Apply Operating System

The Apply Operating System step applies the specified Windows image (.wim file) to the NTFS-formatted volume created by the Format disk step. By convention, the volume assigned the S: drive letter will be used.

To configure this step, select an operating system image content item, and specify the index of the image within that image file. Specifying an unattend.xml is optional; a default template will be used if a custom answer file is not specified. If you specify an unattend.xml, it must include an entry to restart the DeployR task sequence once the new OS is running.

There are multiple continuation methods available that specify how the task sequence should continue executing once in the new operating system. The available choices are:

• Use provided unattend.xml. When specified, the unattend.xml specified will be used instead of the default templates included with DeployR. The unattend.xml specified must specify the correct commands for continuing the task sequence, based on how the unattend.xml will relaunh the DeployR via the included bootstrap script.

• Use SetupComplete.cmd. After OOBE completes, Windows will automatically run the SetupComplete.cmd file before a user can log into the operating system. DeployR can leverage this to continue the task sequence, even through multiple reboots. Note that SetupComplete.cmd requires using volume license (and not retail) media.

• Use Specialize phase RunSynchronous command. The specialize phase runs when Windows boots for the first time on a new device. During this phase, the operating system is customized for the hardware. DeployR can continue a task sequence through RunSynchronous commands that are executed automatically via the unattend.xml, even through multiple reboots. Note that there are some limitations at this phase of the process (e.g. Windows updates cannot be installed) because Windows is still in "setup mode."

• Use AutoAdminLogon and RunOnce. After the specialize phase and OOBE are completed, the unattend.xml template specifies to automatically log on as the local Administrator account to run the necessary command to resume the DeployR task sequence. Multiple reboots are possible by reconfiguring the device for autologon and to execute the DeployR client.

• Use OOBE (no unattend.xml). In some scenarios (e.g. Windows Autopilot), it is desirable to finish the task sequence while still in Windows PE. In this case, it is not necessary to specify an unattend.xml; Windows will complete the specialization phase and start OOBE, where the end user can complete the provisioning process.

• Use Audit mode. After the Windows specialization process completes, Windows can be instructed to boot into audit mode, where the local Administrator account automatically logs on, even without enabling the account or setting a password. The DeployR task sequence will then be resumed via RunSynchronous commands in the audit user phase of the process. Multiple reboots can be performed as DeployR will set the needed return codes to indicate to Windows that it should be reinvoked after the reboot. As with the specialize phase, there are restrictions to what can be done (e.g. no patching) due to Windows still being in setup mode. Note that the user will not be able to access the desktop