Wise Package Studio is a very great tool for packaging software for our deployment. But we also need an image of Windows XP or Vista to deploy our software too. One of the tools we need to build cool images is the Windows Automated Installation Kit.
This article will help you through the task of capturing the Windows Automatic Installation Kit and build your own MSI of it.
First we have to download the software. This can be found on http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?Fa...
The Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) is designed to help corporate IT professionals customize and deploy the Microsoft Windows Vista™ family of operation systems. By using Windows AIK, you can perform unattended Windows installations, capture Windows images with ImageX, and create Windows PE images.
The download is almost 1 GB, so you need some space. When you have downloaded the WAIK, you have to burn it to a DVD, or you can mount it with Daemon tools. The download is an IMG file that can be simply mounted and used. I mount it on my server, and share it as a drive letter. This will make it simple for my client to pick up.
When the image is mounted, make a network mapping from the windows 2003 server to the drive.
Start Wise Package Studio, and create a new project named WAIK.
I'm going to repackage it with the Windows Installer. Click close to save the project and go back to the Wise Package Studio screen.
Click run on the Create Package task and start the process by selecting Next.
I create a snapshot in conjunction with the Smart Monitor. Click Next to continue.
I first create a new snapshot, so the initial scan that was previously created is rerun. Click Next to start the scan.
Now we see the package that we selected during the building of the project. Select execute to start the installation.
Now we see the initial startup screen for the Windows Automated Installation Kit. I first select MSXML 6.0 Setup because that is not on my computer and I want it in my package.
Click Next in the Welcome screen.
Select agree for the MSXML 6.0 setup, and click Next.
Check the correct username and company information and click Next to continue.
Now you can click Install to start the installation.
Click Finish to end the installation of the MSXML 6.0 component.
When the MSXML 6.0 component is installed, you can select Windows AIK to start the installation of the software we need.
Click Next in the welcome screen.
Select I agree and click Next to continue.
Select the installation path where you want to install the software, and select Next to continue.
Then click Next to start the installation. This will take some time, so grab a cup of coffee and be patient. It is a big installation.
Click Close to finish the installation.
Click Exit in the screen of the Windows AIK to close.
Now select Next to run the second snapshot. This will help you capture all the changes that are made to the system while installing and configuring the WAIK.
Now you are able to exclude various files and registry keys that you do not want in your package. Again this depends on what software is running on your computer, and therefore it is almost impossible to list all the files and registry keys that you need to exclude.
If you feel uncomfortable with this, just leave it as it is and click Next. In the next screen you see all the exclusion that you have made.
Click Next to go to the next step.
Our setup capture is now finished. Wise Setup Capture will give you the version number of the software and also it will list the Default Directory where the software is installed.
Click Finish to go to the next step.
Next step is the Edit Package feature. Run the task and edit it at your will. All the steps are explained in Part 3 of this series.
Now we select Run to start the Validate Compliance with Standards task.
Next step is to distribute the package to the Share Point directory. Click on Run to start the task. This task will run, and when it is finished the screen disappears automatically.
Just give it some time until you see that the next task, Import into Software Management Database is selected.
Start that task by selecting Run. This task will import the software into the Software Management Database. When the task is ready, then Next will be selected. Start the Resolve Conflicts task by selecting Run.
Select all the packages. As you see there are no conflicts.
My final task is to make the package available. Select run to start that task. When you wish, you can also select the Distribute Software task to distribute it to your SMS or Altiris Deployment Server.
Now we have installed and configured the WAIK, and we have built a package so we can use it on more computers, we are up to the next step in this article.
We are going to use the WAIK to do our job.
Close Wise Package Studio and install the customized MSI on another machine. After the installation you will find a new shortcut in the start menu that will start the Windows System Image manager. Start the shortcut.
Before we start building an answer file for the Windows Vista deployment we first have to configure some tasks.
We start with the distribution share.
Right click on the Select Distribution Share line.
Select Create Distribution Share.
Browse to the directory where you want to locate the Distribution Share.
The Windows Automated Installation Kit creates the folders that are needed.
The Windows Automated Installation Kit uses WIM files and Catalog files to deploy standardized Windows images to the client.
What is a WIM file and what are catalog files?
Windows System Image Manager uses Windows image (.wim) files and catalog (.clg) files to display the available components and packages that can be added to an unattended answer file. Windows images and catalog files contain configurable settings that you can modify once the component or package is added to an answer file.
Windows Image Files
A Windows image (.wim) file contains one or more compressed Windows images. Each Windows image in a .wim file contains a list of all of the components, settings, and packages available with that Windows image.
Limitations of Windows Image Files
The following list describes some of the limitations of using .wim files.
- Windows image files can be opened only by an account with administrator privileges.
- Windows image files can be opened only by one user at a time.
- Because Windows image files can contain one or more Windows images, they tend to be large. Some Windows image files can be several gigabytes (GB) in size.
- The settings in a Windows image can change over time. Windows SIM enables you to create an answer file in which the settings are modified, added, or removed. Windows image files also change when packages are added, configured, or removed. By running Setup and then applying the answer file, the new settings and configurations are applied. If you recapture the installed Windows image by using ImageX, the new settings and configurations are now the defaults. When a Windows image changes, you must create a new catalog file.
Because of these limitations, Windows SIM uses catalogs when creating an answer file.
Catalog Files
A "catalog" file is a binary file that lists the state of all the settings and packages in a Windows image. When a catalog is created, it queries the Windows image for a list of all the settings in that image. Because the contents of a Windows image can change over time, it is important that you recreate the catalog file whenever you update a Windows image.
Because Windows images can be opened only by administrators, you must have administrator privileges on the system to create a catalog file.
The Windows retail DVD includes pre-generated catalog files for each Windows image inside install.wim. These catalog files are in the Sources directory of the retail DVD and can be used to create an answer file for a Windows image in the default install.wim file. However, if you intend to create a catalog for a custom Windows image, you should use Image Manager to recreate the catalog for that custom Windows image.
Contents of a Catalog File
The catalog contains the following information:
- A list of component settings and current values.
- Windows features and package states.
Benefits of Catalog Files
Catalog (.clg) files have several advantages over .wim files.
Significantly smaller than Windows image (.wim) files, .clg files can be less than 1 MB, while .wim files can be several GB in size. Also, .clg files are easier to copy to removable media or a network share.
While .clg files enable multiple users to create answer files for a single .clg file at the same time, a .wim file enables only one person to open and to access the .wim file at any given time.
Non-administrators can create answer files for a .clg file. However, .wim files can only be opened by administrators.
How to build a WIM file and the catalog files can be found in this article Deployment Console, Part 10: Creating Windows WIM and Catalog Files in the series of Altiris Deployment Solution.
Wise Package Studio, Part 8: Building an Office 2003 Generic Transform File
Wise Package Studio, Part 10: Orca, What is It and Why Do We Need It?
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