Creating Custom Bootable CDs for Rapid Deployment

Another method for automating server installations of Windows Server 2003 is by building custom bootable CDs. By combining some of the other methods described in the previous sections, you are able to distribute via CD or DVD media a fully automated customized installation of the operating system.

The benefit of doing a CD-based install is the same as doing an unattended install except there is not the requirement for a network share to play the role of a centralized deployment point. You have the capability to customize the install so that it will work on different hardware platforms. It will also allow for the execution of scripts or installations through the GUIRunOnce parameters or cmdlines.txt

Tools Needed for Creating Custom Install CDs

There are several third-party tools available that can be used to build the custom CD for a server install. You can leverage the answer files created with System Manager, and then use a third-party tool to capture the prepared image. The prepared image and answer files can then be copied to CD or DVD. Third-party tools can then be used to make the CD bootable, and autostart the customized installation.

Additionally, the tools required to create a bootable ISO image, which is the image that would be copied to a CD, are available in Windows Preinstallation Environment, or WinPE for short.

Leveraging WinPE

WinPE is a bare bones operating system, based on the Windows XP kernel, that provides the functionality required to automate Windows Setup. In essence, WinPE replaces the MS-DOS and Windows 95 boot environments administrators are familiar with using to make their bootable CDs in the past. WinPE has the advantage of being able to access NTFS file systems and network environments, and supports all mass storage devices that use Windows 2000, XP, or Windows Server 2003 drivers.

Leveraging WinPE

A big advantage of leveraging WinPE is the creation of automated multi-partition server installations.

WinPE is designed to be hardware-independent. The idea here is that a WinPE CD will boot on any system and then perform a scripted install. To do this, the first step would be to prepare the system volume on the new hardware. The Diskpart and Format tools that seasoned administrators will be familiar with are also included in WinPE. Diskpart is extremely valuable for server installs because it enables you to script a multipartitioned installation on the target hardware. The Format utility, which is also scriptable, allows for a fast format of the drives . After these two steps have completed, the scripted install proceeds from the CD media in this case, but can also reference a RIS server or other network share for the source files.