Customizing the Windows Server 2008 answer file

The Windows answer file provides responses to prompts encountered during installation, allowing you to perform unattended installations.

Procedure

To customize the Windows Server 2008 answer file:

  1. Open the file, sgdeploy\SGTKWinPE\Altiris\AnswerFiles\win2008x64.xml.
  2. Add the settings you want to customize. For this example, add:
    <TimeZone>%TK_TimeZone%</TimeZone>
  3. Set the value of the setting you have added to a variable that you will add to the appropriate Scripting Toolkit scenario .ini file.Scripting Toolkit environment variables are surrounded by the percent sign (%), as shown in this example:
    [GuiUnattended]
    ...
    <TimeZone>%TK_TimeZone%</TimeZone>
    ...
    Typically you will add this value to the [NOS Installation Settings] section of the INI file.
  4. For each environment variable you have assigned, include a value in the corresponding scenario INI file. Use the format variable_name=value, where variable_name is the name you selected in the answer file and value is a valid value for the variable you are using, for example:
    TK_TimeZone=035
    or:
    TK_TimeZone=Pacific Standard Time
    Typically you will add this value to the [NOS Installation Settings] section of the INI file. During deployment, the environment variables specified in the answer file are replaced with the corresponding variables from the scenario INI file.