Microsoft to Retire Windows Deployment Services in the Next Windows Server Release

Microsoft has announced plans to retire the Windows Deployment Services (WDS) server role beginning with the next release of Windows Server.

What is Windows Deployment Services?

WDS is an updated version of Remote Installation Services (RIS). It allows IT administrators to remotely install Windows operating systems on dozens or hundreds of computers over a network.

Microsoft says WDS will remain supported on currently supported Windows Server versions, but active development will stop before the technology is eventually removed from a future Windows Server release.

Microsoft has already deprecated parts of WDS

Microsoft partially deprecated WDS and removed boot.wim support in 2021.

Microsoft also introduced changes to hands-free deployment in January 2026. This functionality is disabled by default for customers who have installed Windows updates released from April 2026 onward.

Following these changes, Microsoft stopped officially supporting standard desktop operating system deployment through the native setup engine beginning with Windows 11. WDS is now limited to Windows Server deployments and launching custom deployment environments.

What will be removed?

Microsoft said the deprecation includes the WDS role, WDS services, management tools and interfaces, as well as the Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) boot functionality provided by WDS.

This includes WDS roles in the inbox, WDS services, management tools and interfaces, and the Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) boot functionality that WDS provides. Microsoft said.

Deprecated products will be supported until they are eventually removed from a future OS version. Microsoft added in an early notice announced earlier this week.

WDS support for Windows Server customers

Microsoft emphasized that the announcement does not immediately change WDS availability or support on currently supported Windows Server releases.

While deprecated, WDS continues to work on all currently supported Windows Server versions according to the published service lifecycle. This announcement does not change WDS availability or support in these releases.

The built-in WDS server role and related functionality will continue to be available on currently supported versions of Windows Server, including Windows Server 2025 and earlier releases.

Non-Microsoft deployment products and independent PXE implementations that do not rely on WDS are not affected by the deprecation.

Configuration Manager environments should plan a migration

Microsoft said deployment of the Microsoft Configuration Manager operating system is not affected. However, Configuration Manager environments that still rely on WDS-based PXE or WDS-dependent multicast should begin migrating away from that dependency.

Microsoft advised customers to start planning a move to alternative deployment tools, including Microsoft Configuration Manager, which provides a more flexible experience for deploying Windows images.

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