Caution: HPCA now enables you to specify the source of this information when you run the Publisher. See Publishing Operating System Images for more information.
Note: This topic does not apply to Windows XP or Windows 2003.
The HPCA Publisher is backward compatible. It supports publishing saved OS images that consist of a .WIM
file, a .EDM
file, a .XML
file, and a .SUB
file.
If you choose to manually pre-create *.SUBS
and *.XML
files, they must have the same prefix as the *.WIM
file. For example: vista.WIM
, vista.SUBS
, and vista.XML
. All three files must be stored in the same directory.
Note: When you run the HPCA Publisher, if it finds a *.SUBS
and *.XML
file in the same directory as the *.WIM
file, it will not prompt you for an unattend.xml
file.
HPCA provides samples of these files on the Image Capture media in subdirectories of the following folder:
\samples\unattend
If you choose to use the sample files, rename them and then modify them as needed—for example, setting the <TimeZone>
and the <ProductKey>
.
The *.XML
file is an answer file that contains standard information as well as placeholders for information that will be included from *.SUBS
. You can use the Microsoft Windows System Image Manager (SIM) tool to make additions to the *.XML
file. If you do so, you must first open the corresponding *.WIM
file before opening *.XML
.
Caution: If you choose to use *.XML
and *.SUBS
files, you must specify your Windows installation product key in the *.XML
file.
Do not delete any XML values from this file! If you modify the *.XML
file incorrectly, you may cause your installation to fail.
If you see errors in the Messages section in the SIM tool similar to "…The value $$SUBSTR$$ is invalid…
" you can ignore them.
When you save the file, you may also see a message similar to "There are validation errors in the answer file. Do you want to continue?
" Click Yes to continue.
The *.SUBS
file is the “substitutes” file that lists each XML item to be modified in *.XML
and what its value should be. The lines in the *.SUBS
file are known as XPATHs.
Note: Information entered in the *.SUBS
file takes precedence over information in the *.XML
file.