Client Management Suite

Good morning,

                     We are just getting up and running with SMP 7.1 and Win7 unattended deployments and I have created an unattended file that I'm attempting to deploy with a sysprep generlized Windows 7 Pro SP1 (x86) image but it gets stuck with the error I've attached.  I've verified the answer file using the WAIK application and I'm not sure where to look next.

Basically, all we need to accomplish is Image -> Append Computer Name from Altiris DB (using the @compName token from another article) -> Join to Domain -> Enable and set password on built-in local admin account.

Does anyone have a working unattend file they could share (Cut out sensitive info, obviously)?   Everything else is working great with SMP but this seems to be the final hurdle before we make the big switch from DS 6.9 to the SMP.

I've attached the unattend file we're using as well as a screenshot of the message on a system that has just had a fresh image deployed with the file.

Attachment(s)

Generalized_For_Forums.xml   3 KB 1 version

Is it the computer name portion that's failing?  In other words, if you set computer name to the static ElevenBravo-PC, does it work?

Which article are you referencing (link)?

Im curious as to what you are using to replace the @compName variable in the unattend.xml. If this does not have the value replaced before you get to this point of the install, you will surely fail. I cant say for 100%, without search Microsoft, but @ can not be used as a computer name. Could be wrong and then  it would be a different issue.

I'll attempt to image with a static name and see what happens.  As for the article:

http://www.symantec.com/connect/articles/tokens-deployment-solution-7x

Specifically the section that states for use in unattend answer files and scripted installs.

I would add a pause to your process to ensure the unattend.xml has actually received the name from the database.  What happens if you examine the unattend.xml that reaches the system, but before sysprep has run?

Heres a clean version of what i used to test building windows 7.
It works on DS6.9 and 7.1
Anything with ****** you need to enter your details.

Hope this helps.

Attachment(s)

W7XML-Clean.xml   6 KB 1 version

Hi mclemson,

                       How can I create a pause and how would I be able to view the xml file before sysprep happens to the system?  I verified that if I set a static name in the "Computer Name" field it will not fail the during the sysprep phase but I did notice that it didn't join to AD even though that information has been verified to be correct.

Thanks for your help on this.

Hi Jim,

          This file is very similar to the file we use to deploy Win7 (Not SP1) via our 6.9 solution and it works great.  However, we are deploying Win7 SP1 and some of the pass settings in SP1 are different.  Also, how are you setting your computer names?  We more often than not re-image existing systems in our organization versus imaging new systems out of the box.

Thanks for the file. I found a few things that I want to change in our original 6.9 file since we still use that to do some imaging. :)

I was using %NAME% in DS6.9 and i think it was @COMPNAME for the NS one.

I'm currently out of the office i will check when i'm next in and update you.

to go with that i think the version numbers for the components needed to be updated in the unattend script to get them to work.

We use serial number for computer name.  This way it's always unique.  It isn't great when looking at the console (wish we could change display name).  

Ok, so I have a few updates on my progress so far.

1) I was able to get the "@compName" token to work with the file correctly.

2) The "Unattended Join" piece was passing validation but not joining correctly to AD so I've taken that out and I am using the built-in task in SMP to "Apply system configuration" after image.

3) The command to enable the local admin account was running but the admin account was still disabled after image and sysprep was applied so I've got SMP running a script after image deployment and sysprep to enable it.

Basically, using the work-arounds I've mentioned above we are going to move forward as they work flawlessly so far in my test environments.

I think there are some issues when using Win7 SP1 with WAIK but I'm not sure. Everything looks 100% correct and there are no errors but not everything works as it should.

If anyone is or was in the same boat as me, please let me know and I can elaborate further on what/how I got this fully automated image running.

Thanks everyone for your replies!

I'm migrating from a perfectly working 6.9 deployment and am struggling with many of the same issues in 7.1.

I've read of people using all these in their unattend file for the computer name in Shell Setup:

- %COMPNAME%

- %NAME% (worked in DS 6.9)

- @compName

- %computername%

I can't seem to get any of these to work.  I've verified by booting the image offline that sysprep is failing at the computer name.  Any insight into that would be great.

%COMPNAME% must be replaced in unattend.xml by parsing it using a script after unattend.xml is copied to the local system but before setup is run.  DS 7.1 Samples pack has a task that will parse text files such as unattend.xml; when it does this, since Altiris is working with it, it will replace %COMPNAME% with the computer's name.

In your Unattend file you'll use @compName as your token and if you use the SMP task to "Apply System Configuration" you'll use the %COMPNAME% token.

Here's a KB on how the tokens work in SMP 7.1: https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/tokens-deployment-solution-7x

Well, I created a new Apply System Configuration task and basically just added %COMPNAME% to the Computer name field.  In my unattend file in shell-setup, the <computername> is @compName.

I then added the task after deploy image and before reboot to production in my deploy job.

It failed on the Apply System Configuration task.  Thoughts?

Hi Saint,

            In your Apply System Configuration task you'll want to remove the "domain\" from the beginning of your credentials even though it states to use it.  You also need to run the Apply System Configuration AFTER you reboot to production as that is something that runs once the native OS is up and running and the SMA is fully initialized.  I use that task to join our Win7 Pro SP3 systems to the domain since the Sysprep file wasn't doing it for some reason (even though it wasn't failing and it passes all validation checks).

Let me know if that doesn't work for you.