When booting into a PC that has had Task Sequence Prestaged Media staged onto it, the Task Sequence may fail almost immediately with the following error message:
Unable to read task sequence configuration disk. For more information, please contact your system administrator or helpdesk operator.
Usually this error message is associated with no network connectivity in WinPE. Bringing up a command prompt in WinPE and running IPConfig confirms that there is no network connectivity, however NIC drivers have been loaded into the Boot Images. Furthermore, the same Task Sequence and Boot Images work fine when not being used with prestaged media (e.g. via PXE or boot media).
Trying to obtain the wpeinit.log from X:\Windows\System32 while in WinPE from the failed deployment to determine why the NIC drivers are not loading reveals that the log does not exist.
Cause
Instructions on how to create Task Sequence Prestaged Media are listed in the below TechNet documentation:
How to Create Task Sequence Prestaged Media : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg294170.aspx
However, once the prestage media is created there is no further instructions on how to stage the Task Sequence Prestaged Media onto the hard drive. If the Task Sequence Prestaged Media is not staged correctly to a hard drive on a PC, strange behavior may occur when the Task Sequence is started, including the error described above.
Resolution
There are two ways to properly stage a Task Sequence Prestage Media on a hard drive:
- Manually
- Via A Task Sequence
Manually Stage A Task Sequence Prestaged Media On A Hard Drive
The following steps will manually stage the Task Sequence Prestage Media onto the hard drive of a PC. Please note that the below instructions:
1. Copy the Task Sequence Prestage Media WIM file and ImageX.exe to a USB Flash Drive. Make sure that both the Task Sequence Prestage Media WIM file and ImageX.exe are in the same directory. Connect the drive to the PC where the Task Sequence Prestage Media needs to be staged onto.
2. On the PC where the Task Sequence Prestage Media needs to be staged onto the hard drive, boot into WinPE 3.0 or newer. The method by which booting into WinPE (PXE, USB media, CD/DVD media) does not matter.
3. Once in WinPE, at the command prompt, type in:
DiskPart
This should give the "DISKPART>" prompt.
4. At the "DISKPART>" prompt, type in:
List Volume
Determine what the drive letter is assigned to the drive from Step 1.
5. At the "DISKPART>" prompt, type in:
List Disk
Determine what disk number is for the hard drive on the PC (usually 0).
6. At the "DISKPART>" prompt, type in:
Select Disk x
where x is the disk number determine in Step 5. Make sure to pick the appropriate disk number as choosing the incorrect disk number could cause the wrong disk to be wiped, resulting in data loss.
7. At the "DISKPART>" prompt, type in the following commands in the following order:
Clean
Create Partition Primary
Select Partition 1
Format FS=NTFS Quick
Active
Assign
8. At the "DISKPART>" prompt, type in:
List Volume
Determine what drive letter was assigned to the hard drive in Step 7.
9. At the "DISKPART>" prompt, type in:
Exit
This should exit DiskPart and return back to the X: command prompt.
10. At the command prompt, using the drive letter determined in Step 4, switch to the drive from Step 1.
11. At the command prompt, switch to the directory that contains the Task Sequence Prestage Media WIM file and ImageX.exe.
12. At the command prompt, type in the following command to stage the WIM file onto the hard drive:
imagex.exe /apply <wim_name>.wim 1 <drive_letter_of_hard_drive>
where <wim_name> is the name of the Task Sequence Prestage Media WIM file and <drive_letter_of_hard_drive> is the drive letter of the hard drive as determined in Step 8. Do not include the brackets (<>) in the command line. For example, if the Task Sequence Prestage Media WIM file is called "prestage.wim" and the drive letter determined in Step 8 is C:, the command would be:
imagex.exe /apply prestage.wim 1 C:
The amount of time it takes to apply the WIM file to the hard drive can vary and depends on the size of the Task Sequence Prestage Media WIM file. Expect for it to at least take several minutes.
13. Once the WIM file is finished being applied to the hard drive, shutdown the PC by running the following command at the command prompt:
wpeutil shutdown
Once the PC is shutdown, the Task Sequence Prestage Media WIM file has been successfully applied to the hard drive of the PC and is ready for delivery to the OEM. Unless in the testing phase, do NOT turn the PC back on before the necessary materials have been delivered to the OEM.
Notes:
1. In Step 1, ImageX is part of the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK). The WAIK is installed on the ConfigMgr 2007 site server. ImageX can be found under the directory Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\amd64 or Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\x86. Make sure to choose the appropriate version based on architecture.
2. In Step 1, a DVD disc or network share can be used instead of a USB Flash drive. If a network share is being used, make sure that the appropriate NIC drivers are loaded into the WinPE being used in Step 2. Additionally, in Step 3, use the "net use" command at the command prompt to connect to the network share.
3. To create a WinPE bootable disk for use in Step 2, use the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK). The following guides step through on how to create a WinPE bootable disk:
Walkthrough: Create a Bootable Windows PE RAM Disk on CD-ROM : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd799303(WS.10).aspx
Walkthrough: Create a Bootable Windows PE RAM Disk on a USB Flash Disk : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744530(WS.10).aspx
The WAIK should be installed on the ConfigMgr 2007 site server.
As an alternative to manually creating a WinPE boot disk, one of the ConfigMgr 2007 Boot Images can be used to boot into WinPE via any advertised Task Sequence to the PC. Just make sure that in the properties of the Boot Image in the ConfigMgr 2007 Admin Console, the option "Enable command support (testing only)" is checked under the "Windows PE" tab. Additionally, make sure that the advertisement for the Task Sequence(s) are not set to mandatory. When booting into the Boot Image, when the "Welcome to the Task Sequence Wizard" screen appears, do NOT click on the "Next >" button. Instead, hit F8 to bring up the command prompt, then proceed to Step 3.
4. The drive used to boot into WinPE in Step 2 can be the same drive that hosts the WIM file and ImageX from Step 1.
Stage A Task Sequence Prestaged Media Via A Task Sequence
1. In the ConfigMgr 2007 Admin Console, navigate to "Computer Management" --> "Operating System Deployment" --> "Operating System Images".
2. Right click on "Operating System Images" and choose "Add Operating System Image".
3. Follow the "Add Operating System Image Wizard" and add the Task Sequence Prestaged Media WIM file as an Operating System Image.
4. Once the Task Sequence Prestaged Media WIM file has been added as an Operating System Image, under the node for the newly added Operating System Image, add it to distribution points (DPs) by right clicking on "Distribution Points" selecting "New Distirbution Points", and follow the "New Distribution Points Wizard".
5. In the ConfigMgr 2007 Admin Console, navigate to "Computer Management" --> "Operating System Deployment" --> "Task Sequences".
6. Right click on "Task Sequences" and then choose "New" --> "Task Sequence" to open the "New Task Sequence Wizard".
7. In the "Create a New Task Sequence" window, select "Create a new custom task sequence" and then click on the "Next >" button.
8. In the "Task Sequence Information" window:
- In the "Task Sequence name:" text box, give the Task Sequence an appropriate name, such as "Stage Task Sequence Prestaged Media WIM File"
- Next to "Boot image:", click on the "Browse..." button and select an appropriate Boot Image.
9. In the "Summary" window, click on the "Next >" button.
10. In the "Wizard Completed" window, click on the "Close" button.
11. On the right hand pane of the ConfigMgr 2007 Admin Console, right click on the newly created Task Sequence and choose "Edit".
12. Click on the "Add" menu and choose "Disks" --> "Format and Partition Disk".
13. In the "Format and Partition Disk" task, next to "Volume", click on the yellow star button to bring up the "Partition Properties" window.
14. In the "Partition Properties" window:
- Next to the "Partition name:" text box, if desired, give the partition a name such as "OS" or "Windows". (Optional)
- Under the "Partition Options" section, click on the option "Make this the boot partition".
- Under the "Formatting options" section, click on the "Quick format" option.
- Leave all other options at their default, and then click on the "OK" button.
15. Click on the "Add" menu and choose "Images" --> "Apply Data Image".
16. In the "Apply Data Image" task, next to the "Image package:" field, click on the "Browse..." button. Select the Task Sequence Prestaged Media WIM file imported in Step 3 and then click on the "OK" button.
17. Click on the "Add" menu and choose "General" --> "Run Command Line".
18. In the "Run Command Line":
- Next to the "Name:" text box, type in: Shutdown
- Under the "Command Line:" text box, type in: wpeutil shutdown
19. Click on the "OK" or "Apply" button to save the Task Sequence.
20. Using normal procedures for advertising Task Sequences, advertise the Task Sequence created in Steps 6-19 to the PC where Task Sequence Prestaged Media WIM file needs to be staged on.
21. Once the Task Sequence has been advertised, run the Task Sequence on the PC where Task Sequence Prestaged Media WIM file needs to be staged on.
Once the Task Sequence completes on the PC, the PC will shutdown. Once the PC has shutdown, the Task Sequence Prestage Media WIM file has been successfully applied to the hard drive of the PC and is ready for delivery to the OEM. Unless in the testing phase, do NOT turn the PC back on before the necessary materials have been delivered to the OEM.
Hope this helps,
Frank Rojas | System Center Support Escalation Engineer
Wilhelm Kocher | Senior Premier Field Engineer
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