Microsoft announced it will deprecate the Windows Deployment Services (WDS) server role starting with the next Windows Server release.
WDS is a revised version of Remote Installation Services (RIS) that lets IT administrators remotely install Windows operating systems on fleets of dozens or hundreds of computers over a network.
After deprecating WDS in the next Windows Server version, Microsoft will stop active development and plans to retire and remove it completely.
The company partially deprecated WDS, removing boot.wim support in 2021 and hands-free deployment in January 2026 (this is now disabled by default for all customers who installed the April 2026 Windows updates or any subsequent ones).
After those changes, it stopped officially supporting the deployment of standard desktop operating systems using its native setup engine starting with Windows 11, and Microsoft restricted WDS to deploying Windows Server or booting custom deployment environments.
“This includes the inbox WDS role, WDS services, management tools and interfaces, and WDS-provided Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) boot functionality,” Microsoft said.
“Deprecated products are supported until they are eventually removed from a future OS version,” it added in an early notice published earlier this week.
“While deprecated, WDS will continue to work on all currently supported Windows Server versions according to their published servicing lifecycles. This announcement does not change WDS availability or support on those releases.”
However, Microsoft noted that the inbox WDS server role and associated WDS functionality remain available on all currently supported Windows Server releases (Windows Server 2025 and earlier), and that non-Microsoft deployment products and independent PXE implementations that don’t depend on WDS are not affected.
“Microsoft Configuration Manager operating system deployment is not being affected,” it said. “However, begin migrating Configuration Manager environments that still use WDS-backed PXE or WDS-dependent multicast away from those WDS dependencies.”
Microsoft advised customers to begin planning their migration to alternatives like Microsoft Configuration Manager, which provides a more flexible experience for deploying Windows images.
Join Mikko Hyppönen and security leaders from the NFL, CHANEL, and Atlassian for a two-hour digital summit on what AI-speed attacks change, what defenders should stop doing, and how to validate, decide, fix, and re-validate at machine speed.
Save your seat
