Windows Server 2008 Sysprep.xml help

My friend Norm asked if I could post this sample Sysprep.xml file as he couldn”t find anything online yet to really help him with Server 2008 and Sysprep.  If you have any questions or feedback just leave it in the comments and I”ll be sure to have Norm review them.

Here”s a sample sysprep.xml that you can use to get your Server 2008 build going. It has some of the basic functions you”ll need if you are deploying Server 2008 in an enterprise environment. This example is for the 64-bit version, using KMS (no product key in the sysprep). We do most of our configuration post-image and this configuration allows us to take a completely generic image and prepare it for enterprise deployment. This .xml is ready to go. It took me several days of trial and error to get this and I”m sure there are some admins that would love to have this as a starting point instead of what I had to start with.

Some of the things I”m doing in here:

• Auto-generated computer name
  
• Organization and Owner Information
  
• Setting language and locale
  
• Setting the initial tasks screen not to show at logon
  
• Setting server manager not to show at logon
  
• Configuring the Administrator password
  
• Creating a 2nd administrative account and setting the password
  
• Running a post-image configuration script under the administrator account at logon
  
• Setting automatic updates to not configured (to be configured post-image)
  
• Configuring the network location
  
• Configuring screen color/resolution settings
  
• Setting the time zone


• Disables IE Enhanced Security Configuration

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″?>
<unattend xmlns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend”>
  <settings pass=”specialize”>
    <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“>
      <ComputerName>*</ComputerName>
      <RegisteredOrganization>Company Name</RegisteredOrganization>
      <RegisteredOwner>Company Name</RegisteredOwner>
      <ShowWindowsLive>false</ShowWindowsLive>
    </component>
    <component name=”Microsoft-Windows-Security-Licensing-SLC-UX” 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“>
      <SkipAutoActivation>true</SkipAutoActivation>
    </component>

    <component name=”Microsoft-Windows-IE-ESC” 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“>
      <IEHardenAdmin>false</IEHardenAdmin>
      <IEHardenUser>false</IEHardenUser>

    </component>
  </settings>
  <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>0409:00000409</InputLocale>
      <SystemLocale>en-us</SystemLocale>
      <UILanguage>en-us</UILanguage>
      <UserLocale>en-us</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“>
      <RegisteredOrganization>Company Name</RegisteredOrganization>
      <RegisteredOwner>Company Name</RegisteredOwner>
      <UserAccounts>
        <AdministratorPassword>
          <Value>@bc!23</Value>
          <PlainText>true</PlainText>
        </AdministratorPassword>
        <LocalAccounts>
          <LocalAccount wcm:action=”add”>
            <Password>
              <Value>@bc!23</Value>
              <PlainText>true</PlainText>
            </Password>
            <Description>Administrative Installer</Description>
            <DisplayName>Admin2</DisplayName>
            <Group>Administrators</Group>
            <Name>Admin2</Name>
          </LocalAccount>
        </LocalAccounts>
      </UserAccounts>
      <AutoLogon>
        <Password>
          <Value>@bc!23</Value>

          <PlainText>true</PlainText>

        </Password>
        <Domain>WORKGROUP</Domain>
        <Enabled>true</Enabled>
        <LogonCount>2</LogonCount>
        <Username>Administrator</Username>
      </AutoLogon>
      <FirstLogonCommands>
        <SynchronousCommand wcm:action=”add”>

          <CommandLine>%WINDIR%POST_INSTALLERpost_installer.vbs</CommandLine>
          <Description>Post Install Script</Description>

          <Order>1</Order>
        </SynchronousCommand>
      </FirstLogonCommands>
      <OOBE>
        <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
        <NetworkLocation>Work</NetworkLocation>
        <ProtectYourPC>3</ProtectYourPC>
      </OOBE>
      <Display>
        <ColorDepth>32</ColorDepth>
        <HorizontalResolution>1024</HorizontalResolution>
        <VerticalResolution>768</VerticalResolution>
      </Display>
      <TimeZone>Eastern Standard Time</TimeZone>
    </component>
  </settings>

  <settings pass=”generalize”>

    <component name=”Microsoft-Windows-ServerManager-SvrMgrNc” 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“>
      <DoNotOpenServerManagerAtLogon>true</DoNotOpenServerManagerAtLogon>
    </component>
    <component name=”Microsoft-Windows-OutOfBoxExperience” 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“>
      <DoNotOpenInitialConfigurationTasksAtLogon>true</DoNotOpenInitialConfigurationTasksAtLogon>
    </component>

  </settings>
</unattend>