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LukaszDziwisz
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Hot Shot

Image deployment

Hello Everyone,

I have been reading new techzone article on creating and optimizing Windows 10 image and there is one part that gets me confused when they ask to press CTRL+Shift+F3 at the first screen when it's asking for Region Selection. It gets me into the Audit Mode and every time I reboot I stay in it. THey never mention if somehow exit that mode or not?

In the past we have deployed WIndows 1809 LTSC and did it completely different, never used audit mode, setup local admin account and cleaned up an image. We also had it joined domain which appears to be not very good practice anymore.

SO What I would like to find out is how you are deploying it? We need to go with WIndows 10 1909 SAC edition  with Office 365 on prem this time and will not be using Mandatory profiles. Our plan is to move away from writable as well so I will be using FSLogic and UEM combined.

Can you please advise on how you guys go about it?

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sjesse
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I have been reading new techzone article on creating and optimizing Windows 10 image and there is one part that gets me confused when they ask to press CTRL+Shift+F3 at the first screen when it's asking for Region Selection. It gets me into the Audit Mode and every time I reboot I stay in it. THey never mention if somehow exit that mode or not?

The sysprep generalize function exits this mode

In the past we have deployed WIndows 1809 LTSC and did it completely different, never used audit mode, setup local admin account and cleaned up an image. We also had it joined domain which appears to be not very good practice anymore.

It helps with portability,including the domain join part, the less customizations you have in the parent image the better. Sometimes its needed if you have special requirements, you may need to have it joined to the domain it won't necessary break anything.

In general I just follow that guide and have pretty good login times, but I've been placing certain apps in the parent image as they tend to just work better including office

LukaszDziwisz
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So do you stay in audit mode all the time?

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sjesse
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no , the tool takes you out of audit mode

VMware Operating System Optimization Tool Guide | VMware

The interface allows for the editing of the unattend answer file, if necessary, to change items such as time zone and locales. When ready, running Generalize will run Sysprep with the out-of-box experience (OOBE) and Generalize options and using the unattend answer file. When finished, you will be prompted to reboot to complete the process.

Sysprep Command-Line Options | Microsoft Docs

/oobe

Restarts the computer into OOBE mode. For example:

Sysprep /generalize /shutdown /oobe

OOBE enables end users to customize their Windows operating system, create user accounts, name the computer, and perform other tasks. Sysprep processes any settings in the oobeSystem configuration pass in an answer file before OOBE starts.

LukaszDziwisz
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Thank you for that, I was staying away from OSOT after first image creation that broke a lot of other pieces.

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LukaszDziwisz
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So to get this all straight would you say that those are the steps to follow:

1. Build VM ( Techzone guide)

2. Install OS

3. Enter audit mode

4. Install VM tools (no SVGA)

5. Install Updates

6. Remove Microsoft apps and store

7. Install Agents (DEM, APPVOL agent etc)

8. Run OSOT ( optional optimizations) and exit Audit Mode

9. Make any other optimizations and default profile changes

10. Sign in with local admin account account and install applications

11. Domain join (optional)

12. Cleanup and power off image

13. Take snapshot and publish to pool

Is that what you guys have been doing in general?

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