WIMan

WIMan is a Windows Image Generator for The Foreman. It creates both the WinPE file as well as the Windows images with a zero-hassle approach as all batteries are included

A single parameterless command!
Beautifies WinPE and styles it with the foreman logo
Optimizes the images as much as possible by extracting the individual images → Results in a smaller images to apply and download!
Includes updates if you want
Includes additional drivers
Follows a convention approach
WinPE is not mandatory in the sense that this script allows to use a WinPE image shipped with the original ISO automatically
If you want, though, WinPE can be automatically installed and used

Installation

Simply Clone this repository to your local machine and prepare your Foreman Instace

Usage

Place a windows ISO inside the sources/<arch>/<arbitrary-folder-name>/ directory
Optional include WinPE Drivers in winpe/drivers/. Like Drivers for VMware Virtual Machines.
Optional include Windows Drivers in sources/<arch>/<arbitrary-folder-name>/drivers/
Optional include Windows Updates in sources/<arch>/<arbitrary-folder-name>/updates/
run ./GenerateWIM.ps1 in an elevated console
Copy all the content from the within the "finalized" folder to the webserver serving your windows images.
Configure your Foreman Installation Media to point to this folder. As you can see from the folder structure, we included the architecture in the path!
Use the latest community templates; this contains a rule which interprets a manifest ini that configures downloading of the correct source. This proves to be faster in download times + faster install time (compared to downloading the entire WIM as-is)

Result

Early measurements showed that deploying a windows server core 2016 takes around 6 minutes from boot to final boot!

Want to join forces?

GREAT! Just Fork off and send me a PR; I'd be happy to review and include your work!

PARENTAL ADVISORY

This script is in its early stages, meaning it will get better in time but you might encounter some issues (although I did my very best to test this thoroughly).