UnattendGen is a console application that generates unattended answer files given certain parameters.

Licenses

• Program: GNU GPLv3
• Library: MIT

This project uses Christoph Schneegans' unattended answer file generation library for core functionality. Its license file, including its source files, can be found in the Library folder.

Usage

When running the program with the /? argument, you will see the following usage pattern:

UnattendGen [/target=<targetPath>] [/regionfile=<regionFile>] [/architecture={ x86 ; i386 | x64 ; amd64 | arm64 }] [/LabConfig] [/BypassNRO] [/computername=<compName>] [/tzImplicit] [/partmode={ interactive | unattended | custom }] [/generic | /customkey=<key>] [/customusers] [/autologon={ firstadmin | builtinadmin }] [/b64obscure] [/pwExpire=<days>] [/lockdown={ yes | no } [/vm={ vbox_gas | vmware | virtio }] [/wifi={ yes | no }] [/telem={ yes | no }] /customcomponents

When running the program with no arguments, it will generate a basic answer file with default settings. If you want to avoid this behavior and create your custom answer file, you will need to pass the appropriate switches.

Switches

General switches

Switch	Action
/target	Saves the answer file to the path defined in <targetPath>. If this switch is not passed, UnattendGen will save the answer file to unattend.xml in the program directory

Regional settings

Switch	Action
/regionfile	Configures regional settings based on the XML configuration file that you will need to create manually. Read the Configuration Files section for more information. If this switch is not passed, UnattendGen will use interactive settings (which will make Setup ask you)

Basic system settings

Switch	Action
/architecture	Configures the system architecture to use with the unattended answer file. You can choose either of the following options: x86 or i386 for 32-bit systems (use therefore with Windows 10), x64 or amd64 for 64-bit systems; or arm64 for ARM-based chips (usually found in single-board computers (SBCs)) (use with Windows on ARM only). If this switch is not passed, UnattendGen will default to amd64
/LabConfig	Configures registry keys that enable you to bypass the system requirement checks for Windows 11 Setup. If this switch is not passed, these settings are not configured. Otherwise, the target file must be used only on Windows 11
/BypassNRO	Configures registry keys that enable you to bypass the mandatory network connection setup of the Out-of-box Experience (OOBE) for Windows 11. If this switch is not passed, these settings are not configured. Otherwise, the target file must be used only on Windows 11. Also note that this may not work on version 24H2
/computername	Configures the name of the computer using the value defined in <compName>. If this switch is not passed, a random computer name will be chosen

Time zone settings

Switch	Action
/tzImplicit	Configures the system to determine the time zone from the regional settings chosen with /regionfile. If this switch is not passed, UnattendGen will configure the time zone based on your configuration

Disk configuration settings

Switch	Action
/partmode	Sets the disk configuration mode. You can choose either of the following options: interactive (Setup will ask you), unattended (configures options for Disk 0 based on a configuration file); or custom (configures options for disks and partitions using a DiskPart configuration file). If this switch is not passed, UnattendGen will use interactive settings

Edition settings

Note

Don't use both switches as one will take more precedence than the other

Switch	Action
/generic	Configures the edition of the installation based on a configuration file. If this switch is not passed, UnattendGen will use a generic Pro edition
/customkey	Configures the edition of the installation based on a product key defined in <key>. Make sure your product key is valid before passing it

User settings

Note

If you don't specify /customusers, you will not be able to use /autologon and/or /b64obscure

Switch	Action
/customusers	Configures user accounts based on a configuration file. If this switch is not specified, UnattendGen will use interactive settings
/autologon	Configures autologon settings. You can use either of the following options: firstadmin (Setup will use the first administrator account in the user configuration file), or builtinadmin (Setup will use the built-in Administrator account with the password defined in a configuration file). This switch requires /customusers, and, if not set, UnattendGen will disable autologon
/b64obscure	Configures user passwords to be obscured with Base64. This switch requires /customusers
/pwExpire	Configures user passwords to be expired after an amount of days defined in <days> (this is not recommended by NIST)
/lockdown	Configures Account Lockdown settings for users. You can specify either yes (to configure these settings with a configuration file) or no (to disable Lockdown policies - not recommended). If this switch is not passed, UnattendGen will use default policies

Virtual Machine support

Switch	Action
/vm	Configures Virtual Machine support based on a provider. You can use either of the following options: vbox_gas (use with VirtualBox), vmware (use with VMware hypervisors); or virtio (use with QEMU-based hypervisors). If this switch is not specified, UnattendGen will disable enhanced support from your VM provider

Wireless settings

Switch	Action
/wifi	Configures wireless network settings. You can specify either yes (to configure these settings with a configuration file) or no (to skip this configuration). If this switch is not specified, UnattendGen will use interactive settings

System telemetry

Switch	Action
/telem	Configures system telemetry settings. You can specify either yes (to enable telemetry) or no (to (attempt to) disable telemetry). If this switch is not specified, UnattendGen will use interactive settings

Component configuration

Switch	Action
/customcomponents	Configures custom components using a configuration file. If this switch is not specified, UnattendGen will use default configurations and passes

Configuration files

You can look at example configuration files with the following links:

• Regional configuration
• Disk 0 Settings
• DiskPart settings
• Generic edition settings
• User accounts
• Built-in Admin autologon settings
• Lockdown settings
• Wireless settings
• Custom configuration

Building

Requirements: .NET 8 SDK, Visual Studio 2022

Initializing submodules

This repository uses submodules, which you can initialize by running the following commands:

• git submodule init (clones all submodules)

• git submodule update (updates the submodules to their latest commits)

• You can also clone the repository while passing the --recurse-submodules flag for a simple one-liner!

Learn more here

Building the project

1. Open the project
2. Click Build -> Build solution, or press CTRL+SHIFT+B

Contributing

1. Fork this repository
2. Work on your changes AND TEST THEM
3. Commit the changes and push them
4. Make a pull request