48 Chapter 2 • Installing Windows XP Professional Installation Services is not discussed in this chapter because it is discussed in detail in Chapter 12. Automating the Windows XP Professional Setup One of the techniques available for automating the installation of Windows XP Professional is using unattended installation scripts.Think of an installation script just as you would a script for a play. Each actor has lines to say, and those lines are spoken at certain points during the play.An installation script provides answers (the lines of the play) to the questions asked by the setup process when they are needed, without the need for someone to sit at the console and provide the answers. Unattended installation scripts have a number of benefits, including the following: ■ Most flexible option for large-scale deployments of Windows XP ■ Creates consistent installs ■ Reduces overall deployment time ■ Reduces user interaction On the flip side of these benefits, one of the shortcomings is that the per- computer install time is longer than other automated installation methods, such as disk imaging.The average install time using unattended installation scripts is about 60 to 75 minutes, depending on system and network resources. You must take several steps to use unattended installation scripts. (The terms installation script and answer file are used interchangeably throughout this chapter.) www.syngress.com Network Installation to a New Hard Drive If you are going to install Windows XP on a machine with a new or newly- formatted hard drive over the network, you will need to create a for- matted partition on the disk that is large enough to accommodate Windows XP. You can do this with the DOS fdisk and format commands. Configuring & Implementing… 189_XP_02.qxd 11/12/01 5:34 PM Page 48 Installing Windows XP Professional • Chapter 2 49 First, the source files for completing the installation must be made available.You can do this via a network share or by using the source CD-ROM. Next, you must properly prepare the target computer, including backing up any required existing data. Last, you manually initiate the install process or use a batch file or systems management software. Preparing for Setup As with most projects in life, one of your first steps is preparation.With respect to automated installations, preparation involves making sure that the setup process has all the files and settings it needs to complete the installation of Windows XP. All of us who have been in this industry for more than a few weeks realize that most software, including operating systems, require a setup or installation procedure. Windows XP’s installation is initiated much as it was with previous versions of Windows 2000 and NT—you launch the installation by typing in Winnt32.exe or Winnt.exe from a command line (use Winnt.exe only when upgrading 16-bit operating systems, such as Windows 3.x and DOS).The following sections look at the number of options you have when running these programs Command-Line Setup Windows XP Professional has two installation programs that you can manipulate using command-line options.These programs are Winnt.exe and Winnt32.exe. The first of these programs is meant for use in 16-bit operating systems.The second is designed for use in a 32-bit environment, such as Windows 98, Windows Me,Windows NT 4.0, or Windows 2000. Let’s take a look at the syntax for using each of these programs. Winnt.exe The syntax for running the Winnt.exe program from a DOS command prompt is as follows: winnt [/s:SourcePath] [/t:TempDrive] [/u:answer file][/udf:ID [,UDB_file]] [/r:folder][/rx:folder][/e:command][/a] Table 2.4 shows the some of the common parameters that may be used to modify the operation of Winnt.exe. www.syngress.com 189_XP_02.qxd 11/12/01 5:34 PM Page 49 50 Chapter 2 • Installing Windows XP Professional Table 2.4 Common Parameters that You May Use to Modify the Operation of Winnt.exe Parameter Description /s:SourcePath This parameter specifies the source location of the Windows XP files. The location must be a full path of the form x:\[Path] or \\server\share[\Path]. /u:answer file The /u parameter performs an unattended setup using an answer file. The answer file provides answers to some or all of the prompts that the end user normally responds to during setup. If you use /u, you must also use /s. /udf:ID [,UDB_file] Indicates an identifier (ID) that setup uses to specify how a Uniqueness Database (UDB) file modifies an answer file (see /u). The UDB overrides values in the answer file, and the identifier determines which values in the UDB file are used. If you don’t specify a UDB_file, setup prompts you to insert a disk that contains the $Unique$.udb file. /? Running Winnt.exe with the /? displays help at the command prompt. This will show the entire list of attributes available for this program. Winnt32.exe The syntax for running the Winnt32.exe program from the Windows command prompt is as follows: winnt32 [/checkupgradeonly] [/cmd:command_line] [/cmdcons] [/copydir:i386\folder_name] [/copysource:folder_name] [/debug[level]:[filename]] [/dudisable] [/duprepare:pathname] [/dushare:pathname] [/m:folder_name] [/makelocalsource] [/noreboot] [/s:sourcepath] [/syspart:drive_letter] [/tempdrive:drive_letter] [/udf:id [,UDB_file]] [/unattend[num]:[answer_file]] The following section displays some of the common parameters that you can use with the Winnt32.exe program to change its behavior during the installation. Running Winnt32.exe with the /checkupgradeonly parameter allows you to check your computer for upgrade compatibility with Windows XP. If you use this www.syngress.com 189_XP_02.qxd 11/12/01 5:34 PM Page 50 Installing Windows XP Professional • Chapter 2 51 option with /unattend, no user input is required. Otherwise, the results are dis- played on the screen, and you can save them under the filename you specify.The default filename is Upgrade.txt in the systemroot folder.You can run the setup pro- gram with this parameter from a login script ahead of your migration to Windows XP to gather the compatibility information prior to starting the upgrade. The /makelocalsource option instructs setup to copy all source files to the local hard disk.You usually use this when performing a CD-ROM installation if the CD-ROM drive becomes unavailable during the installation process. The /s:sourcepath option points setup to the location of the Windows XP files. You have the option of specifying additional /s:sourcepath (up to eight) as part of Winnt32.exe to indicate multiple source locations. Setup can then copy files from multiple locations, thereby speeding the installation process and taking the load off a single server. If you are using multiple source paths, make sure that the first source path listed is available when the installation starts, or setup will fail. The /tempdrive:drive_letter option instructs setup to copy setup files to the specified drive letter and to install Windows XP to that drive. The /unattend[:answer_file]option runs setup in unattended mode.Without the answer_file specified, the existing operating system is upgraded, and all users’ settings are preserved. If you specify an answer file, you can customize informa- tion during the setup process. The /unattend [num] [:answer_file] option is similar to the previous one with the exception of the num setting. Num specifies the number of seconds setup should pause after copying files to the destination computer and rebooting the computer. The /udf:[id,[udf_file]] option provides additional customization to the unattended answer file for each computer being upgraded (UDF stands for uniqueness database file). By indicating an id and a UDB file, setup will override information provided in the answer file with the specific info provided in the UDB file for the id specified. For instance, you can provide unique computer names for each computer by using a UDB file. Here is an example of a complete Winnt32.exe command for an unattended installation (this example assumes that drive h: is mapped to the share for the dis- tribution files): h:\winnt32.exe /s:h:\ /unattend:h:\unattend.txt /udf:comp1,unattend.udb www.syngress.com 189_XP_02.qxd 11/12/01 5:34 PM Page 51 52 Chapter 2 • Installing Windows XP Professional Network Distribution Point Now that you are comfortable with the Winnt32.exe command, let’s see what is required to be in place prior to typing in that command. At the most basic level, a distribution point is a network share that includes the contents of the \i386 folder from the distribution CD-ROM for Windows XP. Instead of placing the CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive and starting the installation, you point Winnt32.exe to the network share and launch setup from there.The distribution folder also includes the unattended answer file, named unattend.txt by default. If you are using a UDB file, that too will reside in the distribution folder. Distribution Point Directory Structure At the most basic level, a distribution point is a network share that includes the contents of the /i386 folder.Taking a deeper look, we see that the network distri- bution point is made up of a number of subdirectories, each of which plays an important role during an unattended installation. The distribution point is a folder on a file server.You can name this folder with any name you want.This folder is shared, and the share is the focus of the \s command option for Winnt32.exe discussed previously.You place the contents of the \i386 directory in the root of this folder. In addition to the folders of the \i386 directory, there is an $OEM$ folder and a number of subfolders.This sec- tion concentrates on the $OEM$ folder and its subfolders. As part of an unattended installation, you may need to provide additional files required by setup that are not included with the Windows XP distribution.These files include computer HALs, mass-storage device drivers, and Plug and Play drivers. $OEM$ acts as the root for files and folders that are required during the setup process. The \$OEM$\$$ folder includes system files that are copied to the Windows XP installation folder on the computer being upgraded.The $$ is equivalent to \%windir%. So, if your install directory is \winnt, $$ is equal to \winnt. \$OEM$\$$ can include subfolders that represent the subfolders in the system folder, such as \system32. The \$OEM$\$1 folder contains files that are copied to the system drive. $1 is equivalent to the %systemdrive% environment variable. For instance, if you are installing Windows XP Professional to the C: drive, $1 is equal to C. $OEM$\drive_letter equals $OEM$\C.This folder contains additional files and folders that should be copied to the corresponding drive on the computer.This www.syngress.com 189_XP_02.qxd 11/12/01 5:34 PM Page 52 Installing Windows XP Professional • Chapter 2 53 differs from the $1 folder in that the drive letter is hardcoded for this folder. This allows you to copy files and folders to additional drives if they exist on the computer. www.syngress.com Automated Installs from a Bootable CD-ROM This section focuses primarily on performing an automated install from a network share. You can also install Windows XP in an automated fashion locally on a workstation using a bootable CD-ROM. Prior to ini- tiating a CD-ROM-based install, you must make sure these preliminary requirements are met: 1. Place the answer file onto a floppy disk and name it Winnt.sif. 2. Ensure that the destination computer supports booting from a CD-ROM and supports the El-Torito non-emulation specification. 3. The answer file needs to contain a valid [Data] section. The [Data] section needs to include the following parameters: ■ UnattendedInstall=Yes ■ MSDosInitiated=No ■ AutoPartition=1; if this value is set to 0, the end user is prompted to select the installation partition during setup. 4. Create the answer file by using Setup Manager as discussed in detail in the following section on Setup Manager 3.0. Modify the answer file with the [Data] information from the previous step. Boot the destination computer using the Windows XP CD-ROM and place the floppy disk containing the Winnt.sif file into the floppy drive. Here’s the kicker—Windows 98/Me does not support upgrading Windows 9x or Windows NT 4.0 systems when booting from CD-ROM. Booting from CD-ROM supports only a fresh installation of Windows XP. If that didn’t hurt enough, installing from a CD-ROM doesn’t support the $OEM$ directory structure discussed in the “Network Distribution Point” section of this chapter. Needless to say, much of the flexibility of auto- mated installations is stripped away when using a bootable CD-ROM. Configuring & Implementing… 189_XP_02.qxd 11/12/01 5:34 PM Page 53 54 Chapter 2 • Installing Windows XP Professional The $OEM$\Textmode folder is very important when dealing with installa- tions on computers with dissimilar hardware. In it, you can place files that sup- port different HALs and mass storage device drivers that are not included with the distribution files. All this information is good to know, but it can seem very complicated. Luckily,Windows XP provides a tool called Setup Manager to help automate the creation of a distribution folder.The next section briefly discusses this tool. Customizing Windows XP Professional Setup If you decide to launch a Windows XP installation from an existing Windows NT or Windows 98/Me install using the /unattend command option without specifying an answer file, the system will be upgraded using all the existing user settings. If you want to customize the upgrade, you will need to use an answer file and the $OEM$ directory structure discussed in the “Distribution Point Directory Structure” section.The answer file provides answers to the questions asked by the setup process and instructs setup on what to do with the distribu- tion folders and files contained under $OEM$.This section provides some insight into the answer file and then walks you through using Setup Manager to create an answer file and the $OEM$ structure. Answer Files An unattended answer file is simply a text file that is formatted similar to an INI file. Its role is to provide the setup process with the data it needs to complete the installation of Windows XP Professional without having a user type in the information. An answer file is made up of a number of headings, and under each heading are pairs of parameters and their assigned values.The format looks like this: [Heading1] Parameter1=value1 Parameter2=value2 [Heading 2] Parameter3=value3 You are welcome to create the answer file manually by using a text editor such as Notepad, but we recommend that you allow Setup Manager to automate this process.After the answer file has been created, you can then go back and add additional values or edit the answer file to further customize the installation. www.syngress.com 189_XP_02.qxd 11/12/01 5:34 PM Page 54 Installing Windows XP Professional • Chapter 2 55 Setup Manager 3.0 Setup Manager has been mentioned a number of times so far, but what is it and what does it do? Setup Manager is a wizard-driven program that queries the user on a number of topics in order to prepare an unattended answer file and con- struct the distribution folder.You can run through the wizard any number of times to prepare additional answer files to address all of your installation needs. In this section, we walk through the Setup Manager wizard, providing thorough descriptions of each screen and suggestions as to what information to provide. 1. First, you need to start Setup Manager.The files needed to run Setup Manager are available on the Windows XP distribution CD-ROM in the deploy.cab file under \support\tools.You need to extract the Setupmgr.exe and Setupmgr.chm files to your local hard drive and run the Setupmgr.exe. Once you launch Setup Manager, the wizard walks you through a number of dialog boxes, extracting the information it needs to prepare the answer file and $OEM$ directory. 2. The first screen you see is the Welcome screen (see Figure 2.32). Click Next to continue. 3. The next window asks whether you want to create a new answer file or modify an existing one (see Figure 2.33).The first time through Setup Manager you will select Create a new answer file. If you are creating an additional answer file for a unique unattended installation, you can choose Modify an existing answer file.This choice takes an existing answer file you specify and places the data from that file as defaults throughout the Setup Manager wizard, allowing you to make changes www.syngress.com Figure 2.32 Setup Manager Welcome Screen 189_XP_02.qxd 11/12/01 5:34 PM Page 55 56 Chapter 2 • Installing Windows XP Professional along the way.The second selection is fairly self-explanatory in that each wizard screen defaults to the current settings of the computer on which Setup Manager is being run. For our example, we are creating a new answer file. Make your selection and click Next. 4. The dialog box shown in Figure 2.34 asks you which type of answer file to create—Windows Unattended Installation, Sysprep, or Remote Installation Service. Setup Manager will display select screens based on your choice. Remote Installation Services is discussed in Chapter 12. Select Windows Unattended Installation and click Next to continue. 5. You must indicate which platform is to be installed:Windows XP Home Edition,Windows XP Professional, or Windows 2002 Server,Advanced Server, or Data Center (shown in Figure 2.35.) Select Windows XP Professional and click Next. www.syngress.com Figure 2.33 Create a New Answer File or Modify an Existing One Figure 2.34 Indicate Which Type of Answer File to Create 189_XP_02.qxd 11/12/01 5:34 PM Page 56 Installing Windows XP Professional • Chapter 2 57 6. In the window shown in Figure 2.36, you must decide what level of user interaction you want to take place during the installation.The choices and descriptions are as follows: ■ Provide defaults The answers you select during Setup Manager are displayed as the defaults during Windows XP installation.The user has the opportunity to change any setting.This does not result in a fully automated installation. ■ Fully automated As its name implies, by selecting this option the installation will proceed without any user interaction—the answer file must supply all answers. ■ Hide pages Selecting this option results in a partially automated installation. If the answer file supplies answers, the relevant installa- tion pages are not displayed to the user performing the installation. If no answer is available, the page is displayed, and the user must pro- vide an answer manually. ■ Read only This setting includes the settings for Hide Pages and Provide Defaults with an additional twist. If the page is not hidden, it is displayed to the user in read-only mode restricting the user from making any changes. ■ GUI attended By making this selection, you automate the text mode portion of setup, but leave the GUI portion requiring user input. For our example, choose Fully automated. www.syngress.com Figure 2.35 Select the Appropriate Windows XP Product 189_XP_02.qxd 11/12/01 5:34 PM Page 57 [...]... users to create and read documents in the languages that are made available on the system Click Next to continue www.syngress.com 65 189 _XP_ 02. qxd 66 11/ 12/ 01 5:35 PM Page 66 Chapter 2 • Installing Windows XP Professional Figure 2. 50 If Necessary, Specify Any Additional Regional Settings Figure 2. 51 Include Support for Additional Languages 22 Advanced In the window shown in Figure 2. 52, you have the... lock down Internet Explorer.The third option allows you to specify proxy and default home page settings for IE Because this isn’t a book about customizing IE, we’ll accept the default settings Click Next to continue www.syngress.com 189 _XP_ 02. qxd 11/ 12/ 01 5:35 PM Page 67 Installing Windows XP Professional • Chapter 2 Figure 2. 52 Specify Browser and Shell Settings 23 Advanced Figure 2. 53 prompts you to... letter (windowsXP) If you want to specify the drive letter, use the /tempdrive parameter with Winnt 32. exe For our example, we are going to leave any existing winnt folders and allow setup to create a new folder Click Next to continue Figure 2. 53 Select the Folder to Which Windows XP Should Be Installed www.syngress.com 67 189 _XP_ 02. qxd 68 11/ 12/ 01 5:35 PM Page 68 Chapter 2 • Installing Windows XP Professional. .. ComputerName2=floor-a-03 ComputerName3=floor-a-04 ComputerName4=floor-a-05 DistFolder=D:\winXPdist DistShare=winXPdist [GuiRunOnce] Command0="rundll 32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n \\fp2000\lj8050a" Command1=notepad.exe c:\readme.txt [Identification] JoinDomain=bigcorp.com DomainAdmin=installer DomainAdminPassword= 123 456 www.syngress.com 189 _XP_ 02. qxd 11/ 12/ 01 5:35 PM Page 73 Installing Windows XP Professional. .. systems) Windows XP uses ACPI and Advanced Power Management (APM) to address power management.You must remove any existing power management utilities on the Windows NT system prior to the upgrade www.syngress.com 75 189 _XP_ 02. qxd 76 11/ 12/ 01 5:35 PM Page 76 Chapter 2 • Installing Windows XP Professional s Networking protocols and clients that are not automatically updated during the Windows XP installation... disk problems and provide adequate disk space prior to the upgrade to Windows XP Use disk utilities that are available on the current operating system, such as ScanDisk and Defrag (Windows 98 systems) to check your disks and repair any problems Next, make sure that you have enough room for Windows XP to be installed .Windows XP is a much larger product than either Windows NT, 20 00, or Windows 9x.The... %SYSTEMDRIVE%\SYSPREP\SYSPREP.EXE –QUIET.This runs Sysprep in quiet mode and will not display message windows www.syngress.com 81 189 _XP_ 02. qxd 82 11/ 12/ 01 5:35 PM Page 82 Chapter 2 • Installing Windows XP Professional Automating Setup of a Target Computer You eliminate a great deal of the time required to deploy Windows XP by running Sysprep and creating an image of the disk.What if you could even automate... AnswerFile=.\unattend.txt set UdfFile=.\unattend.udb set ComputerName=%1 set SetupFiles=\\fp2000\winXPdist\I386 if "%ComputerName%" == "" goto USAGE Continued www.syngress.com 189 _XP_ 02. qxd 11/ 12/ 01 5:35 PM Page 71 Installing Windows XP Professional • Chapter 2 Figure 2. 59 Continued \\fp2000\winXPdist\I386\winnt 32 /s:%SetupFiles% /unattend:%AnswerFile%/udf:%ComputerName%,%UdfFile% /makelocalsource goto... 189 _XP_ 02. qxd 72 11/ 12/ 01 5:35 PM Page 72 Chapter 2 • Installing Windows XP Professional UnattendMode=ProvideDefault OemPreinstall=Yes TargetPath= \WINDOWS [GuiUnattended] AdminPassword=44efce164ab 921 caaad3b435b51404ee32ed87bdb5fdc5e9cb a88547376818d4 EncryptedAdminPassword=Yes OEMSkipRegional=1 [UserData] FullName="" OrgName="" ComputerName=* [SetupMgr] ComputerName0=floor-a-01 ComputerName1=floor-a- 02. .. the answer file generate random names based on the organization name you provided in Step 10 If you already have your Active Directory installed, you www.syngress.com 61 189 _XP_ 02. qxd 62 11/ 12/ 01 5:34 PM Page 62 Chapter 2 • Installing Windows XP Professional can add the computers into Active Directory and export the listing using the tools available in Active Directory Users and Computers.The file can . 12. Select Windows Unattended Installation and click Next to continue. 5. You must indicate which platform is to be installed :Windows XP Home Edition ,Windows XP Professional, or Windows 20 02. Settings Figure 2. 43 Make the Appropriate Time Zone Selection 189 _XP_ 02. qxd 11/ 12/ 01 5:34 PM Page 61 62 Chapter 2 • Installing Windows XP Professional can add the computers into Active Directory and export. automated. www.syngress.com Figure 2. 35 Select the Appropriate Windows XP Product 189 _XP_ 02. qxd 11/ 12/ 01 5:34 PM Page 57 58 Chapter 2 • Installing Windows XP Professional 7. You can instruct Setup