You can use a number of command-line options with Windows® Setup.

Setup Command-Line Options

The following command-line options are available for Windows Setup:

setup.exe [/1394debug:channel [baudrate:baudrate]]

[/debug:channel [baudrate:baudrate]]

[/emsport: {com1 | com2 | usebiossettings | off} [/emsbaudrate:baudrate]]

[/installfrom:path] [/m:folder_name] [/noreboot] [/tempdrive:drive_letter]

[/unattend:answer_file]

[/usbdebug:hostname]

[/wdsdiscover]

[/wdsserver:servername]

Option Description

[/1394debug:channel [baudrate:baudrate]]

Enables kernel debugging over an IEEE 1394 (FireWire) port while Windows is running and during the windowsPE configuration pass of Windows Setup.

channel

Specifies the debugging channel. The default value for channel is 1.

[baudrate:baudrate]

Specifies the baud rate to use while transferring data during debugging. The default is 19200. baudrate can also be set to 57600 or 115200.

For example,

setup.exe /1394debug:1 /baudrate:115200

[/debug:channel [baudrate:baudrate]]

Enables kernel debugging over a communications (Com) port while Windows is running and during the windowsPE configuration pass of Windows Setup.

channel

Specifies the debugging channel. The default value for channel is 1.

[baudrate:baudrate]

Specifies the baud rate to use while transferring data during debugging. The default is 19200. baudrate can also be set to 57600 or 115200.

For example,

setup.exe /1394debug:1 /baudrate:115200

[/emsport: {com1 | com2 | usebiossettings | off} [/emsbaudrate:baudrate]]

Enables or disables Emergency Management Services (EMS) during Windows Setup and after the server operating system has been installed. The following arguments are used to specify the behavior of EMS during Windows Setup.

com1

Enables EMS over COM1. Supported for x86 systems only.

com2

Enables EMS over COM2. Supported for x86 systems only.

usebiossettings

Uses the setting specified in the BIOS. For x86 systems, the value from the Serial Port Console Redirection (SPCR) table is used. For Itanium-based systems, the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) is used. If no SPCR table or EFI console device path is specified in the BIOS, usebiossettings will be disabled.

off

Disables EMS. If EMS is disabled in Windows Setup, you can later enable EMS by modifying the boot settings. For more information, see the Resource Kits for the Windows Server 2003 operating systems.

[/emsbaudrate:baudrate]

Specifies the baud rate to use while transferring data during debugging. The default is 19200. baud rate can also be set to 57600 or 115200.

For example,

setup.exe /emsport:COM1 /emsbaudrate:115200

[/installfrom:path]

Specifies a different Install.wim file to use during Windows Setup. This enables you to use a single preinstallation environment to install multiple versions of Windows images. For example, you can use a 32-bit version of Windows Setup to deploy a 64-bit Windows image. You can also use an answer file for cross-platform deployments. For more information, see Windows Setup Cross-Platform Deployment.

path

Specifies the path of the .wim file to install.

[/m:folder_name]

Specifies Setup to copy alternative files from an alternate location. This option instructs Setup to look in the alternate location first, and, if files are present, to use them instead of the files from the default location.

folder_name

Specifies the name and the location of the folder containing the replacement files. folder_name can be any local drive location. UNC paths are not supported.

You must know where the files will be installed on the Windows installation. All the additional files must be copied to an $OEM$ folder in your installation sources or in the folder_name. The $OEM$ structure provides a representation of the destination installation disk. For example,

$OEM$\$1

Maps to %SYSTEMDRIVE%, for example, drive C.

$OEM$\$$

Maps to %WINDIR%, for example, C:\windows\.

$OEM$\$progs

Maps to the program files directory.

$OEM$\$docs

Maps to the User's Documents folder.

For example, to copy an updated C:\Program Files\Messenger\Msmsgs.exe file into the Windows installation, create the following folder structure on the installation source (Pro\Sources\$OEM$\$Progs\Messenger\Msmsgs.exe) by using the Setup command:

pro\sources\setup.exe /m

If you replace a file protected by Windows file protection, you must also copy the updated file to the local sources to be installed with Windows (C:\Windows\i386). The file name must be the same as what is used in Windows Setup. For example, add this file and folder structure to your $OEM$ directory:

pro\sources\$OEM$\$$\i386\msmsgs.ex_

If you use files that are not on an installation share, specify the folder name. For example,

setup.exe /m:C:\additional_files

Where C:\additional_files is your customized $OEM$ directory.

For example,

C:\additional_files\$$\i386\msmsgs.ex_

For more information about running a command during Windows Setup, see the Windows® Unattended Setup Reference.

If you make resource changes in your replacement files, you must add the updated Multilanguage User Interface (MUI) files to the installation.

[/noreboot]

Instructs Windows Setup not to restart the computer after the downlevel phase of Windows Setup completes. The /noreboot option enables you to execute additional commands before Windows restarts. This option suppresses only the first reboot. Subsequent reboots, if required, will not be suppressed.

For example,

setup.exe /noreboot

[/tempdrive:drive_letter]

Instructs Windows Setup to place temporary installation files on the specified partition. For an upgrade, the /tempdrive option affects only the placement of temporary files. The operating system is upgraded in the partition from which you run the Setup.exe file.

drive_letter

Specifies the partition to copy installation files to during Windows Setup.

For example,

setup.exe /tempdrive:H

[/unattend:answer_file]

Enables unattended Windows Setup mode. You must specify a value for answer_file. Windows Setup applies the values in the answer file during installation.

answer_file

Specifies the file path and file name of the unattended Windows Setup answer file. The path to an answer file can be a local path or a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path.

For example,

setup.exe /unattend:\\server\share\unattend.xml

[/usbdebug:hostname]

Sets up debugging on a USB port. Debug data is effective on the next reboot.

hostname

Specifies the name of the computer to debug.

For example,

setup.exe /usbdebug:testmachine01

[/wdsdiscover]

Specifies that the Windows Deployment Services client should be in discover mode.

If you do not specify /wdsserver with this option, Windows Deployment Services will search for a server.

For example, to start the Windows Deployment Services client in this dynamic discover mode, run the command:

\sources\setup.exe /wds /wdsdiscover

[/wdsserver:servername]

Specifies the name of the Windows Deployment Services server that the client should connect to.

To use this setting, you must also use the setting: /wdsdiscover.

servername can be an IP address, a NetBIOS name, or a fully qualified domain name (FQDN).

For example, to start the Windows Deployment Services client in this static discover mode, run the command:

\sources\setup.exe /wds /wdsdiscover /wdsserver:<MyWDSServer>

See Also