1. DMI: Driver Install Frameworks Tools And Strategies
Patty Esack
Program Manager Device Management and Installation (DMI) Team Microsoft Corporation
Gernot Seidler
Technical Lead Windows Engineering egenera.com
Egenera, Inc.

2. Session Goals Attendees should leave this session with the following
Microsoft’s goals for the Driver Install Frameworks (DIFx) tools
Benefits of using the tools today
Costs and time to market
Enterprise deployment
Benefits of using the tools moving forward
Forward compatibility
Migration
New features and functionality
Feature set of the current DIFx tools
How to use the DIFx tools
How to give feedback

3. Session Outline Driver Install Frameworks (DIFx) goals
Simplify Development
Improve the User Experience
Vendor Differentiation
Introduction to the DIFx Tools
Driver Package Installer (DPInst)
Driver Install Frameworks for Applications (DIFxApp)
Driver Install Frameworks API (DIFxAPI)

4. Driver Install Frameworks Goals Simplify Development
Develop to the frameworks
The Operating System (OS) will change, but the abstraction layer will not
Packages are less likely to have compatibility problems moving forward
Lower development costs
Driver Package Installers are simple to develop
Can create a driver package without writing any code
Support for Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows codenamed “Longhorn”
Support for 64-bit and localized installers

5. Driver Install Frameworks Goals Improve The User Experience
Automatically creates and stores installation files in the “Driver Store”
Addresses the “Lost CD” scenario
Fewer support calls
Over time creates a standard paradigm for the device install user experience
Users are more likely to know what to do
Supports easy “value add”

6. Tip
Use the DIFxTools and take advantage of the down-level driver store

7. Driver Install Frameworks Goals Vendor Differentiation
DIFx.API made available in the 2.0 release
Vendors can still launch their own co-installers and finish install pages
The tools will continue to evolve based on developer, user, and OEM feedback
New tools and features to be added on a cyclical basis

8. Today’s DIFx Tools Driver Package Installer (DPInst)
Takes an INF-based driver package and installs it on any matching devices
Stages the driver package for later device install
Driver Install Frameworks for Applications (DIFxApp)
Provides programmatic access to the Driver Install Frameworks tool engineIdeal for non-device drivers
E.g., File system filters for antivirus software
Driver Install Frameworks API (DIFxAPI)
Provides programmatic access to the Driver Install Frameworks tool engine

9. What Tools Should I Use?
Does your driver INF install all the software you need?
If yes > Use DPInst
If no > Does your application installer use MSI?
If yes > Use DIfxApp
If no > Use DIFxAPI

10. Driver Package Installer (DPInst)
DPinst is an executable that simplifies software-first installations of driver packages and simplifies your development process
Easy to Deploy
Installer is ready to use
No need to write code
No need to create a custom install program
Super-simple software first install with built-in support for
Verifying package integrity
Ability to require EULA acceptance
Software-first install
INF + Driver
DPInst.exe
DIFxAPI
SetupAPI PC

11. DPInst 3 Steps to a customer ready installation
Place DPInst.exe in temp dir
Place INF and driver in temp dir
Compress directory into self-extracting EXE that launches DPInst
Publish to your customers!

12. DPInst Demo Copy DPInst to sample folder and execute
“Plug in” a Toaster device
Uninstall drivers for device in Device Manager
Implement simple customizations
Perform a silent install with DPInst

13. DIFxApp Driver Install frameworks for applications
Windows Installer custom actions that install drivers during application install
Features
Support for install, uninstall, repair, rollback, and upgrade of drivers
Tracks and maintains application-driver-service associations and provides reference counting on drivers and services
Application
Driver
INF
Windows
Installer
DIFXApp
DIFxAPI
SetupAPI PC

14. DIFxApp Driver Install frameworks for applications
How to incorporate it into your setup program
Available as a Windows Installer merge module
InstallShield and Wise
Windows Installer XML (WIX)
“We’ve supported DifX in previous InstallShield releases, and we’re looking forward to support DifX 2.0 this year following its general availability. Our customers count on InstallShield to stay current with the latest Microsoft technologies, and they’ve rewarded us by making us the software industry’s first choice for strong, reliable installations.”
Bob Corrigan InstallShield Product Manager Macrovision

15. DIFxApp Microsoft Windows Installer Demo
Create DIFxAppSample.msi for Toaster sample
Add DIFxApp to DIFxAppSample.msi using either Visual Studio .NET or the Orca.exe tool
Run DIFxAppSample.msi to install the package

16. Tip
If DIFxApp and DPInst are not flexible enough for you, create your own installer using DIFxAPI

17. DIFx Usage Scenario

18. Egenera BladeFrame Overview
24 Processing Blades
Server-class computers with 2 or 4 high-speed Intel or AMD 32 / 64 bit processors, GB of memory
Contains no storage or networking hardware
Contains no keyboard or mouse ports and no display adapter
2 Control Blades
Server-class computers with a full complement of hardware
Houses the physical connections to SAN storage and network resources
Houses the management software
Provides high availability and failover management
Back Plane Connections
Provides redundant high-speed fabric connections between all Processing and Control Blades
Provides out-of-band management connections
cBlade
pBlade/pServer
Application
Files
Fibre Channel SAN
Application
Files
Application
Files

19. Egenera Windows pServer Driver Stack
MPIO Drivers
NDIS
HID
GDI
Provided by:
vKBD / vMouse
DisplayDriver
Microsoft
DSM
Egenera
vNIC Miniport Driver
vSCSI Port Driver
vKVM Driver
vVGA
Driver
vCOM Driver
IPMI Driver
Virtual Bus Driver
Interconnect Driver
PCI Bus Driver
ACPI Driver
Interconnect
PCI Cards
COM Ports
Out-of-Band Management Connection
Physical
Layer
Egenera provides 11 drivers to support its virtual architecture.
8 drivers are boot drivers and cannot fail!

20. Upgrade Application Requirements
Complete Driver Set Upgrades
One upgrade application that contains the complete driver set so that the user can apply any upgrade to any release family.
Major Version Upgrades
Upgrade all 11 drivers
May install new drivers to provide new functionality
Minor Version Updates / Patches
Update one or more drivers
Updates are cumulative - Installer applies all required updates and patches

21. Upgrade Application Requirements
Standard Toolset
Command line and GUI appearance must comply with Microsoft Windows standards.
Installer must integrate with Microsoft deployment and systems management tools.
Enforce Driver Set Consistency
Any upgrade that runs to completion must result in a set of operationally consistent drivers.
Prevent user from applying unsupported upgrades.

22. Upgrade Application Requirements
Support for Rollback and Downgrade
Users must be able to return to an earlier version.
Users must be able to roll back to the previous version.
Atomic Upgrade and Rollback
Upgrade and rollback must either complete successfully or leave the system in its original state.
If the upgrade / rollback is cancelled by the user for any reason, all drivers must be returned to the versions present before the upgrade / rollback was initiated.

23. Upgrade Application Requirements
Support Multiple Configurations
Provide 32-bit and 64-bit upgrades.
Provide 32-bit application updates under 64-bit Windows
Provide 32-bit to 64-bit migration for applications under 64-bit Windows
Provide customization
E.g. Upgrade without MPIO driver updates.
User Experience
Provide as much automation as possible
Minimize reboots and system downtime
Provide “silent install” option that requires no user interaction

24. Upgrade Challenge Manage complexity of upgrading many drivers
Drivers may have interdependencies.
Failure of boot driver updates may render system not bootable.
Upgrades must be done remotely
No physical keyboard, mouse and display
Maintain High Availability
pServer must be operational after upgrade / rollback completes.
pServer must always be in a known state.
Minimize installer authoring effort
Creating upgrades and patches should not be a major development effort.

25. DIFxApp Implementation
DIFxApp – The Answer to the Upgrade Challenge
Egenera’s pServer upgrade application is based on the standard Windows Installer technology.
The installer MSI is developed using the Microsoft WiX and DIFxApp tools.
The Wix source file from which the MSI is build is a XML script. This allows for highly automated upgrade builds.
All Egenera drivers are installed / updated with DIFx.
The installer also updates the Microsoft MPIO drivers, which are not DIFx compatible.
No extra work had to be done to provide for upgrade and rollback functionality of the DIFx installed drivers.

26. DIFxApp Implementation
DIFxApp – The Answer to the Upgrade Challenge
Additional MSI custom actions had to be developed for
Driver consistency and compatibility checks
MPIO upgrade / rollback
System configuration checks
Application configurations
The current MSI is based on DIFx 1.1
Upgrade meets all the requirements, except the ability for quiet installs due to SetupAPI limitations.
DIFx 2.0 addresses the issue and allows quiet installs in legacy mode.
All drivers are signed with a Microsoft WHQL signature or Authenticode signature.

27. DIFxApp Implementation
Authoring a Windows Installer Package using WiX and DIFxApp
Create Driver Package
Add DIFx identifiers to INF
Sign shippable driver package with WHQL or Authenticode signature
Obtain test signatures from WHQL for testing
Create the WiX XML source file that describes the application and associated driver packages
The MSI custom actions for installing driver packages are linked into the MSI automatically.
Plan how to deploy patches and upgrades!
Build the MSI
Authenticode sign the MSI before shipping!

28. Call To Action Come see a live demo of the Egenera BladeFrame
A BladeFrame is presented at the Hardware Innovation Showcase
Contact Egenera for more information

29. DIFxAPI Driver Install Frameworks Library
DIFxAPI exports the following functions
DriverPackagePreinstall()
DriverPackageInstall()
DriverPackageUninstall()
DriverPackageGetPath()
Features
Support for install, uninstall, repair, and rollback of drivers
Tracks and maintains application-driver-service associations and provides reference counting on drivers and services
Device Install App PC
SetupAPI
DIFxAPI
INF
Driver

30. Tip Want to install a multifunction Device with DIFxAPI?
Populate the driver store with DriverPackagePreinstall()
Then call DriverPackageInstall()

31. Future Tools And Features Driver Install Frameworks Co-Installer (DIFxCo)
Enables a rich “Hardware First” user experience
Users can plug in a device and have all the associated software install automatically
Partners can package a driver with an application setup package for hardware-first installation

32. Future Tools And Features Driver Package Validation Tools
Driver Package Verifier (DPVer)
Ensures that your INF and Driver Package are valid
Provide a method for checking driver packages and INF files before they are added to the Store
Driver Install Verifier (DIVer)
Watches a co-installer for invalid actions
Provide a command line front end as a tool so that a developer can determine what invalid actions are taking place in their co-installer

33. Summary
The Driver Install Frameworks (DIFx) is the new driver package model for driver development
It addresses key Independent Hardware Vendor (IHV)/Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) concerns
Fast time to market, technical support costs, learning curve, etc.
Backward compatible up to Windows 2000
It intends to reduce customer pain points
DIFx will continue to evolve to provide a complete driver package development experience
Aims to reduce OS crashes and fragility due to poorly written driver install packages
Reduces Support and Development costs
Improves the user experience
Allows Vendor differentiation

34. Call To Action Use the Driver Install Frameworks tools
Provide us feedback…
On the Driver Install Frameworks tools
On how we can help you build a single package that supports both hardware-first and software-first installs
us at: microsoft.com

35. Community Resources Windows Hardware and Driver Central (WHDC)
Technical Communities
Non-Microsoft Community Sites
Microsoft Public Newsgroups
Technical Chats and Webcasts
Microsoft Blogs

36. Additional Resources Web Resources Other Resources Newsgroups
Writing a Device Installation Application MSDN search keywords: “Writing a Device Installation Application”
Driver Install Frameworks tools
Windows Installer SDK
Windows Hardware and Driver Central
Using Authenticode to Digitally Sign Driver Packages
Other Resources
Toaster Installation Package Sample In the Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 DDK at src\general\toaster\toastpkg
Newsgroups
microsoft.public.development.device.drivers

38. © 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
This presentation is for informational purposes only. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, in this summary.