Methods for Running Image Builder Wizard (Standard 8)
7/8/2014
Review how to run Image Builder Wizard (IBW) in interactive or unattended mode in Windows Embedded 8 Standard (Standard 8).
Image Builder can perform Windows Embedded 8 Standard (Standard 8) installations by using either interactive or unattended installation methods. The interactive method uses Image Builder Wizard (IBW). The unattended method uses an unattended configuration file that is created by using Image Configuration Editor (ICE).
Image Builder Wizard
In this interactive method, you must select where to install Standard 8, read and accept the Microsoft Software License Terms, and apply a product key.
This method is useful for small-scale deployments or individual installations. By using the default image from Microsoft, interactive installation requires no preparatory work, such as creating configuration files or capturing Standard 8 images. You can use IBW together with creating and capturing custom Standard 8 images.
You can interactively install Standard 8 by using the Standard 8 product media or from a network location after you store and share the installation files from the Standard 8 product media. IBW requires input from users. This input includes destination drive, user names, and time zones.
Note
The Windows Embedded 8 Standard (Standard 8) setup process performs several verifications, which rely on the date and time settings of the target device. For optimal performance, confirm that the target device is set to the correct date and time.
How to Use Image Builder Wizard for Unattended Installations
During an unattended installation, Image Builder works with one or more configuration files to automate online installations of Standard 8. Each configuration file can contain specific customizations of Standard 8 that are suited to the needs of your end users. The unattended installation method is useful for large-scale deployments and for achieving consistency and precision in the configuration of each computer.
Unattended installation requires creating one or more configuration files that contain customizations for an installation. For example, you can change the Internet Explorer configuration, or partition and format hard disks. For information about how to create configuration files by using Image Configuration Editor (ICE), see Create a Configuration File in Image Configuration Editor.
Image Builder gives you two ways to select a configuration file to use: you can explicitly specify a configuration file, or you can have Image Builder automatically search for a configuration file.
If You Explicitly Specify a Configuration File
You can explicitly specify a configuration file by using the **setup.exe /unattend:**filename command.
In this example, filename is the local or UNC path for the configuration file. For more information, see Image Builder Wizard Command-Line Options.
This configuration file is used to configure the Standard 8 installation. Because restarts are required when you are using Image Builder, a copy of this configuration file is cached on the system.
If You Want Image Builder to Automatically Search for a Configuration File
If you do not explicitly specify a configuration file, Image Builder automatically searches for a configuration file in several different locations. The locations include a previously cached configuration file, a configuration file at the root of a drive, and configuration files at other locations. The complete list of valid search paths is listed in the "Implicit Configuration File Search Order" section in this topic.
Image Builder searches for a configuration file every time a configuration pass starts. It searches by using an order of precedence. If Image Builder finds a configuration file in one of the valid locations, the file must include settings for the current configuration pass. If it finds a configuration file that has no settings for the current configuration pass, Image Builder ignores that configuration file.
Note
Typically, Image Builder only uses configuration files that are named Unattend.xml. However, configuration files that contain settings that apply to the windowsPE and offlineServicing configuration passes can include destructive actions, such as disk partitioning. Therefore, you must rename those Unattend.xml file to Autounattend.xml. These passes run when you first run Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) 4.0 or Image Builder. You typically use the Autounattend.xml file when you use the product DVD start method for Windows Embedded 8 Standard (Standard 8) and provide a configuration file on a USB flash drive or floppy disk.
Implicit Configuration File Search Order
Image Builder identifies all available configuration files and logs them by precedence based on the search order in the following table. The configuration file that has the highest search order is used. Image Builder validates the configuration file and then caches the file to the computer until the end of the last configuration pass. Valid configuration files are cached to the $windows.~bt\sources\panther directory during the windowsPE and offlineServicing passes. After the Standard 8 installation is extracted to the hard disk, the configuration file is cached to %WINDIR%\panther.
The following table shows the implicit configuration file search order.
Search order |
Location |
Description |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Registry HKey_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup!UnattendFile |
This location in the registry points to a configuration file. The configuration file is not required to be named Unattend.xml. |
2 |
%WINDIR%\Panther\Unattend |
The name of the configuration file in this location must be Unattend.xml or Autounattend.xml. |
3 |
%WINDIR%\Panther |
Image Builder caches configuration files to this location. .gif "JJ979513.note(en-us,WinEmbedded.81).gif") Note:
Do not overwrite the configuration files in these directories.
|
4 |
Removable read/write media at the root of the drive and in alphabetical order by drive letter. |
The name of the configuration file must be Unattend.xml or Autounattend.xml, and the configuration file must be located at the root of the drive. |
5 |
Removable read-only media at the root of the drive and in alphabetical order by drive letter. |
The name of the configuration file must be Unattend.xml or Autounattend.xml, and the configuration file must be located at the root of the drive. |
6 |
For the windowsPE and offlineServicing passes, the location is \Sources directory in a Standard 8 distribution. For all other passes, the location is %WINDIR%\System32\Sysprep. |
In the windowsPE and offlineServicing passes, the name of the configuration file must be Autounattend.xml. For all other configuration passes, the file name must be Unattend.xml. |
7 |
%SYSTEMDRIVE% |
The configuration file name must be Unattend.xml or Autounattend.xml |
Important
Because configuration files are cached to the computer, your configuration files persist on the computer between restarts. Before you deliver the computer to a customer, you must delete the cached configuration file from the %WINDIR%\Panther directory. However, if you have unprocessed settings in the oobeSystem configuration pass that you intend to run when an end user starts the computer, do not delete the cached configuration file.
Sensitive Data in Configuration Files
Image Builder removes sensitive data from the cached configuration file at the end of the current configuration pass. However, if a configuration file is embedded in a location that has higher precedence than the cached configuration file, the cached configuration file may be overwritten at the beginning of each successive configuration pass if the embedded configuration file matches the implicit search criteria. For example, if a configuration file is embedded at %WINDIR%\Panther\Unattend\Unattend.xml, the embedded configuration file replaces the cached configuration file at the beginning of each configuration pass.
In addition, if the embedded configuration file specifies both the specialize and oobeSystem passes, the embedded configuration file is discovered during the specialize pass, where it is cached and processed. At the end of the specialize pass, the sensitive data is cleared. However, the embedded configuration file is discovered again during the oobeSystem pass and cached again. Therefore, the sensitive data for the specialize pass is no longer cleared. Sensitive data for previously processed passes are not cleared again. Unless the cached configuration file must be overridden, we recommend that configuration files be embedded at a lower precedence location.
We recommend that you delete all the configuration files on a Windows Embedded 8 Standard (Standard 8) installation before delivering the computer to a customer. Delete any embedded configuration files, and also delete the cached configuration file. However, if you have unprocessed settings in the oobeSystem configuration pass that you want to run when an end user starts the computer, do not delete the cached configuration file.
You can add a command to the Setupcomplete.cmd command script that deletes any cached or embedded configuration files on the computer. For more information, see Run a Custom Script.
Image Builder Annotates Configuration Passes in a Configuration File
After a configuration pass is processed, Image Builder annotates the cached configuration file to indicate that the pass was processed. If the configuration pass is entered again and the cached configuration file has not been replaced or updated in the interim, the configuration file settings are not processed again. Instead, Image Builder searches for implicit Unattend.xml files that are at a lower precedence location than the cached Unattend.xml file.
For example, you can install Standard 8 with a configuration file that contains RunSynchronous commands in the specialize pass. During installation, the specialize pass runs and the RunSynchronous commands execute. After installation, run the sysprep /generalize command. If Image Builder finds no configuration file in a higher precedence than the cached configuration file or if a configuration file was not explicitly passed to Sysprep, Image Builder runs the specialize pass the next time that the computer starts. Because the cached configuration file contains an annotation that the settings for that pass were already applied, the RunSynchronous commands do not run.
Implicit Configuration File Search Examples
The following examples help describe the behavior of implicit configuration file searches.
To verify that configuration files named Autounattend.xml are automatically discovered by Image Builder
Create a configuration file that is named Autounattend.xml that includes settings in the windowsPE pass.
Copy Autounattend.xml to the root of removable media such as a USB flash device.
Configure the BIOS of your computer to start from a CD or DVD.
Start the Standard 8 product DVD that is appropriate to the device.
Insert the USB flash device while Standard 8 is starting.
Image Builder starts and automatically identifies Autounattend.xml as a valid configuration file. Because the configuration file uses a valid file name (Autounattend.xml), is located in one of the valid search paths (the root of removable media), and includes valid settings for the current configuration pass (windowsPE), this configuration file is used.
The configuration file is cached to the computer. If Image Builder discovers no additional configuration files in later passes, the cached configuration file is used throughout.
To verify that configuration files are discovered in order of precedence
Install Standard 8 by using a configuration file and by following the steps in the previous example. The configuration file that is used to install Standard 8 is cached to the system in the %WINDIR%\Panther directory.
Copy an Unattend.xml file to the %WINDIR%\System32\Sysprep directory.
This configuration file has settings in the generalize pass.
Run the sysprep /generalize command to create a reference image.
Because the %WINDIR%\System32\Sysprep directory is in the implicit search paths, Image Builder finds the configuration file and copies it to this directory. However, a configuration file that was used to install Standard 8 is still cached on the computer and contains settings for the generalize pass. Because this cached configuration file has a higher precedence than the one that is copied to the Sysprep directory, Image Builder uses the cached configuration file.
Note
You can run Sysprep as a command-line tool or as a GUI tool. If you run Sysprep as a GUI tool, you can select the Generalize check box.
To use the new configuration file, copy it to a directory that has a higher precedence than the cached configuration file, or you can specify the configuration file by using the /unattend option.
To verify that configuration files must include a valid configuration pass
Copy an Unattend.xml file to the root of removable media such as a USB flash device.
The Unattend.xml file has settings only for the auditSystem and auditUser configuration passes.
On an installed Standard 8 operating system, run the sysprep /generalize /oobe command.
Although the configuration file is available in one of the implicit search paths (the root of removable media), Image Builder ignores the Unattend.xml file because the file does not contain a valid pass for the generalize configuration pass.