Monday, 18 November 2013

Server 2012 (and 2012R2) basic unattend.xml for unattended server build

I was after templating a machine in VMware (no reason why this shouldn't work for other build methods) to minimise the time it took to build a new machine.  I initially wanted to do the bare minimum:-
  • Accept the EULA
  • Set the regional settings and time zone to be en-GB (the machines are for a UK audience)
  • Set a password of 'Pa$$w0rd' (it's changed later by a different build script)
The code I've placed at the bottom of this post does just this.  It was saved into a file I called 'myUnattended.xml' which I saved in C:\windows\System32\SysPrep (but it can be saved anywhere).  I then ran:-

sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:myUnattended.xml

which then prepares the machine, and shuts down.  Convert the machine to a template, and it's ready for machines to be built from it.




<xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
<settings pass="oobeSystem">
 <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <InputLocale>en-GB</InputLocale>
  <SystemLocale>en-GB</SystemLocale>
  <UILanguage>en-GB</UILanguage>
  <UILanguageFallback>en-GB</UILanguageFallback>
  <UserLocale>en-GB</UserLocale>
 </component>
 <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" 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>
   <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
  </OOBE>
  <TimeZone>GMT Standard Time</TimeZone>
  <UserAccounts>
   <AdministratorPassword>
    <Value>Pa$$w0rd</Value>
   </AdministratorPassword>
  </UserAccounts>
 </component>
</settings>
</unattend>