Preparing for OSD

Unless you already have a Windows 7 image file, you can follow the below process to use an OSD task
sequence to build and capture a Windows 7 reference machine.

Network Access Account

Since many functions in OSD are run in WinPE and require authentication, a Network Access Account
(NAA) is required. The NAA should be a domain user account and only really needs read permissions.
Leaving it in the Domain Users group should be sufficient.
For more information on the Network Access Account click here.

1. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to Site Database / Site Management / <site
code> - <site name> / Site Settings / Client Agents.
2. In the results pane, right-click the Computer Client Agent and select Properties.
3. At the Computer Client Agent Properties dialog box, at the General tab, under the Network
Access Account section, select the Set… button.
4. At the Windows User Account dialog, enter the domain\username and password of the NAA
and then click OK.

5. Click OK to save your settings.

Creating the Configuration Manager Client Package

In SCCM task sequences are used to deploy operating systems. Prior to creating any task sequences, you
must first create and deploy specific packages which will be referenced by your task sequence.

1. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to Site Database / Computer Management /

Software Distribution.
2. Right-click the Packages node, and in the context menu select New â€“ Package from

Definition.
3. At the â€œCreate Package from Definition Wizard†, Welcome screen, click Next.
4. At the â€œPackage Definition†screen, select the Configuration Manager Client Upgrade
definition and click Next.
 5. At the â€œSource Files† screen, select â€œAlways obtain files from a source directory†and

then click Next.

6. At the Source Directory screen, select Local drive on site server and browse to <ConfigMgr
Installation Folder>\Client and then click Next.

7. Click Finish at the Summary screen.

8. It is important to distribute the package to all distribution points. In the ConfigMgr console, expand
the package for the Configuration Manager Client Upgrade, right-click the Distribution Points

node, and select New Distribution Points.

9. At the New Distribution Points Wizard Welcome screen, click Next.
10. At the Copy Package screen, select your distribution points and click Next.
11. Click Close at the Confirmation screen.

Deploying Boot Images

In order for machines to use WinPE boot images, the boot images must be distributed to distribution
points. The following section describes that process as well as configuring the boot images to allow for
command prompt support. What is command prompt support? This setting allows you to press F8 at any
time during a task sequence to open a command prompt. Command prompt support is usually used for
troubleshooting purposes.

1. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to Site Database / Computer Management /

Operating System Deployment and expand the Boot Images node.
2. Right-click Boot image (x64) and then select Properties.
3. In the Boot image (x64) Properties dialog, select the Windows PE tab.

4. Check the box Enable command support (testing only) and then click OK.  
5. You will be prompted with a dialog box stating that a â€œDistribution Point Update (is)
Required†Click Yes.
6. The â€œManage Distribution points Wizard†will appear, click Next to continue.
7. When the boot image update is completed, click Close.
8. Repeat the above steps for the Boot image (x86) package.
9. Once both boot images have been modified, expand each boot image, right-click Distribution
Points and select New Distribution Point.

10. Click Next and at the â€œCopy Package†screen, select ALL distribution points. If a PXE

Service Point has been installed, it is important to select the SMSPXEIMAGES$ share based
distribution points as well.
11. Click Next to continue, and Close to complete the process.
12. Repeat the process for Boot image (x86).

Note: When boot images are updated the boot image is mounted and recompiled. During the
recompilation, SCCM specific OSD files, drivers, and other settings are injected into the boot
image.

Build and Capture a Windows 7 Reference

Machine
Unless you already have a Windows 7 image file, you can follow the below process to use an OSD task
sequence to build and capture a Windows 7 reference machine.

Preparing a Source File and Image Folder Structure

To complete the build and capture process, you will need to create a shared folder in which the OS and
Image files are stored. Typically this share can be created on the SCCM server itself. This example uses
the folder D:\OSDeploy.

As an example, create the following folders:

l D:\OSDeploy
l D:\OSDeploy\OSSource
l D:\OSDeploy\OSSource\Windows7x86
l D:\OSDeploy\OSImages
l D:\OSDeploy\OSImages\Windows7x86

Note: A user account will be needed during the reference machine image capture. In this example,
the Network Access Account is used.

1. Right-click the folder D:\OSDeploy folder and select Properties.

2. Select the Sharing tab and click Advanced Sharing.
3. Select the â€œShare this folder†check box and then select the Permissions button. Give the
Everyone group Full Control and then click OK and OK again.

4. Select the Security tab and add the Network Access Account and give it Modify permissions.
Click OK to save the permission settings. Click Close.

Adding the Operating System Install Package

In order to install Windows 7 on a reference machine, you will need to create an OS Installation Package.
To do this, copy the entire contents of a Windows 7 DVD to the following folder:
D:\OSDeploy\OSSource\Windows7x86.

1. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to Site Database / Computer Management /

Operating System Deployment / Operating System Install Packages.
2. Right-click Operating System Install Package and select Add Operating System Install
Package.

3. In Add Operating Install Package Wizard, Data Source screen, enter the UNC path
\\servername\OSDeploy\OSSource\Windows7x86 in which the package is located. Click Next.
 4. At the General screen, enter a descriptive name for the install package such as â€œMicrosoft
Windows 7 x86†and then click Next.

5. Click Next at the Summary screen and click Close to complete the wizard.

Distribute the Windows 7 OS Install Package

1. Open the ConfigMgr console and navigate to Site Database / Computer Management /
Operating System Deployment.
2. Expand the package for the Operating System Install Packages â€“ Microsoft Windows 7
x86, right-click the Distribution Points node, and select â€œNew Distribution Points†.

3. At the New Distribution Points Wizard Welcome screen, click Next.

4. At the Copy Package screen, select your distribution points and then click Next.
Note: If you happened to create a PXE Service Point, you will not need copy any other package
files to the SMSPXEImages$ share, other than the boot image packages.
5. Click Close at the Confirmation screen.

Build and Capture a Windows 7 reference

image
Creating a Task Sequence to Build and Capture a Windows 7
Reference Machine
The following task sequence will be used to install Windows 7 x86 on a reference machine, run system
preparation, and then capture the drive as a WIM file. The instructions below will describe the process of
creating a very basic WIM image which only contains the OS

1. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to Site Database / Computer Management /

Operating System Deployment and right-click the Task Sequences node and select New â€“ 
Task Sequence.
2. At the New Task Sequence Wizard, in the Create a New Task Sequence screen, select Build
and capture a reference operating system image and then click Next.
 3. At Task Sequence Information screen, enter the Task sequence name: Windows 7 x86 Image
Build and Capture. At the Boot image section, select Browse and select the Boot image (x86).

Click OK.

4. Click Next to proceed.

5. At the Install the Windows Operating System screen, at the Package field, select Browse.
6. Select the Operating System Install Package: Microsoft Windows 7 x86 en-US and then click
OK.
7. At the Edition field, use the drop-down to select image 5 â€“ Windows 7 ULTIMATE.
8. You can leave the Product Key field empty as it can be provided later.
9. Select the option Always use the same administrator password and enter and confirm a
password.
10. Click Next to continue.

11. At the Configure the Network screen, select Join a workgroup and enter the name
WORKGROUP and then click Next
12. At the Install ConfigMgr Client screen, select Browse, and navigate to the Microsoft
Configuration Manager Client Upgrade package which was created earlier and then click
Next.

13. At the Include Updates in Image screen, select All software updates and click Next.
Note: Unless the Software Update Point role has been installed, and Software Update deployments
and packages have been created, the Install Updates task will not do anything.
14. At the Install Software Packages screen, click Next (unless you have created packages which
you want installed as part of the task sequence).
15. At the System Preparation screen, there is no need to configure anything since Windows 7
includes system preparation tools. Click Next.
16. At the Image Properties screen, enter any additional information about the image. Click Next.
17. At the Capture Image Settings screen, enter the Path and filename to the OSDeploy share:
\\servername\OSDeploy\OSImages\Windows7x86\ Windows7x86.WIM
18. In the Account field, click the Set… button.

Enter the User name and password of the Network Access Account or the account which has
permissions to write to the share defined. Enter and confirm the account password, and then click
OK.
19. Validate that the settings are accurate in the Capture Image Settings screen, click Next.
 20. At the â€œSummary†screen, click Next.
21. Click Close at the success screen.

Editing the Task Sequence

1. In the Configuration Manager console, select Task Sequences and locate the task sequence just
created in the Details pane.
2. Right-click the task sequence Windows 7 x86 Image Build and Capture and select Edit.
3. In the task sequence editor, select the task: Partition Disk 0 and in the Volume section, highlight
the Default (Primary) volume and select the Edit button.

4. At the Partition Properties screen, check the box: Quick format and then click OK.

5. Click OK to save the task sequence.

Advertise the Task Sequence to Unknown Computers

1. To advertise the task sequence, right-click the Windows 7 x86 Image Build and Capture task
sequence, and select Advertise.
2. At the New Advertisement Wizard screen, in the Collection field, click Browse to select the All
Unknown Computers collection.
 3. If you are planning to use PXE Boot, check the box Make this task sequence available to boot
media and PXE and then click Next.

4. At the Schedule screen, leave the default settings as the task sequence will be optional. Click
Next.
5. At the Distribution Points screen, select the option: Access content directly from a
distribution point when needed by the running task sequence and then click Next.

6. Click Next to the end of the wizard, leaving all default selections.
7. At the â€œWizard Completed†screen, click Close.

Creating Task Sequence Boot Media

Now that you have a task sequence ready to go and advertised, you will need to acquire a reference
machine, which can be virtual. If not using PXE Boot, you will need to generate and create boot media
such as a boot CD or USB stick.

1. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to Site Database / Computer Management /

Operating System Deployment and right-click the Task Sequences node and in the context
menu select Create Task Sequence Media.
 2. At the Task Sequence Media Wizard, at the Select Media Type screen, select Bootable media
and click Next.
3. At the Media Type screen select CD/DVD set and in the Media file field, enter the path and
name of your bootable media, such as C:\OSDx86Boot.iso. Click Next to continue.
4. At the Security screen, leave Enable unknown computer support checked. If you want to be
prompted to enter a password at boot image, leave Protect media with a password selected and
enter and confirm a Password. Click Next to continue.
5. At the Boot Image dialog, select Browse to select the Boot image (x86) 6.1.7600.16385 en-US
image and click OK. Click Next to continue and Next again to start the process. Click Close.
6. Copy the file C:\OSDx86Boot.iso to a machine with a CD Burner, and burn the ISO image to a
CD.

Note: In Windows 7 you can simply right-click the file and select Burn disc image.

 
Build and Capture a Reference Machine
The boot CD will be used to boot your reference machine and connect to the SCCM server. Put in the
CD and boot the machine to the CD. It is assumed that DHCP is implemented on your network.

1. After booting to the Boot media, you may be prompted to enter a password if you selected that
option earlier. If so, enter the password and click Next.

2. The Task Sequence Wizard will appear displaying a list of task sequences available, select the
“Windows 7 x86 Image Build and Capture†task sequence and click Next.

3. At this point, the task sequence will start. The system will reboot several times and the process may
take up to 30-45 minutes.
 Note: You may be prompted during the process to enter a product key. If you entered it in the task
sequence wizard you won’t be prompted. Click 
4. Click Next to continue. A product key doesn’t need to be entered. 
5. Once the process is complete, the machine should be at the Windows screen.
On the site server, verify that the WIM file has been created under:

Deploying the Windows 7 WIM Image

At this point, you have successfully created a Windows 7 x86 image of a reference machine. You may
want to go through the process again to add other application packages, software updates, etc. If you
want to continue with just an OS based image, you can import it into SCCM by creating an OS Image
Package.

Create an OS Image Package from WIM

Now that you have a captured WIM file of a Windows 7 x86 image, you can create a new task sequence
to deploy it to other machines.

1. Open the Configuration Manager console and navigate to Site Database / Computer
Management / Operating System Deployment.
2. Right-click Operating System Images and select Add Operating System Image.
3. At the â€œAdd Operating System Image Wizard†enter the UNC path for the WIM image just
created.
\\servername\OSDeploy\OSImages\Windows7x86\ Windows7x86.WIM
4. Click Next to continue.

5. At the General screen provide a descriptive name such as Microsoft Windows 7 x86 Image,
specify a version number and comment if desired and then click Next.

6. Click Next and then Close to complete the wizard.

7. You will see the new image under the Operating System Images node. Expand the image package,
right-click the Distribution Points node and select New Distribution Points.
 8. At the New Distribution Points Wizard, click Next.
9. At the Copy Packages screen, select your distribution points. As mentioned before, if a PXE
Service Point has been installed, you don’t need to send the package to the SMSPXEImages$ 
share based distribution point.

Conclusion
Now that you have captured a Microsoft Windows 7 image and imported it as an Operating System
Image in Configuration Manager, you can deploy that image by creating other task sequences. By right-
clicking Task Sequences â€“ New Task Sequence you can use some of the built in wizards to deploy your
new Windows 7 image.