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Windows Deployment Services (WDS) boot.wim support

The operating system deployment functionality of Windows Deployment Services (WDS) is being partially deprecated. Starting with Windows 11, workflows that rely on boot.wim from installation media or on running Windows Setup in WDS mode is no longer supported.

When PXE booting from a WDS server that uses the boot.wim file from installation media as its boot image, Windows Setup automatically launches in WDS mode. This workflow is deprecated for Windows 11 and newer boot images. The following deprecation message is displayed:

Windows Setup

Windows Deployment Services client functionality is being partly deprecated. Please visit https://aka.ms/WDSSupport for more details on what is deprecated and what is still supported.

Deployment scenarios affected

The following table provides support details for specific deployment scenarios. Boot.wim is the boot.wim file obtained from the Windows source files for each specified version of Windows.

Windows Version being deployed Boot.wim from Windows 10 Boot.wim from Windows Server 2016 Boot.wim from Windows Server 2019 Boot.wim from Windows Server 2022 Boot.wim from Windows 11
Windows 11 Not supported, blocked. Not supported, blocked. Not supported, blocked. Not supported, blocked. Not supported, blocked.
Windows 10 Supported, using a boot image from matching or newer version. Supported, using a boot image from a currently supported version of Windows 10. Supported, using a boot image from a currently supported version of Windows 10. Not supported. Not supported.
Windows Server 2025 Not supported. Not supported. Not supported. Not supported. Not supported.
Windows Server 2022 Deprecated, with a warning message. Deprecated, with a warning message. Deprecated, with a warning message. Deprecated, with a warning message. Not supported.
Windows Server 2019 Supported, using a boot image from a currently supported version of Windows 10. Supported. Supported. Not supported. Not supported.
Windows Server 2016 Supported, using a boot image from a currently supported version of Windows 10. Supported. Not supported. Not supported. Not supported.

Note

The following error message might be displayed when attempting to use boot.wim on WDS running on Windows Server 2025:

A media driver your computer needs is missing. This could be a DVD, USB or Hard disk driver. If you have a CD, DVD, or USB flash drive with the driver on it, please insert it now.

An error message is expected since using boot.wim on WDS running on Windows Server 2025 isn't supported.

Reason for the change

Alternatives to WDS, such as Microsoft Configuration Manager, provide a better, more flexible, and feature-rich experience for deploying Windows images.

Not affected

This change doesn't affect WDS PXE boot. WDS can still be used to PXE boot devices with custom boot images, but boot.wim can't be used as the boot image and run Windows Setup in WDS mode.

Windows Setup can still run from a network share. This change doesn't change Workflows that use a custom boot.wim, such as Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) or Microsoft Configuration Manager.

Summary

  • Windows 11 workflows that rely on boot.wim from installation media are blocked. An end to end deployment of Windows 11 using only WDS can't be performed.

  • This change doesn't affect Windows 10, Windows Server 2019, and previous operating system versions.

  • Windows Server 2022 workflows that rely on boot.wim from installation media show a non-blocking deprecation notice. The notice can be dismissed, and currently the workflow isn't blocked.

  • Windows Server workflows after Windows Server 2022 that rely on boot.wim from installation media are blocked.

If WDS is being used with boot.wim from installation media for end-to-end operating system deployment, and the OS version isn't supported, deprecated, or blocked, Microsoft recommends using deployment tools such as Microsoft Configuration Manager, or a non-Microsoft solution that uses a custom boot.wim image.

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