WDS (Windows Deployment Services) is a network service from Microsoft that is used to quickly and easily deploy the Windows operating system to multiple computers. It provides an automated way to install, configure and manage operating system images, allowing enterprises to quickly deploy and update large numbers of computer systems. There are many articles on how to deploy WDS on the Internet, so I won’t go into details here. By using WDS, enterprises can achieve large-scale operating system deployment and updates, simplifying management tasks, reducing costs, and ensuring operating system consistency and standardization across the entire organization.
After WDS is deployed, you need to select the initial language and provide WDS authentication credentials during use, which is not conducive for users to complete the installation work independently. How can we automatically skip these two steps?
First we need to understand that there are two unattended files in WDS, one for installation images and the other for boot images. We can set this in the WinPE section of the unattended file of the boot image. When deploying an image using WDS, confirmation for language and keyboard is still asked even if language and keyboard settings are specified in the unattended file. The reason for this is that the WDS server needs to be authenticated next. If there is a problem with the language, you may not be able to enter your username and password.
To stop asking for language settings, and log in successfully, you need to set the unattended file to automatically authenticate to WDS. You can do this by Microsoft-Windows-Setup_neutraladding Windows Deployment Serviceschild components from the component. Add it to 1 windowsPEthe process and fill in the credentials as shown below:
Correct configuration:
Domain: MyDomain
Password: S00per3ecu&eP@ssw0rd
Username: MyUserName
Wrong configuration:
Domain: MyDomain.com
Password: S00per3ecu&eP@ssw0rd
Username: Mydomain\MyUserName
The following is the entire auto-answer XML file information:
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
<settings pass="windowsPE">
<component xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS">
<SetupUILanguage>
<UILanguage>zh-cn</UILanguage>
</SetupUILanguage>
<InputLocale>zh-cn</InputLocale>
<SystemLocale>zh-cn</SystemLocale>
<UILanguage>zh-cn</UILanguage>
<UILanguageFallback>zh-cn</UILanguageFallback>
<UserLocale>zh-cn</UserLocale>
</component>
<component xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS">
<UserData>
<AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
</UserData>
<WindowsDeploymentServices>
<Login>
<Credentials>
<Domain>testdomain.com</Domain>
<Password>Password</Password>
<Username>a-knight</Username>
</Credentials>
</Login>
</WindowsDeploymentServices>
</component>
</settings>
<cpi:offlineImage xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" cpi:source="wim:d:/winpe/te/sources/install.wim#Windows 11 Enterprise"/>
</unattend>
It is possible to directly create an unattended file (usually in XML format) for configuring WDS deployment settings. You can also use the Windows System Image Manager tool to create unattended files.
After creating the unattended file, on the WDS server, apply the unattended file to the corresponding client's unattended file so that these settings are automatically applied during the deployment process.
This way, you can automatically skip the steps of initial language selection and WDS authentication credentials, making it easier for users to complete the installation process. Please note, be sure to conduct appropriate testing.