WIMan

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

Installation

Simply Clone this repository to your local machine and prepare your Foreman Instace

Usage

• 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.ps1 in 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)

Result

Early measurements showed that deploying a windows server core 2016 takes around 6 minutes from boot to final boot!

Want to join forces?

GREAT! Just Fork off and send me a PR; I'd be happy to review and include your work!

PARENTAL ADVISORY

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!