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Numlock587's avatar
Numlock587
Copper Contributor
Feb 16, 2026

Did Microsoft make a mistake? WinServer 2022 Standard and up.

Microsoft removed functionality of Windows Deployment Service. I know their are ways to to get around this but they either are hackjobs or deploying your own windows with PE. as far as i know of writing this. I know I could go linux. they have a simple cd to follow. Or Mac has their own version for macs. but not microsoft. They THREW it away for some stupid reason.

 

Do I really have to do a VM or worse ditch DNS & DHCP?

Nano Server
networking
windows server

1 Reply

  • Jamony's avatar
    Jamony
    MCT
    Jul 15, 2026

    No—you don't need a VM, and you don't need to remove DNS or DHCP. WDS was only partially deprecated. PXE boot still works; the affected workflow is using boot.wim directly from newer Windows installation media to run Setup in WDS mode. For Windows 11 and Server 2025 that end-to-end workflow is blocked, while Server 2022 shows a deprecation warning.

     

    Keep WDS for PXE and use a custom WinPE boot image from your deployment solution, then run Setup or a task sequence from a network share. If WDS and Microsoft DHCP share the same server, use:

     

    wdsutil /Set-Server /UseDhcpPorts:No /DhcpOption60:Yes

     

    For routed subnets, use IP helpers to both the DHCP and WDS/PXE addresses instead of DHCP options 66/67. DNS and DHCP can stay where they are; only the old install-media boot-image workflow needs replacing.