Boot Images and Distribution Point Configuration For OSD In SCCM 2012 R2

Boot Images and Distribution Point Configuration For OSD In SCCM 2012 R2 In this post we will look at the steps for boot images and Distribution Point configuration for OSD In SCCM 2012 R2. We will enable the PXE support and note that the steps shown in the post needs to be done before you use system center 2012 R2 configuration manager to deploy operating systems. One of the biggest advantage of using SCCM 2012 R2 is support for Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 and support for boot images created by using the Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) for Windows 7 SP1 and based on Windows PE 3.1. You can refer to SCCM 2012 R2 step by step guide here.

Ways to deploy operating systems

There are several methods that you can use to deploy operating systems to Configuration Manager client computers.

PXE initiated deployments: PXE-initiated deployments let client computers request a deployment over the network. The operating system image and a Windows PE boot image are sent to a distribution point that is configured to accept PXE boot requests.

Multicast deployments: In this method the operating system image is sent to a distribution point, which in turn simultaneously deploys the image when client computers request the deployment.

Bootable Media Deployments: Bootable media deployments let you deploy the operating system when the destination computer starts. When the destination computer starts, it retrieves the task sequence, the operating system image, and any other required content from the network. Because that content is not on the media, you can update the content without having to recreate the media.

Stand-alone Media Deployments: Stand-alone media deployments let you deploy operating systems in environments where it is not practical to copy an operating system image or other large packages over the network and in environments without network connectivity or low bandwidth network connectivity.

Prestaged Media deployments: Prestaged media deployments let you deploy an operating system to a computer that is not fully provisioned. The prestaged media is a Windows Imaging Format (WIM) file that can be installed on a bare-metal computer by the manufacturer or at an enterprise staging center that is not connected to the Configuration Manager environment.

We will first enable the PXE support for the clients. Launch the Configuration Manager 2012 R2 console, click on Administration, Servers and Site system roles, right click Distribution point and click properties. Click on PXE tab, check the box “Enable PXE support for clients“. There is warning box that appears, click on Yes. This will enable the PXE support for clients. When you enable the PXE support for clients the Windows Deployment Services will be installed in the background. You will see the WDS service running when you open services.msc.

Enable the option Allow this DP to respond to incoming PXE requests, this will allow DP to respond to the incoming PXE requests.

Enable the option Enable unknown computer support, an unknown computer may be a computer where the Configuration Manager client is not installed or it can be a computer that is not imported into Configuration Manager or that has not been discovered by Configuration Manager. To deploy operating systems to any of the computers you must enable this option.

Enable the option Require a password when computers use PXE, it is recommended to provide a strong password for any computers that use PXE. This is more of an additional security for your PXE deployments.

User Device Affinity – This is to specify how you want the distribution point to associate users with the destination computer for PXE deployments. You have 3 options for user device affinity,

a) Do not use user device affinity – Select this if you do not want to associate users with the destination computer.

b) Allow user device affinity with manual approval – Select this option to wait for approval from an administrative user before users are associated with the destination computer.

c) Allow user device affinity with automatic approval – Select this option to automatically associate users with the destination computer without waiting for approval.

For the option Network Interfaces, select Respond to PXE requests on all network interfaces. Here you basically specify whether the distribution point responds to PXE requests from all network interfaces or from specific network interfaces. If you want a specific network interface to respond to PXE request select Respond to PXE requests on specific network interfaces.

PXE server response delay – This option is to specify delay (in seconds) for the distribution point before it responds to computer requests when multiple PXE-enabled distribution points are used. By default, the Configuration Manager PXE service point responds first to network PXE requests.

Once you have configured these options click on Apply and click on OK.

Boot Images – Before you proceed for OSD, you need to make few changes to the Boot Images too. When you install SCCM 2012 R2, you will find that there are 2 images that are installed by SCCM. Boot Image (x64) – used when you deploy 64 bit OS, Boot Image (x86) – used when you deploy 32 bit OS.

The first step is to enable the command support on both the boot images. Enabling this option helps in troubleshooting OS deployment issues. To enable the command support, in the CM console, click Software Library, expand Operating system, Click Boot Images. Right click Boot Image (X64) and click on Properties. Click on Customization tab and check the box Enable Command Support (testing only). Click on Apply.

After you enable the command support, on the same window click on Data Source tab and make sure the option Deploy this boot image from the PXE-enabled DP. This is option is enabled by default, if its not enabled please enable it. Click on Apply and click OK.

The changes that you made to Boot Image (x64), repeat the same for Boot Image (x86).

After you make the changes to the Boot Images you must distribute the content to DP. If you had distributed the boot images to DP previously and in case if you make changes to it post that then you can Update Distribution Points. To distribute the boot images to DP, right click on the boot image and click Distribute Content. Distribute content of both the boot images.

You can check if these boot images are available to DP by checking the Content Status of each boot image. Under Completion Statistics you should see a green circle that indicates that the content is distributed successfully and is available with DP.

Network Access Account – In the SCCM Technet forums I have seen users posting questions on OSD error “Task Sequence Failed with the Error Code 0×80070002“. We see this error during the operating system deployment using SCCM 2012 R2. When you deploy the task sequence to a collection and when you boot the computer from the network, during the step “Applying Operating System” you encounter the Error Code 0×80070002. To fix the issue Error Code 0×80070002, we have to define the network access account. The Network Access account is used only for accessing the content and not for running the task sequence. This account should have the minimum appropriate permissions on operating system deployment content it needs to access. This account is important because the computer receiving the operating system does not have a security context it can use to access content on the network.

To configure the Network Access Account, open the CM2012 R2 console, click on Administration, expand Overview, expand Site Configuration, click Sites, on the top ribbon click Configure Site Components, click Software Distribution.

Click on the tab Network Access Account, choose Specify the account that accesses network locations (by default the option is set to Use the computer account of Configuration Manager client). Click on the orange icon and add the user account that has enough permissions to access the content which is required while deploying Operating System. Click on Apply and click on OK.