Is there any way to support multiple versions of WinPE 10 for Deployment Resources in OSD?
Previously we had several bundles using WinPE 10 build 1607. We created a new bundle for deploying Windows 10 build 1709, and now our earlier bundles also report PE 10 (1709) in the dashboard.
We tried creating new bundles with different PE versions (1607, 1709, 1803) but it looks like only one PE10 version can be used, and that version is applied to all of the bundles.
Our issue is that PE 10 build 1709 will not boot on HP DL160 Gen9 servers (to load Windows Server 2016), but PE 10 build 1607 won’t deploy Windows 10 build 1709 to workstations. So we need a way to use both WinPE versions in the same deployment.
Looking for some guidance to get OSD working for us. Any help is much appreciated, thanks! I have a PMR open now.
Hi Jason,
OSD has been designed to support one couple of PE 10 at the time. When you create a new bundle with a newer version of PE 10, at import time you can select to NOT upgrade the PE10 currently in the environment. Your issue in booting HP DL 160 servers seems outside OSD (did you try to create a pure Windows PE boot.wim version 1709 and try to boot the HP server from it, without OSD? If yes, did it works?).
So, there is no way, unfortunately, to use 2 different WinPEs in the same deployment.
If you want that OSD supports more than 1 couple of PE 10 at the time, you should open an enhancement request about it.
Regards
Michele Tomassi
Thank you, Michele.
The root problem appears to be documented at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4055537/config-initialization-failed-error-when-installing-windows-server
The 1709 PE causes initialization errors with certain classes of hardware. The fix is to download a compatibility update and apply it to the WinPE image with dism.exe. We have not tried this yet but will shortly.
It’s clear that not all WinPEs are created equal, and we will want to have an option to include multiple WinPE images in our deployment, both for testing purposes and for binding known-compatible PE images to our hardware/system profile list. I will open an RFE shortly.
I have TS001045270 open for handling multiple WinPE images in the deployment (keeping a separate WinPE for each Deployment Resource, and using the PE specified in the Deployment Resource for the System Profile installation), and TS001049362 open to update the “Create MDT Bundle” workflow to apply servicing/patches to the WinPE image.
I’ve submitted an RFE to support multiple WinPE 10 resources at http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rfe/execute?use_case=viewRfe&CR_ID=121377 . If anyone can help upvote it for, I’d very much appreciate it!
@michele.t Given that in the current version, only one WinPE 10 resource is supported, I’m a bit confused why the system as a whole supports multiple MDT Bundles. What’s the use case for separate MDT bundles, but all forced to use the same WinPE resource? Is there some customization at the Bundle level that I’m not understanding?
Hi Jason,
about the support of multiple MDT bundles in BigFix, the key is in support of different Microsoft MDT version. Each MDT version has its own version of scripts launched in Bare Metal, Capture and refresh of Windows images.
I hope this helps in understanding the process
Regards
Michele Tomassi
That does help, thank you.