How to Set the Administrator Password During RIS Installation

During the installation of a Remote Installation Service (RIS) image, the Administrator password is set to null by default. This article describes how to set the Administrator password during the RIS installation.

You can set the Administrator password using one of the following methods.

Method 1: Prompting the User for the Administrator Password

This is the easiest and recommended method. To accomplish this task, use the following steps:

1. On the RIS server, edit the .sif file you want to change using any text editor. This file has a default name of Ristndrd.sif and is located in the RemoteInstall\Setup\Language\Images\Foldername\I386\Templates folder.
2. Locate the following line in the [GuiUnattended] section of the .sif file:

   AdminPassword = *
   					

3. Change the line to the following:

   AdminPassword = ""
   						

   NOTE: This allows the user to type the local Administrator password in graphical user interface (GUI) mode Setup.
4. You can also add the following line to the [Unattended] section of the .sif file to put Setup in Read-only mode:

   UnattendMode = "ReadOnly"
   
   					

   NOTE: When you add this line, users are only able to type the Administrator password on the Setup wizard page (they cannot change other fields).
   
   
5. Save the file back to the disk and run a RIS installation to make sure you typed the parameters correctly.

Method 2: Create a Client Installation Wizard Screen to Prompt Users for the Password

This method allows a user to type the password during the Client Installation Wizard (CIW) portion of the installation. An administrator can create a *.osc screen that prompts the user for the local Administrator password after the user selects an operating system image. The CIW sends the password to the RIS server and it puts it in the .sif file template the user selected. The transfer of this password to the RIS server is encrypted.

When the password is encrypted across the network, it is stored in the .sif template in plain text. This file is kept in the RemoteInstall\Tmp folder until the client finishes the text mode portion of Setup. When the process is finished, the file is deleted. At the end of RIS installation, the password is also removed from the temporary answer file used by GUI mode Setup ($Winnt$.inf).

NOTE: You can set the Administrator password directly in the .sif template such as:

[GuiUnattended]
OemSkipWelcome = 1
OemSkipRegional = 1
TimeZone = 4
AdminPassword = "password"

This is not recommended, however, since the template is accessible on the RIS server share. If you must use this method, it is recommended that you only use this password temporarily during installation and later change it to a secure password.

You can use either preceding methods to set the local administrator password during a RIS installation. For more information about creating or modifying CIW screens, please consult the Microsoft Windows 2000 Resource Kit.