Guest Customization Windows 10 1803 starts but doesnt finish

[azuberi]

I am building a new Windows 10 1803 template and using the same guest customization that I have used with previous builds of Windows 10. The vm is cloned from the template and applies sysprep successfully but the machine never reboots/renames or gets added to the domain.

I have rebuilt the Guest Customization settings from scratch and still get the same result.

Any ideas?

[daphnissov]

There are known issues with guest customizations not entirely working with this build of Windows 10. I don't think there are any known workarounds presently. What version of vSphere (vCenter and ESXi) are you running?

[azuberi]

We are currently using vSphere Web Client Version 6.7.0.1150 Build 8170132 and ESXi 6.0.0, 3380124.

Whats odd is that the sysprep seems to go through and then everything just stops.

[daphnissov]

This may also be attributed to the fact that you are 2.5 *years* behind on ESXi patches for the release you're on.

[azuberi]

I am upgraded now and running VMware ESXi, 6.5.0, 8294253. My customization script is still not working. I cannot rename and add the vm to the domain using the customization.

Has anyone been able to get a Windows 10 1803 vm to rename and join domain automatically?

[FreddyFredFred]

I've had no issues with my 1803 template when doing my customization via vRealize Orchestrator. It changes the name/joins the domain without issue. This is working on a cluster with an older 6.0U2 and on a cluster with a mix of 6.5 and 6.7 hosts. VMware tools version is 10.2.5 in all cases.

[Jeff Donsbach]

I am having the same issue. Found this thread here in my Google searching. I am running VSphere 6.0U3. I just tried upgrading to the latest VMTools 10.3.2 but that hasn't appeared to solve it for me.

[touimet]

Same issue with my environment as well.

The C:\Windows\Temp\guestcust.log reads the following:

DEBUG] Executing command C:\Windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /quiet /generalize /oobe /reboot /unattend:C:\Windows\Panther\unattend.xml

DEBUG] Successfully executed command C:\Windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /quiet /generalize /oobe /reboot /unattend:C:\Windows\Panther\unattend.xml

My environment:

VCSA 6.7 9433931

ESXi 6.7 9484548

Windows 10 1803 September Release

VMware Tools 10.3.2

If you drop the command C:\Windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /quiet /generalize /oobe /reboot /unattend:C:\Windows\Panther\unattend.xml into a command prompt it will run as expected.

[rkoria2007]

Hi,

your vmtools version is too old so it could be problem.upgrade vmware tools and try it should work.

You can change the virtual machine name in the Virtual Machine Name panel in the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box.

Changing the name does not change the name of any virtual machine files or the name of the directory that the files are located in.

after rename vm perform vmotion, and change current datastore to different datastore after vmotion your all vm files and directory that the files are located in will b rename and if you want to change datastore to previous datastore again perform vmotion.your files and directory will remain renamed.

Thanks

[touimet]

rkoria2007, I think you responded to the wrong thread.

[KuChGi]

Did anybody ever find an answer to this?

[DominikGeb]

Hello, I had the same problem. This problem appers, trought the Windows 10 Apps, which are installed per User / User Profile. In one of your user accounts, is the installation (upgrading) from this apps not finished. That is the problem. Windows needs for sysprep clean user profiles. The easiest way to solve this, is to create a new local admin account. After this, you delete all other accounts and profiles. Then you test the new admin account and if it work, you can shutdown the virtual machine. Then you convert the machine to a template and starts the cloning. Now should the cloning prozess work.

[Chromstahl]

Hey Guys, in my Case it was the .NET 3.5 witch i had installed through Control Panel (Software -> Windows-Features). 

Remove it and the Deployment was sucessfull (in my case).

[Suchaname]

Hey Chromstahl,

your Solution does't worked for me. Tested a few minutes ago.

[mitzone]

"Hello, I had the same problem. This problem appers, trought the Windows 10 Apps, which are installed per User / User Profile. In one of your user accounts, is the installation (upgrading) from this apps not finished. That is the problem. Windows needs for sysprep clean user profiles. The easiest way to solve this, is to create a new local admin account. After this, you delete all other accounts and profiles. Then you test the new admin account and if it work, you can shutdown the virtual machine. Then you convert the machine to a template and starts the cloning. Now should the cloning prozess work."

This worked for me.

[Suchaname]

The error does not occur in Windows 10 1809! I have edited my template the same way but with 1809 it works.

Maybe this is a Solution/Workaround for you.

[Jeff Donsbach]

Saw this reply the other day. I upgraded my master VM image to the 1809 update (had to remove VMWare Tools before upgrading to prevent a bluescreen of death during the upgrade), but doing so did not solve the problem. It appears to partially run the customization in that it changes to the network settings to DHCP. And, it says that the "sysprep" successfully ran although I am not sure if it did or not. But, it fails to change the Hostname, join the new VM to the domain and then reboot.

Still looking for a solution here ....

[ez12a323]

Check out this article: Cleaning up apps to keep Windows 10 sysprep happy – Michael Niehaus' Windows and Office deployment ramblings

if your template had internet enabled, chances are the microsoft store tried to update something. My deployed VM had the error mentioned in the article in the setupact.log, meaning the vmware initiated sysprep failed due to an installed package..

You'll need to clean your template of anything that might have been installed while it was being built.

I'm going to try the script on my template.

edit: can confirm the script solved the sysprep issue.

[mkaetm]

We are facing the same issue in our environment with vSphere 6.5 Update 2 and vRealize Automation 7.3 and Windows 10 1803 in UEFI Mode (Secure Boot enabled).

The cloning is done, vSphere starts the customization and then suddenly the VMs are powered off.

When I start them manually the customization kicks in & the VMs get a correct hostname, are joined to our AD and get their IP address (assigned by vRealize Automation), but the VMs are useless then for vRealize Automation.

Sometimes they are booting into the Windows Recovery environment.

This is kind of weird and it does not make sense for me, because the original template is just running smoothly (was rebooted several times, even on different hosts).

It does not always happen. I already got some successful deployments.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

[MZirbes]

Same issue here. Running Windows version 1903

The guestcust.log file has this error message: "Error opening file C:\WINDOWS\Panther\Unattended.xml The file system cannot find the path specified.

I'm not an expert on the VMware sysprep process but the answer file is here C:\sysprep\sysprep.xml with all my specific customizations.

The temporary sysprep directory is set to C:\sysprep earlier in the log file.

The Setupact.log is clean except for an entry at the end: SysprepSession:Execute: Sysprep mode was not specified, deleting it from registry.

Then sysprep shuts down.

One other thing I have noticed is that the cloned VM that is trying to run sysprep has a disconnected network adaptor.

Totally stumped

[iamxCPx]

I'm running Windows 1909 "SAC" and was having the same issue.

Contacted the VMware support and they have no clue what was causing it. They do know that this is a Microsoft Windows issue and not VMware.

So the workaround that I did that works for me was prior to cloning the master, I reinstalled VMware Tools and then disabled the NIC.

After that the guest customization did its job.

VMware support was watching me when I did this.

There's a possibility that only disabling the NIC might work as well but I'm just letting you know what works for me.

So I just need to remember to always disable the NIC prior to provisioning the desktops because after the cloning is done, the NIC is automatically enabled.

PS.

I also know that removing the Windows Store and all its apps also works by running the script mentioned above.

But I want to keep the apps due to the user needs to use default Apps such as Photos, Groove Music, Movies & TV, and Maps so I didn't go that route.

Hopefully this is helpful for others and Microsoft will fix this issue ASAP.

[NVHospital]

I am having the same issue VCSA 6.7.0 Build 11727113. In my case, it won't take the nor of the OS customization (Network settings, Computer Name, Product Key) . I am adding my 50 cents to keep track of a possible solution on this issue.

[ldasilva1028]

I am having the same issue on Windows 10 Build 1803. The system seems to detect that the customization event started, but it does not proceed. In my case, I am creating several Linked Clones from the Master VM. In average, if I create 10 Win10 linked clones then at least 3 will have this issue.

From the Event log I can see that the customization starts, but I don't see that it continues:

Started customization of VM PNC2547-29. Customization log located at C:/Temp/vmware-imc/guestcust.log in the guest OS.

Any help on this will be greatly appreciated!