Add Option To Sysprep As Shutdown Command

[joefitzgerald]

This would ensure that a base box does not begin counting down the activation clock until you use it for the first time - at the expense of using up one of the three sysprep /generalize runs that you can do (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744512(v=ws.10).aspx).

[StefanScherer]

Could this sysprep be used to prepare the basebox in a way to rename the computername after the next boot which is then done by first vagrant up call?

I think of a way

1. packer shuts Down the basebox with sysprep
2. Add basebox to vagrant
3. vagrant up with hostname setting in Vagrantfile
4. vagrant and propably the vagrant-windows plugin sets the hostname and the new created box has the computername without the need of another reboot?

I don't know sysprep enough, but I have seen manually created VMs which ask for a new computername on first boot. If this could be set with something like an unattend.xml on boot time by vagrant then this could save me one reboot.

At the moment I have to reboot freshly created vagrant Windows boxes so they really have their new computernames from vagrant-windows plugin.

[sneal]

My Packer shutdown command specifies another unattend xml file - which contains the new computer name. This is run on first boot after Packer has finished with the box.

"shutdown_command": "c:/windows/system32/sysprep/sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /quiet /shutdown /unattend:a:/unattend.xml",

[ghost]

Can you please post your unattend.xml I do not seem to be able to change the computername as it errors out.

[kensykora]

+1 to this idea, I'll look into it, but like others I don't have much experience with sysprep. @sneal could you post your unattend.xml file for this? Any thoughts on how to pass the hostname to sysprep through an environment variable or something along those lines?

[stonith]

I've been using this one for 2008R2: https://gist.github.com/stonith/33a75407b465cfbf4f5e

Specify the ComputerName on line 39. I'm also uninstalling OpenSSH on first boot but that can be removed.

[lilo6723]

Anyone still working on this ?