Importing custom unattend files

You can import custom unattend files into the OS images repository. These files can then be used to customize Linux and Windows OS-images profiles.

About this task

The following file types are supported for custom unattend files.

Operating system	Supported File Types	More information
CentOS Linux	Not supported
Microsoft® Windows® Azure Stack HCI	Not supported
Microsoft Windows Hyper-V Server	Not supported
Microsoft Windows Server	Unattend (.xml)	For more information about unattend files, see the Unattended Windows Setup Reference webpage.
Red Hat® Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Server	Kickstart (.cfg)	For more information about unattend files, see the Red Hat: Automating the Installation with Kickstart webpage. Consider the following when adding %pre, %post, %firstboot sections in the file. You can include multiple %pre, %post, %firstboot sections to the unattend file; however, be aware of the ordering of the sections. When the recommended #predefined.unattendSettings.preinstallConfig# macro is present in the unattend file, XClarity Administrator adds a %pre section before all other %pre sections in the file. When the recommended #predefined.unattendSettings.postinstallConfig# macro is present in the unattend file, XClarity Administrator adds %post and %firstboot sections before all other %post and %firstboot sections in the file.
Rocky Linux	Kickstart (.cfg)	For more information about unattend files, see the Red Hat: Automating the Installation with Kickstart webpage. Consider the following when adding %pre, %post, %firstboot sections in the file. You can include multiple %pre, %post, %firstboot sections to the unattend file; however, be aware of the ordering of the sections. When the recommended #predefined.unattendSettings.preinstallConfig# macro is present in the unattend file, XClarity Administrator adds a %pre section before all other %pre sections in the file. When the recommended #predefined.unattendSettings.postinstallConfig# macro is present in the unattend file, XClarity Administrator adds %post and %firstboot sections before all other %post and %firstboot sections in the file.
SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)	AutoYast (.xml)	For more information about unattend files, see the SUSE: AutoYaST webpage.
Ubuntu	Not supported
VMware vSphere® Hypervisor (ESXi) with Lenovo Customization	Kickstart (.cfg)	Supported only for ESXi 6.0u3 and later updates and 6.5 and later. For more information about unattend files, see the VMware: Installing or Upgrading Hosts by Using a Script webpage. Consider the following when adding %pre, %post, %firstboot sections in the file. You can include multiple %pre, %post, %firstboot sections to the unattend file; however, be aware of the ordering of the sections. When the recommended #predefined.unattendSettings.preinstallConfig# macro is present in the unattend file, XClarity Administrator adds a %pre section before all other %pre sections in the file. When the recommended #predefined.unattendSettings.postinstallConfig# macro is present in the unattend file, XClarity Administrator adds %post and %firstboot sections before all other %post and %firstboot sections in the file.

Attention

You can inject predefined and custom macros (configuration settings) in the unattend file using the unique name of the object. Predefined values are dynamic based on the XClarity Administrator instances. Custom macros are dynamic based on user input that is specified during OS deployment.
Note
- Surround the macro name with a hash symbol (#).
- For nested objects, separate each object name using a period (for example, #server_settings.server0.locale#).
- For custom macros, do not include the top-most object name. For predefined macros, prefix the macro name with "predefined."
- When an object is created from a template, the name is appended with a unique number, starting with 0 (for example, server0 and server1).
- You can see the name for each macro from the Deploy OS Images dialog on the Custom Settings tabs by hovering over the Help icon () next to each custom setting.
- For a list of predefined macros, see Predefined macros. For information about custom configuration settings and macros, see Custom macros.
XClarity Administrator provides the following predefined macros that are used to communicate status from the OS installer, as well as several other critical installation steps. It is strongly recommended that you include these macros in unattend file (see Injecting predefined and custom macros to an unattend file).
- #predefined.unattendSettings.preinstallConfig#
- #predefined.unattendSettings postinstallConfig#

The OS images repository can store an unlimited number of predefined and custom files, if space is available to store the files.

Procedure

To import unattended files into the OS-images repository, complete the following steps.

From the XClarity Administrator menu bar, click Provisioning > Manage OS Images to display the Deploy Operating System: Manage OS Images page.
Click the Unattend Files tab.
Click the Import File icon (). The Import File dialog is displayed.
Click the Local Import tab to upload files from the local system, or click the Remote Import tab to upload files from a remote file server.
Note
To upload a file from a remote file server, you must first create a remote file-server profile by clicking the Configure File Server icon (). For more information, see Configuring a remote file server
If you chose to use a remote file server, select the server that you want to use from the Remote File Server list.
Select the operating-system type.
Enter the file name of the unattend file, or click Browse to find the file that you want to import.
Optional: Enter a description for the unattend file.
Tip
Use the Description field to distinguish between custom files with the same name.
Optional: Select a checksum type to verify that the file being uploaded is not corrupt, and copy and paste the checksum value in the provided text field.
If you select a checksum type, you must specify a checksum value to check the integrity and security of the uploaded file. The value must come from a secure source from an organization that you trust. If the uploaded file matches with the checksum value, it is safe to proceed with deployment. Otherwise, you must upload the file again or check the checksum value.
Three checksum types are supported:
- MD5
- SHA1
- SHA256
Click Import.
Tip
The file is uploaded over a secure network connection. Therefore, network reliability and performance affects how long it takes to import the file.
If you close the web browser tab or window in which the file is being uploaded locally before the upload completes, the import fails.

After you finish

The unattend-file image is listed on the Unattend Files tab on the Manage OS Images page.

From this page, you can perform the following actions.

Create an unattend file by clicking the Create icon ().
The editor identifies the location of any errors that are found in the file. Note that some messages are English only.
Associate an unattend file with a configuration-settings file (see Associating an unattend file with a configuration settings file).
View and modify an unattend file by clicking the Edit icon ().
The editor identifies the location of any errors that are found in the file. Note that some messages are English only.
Copy an unattend file by clicking the Copy icon ().
If you copy an unattend file that is associated with a configuration-settings file, the associated configuration-settings file is also copied and the association is automatically created between both copied files.
Remove selected unattend files by clicking the Delete icon ().
Create a remote-file-server profile by clicking the Configure File Server icon ().

For information about adding an unattend file to a customized OS image profile, see Creating a custom OS-image profile.

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