When installing WDS on Server Core, you have to specify the location of the source files or ensure that the server has a connection to the Internet, which enables them to be downloaded automatically.
#TFTP SERVER WINDOWS 2012 R2 INSTALL#
You can install WDS on computers running the Server Core version of Windows Server. Although the WDS server does not require a static IP address, it is good practice to ensure that infrastructure roles such as WDS always use a consistent network address. If you install WDS from the Add Roles And Features Wizard, you can configure these settings automatically. Because this limits your ability to use IP address tracking through IPAM, using a third-party DHCP server if you are using WDS is not a recommended strategy. Versions of Windows Server after 1810-including Windows Server 2019-can be used with third-party DHCP servers. You can host WDS and DHCP on the same computer as long as you configure the options shown in Figure 3-10. Prior to Windows Server 1810, an authorized Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server must be present on the network.
#TFTP SERVER WINDOWS 2012 R2 DRIVERS#
You create the boot image by adding the appropriate network adapter drivers associated with the computer that can’t PXE boot to the Boot.wim file from the Windows Server installation media.Ī Windows Server DNS server must be present on the local area network (LAN). A discover image boots an environment, loading special drivers to enable the network adapter to interact with the WDS server. If you have a computer that does not have a PXE-compliant network adapter, you can configure a special type of boot image known as a discover image. This isn't necessary when using Generation 2 virtual machines because the Generation 2 virtual machine network adapters support PXE booting.
The trick to doing this is to use a legacy rather than a synthetic network adapter when creating the virtual machine as a Generation 1 virtual machine. You can also use WDS to deploy Windows Server 2012 and later to virtual machines running under Hyper-V. WDS clients need a PXE-compliant network adapter, which is rarely a problem because almost all modern network adapters are PXE-compliant. WDS can be used in conjunction with other technologies such as Desired State Configuration where an answer file only performs basic configuration tasks, with the substantial tasks completed by an advanced configuration technology. Because unattended installation files differ between server and client, you either need to swap unattended files when you are switching between client and server or have multiple WDS servers. If the WDS server has not been provisioned with an answer file, an administrator must enter setup configuration information.Įach WDS server can have only one unattended installation file for each processor architecture. If the WDS server has been provisioned with an answer file, the setup completes automatically.
These computers locate the WDS server and begin the operating system setup process. The computers that are targets of the transmission boot using their PXE-compliant network adapters. The media access control (MAC) addresses of Pre-boot Execution Environment (PXE)–compliant network adapters are made available to the WDS server. WDS also can use unicast transmissions.ĭeploying Windows Server through WDS involves performing the following steps:Īn operating system deployment transmission is prepared on the WDS server. When you use multicast transmissions, the same amount of traffic crosses the network independently of whether you are deploying an operating system to 1 computer or to 50.
WDS can send these operating systems across the network using multicast transmissions, which means that multiple computers receive the same operating system image while minimizing the use of network bandwidth. WDS enables you to deploy operating systems, including Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2019, to computers over the network. Windows Deployment Services (WDS) is a server role that you can deploy on computers running Windows Server.