How To Create A Bootable Windows PE ISO Under Linux

<div style="text-align: justify;">Windows PE (Windows Preinstallation Environment, also known as WinPE) is a lightweight Windows version that runs from memory and can be booted from the network, used to deploy workstations and servers or for system maintenance.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJCLFRE92jr7z05TdKjDGyqWOp2LBnPa_CEsIxUT1Y78goBrAx5aIlaXpdxkAFj4LvbL9LF3yz5G-I-psAoLekF-4qyhB1UPoChOfSI-qDLk7EmfLXciKU7xL8y1Ept5AKAL6n9RTu4Xg/s1600/windowspe-virtualbox.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Windows PE" border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJCLFRE92jr7z05TdKjDGyqWOp2LBnPa_CEsIxUT1Y78goBrAx5aIlaXpdxkAFj4LvbL9LF3yz5G-I-psAoLekF-4qyhB1UPoChOfSI-qDLk7EmfLXciKU7xL8y1Ept5AKAL6n9RTu4Xg/s320/windowspe-virtualbox.png" title="Windows PE" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Windows PE can may be needed for various reasons, like installing Windows from the network, booting Windows PE from the network or simply running some Windows application without installing Windows or using WINE. </div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I needed a live Windows PE ISO to be able to update my Dell BIOS, because all the other methods of updating the BIOS on my Dell XPS L702x from Linux I found had failed (and I don't have Windows installed on my laptop). Whatever reason you have to build a customized bootable Windows PE image, here's how to create it from Linux.</div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><h2>Create a bootable Windows PE ISO in Linux</h2><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1.</b> To create a bootable Windows PE image in Linux (no Windows machine is necessary), you need a Windows 7 or 8 DVD or you can download the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) ISO from <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5753">Microsoft's website</a> (for free).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5753">Download the ISO</a> (KB3AIK_EN.iso) in your home folder.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In my test, I've used the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) ISO and not a Windows 7 / 8 DVD.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2.</b> The live Windows PE ISO will be created using <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/06/wimlib-imagex-dism-alternative-to.html">Wimlib</a> so you need to install this tool. In Ubuntu, you can install the latest Wimlib by using the main WebUpd8 PPA:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install wimtools</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">If you're not using Ubuntu, search for Wimlib / wimtools in your Linux distribution repositories or, alternatively, download the source from <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/wimlib/files/">SourceForge</a>.</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>3. Only if you've you've downloaded the Windows AIK (KB3AIK_EN.iso) ISO from Microsoft's website:</b></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Firstly, you need to create a folder where we'll mount the downloaded WAIK (KB3AIK_EN.iso) ISO:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>cd<br />mkdir waik</code></pre>Then, mount KB3AIK_EN.iso using the following command:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo mount KB3AIK_EN.iso $HOME/waik</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>4.</b> Now let's create the customized live Windows PE ISO. For this, we'll use the "mkwinpeimg" tool included in Wimlib:</div><br /><b>a)</b> If you've used a Windows 7 or 8 DVD:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>mkwinpeimg --iso <b>--windows-dir=/mnt/windows</b> winpe.iso</code></pre><br /><b>b)</b> If you've used the WAIK (KB3AIK_EN.iso) ISO:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>mkwinpeimg --iso <b>--waik-dir=$HOME/waik</b> winpe.iso</code></pre>you can now unmount the WAIK ISO:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo umount $HOME/waik</code></pre><br />Here's what the "mkwinpeimg" options above do:<br /><ul><li>"<i>--iso</i>" - it specifies the tool to make an ISO image instead of a disk image</li><li>"-<i>-windows-dir=/mnt/windows</i>" - if using the Windows 7 or 8 DVD only: this is the Windows mount path, usually /mnt/Windows or /mnt/Windows7 but check the path to make sure</li><li>"<i>--waik-dir=$HOME/waik</i>" - if using the WAIK ISO only: this specifies the path to where the WAIK ISO was mounted, <i>$HOME/waik</i> in our case.</li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>If you want to add some files to the bootable Windows PE image, you can use "--overlay=<i>/path/to/some/folder</i>"</b> (replace<i> /path/to/some/folder</i> with the path to a folder that contains the files you want included on the custom Windows PE image) - this will included all the files under<i> /path/to/some/folder</i> on the Windows PE image, in the root directory (under X:).</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Run "<i>man mkwinpeimg</i>" in a terminal for more info on mkwinpeimg and all the available options.</div><br /><br />

How To Create A Bootable Windows PE ISO Under Linux

Windows PE (Windows Preinstallation Environment, also known as WinPE) is a lightweight Windows version that runs from memory and can be boot...

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