At my company we are buying 30 new Identical PC's from Dell so we have standard setup.
What i want to know is if its possible to configure one of these machines to our specification as a master and then create an image/clone of it to roll out to the rest of them. They will all come Licensed with Windows 10 Pro i assume OEM.
I would be using something like Clonezilla to create the clones/images which i have a little bit of experience with.
Is there any kind of techincal or legal issues when doing this ?
Will i need to retrieve the original OEM key from each machine before imaging them and then simply input it afterwards ? Or is it more complicated than that ?
Thanks in advance.
74 Answers
DO NOT use CloneZilla or any other type of 3rd party tool, as they're not needed, will only result in lost time and inefficiency, coupled with likely causing licensing issues.
Windows natively supports everything you're trying to do via three tools
- Deployment: MDT
- Generalizing:
SysPrep - Imaging:
DISM - ESDs/WIMs are smart compression image formats
- Only changed files are added to an image when a new image is appended to it
(all files are hashed)- Newly appended images utilize the same copy of unchanged files already contained within the image from the previous image(s).
- This allows for an image to remain small in relation to the data contained within.
- Only changed files are added to an image when a new image is appended to it
The way in which the deployment of the WIM (Windows IMage) occurs will depend on the environment.
- If you want to install additional software so each workstation has the exact same setup, MDT (Microsoft Deployment Toolkit) may be worth your time to setup and configure, as it allows easy updating of the master image with updated software and drivers in an organized fashion, which can then be applied to individual workstations remotely.
- MDT has a minor learning curve of ~1hr if you've never used it before, but how to utilize it is well documented both on Microsoft Docs as well as by numerous IT writeups/tutorials that can be found via google.
- If you're only needing to install a handful of programs/drivers, simply setting one system up, SysPrepping and Generalizing it, then creating a WIM of it for deployment to all other workstations will work fine, provided you ensure correct individual or volume license activation across each workstation.
The SpiceWorks Forum will prove invaluable to you regardless of which way you choose to go, as many, if not most, forum members work in IT and Systems Management, along with highly-trained Microsoft Techs that are very active on the site.
Examples
Provided /CheckIntegrity & /Verify are always used, it's impossible for a WIM / ESD to become corrupted.
WinPE only has 32MB of scratch [temp] space by default, so /ScratchDir is required
(can be changed in MDT)
Capture:
DISM /Capture-Image /ImageFile:"Z:\Base.wim" /CaptureDir:"C:" /Name:"Windows Backup" /Description:"Base Image 2019.08.24 @ 08:30" /Compress:Max /CheckIntegrity /Verify /NoRpFix /ScratchDir:"Z:\"Apply:
DISM /Apply-Image /ImageFile:"Z:\Base.wim" /ApplyDir:"C:" /Index:1 /CheckIntegrity /Verify /NoRpFix /ScratchDir:"Z:\"/Name:or/Description:can be utilized in lieu of/Index:
When it comes to licensing in a business environment, don't skimp
- If unsure about something license-related, contact the developer directly
- Misconfigured licensing comes with a hefty bill when audits are conducted by the software developers, and they will audit at some point.
- There's a slew of products that help with licensing (Belarc for example)
You cannot use an OEM image to cast onto other systems. Microsoft does not permit this and it is possible (if you try) that the systems will fail activation.
You need to get a Windows 10 Volume License for 30 users, make your image, and then use Microsoft tools (including Sysprep) to put the image on the remaining machines.
3You can use anycloning softwareyou like, although I don't advise using Linux-based utilities such as Clonezilla. But only do so after each computer's Windows license is activated.
You need to boot up each computer, let Windows start and activate, so that Microsoft will store the hardware fingerprint of the computer in its licenses database.
It is possible that the OEM license is burnt into the BIOS of each computer. But if it is not, doing the activation will avoid 30 computers trying to use the same license and getting it black-listed by Microsoft.
Using sysprep requires some knowledge and mistakes are possible (see issues on our site). Cloning is just a matter of pressing the button, no learning curve at all. Many companies use cloned hard disk as the simplest solution, even using specialized cloning devices for mass production. When the OEM license is burnt into the BIOS, this is by far the simplest solution.
5Depending on what exactly you're needing to customize, you may be able to avoid all of the licensing problems by using a setup script instead of re-imaging the systems. Systems of the same model coming from a manufacturer will all come with the same image on them. Create a PowerShell script or write a short program that modifies a system to meet your requirements (install/remove software, modify registry, configure system settings, etc etc). Your systems would start in the same state and run the same script, so they should end up in the same state. But, by avoiding imaging, you've also avoided the headache that is Windows licensing.
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