPass now shows up in the Public variables window.

8. Click Add.

9. Enter WinProdKey in the Search value box. This variable is used in the unattend.xml file.

10. Select String from the Type drop-down list.

11. Enter the Windows 10 product key in the Replacement value box.

12. Click OK.

13. Click Add.

14. Enter Company in the Search value box. This variable is used in the unattend.xml file.

15. Select String from the Type drop-down list.

16. Enter your Company name in the Replacement value box.

17. Click OK.

18. Click OK to close the Public variables window.

Add Drivers for Hardware Independent Imaging (HII)

This step can be skipped if the HII actions were deleted from the template.

For help with HII, click F1 in the LANDESK Console and search for HII.

Add Devices to be Imaged

This section can be skipped if the devices are already in the LANDESK Console under All Devices.

1. In the LANDESK Console, expand Configuration.

2. Right-click Bare Metal Devices and select Add Devices.

3. In the Add bare metal device window, select MAC address for the Identifier type from the drop-down list.

4. Click the Add button.

5. In the Bare Metal Device window, enter a name for the device in the Name box. The name entered will be the computers name after it is imaged.

6. Make sure the Identifier type has MAC address selected then enter the MAC address of the of the computer in the Identifier box.

7. Click the Add button.

8. The MAC address will show up in Server identifiers. Click OK.

9. The computer added will show up in the Add a bare metal device window. Click OK.

10. The computer added will show up in the LANDESK Console in the Configuration | Bare Metal Devices folder after the LANDESK Inventory Server service processes it.

Add the Image Server as a Preferred Server

Setup a preferred server for the computer where the image share is located if it has not already been done. Following Community article has information on setting up preferred servers:

How to configure the Preferred Server (Target) for Content Replication

Schedule the Template and start the Task

1. Drag the computer(s) from the Bare Metal Devices folder or from All Devices and drop them on the template that was imported earlier.

2. Click Save.

3. Make sure all devices targeted for the task are off.

4. Right-click the task and select Start now | All.

5. Wait a minute to give the task time to initialize.

Network Boot the Devices and Wait for the Task to Complete

1. Network boot (PXE boot) the computer(s) in the provisioning task. When the computer(s) are PXE booted, they will automatically load WINPE and run the template. For help with network booting the computer(s), refer to the computers documentation.

2. Wait for the provisioning task to complete. The computer(s) will reboot at least 2 times during the provisioning process. Following are screenshots of various stages of the provisioning process:

Downloading WINPE from the PXE Representative. The IP address shown is the IP address of the PXE Representative.

WINPE is loading.

WINPE has successfully loaded and has started to run the provisioning template.

ImageW is currently running to deploy the image.

The image has been deployed and the computer has rebooted to load the OS. It has started going through the sysprep process to load the OS for the first time.

The OS rebooted and is continuing to load for the first time processing the unattend.xml file.

Sysprep has completed and is now running the actions in the System Configuration section of the template. When the template is done, the computer will shutdown.

Alternate Method to Start a Provisioning Template on a Computer

For this method, skip the following sections of this document:

Add Devices to be Imaged

Schedule the Template and Start the Task

Network Boot the Devices and Wait for the Task to Complete

1. If the computers all do a BIOS boot then you can skip to step 3. If the devices do a UEFI boot, Click Preboot | PXE Boot Options in the Operating system provisioning tool.

2. Make sure there is a check in the Always PXE Boot UEFI Devices and click Save.

3. Network boot (PXE boot) the computer and click F8 when it shows on the screen. Refer to the computers manual if you need help PXE booting it.

4. Select WinPE Provisioning and hit Enter on the keyboard.

5. WINPE is downloading from the PXE Representative. The IP address shown is the IP address of the PXE Representative.

6. WINPE has downloaded and is now starting on the computer.

7. Enter the Domain, Username and Password for an account that has rights to provisioning in the LANDESK Console. Use the same account that you login with to the LANDESK Console.

8. Click OK.

9. Click on the Provisioning template under All my templates and click OK.

10. The template is now running. Wait for it to finish. The computer will shutdown when the template is done. Refer to the screenshots in the previous section to see various stages of the provisioning process.