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Difficulty: Very hardOS Installation and Upgrade Methods

A systems engineer is preparing a automated enterprise network deployment of Windows to 200 new workstations. Place the steps for image preparation, network service configuration, and client deployment in the correct chronological order from first to last.

  1. 1Customize the master reference OS configuration and execute 'sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /shutdown' to strip system-specific Security Identifiers (SIDs).
  2. 2Boot the reference system into a Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) and capture the OS partition into a .wim image file using DISM.
  3. 3Import the captured .wim file into Windows Deployment Services (WDS) and configure DHCP Server Options 66 (Boot Server Host Name) and 67 (Bootfile Name).
  4. 4Configure the target client workstations' UEFI firmware to enable Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) network boot as the primary boot device.
  5. 5Boot the target workstations over the network to load WinPE from TFTP and automatically apply the unattend.xml configuration file during image installation.

Answer

The correct sequence for image-based network deployment is: 1) Run 'sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /shutdown' on the reference OS -> 2) Boot reference machine into WinPE and capture the volume using DISM -> 3) Upload the .wim file to WDS and configure DHCP Options 66 and 67 -> 4) Set target client UEFI firmware boot order to network/PXE -> 5) Execute target client PXE boot to retrieve WinPE via TFTP and apply unattend.xml.
The deployment process strictly follows a prepare-capture-host-configure-deploy workflow: First, the reference OS must be generalized using sysprep.exe /generalize to remove unique SIDs and driver bindings. Second, the offline partition is captured into a .wim file using DISM in WinPE. Third, the .wim file is loaded onto WDS while DHCP Options 66 (boot server IP) and 67 (bootfile name) are configured to direct clients. Fourth, target client devices are set to PXE boot in UEFI. Finally, the target machines boot via PXE, receive boot parameters from DHCP/TFTP, load WinPE, and execute the unattended installation file.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Prepare the reference operating system image.
System SIDs and hardware-specific configurations are stripped using Sysprep /generalize.
Capturing an un-generalized system will cause SID duplication errors across domain clients.
2
Capture the reference disk image.
A standardized .wim file is generated via DISM from WinPE.
DISM requires the reference volume to be offline or booted into WinPE to safely capture file structures.
3
Configure distribution infrastructure.
WDS holds the install image and DHCP directs clients via Options 66 and 67.
PXE network clients depend on DHCP option tags to locate the TFTP server IP address and boot file name.
4
Prepare client hardware.
Target devices are set to attempt network boot via PXE.
UEFI must send a PXE broadcast request during early POST before attempting local storage boot.
5
Execute unattended deployment.
Target machines download WinPE and silently install the customized image.
The unattended file automates OS customization passes (specialize and oobeSystem) without technician intervention.

Key Concept

Automated Network Deployment Sequence (Sysprep -> DISM Capture -> WDS/DHCP PXE -> Client Unattended Install)
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Topics

OS Installation and Upgrade Methods

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