Sysprep Support for Server Roles

Many common server roles support the System Preparation tool (Sysprep). However, if you run the Sysprep command together with the /generalize option against an installation of a server, and you are using an unsupported server role, those roles may not function after the imaging and deployment process is completed. Therefore, you must enable and configure any server roles that do not support Sysprep after you have performed the imaging and deployment process.

The following table lists server roles and specifies whether the roles support Sysprep.

Server role Sysprep support in Windows Server 2008 Sysprep support in Windows Server 2008 R2 Sysprep support in Windows Server 2012

Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS)

No

No

No

Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)

No

No

No

Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS)

No

No

No

Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS)

No

No

No

Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS)

No

No

No

Application Server

Yes

Yes

Yes

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Server

Yes

No

No

Domain Name System (DNS) Server

Not applicable

Not applicable

Not applicable

Fax Server

No

No

No

File and Storage Services

No

Yes

Yes

Hyper-V™

Not applicable

Yes

Not supported for a virtual network on Hyper-V™. You must delete any virtual networks before you run the Sysprep tool.

Yes

Not supported for a virtual network on Hyper-V™. You must delete any virtual networks before you run the Sysprep tool.

Network Policy and Access Services (NPAS) ¹

No

No

No

Network Policy Routing and Remote Access Services

Yes

Not applicable

Not applicable

Printing and Document Services (Print Services) ²

No

Yes

Yes

Remote Desktop Services ³

Yes

Yes

Yes

Streaming Media Services (available as a download)

Not applicable

Not applicable

Not applicable

UDDI Services ⁴

No

Not applicable

Not applicable

Volume Activation Services ⁵

Not applicable

Not applicable

Not applicable

Web Server (Internet Information Services)

Yes

Not supported with encrypted credentials in the Applicationhost.config file.

Yes

Not supported with encrypted credentials in the Applicationhost.config file.

Yes

Not supported with encrypted credentials in the Applicationhost.config file.

Windows Deployment Services

No

No

Yes

Not supported if Windows Deployment Services is initialized.⁶

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)

No

No

No

⁽¹⁾ NPAS includes Health Registration Authority (HRA), Network Policy Server (NPS), and Host Credential Authorization Protocol (HCAP).

⁽²⁾ In Windows Server 2008 R2, Print Services was renamed Printing and Document Services.

⁽³⁾ In Windows Server 2008 R2, Terminal Services was renamed Remote Desktop Services, which is also known as Remote Desktop Session Host.

⁽⁴⁾ UDDI Services was not included in Windows Server 2008 R2.

⁽⁵⁾ Volume Activation Services is new for Windows Server 2012.

⁽⁶⁾ You must uninitialize the server that has the Windows Deployment Services role installed before you run Sysprep. You can uninitialize a server by using the wdsutil /uninitialize-server command.

Sysprep (System Preparation) Overview

Sysprep Process Overview

Sysprep Command-Line Options

Sysprep (Generalize) a Windows installation