VC 2.5 sysprep issues

[grex827]

I have read a previous post, from March, but am still having issues. I updated all of my sysprep files in svr2003 to those extracted form a deploy.cab file embedded in KB926028. This alleviated my initial problem, where the ioptions to use the customization wizard and custom scripts was greyed out. Once that was resolved, I figured all was well, but VM's deployed from templates are still not being sysprep'd. Is there an actual fix for this?

[RParker]

Are you using 2003 R2? I have found that you have to R2 Sysprep files with R2 images, and they are backwards compatible with Windows 2003 pre-R2. So make sure you extract those sysprep to the Windows 2003 folder AND the sysprep 1.1 folder.

Then you should use the enterprise converter to reset and remove all previous restore points, save the image and try the deploy again. It took me a while to figure this part out. We had the same problem until I did that.

[grex827]

Yes, Its 2003 Enterprise R2 SP2. Would you happen to have a link where I can pull these sysprep files from if they are different from what is in the KB article I mentioned?

[Troy_Clavell]

Just a question... You did not sysprep your template, correct? Also, there seems to be known issue with this and upgrading to 2.5U3 seems to have fixed it.

http://www.vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/vi3_vc25u3_rel_notes.html

[grex827]

They are the same templates we have always used. I'm just going to update to U3. It seems to be a known problem, no sense in banging my head against a wall. Thanks for pointing me towards the U3 article, much appreciated.

For anyone else's benefit, here is the pertinent info:

Sysprep doesn't work on virtual machines or templates from VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 2 on ESX Server 3.0.x hosts

For virtual machines or templates with customization specifications created in VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 2, Sysprep will not run when a virtual machine is deployed to an ESX Server 3.0.x host. The virtual machine is deployed, but Sysprep doesn't run and you have a clone of the virtual machine with the same NetBIOS name as the original used for creating customization settings. The clone does not join the specified domain or run any other parts of the customization script. This release resolves this issue.

[Troy_Clavell]

you're welcome. Yes, U3 is a 10 minute upgrade and it seems to fix a lot of "issues".

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