Create a Windows 8.1 Enterprise Reference Image with MDT 2013

On the 18th of October, Microsoft released Windows 8.1 to the market. You can now grab the bits from VLSC (Volume Licensing Service Center) and start to create a reference image. In this post we’ll be creating the reference image with MDT 2013.

Overview

• Environment information
• Environment setup
• Configure WSUS automatic approval and synchronization schedule
• Create a folder structure for the reference image
• Create a lab Deployment Share
• Configure the Deployment Share
• Modify the Rules
• Modify the Bootstrap.ini
• Download the Windows 8.1 Enterprise installation media
• Add an Operating System
• Create a Standard Client Task Sequence
• Update the MDT Deployment Share – Lab Environment
• Create a new virtual machine and start the reference image creation

Environment information
I recommend to install a new Windows Server 2012 (or R2) virtual machine and call it MDT01 (you can call it anything you like, but that’s the machine I’ll reference to through out this post). The server should have the following software installed:

• Windows ADK 8.1
• MDT 2013
• Windows Server Update Services 4.0

MDT 2012 Update 1 is not supported with Windows 8.1, neither is the Windows ADK 8. That’s why we need to have the latest releases of both MDT and Windows ADK.
The MDT01 server should be joined to a domain. Ideally to a lab environment domain. You’d also need to create an Active Directory user account, MDT_BA and give it a password like Pa$$w0rd. The MDT_BA account and the password is entered in the Rules section described further down and also used to connect to the Deployment Share.

Environment setup

1. Begin to install Windows ADK 8.1. During the setup, you’ll have the option to install several features. The following features are required:

• Deployment Tools
• Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE)
• User State Migration Tool (USMT)

2. Continue with the MDT 2013 installation. This should be fairly easy and does not require any explanation.
3. Install WSUS 4.0 by running the following command in an elevated PowerShell console:

Add-WindowsFeature "UpdateServices","UpdateServices-WidDB","UpdateServices-RSAT","UpdateServices-API","UpdateServices-UI"

4. Paste the following into the same PowerShell console and press Enter:

$WSUSContentFolder = "C:\WSUS"
$WSUSUtil = "$Env:ProgramFiles\Update Services\Tools\WsusUtil.exe"
$WSUSUtilArgs = "POSTINSTALL CONTENT_DIR=$WSUSContentFolder"
Start-Process -FilePath $WSUSUtil -ArgumentList $WSUSUtilArgs -NoNewWindow -Wait

5. Launch Windows Server Update Services console.
6. The Windows Server Update Services Wizard now appears.

7. Click Next on the Before You Begin page.
8. Click Next on the Microsoft Update Improvement Program page.
9. Click Next on the Choose Upstream Server page.
10. Click Start Connecting on the Specify Proxy Server page. This might take a few minutes. Click Next when finished.
11. On the Choose Languages page, select the languages you wish to download updates for. In this post we’ll only be downloading updates in English. Click Next.
12.  On the Choose Products page, deselect everything except for Windows 8.1. Be aware though that if you’re gonna create a reference image with applications embedded (e.g. Office), remember to add those applicable applications in WSUS later on, otherwise when the step for installing updates begins your reference image will not have any updates for that application. For the purpose of this post, we’re only creating a thin reference image with no applications. Click Next.
13. Click Next on the Choose Classifications page.
14. Select Synchronize automatically on the Configure Sync Schedule page and specify a time schedule that suits your environment. Click Next.
15. On the Finished page, select Begin initial synchronization and click Finish.

Configure WSUS automatic approval and synchronization schedule

1. Launch the Windows Server Update Services console on MDT01, expand Update Services -> MDT01 and click on Options. Configure the Automatic Approvals according to the picture below:

2. Click on Run Rule.

Create a folder structure for the reference image

1. On the MDT01 server, create the following folder structure:
C:\OSD\ReferenceImages (You could of course choose another structure that suits you better, but remember to edit the Rules section described further down in this post)
2. Right-click on the OSD folder and select Properties. On the Sharing tab, click on Advanced Sharing and then Permissions. Everyone should have Full Control. Click OK until you get back to the OSD Properties window.
3. Click on the Security tab and then Edit. Add the MDT_BA account and ammend its permissions with Modify.

Create a lab Deployment Share

1. Open Deployment Workbench on MDT01.
2. Right click on Deployment Shares and choose New Deployment Share.
3. Enter C:\DeploymentShare as the path for this deployment share and click Next.
4. Choose the default share name suggested (DeploymentShare$) and click Next.
5. Name the deployment share description MDT Deployment Share – Lab Environment and click Next.
6. Click Next on the Options page.
7. On the Summary page, click Next.
8. Click Finish on the Confirmation page.

Configure the Deployment Share

1. Right-click and choose Properties on the MDT Deployment Share – Lab Environment deployment share and click on the Windows PE tab.
2. Select platform x64 and make sure that Generate a Lite Touch bootable ISO image is checked. Change Scratch space size to 128.

3. Under the Features tab of the Windows PE tab, check .NET Framework and Windows PowerShell 3.0. This step is optional, but necessary if you’d like to add some PowerShell scripts to your task sequence at a later stage.

4. Click Apply and then OK.

Modify the Rules

1. Right-click and choose Properties on the MDT Deployment Share – Lab Environment deployment share and click on the Rules tab.
2. Replace the existing rules with the following:

[Settings]
Priority=Default
Properties=MyCustomProperty
[Default]
OSInstall=Y
DeploymentType=NEWCOMPUTER
UserID=MDT_BA
UserDomain=contoso.com
UserPassword=Pa$$w0rd
SkipBDDWelcome=YES
SkipDeploymentType=YES
SkipDomainMembership=YES
SkipApplications=YES
SkipSummary=YES
SkipUserData=YES
SkipComputerName=YES
SkipTaskSequence=YES
SkipLocaleSelection=YES
SkipTimeZone=YES
SkipAppsOnUpgrade=YES
SkipAdminPassword=YES
SkipProductKey=YES
SkipComputerBackup=YES
SkipBitLocker=YES
SkipCapture=YES
SkipFinalSummary=YES
ComputerName=WIN81REF
UILanguage=en-US
UserLocale=en-US
KeyboardLocale=0409:00000409
TimeZoneName=W. Europe Standard Time
TaskSequenceID=WIN81REF
WSUSServer=https://mdt01.contoso.com:8530
DoCapture=YES
ComputerBackupLocation=NETWORK
BackupShare=\\mdt01.contoso.com\OSD
BackupDir=ReferenceImages
BackupFile=Win81EntRefImage.wim
FinishAction=SHUTDOWN

3. Make sure that you edit the rules so that they suit your environment. For example, my domain is contoso.com. Edit the following rows:
UserDomain=contoso.com
WSUSServer=https://mdt01.contoso.com:8530
BackupShare=\\mdt01.contoso.com\OSD
4. If you’ve choosen to give the MDT_BA user another password, remember to change that row aswell:
UserPassword=Pa$$w0rd
5. Click on Apply and then OK.

Modify the Bootstrap.ini

1. Right-click and choose Properties on the MDT Deployment Share – Lab Environment deployment share and click on the Rules tab.
2. Click on Edit Bootstrap.ini.
3. Replace the existing settings with the following:

[Settings]
Priority=Default
[Default]
DeployRoot=\\MDT01\DeploymentShare$
SkipBDDWelcome=Yes
UserID=MDT_BA
UserDomain=contoso.com
UserPassword=Pa$$w0rd

4. Change the UserDomain=contoso.com row so that it contains your domain instead.
5. If you’ve given the MDT_BA account another password than Pa$$w0rd, change it here aswell.
6. Close Bootstrap – Notepad, click Apply and then OK.

Download the Windows 8.1 Enterprise installation media

1. Log on to either MSDN or TechNet and download the Windows 8.1 Enterprise ISO.
2. Mount the ISO on MDT01.
3. Browse the mounted ISO and go to <drive-letter>:\sources.
4. Copy the install.wim to C:\Install (create the folder if necessary).

Add an Operating System

1. Go back to the Deployment WorkBench, right-click on Operating Systems and choose New Folder.
2. In the New Folder window, name the folder Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64 and click Next.
3. Click Finish when the task has completed.
4. Right-click on the newly created folder and choose Import Operating System.
5. On the OS Type page, select Custom image file and click Next.
6. Browse to the install.wim file copied earlier and click Next.
7. On the Setup page, select Setup files are not needed and click Next.
8. Specify the Destination directory name Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64 on the Destination page and click Next.
9. Click Next on the Summary page.
10. Click Finish when the process has completed successfully.
11. Optional: Right-click on the newly added operating system and select Rename. Rename it to Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64 – Install.

Create a Standard Client Task Sequence

1. Right-click on Task Sequences and choose New Folder.
2. In the New Folder window, name the folder Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64 and click Next.
3. Click Finish when the task has completed.
4. Right-click on the newly created folder and choose New Task Sequence.

5. Enter WIN81REF under Task sequence ID and Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64 – Reference under Task sequence name and click Next.
6. Select Standard Client Task Sequence as your template on the Select Template page and click Next.
7. Select the Operating System created earlier called Windows 8.1 Enteprise x64 – Install and click Next.

8. Select Do not specify a product key at this time on the Specify Product Key page and click Next.
9. On the OS Settings page, enter your organization information into the Organization field, but leave the Full Name and Internet Explorer Home Page values by default (you could change them if’d like) and click Next.
10. On the Admin Password page, select Do not specify an Administrator password at this time and click Next.
11. Click Next on the Summary page.
12. Click Finish when the process has completed successfully.
13. Right-click on the Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64 – Reference task sequence and select Properties.
14. Go to the Task Sequence tab.
15. Under the State Restore group, enable Windows Update (PreApplication Installation) and Windows Update (Post-Application Installation). You can enable a step by selecting it and clicking on the Options tab for that step, then uncheck the Disable this step. It’s a good idea to enable both Windows Update steps, if you plan to install application in your reference image.

16. Disable the BitLocker step.

17. Click Apply and then OK in the task sequence window.

Update the MDT Deployment Share – Lab Environment

1. Right-click on MDT Deployment Share – Lab Environment and select Update Deployment Share.
2. Select Optimize the boot image updating process and click Next.
3. On the Summary page, click Next.
4. Click Finish when the process has completed successfully.

Create a new virtual machine and start the reference image creation

1. Copy the LiteTouchPE_x64.ISO file from C:\DeploymentShare\Boot on MDT01 to either a network share or locally on your virtual machine host server.
2. Create a new virtual machine and mount the LiteTouchPE_x64.ISO to the CD/DVD drive of the virtual machine.
3. Boot the virtual machine and let the magic begin.

4. Once the image has been applied, you’ll get presented with the Start screen. Don’t be afraid and think that something is broken and the task sequence failed. If you click on the Desktop tile, you’ll see that the task sequence is still running.

5. When sysprep is done, it will start to create a WIM file. At the end the WIM file will be backed up to the path specified earlier in the Rules section.

That’s it! You now have a reference image ready to be deployed with ConfigMgr 2012.