Windows Guide edits

sus-admin · sus-admin · commit feacdef454f4 · 2025-05-22T17:56:59.000-04:00
diff --git a/_posts/2025-04-14-Cobbler-v3.3.7-Windows-Deployment-Guide.md b/_posts/2025-04-14-Cobbler-v3.3.7-Windows-Deployment-Guide.md
@@ -20,15 +20,11 @@ Starting where the [Beginner's guide](/blog/2024/Cobbler-v3.3.6-Beginners-Guide/
 
 ### Caveats
 
-1. **IMPORTANT:** Issues were encountered running the PXE client as a VirtualBox VM with UEFI firmware, so instead it is recommended to run the PXE client on physical *(bare metal)* hardware or as a [VMWare Workstation/Fusion](https://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2024/05/vmware-workstation-pro-now-available-free-for-personal-use.html) or HyperV VM for UEFI installations.
+1. **IMPORTANT:** There was a frequent issue with PXE clients using VirtualBox UEFI firmware. For this reason, it is recommended to run both Cobbler server and PXE client as either bare metal systems or [VMWare Workstation/Fusion](https://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2024/05/vmware-workstation-pro-now-available-free-for-personal-use.html) or [HyperV](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/hyper-v-overview) VMs for UEFI installations.
 
-    - More info on the issues encountered in the **Tips & Troubleshooting** section below.
+    - You may experience different results depending on your Windows or VirtualBox version and settings; more info in the **Tips & Troubleshooting** section below
 
-    - If running the PXE client as a VMWare or HyperV VM it is recommended to also run the Cobbler Server under the same VM host or as a bare-metal server, using the same specs/settings as described in the [Beginner's guide](/blog/2024/Cobbler-v3.3.6-Beginners-Guide/), as the network complexity of using different hypervisors would be beyond the scope of this guide.
-
-    - Your experience may differ depending on your hardware and Windows and VirtualBox software versions and settings.
-
-1. This guide assumes you have already acquired the Windows 10 and 11 64-bit ISO installation files by using the [Windows 10](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10) and [Windows 11](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11) Media Creation Tool, which requires an existing Windows 10 or 11 system to create *(like the VirtualBox Host described in the [Beginner's guide](/blog/2024/Cobbler-v3.3.6-Beginners-Guide/))*
+1. This guide assumes you have already acquired the Windows 10 and 11 64-bit ISO installation files by using the [Windows 10](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10) and [Windows 11](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11) Media Creation Tool
 
     - Also on the Windows 11 download page linked above is the minumum system requirements for installing Windows 11, which include UEFI Secure Boot and TPM support, making a *supported* installation to a VM an advanced topic beyond the scope of this guide.
 
@@ -171,7 +167,7 @@ CMD3=$(echo 'reg add HKLM\\SYSTEM\\Setup\\LabConfig /v BypassRAMCheck /t REG_DWO
 CMD4=$(echo 'reg add HKLM\\SYSTEM\\Setup\\LabConfig /v BypassCPUCheck /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f' | unix2dos)
 CMD5=$(echo 'reg add HKLM\\SYSTEM\\Setup\\LabConfig /v BypassStorageCheck /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f' | unix2dos)
 CMD6=$(echo '\$distro_share\\sources\\setup.exe \$unattended' | unix2dos)
-sudo sed -i -E "s,^#else.?$,#else if \$os_version == \"11\"\n${CMD1}\n${CMD2}\n${CMD3}\n${CMD4}\n${CMD5}\n${CMD6}\n#else," /etc/cobbler/windows/startnet.template
+sed -i -E "s,^#else.?$,#else if \$os_version == \"11\"\n${CMD1}\n${CMD2}\n${CMD3}\n${CMD4}\n${CMD5}\n${CMD6}\n#else," /etc/cobbler/windows/startnet.template
 ```
 
 Now, take similar steps as with Windows 10 to import and automatically deploy Windows 11 Pro over PXE.
@@ -192,23 +188,33 @@ The **PXE Client** VM can now be powered on, and should automatically boot to PX
 
 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.
 
-1. Windows distros can only be customized to the Profile level, System-level settings in Cobbler will not be accounted for on Windows deploys since the Answerfile is defined in the `startnet.cmd` script which is archived into the `winpe.wim` Windows image during `cobbler sync` actions.
+1. Unline other OS deployments with Cobbler, by default, Windows system deploys can only be customized to the `cobbler profile` level, with only the MAC address and other DHCP-related options being used from *Windows* `cobbler system` items.
+
+    - This is because the `startnet.cmd` script is generated by cobbler during `cobbler sync` actions and compressed/archived into the `winpe.wim` Windows image.
+
+        - The `startnet.cmd` script runs immediately upon loading WinPE and is used to run  Windows `setup.exe` with the desired Answerfile (`autounattended.xml`), so it is only able to specify the Profile-level answerfile.
 
-    - [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)
+            - Furthermore, Cobbler's `answerfile.template` is only customizeable to the profile level, as it does not include system specific configurations, and more importantly, is only set to call a Cobbler *Profile-level* post-installation script, as seen below:
+			
+            <CommandLine>c:\post_install.cmd @@profile_name@@</CommandLine>
+
+            - Even though you can arbitrarily specify unique names for the different `autoinstall-metadata` variables for *Windows* `cobbler system` & `cobbler profile` items, so they will be generated under those names, say for `post_install.cmd`, specifying `new_post_install.cmd` will generate a file with that name under `distro_mirror/{DISTRO}/sources/$OEM$/$1`. However, those unique names are not referenced in the `answerfile.template` file to properly use them.
 
-    - Theoretically it would be possible to program additional logic into the `startnet.cmd` or `post_install.cmd` to detect the interface MAC address connected to the Cobbler netword from the PXE client and retrieve a custom anwerfile or post_install script (kickstart) named appropriately, but that is beyond the scope of this guide for now.
+            - [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)
 
-    - The `post_install.cmd` script has a dynamic name per profile, but the answerfile.template does not account for it.
+    - This is all simply default behavior in cobbler, but 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 likely be accompanied by different limitations and requirements is beyond the scope of this guide for now.
 
 1. **VirtualBox Issues**
 
     - Specifially, the `ipxe-x86_64.efi` bootloader would fail to "initialize devices" and even though using the `ipxe-snponly-x86_64.efi` bootloader instead would load properly, the PXE client VM would *usually* just hang when downloading on of the WinPE files (i.e. `wimboot`, `boot.sdi`, `bootmgr.exe`, `bcd`, `winpe.wim`)
 
-        - Tried several troubleshooting steps and could not get a consisten fix:
+        - Tried several troubleshooting steps and could not get a consistent fix:
 
             - Tried different virtual network adapters.
 
-                - Using the "Paravirtualized Network (virtio-net)" adapter did resove this issue with the iPXE boot process and load into the WinPE/wimboot image successfully, but then did not detect any network adapters and failed to begin Window Setup, and further troubleshooting would be beyond the scope of this guide.
+                - Using the "Paravirtualized Network (virtio-net)" adapter did resove this issue with the iPXE boot process and load into the WinPE/wimboot image successfully, but then did not detect any network adapters and failed to begin Windows Setup; further troubleshooting would be beyond the scope of this guide.
+
+            - Tried running PXE client on another host PC with different VirtualBox version
 
             - Tried installing the appropriate VirtualBox Extensions for my version of VB.
 
@@ -218,9 +224,10 @@ The **PXE Client** VM can now be powered on, and should automatically boot to PX
 			
             - Found no relevant entries/errors in VirtualBox VM logs and nothing abnormal in Cobbler server logs (HTTP, TFTP, DHCP).
 
-        - A live Windows OS installation can be converted from MBR (legacy-BIOS) to GPT (UEFI) via powershell commands, which can be used as a workaround for compatibility with VirtualBox VM UEFI firmware
+    - A live Windows 10 installation can be easily converted from MBR (legacy-BIOS) to GPT (UEFI) via powershell commands, which can be used as a workaround for compatibility with VirtualBox UEFI firmware
+
+        - source: [mbr2gpt](https://www.windowscentral.com/how-convert-mbr-disk-gpt-move-bios-uefi-windows-10).
 
-            - source: [https://www.windowscentral.com/how-convert-mbr-disk-gpt-move-bios-uefi-windows-10](https://www.windowscentral.com/how-convert-mbr-disk-gpt-move-bios-uefi-windows-10).
 
 1. **start-net.cmd issue**
 
