Start-OSDCloud

Prepare and start an OSDCloud deployment session (selects image, language, edition and other options).

Property	Value
Module	OSD
Platform	WinPE (amd64 / arm64)

Description

Start-OSDCloud gathers system information, validates prerequisites (PowerShell version, network, presence of required utilities), and prepares a global configuration used by the OSDCloud workflow. It can select a Windows Feature Update image from local catalogs or an image URL, prompt the user for OS version/build/edition/culture when needed, and then calls Invoke-OSDCloud to run the deployment.

The function supports three parameter sets:

• Default: Choose a Windows feature update by name (recommended for normal interactive use).
• Legacy: Older style parameters (OSVersion + OSBuild) for backward compatibility.
• CustomImage: Use a custom WIM/ESD image from disk or a provided URL.

Syntax

Default (Default)

Start-OSDCloud [-Manufacturer <String>] [-Product <String>] [-Firmware] [-Restart] [-Shutdown] [-Screenshot]
 [-SkipAutopilot] [-SkipODT] [-ZTI] [-OSName <String>] [-OSEdition <String>] [-OSLanguage <String>]
 [-OSActivation <String>] [-ProgressAction <ActionPreference>] [<CommonParameters>]

Legacy

Start-OSDCloud [-Manufacturer <String>] [-Product <String>] [-Firmware] [-Restart] [-Shutdown] [-Screenshot]
 [-SkipAutopilot] [-SkipODT] [-ZTI] [-OSVersion <String>] [-OSBuild <String>] [-OSEdition <String>]
 [-OSLanguage <String>] [-OSActivation <String>] [-ProgressAction <ActionPreference>] [<CommonParameters>]

CustomImage

Start-OSDCloud [-Manufacturer <String>] [-Product <String>] [-Firmware] [-Restart] [-Shutdown] [-Screenshot]
 [-SkipAutopilot] [-SkipODT] [-ZTI] [-FindImageFile] [-ImageFileUrl <String>] [-OSImageIndex <Int32>]
 [-ProgressAction <ActionPreference>] [<CommonParameters>]

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
-Manufacturer	String	False	(Optional) Computer manufacturer string. Automatically populated from Get-MyComputerManufacturer -Brief.
-Product	String	False	(Optional) Computer product string. Automatically populated from Get-MyComputerProduct.
-Firmware	SwitchParameter	False	Switch. When set, instructs the module to include firmware (MSC) catalog scanning.
-Restart	SwitchParameter	False	Switch. Restart the computer after the deployment finishes.
-Shutdown	SwitchParameter	False	Switch. Shutdown the computer after the deployment finishes.
-Screenshot	SwitchParameter	False	Switch. Capture screenshots during OSDCloud WinPE using Start-ScreenPNGProcess. Screenshots are saved to $env:TEMP\Screenshots by default.
-SkipAutopilot	SwitchParameter	False	Switch. Skip AutoPilot enrollment tasks during the workflow.
-SkipODT	SwitchParameter	False	Switch. Skip running the Office Deployment Tool (ODT) tasks.
-ZTI	SwitchParameter	False	Switch. Zero-touch install mode (ZTI). When set, disk wipes proceed automatically without prompting.
-OSName	String	False	(Default parameter set) A validated OS selection string such as 'Windows 11 25H2 x64'. If omitted the function prompts interactively (unless ZTI is used which selects sensible defaults).
-OSVersion	String	False	(Legacy parameter set) Operating system family, e.g. 'Windows 11' or 'Windows 10'.
-OSBuild	String	False	(Legacy parameter set) Operating system build (alias: Build) such as '25H2','24H2','23H2','22H2'.
-OSEdition	String	False	Edition of Windows to install (e.g. 'Enterprise', 'Pro', 'Home'). Affects edition mapping and activation type (Retail vs Volume).
-OSLanguage	String	False	Language/culture tag to install (for example 'en-us', 'fr-fr', 'zh-cn').
-OSActivation	String	False	License type for the installation. Valid values are 'Retail' or 'Volume'.
-FindImageFile	SwitchParameter	False	(CustomImage parameter set) Switch to prompt for a WIM/ESD file on removable media.
-ImageFileUrl	String	False	(CustomImage parameter set) URL to download a custom image if not available locally.
-OSImageIndex	Int32	False	(CustomImage parameter set) Image index within a WIM/ESD. Default is 0.

Examples

Example

Start-OSDCloud
Interactive: choose image and options via menus.

Example

Start-OSDCloud -OSName 'Windows 11 25H2 x64' -OSEdition Enterprise -OSLanguage en-us -SkipAutopilot
Non-interactive: specify OS selection and suppress autopilot.

Example

Start-OSDCloud -FindImageFile -ImageFileUrl 'https://server.example.com/images/install.wim' -OSImageIndex 1
Use a custom image URL.

Related

• https://github.com/OSDeploy/OSD/tree/master/docs