Hello world,

In the previous post, we have seen how it was possible to easily combine WDS and MDT 2013 in order to build a portable deployment infrastructure.  In the past (and the solution is still valid), we were using custom tftp solution and we were using the pxelinux boot loader to customize and personalize our deployment solution. We like the fact that we can use only Microsoft built-in tools to setup our portable deployment infrastructure (we can script the installation process – maybe described in another post).  The other advantage of using WDS component is the fact that the TFTP part includes all the latest additions to the protocol ( You can specify size block through the GUI in order to speed up your download)

Overview

We assume that you have followed the setup instructions as described in this post .  You have checked that you configuration is working as expected.  Now, you would like to customize the user experience.  We usually brand on deployment infrastructure. We will be using the pxelinux (which is open source) component.  The pxelinux component enables you to create a custom menu while the system is booting up and let you select which operations you want to perform.

Step 1 – Download the pxelinux components

We first need to download the components and file we need in order to customize the tftp part of our deployment server solution.  We will be downloading the syslinux package from this location.  When saved on your computer, you can unzip it into your favorite location.  For this post, we assume that you have unzipped the package under c:\syslinux-6.02\

Step 2 – Copy the files in your WDS server

You will need to copy the files listed below into the WDS boot folder location.  In other words, copy the following files

• <%Location%>\syslinux-6.02\bios\com32\chain\chain.c32
• <%Location%>\syslinux-6.02\bios\com32\cmenu\libmenu\libmenu.c32
• <%Location%>\syslinux-6.02\bios\com32\libutil\libutil.c32
• <%Location%>\syslinux-6.02\bios\com32\menu\menu.c32
• <%Location%>\syslinux-6.02\bios\com32\menu\vesamenu.c32
• <%Location%>\syslinux-6.02\bios\com32\lib\libcom32.c32
• <%Location%>\syslinux-6.02\bios\com32\elflink\ldlinux\ldlinux.c32
• <%Location%>\syslinux-6.02\bios\core\pxelinux.0

where <%Location%> is the location where you have unzipped the syslinux package

into the following folders

• <%DriveLetter%>\RemoteInstall\Boot\x86
• <%DriveLetter%>\RemoteInstall\Boot\x64

Step 3 – Rename some files

You might want to rename the following files

x86 architecture

• <%DriveLetter%>\RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\abortpxe.com into abortpxe.0
• <%DriveLetter%>\RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\pxeboot.n12  into pxeboot.0
• <%DriveLetter%>\RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\pxelinux.0  into pxelinux.com

x64 architecture

• <%DriveLetter%>\RemoteInstall\Boot\x64\abortpxe.com  into abortpxe.0
• <%DriveLetter%>\RemoteInstall\Boot\x64\pxeboot.n12  into pxeboot.0
• <%DriveLetter%>\RemoteInstall\Boot\x64\pxelinux.0  into pxelinux.com

 

At the end, you should end up with something like the following screenshot

Click on picture for better resolution

 

Step 4 – Create the boot loader menu 

We will create a folder named pxelinux.cfg under the following folders

• <%DriveLetter%>\RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\
• <%DriveLetter%>\RemoteInstall\Boot\x64\

Under the following locations,

• <%DriveLetter%>\RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\pxelinux.cfg
• <%DriveLetter%>\RemoteInstall\Boot\x64\pxelinux.cfg

we will create a file called default.  The file is empty for the moment. We will come back to it a little bit later and we will populate it accordingly

Step 5 – Configure the WDS to use the pxe

Now, we have to tell WDS to use pxelinux.com file instead of the default pxeboot.n12.  In Windows 2012 R2, there is no gui anymore to configure such options.  You will need to use the command line. So, from a command line, you will execute the following commands

x86 architecture

• wdsutil /set-server /bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.com /architecture:x86
• wdsutil /set-server /N12bootprogram:boot\x86\pxelinux.com /architecture:x86

x64 architecture

• wdsutil /set-server /bootprogram:boot\x64\pxelinux.com /architecture:x64
• wdsutil /set-server /N12bootprogram:boot\x64\pxelinux.com /architecture:x64

At this stage, you can reboot the computer or simply restart the wds service

Step 7 – Create you menu 

if you go back to the location

• <%DriveLetter%>\RemoteInstall\Boot\x86\pxelinux.cfg
• <%DriveLetter%>\RemoteInstall\Boot\x64\pxelinux.cfg

You will have to edit the default file and append the following content

DEFAULT vesamenu.c32
PROMPT 0
MENU COLOR TITLE 0 #ffffffff #00000000 none
MENU BACKGROUND test.png
MENU TITLE PORTABLE MDT CAPABILITY
#—boot to MDT WINPE IMAGES
LABEL MDT
MENU LABEL MDT Boot Images
KERNEL pxeboot.0

#—boot to hard disk
LABEL local
MENU DEFAULT
MENU LABEL Boot from Harddisk
LOCALBOOT 0
Type 0x80

Step 8 – Test your configuration

If you go to your client computer where you need to deploy the operating system, you will be presented with the following screen when starting the pxe boot process

Click on Picture for Better Resolution 

After pressing F12, you should see the boot menu you have created using the pxelinux component.

Click on Picture for Better Resolution 

Using WDS management console;  you should be able to skip the pressing F12 message.  We did not test it (yet) but we will definitely give it a try to smooth a little bit more the deployment process.

Final Notes

Voila ! We have seen in this post and the previous one how you could use only built-in tools to create a deployment infrastructure.  In this post, we have seen how you could customize a little bit further the deployment infrastructure using open source pxelinux components.  We used this component in the past in order to setup the custom tftp solution.  However, we never combined the pxelinux and the WDS components.  We have found most of the information over here

Till Next Time

See ya

Sources : http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php/WDSLINUX