[Libosinfo] [v3 2/3] Adapt windows-unattend.xml for Windows 8

[Christophe Fergeau]

On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 08:08:01PM +0100, Christophe Fergeau wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 04:50:02PM +0100, Christophe Fergeau wrote:
> > I played a bit with this, with a non-empty product key, adding the Win8
> > <ProductKey> bits while keeping or removing the Win7 <ProductKey> bits
> > break win7 unattended install in all cases.
> > Removing the /IMAGE/INDEX bits also break win7 unattended install.
> 
> Actually I missed something during testing. The <ProductKey> node added for
> Win8 unattended installs seems to be mutually exclusive with the
> /IMAGE/INDEX bits from Win7 unattended installs (I got a vague hint toward
> that from http://technet.microsoft.com/fr-fr/library/ff715526.aspx ).
> Using the <ProductKey> node from Win8 and removing the Win7 ProductKey node
> and the InstallFrom (/IMAGE/INDEX) Win7 node gives me a working unattended
> install. In short, using a Win8 autounattended.xml file with Win7 seems to
> be working fine (I've only tested with a mandatory product key).

More testing, more reading. Windows installation ISOs can contain multiple
editions of Windows (I've got one with Win7 Home Premium and Win7 Pro for
example). You can query which versions are available on a given ISO using a
tool called 'imagex' and querying the /sources/install.wim file on the
disk.
This lists the various available editions on the ISO, in addition to giving
them an index/name. Then you can use
Microsoft-Windows-Setup/ImageInstall/OSImage/InstallFrom/MetaData
in unattended files to indicate which version you want to install OR (and
this seems to be exclusive), you can set
Microsoft-Windows-Setup/UserData/ProductKey/Key to indicate which edition
you want to install (valid keys differ from one Windows edition to
another). The latter is explained at
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825195.aspx
This seems to apply to the Win7 ISO mentioned above as I can start
unattended installs with both a Home Premium and Professional key. I
haven't waited till the end of the install to check that win7 reports the
correct edition.
The important thing to note here is that the <InstallFrom><Metadata> node
we currently are using forces the installation of the first edition on a
given ISO regardless of the ProductKey the user has, which could be an
issue if MS is actually shipping multi-edition ISOs and differentiates them
through product keys.

Also, http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744266%28v=ws.10%29.aspx
says 'If you do not enter a product key during installation, the activation
clock gives testers and end users a 30-day grace period during which
Windows activation is not required.', so I'm not really sure making the
product key optional or win7 unattended installs is something we want, as
we would be making an unattended install that needs attention after 30 days
;)

The conclusion of this lengthy email is that I'd make product key mandatory
again for Win7, and use the same unattend.xml file for both win7 and win8.

Christophe
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