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Unattended installation passes not running?


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Hi!

First off: awsome forum! It has been the best source of information for me the last week.

I've spent all my time trying to create an unattended windows 7 installation that does the following:

  • Everything on 1 DVD
  • Completly unattended (no EULA, no product-key forms to fill et.c.)
  • Installs 3rd party software
  • Installs GPOPacks (created with Microsoft SCM).
  • Make the OOBE (Welcome) unattended.

I'm not sure I'm doing this the right way. But to enter audit, the only way I've gotten it to work is by having Reseal|Mode=Audit in oobeSystem. But when I finish the audit and do a Reseal|Mode=oobe it seems like the other setttings in the oobeSystem pass in my autounattend.xml is ignored. How can I run both audit and oobe system unattended? Must I create a new unattend file and run

sysprep /oobe /unattend:<file>

or what?

Have any of you done that? Help is much appreciated!

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Do not use the reseal to OOBE in your unattend. When you use the /OOBE switch with sysprep.exe, it does this instead. I have never found a valid use of the reseal in unattend other than to set it to Audit. Why it has other options is beyond me.

If you are booting into Audit Mode, you'll want to use an Autounattend.xml that only has your base installation settings in it. That is basically your WindowsPE pass and oobeSystem just to use Audit. Then you make another answer file that has all your other settings for passes and use that with the /unattend switch.

Its easier to manage you answer files by using two sets of them, at least for me it is. However, since you want to make a DVD that just installs all by itself, you won't want to put it in Audit Mode at all!

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I'd love to just have everything installed during specialize and skip the audit pass. But some software can't be installed during specialize pass for some reason (like adobe reader, that just disappears after reboot to welcome). Therefore I had to switch to audit mode and install. Also adding group policies during specialize fails.

But what happens if I never reseal to oobe? Doesn't the installation stay in audit mode in perpetuity? At one point I left out the reseal /oobe in auditUser, but then the sysprep GUI poped up after being logged in, asking me if the system should be generalized and/or audited or oobe.

Also, could you elaborate what you mean with several unattend files? I'm not sure how to do that with scripts. If I add like a runSynchrous command that executes sysprep with /unattend option, that will fail since the sysprep gui is already running (started by the installer).

The only option I found was to add an answer file named oobe.xml in /System32/oobe/info/ or something like that. If that one exist it seems to be executed after a reseal to oobe.

I just can't wrap my head around how this is supposed to work in my scenario. It's just so unintuitive. Like going into audit mode by adding reseal audit in oobeSystem... :/

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I just can't wrap my head around how this is supposed to work in my scenario. It's just so unintuitive. Like going into audit mode by adding reseal audit in oobeSystem... :/

I wouldn't say so, you are just not approaching it right. My example of using multiple XML won't work for you, as it does for me.

Install your programs (like Acrobat) using FirstLogonCommands. I would just ignore Audit Mode/Pass all together since you probably don't need to use it and you seem to be mixed up about how to use it.

But what happens if I never reseal to oobe?

You should not run an OS in Audit Mode for more than 30 days.

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As soon as I left out the audit passes, everything started to make sense. And settings in the answer file was actually executed and applied! Yay!

Thanks!

Too bad Synchronous commands in specialize pass didn't work as expected. The installation kind of looses the professional feeling when you have to make installation in FirstLogonCommands.

I just can't wrap my head around how this is supposed to work in my scenario. It's just so unintuitive. Like going into audit mode by adding reseal audit in oobeSystem... :/

I wouldn't say so, you are just not approaching it right. My example of using multiple XML won't work for you, as it does for me.

Install your programs (like Acrobat) using FirstLogonCommands. I would just ignore Audit Mode/Pass all together since you probably don't need to use it and you seem to be mixed up about how to use it.

But what happens if I never reseal to oobe?

You should not run an OS in Audit Mode for more than 30 days.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I hope no one minds me jumping in here. I'm creating our first Windows 7 district-wide image. Let me rephrase...I'm attempting to...etc. I've got the image however I'm having issues with possibly sysprep and mostly with unattend.xml. I've created numerous unattends trying to get things working, but not getting far. I push my image (via Altiris) to a client box and it gets to a point where it auto-logs on. I checked my C:\Windows\Panther\unattend.xml file (for testing I've disabled a delete script) and right now it shows that it only processed the AuditSystem pass (which was automatically added during the imaging/job process). I'm using an Altiris plugin called HIIS, mostly for driver management. No matter what I do I can't get the process to....well process more than 2 of the passes.

I don't fully understand sysprep or the unattend process, so that doesn't help. I've Googled it just trying to get a grip on the whole thing so I could understand it better, but no go yet. Basically I want this image process to push the image, push drivers (which works fine)...I want it to autoactivate via our MAK and I want it to pull a computer name variable (based on the HIIS scripts...which I'm MORE than happy to share). My guess is that I'm either using the wrong sysprep switches, or my unattend is just not right. I've tried using the HIIS integrated "Create Answer File" method, WSIM method and a website answer file generator to create the unattend, and nothing's worked thus far.

ANY input, including name calling, would be most appreciated. Maybe I should just create a new thread, but this seemed recent and very similar.

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If you can, please create a new thread so we can help (and track) this there. Altiris adds a whole different layer of fun on imaging, so while the symptoms are the same it's hard to know if the problem is similar or not.

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