WIMan is a Windows Image Generator for The Foreman. It creates both the WinPE file as well as the Windows images with a zero-hassle approach as all batteries are included
- A single parameterless command!
- Beautifies WinPE and styles it with the foreman logo
- Optimizes the images as much as possible by extracting the individual images → Results in a smaller images to apply and download!
- Includes updates if you want
- Includes additional drivers
- Follows a convention approach
- WinPE is not mandatory in the sense that this script allows to use a WinPE image shipped with the original ISO automatically
- If you want, though, WinPE can be automatically installed and used
Simply Clone this repository to your local machine and prepare your Foreman Instace
- Place a windows ISO inside the
sources/<arch>/<arbitrary-folder-name>/directory - Optional include WinPE Drivers in
winpe/drivers/. Like Drivers for VMware Virtual Machines. - Optional include Windows Drivers in
sources/<arch>/<arbitrary-folder-name>/drivers/ - Optional include Windows Updates in
sources/<arch>/<arbitrary-folder-name>/updates/ - run
./GenerateWIM.ps1in an elevated console
- Copy all the content from the within the "finalized" folder to the webserver serving your windows images.
- Configure your Foreman Installation Media to point to this folder. As you can see from the folder structure, we included the architecture in the path!
- Use the latest community templates; this contains a rule which interprets a manifest ini that configures downloading of the correct source. This proves to be faster in download times + faster install time (compared to downloading the entire WIM as-is)
Early measurements showed that deploying a windows server core 2016 takes around 6 minutes from boot to final boot!
GREAT! Just Fork off and send me a PR; I'd be happy to review and include your work!
This script is in its early stages, meaning it will get better in time but you might encounter some issues (although I did my very best to test this thoroughly).
If you do find an issue, please share it here so we can take a look!