Nutanix - Troubleshooting Sysprep Failures During Provisioning

A common cause for clone pool provisioning failures is a misconfigured master image where Sysprep generalize fails. Follow these troubleshooting tips to resolve Sysrep failures during instant clone provisioning.

Test Sysprep Readiness

• Create a VM from Template used for Pool Deployment.

• Power on. Open Administrator CMD.

• Run C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /shutdown.

• If it shuts down within two minutes, proceed. If not, check logs: C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\Panther\setuperr.log.

Appx Packages Blocking Sysprep

Error Example

SYSPRP Package <name> installed for a user, but not provisioned for all users.

Fixes

Disable Appx Package Processing

• Take ownership of Generalize.xml, grant modify rights, and remove <Microsoft-Windows-AppX-Sysprep section.

• Run in cmd:

  takeown /F %windir%\system32\sysprep\Actionfiles\Generalize.xml

  icacls %windir%\system32\sysprep\Actionfiles\Generalize.xml /grant administrator:(m)

Remove All Appx Packages

• Run in PowerShell:

  Import-Module Appx

  Import-Module Dism

  Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage

  Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage –Online

Remove Specific Packages

• Identify via Get-AppxPackage and remove using:

  Remove-AppxPackage -Package <fullname>

  Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online -PackageName <fullname>

Delete User Profiles

Log in as built-in Administrator, delete unused profiles via sysdm.cpl.

Pending Windows Updates

• Errors related to reserved storage or active scenarios.

• Solution: Run updates on the master VM and disable Windows Update service post-setup.

Unremovable Store Apps

• Follow Microsoft’s guidance to remove or update store apps manually.

BitLocker Enabled

• Error: BitLocker is on for the OS volume.

• Disable using: manage-bde -status manage-bde -off c:.

Sysprep Registry Corruption

Delete key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\Sysprep\SysprepCorrupt

Sysprep Takes 45–60 Minutes

• On some Windows builds, provtool.dll delays Sysprep.

• Run cmd:

  sc config dmwappushservice start=delayed-auto

  sc start dmwappushservice

Built-in Administrator Disabled

• Sysprep disables the built-in Administrator by default.

• If no other accounts exist, the log in will fail on clone VMs.

• Solution: Create additional local accounts on the master image before Sysprep.