Custom OS Template (Windows)
An organisation administrator can create a customised OS template for spinning up remote desktops – it’s also a handy way to activate your own licence on the operating system.
Follow the steps below carefully; they’re essential for building a working image.
Important:
About Disk Partition
1. A customised template needs either a single disk partition or two partitions: one EFI/Boot partition and a second for system and data.
2. LVM partitions aren’t supported, so please don’t use them.
3. An incorrect partition scheme will stop disk auto‑resizing and machine naming from working.
Windows
1. Install “Red Hat VirtIO SCSI pass‑through controller”
When you see the “Where do you want to install Windows?” prompt, click “Load drivers” and pick the matching driver. The storage drive will then appear.
2. Initial Setup
Click I don’t have internet when asked “Let’s connect you to a network”
Select Continue with limited setup on the “There’s more to discover…” screen
Enter any username but leave the password blank
3. Install Virtio‑win drivers and guest agents
Once the machine has started and you’re logged in, open CD Drive E and run Virtio‑win‑guest‑tools to install the VirtIO drivers along with spice vdagent and qemu guest agent. Click Next and OK to finish.
4. Disable Hibernate
Right‑click “Command Prompt” and choose “Run as administrator”, then enter powercfg.exe /hibernate off and press Enter.
5. Enable Shutdown/Restart Windows 10 without Any Prompts
In the Registry Editor, go to the key HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop.
Create a new String Value called AutoEndTasks and set its value to 1.
6. Check if the required services exist and set them to “Automatic Start”
- Spice-Vdagent : for support of qemu vnc clipboard
- BalloonSerivce: for guest memory usage stats
7. Install and configure TightVNC for proper VNC connections
Download the TightVNC installer for Windows from https://www.tightvnc.com/download.php.
Run the installer and, once finished, disable authentication.
Open “TightVNC service configuration” and adjust the settings.
8. Enable Shared‑drive
Shared‑drive makes it possible to exchange files between cloud desktops during a training course, or between your own PC and the cloud desktop. It uses WebDAV technology. You’ll need to map the drive before you can use it – see the screenshot below for the steps.
9. Shut down Windows properly
Click the Windows icon in the bottom‑left corner, then select Power → Shut down.
Please Note
To add optional extras such as
- DDWebdav – synchronises the trainer’s content folders to each participant’s machine,
- or DDUpload – for easily uploading files inside a DaDesktop machine;
please contact DaDesktop Tech Support.