After the setup program, loadwindows.pl, has been run, you can edit the Windows .sif files to customize provisioning Windows clients.  The sif files are located on the LinMin server under the /home/tftpboot/pub/<Windows_OS> directory.

The sections of the sif files that can be edited are:

Each section of the sif file contains instructions for editing that section.  Follow the instructions for the section you want to edit.  Each sif file also contains instructions on how to add and comment out parameters.

Some options in the provided Windows sif files are commented out with the semicolon (;) character.  To activate such an option, edit the Windows sif file, and remove the “;” from the front of the option.

Some options have a corresponding option that is activated by default.  When you activate one of these options, you will need to comment out its corresponding default option.  Some options that have default activated settings are:  regional, Workgroup/DNS, and partitioning.

If you create a Role or Template manually, use the Browse buttons to go to the pub/<Windows_Installation_name> directory (in our previous example, pub/ win2k3_Web_Edition-sata).  In that directory, select the kernel and initrd files for your Windows OS.  The names of the Windows kernel and initrd files are shown below.  The “Windows or Other” Option does not use a control file.

 If you are using the Boot Menu to provision SCSI/SATA clients and IDE clients with the same Windows OS, you will need to create separate menu items for <Windows-OS>-sata and <Windows-OS>-ide.

Customizing Windows installations is a common process that organizations with large numbers of Windows installations frequently perform. A customized Windows installation enables you to incorporate service packs and patches to the OS (released since the media was published by Microsoft), add specific drivers, install applications, etc.

Two popular approaches are:

Please note that LinMin does not provide technical support for customizing Windows installations, as there are forums and groups dedicated to these topics.

Windows Server 2003 R2 comes on 2 CD-ROMs. The recommended way to provision R2 is provided in the example below, using nLite.

The following "How to" was kindly provided by AdaptivePC, a company specializing in providing consulting services around Windows provisioning. For information on consulting services, contact Jeff@AdaptivePC.com

In this example, 3 tasks are described:

1 Automate R2 Install.

2 Enable Automatic Updates

3 Enable Remote Desktop

This example is for Windows Server 2003 SP2 R2 Standard, but should work with all Windows Server 2003 R2 versions.

Note:

1) Prepare Source:

a. copy first Windows Disc (or extract first ISO) to HDD of a Windows system, e.g., C:\Temp\2K3-SP2-R2\

b. Run nLite http://nliteos.com Select C:\Temp\2K3-SP2-R2\ as source, then click 'next' twice.

         Optional: Select 'service packs', 'hotfixes', 'components', 'options' or 'tweaks' as needed.

         Required: Select 'Bootable ISO'

      If you selected 'optional' stuff above, then once you get to the processing screen select 'yes' to proceed.

      Pause at the Create ISO screen and leave nLite open

c. Run the http://DriverPacks.net BASE program to add Mass Storage drivers (F6) to 32bit versions of XP and Win2k3.

    On the 'update checker' page choose the DriverPacks you would like to download or update. (Select Mass Storage) 

    On the 'Select Location' page 'Disc' should be selected.  'Browse' and Select C:\Temp\2K3-SP2-R2\ as source

    On the 'Select DriverPacks' page Select 'DriverPack MassStorage textmode (F6). (only) 

    Hit the "slipstream" button.

d. Add the R2 disk files to the source folder.

    If the C:\Temp\2K3-SP2-R2\$OEM$ folder does not exist then create it. Then create $OEM$\$$

    This should result in C:\Temp\2K3-SP2-R2\$OEM$\$$.

    Copy the CMPNENTS folder from the second CD to the $$ folder. 

    This should result in C:\Temp\2K3-SP2-R2\$OEM$\$$\CMPNENTS.

    - Items in the $OEM$/$$ folder are copied to the "Windows" folder (%SystemRoot%) during the install.

e. Add a file containing the registry entries required for Automatic updates.

      Create C:\Temp\2K3-SP2-R2\$OEM$\$$\autoupdt.reg

         ScheduledInstallDay 00000000 = everyday, 00000001 = Sunday, 00000007 = Saturday

         ScheduledInstallTime 00000000 = Midnight, 0000000a = 10AM, 0000000f = 3PM, 00000017 = 11PM. (24 hour format, in Hex)

         AutoInstallMinorUpdates is optional

      Copy below text to autoupdt.reg, edit as necessary.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update]
"AUOptions"=dword:00000004
"ScheduledInstallDay"=dword:00000000
"ScheduledInstallTime"=dword:00000003
"AutoInstallMinorUpdates"=dword:00000001       

f. Return to nLite and hit the 'make ISO' button. IE Create c:\win2k3sp2r2-updated.iso

2) Add source to Linmin server.

a. Copy the ISO file to the proper directory

b. Prepare the ISO media

3) Make final changes by editing the home/tftpboot/pub/name_of_your_folder_for_win2k3_here/w2k3t.sif

a. Fix Prompt for Disc 2 with 2k3 R2. (automate install)

    Add two lines to the [GuiRunOnce] section of the .sif file:

   Command0 (this updates the Source folder for the R2 installation)

   Command1 (this runs the R2 installation)

b. Add Automatic Updates settings

    Command2 imports autoupdt.reg registry file

[GuiRunOnce]
Command0="cmd /c reg add HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup /v SourcePath /t REG_SZ /d %SystemRoot% /f"
Command1="cmd /c %SystemRoot%\cmpnents\r2\setup2.exe /q /a"
Command2="cmd /c reg import %SystemRoot%\autoupdt.reg"
;    Command3="rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n \\printserver\printer1"
;    Command4=c:\AfterInstall.cmd

c. Enable Remote Desktop

    Add these Sections and lines to the .sif file:

[WindowsFirewall]
Profiles = WindowsFirewall.Standard
[WindowsFirewall.Standard]
Services = WindowsFirewall.RemoteDesktop
[WindowsFirewall.RemoteDesktop]
Type = 2

[TerminalServices]
AllowConnections = 1 

Note: if you see unexpected characters ("~", "%", "^M", etc.) appended to the end of the lines of the .sif file, you may be using a text editor that introduces incompatible characters (e.g., Linux vs. Windows, carriage return vs. line feed, etc.). Use another editor that does not introduce these characters.

By default, computers running Windows Server 2003 operating systems are configured as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) clients. Assign a static IP address.