====== Booting Windows PE ======

{{:screenshots:windows_aik.png?303×222 |Windows AIK installation screen}}

===== Overview =====

Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) is a network-bootable version of Windows designed for installation, troubleshooting or system recovery.  It is not a general-purpose Windows system; it can be used only for these specific tasks.  If you want to boot a fully functional version of Windows, you need to [[:sanboot|Boot from SAN]] instead.

===== Obtaining Windows AIK =====

Windows PE is available as part of the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK).  Download the AIK from its home page at [[http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=94BB6E34-D890-4932-81A5-5B50C657DE08&displaylang=en]], or from the direct download at [[http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/c/d/9cdfa30e-5901-40e4-b6bf-4a0086ea0a6a/6001.18000.080118-1840-kb3aikl_en.iso]].

Install the AIK onto a working Windows system (the "technician computer").  The installation requires around 1GB of disk space.
===== Setting up WinPE =====

Open the Windows PE Tools Command Prompt (//Start// -> //All Programs// -> //Microsoft Windows AIK// -> //Windows PE Tools Command Prompt//) and enter the following commands (some of which are case-sensitive). Note that if you intending to install a 64 bit version of Windows, the second command below should specify "amd64" instead of "x86" (amd64 is a generic reference to 64 bit support which includes support for both AMD and Intel based 64bit hardware):

    mkdir C:\Temp
    call copype.cmd x86 C:\Temp\Boot
    del /Q etfsboot.com
    move ISO\boot\boot.sdi boot.sdi
    rmdir /S /Q ISO
    imagex /mount winpe.wim 1 mount
    copy mount\Windows\Boot\PXE\pxeboot.n12 pxeboot.n12
    copy mount\Windows\Boot\PXE\bootmgr.exe bootmgr.exe
    copy mount\Windows\System32\bcdedit.exe bcdedit.exe
    imagex /unmount mount
    rmdir /Q mount
    bcdedit -createstore BCD
    set BCDEDIT=bcdedit -store BCD
    %BCDEDIT% -create {ramdiskoptions} -d "Ramdisk options"
    %BCDEDIT% -set {ramdiskoptions} ramdisksdidevice boot
    %BCDEDIT% -set {ramdiskoptions} ramdisksdipath \Boot\boot.sdi
    for /f "tokens=3" %a in ('%BCDEDIT% -create -d "Windows PE" -application osloader') do set GUID=%a
    %BCDEDIT% -set %GUID% systemroot \Windows
    %BCDEDIT% -set %GUID% detecthal Yes
    %BCDEDIT% -set %GUID% winpe Yes
    %BCDEDIT% -set %GUID% osdevice ramdisk=[boot]\Boot\winpe.wim,{ramdiskoptions}
    %BCDEDIT% -set %GUID% device ramdisk=[boot]\Boot\winpe.wim,{ramdiskoptions}
    %BCDEDIT% -create {bootmgr} -d "Windows Boot Manager"
    %BCDEDIT% -set {bootmgr} timeout 30
    %BCDEDIT% -set {bootmgr} displayorder %GUID%
    del /Q bcdedit.exe

Note: When using inside a batch file, replace %a with %%a  (twice) in the "for" command parameters.

===== Transferring WinPE to a TFTP server =====

Copy the //C:\Temp\Boot// directory to your TFTP server.  The //Boot// directory must appear directly within your TFTP server's root.  For example, if your TFTP server is running on a Linux system and the TFTP server root is ///var/lib/tftpboot//, then the //C:\Temp\Boot// directory must be copied as ///var/lib/tftpboot/Boot//.

Several of the filenames are case-sensitive, and you **must** ensure that the case is preserved when you copy the files.  Assuming that your TFTP server root is ///var/lib/tftpboot//, the filenames should appear as:

  * ''/var/lib/tftpboot/Boot''
  * ''/var/lib/tftpboot/Boot/pxeboot.n12''
  * ''/var/lib/tftpboot/Boot/bootmgr.exe''
  * ''/var/lib/tftpboot/Boot/BCD''
  * ''/var/lib/tftpboot/Boot/winpe.wim''
  * ''/var/lib/tftpboot/Boot/boot.sdi''

===== Configuring DHCP and TFTP =====

Configure your DHCP server to hand out //"\Boot\pxeboot.n12"// as the boot filename.  

**For ISC DHCPD**, you can do this by adding the following to ///etc/dhcpd.conf//.

    next-server XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX;
    filename "\\Boot\\pxeboot.n12";

where the **next-server** details either the IP address or DNS hostname of your TFTP server.
{{ :warning.png}}

<sub>Note that you **must** use a backslash (\) as the path separator, rather than the more usual forward slash (/).  If you use a forward slash, //pxeboot.n12// will be unable to locate //bootmgr.exe// and the boot will fail.  Your TFTP server must be configured to support the use of backslashes as path separators; see [[:tftp_backslash|Supporting broken TFTP clients]] for instructions on configuring your TFTP server to do this.

Note also that each backslash is doubled within ///etc/dhcpd.conf//; this is because ISC DHCPD treats a backslash as an escape character.</sub>

**For Microsoft DHCP Server**, set the following options

    Option Number       Option Name           Value
    066                 Boot Server           XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
    067                 Bootfile Name         boot\pxeboot.n12

where option 66 refers to your TFTP server's IP address or DNS hostname.

===== Booting WinPE =====

Boot your diskless client using gPXE.  If all has gone well, you should see it boot from your WinPE image.  It takes quite a long time, since WinPE downloads over 160MB of data via TFTP and also seems to occasionally spend several minutes sitting at a blank screen apparently doing nothing.

{{ :screenshots:winpe.png?400x300 |Windows PE booted via gPXE}}

Congratulations on a successful boot of Windows PE!