PXE Image Deployment Lab

Overview:

• As I continue to search for new work opportunities, one skill I kept running into was the ability to deploy new workstations and laptops by imaging them. I wanted to get hands-on experience deploying operating system images to new computers over a network using PXE. This allows for an efficient, automated system that will be incredibly useful as I continue in this field.

Prerequisites:

• Home server running Proxmox to create Virtual Machines for PXE server and clients.
• A storage repository to store the system images and allow server and clients to reach the appropriate files.
• Tools to create and deploy the images such as Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) and Windows Deployment Services (WDS)

VM Configuration and Set Up:

• Using Proxmox on my server, I created a few Virtual Machines including one with Windows Server 2022 installed to act as the PXE server. Two more VMs were created with no OS installed to act as the clients and receive the image from the PXE server.

Server Configuration:

• To get the server ready, I installed Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) and Windows Deployment Services (WDS).
• Installed the DHCP feature on the server, and assigned a static IP address.

MDT Process:

• Mounted Windows 11 ISO file to allow an image to be created from it.
• Used the Deployment Work Bench to create a new Deployment Share, specifying a location on my NAS that will be reachable by the client VMs.
• Once share was created, I added an Operating system by pointing it to the mounted ISO drive, creating a full set of source files from it.
• Added applications that I wanted to install on every computer, such as Chrome browser, by pointing it to the location on my NAS where the install files are located.
• Created a Standard Task Sequence to install Windows 11 Evaluation with an empty product key, user name, and a local admin password.
• Changed the Scratch Space size of the deployment share Windows PE to 64 for a little faster process and added a few extra options under features like Windows PowerShell and DISM Cmdlets.
• Finally, updated Deployment share to ensure all of our configuration changes take place while imaging the client VMs.

Client Imaging:

• After the deployment share was updated, the client VMs were started and using the BIOS configuration, I enabled the PXE boot to allow them to request an OS image over the network.
• Once PXE was loaded, I selected the Windows 11 evaluation task sequence from the Windows Deployment wizard.
• Configured Computer Name, workgroup name, local time, applications to install, and assigned an administrator password.
• After installation, I verified that the client VMs were properly functioning with Windows 11 evaluation and proper applications were installed.

Troubleshooting and Issues Encountered:

• I ran into a few issues that needed some research in order to find a resolution:
  • Issue: While looking at the properties of my mdt deployment share, I would get an error and the workbench would crash whenever I went into the Windows PE tab.
    • Solution: Upon doing some research, I found out that this was a bug with the newest versions of the PE addon of Windows ADK. The solution was simply to uninstall the PE addon and install an older version that did not include this issue.
  • Issue: Needed a configured PXE server to serve the image files.
    • Solution: Since my home router did not have capabilities to act as the PXE server, I had to configure the Windows Server 2022 VM to act as the PXE server by installing Windows Deployment Services Tools
  • Issue: Client VM couldn’t see the PXE server.
    • Solution: Once I enabled the client VMs to boot from PXE, they were unable to see and get the image file. This was due to the client’s not being able to see the PXE server. The solution to this was to install the DHCP feature on the server and assigning a static IP. This allowed the server to assign an IP address and send the necessary bootloader files to the client machine.

Conclusion:

• PXE imaging is a powerful method to simultaneously deploy multiple machines efficiently using an already configured network. Automating the deployment and installation of OS, applications, and drivers is a great timesaver compared to manual OS installations. While the process ran fairly straight forward and smooth, I did encounter a few issues that needed some slight troubleshooting. It is incredibly important to have properly configured DHCP settings on the PXE server to allow for a successful boot process.
• This lab has given incredibly valuable hands-on experience in network-based imaging, a skill that is essential in any environment managing large-scale deployments.