Hydration Kit For Windows Server 2019, SQL Server 2017 and ConfigMgr Current Branch

This kit builds a complete ConfigMgr Current Branch 2203 infrastructure running on Windows Server 2019 and SQL Server 2017. This kit is tested on both Hyper-V and VMware virtual platforms, but should work fine on any virtualization platform that can boot from an ISO file. This kit now adds and configuring SQL Server Reporting Services, and has been updated for Windows 11 support. Another update is that you can now specify which path to install the hydration kit on.

Download from GitHub: https://github.com/DeploymentResearch/HydrationKitWS2019

Hydration Kit Video: Check out the free mini course at the ViaMonstra Online Academy covering the Hydration Kit setup (and many other tips and tricks related for creating a lab for ConfigMgr, MDT and Intune): Building the Perfect Lab for ConfigMgr, MDT, and Intune.

Credits: Special thanks to Sven Aelterman for creating the script for configuring SQL Server 2017 Reporting Services, and for graciously allowing me to include it in the hydration kit.

Notes

Customizations: This hydration kit install all servers in the corp.viamonstra.com domain, on the 192.168.1.0/24 network. If you rather use your own domain, different IP addresses etc. check out the Next Step – Customizing the Hydration Kit section in the end of this post for instructions on how to customize this kit. That being said, I recommend getting to know the kit using the default names if you can. For a complete IP plan of the ViaMonstra network, check this link: https://viamonstra.com/pages/ip-plan

Internal network and Internet Access: Since one of the virtual machines (DC01) is also a DHCP Server, its highly recommend to deploy the virtual machines on an internal virtual network, and then use the NAT feature in either Hyper-V or VMware to give the virtual machines internet access. For super-easy Internet access on Hyper-V, while still having the VMs on an isolated network, read this shiny post from Ami Arwidmark (@AArwidmark):

• Setting Up New Networking Features in Hyper-V for Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016/2019
  https://deploymentresearch.com/558/Setting-Up-New-Networking-Features-in-Server-2016.

Advanced networking: For more complex networks (multiple sites, bandwidth throttling etc.), you may want to use a virtual router. More info here:

• Using a virtual router for your lab and test environment
  https://deploymentresearch.com/285/Using-a-virtual-router-for-your-lab-and-test-environment

Hydration Kit Archive: Are you looking for the previous hydration kit for Windows Server 2016? Look no further, it is right here:

• Hydration Kit For Windows Server 2016 and ConfigMgr Current / Technical Preview Branch
  https://deploymentresearch.com/hydration-kit-for-windows-server-2016-and-configmgr-current-technical-preview-branch/

Hydration Kit For Windows Server 2019 and ConfigMgr Current Branch

So, again, this Kit builds a complete ConfigMgr Current Branch 2203, with Windows Server 2019 and SQL Server 2017 infrastructure, and some supporting servers. Once the build is complete, I recommend that you use the native ConfigMgr servicing option to update to latest release or Hotfix if available.

Servers

This kit allows you to automatically deploy the below list of servers. The server you really need to build first is DC01, since that's the domain controller, and the CM01 server will join the domain. Turns out joining a domain is tricky without a domain controller 🙂

Main servers

• DC01. Windows Server 2019, DC, DHCP and DNS
• CM01. Windows Server 2019, SQL Server 2017, and ConfigMgr Current Branch

Optional supporting servers 

• MDT01. Windows Server 2019, SQL Server 2017 Express, and MDT 8456
• FS01. Windows Server 2019, File Server
• DP01. Windows Server 2019, additional ConfigMgr DP

Setup Overview

Shorthand, to build the virtual machines there are five main steps you need to do:

1. Download the necessary software
2. Install the Hydration Kit
3. Copy the downloaded software to the Hydration Kit
4. Create the bootable Hydration Kit ISO
5. Create and Deploy the virtual machines

Note: Detailed instructions are further down this page… See the Step-by-Step Guides section.

Step-by-Step Guides 

Step 1 – Download the software

On the Windows machine (client or server) that you use to manage Hyper-V or VMware, create a folder for all the software needed, for example C:\Setup.

Then, for the main servers (DC01 and CM01), you need to download the following software:

• The Hydration Kit: https://deploymentresearch.com/DRFiles/HydrationCMWS2019.zip
• MDT 8456 (The kit is based on that platform): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=54259
• BGInfo: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bginfo
• A Windows Server 2019 Standard WIM image (single index, fully updated). The easiest way to get one is to download an already updated Windows Server 2019 ISO file, and then run this PowerShell script: https://github.com/DeploymentResearch/DRFiles/blob/master/Scripts/Export-WindowsServer2019WIMfromISO.ps1
• SQL Server 2017 Standard x64: Either a fully licensed version from VLSC or MSDN, or a 180 days trial version from the Microsoft Evaluation Center: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/
• SQL Server 2017 Cumulative Update (CU) 17 (or later): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=56128 (ConfigMgr only requires CU 2 for SQL Server 2017, but I recommend using the latest CU).
• SQL Server 2017 Reporting Services: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=55252
• SQL Server Management Studio: https://aka.ms/ssmsfullsetup
• ConfigMgr 2203 and its prerequisites: Either a fully licensed version from VLSC or MSDN, or a 180 days trial version from the Microsoft Evaluation Center: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter

Note: To download the ConfigMgr prerequisites, you run the \SMSSETUP\BIN\X64\setupdl.exe application from the ConfigMgr installation files and simply provide a folder for the download.

Windows ADK for Windows 11 21H2 and the ADK WinPE Addon for Windows 11 21H2: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/get-started/adk-install
Note #1: Make sure to get the 21H2 version of the Windows ADK for Windows 11. The new 22H2 version (released in May 2022) is not yet supported by ConfigMgr.
Note #2: To download the complete standalone Windows ADK for Windows 11 setup, run adksetup.exe /layout "C:\Setup\Windows ADK 11" for the core ADK, and then adkwinpesetup.exe /layout "C:\Setup\Windows ADK 11 WinPE Addon" for the WinPE Addon.

Optional Servers

The FS01 and DP01 optional servers don't need any extra software, but for the MDT01 server, you also need to download the following software:

• SQL Server 2017 Express: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=55994
  
  Note: Use the SQLServer2017-SSEI-Expr.exe web installer to download the Express Core media (SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe)

Step 2 – Install the Hydration Kit

Installing the Hydration Kit requires that you first install Windows ADK and the Windows ADK WinPE Addon. The kit has been tested with both Windows ADK 10 and Windows ADK 11, but to get full support for Windows 11, I recommend using the Windows ADK 11 version since it supports all currently supported operating systems.

Installing Hydration Kit Prerequisites

1. On the Windows machine that you use to manage Hyper-V or VMware, install Windows ADK 11 (adksetup.exe) selecting only the following components:

• Deployment Tools
• Imaging and Configuration Designer (ICD)
• Configuration Designer
• User State Migration Tool (USMT)

Note: The last three are not used by the hydration kit, but are still quite useful to have, so I usually install them too.     

2. Install Windows ADK 11 WinPE Addon (adkwinpesetup.exe) with the default settings.

3. Install MDT 8456 (MicrosoftDeploymentToolkit_x64.msi) with the default settings.   

4. Install the MDT 8456 Hotfix.

Note: Due to a code change in Windows 10 2004 or later (including Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022), and Windows ADK 10 2004 and later, you need to download some updated files for MDT 8456. You can download these files here: https://download.microsoft.com/download/3/0/6/306AC1B2-59BE-43B8-8C65-E141EF287A5E/KB4564442/MDT_KB4564442.exe

4a. Download the MDT 8456 hotfix (MDT_KB4564442.exe), and extract it to a folder. I extracted it to C:\Setup\MDT 8456 Update.

4b. Copy the x86 version of the new Microsoft.BDD.Utility.dll from C:\Setup\MDT 8456 Update\x86 to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Deployment Toolkit\Templates\Distribution\Tools\x86. Replace the existing file.

4c. Copy the x64 version of the new Microsoft.BDD.Utility.dll from C:\Setup\MDT 8456 Update\x64 to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Deployment Toolkit\Templates\Distribution\Tools\x64. Replace the existing file.

Installing the Hydration Kit

1. Extract the content from HydrationCMWS2019.zip to a folder, for example C:\HydrationKit.

Note: Please use 7-zip to extract the files so that time stamps on the files are kept correct, which helps troubleshooting (when using File Explorer to extract, it resets the time stamps to current date).

You should now have the following folder containing a few sub-folders and a PowerShell script: C:\HydrationKit

2. In an elevated PowerShell command prompt, navigate to the C:\HydrationKit folder, and create the hydration deployment share by running the following command:  

.\New-HydrationKitSetup.ps1 -Path C:\CMLab -ShareName CMLab

3. Open the Deployment Workbench, and look around. You should see applications, operating systems, and task sequences etc.

Step 3 – Copy the downloaded software to the Hydration Kit

Next step is to start copying the various installation files to the correct folder.

1. Copy your Windows Server 2019 reference image (have to be named REFWS2019-001.wim, case sensitive), to the following folder: C:\CMLab\DS\Operating Systems\WS2019

Note #1: The WIM image should only have a single index with the Windows Server 2019 with Desktop Experience edition. Again, if you don't have an updated image of Windows Server 2019 Standard. Please follow this guide to create one: https://deploymentresearch.com/building-the-perfect-windows-server-2019-reference-image/

Note #2: If your CM01 does not have Internet access during the Hydration Kit build, make sure to also copy the microsoft-windows-netfx3-ondemand-package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~.cab file to the following folder: C:\CMLab\DS\Operating Systems\WS2019\sources\sxs

2. Copy the BGInfo file (bginfo.exe) to the following folder:
C:\CMLab\DS\Applications\Install – BGInfo\Source

3. Copy the Windows ADK 11 setup files (1.6 GB) to the following folder:
C:\CMLab\DS\Applications\Install – Windows ADK 11\Source

4. Copy the Windows ADK 11 WinPE Addon setup files (3 GB) to the following folder:
C:\CMLab\DS\Applications\Install – WinPE Addon for Windows ADK 11\Source

5. Copy the SQL Server 2017 Standard x64 setup files (the content of the ISO, not the actual ISO) to the following folder:
C:\CMLab\DS\Applications\Install – SQL Server 2017\Source

6. In the C:\CMLab\DS\Applications\Install – SQL Server 2017\Source folder, create a subfolder named Updates, and copy the latest SQL Server 2017 CU setup file (CU 20 when I wrote this guide) to it.

7. Copy the SQL Server Management Studio setup file to the following folder:
C:\CMLab\DS\Applications\Install – SQL Server Management Studio

8. Copy the SQL Server 2017 Reporting Services setup file to the following folder:
C:\CMLab\DS\Applications\Install – SQL Server 2017 Reporting Services\Source

9. Copy the ConfigMgr 2203 setup files (extract the download) to the following folder:
C:\CMLab\DS\Applications\Install – ConfigMgr\Source

10. Copy the ConfigMgr 2203 PreReqs setup files to the following folder:
C:\CMLab\DS\Applications\Install – ConfigMgr\PreReqs

11. Copy the MDT 8456 setup file (MicrosoftDeploymentToolkit_x64.msi) to the following folder:
C:\CMLab\DS\Applications\Install – MDT

Optional – Populate the hydration deployment share with files for MDT01

Note: These steps are only needed if you want to deploy the optional MDT01 virtual machine. If you don't need this VM, simply skip to the next section: "Create the Hydration Kit ISO (MDT offline media item)"

1. Copy the SQL Server 2017 Express setup file (SQLEXPR_x64_ENU.exe) to the following folder:
C:\CMLab\DS\Applications\Install – SQL Server 2017 Express\Source

Step 4 – Create the bootable Hydration Kit ISO (MDT offline media item)

1. Using Deployment Workbench (available on the Start screen), expand Deployment Shares, and expand Hydration ConfigMgr.   

2. Expand the Advanced Configuration node, and then select the Media node.   

3. In the right pane, right-click the MEDIA001 item, and select Update Media Content.

Note: The media update will take a while to run, a perfect time for a coffee break.

After the media update you will have a big ISO (HydrationCMWS2019.iso ) in the C:\CMLab\ISO folder. The HydrationCMWS2019.iso should be about 14-16 GB in size (size will vary a bit depending on your Windows Server 2019 reference image and software added).

Step 5 – Create and Deploy the virtual machines

First, all accounts, including Administrator, have a password of P@ssw0rd. Secondly, you either create your VM manually, and connect them to the Hydration Kit ISO. Or you can automate that process to with a bit of PowerShell.

Creating the Virtual Machines via PowerShell

If you want a PowerShell script that creates these VMs for Hyper-V, use New-LabVMsForHyperV.ps1 script from the C:\HydrationKit folder. The syntax for the scripts is as follows:

.\New-LabVMsForHyperV.ps1 -VMLocation C:\VMs -VMNetwork Internal -ISO C:\CMLab\ISO\HydrationCMWS2019.iso

Note: If using Hyper-V, do Not configure the virtual machines for dynamic memory. If you do, the installation will take a very long time. Dynamic memory can be enabled when installation (hydration) is completed.

Deploying DC01

Using Hyper-V Manager or VMware Workstation/Sphere, create a virtual machine with the following settings:

• Name: DC01
• CPU: 2 vCPU
• Hard drive: 100 GB (dynamic disk)
• Memory: 2 GB (static memory)
• Network: Your lab network
• Image file (ISO): C:\CMLab\ISO\HydrationCMWS2019.iso

1. Start the DC01 virtual machine. After booting from HydrationCMWS2019.iso , and after WinPE has loaded, select the DC01 task sequence.   
2. Wait until the setup is complete and you see the Hydration Complete message in the final summary.   
3. Leave DC01 running while deploying the CM01 virtual machine.

Deploying CM01

Once the domain controller (DC01) is up and running, you can deploy the CM01 virtual machine. Don't forget to leave DC01 running while deploying CM01 since it is joining the domain during deployment. Use the following settings for the CM01 virtual machine:

• Name: CM01
• CPU: 4 vCPU
• Hard drive: 300 GB (dynamic disk)
• Memory: 16 GB (static memory)
• Network: Your lab network
• Image file (ISO): C:\CMLab\ISO\HydrationCMWS2019.iso

Post configuration of CM01

After deploying CM01, make sure the machine has access to Internet. Again either via Configure NAT in Hyper-V or VMware, or by setting up a virtual router.

Then, in the Administration workspace, in the Updates and Servicing node. Click Check for Updates, and then install the latest updates available. Don't forget to do a final reboot after applying the updates, there is usually a pending reboot caused by the upgrade process.

Deploying MDT01 (Optional)

Once the domain controller (DC01) is up and running, you can deploy the optional MDT01 virtual machine. Don't forget to leave DC01 running while deploying MDT01 since it is joining the domain during deployment. Use the following settings for the MDT01 virtual machine:

• Name: MDT01
• CPU: 2 vCPU
• Hard drive: 300 GB (dynamic disk)
• Memory: 4 GB (static memory)
• Network: Your lab network
• Image file (ISO): C:\CMLab\ISO\HydrationCMWS2019.iso

Deploying DP01 (Optional)

Once the domain controller (DC01) is up and running, you can deploy the optional DP01 virtual machine. Don't forget to leave DC01 running while deploying DP01 since it is joining the domain during deployment. Use the following settings for the MDT01 virtual machine:

• Name: DP01
• CPU: 2 vCPU
• Hard drive: 300 GB (dynamic disk)
• Memory: 4 GB (static memory)
• Network: Your lab network
• Image file (ISO): C:\CMLab\ISO\HydrationCMWS2019.iso

Deploying FS01 (Optional)

Once the domain controller (DC01) is up and running, you can deploy the optional FS01 virtual machine. Don't forget to leave DC01 running while deploying FS01 since it is joining the domain during deployment. Use the following settings for the MDT01 virtual machine:

• Name: FS01
• CPU: 2 vCPU
• Hard drive: 300 GB (dynamic disk)
• Memory: 4 GB (static memory)
• Network: Your lab network
• Image file (ISO): C:\CMLab\ISO\HydrationCMWS2019.iso

Next Steps – Customizing the Hydration Kit:

Below is a quick walk through of items to change if you need to customize the kit.  For a broader scope, please see the post Customizing the ViaMonstra Hydration Kit.

If you need to change server names, IP addresses, domain names, installation, passwords, etc. in the environment, the main configuration is stored in the four .ini files in the C:\CMLab\ISO\Content\Deploy\Control folder.

Note: Again, by default, all accounts, including Administrator, have a password of P@ssw0rd.

For ConfigMgr (CM01) you need to update the following files::

• C:\CMLab\DS\Applications\Install – ConfigMgr\ConfigMgrUnattend.ini
• C:\CMLab\DS\Applications\Install – SQL Server 2017\ConfigurationFile.ini

If you need to change the various service accounts, you need to to modify the Configure-CreateADStructure.wsf script in the C:\CMLab\DS\Applications\Configure – Create AD Structure
folder.

If you change the Administrator password, and/or domain name, you also need to update the Authorize DHCP credentials in the DC01 task sequence.

Written by Johan Arwidmark