Using hardware-independent imaging with provisioning templates

You can incorporate hardware-independent imaging into a provisioning template for Windows devices if the template meets these requirements:

  • It must be based on the Windows PE boot environment.
  • It must use Windows Sysprep to configure the OS image.

To incorporate hardware-independent imaging, you need to add an HII option in the Post-OS installation section of the template so the HII tool runs after the operating system is installed. The HII tool automatically selects the manufacturer and model of the device you are provisioning, based on the strings in the device's BIOS.

To include hardware-independent imaging in a provisioning template
  1. Click Tools > Provisioning > OS provisioning.
  2. Under Provisioning templates, select a Windows-based template. Right-click the template and select Edit. Or, to create a new template: on the toolbar, click New template > Empty template. Name the template, select the Windows PE boot environment, and select the target OS. Click OK, then open the template.
  3. Click Action list, then click the Post-OS installation section.
  4. Click Add. Type a name and description for the action (such as HII), and then select Hardware-independent imaging from the Type list. Click OK.
  5. To specify that only UNC is used to access the HII repository, select the Using UNC to download driver files check box.
  6. If you want to allow unsigned drivers, select Force unsigned drivers to install. Note that unsigned drivers are not supported for computers that have Secure Boot enabled. On these systems, the drivers will not load and could cause the operating system to fail to load.
  7. Click Apply to save the HII action with the template, then add any other actions to the template. Note that you should include a Reboot action in the Post-OS installation section after the HII action.
  8. Modify any other variables, included templates, or other settings for the template, and click OK when you have finished.