/
/
/
Answer files for OS Windows images
Answer files for OS Windows images
An answer file (answer file, unattend file) is an XML file that is used to modify Windows operating system settings when creating a VM from an image. The answer file can be used to specify scripts that will run on the operating system after the first user account is created. For more information about answer files, see the Microsoft documentation.
The answer file is used if you enabled the Anonymize the image option when creating an image of a Windows VM. When you upload the file, the platform validates that its XML markup is correct. If the file is not uploaded or there are errors in its format, the image is created with a standard answer file:
Contents of a standard answer file
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend
xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
<settings pass="generalize">
<component language="neutral" name="Microsoft-Windows-Security-SPP" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" versionScope="nonSxS"
xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<SkipRearm>1</SkipRearm>
</component>
</settings>
<settings pass="oobeSystem">
<component language="neutral" name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" versionScope="nonSxS"
xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<OOBE>
<HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
<HideLocalAccountScreen>true</HideLocalAccountScreen>
<HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>
<HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
<HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
<NetworkLocation>Work</NetworkLocation>
<ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>
<SkipMachineOOBE>true</SkipMachineOOBE>
<SkipUserOOBE>true</SkipUserOOBE>
</OOBE>
<UserAccounts>
<AdministratorPassword>
<Value>@WSXcde3</Value>
<PlainText>true</PlainText>
</AdministratorPassword>
</UserAccounts>
</component>
</settings>
</unattend>
If the image was created with a standard answer file, you will need to specify an administrator password when creating a VM from the image. If you used a custom answer file, VMs will be created with the password specified in the AdministratorPassword parameter.