When building a catalog file against a image file in WAIK does it need to be the image you intend to deploy?

Question

When building a catalog file against a image file in WAIK, does it need to be the image you intend to deploy? I have a unattend.xml answer file created in SIM, for WDS. I originally had a problem with it asking for locale and credentials for connecting to WDS. I rebuilt the catalog file to a different image and answer file. Now it does not go past the disk configuration part of windowsPE. I want it to have two partitions 100meg and the rest of the disk on the other partition. It needs to automate all answers until the image installs with the client unattend file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> 
- <unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
- <settings pass="windowsPE">
- <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
- <DiskConfiguration>
- <Disk wcm:action="add">
  <DiskID>0</DiskID> 
  <WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk> 
- <ModifyPartitions>
- <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
  <Active>true</Active> 
  <Format>NTFS</Format> 
  <Letter>C</Letter> 
  <Order>2</Order> 
  <PartitionID>2</PartitionID> 
  <Extend>true</Extend> 
  <Label>system</Label> 
  </ModifyPartition>
- <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
  <Format>NTFS</Format> 
  <Order>1</Order> 
  <PartitionID>1</PartitionID> 
  </ModifyPartition>
  </ModifyPartitions>
- <CreatePartitions>
- <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
  <Order>1</Order> 
  <Size>100</Size> 
  </CreatePartition>
- <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
  <Order>2</Order> 
  <Type>Primary</Type> 
  </CreatePartition>
  </CreatePartitions>
  </Disk>
  <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI> 
  </DiskConfiguration>
  <UseConfigurationSet>true</UseConfigurationSet> 
  <EnableFirewall>false</EnableFirewall> 
- <WindowsDeploymentServices>
- <Login>
- <Credentials>
  <Domain>Yada</Domain> 
  <Password>*****</Password> 
  <Username>install</Username> 
  </Credentials>
  </Login>
- <ImageSelection>
- <InstallImage>
  <Filename>WIN7V4.wim</Filename> 
  <ImageGroup>ImageGroup2</ImageGroup> 
  <ImageName>WIN7V3</ImageName> 
  </InstallImage>
- <InstallTo>
  <DiskID>0</DiskID> 
  <PartitionID>2</PartitionID> 
  </InstallTo>
  </ImageSelection>
  </WindowsDeploymentServices>
  </component>
- <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" processorArchitecture="x86" 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>en-US</UILanguage> 
  </SetupUILanguage>
  <InputLocale>en-US</InputLocale> 
  <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale> 
  <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage> 
  <UILanguageFallback>en-US</UILanguageFallback> 
  <UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale> 
  </component>
  </settings>
  <cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="wim://waiktech/share/win7v4.5.wim#WIN7V3" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" /> 
  </unattend> 

Ps. Is it unnecessary to use OOBE during sysprep if we're a small company?

Thanks

Answer 1

If you are going to load an existing image, make changes and then re-sysprep and capture, then the catalog should be built from the old image. This will pull in all existing changes and set those as the defaults. In the TechNet article ‘Understanding Windows Image Files and Catalog Files’, it states that ‘When a Windows image changes, you must create a new catalog file’.

The settings that you have in your answer file appear to be fine. Missing or incorrect drivers in the boot image (Windows PE) could cause problems like this.

The OOBE options for answer files are an important part of automating your deployments. Options such as language and locale settings, product key and more can be put into the oobesystem section of the answer file to save you time. This TechNet article explains all 7 configuration passes.

Lastly, I would like to recommend that you check out the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT). MDT is a common console for many of Microsoft’s deployment tools such as WAIK or the newer WADK (Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit), USMT (User State Migration Tool), ACT (Application Compatibility Toolkit), and more. MDT also integrates with WDS and can make your deployments easier and require less interaction on your part. For anyone new to MDT, here are some great videos to show the power and flexibility of MDT:

Deployment Day Session 1: Introduction to MDT 2012

Deployment Day Session 2: MDT Advanced

And specific to your environment is:

Deployment Day Session 3: Deployment using WDS

Many more videos and articles on deploying Windows 7 can be found on the Deliver and Deploy Windows 7 page of the Springboard Series on TechNet.

Hope this helps.