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Managing Unattended Installations Table 5-1. Customizing Distribution Folders for Automated Installations Folder Purpose I386$OEM$$1Pnpdrvers Plug and Play device drivers that must be installed are stored in this folder. I386$OEM$$1Sysprep This optional folder is used to store Sysprep executable and configuration files used in image- based installations. I386$OEM$Drive_letter The contents and structure of this folder are copied to the corresponding logical drive on the target system during the Text mode part of the installation. Preinstalling Service Packs The distribution folder can include preinstalled service packs so that you can install the operating system with an updated service pack rather than having to install the operating system and then apply service packs. Typically, a service pack is provided as a single download a large executable file that you run to extract and then install the updates to the operating system files. To update the distribution folder, you must first download the service pack and then complete the following procedure to apply it to the distribution folder: 1 Create a directory on the server s hard disk, and then copy the entire contents of the I386 folder from the product CD to it. For the purposes of this example, let s call it C:I386 and it is best that you call this folder I386. 2 Don t start the executable directly by running its associated .exe without options. Instead, extract the service pack to the hard disk drive by using the command ServicePackName x, such as wk3sp1_en_x86.exe x. 3 When prompted for the extraction folder, type the path to a temporary folder for the service pack. For the purposes of this example, let s call it C:W2003SP. 4 Once the service pack extraction is finished, look in the temporary folder for the I386Update folder. For example, if the temporary folder is C:W2003SP, the folder you are looking for is C:W2003SPI386Update. This folder has a program called Update.exe that you must run. 5 Run Update.exe with the S parameter. Specify the folder in which the I386 directory is located as the value for the S parameter. For example, if the location is C:I386, run Update.exe using the command line update s:c:I386. Note you are specifying the complete path to the I386 folder. This technique is referred to as slipstreaming the service pack. 6 Now use C:I386 as your distribution folder for deploying the Windows operating system with the integrated service pack. Chapter 5 139 Part 2: Windows Server 2003 Installation
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Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Inside Out Table 5-1. Customizing Distribution Folders for Automated Installations Folder Purpose I386 The root distribution folder is normally created at the root of the logical drive on the server hosting the distribution folder. This folder is created by copying the entire I386 subdirectory from the Windows Server 2003 CD. I386$OEM$ Optional Folders This folder contains additional folders, tools, and files, which must use MS-DOS 8.3 names. The optional Cmdlines.txt file, which contains a set of commands to be executed at the end of GUI- mode setup, can also be in the $OEM$ folder. For an OEM folder to exist anywhere other than under I386, the OemFilesPath entry in the answer file must specify the alternate path. I386$OEM$Textmode This folder is used for supplying updated HALs and device drivers for mass storage devices. The files stored in this folder must be specified in the [OEMBootFiles] section of the answer file. I386$OEM$$$ This folder equates to the %SystemRoot%, specifying the root installation directory for Windows Server 2003. Files and subfolders of I386$OEM$$$ are copied to the corresponding locations in the installation directory on the target computer. The structure of these subfolders must correspond to the standard folder structure for Windows Server 2003. I386$OEM$$$Help The OEM help files contained in this folder are copied to the %SystemRoot%Help folder during installation. I386$OEM$$$System32 Any OEM files located in this folder are copied to the %SystemRoot%System32 folder during installation. I386$OEM$$1 This folder points to the %SystemDrive% the logical drive that Windows Server 2003 is installed in. Chapter 5 138 Part 2: Windows Server 2003 Installation
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Managing Unattended Installations . RemoteInstall Controls how remote installation works with disks and partitions. If Repartition is set to Yes, Setup deletes all partitions in the first hard disk of the computer being installed and reformats it with NTFS. Otherwise, Setup will use the first available existing partition (a partition must exist or remote installation will fail). If UseWholeDisk is set to Yes (or is not set, which is the default), Setup extends the partition it creates to the end of the hard disk, meaning it will repartition the first hard disk drive as a single partition. When set to No, Setup doesn t extend the partition to the end of the hard disk. . OSChooser Sets remote installation information for the operating system image, including a description and help topic. LaunchFile specifies the file to execute when the user selects an operating system image from within the client interface. ImageType sets the type of image, which can be either flat, meaning it s a CD-ROM-based image, or Sysprep, meaning it s a Sysprep image created using the RIPrep Wizard. Managing Unattended Installations An unattended installation performs the same setup procedures as interactive installation, but doesn t necessarily prompt for information. That is, it starts with a flat directory of uninstalled Windows files and goes through the installation and configuration process using the information provided to select and configure Windows components and only prompts if you ve omitted information or have configured Setup to do so. Here, where possible, the information is provided automatically by an answer file, not one data point at a time by someone sitting at a keyboard. This is in contrast to the other traditional method of performing an automated installation, Sysprep, which uses an image of an installed operating system as its starting point for client installations. When performing unattended installations, you must make a few basic decisions, such as how the installation files will be accessed, what sort of client interaction is desirable, and so on. Once that is done, the actual process of performing an unattended installation is simple just invoke one of the Setup programs (Winnt or Winnt32) with a few parameters and go grab an espresso. Customizing the Distribution Folder The distribution folder used for unattended installations has a predefined structure for both the base operating system files and the optional folders and files that might be needed to customize the installation. The distribution folder is a single hierarchy starting with the I386 (or IA64) folder and including both mandatory and optional subfolders. The subfolder structure used in the distribution folder is described in Table 5- 1. Based on that structure, there are various ways you can customize these distribution folders. Chapter 5 Part 2: Windows Server 2003 Installation
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Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Inside Out Chapter 5 [UserData] ProductKey=DFDFD-FSAFW-EFREF-AFASF-AFAAA FullName=”City Power and Light User” OrgName=”City Power and Light” ComputerName=%MACHINENAME% [LicenseFilePrintData] AutoMode=PerServer AutoUsers=5 [SetupMgr] DistFolder=C:windist DistShare=windist [Identification] JoinDomain=%MACHINEDOMAIN% DoOldStyleDomainJoin=Yes [Networking] InstallDefaultComponents=Yes ProcessPageSections=Yes [RemoteInstall] Repartition=Yes UseWholeDrive=Yes [OSChooser] Description=”Windows Server 2003 - Standard Installation” Help=”This will install Windows Server 2003 in a standard configuration.” LaunchFile=”%INSTALLPATH%%MACHINETYPE%templatesstartrom.com” ImageType=Flat Although this .sif file is similar to the other types of answer files, it has many important differences. Consider these differences when comparing the files, and also note that some of these parameters could be used with other types of automatic installations: . Data In installations for which you need not insert a boot floppy disk in the target machine to begin, you can set the value to 0 if you are going to use an RIS boot floppy disk primarily because the computer you are installing is non- PXE-compatible and 1 if the computer you are installing is PXE-compliant and can be network booted. OriSrc and OriTyp set the remote installation source file location and type, respectively. Local- SourceOnCD specifies whether the install is from media stored on CD-ROM that is in the computer s CD-ROM drive. If set to 1, Setup looks for the installation files on the local CD-ROM. Otherwise, Setup will look for the RIS network share. . Unattended FileSystem specifies whether to convert the primary partition to NTFS or to leave it alone. NtUpgrade controls whether Setup upgrades a previous version of the Windows operating system to the version you are installing. OverwriteOemFiles- OnUpgrade specifies whether to overwrite original equipment manufacturer (OEM) supplied files that exist on the computer with Windows operating system files that have the same name during an upgrade. 136 Part 2: Windows Server 2003 Installation
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Managing Unattended Installations [GuiRunOnce] Command0=”rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n \corpprsvr03corpmainprt” [Identification] JoinDomain=CPANDL DomainAdmin=administrator DomainAdminPassword=d5$h71828RS [Networking] InstallDefaultComponents=Yes As you can see if you do a comparison, the Sysprep.inf file is very similar to the Unattend.txt file. In many ways it is streamlined, because it doesn t need to ask you basic configuration information this is obtained from the image. A very important note is that Sysprep expects there to be a %SystemDrive%Sysprep folder on the system to be duplicated. Setup Manager can create the %SystemDrive%Sysprep folder with all the necessary files, which includes Sysprep.exe, Setupcl.exe, and Factory.exe. The Sysprep.inf file must also be in the %SystemDrive%Sysprep folder on the system to be duplicated. The final type of file you might use is the .sif file used with RIS. An RIS file looks like this: ;SetupMgrTag [Data] AutoPartition=1 MsDosInitiated=”1″ UnattendedInstall=”Yes” floppyless=”1″ OriSrc=”\%SERVERNAME%RemInst%INSTALLPATH%” OriTyp=”4″ LocalSourceOnCD=1 [SetupData] OsLoadOptions=”/noguiboot /fastdetect” SetupSourceDevice=”DeviceLanmanRedirector%SERVERNAME%RemInst%INSTALLPATH%” [Unattended] UnattendMode=FullUnattended OemSkipEula=Yes OemPreinstall=No TargetPath=WINDOWS FileSystem=LeaveAlone NtUpgrade=No OverwriteOemFilesOnUpgrade=No [GuiUnattended] AdminPassword=f4d4b1c5a7daa210aad3b435b51404ee158daba31f78e32c5bee79add9d9 EncryptedAdminPassword=Yes AutoLogon=Yes AutoLogonCount=1 OEMSkipRegional=1 TimeZone=%TIMEZONE% OemSkipWelcome=1 Chapter 5 135 Part 2: Windows Server 2003 Installation
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Chapter 5 Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Inside Out you d enter the line Command0= dcpromo /answerfile:AnswerFile , where AnswerFile is the answer file that has the necessary configuration information for the domain controller. Or you could simply enter the line Command0= dcpromo so that the program runs on first logon after installation. . Identification Sets the workgroup or domain information for the computer. JoinWorkgroup sets the name of the workgroup to join when installing the computer. JoinDomain sets the name of the domain to join when installing the computer. DomainAdmin and DomainAdminPassword set the account information needed to join the computer to the domain. You ll note in the example, the password is in cleartext, which is a security issue to watch out for, especially because there is no way to encrypt this password. . Networking Determines whether the default networking components are installed. If the default isn t used, custom settings for protocols, services, and components could be defined in separate sections. Now compare this to the following answer file for a Sysprep install: ;SetupMgrTag [Unattended] OemSkipEula=Yes InstallFilesPath=C:sysprepi386 [GuiUnattended] AdminPassword=f4d4b1c5a7daa210aad3b435b51404ee158daba31f78e32c5bee79add9D EncryptedAdminPassword=Yes AutoLogon=Yes AutoLogonCount=1 OEMSkipRegional=1 TimeZone=4 OemSkipWelcome=1 [UserData] ProductKey=DKDKE-RWKWK-R5642-RSESV-EDDED FullName=”City Power and Light User” OrgName=”City Power and Light” ComputerName=* [TapiLocation] CountryCode=1 Dialing=Tone AreaCode=206 [RegionalSettings] LanguageGroup=1 Language=00000409 [SetupMgr] DistFolder=C:sysprepi386 DistShare=windist 134 Part 2: Windows Server 2003 Installation
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Managing Unattended Installations If set to Yes, the EULA is skipped. Otherwise, the user must accept the EULA when prompted to continue. OemPreinstall controls whether Setup installs its files from distribution folders. If set to Yes, Setup copies the folders and files contained in the I386 or IA64 $OEM$ folder during installation. The TargetPath is the folder in which you want to install the Windows operating system. . GuiUnattended Controls the GUI phase of the installation. As you can see, the administrator password for the computer can be entered and encrypted. You can also preset regional and time zone information and specify that the Welcome screens be skipped. If OEMSkipRegional is set to 0, Setup stops at the Welcome screen and prompts the user before continuing. Watch out for the AutoLogon section; if it is set to Yes, the user can log on after installation as the administrator and this could pose a security threat. If it is set to No, the computer doesn t automatically log on after installation. The AutoLogonCount controls the number of times the user can log on as the administrator. Here, the user can do this only once. This means that after installation users could make configuration changes and then reboot the computer. The user couldn t log on, however, after the reboot to confirm the changes unless AutoLogonCount were set to 2. . UserData Sets the user name, computer name, and organization name, as well as the product key to use. If ComputerName is set to * (asterisk), Setup generates a random name based on the organization name. When creating an Unattend.txt file, you can also specify a list of up to 15 computer names to use sequentially during unattended installations (or you can import a list from a file). You cannot do this with Sysprep or RIS. By using Sysprep, you can enter a computer name to use or generate one. By using RIS, the computer name is taken from the %MachineName% environment variable stored in the RIS image. . LicenseFilePrintData Sets the licensing mode to use for the computer as PerSeat or PerServer. If licensing is PerServer, there is also an AutoUsers parameter that specifies the number of client licenses purchased for the computer. . TapiLocation Controls telephony options for the installation. It includes the country code for dialing, the access code for the computer s location, and the type of dialing to use for the telephony device in the computer (either tone or pulse). You can also set a long- distance access code, such as 9, which is the number to dial to access an outside line. . RegionalSettings Specifies the regional settings to use during setup, including the language and the language group. . SetupMgr Controls the distribution share used. DistShare sets the name of the network share for which Setup should look, and DistFolder sets the name of the local folder. . GuiRunOnce Contains any configuration commands that you want to run during the installation. Typically, as shown in the example, this is used to configure any network printers that might be available for use. You could also add commands to install roles or services, such as a domain controller. If this was the first command to run, Chapter 5 133 Part 2: Windows Server 2003 Installation
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Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Inside Out Chapter 5 [LicenseFilePrintData] AutoMode=PerSeat [TapiLocation] CountryCode=1 Dialing=Tone AreaCode=206 [RegionalSettings] LanguageGroup=1 Language=00000409 [SetupMgr] DistFolder=C:windist DistShare=windist [GuiRunOnce] Command0=”rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n \cprintserver03mainprint02″ [Identification] JoinDomain=CPANDL DomainAdmin=wrstanek DomainAdminPassword=dudR5Ang! [Networking] InstallDefaultComponents=Yes As you can see, an answer file is basically an initialization (ini) file, which has been around since the earliest days of the Windows operating system. The file is written as standard American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) text and can be viewed in any standard text editor, including Notepad. It is divided into sections with headings that are enclosed in brackets. Each heading section is followed by individual configuration parameters formatted as ParameterName=Value. The main sections are as follows: . Data Sets the essential installation parameters. AutoPartition with a value of 1 tells Setup to install the Windows operating system on the first available partition that has adequate space and that doesn t already contain an installed version of the operating system. If you enter a value of zero (0), Setup will stop and prompt for a partition to use. MSDOSInitiated determines whether the installation is running directly from the Windows CD-ROM. It should be 0 if you re doing an install from CD-ROM and 1 if you re doing an RIS install. UnattendedInstall should be set to Yes if you preinstall the Windows operating system by using the CD boot method. . Unattended Specifies how much user interaction there is. UnattendMode sets the overall interaction level. Here, the installation is fully automated (FullUnattended). Installations can also be user-controlled and GUI-attended (meaning only the text mode of Setup is automated and the GUI portion runs normally). OemSkipEula specifies whether the user sees the End-User License Agreement (EULA) and must accept it. 132 Part 2: Windows Server 2003 Installation
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Managing Unattended Installations Here, the script specifies that a distribution share was set up on CorpSvr01 and that Winnt32 is to use the setup files from this share. Further, the script specifies the name of the unattended installation answer file as Unattend.txt. This file is stored in the root directory of the distribution share. Inside Out Manually configuring answer files Answer files are stored as text files on the disk, and, in theory at least, you can manually create and edit them using a simple text editor such as Notepad. Given the number of different sections, however, and the range of settings within each of these sections, manually constructing an answer file could be rather laborious, not to mention subject to typographical errors. The graphical tool that Microsoft has provided (Setup Manager) is far more effective and has been improved for Windows Server 2003. Examining Answer Files The answer file that Setup Manager generates is different depending on the type of answer file you are creating and your answers. The answer file generated for an unattended installation (Unattend.txt) looks something like this: ;SetupMgrTag [Data] AutoPartition=1 MsDosInitiated=”0″ UnattendedInstall=”Yes” [Unattended] UnattendMode=FullUnattended OemSkipEula=Yes OemPreinstall=Yes TargetPath=WINDOWS [GuiUnattended] AdminPassword=f4d4b1c5a7daa210aad3b435b51404ee158daba31f78e32c5bee79add9d EncryptedAdminPassword=Yes AutoLogon=Yes AutoLogonCount=1 OEMSkipRegional=1 TimeZone=4 OemSkipWelcome=1 [UserData] ProductKey=DEXHD-SSKED-IK22I-DK2DI-I5KSK FullName=”City Power and Light User” OrgName=”City Power and Light” ComputerName=* Chapter 5 Part 2: Windows Server 2003 Installation
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Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Inside Out . Install Printers This lets you specify the printers to be installed automatically at the initial user logon. . Run Once You can specify a command line to be run upon initial user logon. Postinstall commands that require user logon to run or operate correctly should be set here. . Additional Commands These commands will be executed once the unattended setup has been completed but prior to user logon. Note You cannot run commands that require a user logon with the Additional Commands option these should be specified as a Run Once option. Once all of the answer file options have been set, you are prompted to save the file (with the default name). You can view or modify this file in a text editor such as Notepad. We recommend using the default name only if you plan to create a limited number of answer files. If you have many answer files, you can do the following: . Place specific types of answer files in separate folders depending on the type of system being installed and the configuration settings used. . Name each answer file so that it helps identify the type of system being installed and the configuration settings used. With some types of answer files, namely, unattended installations, Setup Manager also creates the Unattend.bat script needed to launch the installation. This makes it easier to start the unattended installation by typing the name of the script file rather than a complex command line. The Unattend.bat script specifies the location of the answer file and the source files that Setup should use. It also provides a convenient way to use a complicated command line to start installation. The following text shows the batch file created by Setup Manager to start the automated installation using Unattend.txt file: @rem SetupMgrTag @echo off rem rem This is a SAMPLE batch script generated by Setup Manager. rem If this script is moved from the location where it was generated, rem it may have to be modified. rem set AnswerFile=.unattend.txt set SetupFiles=\CORPSVR01windistI386 \CORPSVR01windistI386winnt32 /s:%SetupFiles% /unattend:%AnswerFile% /copysource:lang Chapter 5 130 Part 2: Windows Server 2003 Installation
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