Designing a Distribution Share

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To design and configure a distribution share, you need to:

  • Structure the distribution share. This includes identifying and structuring all of the supplemental files and folders that you want copied to the hard disk of each destination computer, such as device drivers, applications, and scripts.

  • Identify files that need to be renamed. This includes files in the distribution share that need to be renamed after they are copied to a destination computer.

Three job aids are available to assist you with the design and configuration steps discussed in this section:

  • For a worksheet to help you record information about the structure of your distribution share, see "Distribution Share Worksheet" (ACIUI_2.doc) on the Windows Server 2003 Deployment Kit companion CD (or see "Distribution Share Worksheet" on the Web at https://www.microsoft.com/reskit).

  • For a worksheet to help you record information about the files and folders in your distribution share that you need to rename, see "Renamed Files and Folders Worksheet" (ACIUI_3.doc) on the Windows Server 2003 Deployment Kit companion CD (or see "Renamed Files and Folders Worksheet" on the Web at https://www.microsoft.com/reskit).

  • For a worksheet to help you record general information about your unattended installation, including the location and name of your distribution share, see "Unattended Installation Worksheet" (ACIUI_1.doc) on the Windows Server 2003 Deployment Kit companion CD (or see "Unattended Installation Worksheet" on the Web at https://www.microsoft.com/reskit).

Structuring a Distribution Share

A distribution share consists of a single, top-level folder, named i386, and several subfolders. Figure 2.5 shows the structure of a distribution share.

Figure 2.5   Distribution Share Structure

Distribution Share Structure

i386

This is the distribution share. You create it at the root of the distribution server (the server on which the distribution share is located). You can use any name for this folder, but the name must not contain more than eight characters. You can create this folder by copying the contents of the i386 folder on a Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP Professional operating system CD.

$OEM$

You create the $OEM$ subfolder directly beneath the i386 folder. During setup, you can automatically copy folders, standard 8.3 format files, and any tools needed for your automated installation process to the $OEM$ subfolder.

If you want to create the $OEM$ subfolder outside the distribution share, you can use the OEMFILESPATH parameter in the answer file. For more information about answer file parameters and syntax, see Microsoft Windows Corporate Deployment Tools User’s Guide (Deploy.chm). Deploy.chm is included in the Deploy.cab file in the Support folder on the Windows Server 2003 operating system CD.

The $OEM$ subfolder can contain the optional file Cmdlines.txt, which contains a list of commands to be run at the end of the graphical user interface (GUI)-mode stage of Setup. These commands can be used to install additional services or applications that you want to include with your installation. For more information about the Cmdlines.txt file, see "Designing Automated Post-Installation Tasks" later in this chapter.

As long as Setup finds the $OEM$ subfolder in the root of the distribution share, Setup copies all of the files found in this folder to the temporary directory on the destination computer that is created during the text mode stage of Setup.

$OEM$\Textmode

The $OEM$\Textmode subfolder contains new or updated files for installing mass storage device drivers and HALs. These files can include OEM HALs, drivers for SCSI devices, and Txtsetup.oem, which directs the loading and installing of these components. Be sure to include the Txtsetup.oem file. All files placed in the $OEM$\Textmode subfolder (HALs, drivers, and Txtsetup.oem) must be listed in the [OEMBootFiles] section of the answer file.

$OEM$\$$

The $OEM$\$$ subfolder is equivalent to the systemroot or windir environment variables. The subfolder contains additional files that you want copied to the various subfolders of the Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP Professional installation directory. The structure of this subfolder must match the structure of a standard Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP Professional installation, where $OEM$\$$ matches systemroot or windir (for example, C:\Windows), $OEM$\$$\Fonts matches windir\Fonts, and so on. Each subfolder must contain the files that need to be copied to the corresponding system folder on the destination computer.

$OEM$\$$\Help

A subfolder that contains the OEM Help files to be copied to the systemroot\Help folder during setup.

$OEM$\$$\System32

A subfolder that contains files to be copied to the systemroot\System32 folder during setup.

$OEM$\$1

This folder points to the drive on which Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP Professional is installed; $1 is equivalent to the systemdrive environment variable. For example, if you are installing Windows Server 2003 on drive D, $OEM$\$1 points to drive D.

$OEM$\$1\Pnpdrvrs

You can use the $OEM$\$1\Pnpdrvrs subfolder to place new or updated Plug and Play device drivers in your distribution shares. These folders are copied to the systemdrive\Pnpdrvrs location on the destination computer. Adding the OemPnPDriversPath parameter to your answer file directs Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP Professional to look (both during and after setup) for new or updated Plug and Play drivers in the folders that you created, in addition to those originally included with the system. Note that you can replace Pnpdrvrs with a name of your own that is eight or fewer characters long.

$OEM$\$1\Sysprep

The $OEM$\$1\Sysprep subfolder is optional. This subfolder contains the files that you need to run Sysprep. For information about these files, see "Designing Image-based Installations with Sysprep" in this book.

$OEM$\drive_letter

During the text mode stage of Setup, the structure and contents of each $OEM$\drive_letter subfolder is copied to the root of the corresponding drive on the destination computer. For example, files that you place in the $OEM$\D subfolder are copied to the root of drive D. You can also create subfolders within these subfolders. For example, $OEM$\E\Misc causes Setup to create a subfolder called Misc on drive E.

Tip

  • If you are using MS-DOS to start the installation, and your MS-DOS-based tools cannot copy folders with path names longer than 64 characters, you can use short file names for the folders and then use $$Rename.txt to rename them later.

Converting Short File Names to Long File Names by Using $$Rename.txt

If you are using Winnt.exe to perform an unattended installation, your distribution share can only contain files and folders that have short file names. This is because Winnt.exe only runs on MS-DOS, and MS-DOS can only process files and folders that use the 8.3 naming convention. The 8.3 naming convention allows only eight characters to the left of the decimal point and three characters to the right of the decimal point. Because of the short file name limitation, you need to shorten the names of files and folders so you can put them into your distribution share. You can convert these short file and folder names back to long file and folder names during setup by using the $$Rename.txt file.

$$Rename.txt lists all of the files and folders in a specific folder that need to be renamed. Each folder that contains short file names that need to be renamed must contain a separate version of $$Rename.txt. If you are using Winn32.exe to perform an unattended installation, short file names are automatically converted to long file names during setup.

To use $$Rename.txt, put the file in a folder that contains files and folders that need to be converted. Setup automatically looks for $$Rename.txt; if it finds a $$Rename.txt file, Setup renames the files in that folder. The syntax for $$Rename.txt is:

[section_name_1]
short_name_1 = " long_name_1"
short_name_2 = " long_name_2"
short_name_x = " long_name_x"
.
.
.
[section_name_2]
short_name_1 = " long_name_1"
short_name_2 = " long_name_2"
short_name_x = " long_name_x"
.
.
.

Where:

  • section_name_x is the path to the folder that contains the files and folders. A section does not need to be named; it can have a backslash (\) as a name, which indicates that the section contains the names of the files or subfolders that are in the root of the drive.

  • short_name_x is the name of the file or folder within this named folder that needs to be renamed. The name must not be enclosed in quotation marks.

  • long_name_x is the new name of the file or folder. If the name contains spaces or commas, it must be enclosed in quotation marks.