Assign static drive letter for USB

[dewin]

Hello,

I'm deploying a .wim image to workstation pc's and i'm using a unattended file (see below) from a USB key.

The <image_file> is pointing to the usb drive, this can vary. Is there a possibility to assign a static drive

letter for the usb key?

Thanks for the reply.

Kind regards

Dewin

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<smartdeploy version="1.1" version_debug="1.1.1910">

<deploy_wizard>

<welcome>

<hide_options_button>false</hide_options_button>

</welcome>

<select_image>

<image_file>E:\z\XP.wim</image_file>

<image_name>Windows XP SP3</image_name>

</select_image>

<disk_options>

<!-- 0 = Recreate drives, 1 = Wipe & load drives, 2 = SmartMigrate -->

<disk_option>1</disk_option>

</disk_options>

<product_key>

<product_key/>

</product_key>

<end_user_license_agreement>

<accept_eula>false</accept_eula>

</end_user_license_agreement>

<user_information>

<full_name>Company</full_name>

<organization_name>Company</organization_name>

</user_information>

<regional_settings>

<time_zone>(GMT+01:00) Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna</time_zone>

<input_locale>Dutch (Netherlands)</input_locale>

</regional_settings>

<display_settings>

<resolution>Auto Detect</resolution>

<color_depth>Auto Detect</color_depth>

<refresh_rate>Auto Detect</refresh_rate>

</display_settings>

<network_tcpip_settings>

<ipv4>

<!-- 0 = Obtain an IP address automatically, 1 = Use the following IP address -->

<static>0</static>

<ip_address/>

<subnet_mask/>

<default_gateway/>

<preferred_dns_server/>

<alternate_dns_server/>

<preferred_wins_server/>

<alternate_wins_server/>

</ipv4>

</network_tcpip_settings>

<network_identification>

<computer_name/>

<!-- 0 = Domain, 1 = Workgroup -->

<membership>1</membership>

<domain/>

<organizational_unit/>

<workgroup>WORKGROUP</workgroup>

</network_identification>

<join_domain_credentials>

<username/>

<domain/>

<password/>

</join_domain_credentials>

<wds_credentials>

<server/>

<username/>

<domain/>

<password/>

</wds_credentials>

<summary>

<hide_export_button>false</hide_export_button>

</summary>

<completion/>

<advanced_options>

<general>

<platform_pack>[imageFolder]\Default.ppk</platform_pack>

<system_properties/>

</general>

<identification>

<!-- 0 = Use the existing computer name, 1 = Use the following naming method -->

<naming_mode>0</naming_mode>

<naming_methods/>

<custom_naming_scheme/>

<prefix/>

<wmi_query/>

</identification>

<migration>

<protected_folder>Backup</protected_folder>

<virtualization_platform>VMware Workstation 6</virtualization_platform>

<create_desktop_shortcut>true</create_desktop_shortcut>

<files_to_exclude><exclude>$ntfs.log</exclude><exclude>$Recycle.Bin\*</exclude><exclude>[systemRoot]\CSC</exclude><exclude>[systemRoot]\Temp\*</exclude><exclude>hiberfil.sys</exclude><exclude>pagefile.sys</exclude><exclude>RECYCLER</exclude><exclude>System Volume Information</exclude></files_to_exclude>

</migration>

<tasks><task><phase>PREIMAGE</phase><command>E:\z\Part.vbs</command></task></tasks>

</advanced_options>

<settings>

<active_directory/>

<network_shares/>

<proxy_server>

<proxy_server_url/>

<username/>

<password/>

</proxy_server>

<session_id/>

<unattend_delay/>

</settings>

</deploy_wizard>

</smartdeploy>

[Erik]

Hello Dewin,

You cannot assign a specific drive letter to the USB drive. It will vary with every machine that is booted due to different drive configurations. The easiest thing would be to use the %SmartDeploy_Media% environment variable to address the USB drive. This variable is assigned the drive letter in which SmartPE was booted from. You can then change the image and task path to %SmartDeploy_Media%\z\XP.wim and %SmartDeploy_Media%\z\Part.vbs.

Hope this helps,

Erik

[dewin]

Hello Erik,

Thank your for your reply. When i change the unattended file i get the message "Please specify an image file" when i manualy point SmartDeploy to the image %SmartDeploy_Media%\z\xp.wim i get the message that it is not a image file. But when i point him to E:\z\xp.wim the deployment continues.

Any suggestions

Thanks

Dewin

Hello Dewin,

You cannot assign a specific drive letter to the USB drive. It will vary with every machine that is booted due to different drive configurations. The easiest thing would be to use the %SmartDeploy_Media% environment variable to address the USB drive. This variable is assigned the drive letter in which SmartPE was booted from. You can then change the image and task path to %SmartDeploy_Media%\z\XP.wim and %SmartDeploy_Media%\z\Part.vbs.

Hope this helps,

Erik

[Erik]

Hi Dewin

Try using [AnswerFolder]\z\xp.wim this is what Media Wizard will automatically update the path to when specifying an answer file during the creation of boot media. This assumes that the SmartDeploy.xml is on the root of the USB drive. You will still want to use %SmartDeploy_Media% to specify the VBS task.

Thanks,

Erik

[dewin]

Thanks it works !

Kind regards

dewin

Hi Dewin

Try using [AnswerFolder]\z\xp.wim this is what Media Wizard will automatically update the path to when specifying an answer file during the creation of boot media. This assumes that the SmartDeploy.xml is on the root of the USB drive. You will still want to use %SmartDeploy_Media% to specify the VBS task.

Thanks,

Erik