Useful links if you can’t be bothered to research:
REMINDERS :
#1
if you don’t have a
windowsPEsection, the installer “forgets” to copy theAutounattend.xmlfrom the root of the PE image to the installation drive’s\Windows\Panther\unattend.xml, and withoutunattend.xmlthere, you can forget about anything being applied.
#2
You need to provide a ProductKey section in the windowsPE pass, even if it’s just to provide a blank/invalid key. OR ELSE.
#3
This method of autounattend doesn’t have system rights, even before the user log in for the first time, making post-install scripts unreliable through SetupComplete unreliable.
Think about this when handling secrets! Need to this test this further.
An Exemple :
Here’s the contents of an autounattend.xml at the root of an USB key.
- Set the language at all relevant stages to French.
- This particular version work only with an UEFI boot.
- The installation setup is seamless, no user input needed.
- It setup the first local disk available.
- It automatically setup the wifi to use the local network.
- It hides Windows OOBE, and turn off the privacy-invasive features.
- It creates an user and log to it automatically.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
<settings pass="windowsPE">
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<SetupUILanguage>
<UILanguage>fr-FR</UILanguage>
</SetupUILanguage>
<InputLocale>fr-FR</InputLocale>
<SystemLocale>fr-FR</SystemLocale>
<UILanguage>fr-FR</UILanguage>
<UserLocale>fr-FR</UserLocale>
</component>
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<ImageInstall>
<OSImage>
<InstallTo>
<DiskID>0</DiskID>
<PartitionID>3</PartitionID>
</InstallTo>
</OSImage>
</ImageInstall>
<UserData>
<AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
<ProductKey>
<Key>----</Key>
</ProductKey>
</UserData>
<RunSynchronous>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>1</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"X:\diskpart.txt" echo SELECT DISK=0"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>2</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"X:\diskpart.txt" echo CLEAN"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>3</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"X:\diskpart.txt" echo CONVERT GPT"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>4</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"X:\diskpart.txt" echo CREATE PARTITION EFI SIZE=300"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>5</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"X:\diskpart.txt" echo FORMAT QUICK FS=FAT32 LABEL="System""</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>6</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"X:\diskpart.txt" echo CREATE PARTITION MSR SIZE=16"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>7</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"X:\diskpart.txt" echo CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>8</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"X:\diskpart.txt" echo SHRINK MINIMUM=1000"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>9</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"X:\diskpart.txt" echo FORMAT QUICK FS=NTFS LABEL="Windows""</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>10</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"X:\diskpart.txt" echo CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>11</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"X:\diskpart.txt" echo FORMAT QUICK FS=NTFS LABEL="Recovery""</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>12</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"X:\diskpart.txt" echo SET ID="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac""</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>13</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"X:\diskpart.txt" echo GPT ATTRIBUTES=0x8000000000000001"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>14</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"X:\diskpart.log" diskpart.exe /s "X:\diskpart.txt""</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
</RunSynchronous>
</component>
</settings>
<settings pass="specialize">
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Deployment" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<RunSynchronous>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>1</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<WLANProfile xmlns="http://www.microsoft.com/networking/WLAN/profile/v1"^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>2</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<name^>[REDACTED]^</name^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>3</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<SSIDConfig^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>4</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<SSID^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>5</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<hex^>4c756e64694d6174696e^</hex^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>6</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<name^>[REDACTED]^</name^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>7</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^</SSID^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>8</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^</SSIDConfig^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>9</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<connectionType^>ESS^</connectionType^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>10</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<connectionMode^>auto^</connectionMode^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>11</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<MSM^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>12</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<security^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>13</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<authEncryption^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>14</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<authentication^>WPA2PSK^</authentication^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>15</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<encryption^>AES^</encryption^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>16</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<useOneX^>false^</useOneX^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>17</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^</authEncryption^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>18</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<sharedKey^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>19</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<keyType^>passPhrase^</keyType^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>20</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<protected^>false^</protected^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>21</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^<keyMaterial^>[REDACTED]^</keyMaterial^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>22</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^</sharedKey^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>23</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^</security^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>24</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^</MSM^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>25</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c ">>"%TEMP%\wifi.xml" echo ^</WLANProfile^>"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>26</Order>
<Path>netsh.exe wlan add profile filename="%TEMP%\wifi.xml" user=all</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>27</Order>
<Path>netsh.exe wlan connect name="[REDACTED]" ssid="[REDACTED]"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
<Order>28</Order>
<Path>cmd.exe /c "del "%TEMP%\wifi.xml""</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
</RunSynchronous>
</component>
</settings>
<settings pass="oobeSystem">
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<InputLocale>fr-FR</InputLocale>
<SystemLocale>fr-FR</SystemLocale>
<UILanguage>fr-FR</UILanguage>
<UserLocale>fr-FR</UserLocale>
</component>
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<AutoLogon>
<Password>
<Value>[REDACTED]</Value>
<PlainText>true</PlainText>
</Password>
<Enabled>true</Enabled>
<Username>admin</Username>
</AutoLogon>
<OOBE>
<HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
<HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>
<HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
<HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
<HideLocalAccountScreen>true</HideLocalAccountScreen>
<ProtectYourPC>3</ProtectYourPC>
</OOBE>
<UserAccounts>
<LocalAccounts>
<LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
<Password>
<Value>[REDACTED]</Value>
<PlainText>true</PlainText>
</Password>
<DisplayName>Administrateur</DisplayName>
<Group>Administrateurs</Group>
<Name>admin</Name>
</LocalAccount>
</LocalAccounts>
</UserAccounts>
</component>
</settings>
</unattend>