70-411 Exam Cram - Deploy, manage and maintain servers
Deploy and manage server images
Install the Windows Deployment Services (WDS) role
- Windows Deployment services is only supported on Server with a GUI or the Minimal Server Interface
- A locally attached NTFS volume that is not the operating system volume, with adequate capacity is the best location for RemoteInstall
- Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) is not required. Windows Deployment Services (WDS) can be installed without a dependency on AD DS
- If you have prestaged your computer accounts in Active Directory, you can select the 'Respond only to known computers' option
- Auto-cast is the best Multicast transmission type for a single computer or a small number of computers. Other computers can start the transmission later and still save on network bandwidth. Scheduled cast is a good option when there will be a known number of computers participating or if you know there will be a large number of computers participating
- If the Windows Deployment Services (WDS) server is running on the same server as the DHCP Server, configure DHCP option 60 and configure Windows Deployment Services not to listen on port 67
- Computers can be prestaged in the WDS console, they can also be added as managed computers in Active Directory allowing permissions to be set on the computer object to specify which groups can add the computer to the domain
- You can pre-stage computers using either the GUID, MAC or DUID:
- Valid GUIDs:
- a493c25d-4e0d-41e9-a566-10b411625495
- A493c25d4e0d41e9a56610b411625495
- Valid MAC Addresses:
- 00-15-5D-52-E4-2E
- 00000000-0000-0000-0000-00155D52E42E
- 0000000000000000000000155D52E42E
- WDS requires DHCP and a valid scope to be configured
- The Wdsutil command with the /approve parameter can be used to approve a device that is waiting for approval before installing
Configure and manage boot, install and discover images
- Boot images are used to boot a client computer to perform operating system installation
- Install images are deployed to target computers
- Discover images are used to boot non-PXE capable computers and deploy an operating system using Windows Deployment Services (WDS)
- Capture images are boot images that you boot a client computer into to capture the operating system into a .wim file
- You can copy WDS Install images from one image group to another using the Export-WDSInstallImage and Import-WDSInstallImage cmdlets. This also applies to other image types
- You can copy WDS Install images within the same image group using the Copy-WDSInstallImage cmdlet. This also applies to other image types
- In Windows Server 2012 R2, VHD, VHDX and WIM are all valid Windows image formats
- You can use the Priority setting on Windows Deployment Services (WDS) images to control the order in which images are displayed. Images with a lower priority are used before images with a higher priority
- Install Images can have filters applied to control which hardware types will be granted access to an image
- Image Groups and Install Images can have permissions set to control which users will be able to access an image or image group
Update images with patches, hotfixes and drivers
- The required steps to apply Windows Updates to a Windows Image are to mount the image, add the package, commit and dismount the image. You can save and dismount at the same time using the -Save parameter of the Dismount-WindowsImage cmdlet
- Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature can be used with the -Path parameter to enable Windows Features in a mounted image. You can use the -Online parameter to enable or disable features in an online Windows Image
- The Add-WindowsPackage cmdlet can be used to apply Windows Updates to a mounted Windows image. You can a single update or apply all updates located in a folder using the -PackagePath parameter
- Dism /Get-Image-Info or imagex /info can be used to get WIM information
- Sysprep.exe with the /generalize parameter is used to prepare an image for capture. Drives will not appear in the capture image dialog if the operating system is not prepared using sysprep
Install features for offline images
- ImageX can be used to create, update and mange Windows Image (WIM) files. ImageX is deprecated on Windows Server 2012
- In Windows Server 2012 R2, VHD, VHDX and WIM are all valid Windows image formats
- Enable-WindowsOptional feature can be used with the -Path parameter to install features in offline Windows Images
- Dism can be used with the /Enable-Feature parameter to add features to a Windows Image
Configure driver groups and packages
- The required steps to apply Windows Updates to a Windows Image are to mount the image, add the package, commit and dismount the image. You can save and dismount at the same time using the -Save parameter of the Dismount-WindowsImage cmdlet
- Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature can be used with the -Path parameter to enable Windows Features in a mounted image. You can use the -Online parameter to enable or disable features in an online Windows Image
- The Add-WindowsPackage cmdlet can be used to apply Windows Updates to a mounted Windows image. You can a single update or apply all updates located in a folder using the -PackagePath parameter
- Dism /Get-Image-Info or imagex /info can be used to get WIM information
- Sysprep.exe with the /generalize parameter is used to prepare an image for capture. Drives will not appear in the capture image dialog if the operating system is not prepared using sysprep
Install features for offline images
- ImageX can be used to create, update and mange Windows Image (WIM) files. ImageX is deprecated on Windows Server 2012
- In Windows Server 2012 R2, VHD, VHDX and WIM are all valid Windows image formats
- Enable-WindowsOptional feature can be used with the -Path parameter to install features in offline Windows Images
- Dism can be used with the /Enable-Feature parameter to add features to a Windows Image
Configure driver groups and packages
- The Add-WindowsPackage cmdlet can be used to apply Windows Updates to a mounted Windows image. You can a single update or apply all updates located in a folder using the -PackagePath parameter
- Oscdimg is a command-line tool that you can use to create an image (.iso) file of a customized 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE)
- Driver groups can be configured with filters to only apply the drivers in the group to specific hardware
- Deleting a driver group does not delete the drivers associated with it. Drivers can be a member of multiple driver groups
- Driver groups can be enabled or disabled as required