Deploying W2K8R2 from VM Template

[lbhans]

Greetings,

I am having some difficulties in deploying Windows 2008 R2 SP1 from a VmWare template. I created a blank VM in vSphere 4.1 U1 and installed W2L8R2 to it with no problem. The problem arises when I deploy the template to a new VM. None of the prior customizations I made to the image translate to the VMs I deploy to. Only added roles and features are carried over. I renamed the Administrator account and it did not translate to the new VMs I suspect that it is because SYSPREP strips out all uniquness. I tried creating a setupcomplete.cmd file with the following line added to it

wmic useraccount where name="Administrator" call rename name="NewAdmin"

The setupcomplete.cmd is supposed to run after the Sysprep operations complete and before the server reboots, but this does not seem to work.

I also tried going into the Local Securoty Policy view in Administrative Tools and setting a policy to rename the Administratoe account to one f my choosing. This setting was also stripped after SYSPREP ran.

Any insight into a possible solution would be most appreciated.

Thanks!!

[cluberti]

Look into the <copyprofile> section of the unattend.xml. If you're sysprep'ing a VM and not using this in your unattended build of it afterwards, then yes, all customizations in the Admin profile are lost. This is expected behavior.