The information in this article applies to:
SUMMARY
Unattended Setup is the method by which original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs), corporations, and other users install Windows NT in unattended
mode. To start Windows NT Setup in unattended mode, you must specify the
following command: winnt[32] /u:<answer file> /s:<install source>where <answer file> is a file containing information to automate the installation process and <install source> is the location of the Windows NT installation files. In this article, <answer file> is referred to as the Unattend.txt file. MORE INFORMATIONUnattend.txt File FormatIn general, an answer file consists of section headers, parameters, and values for those parameters. Most of the section headers are predefined (although some may be user-defined). It is not necessary to specify all the possible parameters and keys in the Unattend.txt file if the installation does not require them. The file format is as follows:
Description of Unattend.txt File Parameters
This section header is used to identify whether an unattended
installation is being performed or not. It should exist or the
Unattend.txt file will be ignored. Parameters that can exist in this
section are discussed below.
Determines whether an OEM preinstallation is being performed or not. When
the value is Yes, other subdirectories will be copied if they exist. No
means a regular unattended Setup is being performed copying only the
Inetsrv, System32 and Drvlib.nic subdirectories. If using sysdiff and you
performed a sysdiff /inf, this value must be set to Yes.
This key determines whether the text mode portion of Setup should
automatically boot into GUI mode or not. It is only valid when
OemPreinstall = Yes. The default behavior is to halt after text mode
during a preinstallation. 0 indicates that Setup should halt after text
mode and 1 indicates that Setup should automatically reboot into GUI mode
after text mode is complete.
This key determines whether the GUI mode portion of Setup should
automatically reboot to the logon screen or not. It is only valid when
OemPreinstall = Yes. The default behavior is to halt at the end of GUI
mode Setup. 0 indicates that Setup should halt after GUI mode and 1
indicates that Setup should automatically reboot after GUI mode is
complete.
This key specifies whether the primary partition should be converted to
NTFS or left alone. In general, partitions greater than 512MB should be
converted to NTFS. If this value is set to "CovertNTFS" it is done during
after the first reboot of unattended setup.
The ExtendOemPartition key is used to install Windows NT on a disk that
is larger than 2 GB in size. This key causes text-mode Setup to extend
the partition on which the temporary Windows NT sources are located into
any available unpartitioned space that physically follows it on the disk.
The temporary install source must be a primary partition and limited to
1024 cylinders only. Writing beyond the 1024th cylinder will cause the
installation to fail. 0 implies that the partition will not be extended
and 1 indicates that it should be extended. When the value is 1, the
FileSystem key must be set to ConvertNTFS. When the value is set to 1,
oempreinstall must be equal to yes.For example if you have a 4 GB hard disk, most DOS based partitioning tools use a translation of 1024 cylinders which works out to about 2GB. This is a limitation of 1024 cylinders boundry. When you have this value set to "1", it will extend the drive out to the maximum of 4GB or remainder of space on hard disk.
This key determines whether a user should manually confirm hardware and
mass storage devices detected by the Setup program. Yes indicates that a
user must manually confirm the hardware detected and No implies Setup
should install the detected devices. For a complete unattended
installation, this key should be set to No.
This key determines whether a previous version of Windows NT Workstation
or Server should be upgraded or not. It should be set in order to perform
an upgrade. Yes indicates that the detected Windows NT installation
should be upgraded. If multiple installations are detected, the first
installation found is upgraded. No implies that the upgrade should be
aborted if a Windows NT installation is found. This is the appropriate
value when OemPreinstall = Yes. Manual implies that the user must specify
which previous installation should be upgraded. Single indicates that the
upgrade should continue only if a single Windows NT installation is
found. If multiple installations are found, the user must manually select
which installation to upgrade.
The Win31Upgrade key determines whether previous installations of Windows
or Windows for Workgroups 3.x should be upgraded to Windows NT. Yes
indicates that the Windows installation should be upgraded and No means
do not upgrade the installation if found.
This key determines whether OEM-supplied files that have the same name as
Windows NT system files should be overwritten during an unattended
upgrade or not. Yes means overwrite the files and No means do not
overwrite if found. The default behavior is to overwrite OEM-supplied
files.
This key determines the installation directory in which Windows NT should
be installed, and implies that Setup should generate a unique directory
name for the installation. This is usually WINNT.x where x is 0, 1, and
so on. <path name> is user-defined installation directory. Manual
indicates that Setup should prompt the user to enter the installation
path. Note, we do not use drive letters in this value, For example if you
want to have NT install to winnt40, your unattend.txt should have the
value:
NOTE: Do not use drive letters such as c:\winnt or d:\winntws. To specify a drive other than the boot partition, you must use the commandline switch /t: with your setup command. For example, "winnt32.exe /t:d:" (without the quotes) to install Windows NT to the D drive.
This key indicates the type of Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) to be
loaded by the Setup Loader, and installed by text-mode Setup. If this key
is not present, Setup will attempt to detect the type of computer and
install the appropriate retail HAL. It is only valid when OemPreinstall =
Yes. The <hal description> string identifies the HAL to be installed. It
must match one of the strings in the [Computer] section of the
Txtsetup.sif file (for a retail HAL), or the Txtsetup.oem file (for an
OEM HAL). Retail informs Setup that the HAL to be installed is part of
the Windows NT product. OEM indicates that the HAL to be loaded is OEM-
supplied. If the HAL is OEM-supplied, the driver name must also be listed
in the [OemBootFiles] section of the Unattend.txt file. Listed below are
some examples of these values:
If you have your own special HAL, your line should read as follows:
Remember that when you use an OEM supplied HAL, the driver name must also exist in the [OemBootFiles] section.
This key indicates the type of keyboard layout to be installed. If this
key does not exist, Setup will detect and install a keyboard layout.
<layout description> must match one of the right hand strings (in "") in
the ["Keyboard Layout"] section of the Txtsetup.sif file.Example:
NOTE: If you are using a localized version of Windows NT, refer to the Txtsetup.sif file located on the second installation floppy disk for the appropriate string to add in the Unattend.txt file.
This section contains a list of SCSI drivers to be loaded by the Setup
Loader, and installed during text-mode Setup. If this section is missing
or empty, Setup will attempt to detect the SCSI devices on the computer,
and install the corresponding retail drivers.
This is a string that identifies the driver to be installed. It must
match one of the strings defined in the right-hand side of the[SCSI]
section of the Txtsetup.sif file (for a retail driver), or the
Txtsetup.oem file (for an OEM driver). Multiple <mass storage driver
description>s can be specified. RETAIL indicates that the driver is part
of the retail Windows NT product. OEM indicates that the driver is OEM-
supplied. If the value is OEM, the driver must also be listed in the
[OemBootFiles] section of the Unattend.txt file. Listed below are some
examples of some values:
This section contains a list of display drivers to be loaded by the Setup
Loader, and installed during text-mode Setup. It is only valid when
OemPreinstall = Yes. If this section is missing or empty, Setup will
attempt to detect the display devices on the computer, and install the
corresponding retail drivers. Note that you can get the same
functionality by using the settings in the [Display] section described
later.
This is a string that identifies the driver to be installed. It must
match one of the strings defined in the right-hand side of the [Display]
section of the Txtsetup.sif file (for a retail driver), or the
Txtsetup.oem file (for an OEM driver). Multiple <display driver
description>s can be specified. RETAIL indicates that the driver is part
of the retail Windows NT product. OEM indicates that the driver is OEM-
supplied.
This section contains a list of Keyboard drivers to be loaded by the
Setup Loader, and installed during text-mode Setup. It is only valid when
OemPreinstall = Yes. If this section is missing or empty, Setup will
attempt to detect the keyboard devices on the computer, and install the
corresponding retail drivers.
This is a string that identifies the driver to be installed. It must
match one of the strings defined in the right-hand side of the[Keyboard]
section of the Txtsetup.sif file (for a retail driver), or the
Txtsetup.oem file (for an OEM driver). Multiple <keyboard driver
description>s can be specified. RETAIL indicates that the driver is part
of the retail Windows NT product. OEM indicates that the driver is OEM-
supplied. Below is an example:
This section contains a list of pointing device drivers to be loaded by
the Setup Loader, and installed during text-mode Setup. It is only valid
when OemPreinstall = Yes. If this section is missing or empty, Setup will
attempt to detect the pointing devices on the computer, and install the
corresponding retail drivers.
This is a string that identifies the driver to be installed. It must
match one of the strings defined in the right-hand side of the[Mouse]
section of the Txtsetup.sif file (for a retail driver), or the
Txtsetup.oem file (for an OEM driver). Multiple <pointing device driver
description>s can be specified. RETAIL indicates that the driver is part
of the retail Windows NT product. OEM indicates that the driver is OEM-
supplied. Below are some examples of these values:
This section is used to specify OEM-supplied boot files. It is only valid
if OemPreinstall = Yes and the files listed here have been placed in the
$OEM$\Textmode directory of the OEM's distribution share point.
This file contains descriptions of all the OEM-supplied drivers listed in
this section. It also includes instructions on how to install the drivers
listed in this section. It must exist if this section is listed.
This <hal file name> maps to a HAL description that has been defined by
the ComputerType key in the [Unattended] section of the Unattend.txt
file.
The <scsi driver file name> maps to a mass storage driver description
defined in the [MassStorageDriver] section of the Unattend.txt file.
There can be multiple <scsi driver file name>s listed in the
[OemBootFiles] section.
This section instructs Setup that the default end-user interface will be
modified by the keys below.
This key specifies a text string to be displayed in the upper left corner
of the computer screen. The text must contain the "Windows NT" sub-string
or it will be ignored. To specify more than one line, you can separate
the different lines using the * character. Example:
This key specifies a bitmap to be displayed in the upper right corner of
the screen. If this line has only one field, it is assumed to be a .bmp
file located in the $OEM$ directory of the distribution share point.
However if two fields are specified, the first field is the name of a DLL
and the second is a base-10 number that represents the resource ID of the
bitmap in the DLL. The DLL specified should be located in the $OEM$
directory. Example: This key specifies a background bitmap to be displayed. If this line has
only one field, it is assumed to be a .bmp file located in the $OEM$
directory of the distribution share point. However if two fields are
specified, the first field is the name of a DLL and the second is a base-
10 number that represents the resource ID of the bitmap in the DLL. The
DLL specified should be located in the $OEM$ directory. Example: This key is used to specify whether the introductory "Welcome to Windows
NT Setup" page is skipped or not. Default behavior is to show the wizard
page. This key is used to specify whether the user should see the Administrator
Password Wizard page or not. Default behavior is to show the password
page. In NT 4.0 you cannot automate the setup of the administrator
password unless you specify it to be blank (OEMBlankAdminPassword = 1).
The only way to set this is to either let NT prompt for it during GUI mode
or after install is complete. The TimeZone key determines the time zone of the computer. If the key is
empty, the user is prompted to indicate a time zone. The list of valid
TimeZone strings is as follows:
This key is only valid when installing Windows NT Server. SERVERNT
indicates that the computer will be a standalone server. LANMANNT
indicates that the computer will serve as a primary domain controller.
LANSECNT indicates that the computer will be a backup domain controller. The DetachedProgram key is used to indicate the path of the custom
program that should run concurrently with the Setup program. If the
program requires any arguments, the Arguments key must be specified.
The Arguments key indicates that arguments or parameters accompany the
custom program that should run concurrently with the Setup program.
The FullName key is used to specify the user's full name. If the key is
empty or missing, the user is prompted to enter a name. This is not the
name of the user that will be using the machine or user account. This
should contain the name of the person or company to which the software is
registered.
This key is used to specify an organization's name. If the OrgName key is
empty or missing, the user is prompted to enter an organization name.
This key is used to specify the computer name. If the ComputerName key is
empty or missing, the user is prompted to enter a computer name.
The ProductId key specifies the Microsoft product identification
(productID) number. This number can be found on the Jewel case of the CD.
This section is only valid when installing Windows NT Server.
The AutoMode key determines whether Windows NT Server is installed in per-
seat or per-server license mode. If AutoMode = PERSERVER, the AutoUsers
key must also be specified. PERSEAT indicates that a client access
license has been purchased for each computer that accesses the server.
PERSERVER indicates that client access licenses have been purchased for
the server to allow a certain number of concurrent connections to the
server. If AutoMode is empty or missing, the user will be prompted to
select the license mode.
This key is only valid if AutoMode = PerServer. <decimal number>
indicates the number of client licenses purchased for the server being
installed. Listed below is an example of this section:
This section is used to specify display settings for the particular
graphics device being installed. In order for this to work properly, the
user must know what settings are valid for the graphics. If the pre-
specified settings are not valid, the user will be prompted to select
them.
This key is used to specify when the graphics devices are configured:
During Setup or after the first logon by a user. 0 implies configure
during Setup and 1 indicates that the device should be configured during
the first logon by the user. For this to be fully automated, this key
should not be used at all.
This key specifies the <valid bits per pixel> for the graphics device
being installed.
This key specifies a <valid x resolution> for the graphics device being
installed.
This key specifies a <valid y resolution> for the graphics device being
installed.
This key specifies a <valid refresh rate> for the graphics device being
installed.
This key specifies <valid flags> for the graphics device being installed.
The AutoConfirm key indicates whether the graphics device should be
configured using pre-specified display settings or not. 0 implies do not
use the pre-specified settings and 1 indicates that the pre-defined
settings should be used. AutoConfirm = 1 requires that all the necessary
parameters have been pre-specified in the Unattend.txt file. Listed below
is an example the [Display] sections settings:
If the Video card installed cannot use the defined settings or are invalid, defaults will be used for install. You can install third party video drivers if your video card is not detected by NT and is an OEM Video card. Please see the following Knowledge Base article for this information: ARTICLE-ID: Q166028You can use the next three parameters instead of the [DisplayDriver], [OemBootFiles] sections and custom Txtsetup.oem files to install third- party video drivers. The drivers and files required by the video adapter should exist in the $OEM$\Display directory on the distribution share point.
This key specifies whether a third-party driver is being installed or
not. If value is 0, the InfFile and InfOption keys are skipped.
This key specifies a list of .inf file names for display drivers to be
installed. You can specify only one .inf file per driver. That is,
S3.inf, Matrox.inf, and so on.
Specifies a list of options that should be selected from the
corresponding .inf files specified with the InfFile key. For example, the
display tool will install the S3 765 entry in the S3.inf file and the
Millenium 3D entry in the Matrox.inf file if the following keys are
specified:
This section header is used to identify whether a modem should be
installed or not. It is used by Remote Access Services (RAS) to install a
modem if DeviceType = Modem in the list of RAS parameters. This section
cannot be empty if you want to install modems using RAS in unattended
mode.
This key defines a section where modem installation parameters are
defined. The key must exist in order to install any modems.
The modem parameter section lists the keys and values required to install
a modem on a particular COM port. If the [<modem parameter section>]
section is blank, RAS will perform modem detection on its preconfigured
ports and install any modems it finds.
The <COM port number> key specifies the COM ports on which modems are
installed. The COM port numbers must match ports configured or to be
configured by the RAS installation. <Modem description> must match a
modem description in a Mdmxxxxx.inf file that corresponds to the modem to
be installed. This string must be enclosed in quotation marks. The
<Manufacturer> and <Provider> fields are optional fields that identify
the manufacturer and provider of a particular modem in cases where the
<modem description> string is not unique to a particular manufacturer.
An example of the [Modem] section is listed below:
This section informs Setup that Networking should be installed. If empty,
the user will be presented with various error messages. If this section
header is missing, network installation will be skipped.
This key is specified if you want the user to install networking manually
during an unattended installation. The value is ignored so if you want a
complete unattended installation, this key should not be specified at
all.
This key is used to define the workgroup in which the computer will
participate.
This key is used to define the domain in which the computer will
participate.
This key allows the machine account to be created during setup. The
username and password is for a domain account that has the right Add
Workstations To Domain. Note that for this value to work, the network card
must be able to contact the Domain controller. This is crucial for
computers that are only using the TCPIP protocol and Domain controller is
on a different segment. We must have a way to resolve the IP address. If
the account does not have the priveliges to add workstations to the domain
or cannot contact the domain controller, setup will prompt you that it
failed to create the account and bring you back to the Join domain dialog.
This key is used to specify the name of a domain to be installed. It is
only valid when installing a primary or backup domain controller and the
AdvServerType key has been set accordingly.
This key is used to detect network adapter cards installed on a computer.
Either this key or the InstallAdapters key must exist in order to install
network cards. If the value is "", the first card detected will be
installed.
This key defines a section in which the network adapters to be installed
are listed. If this key is present, the adapters listed in the section
are installed by default, they are not detected.
This key defines a section in which the network protocols to be installed
are listed.
This key defines a section in which the network services to be installed
are listed. Listed below is a list of services that can be installed
during unattended setup:
This key defines a section in which parameters for installing the
Internet Information Server(IIS) are listed. During installation on
Windows NT Server, IIS is installed by default.
This section is pointed to by the DetectAdapters key described earlier.
Indicates the number of detection attempts Setup should make.
This key specifies a list of netcard inf options to which the detection
should be limited. The netcard inf options for particular cards can be
found in the [Options] section of the corresponding Oemnadxx.inf file. For
example:
This key points Setup to the section that contains descriptions for a
particular network adapter card. The <netcard inf options> for particular
cards can be found in the [Options] section of the corresponding
Oemnadxx.inf files. Example:
The oem_path points to the location of the OEM supplied files. If the
path starts with a drive letter, then the literal path is used to find the
OEM driver. If, however, the path starts with a backwards slash (\), then
the path given will be appended to the path to the installation source.
Example: for a driver located in $OEM$\NET\subdirectory_a, oem_path would be set to
\$OEM$\NET\subdirectory_a.
This section contains the parameters for a particular network adapter
card whose <netcard inf option> has been specified in the [<Detect
Adapters Section>] or the [<Install Adapters Section>] of the
Unattend.txt file. These values can be found by parsing the appropriate
Oemnadxx.inf, or oemsetup.inf file for the network card. They can also be
found by looking the in the registry of a NT machine with the adapter
already installed and functioning properly. To do this, use Regedt32.exe
and look in the following registry key:
where X = 1 or ordinal of adapter installed. In this key look at the parameters key and note the values. Note!! all values in the registry appear as Hex but in your unattend.txt file, these values must be converted to decimal. For example, the value of IOBaseAddress =0x300 in the registry must be set to IOBaseAddress = 768 in the answer file. Listed below is an example of these parameters:
NOTE: These values will differ for each type of network card but the numbers must always appear in decimal.
This section contains a list of .inf file options for network protocols
and the corresponding Unattend.txt file section in which the parameters
for the particular protocol are listed.
This key indicates that NetBeui should be installed in unattended mode.
The corresponding parameter section must exist or Setup will fail.
This key indicates that IPX should be installed in unattended mode. The
corresponding parameter section must exist or Setup will fail.
This key indicates that TCP/IP should be installed in unattended mode.
The corresponding parameter section must exist or Setup will fail.
This key indicates that DLC should be installed in unattended mode.
The corresponding parameter section must exist or Setup will fail.
This key indicates that Ras Point to Point Protocol should be installed in
unattended mode. The corresponding parameter section must exist or Setup
will fail.
This key indicates that STREAMS should be installed in unattended mode.
The corresponding parameter section must exist or Setup will fail.
This key indicates that Apple Talk Protocol should be installed in
unattended mode. The corresponding parameter section must exist or Setup
will fail.
This parameter is left empty because NetBeui does not require any extra
parameters to be installed.
This parameter is left empty because IPX does not require any extra
parameters to be installed.
This key is used to specify whether or not DHCP should be used.
This key is used to specify the computer's scope identifier if required
on a network that uses NetBios over TCP/IP. If DHCP = No, the following
keys must be specified:
No values are needed here but section header must exist for service to
install.
No values are needed here but section header must exist for service to
install.
No values are needed here but section header must exist for service to
install.
No values are needed here but section header must exist for service to
install.
The !DefaultLocation key identifies the default logon server for the
NetWare client. For NDS logins use the following syntax:
Where ABC is the tree name and marketing.us is the default context.
This key defines the default action to perform with scripts. 0 implies
that no scripts will be run, 1 indicates that only NetWare 3.x-level
scripts will be run and 3 implies that either NetWare 3.x or NetWare 4.x-
level scripts can be run.
This key is used to specify a maximum of three community names that the
computer on which the SNMP service is running accept traps from. The
<community names> are separated by commas.
This key indicates whether an authentication trap should be sent when an
unauthorized community or host requests information.
This key specifies whether or not the computer on which the SNMP service
is being installed should accept SNMP packets from any host.
A maximum of three <host names> can be specified, separated by commas.
This key is valid when Any_Host = No.
Indicates the <community name> for the computer.
This key is used to specify a maximum of three IP or IPX addresses to
which traps should be sent. This key is used to specify the computer user's name.
This key is used to specify the physical location of the computer. Any combination of the five SNMP services listed here can be specified as
values. They must be separated by commas. This key is used to define a port section name. Multiple port section
names can be specified but they must be separated by commas. See [<port
section names>] definition below. ALL implies all installed protocols.The remaining parameters in this <RasParameters> section apply only to RAS Server installation. ALL implies all installed protocols. The default is Network. The default is Network. The default is Yes. This key is required if UseDHCP = NO.
This key is required if UseDHCP = NO.
This key is used to exclude a range of IP addresses when a range of IP
addresses is being assigned manually. It requires that StaticAddressBegin
and StaticAddressEnd be specified already. The default is No. The default is Network. The default is YES. Valid numbers range from 1 to 0xFFFFFFFE. This key is required if
AutomaticNetworkNumbers = NO. The default is YES. The default is NO. This key indicates the names of the ports to be configured in a
particular port section.
This key indicates the type of device RAS should install. Currently, the
only available device type is a modem.
The PortUsage key defines the dialing properties for the ports being
configured.
This section contains parameters for installing Internet Information
Server (IIS). A value of 1 for each of the parameters below implies the
component should be installed. A value of 0 implies the component should
not be installed. Specifies whether Internet services will be installed. The default is 1. Specifies whether the Internet Service Manager will be installed. Specifies whether the FTP service will be installed. Specifies the virtual root for the FTP service. Specifies whether the WWW service will be installed. Specifies the virtual root for the WWW service. Specifies whether the Gopher service will be installed. Specifies the virtual root for the Gopher service. Specifies the installation directory for all components of Internet
Services. Specifies whether or not World Wide Web sample files should be installed. Specifies whether or not the HTLM form of the Internet Service Manager
should be installed. This key is used to define the anonymous user name used in the WWW, FTP,
and GOPHER services. This is used to create the guest account password. If it is not defined,
IIS will create a random string for the guest account.
Sample Unattended FileFor quick reference, an sample unattended file has been created containing all entries and the appropriate range of values. Note, this file has entries that are valid for NT workstation and NT Server, this file is only meant to be used as reference but not an actual answer file.
Additional query words:
Keywords : kbenv kbOPK ntsetup nthowto NTSrvWkst kbSBK |
Last Reviewed: October 7, 1999 © 2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use. |