Re: windows 7 sysprep???[Resolved]

[Andy Kurth <an...@ncsu.edu>]

Windows 7 Sysprep is very problematic and extremely slow.  I recommend 
not using it by configuring the setting Patrick described.  As of VCL 
2.2.1, you should only have to do this for bare-metal images.  Sysprep 
will be disabled for all VMware image captures as of VCL 2.2.1.

The Unattend.xml file is a chore to configure.  The file included with 
VCL has been configured using Windows 7 Enterprise.  It may fail if 
other variants are used.

NC State has been moving away from using Win7/2008 Sysprep wherever 
possible.  We have removed access to our bare-metal Win7 base images, 
only allowing users to create VMware Win7 images.  We have also 
converted some existing Windows 7 bare-metal images which had been using 
Sysprep to VM images using the VMware Converter utility.

-Andy

On 3/28/2011 12:07 PM, James Patrick Sigmon wrote:
> Issue Resolved. Be sure when going through the image capture process for
> a Windows 7 image that "Use sysprep" under "Advanced Options" is set to
> "No."
>
> On Mar 24, 2011, at 1:16 AM, James Patrick Sigmon wrote:
>
>> Hey Gerhard,
>>
>> Thanks for the info. My OS is the Ultimate Edition and is 64 bit. So I
>> made the following changes to the file:
>>
>> <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup"
>> processorArchitecture="x64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35"
>> language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS"
>> xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State"
>> xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
>> <Display>
>> <ColorDepth>32</ColorDepth>
>> <DPI>120</DPI>
>> <HorizontalResolution>800</HorizontalResolution>
>> <RefreshRate>72</RefreshRate>
>> <VerticalResolution>600</VerticalResolution>
>> </Display>
>> <ComputerName>*</ComputerName>
>> <TimeZone>Eastern Standard Time</TimeZone>
>> <ProductKey>*MyProductKeyforUltimate*</ProductKey>
>> </component>
>>
>> However, I'm still having the same issue, but the message has slightly
>> changed:
>>
>> Windows could not parse or process unattend answer file
>> [C:\Windows\Panther\unattend.xml] for pass [specialize]. The answer
>> file is invalid.
>>
>> Can you think of what else I might need to change?
>>
>> Thanks again,
>>
>> Patrick
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mar 23, 2011, at 2:59 PM, Hartl, Gerhard L. wrote:
>>
>>> VCL 2.2 does use a unattend.xml for sysprep. It is located at
>>> /usr/local/tools/Windows_7/Utilities/Sysprep/Unattend.xml.
>>>
>>> Are you imaging Win7 x64 or x86? What version? Enterprise, Pro,
>>> Ultimate, etc? The key provided is for the Enterprise edition and
>>> would fail if you are trying to create a Win 7 Pro image. Also the
>>> processorArchitecture must equal the architecture you are trying to
>>> image.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> This is the section that is apparently your issue:
>>>
>>> <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup"
>>> processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35"
>>> language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS"
>>> xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State"
>>> xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
>>> - <Display>
>>> <ColorDepth>32</ColorDepth>
>>> <DPI>120</DPI>
>>> <HorizontalResolution>800</HorizontalResolution>
>>> <RefreshRate>72</RefreshRate>
>>> <VerticalResolution>600</VerticalResolution>
>>> </Display>
>>> <ComputerName>*</ComputerName>
>>> <TimeZone>Eastern Standard Time</TimeZone>
>>> <ProductKey>33PXH-7Y6KF-2VJC9-XBBR8-HVTHH</ProductKey>
>>> </component>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> - Gerhard
>>> Old Dominion University
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Alexander Patterson [mailto:alexander.patterson@csueastbay.edu]
>>> Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2011 2:20 PM
>>> To: vcl-user@incubator.apache.org <ma...@incubator.apache.org>
>>> Subject: Re: windows 7 sysprep???
>>>
>>> Hello Patrick,
>>>
>>> Windows 7 doesn't use sysprep. This is only used in Windows XP.
>>>
>>> Check in your php table under Imagemeta for your Windows 7 image id #
>>> that your using that sysprep is set to 0 then give that a try.
>>>
>>> For example
>>>
>>> Your Image Id =6
>>> CheckUser =1
>>> Subimage = 1
>>> Sysprep = 0
>>>
>>> -Alex
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 11:14 AM, James Patrick Sigmon
>>> <jpsigmon@ncsu.edu <ma...@ncsu.edu>> wrote:
>>>> Hey Guys,
>>>>
>>>> I've run into a problem with captured windows 7 images. They seem to
>>>> capture fine, but when you make a reservation for them they time out
>>>> at the "ssh step." Looking at the console, I can see why. There is a
>>>> pop-up box that reads:
>>>>
>>>> "Windows could not parse or process the unattended answer file for
>>>> pass [specialize]. The settings specified in the answer file cannot
>>>> be applied. The error was detected while processing settings for
>>>> component [Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup].
>>>>
>>>> I've been frantically searching for a generic answer to this, and it
>>>> sounds like to could be a sysprep issue, however, the image is a
>>>> virtual machine.
>>>>
>>>> I'm still searching for solutions on my own, but I thought it would
>>>> be best to go ahead and post this issue as our pilot went live and
>>>> I'm trying to figure this out ASAP.
>>>>
>>>> Any help is much appreciated,
>>>>
>>>> -Patrick Sigmon
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Thanks,
>>> Alex Patterson
>>> User Support Services
>>> Operating System Analyst
>>> California State University, East Bay
>>
>