Deploying Windows 2000 with Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) Modifications
This guide provides information on how to include customized Internet Explorer settings when performing an unattended installation of Windows 2000.
Introduction
The Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) makes it possible for organizations to easily install, modify, and update Internet Explorer. The IEAK Profile Manager can be used to customize, standardize, or brand Internet Explorer settings, and the Windows 2000 Internet Explorer Maintenance Group Policy Console for the MMC now includes IEAK policies for sustained administration. This white paper explains which modifications can be made to Internet Explorer during an unattended installation of Windows 2000.
Modifying Internet Explorer during unattended installation of Windows 2000
There are two ways to modify Internet Explorer when installing Windows 2000 using an unattended setup. Each involves a customized answer file called unattend.txt. The first method is to modify the unattend.txt file to reflect specific Internet settings. The second method is to have the unattend.txt reference an .ins file that has been created with the Profile Manager in the Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK).
Four new sections of the unattend.txt file can be modified when the file is edited. You can modify these settings either from within the Windows 2000 Setup Manager Wizard or by manually editing the unattend.txt file in a text editor.
[Branding]
This section of the unattend.txt contains parameters to brand Internet Explorer during an unattended setup. If they are not present, the default for Windows 2000 is used.
BrandIEUsingUnattended
Value: Yes | No
Specifies which file is to be used to brand Internet Explorer during an unattended setup. If set to Yes, the unattend.txt file is used to brand the browser settings using the parameters specified in the browser-specific sections of the answer file: [Proxy], [URL], and [FavoritesEx]. If set to No, the .ins file specified in IEBrandingFile is used.
Note: This parameter is not required if you are not configuring the browser.
IEBrandingFile
Value: <file name>
Specifies the name of the .ins file (created by IEAK) to be used for branding Internet Explorer. If this key is specified, all other sections relating to Internet Explorer branding are ignored.
Note: The file specified must exist at the root of the \$OEM$ folder of the distribution share point.
[FavoritesEx]
Value: Title<#>="<Site Name>.url"
URL<#>="<Site Address>"
This section contains default favorite settings for the Windows 2000 browser. If not present, the default for Windows 2000 is used. For example:
[FavoritesEx]
Title1="MSN.url"
URL1="https://www.microsoft.com/"
Title2="Cable News Network.url"
URL2="https://www.cnn.com"
Title3="MSNBC.url"
URL3="https://www.msnbc.com"
Title4="USA Today.url"
URL4="https://www.usatoday.com"
[URL]
This section contains default URL settings for the Windows 2000 browser. If not present, the default for Windows 2000 is used.
AutoConfig
Value: 1 | 0
Specifies whether the browser should be auto-configured from a server. A value of 1 is Yes and 0 is No.
AutoConfigJSURL
Value: <URL>
Specifies the URL of a JavaScript file that auto-configures the proxy settings for the browser. For example:
AutoConfigJSURL = https://configserver/autoconfig.js
AutoConfigURL
Value: <URL>
Specifies the URL of an .ins file that auto-configures the proxy settings for the browser. For example:
AutoConfigURL = https://configserver/autoconfig.ins
Help_Page
Value: <URL>
Specifies the URL for HTML-based Help. For example:
Help_Page = https://configserver
Home_Page
Value: <URL>
Specifies the URL for the browser's default home page. For example:
Home_Page = https://www.msn.com/
Quicklink
Value: <site name, URL>
Specifies shortcuts in the link folder of [FavoritesEx]. This key is a set of "Quick_Link_N_Name" and "Quick_Link_N," where N is a numerical designation for the site and URL. For example:
Quick_Link_1_Name = "MS HomePage"
Quick_Link_1 = https://www.microsoft.com/
Quick_Link_2_Name = "MS Japan HomePage"
Quick_Link_2 = https://www.microsoft.com/Japan
[Proxy]
This section contains proxy settings for the Windows 2000 browser. If these settings are not present, the default for Windows 2000 is used.
FTP_Proxy_Server
Value: <URL or IP address>
Specifies the IP address or URL of the FTP proxy on the network. For example:
FTP_Proxy_Server = https://proxyserver:80
Gopher_Proxy_Server
Value: <URL or IP address>
Specifies the IP address or URL of the Gopher proxy on the network. For example:
Gopher_Proxy_Server = https://proxyserver:80
HTTP_Proxy_Server
Value*: <URL or IP address>*
Specifies the IP address or URL of the HTTP proxy on the network. For example:
HTTP_Proxy_Server = https://proxyserver:80
Note: This parameter is required if you are using Use_Same_Proxy.
Proxy_Enable
Value: 1 | 0
Specifies whether a proxy server is used to connect to the Internet. A value of 1 is Yes and 0 is No.
Proxy_Override
Value: <list of IP addresses>
Specifies a semicolon-separated list of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to be used to bypass the proxy. The list must be enclosed in quotes (for more than one address) and may contain the string <local> to override local addresses. For example:
Proxy_Override = <local>
Secure_Proxy_Server
Value: <URL or IP address>
Specifies the IP address or URL of the Secure proxy on the network. For example:
Secure_Proxy_Server = https://proxyserver:80
Socks_Proxy_Server
Value: <URL or IP address>
Specifies the IP address or URL of the Socks proxy on the network. For example:
Socks_Proxy_Server = https://proxyserver:80
Use_Same_Proxy
Value: 1 | 0
Specifies whether the same proxy server should be used to for all protocols. A value of 1 is Yes and 0 is No. If this key is specified, the value of the HTTP proxy is used for all other transports.
IEAK Profile Manager
The IEAK Profile Manager gives administrators the flexibility to customize more of the Internet Explorer settings during an unattended installation of Windows 2000 than if only the unattend.txt is used. The Branding section of the unattend.txt file can be modified to refer to a Profile that was created with the IEAK Profile Manager. The following modifications can be made with in the Profile Manager and included in an unattended installation:
Browser Tile
You can customize the text that appears in the title bar of the Internet Explorer Web browser and Outlook Express, if you include Outlook Express in your package. Type the text that you want to appear. It will be added after the text "Microsoft Internet Explorer Provided by" or "Outlook Express Provided by."
Favorites and Links User Agent String
Mozilla/4.0(compatible; MSIE 5.0; WindowsNT; YourCustomString)
Automatic Browser Configuration
You can assign URLs to files that will automatically configure the customized browsers. This feature is helpful if you want to control the settings of several users from one central location.
Proxy Settings
You can specify which proxy servers your users connect to. A proxy server acts as an intermediary between a workstation user and the Internet, and it helps to enable administrative control and caching services.
Important URLS
You can specify the URLs for the home, search, and online support pages.
Channel Information
You can add a custom channel or channel category (folder), or import the channel settings from your computer.
Outlook Express Accounts
You can specify the mail and news servers here and specify whether you will require users to log on using Secure Password Authentication (SPA) to access a server.
Outlook Express IMAP Setup
Use this screen to create default IMAP settings for your users. These settings are pre-configured for users when they create their IMAP accounts.
Address Book Directory Service
Directory services are powerful search tools that help your users find people and businesses around the world. The Windows Address Book supports LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) for accessing directory services, and it comes with built-in access to several popular directory services. You can specify an additional service for your users.
Outlook Express View Settings
You can customize certain views that determine whether specific elements of Outlook Express are displayed and how they are displayed.
Outlook Express Custom Settings
Use this screen to create settings that will apply to all of your users. These defaults include setting a default mail and news client. Also, you can provide information that users need to obtain additional e-mail accounts. Finally, you can provide a default message rules file for your users.
The following settings are modified in the Internet Explorer Maintenance component of the Group Policy Console and do not need to be modified in the IEAK Profile Manager. System Policies and Restrictions settings for Windows 2000 cannot be modified during an unattend.txt installation.
Animated Bitmaps
Custom Logo
Browser Toolbar Buttons
Connection Settings
Programs
Security Zones and Content Ratings
Certificate Settings
For More Information
For the latest information on Windows 2000 Server, check out Microsoft TechNet and our Web site at https://www.microsoft.com/windows2000.