Windows Deployment Server Answer Files for PC's with RAID Controllers
I currently have a Windows Deployment Server running on Windows Server
2008 R2 Standard, and so far it has worked without any issues. I am able
to capture and deploy images to the majority of the computers my company
maintains.
However, we just began ordering new Dell Precision T3600 PC's that come
with RAID controllers. At first when we tried applying one of our images
to the machine, it did not detect the hard drive. Simple enough fix, I
injected the correct drivers to my boot images and install images. But now
when I try to apply an image to one of these RAID controller pcs, it tells
me that I do not have enough space on the partition to install Windows:
Windows cannot be installed to the selected partition. Installation requires
at least 15199 MB of free space. To install Windows, free up additional space
and restart the installation.
I have spoken to a few people about the issue and some theories are that
it is following a deprecated Windows NT rule and creating 2gb partitions,
or that PC's with a RAID configuration require special switches in the
answer file.
Here is the DiskConfiguration section of my answer file (the part I
believe to be in question):
<DiskConfiguration>
<Disk wcm:action="add">
<WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk>
<CreatePartitions>
<CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
<Order>1</Order>
<Type>Primary</Type>
</CreatePartition>
</CreatePartitions>
<ModifyPartitions>
<ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
<Active>true</Active>
<Extend>false</Extend>
<Format>NTFS</Format>
<Label>Local Disk</Label>
<Letter>C</Letter>
<Order>1</Order>
<PartitionID>1</PartitionID>
</ModifyPartition>
</ModifyPartitions>
<DiskID>0</DiskID>
</Disk>
<WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>
</DiskConfiguration>
I have tried change the 'Extend' field to True, the 'Modify Partition
wcm:action' field to Modify, and changed the order of the Create and
Modify partition trees. I have also tried completely removing the RAID
controller from the PC, but I then receive an error about being unable to
read my answer files element
Does anyone have any insight to if I need special conditions when
deploying to a raid configuration? I have scoured through a ton of TechNet
articles on the subject, and I believe I have the correct configuration,
but I have been unable to find any documentation for issues with RAID
configurations
When deploying to a machine without a RAID configuration, the answer file
works perfectly.
After messing around with some more answer file flags, I decided to take a
look at what it is actually doing to the partitions on the drive. With my
current answer file the drives end up like this:
Disk 1 Partition 1: Local Disk - 100.00MB - System
Disk 1 Partition 2 - 232.30GB - Primary
So it looks like it's trying to install on the smaller partition, so I
either need to make that one larger, reduce the install to one partition,
or install to the second partition. Would any of these be acceptable
workarounds?
Thank you for looking into my question, let me know if you need any
additional information.
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