Vista makes it easy to avoid having to sit there clicking the next button ad nauseum during the install process. Now there's a dedicated program that helps you script the install process. Here's how to do it.
Vista's System Image Manager (SIM) is a GUI program that allows you to create "answer files" for unattended installations.
Answer files are like the old "unattend.txt" file in 2000/XP that allowed you to preset all the options for the Windows install process so you wouldn't have to sit in front of the PC clicking next, next, next ad nauseum.
Vista's answer files are better planned out than the unattend.txt file was. They're saved in well structured XML so they're much easier for other programs to parse and work with.
That said, they're harder for a human to read, so Microsoft has created SIM to provide a decent graphical interface for configuring your own answer file.
SIM is the third key tool in Microsoft's Windows Automated Installation Toolkit (WAIK) which I've covered previously in the following articles:
SIM is broken up into five main areas:
Distribution Share - these are folders that you can specify for Windows to pull drivers and applications from. You can’t modify a distribution share itself within SIM, you still have to do that at the file-system level, but you can now use SIM to easily update the answer file to point to the right places.
For example, if you have some third party drivers stored in the share, they will be visible in SIM. Right-click “Out-of-Box Drivers”, and you can insert the driver path into a particular area of the answer file, where it will be referenced during install.
Windows Image - each answer files you create is tied to a particular install image, so this is where you can open the image and browse its contents.
The image file is a WIM, but it’s not mounted in the same way as ImageX, in that it can’t be modified -- this is for browsing only, for the purposes of creating the answer file.
SIM reads the contents of the WIM, asks which image is to be used (in the case of multiple images), and creates a catalogue of its contents. You then use this catalogue within SIM to add features, products or other components to the answer file, instructing Vista to reference them at the appropriate point.
For example, if you expand the feature pack section, you can find a component you want to be installed during the unattended Vista installation, then either right-click and select “Add to Answer File” or simply drag it to Packages in the answer file.
Answer File - like the other section of SIM, the answer file just gives you a graphical representation of how the answer file has been modified, what components have been added in and where.
Right-clicking on the file name allows you to directly add components into the various sections of the file.
As mentioned at the top of the article, the answer file is an XML file which resides in the SOURCES folder of the Vista DVD structure once it is saved.
You can of course edit it directly with Notepad, but SIM is a better tool because you don't have to make sense of endless tagged XML -- something like trying to read the source code of a web page.
The benefit of answer files in Vista being standardised in XML is that they can be used across different distribution methods, like remote deployment or SYSPREP.
Properties - the Properties window gives you a run-down of the metadata information of whichever component or package you’ve selected.
Some installable packages have the option of customisable settings - for example you can select a package which gets installed by default, add it to the answer file and select “Remove” to have the answer file delete the package during the install.
Messages - finally, the Messages window constantly monitors the answer file as you modify it, and alerts any potential problems relating to the XML, to file validation or the configuration. It’s a useful visual tool, when and if things don’t quite work.
All-in-all, the SIM is a great tool that's well laid out and quite intuitive to use once you understand the basic functionality.
There’s no doubt that the new imaging and installation methods in Vista are far superior than those currently available in Windows XP, but they are intrinsically more complex to get working.
Tools like System Image Manager are a blessing for sysadmins, as they help streamline the whole experience, minimise lost productivity and get you up and running on no time.
