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Accepted
Scott Forsyth
Asked: 2009-10-13 19:59:10 +0800 CST

How do I provide sysprep a list of servernames and IPs

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I would like to have sysprep make a call out to a server somewhere (SCCM, MDT, etc) that provides an answer during bootup to get the computer name and IP address to use. Any pointers on which technology or method to use?

Further info: I want to be able to create a base golden image on a VHD and sysprep it so that it powers down. Then differencing disks will point to this sleeping sysprepped image. However, while booting up each new vm, I want a way to set the computer name and IP uniquely, preferably by MAC address.

I can mount the VHD and edit unattend.xml before powering on, but it appears that unattend.xml has already been run on the previous shutdown and isn't used on boot-up.

My failback plan is to have a script run after booting up that will rename it, set the IP and reboot. However, I would like to avoid that extra reboot if at all possible.

sccm

4 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Look into MDT 2010. It has builting functionality to boot into WinPE and Query a SQL Database (based on the computers Mac address) for pretty much anything you want and populating this into unattend.xml before the install runs. Lots of options. Takes a little while to get the hang of it, but it's pretty logical. IP Address specifiation was a bit troublesome in the last version of MDT, but in 2010 you can add your own columns to the database and perform queries on these as well. you MIGHT have to create your own script for setting the IP address, but it shouldn't be too much work finding a vb script that lets you do it - at least if your computers only have one NIC - google is your friend.

    best regards, Trond

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  2. It sounds like you want a WDS server.

    WDS is Windows Deployment Services, replacing the older Remote Installation Services (RIS). And uses answer files, can name systems within a naming convention, and can be installed through a network boot.

    Here is a very cool article on how 2500+ notebooks were simultaneously installed with Windows 7 at the TechEd conference, using WDS and MDT.

    Rather than enumerate the steps necessary to deploy WDS, here's the technet link.

    (if you are using win2k3/XP just replace WDS with RIS in this post).

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  3. If you can mount a VHD you can just use:

    [UserData]
ComputerName = <computer name>

    in C:\SysPrep\sysprep.inf file.

    As for IP there is a NetSet tool which is able to set up IP. But just using DHCP with static assignments will be much better - easier and more flexible.

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  4. Can you not leverage DHCP in some way to assign IP's?

    Combined with SysPrep's own ability to name the computer on its initial boot it should give you what you need with only a little bit of effort.

    Is there any particular reason you need to know the machines IP or set it manually? In our infrastructure we rely on DHCP for most systems - using reservations where we do need to force an IP and just using DNS names to find the IP where they're dynamically assigned.

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