7.4. Windows installation with Cobbler

Supported installation options:

  • UEFI iPXE install (via ipxe-shimx64.efi, ipxe.efi and wimboot tftp/http)

  • BIOS iPXE install (via ipxe undionly.kpxe and wimboot tftp/http)

  • BIOS PXE install (via syslinux pxelinux.0, linux.c32 and wimboot tftp/http)

  • BIOS PXE install (via grub2 grub.0 and wimboot tftp/http)

  • BIOS PXE install (via windows pxeboot.n12)

7.4.1. Installation Quickstart guide

  • dnf install python3-pefile python3-hivex wimlib-utils

  • enable Windows support in settings /etc/cobbler/settings.d/windows.settings:

windows_enabled: true

  • Share /var/www/cobbler via Samba:

vi /etc/samba/smb.conf
        [DISTRO]
        path = /var/www/cobbler
        guest ok = yes
        browseable = yes
        public = yes
        writeable = no
        printable = no

  • import the Windows distro:

cobbler import --name=win11 --path=/mnt

This command will determine the version and architecture of the Windows distribution, extract the files pxeboot.n12, bootmgr.exe, winpe.wim from the distro into the /var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/win11/boot and create a distro and profile named win11-x86_64.

7.4.1.1. Customization winpe.wim

For customization winpe.win you need ADK for Windows.

Start -> Apps -> Windows Kits -> Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment

You can use either winpe.wim obtained either as a result of cobbler import, or take it from ADK:

copype.cmd <amd64|x86|arm> c:\winpe

If necessary, add drivers to the image:

dism /mount-wim /wimfile:media\sources\boot.wim /index:1 /mountdir:mount
dism /image:mount /add-driver /driver:D:\NetKVM\w11\amd64
dism /image:mount /add-driver /driver:D:\viostor\w11\amd64
dism /unmount-wim /mountdir:mount /commit

Copy the resulting WinPE image from Windows to the /var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/win11/boot directory of the distro.

7.4.2. UEFI Secure Boot (SB)

For SB you can use ipxe-shimx64.efi (unsigned), ipxe.efi (unsigned) and wimboot (signed with a Microsoft key). Therefore, in this case, we will need our own keys in order to sign ipxe-shimx64.efi, ipxe.efi and computer fimware with them.

7.4.2.1. Creating Secure Boot Keys

export NAME="DEMO"
openssl req -new -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -subj "/CN=$NAME PK/" -keyout PK.key \
        -out PK.crt -days 3650 -nodes -sha256
openssl req -new -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -subj "/CN=$NAME KEK/" -keyout KEK.key \
        -out KEK.crt -days 3650 -nodes -sha256
openssl req -new -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -subj "/CN=$NAME DB/" -keyout DB.key \
        -out DB.crt -days 3650 -nodes -sha256

export GUID=`python3 -c 'import uuid; print(str(uuid.uuid1()))'`
echo $GUID > myGUID.txt

7.4.2.2. Provide cobbler with bootloaders

wget https://github.com/ipxe/shim/releases/download/ipxe-15.7/ipxe-shimx64.efi
wget https://boot.ipxe.org/ipxe.iso
wget https://github.com/ipxe/wimboot/releases/latest/download/wimboot -P /var/lib/cobbler/loaders

mkdir -p /mnt/{cdrom,disk}
mount -o loop,ro ipxe.iso /mnt/cdrom
mount -o loop,ro /mnt/cdrom/esp.img /mnt/disk

7.4.2.3. Signing EFI Binaries and replacing keys in firmware

Signing the bootloaders:

sbsign --key DB.key --cert DB.crt --output /var/lib/cobbler/loaders/ipxe-shimx64.efi ipxe-shimx64.efi
sbsign --key DB.key --cert DB.crt --output /var/lib/cobbler/loaders/ipxe.efi /mnt/disk/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI
cobbler sync

Sign the computer firmware with your keys. For VM it can be done like this:

rpm -ql python3-virt-firmware | grep '\.pem$'
    /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/virt/firmware/certs/CentOSSecureBootCA2.pem
    /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/virt/firmware/certs/CentOSSecureBootCAkey1.pem
    /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/virt/firmware/certs/MicrosoftCorporationKEKCA2011.pem
    /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/virt/firmware/certs/MicrosoftCorporationUEFICA2011.pem
    /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/virt/firmware/certs/MicrosoftWindowsProductionPCA2011.pem
    /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/virt/firmware/certs/RedHatSecureBootCA3.pem
    /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/virt/firmware/certs/RedHatSecureBootCA5.pem
    /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/virt/firmware/certs/RedHatSecureBootCA6.pem
    /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/virt/firmware/certs/RedHatSecureBootPKKEKkey1.pem
    /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/virt/firmware/certs/fedoraca-20200709.pem

virt-fw-vars \
    --input /usr/share/edk2/ovmf/OVMF_VARS.fd \
    --output /var/lib/libvirt/qemu/nvram/win11_VARS.fd \
    --set-pk  ${GUID} PK.crt \
    --add-kek ${GUID} KEK.crt \
    --add-kek 77fa9abd-0359-4d32-bd60-28f4e78f784b /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/virt/firmware/certs/MicrosoftCorporationKEKCA2011.pem \
    --add-db  ${GUID} DB.crt \
    --add-db  77fa9abd-0359-4d32-bd60-28f4e78f784b /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/virt/firmware/certs/MicrosoftWindowsProductionPCA2011.pem \
    --add-db  77fa9abd-0359-4d32-bd60-28f4e78f784b /usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/virt/firmware/certs/MicrosoftCorporationUEFICA2011.pem

7.4.3. Booting from UEFI iPXE HTTP

Change dhcpd.conf to use ipxe-shimx64.efi:

class "pxeclients" {
     match if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient";
     next-server 192.168.126.1;

     if exists user-class and option user-class = "iPXE" {
         filename "/ipxe/default.ipxe";
     }
     # UEFI-64-1
     else if option system-arch = 00:07 {
         filename "ipxe-shimx64.efi";
     }

The HTTP protocol is used by default in the profile created with the cobbler import command:

cobbler profile report --name=win11-x86_64 | grep Metadata
    Automatic Installation Metadata :
        {'kernel': 'http://@@http_server@@/images/win11-x86_64/wimboot',
         'bootmgr': 'bootmgr.exe',
         'bcd': 'bcd',
         'winpe': 'winpe.wim',
         'answerfile': 'autounattended.xml',
         'post_install_script': 'post_install.cmd'}

cat /var/lib/tftpboot/ipxe/default.ipxe
:win11-x86_64
kernel http://192.168.124.1/images/win11-x86_64/wimboot
initrd --name boot.sdi  http://192.168.124.1/cobbler/images/win11-x86_64/boot.sdi boot.sdi
initrd --name bootmgr.exe  http://192.168.124.1/cobbler/images/win11-x86_64/bootmgr.exe bootmgr.exe
initrd --name bcd  http://192.168.124.1/cobbler/images/win11-x86_64/bcd bcd
initrd --name winpe.wim  http://192.168.124.1/cobbler/images/win11-x86_64/winpe.wim winpe.wim

7.4.4. Booting from BIOS firmware

7.4.4.1. Booting from BIOS iPXE (via ipxe undionly.kpxe and wimboot tftp/http)

Change dhcpd.conf to use undionly.kpxe:

class "pxeclients" {
     match if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient";
     next-server 192.168.126.1;

     if exists user-class and option user-class = "iPXE" {
         filename "/ipxe/default.ipxe";
     }
     else if option system-arch = 00:00 {
         filename "undionly.pxe";
     }

Import distro

cobbler import --name=win10 --path=/mnt

By default, an EFI partition is created for the profile win10-x86_64 in the answerfile, and for BIOS boot we can create a profile with uefi=False in the metadata:

cobbler profile copy \
    --name=win10-x86_64 \
    --newname=win10-bios-pxe-wimboot-http-x86_64 \
    --autoinstall-meta="kernel=http://@@http_server@@/images/win10-x86_64/wimboot bootmgr=bootmg2.exe bcd=bc2 winpe=winp2.wim answerfile=autounattende2.xml uefi=False"
cobbler sync

If you do not want to use the HTTP protocol, you can either change an existing profile or create a new one with kernel=wimboot in the metadata:

cobbler profile copy \
    --name=win10-x86_64
    --newname=win10-bios-ipxe-wimboot-tftp-x86_64 \
    --autoinstall-meta="kernel=wimboot bootmgr=bootmg3.exe bcd=bc3 winpe=winp3.wim answerfile=autounattende3.xml uefi=False"
cobbler sync

cat /var/lib/tftpboot/ipxe/default.ipxe
:win10-bios-ipxe-wimboot-tftp-x86_64
kernel /images/win10-x86_64/wimboot
initrd --name boot.sdi  /images/win10-x86_64/boot.sdi boot.sdi
initrd --name bootmgr.exe  /images/win10-x86_64/bootmg3.exe bootmgr.exe
initrd --name bcd  /images/win10-x86_64/bc3 bcd
initrd --name winp3.wim  /images/win10-x86_64/winp3.wim winp3.wim
boot

7.4.4.2. Booting from BIOS PXE (via syslinux pxelinux.0, linux.c32 and wimboot tftp/http)

The win10-bios-pxe-wimboot-http-x86_64 and win10-bios-ipxe-wimboot-tftp-x86_64 profiles created earlier are suitable for this boot method. You just need to change dhcpd.conf to boot via pxelinux.0.

class "pxeclients" {
     match if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient";
     next-server 192.168.126.1;

     if exists user-class and option user-class = "iPXE" {
         filename "/ipxe/default.ipxe";
     }
     else if option system-arch = 00:00 {
         filename "pxelinux.0";
     }

cat /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default
LABEL win10-bios-ipxe-wimboot-tftp-x86_64
    MENU LABEL win10-bios-ipxe-wimboot-tftp-x86_64
    kernel linux.c32
    append /images/win10-x86_64/wimboot initrdfile=/images/win10-x86_64/boot.sdi@boot.sdi initrdfile=/images/win10-x86_64/bootmg3.exe@bootmgr.exe initrdfile=/images/win10-x86_64/bc3@bcd initrdfile=/images/win10-x86_64/winp3.wim@winp3.wim
LABEL win10-bios-pxe-wimboot-http-x86_64
    MENU LABEL win10-bios-pxe-wimboot-http-x86_64
    kernel linux.c32
    append http://192.168.124.1/images/win10-x86_64/wimboot initrdfile=http://192.168.124.1/cobbler/images/win10-x86_64/boot.sdi@boot.sdi initrdfile=http://192.168.124.1/cobbler/images/win10-x86_64/bootmg2.exe@bootmgr.exe initrdfile=http://192.168.124.1/cobbler/images/win10-x86_64/bc2@bcd initrdfile=http://192.168.124.1/cobbler/images/win10-x86_64/winp2.wim@winp2.wim

7.4.4.3. Booting from BIOS PXE (via grub2 grub.0 and wimboot tftp/http)

The win10-bios-pxe-wimboot-http-x86_64 and win10-bios-ipxe-wimboot-tftp-x86_64 profiles created earlier also suitable for this boot method. You just need to change dhcpd.conf to boot via grub/grub.0.

class "pxeclients" {
     match if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient";
     next-server 192.168.126.1;

     if exists user-class and option user-class = "iPXE" {
         filename "/ipxe/default.ipxe";
     }
     else if option system-arch = 00:00 {
         filename "grub/grub.0";
     }

cat /var/lib/tftpboot/grub/x86_64_menu_items.cfg
menuentry 'win10-bios-ipxe-wimboot-tftp-x86_64' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
  echo 'Loading kernel ...'
  clinux /images/win10-x86_64/wimboot
  echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
  cinitrd  newc:boot.sdi:/images/win10-x86_64/boot.sdi newc:bootmgr.exe:/images/win10-x86_64/bootmg3.exe newc:bcd:/images/win10-x86_64/bc3 newc:winp3.wim:/images/win10-x86_64/winp3.wim
  echo '...done'
}
menuentry 'win10-bios-pxe-wimboot-http-x86_64' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
  echo 'Loading kernel ...'
  clinux (http,192.168.124.1)/images/win10-x86_64/wimboot
  echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
  cinitrd  newc:boot.sdi:(http,192.168.124.1)/cobbler/images/win10-x86_64/boot.sdi newc:bootmgr.exe:(http,192.168.124.1)/cobbler/images/win10-x86_64/bootmg2.exe newc:bcd:(http,192.168.124.1)/cobbler/images/win10-x86_64/bc2 newc:winp2.wim:(http,192.168.124.1)/cobbler/images/win10-x86_64/winp2.wim
  echo '...done'
}

7.4.4.4. Booting from BIOS PXE install (via windows pxeboot.n12)

This is the only boot method that does not require wimboot. Booting can be done via syslinux (pxelinux.0) or ipxe (undionly.kpxe).

Create a file /etc/tftpd.rules:

rg  \\                                      / # Convert backslashes to slashes
r   (boot1e.\.exe)                          /images/win10-x86_64/\1
r   (/Boot/)(1E.)                           /images/win10-x86_64/\2

Change the tftp service

cp /usr/lib/systemd/system/tftp.service /etc/systemd/system

Replace the line in the /etc/systemd/system/tftp.service

ExecStart=/usr/sbin/in.tftpd -s /var/lib/tftpboot
    to:
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/in.tftpd -m /etc/tftpd.rules -s /var/lib/tftpboot

Restart the tftp:

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl restart tftp

Create a new profile

cobbler profile copy \
    --name=win10-x86_64 \
    --newname=win10-bios-syslinux-tftp-x86_64 \
    --autoinstall-meta="kernel=win10a.0 bootmgr=boot1ea.exe bcd=1Ea winpe=winp5.wim answerfile=autounattende5.xml uefi=False"
cobbler sync

Boot entries were created for this profile:

cat /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default
LABEL win10-bios-syslinux-tftp-x86_64
    MENU LABEL win10-bios-syslinux-tftp-x86_64
    kernel /images/win10-x86_64/win10a.0

cat /var/lib/tftpboot/ipxe/default.ipxe
:win10-bios-syslinux-tftp-x86_64
kernel /images/win10-x86_64/win10a.0
initrd /images/win10-x86_64/boot.sdi
boot

7.4.5. Additional Windows metadata

Additional metadata for preparing Windows boot files can be passed through the --autoinstall-meta option for distro, profile or system. The source files for Windows boot files should be located in the /var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/<distro_name>/Boot directory. The trigger copies them to /var/lib/tftpboot/images/<distro_name> with the new names specified in the metadata and and changes their contents. The resulting files will be available via tftp and http.

The sync_post_wingen trigger uses the following set of metadata:

  • kernel

    kernel in autoinstall-meta is only used if the boot kernel is pxeboot.n12 (--kernel=/path_to_kernel/pxeboot.n12 in distro). In this case, the trigger copies the pxeboot.n12 file into a file with a new name and replaces:

    • bootmgr.exe substring in it with the value passed through the bootmgr metadata key in case of using Micrisoft ADK.

    • NTLDR substring in it with the value passed through the bootmgr metadata key in case of using Legacy RIS.

    Value of the kernel key in autoinstall-meta will be the actual first boot file. If --kernel=/path_to_kernel/wimboot is in distro, then kernel key is not used in autoinstall-meta.

  • bootmgr

    The bootmgr key value is passed the name of the second boot file in the Windows boot chain. The source file to create it can be:

    • bootmgr.exe in case of using Micrisoft ADK

    • setupldr.exe for Legacy RIS

    Trigger copies the corresponding source file to a file with the name given by this key and replaces in it:

    • substring \Boot\BCD to \Boot\<bcd_value>, where <bcd_value> is the metadata bcd key value for Micrisoft ADK.

    • substring winnt.sif with the value passed through the answerfile metadata key in case of using Legacy RIS.

  • bcd

    This key is used to pass the value of the BCD file name in case of using Micrisoft ADK. Any BCD file from the Windows distribution can be used as a source for this file. The trigger copies it, then removes all boot information from the copy and adds new data from the initrd value of the distro and the value passed through the winpe metadata key.

  • winpe

    This metadata key allows you to specify the name of the WinPE image. The image is copied by the cp utility trigger with the --reflink=auto option, which allows to reduce copying time and the size of the disk space on CoW file systems. In the copy of the file, the tribger changes the /Windows/System32/startnet.cmd script to the script generated from the startnet.template template.

  • answerfile

    This is the name of the answer file for the Windows installation. This file is generated from the answerfile.template template and is used in:

    • startnet.cmd to start WinPE installation

    • the file name is written to the binary file setupldr.exe for RIS

  • post_install_script

    This is the name of the script to run immediately after the Windows installation completes. The script is specified in the Windows answer file. All the necessary completing the installation actions can be performed directly in this script, or it can be used to get and start additional steps from http://<server>/cblr/svc/op/autoinstall/<profile|system>/name. To make this script available after the installation is complete, the trigger creates it in /var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/<distro_name>/$OEM$/$1 from the post_inst_cmd.template template.

7.4.6. Legacy Windows XP and Windows 2003 Server

  • WinPE 3.0 and winboot can be used to install legacy versions of Windows. startnet.template contains the code for starting such an installation via winnt32.exe.

    • copy bootmgr.exe, bcd, boot.sdi from Windows 7 and winpe.wim from WAIK to the /var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/WinXp_EN-i386/boot

cobbler distro add --name=WinXp_EN-i386 \
--kernel=/var/lib/tftpboot/wimboot \
--initrd=/var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/WinXp_EN-i386/boot/boot.sdi \
--remote-boot-kernel=http://@@http_server@@/cobbler/images/@@distro_name@@/wimboot \
--remote-boot-initrd=http://@@http_server@@/cobbler/images/@@distro_name@@/boot.sdi \
--arch=i386 --breed=windows --os-version=xp \
--boot-loaders=ipxe --autoinstall-meta='clean_disk'

cobbler distro add --name=Win2k3-Server_EN-x64 \
--kernel=/var/lib/tftpboot/wimboot \
--initrd=/var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/Win2k3-Server_EN-x64/boot/boot.sdi \
--remote-boot-kernel=http://@@http_server@@/cobbler/images/@@distro_name@@/wimboot \
--remote-boot-initrd=http://@@http_server@@/cobbler/images/@@distro_name@@/boot.sdi \
--arch=x86_64 --breed=windows --os-version=2003 \
--boot-loaders=ipxe --autoinstall-meta='clean_disk'

cobbler profile add --name=WinXp_EN-i386 --distro=WinXp_EN-i386 --autoinstall=win.ks \
--autoinstall-meta='bootmgr=bootxea.exe bcd=XEa winpe=winpe.wim answerfile=wine0.sif post_install_script=post_install.cmd'

cobbler profile add --name=Win2k3-Server_EN-x64 --distro=Win2k3-Server_EN-x64 --autoinstall=win.ks \
--autoinstall-meta='bootmgr=boot3ea.exe bcd=3Ea winpe=winpe.wim answerfile=wi2k3.sif post_install_script=post_install.cmd'

  • WinPE 3.0 without winboot also can be used to install legacy versions of Windows.

    • copy pxeboot.n12, bootmgr.exe, bcd, boot.sdi from Windows 7 and winpe.wim from WAIK to the /var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/WinXp_EN-i386/boot

cobbler distro add --name=WinXp_EN-i386 \
--kernel=/var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/WinXp_EN-i386/boot/pxeboot.n12 \
--initrd=/var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/WinXp_EN-i386/boot/boot.sdi \
--arch=i386 --breed=windows --os-version=xp \
--autoinstall-meta='clean_disk'

cobbler distro add --name=Win2k3-Server_EN-x64 \
--kernel=/var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/Win2k3-Server_EN-x64/boot/pxeboot.n12 \
--initrd=/var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/Win2k3-Server_EN-x64/boot/boot.sdi \
--arch=x86_64 --breed=windows --os-version=2003 \
--autoinstall-meta='clean_disk'

cobbler profile add --name=WinXp_EN-i386 --distro=WinXp_EN-i386 --autoinstall=win.ks \
--autoinstall-meta='kernel=wine0.0 bootmgr=bootxea.exe bcd=XEa winpe=winpe.wim answerfile=wine0.sif post_install_script=post_install.cmd'

cobbler profile add --name=Win2k3-Server_EN-x64 --distro=Win2k3-Server_EN-x64 --autoinstall=win.ks \
--autoinstall-meta='kernel=w2k0.0 bootmgr=boot3ea.exe bcd=3Ea winpe=winpe.wim answerfile=wi2k3.sif post_install_script=post_install.cmd'

  • Although the ris-linux package is no longer supported, it also can still be used to install older Windows versions.

For example on Fedora 33:

dnf install chkconfig python27
dnf install ris-linux --releasever=24 --repo=updates,fedora
dnf install python3-dnf-plugin-versionlock
dnf versionlock add ris-linux
sed -i -r 's/(python)/\12/g' /sbin/ris-linuxd
sed -i -r 's/(\/winos\/inf)\//\1/g' /etc/sysconfig/ris-linuxd
sed -i -r 's/(\/usr\/share\/ris-linux\/infparser.py)/python2 \1/g' /etc/rc.d/init.d/ris-linuxd
sed -i 's/p = p + chr(252)/#&/g' /usr/share/ris-linux/binlsrv.py
mkdir -p /var/lib/tftpboot/winos/inf

To support 64 bit distributions:

cd /sbin
ln -s ris-linux ris-linux64
cd /etc/sysconfig
cp ris-linuxd ris-linuxd64
sed -i -r 's/(linuxd)/\164/g' ris-linuxd64
sed -i -r 's/(inf)/\164/g' ris-linuxd64
sed -i -r 's/(BINLSRV_OPTS=)/\1--port=4012/g' ris-linuxd64
cd /etc/rc.d/init.d
cp ris-linuxd ris-linuxd64
sed -i -r 's/(linuxd)/\164/g' ris-linuxd64
sed -i -e 's/RIS/RIS64/g' ris-linuxd64
systemctl daemon-reload
mkdir -p /var/lib/tftpboot/winos/inf64

copy the Windows network drivers to /var/lib/tftpboot/winos/inf[64] and start ris-linuxd[64]:

systemctl start ris-linuxd
systemctl start ris-linuxd64

7.4.6.1. Preparing boot files for RIS and legacy Windows XP and Windows 2003 Server

dnf install cabextract
cd /var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/<distro_name>
mkdir boot
cp i386/ntdetect.com /var/lib/tftpboot
cabextract -dboot i386/setupldr.ex_

If you need to install Windows 2003 Server in addition to Windows XP, then to avoid a conflict, you can rename the ntdetect.com file:

mv /var/lib/tftpboot/ntdetect.com /var/lib/tftpboot/ntdetect.wxp
sed -i -e 's/ntdetect\.com/ntdetect\.wxp/g' boot/setupldr.exe

cp /var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/Win2k3-Server_EN-x64/i386/ntdetect.com /var/lib/tftpboot/ntdetect.2k3
sed -i -e 's/ntdetect\.com/ntdetect\.2k3/g' /var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/Win2k3-Server_EN-x64/boot/setupldr.exe
sed -bi "s/\x0F\xAB\x00\x00/\x0F\xAC\x00\x00/" /var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/Win2k3-Server_EN-x64/boot/setupldr.exe

cabextract -dboot i386/startrom.n1_
mv Boot/startrom.n12 boot/pxeboot.n12
touch boot/boot.sdi

Copy the required drivers to the i386

cobbler distro add --name=WinXp_EN-i386 \
--kernel=/var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/WinXp_EN-i386/boot/pxeboot.n12 \
--initrd=/var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/WinXp_EN-i386/boot/boot.sdi \
--boot-files='@@local_img_path@@/i386/=@@web_img_path@@/i386/*.*' \
--arch=i386 --breed=windows –os-version=xp

cobbler distro add --name=Win2k3-Server_EN-x64 \
--kernel=/var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/Win2k3-Server_EN-x64/boot/pxeboot.n12 \
--initrd=/var/www/cobbler/distro_mirror/Win2k3-Server_EN-x64/boot/boot.sdi \
--boot-files='@@local_img_path@@/i386/=@@web_img_path@@/[ia][3m][8d]6*/*.*' \
--arch=x86_64 --breed=windows --os-version=2003

cobbler profile add --name=WinXp_EN-i386 --distro=WinXp_EN-i386 --autoinstall=win.ks \
--autoinstall-meta='kernel=wine0.0 bootmgr=xple0 answerfile=wine0.sif'

cobbler profile add --name=Win2k3-Server_EN-x64 --distro=Win2k3-Server_EN-x64 --autoinstall=win.ks \
--autoinstall-meta='kernel=w2k0.0 bootmgr=w2k3l answerfile=wi2k3.sif'