WDS in WS2012 - Multiple OS

[crakeador]

Hello! I am new in this forums I need your experience for solve a little problem. I have a server with Windows Server 2012 as OS with the service WDS running. I would like to allow network installations with Windows 7 and Windows 8, living together. Is it posible?

 

The reason of my question is , in WDS server propierties you can attach xml file for unattended installations under kind of architecture. In this file you make partitions. Windows 7 need a partition called "system reserved" with 100 MB and windows 8 need the same partition but with 350 MB as size.

 

Somebody has configured this service with multiple operative systems?

[WinOutreach4]

There are a few methods that you can use instead of an answer file associated by architecture.

You can either pre-stage your clients with a client unattend file, or you can enable the Auto-Add policy to specify that unknown computers require administrative approval, and then you can assign an unattend file upon approval. This TechNet article explains both of these options in detail.

Another solution is to use the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) in conjunction with WDS. MDT is a task based deployment solution, so you can have separate tasks for each OS and architecture that you want to deploy. Within each task, you can have separate settings for partitioning and formatting the drives. It also uses WDS to allow network and multicast deployments.

There are also many other benefits to using MDT for your deployments. Managing device drivers, install installing packages and installing software (even 3^rd party software) during the deployment can all be accomplished with MDT. MDT can also use many other tools during deployments, such as the User State Migration Tool (USMT), the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT), and more, which come as a part of the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (WADK), which is required for deploying Windows 8.

These great videos show the power and flexibility of MDT:

Deployment Day Session 1: Introduction to MDT 2012

Deployment Day Session 2: MDT 2012 Advanced

Deployment Day Session 3: Deployment using WDS

More information to help with deployments can be found on the Deliver and Deploy Windows 7 or the Deliver and Deploy
Windows 8 pages of the Springboard Series on TechNet.

Hope this helps,

David

Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro