How the Client Applies Install Images When you perform a Pre-Boot Execution Environment (PXE) boot on a computer

and s elect a boot image, the Windows Deployment Services client performs the followin g actions: Determines that Setup should start in Windows Deployment Services mode. Starts Windows PE networking (if it is not already started). Discovers a Windows Deployment Services server (this may be from the PXE registr y key or by using a discover image). Establishes an unsecured session to the Windows Deployment Services server. Determines the Windows Deployment Services client logging level (if specified) a nd starts the logging process. Checks to determine whether there is an unattend file for the Windows Deployment Services client. Proceeds through the Windows Deployment Services client UI screens (UI language selection, keyboard layout, and credentials). Establishes a secure session to Windows Deployment Services server by using the user's credentials. Receives a list of images from the server and displays it to the user. Receives a list of external language packs (for images for Windows Vista and Win dows Server 2008). Proceeds through the Windows Deployment Services client UI screens (image select ion, disk configuration, and progress). Applies the image. When performing multicast deployments, the image is copied an d then applied. However, when using unicast functionality, the image is applied over the network and is not copied to the client computer. All data is sent in c ompressed blocks of data. When these data blocks are received, the data is expan ded and written to the disk. Services the offline image (for example injects drivers). Sets boot parameters (for example, the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) display lan guage). Copies the $OEM$ folder (if it exists) for the image. Applies a language pack (if necessary). Retrieves the value of unattend variables (for example, timezone) from the serve r. Checks for a per-image unattend file and copies it (if it exists). Checks domain join settings in the unattend file (for example, whether or not to join the domain, what computer name to use, what domain to join, what credentia ls to use, and so on). Creates an account in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) for the computer, if necessary. If an account already exists, the client resets the account. Performs variable replacement on the unattend file (including time zone, domain join settings, and so on). Restarts the computer. How the Client Deals with Discover Images When you perform a PXE boot on a computer and select a discover image, the Windo ws Deployment Services client performs the following actions: The client downloads the boot image from the server and the image boots. At boot time, Setup.exe is invoked and it parses any command-line options that were pas sed to it. Setup sees that it is in Windows Deployment Services discovery mode a nd connects to the specified server to download the install image. Setup.exe (Autorun) is launched automatically by Windows PE (through the command s specified in WinPEshl.ini). Setup.exe (Autorun) parses the command lines passed to it (at a minimum, setup.e xe /WDS /WDSDiscover, and optionally, setup.exe /WDS /WDSDiscover /WDSServer:MyW DSServer). Setup realizes that it should be in Windows Deployment Services mode. Autorun continues to run in the background (never showing UI) and invokes regul

ar Setup.exe with the command-line arguments as they are passed in. Setup.exe detects that it is in Windows Deployment Services discovery mode. One of the following occurs: If a server name was specified using the /WDSServer option, the Windows Deployme nt Services client contacts that server directly. (Skip to step 7.) If /WDSServer was not specified, the client will initiate a PXE request by broad casting a Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) discover packet with the PXE opti on (option tag 60 set to the string PXEClient) to destination port UDP 67. The c lient waits for a response from a valid PXE server. The emulated PXE request sen t by the Windows Deployment Services client adheres to the standards specified b y the PXE specification (including using the specified response delay settings). When a valid Windows Deployment Services server is located, the client sends a D HCP request packet to UDP port 4011 of the responding PXE server (in the case of static mode, the client sends the packet to the server specified with /WDSServe r). The client expects a valid response (DHCP acknowledgment signal, or ACK) fro m the PXE server. The client connects to the Windows Deployment Services server by using the speci fied communication channel, and the normal installation steps continue. When Setup Is Started in Windows Deployment Services Mode Setup.exe in Windows Vista is composed of many modules. When Setup.exe is starte d, it loads the appropriate modules. The Windows Deployment Services client (imp lemented as WDSclient.dll) is one of these modules. There are two ways to start Setup.exe in Windows Deployment Services mode: Automatic Detection Manually Invoking Setup.exe Automatic Detection The default method and most common way to invoke the Windows Deployment Services client is for Setup.exe to detect automatically that it should start in this mo de. This method is used when you use the Boot.wim from the Windows Vista media ( in the \Sources folder). The Boot.wim file contains its own \Sources folder that includes the Setup.exe f ile and associated files. At boot time, Windows PE must start a shell applicatio n. You can explicitly define this application by using entries in the WinPESHL.i ni file, or it can be implicitly discovered through code in Windows PE. In the l atter case, Windows PE looks for Setup.exe in the \Sources folder and, if the pr ogram is present there, Windows PE automatically starts the application. This ha ppens if the WinPESHL.ini file does not exist or if it contains an empty [Launch App] section. When Setup.exe is running, two additional checks are automatically performed to determine whether Setup should start in Windows Deployment Services mode. If the answer to either or both of the following questions is No, Setup will not start in Windows Deployment Services mode.

Check Explanation Was Windows PE started by using PXE boot? When a computer running Windows Vista PXE boots, a response packet containing bo ot server information (such as the IP address and name of the network boot serve r) is inserted into the registry of the boot image at HKLM\System\CurrentControl Set\Control\PXE. This information is preserved throughout the boot process becau se it is passed from the loader to the kernel in the loader message block (it is inserted into the registry by the kernel). Setup.exe looks at the data in the BootServerReply value of HKLM\System\CurrentC ontrolSet\Control\PXE. This value controls the following two aspects of starting

Windows PE: The fact that the key exists is an indicator that the Windows PE instance was bo oted from the network. If the Windows PE instance was not booted, meaning that t he computer was booted from some other media (such as a DVD, CD, USB key, or har d disk drive), you must manually invoke the Windows Deployment Services mode of Setup. The packet contains the IP address of the PXE server that the boot image was dow nloaded from. The Windows Deployment Services client uses this information to de termine which Windows Deployment Services server to contact. Is Setup.exe running from the Windows system drive? Before starting in Windows Deployment Services mode, the next check is to locate where Setup.exe is running. If Setup.exe is running from the same location as the system drive of Windows PE (for example, X:), Setup will start in Windows Deployment Services mode. If Setup.exe is running from a location other than the system drive, Setup will start in normal mode. This accounts for the case in which Windows PE is booted f rom a non-Microsoft PXE server and Setup.exe is started from a shared network fo lder. In this scenario, Windows Deployment Services is not present in the enviro nment, and Setup.exe will therefore not start in Windows Deployment Services mod e. Manually Invoking Setup.exe It is possible to force Setup.exe to start in Windows Deployment Services mode. This is particularly valuable if you want to run Setup from a Windows PE instanc e that was not started by a PXE boot. You can force Setup.exe to start in this m ode by specifying the /wds option on the command line when starting Setup (for e xample, \sources\setup.exe /wds). Note that you will receive an error if you use the /wds command outside of Windows PE. Diagram of Startup Logic The following diagram that illustrates the Windows Deployment Services client st artup logic