Systems Deployment

You're using the /unattend:sysprepanswerfile.xml switch with sysprep, right?

Well I am trying to find out how to apply the unattend.xml file. On a server I have a .WIM file the .XML file. I can boot up a machine using a WinPE drive. I map to my network share and run this command: imagex /apply "s:\BASE7.WIM" 1 c:\
This works and the image comes down. What I am seeking is the syntax to have ImageX also call the Unattend.xml

Thank you.

ImageX isn't where you call unattend.xml, it's in sysprep that you need to call it.

Google came up with this fairly decent guide. From the sounds of it, you'll want to start from step 8-15.

"/unattend:c:\windows\system32\sysprep\unattend.xml" may be your problem, I believe the /unattend switch uses sysprep's relative path. So your switch will be more like "/unattend:unattend.xml" without the fully qualified path.

It sounds like you're pretty close, just hang in there!

Hi, thanks. When I ran the command as you wrote: sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:unattend.xml Sysprep throws up and error saying it can't find the .XML file. That is why I used the full path. And when I use the full path Sysprep runs and then reboots the machine.

Now, I did this again and this time Windows 7 Did start!! [:D] But.....it did not read the .XML file since I still had to answer each Dialog. (user name, machine name, time zone etc......) I thought when you place the Unattend.xml in the c:\windows\system32\sysprep folder, then sysprep the machine, it will read this .XML file when you ImageX /Apply your .WIM file to a new PC? Yes/no?

Thank you.

Hmm, would you mind posting the contents of your XML file? Maybe there's some syntax error hanging out in there?

So long as you followed the general steps in that guide, there shouldn't be anything preventing the xml from loading correctly.

I checked this in SIM and it said "no warnings or errors"

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
<settings pass="specialize">
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<AutoLogon>
<Password>
<Value>ZwBvADQAdABoAGUAZwBvAGwAZABQAGEAcwBzAHcAbwByAGQA</Value>
<PlainText>false</PlainText>
</Password>
<Domain>TTC</Domain>
<Enabled>true</Enabled>
<LogonCount>5</LogonCount>
<Username>PCBuild</Username>
</AutoLogon>
<OEMInformation>
<HelpCustomized>false</HelpCustomized>
<Manufacturer>Company</Manufacturer>
<SupportHours>8:00am to 6:00pm</SupportHours>
<SupportPhone>555-555-5555</SupportPhone>
<SupportURL>http://Company.com/departments/infosystems.aspx</SupportURL>
</OEMInformation>
</component>
</settings>
<settings pass="auditSystem">
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<UserAccounts>
<AdministratorPassword>
<Value>ZwBvADQAdABoAGUAZwBvAGwAZABBAGQAbQBpAG4AaQBzAHQAcgBhAHQAbwByAFAAYQBzAHMAdwBvAHIAZAA=</Value>
<PlainText>false</PlainText>
</AdministratorPassword>
<DomainAccounts>
<DomainAccountList wcm:action="add">
<Domain>TTC</Domain>
</DomainAccountList>
</DomainAccounts>
</UserAccounts>
<AutoLogon>
<Password>
<Value>ZwBvADQAdABoAGUAZwBvAGwAZABQAGEAcwBzAHcAbwByAGQA</Value>
<PlainText>false</PlainText>
</Password>
<Domain>TTC</Domain>
<Enabled>true</Enabled>
<LogonCount>5</LogonCount>
<Username>PCBuild</Username>
</AutoLogon>
</component>
</settings>
<settings pass="windowsPE">
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<DiskConfiguration>
<Disk wcm:action="add">
<CreatePartitions>
<CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
<Extend>true</Extend>
<Order>1</Order>
<Type>Primary</Type>
</CreatePartition>
</CreatePartitions>
<ModifyPartitions>
<ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
<Active>true</Active>
<Format>NTFS</Format>
<Label>Windows</Label>
<Letter>C</Letter>
<Order>1</Order>
<PartitionID>1</PartitionID>
</ModifyPartition>
</ModifyPartitions>
<DiskID>0</DiskID>
<WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk>
</Disk>
<WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>
</DiskConfiguration>
<ImageInstall>
<OSImage>
<InstallTo>
<DiskID>0</DiskID>
<PartitionID>1</PartitionID>
</InstallTo>
<WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>
</OSImage>
</ImageInstall>
<UserData>
<ProductKey>
<WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>
</ProductKey>
<AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
<FullName>KilpatrickCompany</FullName>
<Organization>KilpatrickCompany</Organization>
</UserData>
</component>
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<SetupUILanguage>
<UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
</SetupUILanguage>
<InputLocale>en-US</InputLocale>
<SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale>
<UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
<UILanguageFallback>en-US</UILanguageFallback>
<UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale>
</component>
</settings>
<settings pass="oobeSystem">
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<OOBE>
<NetworkLocation>Work</NetworkLocation>
<ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>
</OOBE>
</component>
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Deployment" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<Reseal>
<ForceShutdownNow>false</ForceShutdownNow>
<Mode>OOBE</Mode>
</Reseal>
</component>
</settings>
<cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="catalog://sfaltiris01/express/winpe/test/install_windows 7 professional.clg" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" />
</unattend>

It looks like your XML is incomplete. You mentioned that you had to enter the timezone when the machine booted up, but I'm not seeing any time zone tags in your XML, which means even if it is applying correctly then you'll still get prompted for the time zone.

For reference, the timezone tags look like so:
<TimeZone>Central Standard Time</TimeZone>

You may want to look into which dialogs exactly are showing up, and see if you can google your way to figuring out what exact tag each dialog corresponds to.

I will look at this file in more detail. on another similar topic.....can you also apply a .XML file via the MDT tool?

Use MDT 2010.

Why are you doing this manually when Microsoft provides free tools that take care of the heavy lifting for you?