Preparing the OS for Replication

You must prepare a master image that can be duplicated once your appliance is working as desired on the target development hardware. SysPrep.exe and other tools are stored in a .cab file named DEPLOY.cab. This file is located on the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 CD in a directory named \SUPPORT\TOOLS.

To run these tools, create a directory named SysPrep in the root of the system drive on the target machine and then extract all of the files contained in the .cab file into this directory. After running SetupMgr.exe, a file named sysprep.inf is created in the SysPrep directory. This directory and all of the files in it are automatically deleted after the first boot. For more information, see the documentation that accompanies SysPrep in the .cab file.

To prepare the server appliance for manufacture

1. Create an OS image on your target system that will be replicated.

2. Create the directory %systemdrive%\Sysprep.

3. Copy all files from the \Support\Tools\deploy.cab file on the Windows 2000 CD into the \Sysprep directory.

4. Run SetupMgr.exe.

   Note that replication of an image based on the Server Appliance Kit does not have specific requirements for most of the pages in this wizard. The following steps call out the wizard pages where there are specific requirements.

5. On the New or Existing Answer File page, choose Create a new answer file, and then choose Next.

6. Choose SysPrep Install, and then choose Next.

7. Choose Windows 2000Server, and then choose Next.

8. Choose Yes, fully automate the installation, and then choose Next.

9. Type the default host name of the appliance, and then choose Next.

   If you are using the SAConfig utility to automatically configure the cloned images to generate a unique computer name on first boot, then the computer name you enter must match the \defaulthostname registry value described in Customizing SAConfig.exe.

10. Type the default administrator password, and then choose Next.

    If you are using the SAConfig utility to automatically configure the cloned images to generate a unique administrator password on first boot, then the administrator password you enter must match the \defaultadminpassword registry value described in Customizing SAConfig.exe.

11. On the Sysprep Folder page, choose Yes, create or modify the Sysprep folder, and then choose Next.

12. Type the name of any commands you want to run on each cloned image on first boot, and then choose Add, and then choose Next.

    If you are using the SAConfig utility to automatically configure the cloned image, you must type the full path to the SAConfig utility with appropriate command-line arguments as described in Customizing Auto Configuration. For example, if you copied the saconfig.exe and OEMConfigDLL.DLL into a folder called saconfig on the C: drive and you want to automatically configure both the host name and administrator password, then you would type C:\saconfig\saconfig.exe – hostname – adminpass.

13. Edit sysprep.inf to include your OEM Product Identification (PID) number. Doing this ensures that no console input is required on the first boot of the machine. Your sysprep.inf file should resemble the following code example.

    ;This sysprep.inf causes the mini Setup Wizard to run unattended and
    ;configure the system without user intervention.
    
    [Unattended]
    OemSkipEula=Yes
    ExtendOemPartition=1
    InstallFIlesPath=C:\sysprep
    
    [GuiUnattended]
    TimeZone=004
    AdminPassword=*
    OEMSkipRegional=1
    OEMSkipWelcome=1
    
    [LicenseFilePrintData]
    AutoMode=PerSeat
    
    [GuiRunOnce]
    ;list of programs to be run once after first logon.
    
    [RegionalSettings]
    
    [UserData]
    FullName="Product Name"
    OrgName="Company Name"
    ComputerName="*"
    ProductID=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
    ;OEM PID here
    
    [networking]
    ;No changes required
    
    [identification]
    joinworkgroup=workgroup
    

14. Close all applications.

15. Run sysprep.exe. This will place the OS onto an image file and shut down the system. The hard disk is now ready for imaging.