In a previous post, we walked through the prerequisites and installation of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2013 Update 1 Preview.
Now that we have it installed, we’re going to explore some of the new features available.
As a part of the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) for Windows 10, there is a new feature called “Windows Imaging Configuration and Designer”.
Windows Imaging Configuration and Designer
Start by launching the Windows Imaging Configuration and Designer.
NOTE: I am using the Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 2 operating system.
Once we launch the application, we see in the description on the start screen that it is used to “Build Provisioning packages, customize and build Windows Client and Windows Mobile images.”
Let’s create a New Project. Under the Start heading, click the New Project link. We are presented with the New Project dialog, where we need to provide a Project Name, Location, and an optional Description.
Next, we need to choose a Workflow.
Per the dialog, a Provisioning Package is used to “build a customization package that targets a windows edition. You may then use this package to build a Windows image, or customize an existing one.”
An Imaging workflow is used to “create and build a new image. You can customize it by adding drivers, packages, apps, languages, settings, and more.”
Let’s start with a Provisioning Package.
Provisioning Package Workflow
We next need to select the Windows Edition that we are targeting.
NOTE: If you de-select the ‘All Windows Editions’ option, then the ‘Windows Professional’ option is selected by default.
After you click Finish, the project is loaded, ready for customization.
Imaging Workflow
On the Choose Workflow screen, if you chose Imaging and clicked Next, you now have to choose the Imaging Methodology to use.
Since I don’t have any OS kits installed, the only option I currently have is “Windows Desktop WIM-based image”
If you select the “Windows Desktop WIM-based image” option, on the next screen you need to specify where that .WIM file is located.
Once you have pointed to the location of the Install.WIM file, the dialog will display the WIM and Image information.
In my case, I encountered an error because I didn’t reference a “Windows Technical Preciew” image.
So I tried it with the Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview WIM,
After you click Finish, the project is loaded, ready for customization.
Imaging Workflow – Create Production/Clean Install/Upgrade Media
This is the same process for each of the option in the ‘Create‘ menu, whether you are creating Production Media, Clean Install Media, or Upgrade Media.
Once you have finished your customizations to the Image based project, you can now select the Create menu and choose ‘Create Production Media‘. From the Build – Select Image Format screen, you can choose between WIM and FFU formats, then click Next.
On the Select Imaging Options screen, you have the option to compress the OS file.
Next, on the Deployment Media screen, you can choose the type of media (i.e. USB).
Then we can choose where we want the output to go.
Finally we have the Summary screen before we initiate the build operation.
And now the build is complete.
Imaging Workflow – Deploy
The Deploy menu only has 1 option, ‘To USB Device‘.
As you can see, this option is for deploying an FFU image. Since I don’t have an FFU image, this is as far as I can take this walk-through.
Imaging Workflow – Export
The Export menu only has 1 option, ‘Provisioning Package‘.
On the Provisioning Package Configuration screen, you can change the Package Name, Version, Rank and Owner.
You can then specify where the export will be located.
Finally, you need to Build the package.
Once the package is exported, click Finish.
And that covers our look at the new Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit for Windows 10.