Sysprep Unattend File in Windows Server 2008

Written by Misha Hanin

Where is my sysprep INF answer file?

If you, like me, started working on the unattended sysprep configuration in Windows Server 2008 and is wondering where is the old good INF answer file, wonder no more - there is no INF file anymore. Instead, the answer file is now an XML file.

How to use the new sysprep XML answer file

To actually use the new answer file, create a new XML file and name it sysprep.xml. You are supposed to use the Windows System Image Manager to create the XML answer file. Windows System Image Manager is part of WAIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit) and can be downloaded here.

Copy the XML file to C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep. That is the default location of sysprep.exe in Windows Server 2008.

From that location, execute the following command:

 sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:sysprep.xml

The system will then shut down. The next time you start up the system (after cloning it), it will populate the XML file with the proper settings - Computer Name will be automatically generated.

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Sysprep Unattend File in Windows Server 2008

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