Setupmgr.exe: Setup Manager

The Setup Manager deployment tool is a wizard that assists system administrators in installing Windows 2000 on multiple computers. Setup Manager can:

• Create answer files that can be used to automate the installation of Windows 2000 on multiple computers.
• Extract the configuration information from a preconfigured system into an answer file, which can then be used to replicate that configuration on other computers.
• Create a distribution share point for network installations. In addition to the Windows 2000 installation files, this network installation share can contain additional applications, drivers, additional commands to run at the end of setup, and other custom components, as specified by the system administrator.

Answer Files

Setup Manager helps administrators to create answer files, which are used by Windows 2000 Setup to perform unattended installations or upgrades of Windows 2000. Answer files answer the questions that Setup would normally ask the user while it is installing or upgrading Windows 2000. For example, Setup normally asks the user to supply a name for the computer. But if the administrator supplies the name for the computer in the answer file, Setup does not have to prompt the user.

When you use the Setup Manager Wizard to create an answer file, it prompts you for setup information on wizard pages, many of which look like the pages you see when running an attended Setup. Note that answer files do not automatically eliminate the need for user input when Setup runs. The parameters in answer files must be set to require little or no user interaction.

User-Interaction Level

Windows 2000 Setup runs in one of five unattended modes that controls how much it interacts with the user. In a fully unattended installation, Setup does not prompt the user for any information and you must supply all required information in the answer file. In this case, Setup Manager requires that you specify data for all required settings. When using any of the other unattended modes, Setup Manager allows you to not specify some data. If you do not wish to specify a particular setting in the answer file, leave that field blank, or, when prompted, choose "Do not specify this setting".

Note

If you are upgrading an existing Windows 2000 installation, Setup uses the parameters of the existing installation and ignores parameters specified in the answer file.

Setup Manager is a Win32 application that runs only on Windows 2000.

Starting Setup Manager

After installing the Windows 2000 Resource Kit, you can run Setup Manager from the Windows 2000 Resource Kit Start Menu Deployment Tools group, from the command prompt, or by clicking the "Run Setup Manager now" link at the top of this page.

To run Setup Manager from the command prompt, type:

setupmgr

Setup Manager Topics

• AutoLogon
• Distribution Folder
• Running Your Own Commands: GuiRunOnce and Cmdlines.txt
• Batch Scripts: .Bat and .Udf Files
• Remote Install
• SysPrep Install
• Troubleshooting Setup Manager

Files Required

• Setupmgr.exe
• Setupmgx.dll

For More Information

For detailed information about deploying Windows 2000, visit the Windows 2000 Server Deployment Web site.