1.3 Overview
The deployment agent uses the WDS OS Deployment Protocol (WDSOSD) to request information concerning deployment of an OS image on the client system. This information includes instructions for deploying an OS with or without user interaction, available OS images on the server, reporting of current status of the client, and joining of an Active Directory domain at the end of the deployment process.
A typical interaction between client and server involves the following steps (for brevity, only the core steps for OS deployment are included below).
The client has already obtained the name or IP address of the WDS server.
The deployment agent queries the WDS server if it should perform the OS deployment process in unattended mode, along with unattended instructions for the deployment agent, if applicable.
The client obtains user credentials and requests the server to enumerate the OS images available to the client.
Once an OS image is selected, the client proceeds to download the relevant files, and deploys the OS image on the client machine.
The client queries the server as to whether the client machine is to join an Active Directory domain, and applies the policy depending on the answer.
The client enumerates all devices installed on the client machine and requests applicable driver packages from the server, and then proceeds to configure the deployed OS using the driver package returned by the server.