Owner's manual

to perform only a single task, others are complete solutions that can perform every step of a deployment. Most of the

tools can be integrated into a complete solution accessed through a single interface, providing a combination of

functionality and ease of administration. More details about these tools and solutions are provided in the following

sections.

Windows Deployment Services

Included with Windows Server, Windows Deployment Services (WDS) is a solution for the network distribution of images

and boot media. WDS provides support for PXE booting which helps to eliminate the need for physical boot media when

performing lite-touch deployments. It also natively supports the deployment of images in the file-based Windows

Imaging Format (WIM), which is common to all modern Microsoft deployment solutions.

WDS supports management of drivers and the creation of images and can serve as a powerful deployment solution by

itself, but works best when combined with the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit covered later in this chapter to provide

additional capacity for automation and customization during the deployment process. The version of WDS included with

Windows Server 2012 or newer is required for support of UEFI 2.3.1 devices like Surface Pro 3.

Note: For smaller environments without access to Windows Server, the cost of implementing Windows Server to use

WDS may be prohibitive. However, Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) is available at no cost and will operate on a

client computer. Even if you are using Windows Server, installing MDT on a client computer can reduce workload by

enabling the deployment storage location to be hosted by a Windows client while still supporting the network boot

capability of WDS. MDT is described in more detail later in this section.

Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit

The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) is a collection of several tools and utilities that perform

specific tasks required during different parts of a deployment. If you are familiar with the Windows Automated

Installation Kit (Windows AIK), the Windows ADK is the replacement toolset for Windows 8 and newer operating

systems. When downloading the Windows ADK, it is important to ensure that you are downloading the latest update

because prior versions of the Windows ADK may not work on later operating systems. Most of this tools are command

line only, and are used behind the scenes by other tools such as the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT).

Inside the Windows ADK there are several components, each described in subsequent sections:

 Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM)

 Deployment Image and Servicing and Management (DISM)

 Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE)

 User State Migration Tool (USMT)

 Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT)

Table 2.2 summarizes the purpose of each Windows ADK tool.

Tool/Technology

Purpose

Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM)

Creates and verifies answer files

Deployment Image and Servicing and Management (DISM)

Services and modifies images and

environments