How to deploy Windows 11 22H2 with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) and Windows Deployment Services (WDS)

Published October 01, 2022 by Danny Moran

Table of Contents

PAGE CONTENT

Introduction

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) is a collection of tools that can be used to easily automate the deployment process for installing Windows Desktop and Windows Server operating systems.

How to deploy Windows 11 with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) and Windows Deployment Services (WDS) Guide Video

Downloads

Required Downloads

Other Downloads

If you need to download Windows 11, you can use these two links.

Installing Windows Deployment Services

Run PowerShell as an Administrator
Run the following command:
```
Install-WindowsFeature WDS
```
Open Server Manager, press Tools, then press Windows Deployment Services.
In the WDS panel, expand the Servers drop down in the left hand column.
Right-click your local server in the servers drop down and press configure server.
Before you begin, check your your environment meets the requirements, and if it does, press Next.
Select if you are integrating your WDS server with Active Directory, or if you are setting up a standalone server and press Next. (For this guide, we are integrating with Active Directory.)
Enter the location where you want to store your WDS files. By default, it stores it in C:\RemoteInstall. For best performance, you should change the path to a secondary drive, however using the default location works fine. Press Next once you have entered the path location. If you leave it on the C drive, then you will get a warning, however, you can just press Yes to continue.
For the PXE settings, set it to Respond to all client computer (known and unknown) and then press Next.
Untick Add images to the server now, as we will add the boot image at a later stage, and press Finish.

Installing Microsoft Deployment Toolkit

Run MicrosoftDeploymentToolkit_x64.msi
On the welcome screen of the setup wizard, press Next.
Accept the license agreement by ticking the box and then pressing Next.
On the custom setup page, leave all these are default. Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, and both subfeatures (Documents, and Tools and Templates) should be selected. Then press Next.
Select if you want to join the customer experience improvement program and then press Next.
On the last page, press Install to install Microsoft Deployment Toolkit.
After the install has finished, press Finish.

Installing the Windows ADK

Run adksetup.exe
Select where you want to install the ADK to and then press Next. By default, it installs to C:\Program Files x86\Windows Kits\10\ which is fine.
Select if you want to allow Microsoft to collect insights for the Windows Kits, and then press Next.
Accept the licence agreement by pressing Accept.
Select the features you want to install and then press Install. I leave the selected options as default as they can be easily changed at a later date if more are required.
After the install has finished, press Close.

Installing the Windows PE add-on

Run adkwinpesetup.exe
For the install location, it is auto selected based on where you installed the Windows ADK. Just press Next.
Select if you want to send anonymous usage data to Microsoft for the Windows Kits, and then press Next.
Accept the licence agreement by pressing Accept.
The only option, Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE), should be ticked, and then press Install.
After the install has finished, press Close.

Open Deployment Workbench
Right-click Deployment Shares, and then press New Deployment Share.
Set a path for where you want to store your deployment share and press Next. The deployment share can end up being 100’s of GB in size. Pick a drive that has a lot of fast storage.
Set a Deployment Share name and then press Next. Make sure you leave the $ at the end of the share name.
Set a Deployment Share description and then press Next.
Leave the options as default as these will be amended later.
Check the summary is correct and then press Next to create the deployment share.
Once the deployment share has finished being created, press Finish.

Copy the installation ISO file for the operating system you want to deploy to your deployment server.
Right-click the ISO file and press Mount.
In the Deployment Workbench, right-click the Operating Systems folder and press New Folder.
Name the folder Windows the same name as the operating system you are importing and press Next, Next, and then Finish.
Right-click the new folder you just created and then press Import Operating System.
Select Full set of source files, and then press Next.
Select Browse…, and then select the mounted drive, and then press OK and then Next.
If you get an error at this stage, it is likely that the ISO file that you are using doesn’t have an install.wim file, but an install.esd file. You will copy the install.esd file from within the sources folder of the mounted drive to the desktop and then use the below guide to extract the install.wim file out of it. Then repeat Step 7 but select the folder that has your extracted install.wim file.
Guide on extracting WIM files from ESD files
Enter a destination directory name and then press Next. The name should be automatically picked up.
Check the summary is correct and then press Next to import the operating system.
Once the operating system has finished importing, press Finish to close the wizard.

Creating a Task Sequence in Microsoft Deployment Toolkit

Right-click the Task Sequences folder with MDT and press New Task Sequence.
Give your Task Sequence a unique ID and descriptive name, and then pres Next.
Select Standard Client Task Sequence and then press Next.
Select the operating system you want to deploy and press Next.
Select do not specify a product key at this time, and then press Next.
Fill in the Full Name, Organisation, and IE Home Page, and then press Next.
Set a local administrator password that can be used once the operating system has been deployed, and then press Next.
On the summary page, check the settings and then press Next to create the task sequence.
Press Finish to close the task sequence wizard.

Right-click your deployment share and press Properties.
Under General, untick x86 for the supported platforms.

Under Rules, enter the below settings into the Rules box.

[Settings]
Priority=Default
Properties=MyCustomProperty

[Default]
OSInstall=Y
SkipBDDWelcome=YES
SkipCapture=YES
SkipAdminPassword=YES
SkipProductKey=YES
SkipComputerBackup=YES
SkipBitLocker=YES
SkipUserData=YES
SkipTimeZone=YES
SkipLocaleSelection=YES

JoinDomain=ad.dannymoran.com
MachineObjectOU=OU=Workstations,OU=Company,DC=ad,DC=dannymoran,DC=com

KeyboardLocale=en-GB
TimeZoneName=GMT Standard Time
EventService=http://DEPLOYMENT01:9800

Press Edit Bootstrap.ini and enter the below settings.

[Settings]
Priority=Default

[Default]
DeployRoot=\\DEPLOYMENT01\DeploymentShare$

UserID=Administrator
UserDomain=ad.dannymoran.com
UserPassword=Password01

KeyboardLocalePE=0809:00000809

SkipBDDWelcome=YES

Under Windows PE, change the platform to x64, and then untick Generate a Lite Touch bootable ISO image.
Under Monitoring, tick Enable monitoring for this deployment share.
Press Apply and then OK.
Right-click your deployment share and press Update deployment share.
Select Completely regenrate boot images, and then press Next, and then Next to generate the boot images.

Importing Microsoft Deployment Toolkit boot image into Windows Deployment Services

Open Windows Deployment Services
Right-click Boot Images and press Add Boot Image…
Select your MDT boot image. It should be located: C:\DeploymentShare\Boot\LiteTouchPE_x64.wim
Press Next, Next, Next, and then wait for the image to be imported and then press Finish.

You should now be able to network boot from devices on your local network and boot into MDT.

Once in the MDT PXE boot environment, follow the onscreen wizard to deploy the operating system.