Tip of the Day: Customization via Provisioning in Windows 10
Today’s Tip…
With all of the chatter about what Windows 10 brings, you may have heard “provisioning” a few hundred times. So how do you use it to customize Windows 10?
Good news! It is well documented and easy to find (especially when someone provides you the information).
“Windows 10 introduces new and enhanced imaging and deployment tools that allow packaging, servicing, and imaging convergence through tooling convergence. A new Windows image customization framework that supports image customizations across all Windows 10 editions is now available to provide a unified image customization and configuration experience.”
IMHO, here’s the highlight coming from a Deployment background – “The framework also allows partners to specify conditions under which certain settings will be applied, which makes device configuration variant based on the device state.”
There’s a wealth of information, so read up and play around with provisioning!
Figure 1: High-level view of Windows Provisioning Customization Framework
Main Reference: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/mt269765(v=vs.85).aspx
Specific Links:
- Windows Provisioning XML – https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn916154(v=vs.85).aspx
- Provisioning Settings Store – https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/mt147449(v=vs.85).aspx
- Windows Provisioning Answer File – https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn916153(v=vs.85).aspx
- Provisioning Engine – https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn916152(v=vs.85).aspx
- Supported Windows Customizations – https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/mt147452(v=vs.85).aspx
- Provisioning Packages - https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/mt147447(v=vs.85).aspx
- Generate a Provisioning Package - https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/mt147445(v=vs.85).aspx
- Apply a Provisioning Package - https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/mt147439(v=vs.85).aspx
- Best Practices when using the Windows Provisioning Framework - https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/mt147442(v=vs.85).aspx
- Customize the Windows 10 Start Screen - https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/mt170651(v=vs.85).aspx
- Windows Imaging and Configuration Designer (WICD, informally pronounced “wicked”) - https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn916113(v=vs.85).aspx
- Windows Provisioning Settings Reference - https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn965990(v=vs.85).aspx