Unsure how to get going...

[Supreme Icecreme]

Hi,

I've read through the docs a couple of times and decided to take a punt at using Glazier (in a test environment with a load of VMs).  I'm not exactly sure how to actually get started using this, the docs don't really provide much help to me, nor are there any fully fledged examples around for me to see a bit better how it works.

I'd love it if someone could really explain how it works and how I'm meant to use it and get going, and even better get a proper (live?) example, maybe even some video guides, walking it through.

I can see it's a very powerful tool and I'd love to get it under my belt, so to speak, so any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ed.

[dan...@google.com]

Hey Ed,

Thanks for your interest in Glazier!

A good place to get started would be our setup guide: google.github.io/glazier/setup

In particular, once you've got Glazier and Python in your WinPE environment, you can execute python X:\path\to\autobuild.py ---helpfull for a list of flags to get started.

Check out our configuration examples for what the build configuration should look like: github.com/google/glazier/tree/master/examples

Hope this helps,

Dan

[Supreme Icecreme]

Hi Dan,

I've read through all the docs a couple of times and was still a little confused as to how to set up the Python environment mostly.  This is an area that I feel isn't well covered in the docs, as WinPE doesn't allow you to use the Python installer.
I've had to create a Virtual Environment on my host PC and install the packages with PIP that way, then zip that up to unpack and run on the WinPE.

Those examples are helpful, thank you!  I'm at a stage where I have Glazier AutoBuild running in WinPE and I'm writing YAML and PowerShell scripts to deploy.

Next step is working out how to punt it into the installed environment on the deploying machine and get it running each time.  I've seen the registry keys you say you have to modify and that you need to run sysprep with an unattend.xml file, which I need to find out more about.

It seems that I'm getting to grips with Glazier but I'm not so confident with the Windows deployment aspects.  (This is my first time doing an automated deployment build!!)  If anyone has any comments on getting Glazier going after WinPE has done its bit, or anything else regarding good practices for imaging the .wim onto disk and all that, that would be greatly appreciated!

Kind regards,

Ed

[dan...@google.com]

That's good feedback regarding getting the Python environment setup -- can you open an issue on GitHub and reference what you'd like documented when you have a chance? Happy to fill in the gaps.

Regarding getting a WIM onto a disk -- this portion can be solved in numerous ways. Internally, we use a customized PowerShell module to mount the image, make modifications, and output customized WIMs/ISOs as necessary. Externally, check out some of the resources below for how to create the Windows image itself (although this can technically be a Vanilla Windows Image).

1. https://www.deploymentresearch.com/how-to-really-create-a-windows-10-build-10041-iso-no-3rd-party-tools-needed/

2. https://oofhours.com/2021/04/03/creating-the-smallest-windows-10-image/ and https://oofhours.com/2021/01/17/build-your-own-windows-pe-image/

3. https://osdbuilder.osdeploy.com/

Happy to answer any other questions you have.

Best,

Dan