Component Settings and Properties Reference

Article
02/10/2014

Applies To: Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2

Windows® System Image Manager (Windows SIM) displays the properties and settings of a selected component or package in the Properties pane. You can use this pane to manage and view the component settings that are available to change for each configuration pass. You can also use this pane to view properties and IDs where applicable. In the case of packages, the pane displays Windows feature selections that you can change. Settings that are not available for each component or package appear dimmed. Settings that have been changed appear in bold.

Component Settings

Component settings are the configurable aspects of each component in a Windows installation. For example, you can configure the Windows Internet Explorer® component setting Home_Page to open to a particular URL by configuring the default value of the setting in the Properties pane of Windows SIM.

Component Properties

Component properties are non-configurable attributes of a component. The following table lists component properties for components that have been added to an answer file.

Property	Description
AppliedConfigurationPass	Specifies the configuration pass that all child settings are applied to.
Component	Specifies the root ComponentSetting object that this setting override belongs to.
Path	Specifies the path to the setting from the component. The path appears in the following format: SettingName1/SettingName2/...
Enabled	Indicates whether the component has been installed. A setting of True means that the component is installed. A setting of False means that the component is not installed. When the component is not installed, the setting is ignored and the correct Windows Features in the foundation package that contains the component are enabled.

Component IDs

The component ID uniquely identifies the component of the operating system to which the settings belong. The ID contains the name, version, architecture, and other information for the component that is selected in the Windows Image pane or Answer File pane. The following table describes the different attributes of a component.

ID	Description
Language	Specifies the language code. For more information, see the language codes in the MSDN Library.
Name	Specifies the long name of the component or package.
ProcessorArchitecture	Specifies the processor architecture of the component or package. For example, x86 or amd64.
PublicKeyToken	Specifies the public-key token of the component or package. This is a string of 16 hexadecimal digits and is the hash value of the Microsoft public key. The value is unique and prevents collision between components and packages.
Version	Specifies the version of the Windows component or package.
VersionScope	Specifies the version scope of the Windows component or package. The possible values are SxS and nonSxS.

Package Properties

Package properties are non-configurable attributes of the package. Package properties appear when you select a package in the Windows Image pane or Answer File pane. The following table describes the properties of packages.

Package property	Description
CompanyName	Specifies the name of the company that created the package.
Copyright	Specifies the copyright disclaimer of the package.
Description	Specifies the description of the package.
Id	Specifies the identifier for the package. The format is: ProcessorArchitecture_Version_Language_PublicKeyToken_VersionScope
Keyword	Specifies the keyword of the package.
Path	Specifies the file-system path of the package file. This is blank if the package is from a Windows image.
ProductName	Specifies the product name that this package applies to.
ProductVersion	Specifies the product version that this package applies to.
ReleaseType	Specifies the PackageReleaseType enumeration of this package. PackageReleaseType is documented in the Component Platform Interface (CPI) Reference.
SupportInformation	Specifies the support information for the package. This can contain contact information about the package author.

Package Settings

Package settings are the configurable attributes of the package that is selected in the Answer File pane. Package settings appear only when the package is selected in the Answer File pane because that is when you can change them. The following table describes package settings

Setting name	Description
Action	Specifies the action to be performed on the package within the answer file. Possible actions are Install, Configure, Remove, or Stage.
PermanenceType	Describes whether a component is removable or permanent. Permanence types are members of the PackageActionType enumeration and are documented in the CPI Reference (CPIAPI.chm).
PrimarySourcePath	Specifies the primary file-system path that is the source of the package file. If the package is from a Windows image, this will be blank.

The following menu commands are available when you right-click a setting in the Properties pane.

revert change

Reverts to the previous state or setting. This command removes the entry for the setting from the answer file. The setting remains unchanged after the Unattend.xml answer file has been applied.

write empty string

Writes the XML equivalent of an empty string for the setting in the answer file.

By default, if no value is specified, the setting will be omitted from the answer file. However, you can specifically write an empty value for a string type in an answer file by using this command.

This command applies to string types only.

Important
Not all component string settings support empty values. For more information, see the Unattended Windows Setup Reference.

write image value

Creates an entry for the setting in the answer file with the value of the setting that is currently in the Windows image.

.NET Types in Windows System Image Manager

Microsoft® .NET types appear at the bottom of the Properties pane. Component settings have a type that describes the kind of data that is valid for that setting. These types are mapped to their equivalent .NET types in Windows SIM. The following table lists the possible types that can be associated with component settings.

.NET type	Parameters	Description
System.Byte	0 to 255	Unsigned 8-bit integer
System.SByte	-128 to 127	Signed 8-bit integer
System.UInt16	0 to 65,535	Unsigned 16-bit integer
System.Int16	-32,768 to 32,767	Signed 16-bit integer
System.UInt32	0 to 4,294,967,295	Unsigned 32-bit integer
System.Int32	-2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647	Signed 32-bit integer
System.UInt64	0 to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615	Unsigned 64-bit integer
System.Int64	-9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807	Signed 64-bit integer
System.Boolean	true \| false	Boolean data
System.String	Represents text as a series of Unicode characters	String data

Array Types

Some component settings require arrays of data. These arrays are mapped to their equivalent .NET array types in Windows SIM. The following table lists the possible array types that are associated with component settings.

Type	Description
System.String[]	Array of System.String
System.Byte[]	Array of System.Byte
System.SByte[]	Array of System.SByte

List-Item Types

Settings are sometimes organized into groups called list items. List items specify one or more values for a list-item type. A list-item type may include one or more component settings. For example, you can create multiple Favorites links by using the FavoriteItem setting for Internet Explorer.

You add a list item by right-clicking the setting for a container. For example, you can add a FavoriteItem list item by right-clicking the FavoritesList container in the Answer File pane. For more information, see Configure Components and Settings in an Answer File.

Key Settings for List Items

Each list item must have a unique identifier, which is known as the key for that specific list item. When you modify the key setting for the list item, the key identifier appears in brackets ([]) next to the list item in the Answer File pane.

List-Item Actions

The following actions are available for list items when you use Windows SIM.

Add a New List Item

You can use Windows SIM to add list items to the currently open answer file. In the Setting Action drop-down list, click AddListItem. You must also add a unique key setting to the list item. The unique key setting appears in brackets next to the list item in the tree view of the Answer File pane. A plus sign (+) appears, which indicates that the list item is added to the Windows image when the unattended answer file is run.

Delete a List Item

You can use Windows SIM to delete a list item that is defined in a Windows image (.wim) file. In the Setting Action drop-down list, click RemoveListItem. A minus sign (–) appears, which indicates that the list item is deleted from the image when the unattended answer file is run.

Modify a List Item

You can use Windows SIM to modify a list item that is defined in a Windows image file. To change the default value for an existing list item, click Modify in the Properties pane, and then enter the updated information under Settings. The updated list-item setting is added to the answer file.

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