Software deployment through WDS

In my environment, I had to set up a new Windows Deployment Services (WDS) configuration for Windows 8.1 Enterprise. To roll out in our office (some 20+ workstations). I wanted to install some additional software at the same time, withoutMicrosoft Deployment Workbench, because I find the interface too slow. The solution? Read on…

To install additional software through Windows ServerR2 WDS: wrap your software deployment in a PowerShell script and put it as a Synchronous FirstLogonCommandsyour ImageUnattend.xml, created with Windows System Image Manager(WSIM). Or run your PowerShell script manually as a post-installation thingy.

Here is how to install software packages during a Windows Deployment Services (WDS) deployment, without Microsoft Deployment Workbench (available in the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, or MDT).

Windows Deployment Services (WDS) without Microsoft Deployment Workbench

For some, the Microsoft Deployment Workbench (available in the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, or MDT) is a bless. It was for me too, but I’ve always disliked the slow interface. So when I got the opportunity to set up a new Windows Server 2012 R2 deployment server, with WDS, I decided to try to stay away from using the Deployment Workbench. For as far as I can tell, it succeeded pretty well.

Once you have your WDSClientUnattend.xmlImageUnattend.xmlthe way you want them to be (e.g, they work), you can start messing around with them using Windows System Image Manager (WSIM). Don’t forget to make a backup.

Like I said in the beginning of this article, I want to deploy a standardized set of software to newly installed and deployed workstations, and I don’t want to use MDT (neither a deployment through Group Policy Objects, or GPO).

On a side note: How do you like and use WDSMDTyour deployments? Share your thoughts in a comment, thanks!

PowerShell post-Windows installation deployment script

I came up with the following PowerShell script as a manual post-installation software deployment solution:

# PowerShell script to install software packages through 
# Windows Deployment Services (WDS)
Set-Variable -name sharepath -value "\\fileserver\deployment" -scope script
 
# disable SystemRestore, needed to install software because it bugs my Event logs
# this may fail in other Windows versions
$SysRestore = [wmiclass]"\\$sysname\root\default:systemrestore"
$SysRestore.Disable("C:\")
 
# define Office 2013 installation function, set up your config.xml first
function installOffice2013 {
	&$sharepath\Office2013\setup.exe /config standard.ww\config.xml -Wait
}
 
# define installation function
function installSoftware {
	Start-Process -NoNewWindow msiexec -argument "/i $sharepath\7z938-x64.msi /quiet" -Wait
	Start-Process -NoNewWindow msiexec -argument "/i `"$sharepath\EMET 5.1 Setup.msi`" /quiet" -Wait
	Start-Process -NoNewWindow msiexec -argument "/i $sharepath\AdbeRdr11000_mui_Std\AcroRead.msi /quiet" -Wait
	Start-Process -NoNewWindow msiexec -argument "/update $sharepath\AdbeRdrUpd11010_MUI.msp /quiet" -Wait
	Start-Process -NoNewWindow msiexec -argument "/i $sharepath\install_flash_player_16_plugin.msi /quiet" -Wait
	Start-Process -NoNewWindow msiexec -argument "/i $sharepath\install_flash_player_16_active_x.msi /quiet" -Wait
	Start-Process -NoNewWindow msiexec -argument "/i $sharepath\googlechromestandaloneenterprise.msi /quiet" -Wait
	Start-Process -NoNewWindow "$sharepath\Thunderbird Setup 31.5.0.exe" -argument '/S /V"/Passive /NoRestart' -Wait
	Start-Process -NoNewWindow "$sharepath\Firefox Setup 36.0.exe" -argument '/S /V"/Passive /NoRestart"' -Wait
	Start-Process -NoNewWindow "$sharepath\FileZilla_3.10.1.1_win32-setup.exe" -argument '/S' -Wait
	Start-Process -NoNewWindow "$sharepath\gpg4win-2.2.3.exe" -argument '/S' -Wait
	Start-Process -NoNewWindow "$sharepath\npp.6.7.4.Installer.exe" -argument '/S' -Wait
	Start-Process -NoNewWindow "$sharepath\KeePass-1.28-Setup.exe" -argument '/SILENT' -Wait
	Start-Process -NoNewWindow "$sharepath\fiddler4setup.exe" -argument '/S' -Wait
}
 
# run the installation functions
installOffice2013
installSoftware

hé kewl, silent installation parameters?! Where did you find these? Back in 2012 I wrote an article about silent installation switches to use with WDS/MDT. Most of them are in that article and are still valid, go check them out. You can even extract files from an msi package.

For this to succeed, I had to disable Windows SystemRestore, because it creates a restore point for every .msiI also had to bypass PowerShell ExecutionPolicyexecute the installation script successfully:

PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -File \\fileserver\deploySoftware.ps1

Hook into Windows Deployment Services’ FirstLogonCommands for software installations

As you can imagine, test driving a lot of installations and deployments, I thought it was better to not to have to type the deploySoftware.ps1 PowerShell command anymore. So I looked further.

In our Microsoft courses, we’ve learned that in the WDS oobeSystem(or Out Of Box Experience) configuration pass, settings are applied before the “Windows Welcome” message starts. Some options usually used are language or creating user accounts.

To me, utilizing the WDS oobeSystem sounded ideal for deploying software during an installation. The component Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup contains elements and settings that control how the Windows operating system shell is installed on a destination computer. It also contains FirstLogonCommands.

FirstLogonCommands specifies commands to run the first time a user logs on to the computer. These commands run only once.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/customize/desktop/unattend/microsoft-windows-shell-setup-firstlogoncommands

Long story short, just add your deploySoftware.ps1as a FirstLogonCommandsyour ImageUnattend.xml

See the image below:

FirstLogonCommands ImageUnattend.xml

In plain XML, the ImageUnattend.xmlare:

<FirstLogonCommands>
    <SynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
        <Order>1</Order>
        <CommandLine>PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -File \\fileserver\\deploySoftware.ps1</CommandLine>
        <Description>Installs software to deployed work stations</Description>
        <RequiresUserInput>false</RequiresUserInput>
    </SynchronousCommand>
</FirstLogonCommands>

Conclusion deploying software through Windows Deployment Services

I hope you liked this article. I haven’t found many online references for using FirstLogonCommandsdeploy software during a WDS deployment of Windows 7, 8 or Windows 8.1. Certain tasks, sequences and hooks might be better (smoother, faster) when used in Windows Deployment Toolkit, but I didn’t really like the Workbench tool.

As always, timtowtdi.