How to create a custom ISO for Windows 11 and 'Auto Pilot' with JumpCloud for Windows - without MDT
Intro
Hi
In one of my previous articles I demonstrated how you can build an 'Auto Pilot'-style scenario with Microsoft's MDT and a custom script to onboard devices to JumpCloud on first-boot (or at a later stage by using the script standalone).
For some, having a dedicated Windows installation for MDT and all other required components may be a little too cumbersome and it isn't always very straightforward to get familiar with MDT (it can break fairly easy as well).
Recently I came across a tool named NTLite by Dino Nuhagic - which provides another option to quickly create custom images for Windows in a pretty intuitive manner without the stress of dealing with MDT. You can download/integrate Windows Updates, install language packs and drivers, remove Windows components (declutter) and most importantly - you can customise the out-of-the-box-experience (OOBE), integrate files and scripts, create local accounts - just like with MDT.
Solution
Once you have downloaded and installed NTLite, it's really easy to get your Windows source files loaded and start customising - actually I don't really need to elaborate much here.
Checkout the features here and start playing around with it. After a short while, making your first adjustments, you're ready to create your first custom ISO.
Adding the AutoPilot-Script
This is based on the support for 'Application Integration'. You have the choice here when and in which context your integrated applications and scripts will run. In this case I want the AutoPilot-Script to be executed on first boot after imaging. Therefore I'm adding my script and the command line as per screenshot:
The script will then be called as a RunOnce via registry.
Conclusion