You can
think of the Windows installation process as having two phases: The first phase has the
preinstallation options such as OS and language selection as well as drive partitioning.
In the second phase, installation of the core operating system has completed, but you still
have a number of outstanding initial configuration tasks to accomplish.
WDS allows you to automate this process by specifying unattend (answer) files
to help answer the selection for you. If implemented correctly, you can automate your
server installation from soup to nuts so that a junior member of the team or a less-skilled
resource can complete the tasks of setting up the servers for you. They can simply
bootup the server using PXE, select the appropriate OS boot menu, select the OS they
want to install, and sit back while the WDS does all the dirty work.
Figure 5-13. Selecting the OS Install image to load from WDS
165 Chapter 5: Windows Deployment Services
To create a fully unattended installation, you need to create the appropriate unattend
files based on what you are trying to automate??”for example, WDS client, Windows
setup, or legacy setup. You then need to associate these unattend files with a specific image
or architecture type (by globally defining it on the server as the default for a specific
architecture). You can use the Windows System Image Manager (SIM) that is part of the
Windows AIK to help create your unattend.
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