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After RIS (Remote Installation Services) is setup and deploying images
at your whim, it's time to start configuring it. Since RIS has no
interface most of the customizing is done via config files (text files
with .SIF tacked on the end). Hm.. Whatever happened to
naming config files with .INI? I guess the developers thought
Setup Installation File was much more appropriate.
Below is a list of files that RIS commonly uses.
| Component | Description | | Setup Installation Files (.sif) | The
RIS Server uses Setup Installation Files to communicate the
installation options to the RIS client. These files have the .sif
extension. | | .osc files | The
RISetup.exe tool, used to setup the RIS Server, installs a default set
of Client Installation Wizard files. These files have an .osc
extension, and are stored in the \OSChooser\English folder on the RIS
Server. These files are text files formatted in OSCML, and can be
modified. | | Client Installation Wizard (CIW) files | CIW files are .osc files that guide the user through a remote operating system installation on the client. | | Winnt.sif | Winnt.sif
is a Setup Installation File downloaded from the RIS Server to the
client and used to detect the client hardware abstraction layer (HAL)
type. | | Ntldr | Ntldr
is the executable that starts the CIW. Ntldr is on the client, and is
the same as the oschoice.exe file on the RIS Server, copied and saved
as Ntldr on the client. | | Startrom.com file | Startrom.com
is a file located in the \\RIS_server_name\REMINST\oschooser\i386
folder on the RIS server. Startrom.com is the first file downloaded by
Ntldr to start the client boot process. | | Welcome.osc file | The
Welcome.osc file provides the first Client Installation Wizard screen
presented to the client during the Client Installation Wizard. | | Choice.osc file | The Choice.osc file stores all possible remote operating system installation choices that can be presented to the client user. | | Oscfilter.ini | The
Oscfilter.ini file stores settings made in the RIS SSE, and it
determines which of the possible operating system installation options
in Choice.osc, are presented to the client. | | Oschoice.osc | The
Oschoice.osc file stores the remote operating system installation list
(if more than one) presented to the client user as determined by the
oscfilter.ini file and choice.osc file combination. |
RISTNDRD.SIF
This
file provides settings that are used during the initial Windows setup.
It guides the installation of the operating system and is known
as the answer file. Each image get it's own copy which by default
is placed in YourDriveLetter:\RemoteInstall\Setup\English\Images\YourDirectoryName\i386\templates\ristndrd.sif. Where YourDriveLetter is the drive you chose to install RIS onto, and YourDirectoryName is the directory name you chose when creating your OS image. Below are some common changes.
[Data] Section
- Remove: DisableAdminAccountOnDomainJoin = 1
If
left in, the local administrator account will be locked out after
Windows boots for the first time. I don't care for this so I've
removed the line. For more info checkout KB article 320490 [UserData] Section - Add: ProductID = "12345-12345-12345-12345-12345"
This prevents the installer from prompting for the serial key [GuiUnattended] Section - Change: AdminPassword = "YourPassword"
This
sets the local administrator password. For the security
concious you can leave it the default ("*") and leave in the
DisableAdminAccountOnDomainJoin line. [GuiUnattended] Section - Change: BitsPerPel = 32
- Change: XResolution = 1024
- Change: YResolution = 768
Sets the windows screen resolution to 1024 x 768 @ 32 bit color depth. A note on the ProductID (Serial)
Depending
on the CD you used to create your OS image, Windows will be expecting a
volume, retail or OEM cd key. Volume CDs require volume keys
etc.. If they don't match you might find windows prompting
for the key during the install.
A CD is defined as a
volume, retail or OEM CD by a specific
value in i386setupp.ini (yes double p) on the Windows
CD. If windows is prompting for the serial during the install even
though you've specified it in ristndrd.sif, make sure that your
key & CD type match. To ensure that your key type matches
the media type you'll need to open i386setupp.ini (search for it in \YourDirectoryName\i386\) and edit the Pid value as described below..
I found instructions for this on TheTechGuide.com WinXP's
setupp.ini controls how the CD acts. IE is it an OEM version or retail?
First, find your setupp.ini file in the i386 directory on your WinXP
CD. Open it up, it'll look something like this:
ExtraData=707A667567736F696F697911AE7E05
Pid=55034000
The
Pid value is what we're interested in. What's there now looks like a
standard default. There are special numbers that determine if it's a
retail, oem, or volume license edition. First, we break down that
number into two parts. The first five digits determines how the CD will
behave, ie is it a retail cd that lets you clean install or upgrade, or
an oem cd that only lets you perform a clean install? The last three
digits determine what CD key it will accept. You are able to mix and
match these values. For example you could make a WinXP cd that acted
like a retail cd, yet accepted OEM keys.
Now, for the actual values. Remember the first and last values are interchangeable, but usually you'd keep them as a pair:
Retail = 51882 335
Volume License = 51883 270
OEM = 82503 OEM
So if you wanted a retail CD that took retail keys, the last line of your setupp.ini file would read:
Pid=51882335
And if you wanted a retail CD that took OEM keys, you'd use:
Pid=51882OEM
Note that this does NOT
get rid of WinXP's activation. Changing the Pid to a Volume License
will not bypass activation. You must have a volume license (corporate)
key to do so.
References:
How Ris Works ...
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Posted Aug 08, 2004 @ 9:35 AM |
Comments: 4
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Comments
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hebashero@yahoo.com
(3/26/2007 8:06:39 AM)
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load RIS to me |
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wim
(6/1/2007 9:12:13 AM)
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ah now this is what I need.. thanks! |
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Ernie
(6/12/2007 9:43:20 AM)
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Hi, is there away for a workstation to automatically grab an image off of RIS and bypass CIW? |
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ToMMy
(5/23/2008 12:13:52 PM)
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Thanks. I was looking for this :) |
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