Skip to content

Commit 9973866

Browse files
committed
Windows Guide edits
1 parent 928fcf6 commit 9973866

File tree

1 file changed

+7
-9
lines changed

1 file changed

+7
-9
lines changed

_posts/2025-04-14-Cobbler-v3.3.7-Windows-Deployment-Guide.md

Lines changed: 7 additions & 9 deletions
Original file line numberDiff line numberDiff line change
@@ -186,27 +186,25 @@ The **PXE Client** VM can now be powered on, and should automatically boot to PX
186186

187187
1. The [Cobbler 3.3.6 Beginner's Guide](/blog/2024/Cobbler-v3.3.6-Beginners-Guide/) **Tips & Troubleshooting** section contains some basic recommendations and limitations of Cobbler which will not be repeated here.
188188

189-
1. It's important to understand how Cobbler manages Windows distros and deployments *by default*, as there are certain limitations and implications not present with other distros.
189+
1. It's important to understand how Cobbler manages Windows distros and deployments *by default*, as there are certain implicit limitations not present with other distros.
190190

191-
- Cobbler has 3 main templates for Windows distro management, all located in `/etc/cobbler/windows` directory, instead of the usual `/var/lib/cobbler/templates` and `/var/lib/cobbler/scripts` directories
191+
- Cobbler has 3 main templates for Windows distro management, all located in `/etc/cobbler/windows` directory (instead of the usual `/var/lib/cobbler/templates` and `/var/lib/cobbler/scripts` directories), which effectively limit Windows deployments to `cobbler profile` level customizations
192192

193-
- `startnet.template`: Generates "startnet.cmd" which gets archived/compressed into the WinPE Windows image (loaded from PXE) in order to start `setup.exe` on the PXE client with the associated Answerfile
193+
- `startnet.template`: Generates "startnet.cmd" which gets archived/compressed into the WinPE image (loaded from PXE) in order to start Windows `setup.exe` on the PXE client with the associated Answerfile
194194

195195
- `answerfile.template`: Generates "autounattended.xml" answerfile with **profile** attributes to be retrieved over SMB by PXE clients for unattended installations.
196196

197197
- `post_ins_cmd.template`: Generates "post_install.cmd" which is used in the Answerfile to retrieve the `autoinstall` file (post-install script) defined for the **profile**
198198

199199
- By default, the autoinstall file (post-install script) `/var/lib/cobbler/templates/win.ks` has no effect.
200200

201-
- The `autoinstall-meta` parameters *(used to specify the boot files as well as above answerfile and post_install templates, as well as set firmware/partitioning mode and download method)* can be configured at the `cobbler system` (or `profile`) level and given unique names to generate different files for use by diffrent profiles or systems, but neither the `answerfile.template` or `post_inst_cmd.template` files are system-level aware, they only consist of **profile-level** settings.
201+
- The `autoinstall-meta` parameters *(used to specify the boot files and how to download them, answerfile and post_install templates if performing unattended install, as well as set firmware/partitioning mode)* can be configured at the `cobbler system` (or `profile`) level and given unique names to generate different files for use by diffrent profiles or systems, but neither the `answerfile.template` or `post_inst_cmd.template` files are system-level aware, they only consist of **profile-level** settings.
202202

203-
- There is no way to provide the Windows Answerfile in boot/kernel parameters like many linux distros
203+
- Windows is limited in the [ways to provide an Answerfile](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/windows-setup-automation-overview#implicit-answer-file-search-order), it cannot be specified in boot/kernel parameters like many linux distros
204204

205-
- [Windows Setup implicit answer file search order](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/windows-setup-automation-overview#implicit-answer-file-search-order)
205+
- Only MAC address and other DHCP-related options are used from *Windows* `cobbler system` items (as well as `autoinstall-meta` parameters mentioned above, which have limited functionality for Systems).
206206

207-
- Only MAC address and other DHCP-related options are used from *Windows* `cobbler system` items.
208-
209-
- This is all only *default* behavior in cobbler, and it would be possible to program additional logic into the `startnet.cmd` or `post_install.cmd` to, for instance, retrieve a diffent answerfile or post-install script based on the hostname (configuratble through DHCP), but that would come with additional limitations and requirements beyond the scope of this guide.
207+
- This is all only *default* behavior in cobbler, and it would be possible to program additional logic into the `startnet.cmd` or `post_install.cmd` to, for instance, retrieve a diffent answerfile or post-install script based on the hostname (configuratble through DHCP) or MAC address, for instance, but that would come with additional limitations and requirements beyond the scope of this guide.
210208

211209
1. **VirtualBox Issues**
212210

0 commit comments

Comments
 (0)