General Question regarding WDS Imaging and Platform Packs

[andejo5]

I have a general question regarding WDS imaging.   When I create the answer files and WDS boot media, it asks for the platform packs location in the answer file which is the C:\SmartDeploy\Platform Packs.   However, when I create the WDS boot media, the platform packs appear to load in the .WIM files.   Thus, when I am imaging devices via WDS, the imaging process states the platform pack location on the server.

What is the purpose of the platform packs loading when creating the WDS .WIM boot media?

Also, if I add more platform packs to my SmartDeploy Server, do I need to create another WDS .WIM Boot media file in SmartDeploy to move over to my WDS server?  Or, can I just assume that SmartDeploy will grab the appropriate platform packs from the SmartDeploy Server and not bother to great another media file?

[SmartDeploySupport]

Hello,

If you want to add more models to your environment and want to deploy to them, you will want the Platform Packs for those models selected when you create the WDS boot media. That will inject drivers needed to complete deployment such as ethernet and storage drivers. Not all Platform Packs have Windows PE drivers, but a lot of the newer models do.

https://support.smartdeploy.com/support/solutions/articles/48001198942-when-do-i-need-to-re-create-my-boot-media-

If a Platform Pack does not have PE drivers, you can simply place the Platform Pack where the answer file points to. Default is \\SmartDeployHost\C$\SmartDeploy\PlatformPacks

Thanks,

Devon

SmartDeploy Support