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So you can reimage your devices on any Wi-Fi network
I work as System Administrator for more than 15 years now and I love to make my life easier by automating work & personal stuff via PowerShell (even silly things like food recipes list generation).
Hello Ondrej,
thanks for this useful article.
I´m stuck with the USB script in line 388.
Set-Content -Path $WinREWiFi -Value (Get-Content $WinREWiFi...
The script quits with the error message, that -Path is NULL.
I checked the USB script and in line 384 there is a script named WinREWiFi.ps1:
$WinREWiFi = Get-Item "$wimMountPath\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\OSD*\Public\WinREWiFi.ps1
I mounted the modified boot.wim, which is on the USB stick and there is no such script in the specified path.
Do I have to change something in the USB script? Is there any change in OSDCloud so that there is no WinREWiFi.ps1 script anymore?
Thanks in advance and best regards, Mark
You are correct. This part of OSDCloud was modified. I've fixed the https://github.com/ztrhgf/OSD_WITH_WIFI/blob/main/customize_sccm_usb_boot_image_to_support_wifi.ps1 script, so please try it again.
Hello Ondrej,
thanks for fixing the USB script, it works.
I have another issue. I followed the article, but when I try to boot from USB, the task Test-WebConnection google.com fails. Also the task Testing Wi-Fi Network Adapter fails.
A window opens and I can see the WiFi adapter in the network settings.
I guess this is no driver issue. I injected the latest Windows 10 and WinPE drivers from DELL.
"Transcript started, output file is X:\windows\TEMP\wreconnect.log
No Wi-Fi profile was found, making initial connection. (I deleted the WiFi profile for testing. Even with the profile, the sequence fails.)
Start-WinREWiFi OK
Test-WebConnection google.com FAIL
Testing required WinRE content OK
Starting WlanSvc Service OK
Testing Wi-Fi Network Adapter FAIL
Warning: Could not find an installed Wi-Fi Network Adapter
Warning: Drivers may need to be added to WinPE"
Any ideas what could cause this? I have the same WiFi adapter as described in your article.
Thanks and regards, Mark
I've been working on implementing this, but I believe I'm missing something. I've successfully created the boot drive, connected to wifi, and selected a task sequence. The task sequence needs to be attached to the default boot image, else there would be multiple boot images available through PXE and regular wired imaging stops working. Due to that, wifi clients end up downloading the default Endpoint Manager boot image and restart to that image before applying an OS, which fails because at that point it is not connected to wifi.
Hi, to be honest I haven't tested Wi-Fi installation via PXE. But in general to avoid downloading boot image from SCCM. Boot images (the one you boot from and the one assigned to TS) have to be exactly the same.
PS: don't forget you have to customize winpeshl.ini (https://doitpsway.com/adding-support-for-os-deployment-through-wi-fi-to-sccm#adding-wi-fi-support-to-boot-image-imported-into-sccm)
I guess the issue is, when deploying a task sequence, it doesn't seem there's a way to make a deployment only be available to bootable media. It always includes PXE, and multiple boot images in a PXE environment doesn't work. If all imaging is done via bootable media, then the different boot images wouldn't be a problem
Sorry I don't think I follow.. Sean Hanson
Ondrej Sebela I've sorted this out, but it took awhile to understand all the components at play and figure out a way around the PXE issue.
If both wired and wireless systems were imaged using bootable media, then the correct boot image for each type would be on the media itself. Having different boot images for each wouldn't cause any issue.
With PXE, the most recent task sequence deployment dictates which boot image is pushed on a PXE boot. My understanding is that best practices say you should keep that as the default "Boot Image (x64)". If the last task sequence deployed to unknown devices is the OSDCloud boot image, that overrides the default boot image and was causing some problems with the wired systems.
Ultimately, the fix was to make sure and recreate a deployment for a normal task sequence (that uses the default boot image) after doing any work on the wifi task sequences. That allows PXE to use the default image while still allowing the wifi task sequences to use the OSDCloud image.
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[edited] 9.7.2021 - added section 4. Automatically use Wi-Fi profile from the running OS
[edited] 25.6.2021 - added section Adding Wi-Fi support to Boot Image imported into SCCM
[edited] 19.6.2021 - IMPORTANT - solved timeouts problem! Check section 3. Making Wi-Fi connection persistent during OS installation reboots
[edited] 17.6.2021 - added workaround for startup timeouts
In this post, I will show you, how to add Wi-Fi support for OSD to SCCM. This can be really helpful if, for example, you want to let your remote employees reimage their computers using a home Wi-Fi network. So for this particular example, I will use SCCM's Cloud Management Gateway (CMG) component as an installation source i.e. installation data will be downloaded from the Internet instead of an on-premise SCCM server.
- For MDT different approach has to be taken
- Setting CMG for deploying Task Sequence is not part of this post. But you can check this good one
SCCM (MEMCM)CMG (only if you want to make the installation through the Internet)This problem is quite easy to solve, thanks to the great work of David Segura and his OSDCloud tool.
So the steps are as follows:
Download and install Windows ADK + WinPE support as stated in OSDCLoud requirements
In Administrator PowerShell console run:
Install-Module OSD -Force
Import-Module OSD -Force
# WinRE instead of WinPE to support Wi-Fi
New-OSDCloud.template -WinRE -Verbose
# create OSDCloud workspace folder
$WorkspacePath = "C:\temp\OSDCloud"
New-OSDCloud.workspace -WorkspacePath $WorkspacePath
# add general Wi-Fi NIC drivers to boot image
Edit-OSDCloud.winpe -CloudDriver Dell, HP, Nutanix, VMware, WiFi
# if you need to add some custom drivers, use
# Edit-OSDCloud.winpe -DriverPath "C:\myCustomDrivers"
After running the command above, there should be boot.wim in the C:\temp\OSDCloud\Media\Sources folder.
Import created boot image (boot.wim) into the Boot Images
Just don't forget to select imported Boot Image!
Use Rufus or similar application to create bootable USB drive from created Bootable Task Sequence Media ISO.
To avoid redownloading of boot image during OSD, make sure that your USB drive contains exactly the same boot image version as your SCCM
Wi-Fi enabled boot image created by OSDCloud lets you connect to the Wi-Fi network by default. The problem is, that it happens after Task Sequence inner checks. To fix this, we have to customize the default behavior, to initialize Wi-Fi as soon as possible after the WinPE starts. Otherwise, the installation will fail with error 
Several customizations have to be done in boot.wim saved on USB drive created from Bootable Task Sequence Media ISO, we have created in the previous section. Therefore I've created PowerShell script customize_sccm_usb_boot_image_to_support_wifi.ps1 for you.
Just download and run the script in administrator PowerShell console to make the necessary modification of the connected USB boot drive.
TIP: we are modifying
Bootable Task Sequence Mediaboot image instead of the earlier generated OSDCloud image because SCCM customizes boot.wim content automatically (winpeshl.ini especially) when you: import boot image, redistribute it orBootable Task Sequence Mediaimage is created. Therefore our customization would be removed.
It will automatically:
Prestart command, it is because it is being run too late in the startup process. On contrary winpeshl.ini si processed by winpeshl.exe, which is run right after winlogon.exe kicks in TIP: There is also an option to integrate Wi-Fi credentials for making unattended connection! Just use parameter
wifiCredentialorxmlWiFiProfilewhen you call this script. For more details check help in the script itself.
This is how the unattended Wi-Fi connection will look like, when you boot from created USB.
To use boot image that supports Wi-Fi not just to start Task Sequence from USB, but also from running OS (i.e. boot.wim will be downloaded from MP), you will have to do one modification in sccm before importing it.
Because SCCM replaces the existing winpeshl.ini on boot image when you import it or do any action with it, you have to hack it a little bit.
To be more specific, we will force SCCM to use our custom winpeshl.ini instead of the default one. To manage that, you have to create winpeshl.ini in [SCCM Install directory]\OSD\bin\x64\ (or i386 for 32-bit boot images) with the following content and do it before you import previously created and customized Wi-Fi capable boot.wim into SCCM!
[LaunchApps]
PowerShell.exe, -NoProfile -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File connectWifi.ps1
%SYSTEMDRIVE%\sms\bin\x64\TsBootShell.exe
This will force SCCM to use this winpeshl.ini instead of the default one, every time, any action with any boot image will take place! So it's a good idea to remove this file when the boot image will be safely stored on Management Point.
Thanks Jan-Kristian Arntzen for pointing this out!
To automatically connect to Wi-Fi you only need two things:
The first part is halfway solved thanks to CloudOSD function Start-WinREWiFi, which automatically creates such XML (during interactive connection to Wi-Fi at start of WinPE). And the customization we've made in the previous section (to not delete this profile after making a connection). So we just have to copy this file to a freshly installed OS drive (I've chosen C:\Windows\WCFG\wprofile.xml as a destination).
The second part will be solved by customizing the startup command defined in cmdline registry value. The file defined in this registry will be automatically started at the system startup. SCCM itself is using this registry value to manage Task Sequence installation (by running osdsetuphook.exe /execute). There is also a second important registry value and that is setupType for defining how to treat with cmdline.
As an easy solution, I have created several helper Task Sequences, that I use as sub-TS in my main deployment TS. It makes the process much easier to maintain and reuse, but of course, you can extract the logic and use it as common TS steps.
All these helper Task Sequences are stored in my GitHub repository, so you can easily import them into your SCCM and use them as described in your own deployment Task Sequence.
C:\Windows\WCFG\wprofile.xml), so it is possible to import it later, to maintain Wi-Fi connection persistence after each restart.Start-WinREWiFi function or by running my customize_sccm_usb_boot_image_to_support_wifi.ps1 scriptTS variable WifiProfile so it is possible to detect later, that the installation is running through a Wi-Fi connectionStart-Transcript "$env:TEMP\wProfileCopy.log"
# Get-Volume seems to not work in winpe
$OSDrive = Get-WmiObject win32_logicaldisk | ? { $_.VolumeName -eq "Windows" } | select -exp DeviceId
if (!$OSDrive) { throw "Unable to find OS drive. Did you run this step RIGHT AFTER OS was installed?" }
# location where Wi-FI profile will be stored
$WCFG = "$OSDrive\Windows\WCFG"
# create if doesn't exists
[Void][System.IO.Directory]::CreateDirectory($WCFG)
# search for saved Wi-Fi xml profile in TEMP
# OSDCloud function Start-WinREWiFi saves it there as <SSID>.xml
Get-ChildItem $env:TEMP -File -Filter *.xml | % {
$fileBaseName = $_.BaseName
$filePath = $_.FullName
# if Wi-Fi profile is found, copy it to newly installed OS DISK
if (([xml](Get-Content $filePath)).WLANProfile.Name) {
# RECONNECT TASK SEQUENCE STEP EXPECTS such name and location
$wifiProfile = Join-Path $WCFG "wprofile.xml"
"copying Wi-Fi profile $filePath to $wifiProfile"
Copy-Item $filePath $wifiProfile -Force -ea Stop
# this string will be saved to WifiProfile TS Variable and will be used to detect, that installation is running using Wi-Fi
return $wifiProfile
}
}
Write-Warning "No Wi-Fi profile was found in $env:TEMP"
cmdline and setuptype registry values plus creates helper batch script, so the first action after OS restart will be establishing connection to Wi-FiSetup Windows and Configuration Manager i.e. first start of the installed OS# customize startup command to prefix whatever there is, with connecting to Wi-Fi
if ($env:TEMP -match "^X:") {
Write-Error "Don't run this in WinPE! Unless you've figured out, how to start Wi-Fi after first OS start"
Start-Sleep 10
exit
}
# Get-Volume seems to not work in winpe
$OSDrive = Get-WmiObject win32_logicaldisk | ? { $_.VolumeName -eq "Windows" } | select -exp DeviceId
# location where Wi-FI profile should be stored
$WCFG = "$OSDrive\Windows\WCFG"
# location of the script, that will be called in cmdline registry value
$helperScript = "$WCFG\custom_cmdline.cmd"
# location of the Wi-Fi profile
$wifiProfile = "$WCFG\wprofile.xml"
# SSID of the Wi-Fi to connect
$SSID = ([xml](Get-Content $wifiProfile)).WLANProfile.Name
# startup command
$cmdLine = Get-ItemPropertyValue "HKLM:\SYSTEM\Setup" -Name cmdline
# from some reason the cmdline in SCCM TS looks like: system32\osdsetuphook.exe /execute
# i.e. it is not absolute path, which causes trouble (boot loop, because of non existent path), when you call it from script
if ($cmdLine -and $cmdLine -notmatch "^$OSDrive\\Windows\\") {
$cmdLine = "$OSDrive\Windows\$cmdLine"
}
if (!$OSDrive) { throw "Unable to find OS drive. Did you run this step AFTER OS was installed?" }
if (!(Test-Path $wifiProfile)) { throw "This shouldn't happen, because this step should be run ONLY if WifiProfile TS variable is filled" }
if (!$SSID) { throw "Unable to extract SSID from $wifiProfile" }
# ensure, that cmdline registry value contains call to my helper script
if ($cmdLine -eq $helperScript) {
# it does >> no change is needed
"No change needed"
return
} else {
# it doesn't >> I have to create new helper script with registry key command + add my own command to it + call this script in cmdline
"CmdLine has to be customized"
$myCommand = @"
@echo off
echo MAKING Wi-FI CONNECTION
REM start Wi-Fi service if needed
SC query wlansvc | FIND /i "RUNNING" > nul
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 (
echo Starting wlansvc
SC start wlansvc
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 10 > nul
) else (
echo wlansvc was already running
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 3 > nul
)
REM add Wi-Fi profile
netsh wlan add profile filename="$wifiProfile"
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 (
REM Wi-Fi adapter is not initialized yet
echo Giving this a second chance
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 15 > nul
netsh wlan add profile filename="$wifiProfile"
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 (
echo Unable to add Wi-Fi profile. Wi-Fi adapter is probably missing
echo ######## Existing NIC^(s^)
wmic nic get name, index, NetEnabled
echo ######## Existing Interface^(s^)
netsh interface show interface
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 15 > nul
exit 1
)
)
REM connect to Wi-Fi
echo Connecting to $SSID
netsh wlan connect name="$SSID" ssid="$SSID"
REM wait for connection
echo Waiting for internet connection
:loop
(ping -n 1 www.google.com | find "TTL=") > nul || goto :loop
echo Success!
REM run command, that was originally mentioned in cmdline value
echo Running original cmdline
$cmdLine
"@
"NEW CONTENT OF cmdline WILL BE"
$myCommand
$myCommand | Out-File $helperScript -Force -Encoding ascii
# replace original value with my script
Set-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SYSTEM\Setup" -Name cmdline -Value $helperScript
# SetupType https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/b942a34d-c4a7-489c-bb01-45dd65fa9b20/setuptype-and-cmdline-at-hkeylocalmachinesystemsetup?forum=itproxpsp
Set-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SYSTEM\Setup" -Name setuptype -Value 2 -Type Dword
}
Setup Windows and Configuration Manager step, because this is the only place when Wi-Fi adapter is not yet ready (check TODO section)There are two Task Sequences for restart
What it does
C:\Windows\WCFG i.e. deletes Wi-Fi XML profile fileTS# location where Wi-Fi connection data should be stored
$WCFG = "$env:SystemRoot\WCFG"
$wifiProfile = "$WCFG\wprofile.xml"
# disconnecting from the Wi-Fi
if (Test-Path $wifiProfile) {
# get SSID
$SSID = ([xml](Get-Content $wifiProfile)).WLANProfile.Name
"Removing Wi-Fi profile $SSID"
$null = netsh wlan delete profile "$SSID"
}
# remove configuration data (Wi-Fi password is there in plaintext!)
if (Test-Path $WCFG) {
"Removing '$WCFG'"
Remove-Item $WCFG -Recurse -Force
} else {
"'$WCFG' not Found"
}
You can download it from my GitHub Repository and import it into your SCCM console.
Setup Windows and Configuration Manager step, where Wi-Fi is not working yetTo further make the installation through Wi-Fi connection easier, we can set Task Sequence to reuse the existing Wi-Fi connection from the OS that is being reinstalled. As a result, user won't be prompted to make a Wi-Fi connection and the same Wi-Fi network he was connected to will be used for OSD too automatically.
This can be of course used only in cases when the installation is invoked from running OS (via Software Center).
To make this work, we need two new Task Sequence steps:
COPY Wi-Fi PROFILE TO OS DISKSo to make this work, download these two Task Sequences, import them to your SCCM Task Sequence list and use them in your own Task Sequence like
Also make sure to use Wi-Fi supporting boot image in your SCCM i.e. follow Adding Wi-Fi support to Boot Image imported into SCCM. Because this boot image will be downloaded from SCCM in case of invoking OS installation from the running OS.
!!! There was a bug in customize_sccm_usb_boot_image_to_support_wifi.ps1 script, that I fixed 9.7.2021. So to make this work, use this new fixed version to customize your Wi-Fi supporting boot image AND redistribute it to your SCCM DP's!!!
If you got to this point, you are ready to reimage any of your devices on any personal Wi-Fi network. To accomplish this task, we've created Wi-Fi supporting boot image using OSDCloud tool, customized it a little bit to match SCCM needs, and customized our deployment Task Sequence to make Wi-Fi connection persistent.
Moreover, we can import Wi-Fi profile directly to boot image or set the Task Sequence to reuse the existing Wi-Fi connection from OS that is being reinstalled.
Have fun 👍
Connecting to Wi-Fi
Manually
Unattended
Choosing TS
Installing OS
Reconnecting to Wi-Fi after the restart
Solve connecting the Wi-Fi in step Setup Windows and Configuration Manager. Right now this is the only step, where Wi-Fi is not working, so I have to do workarounds like disabling re-tries for sending Status Messages to MP. Therefore in your Task Sequence restart ASAP after this step to make Wi-Fi working i.e. do it as I did in my example of Task Sequence :)
PS: I already tried to initialize network adapters by netcfg -v -winpe plus start the wlansvc service, but it ended in start-pending state...