Imaging and Desktop EngineeringScenarios
Published: September 11, 2006
The new Windows Vista deployment architecture enhances or enables new scenarios. For all scenarios, the Windows AIK defines the following process: Preinstallation Planning. Determine which deployment method best meets your business needs. Gather all the required resources including hardware and software. Preinstallation Preparation. Build your deployment environment. Install the tools on a single computer designated as the technician computer. By using the Setup Manager tool, define your network shares and other environment settings. Preinstallation Customization. Create an answer file (Unattend.xml) by using Windows System Image Manager. Unattend.xml is a single file that replaces previous Unattend.txt and other .ini files. Apply the answer file and the Windows product DVD to a master installation. Test your new installation. Capture and store the image on your distribution share. Image Deployment. Deploy the image on a new computer. If necessary, test the image further on the new computer. Deliver the new computer to the customer. Image Maintenance. Modify the base image by using Windows SIM to include new drivers, service packs, and third-party applications. The following sections describe scenarios for the Creating the Image and Maintaining the Image steps. Creating the Base ImageBy creating a base image, you can apply the image to multiple computers. Each computer will have a standard, consistent configuration (i.e., each computer will start with a known and tested configuration). Image-based installations are the most flexible and quickest way to deploy Windows Vista to multiple computers. The following steps describe the process for creating a base image:
Adding and Updating the Image Using Offline ServicingYou use Windows SIM to service a Windows Vista image offline. Using Windows SIM, you can add and remove the following packages:
The following steps describe the process for servicing an image while it's offline:
The previous instructions describe the general steps for servicing an image offline. You can also mount an image file to a folder and maintain the image's files and registry settings. To maintain the image's files, you use any file manager, such as Windows Explorer. To maintain the image's registry, load the image's registry hive files in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe), update the offline registry hives, and unload the hive files.
Consistency in Offline, Online ServicingWindows Vista provides consistent capabilities whether you're servicing an image offline or online. In other words, what you can do online, you can offline. For example, you can apply operating system updates to Windows Vista whether the image is online or offline. The same is true for language packs and out-of-box device drivers. Consistency between offline and online servicing has the following benefits:
The new installation architecture enables consistency in other ways, too. For example, the consolidation of answer files to Unattend.xml helps ensure that settings are applied consistently across all installation passes. Another example is an image file's manifests. Manifests list dependencies between components to ensure consistency during installation.
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