Microsoft KB Archive/316037

= How to create a Windows Server 2003 installation package that includes slipstreamed hotfixes =

Article ID: 316037

Article Last Modified on 2/4/2005

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems

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This article was previously published under Q316037



INTRODUCTION
This article describes how to integrate the original release version of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with the hotfixes that are subsequently released. When you integrate the released-version files with the hotfixes, you can create an integrated installation package on a network distribution share in an \I386 folder. This integration is also known as slipstreaming.



Prepare for the installation
Before you deploy a slipstreamed installation of Windows Server 2003, complete the following steps.

Note In the following procedure, &quot;X&quot; represents the drive letter of the disk drive that you use to create the slipstreamed installation. After you create the slipstreamed installation, you can share the slipstreamed installation tree at that location, copy it to another location or to another computer, or burn it onto removable media.  Connect to the network drive or to the local drive where you want to create the distribution folder. Designate this drive as drive X. On the network distribution share, create an X:\I386 folder. To do this, type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

mkdir x:\i386

 Use the Xcopy command-line tool to copy the files and subfolders from the Windows Server 2003 installation CD to the X:\I386 folder. To do this, insert the CD in the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. Type the following command at the command prompt, and then press ENTER:

xcopy /e /i /v :\i386 x:\i386

 Open the X:\I386\Dosnet.inf file with a text editor, such as Notepad. In the file, create a new section that is named &quot;[OptionalSrcDirs]&quot;. Add the string &quot;svcpack&quot; immediately under the [OptionalSrcDirs] section of Dosnet.inf as follows:

[OptionalSrcDirs]

svcpack

The location of the [OptionalSrcDirs] section in the Dosnet.inf file is not critical.

Important Do not use quotation marks around either addition to the Dosnet.inf file.

Save both changes to the Dosnet.inf file. Create an X:\I386\Svcpack folder. To do this, type the following command at the command prompt, and then press ENTER:

mkdir x:\i386\svcpack

 Copy the hotfix executable programs that you want to add to your slipstreamed installation media to the X:\I386\Svcpack folder.</li> Rename each hotfix that you copy to the X:\I386\Svcpack folder in step 6 with an 8.3-compatible file name. To do this, type the following at the command prompt, and then press ENTER:

rename x:\i386\svcpack\q _ .exe x:\i386\svcpack\q .exe

Note Hotfixes use a file name that is similar to &quot;Q .exe.&quot; Use the same KB article numbers (Q for the renamed version of the hotfix.</li> Expand each hotfix that you copy to the X:\I386\Svcpac folder: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

cd /d x:\i386\svcpack

</li> Expand each Q file to a unique temporary folder outside the X:\I386 tree. To do this, type the file name of each renamed hotfix file followed by the /X option:

q######.exe /X

</li></ol> </li> For each hotfix that you expand in step 8, copy the catalog file to the X:\I386\Svcpack folder, and then copy the hotfix binary file to the X:\I386 folder. To do this, follow these steps: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> For each expanded Q binary file, copy the corresponding Q .cat catalog file from the temporary folder that you expanded in step 8b to the X:\I386\Svcpack folder.</li> Delete the original binary files in X:\I386 that are to be replaced with the updated hotfix binary files that you expanded in step 8b.

Note The last character of most of the original files in the I386 folder in their compressed state is an underscore. For example, the original version of the Srv.sys file appears as Srv.sy_ in its compressed state.</li> Copy all the files from each hotfix that you expanded in step 8 from their temporary folders to the X:\I386 folder. However, do not copy the following files: <ul> Hotfix.exe</li> Hotfix.inf</li> Spmsg.dll</li></ul>

Additionally, do not copy any symbol files.

Note When you expanded the hotfixes in step 8, they may have installed files in an SP folder, where   is a service pack (SP) number. When additional service packs are released, the version number for this folder will increase. Copy the hotfix files that you want to slipstream from the SP folders to the X:\I386 folder.</li></ol> </li> Delete the X:\I386\Svcpack.in_ file.</li>  Create a new X:\I386\Svcpack.inf file with contents that are similar to the following content: <pre class="fixed_text">[Version] Signature=&quot;$Windows NT$&quot; BuildNumber=3790 MajorVersion=5 MinorVersion=1

[SetupData] CatalogSubDir=&quot;i386\svcpack&quot;

[ProductCatalogsToInstall] q#####.cat

[SetupHotfixesToRun] q######.exe /q /n /z Important When you create this file, modify the example contents in the following ways: <ul> Modify the BuildNumber value to match the build number of the operating system.</li> In the [ProductCatalogsToInstall] section, list each catalog file that was copied to the Svcpack folder.</li> In the [SetupHotfixesToRun] section, use the /q, /n, and /z options. List each hotfix you want to slipstream into the installation share.</li></ul> </li></ol>

Deploy the slipstreamed installation
You can deploy the slipstreamed installation of Windows Server 2003 to your users' computers from the network distribution share or by burning the updated \I386 tree onto a CD-ROM. During the standard installation process, the Windows Server 2003 Setup program installs the operating system and applies the hotfixes. (The Setup program may be either Winnt.exe or Winnt32.exe.) The process that is described here does not create a bootable floppy disk to create fresh installations of the Windows Server 2003 operating system.

To deploy the installation:
 * 1) Verify that the installation files, the executable files for the Windows Server 2003 operating system, and the Windows Server 2003 hotfixes exist in your distribution folder.
 * 2) Make any customizations to the Windows Server 2003 Setup program that you want.
 * 3) Run the Windows Server 2003 Setup program.

Note Slipstreamed builds cannot be made bootable.

Keywords: kbinfo KB316037

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