Deploying Windows Firewall During an Unattended Installation
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2
The answer file for unattended installations of Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) has been updated to include a section for configuring Windows Firewall. You can use the new Windows Firewall parameters to turn on Windows Firewall and configure Windows Firewall settings if you are deploying clean installations of Windows Server 2003 with SP1. You cannot use an answer file to perform an unattended installation if you are installing SP1 on a computer that already has Windows Server 2003 installed.
Note
If you use an unattended installation answer file to automate the configuration of Windows Firewall settings, the settings that you specify in the answer file are deleted and are not reapplied when you restore Windows Firewall default settings. However, if you use a Netfw.inf to configure Windows Firewall settings, the settings specified in Netfw.inf are reapplied to the computer when you restore Windows Firewall default settings. If you want to restore the Windows Firewall settings that you configured during an unattended installation with an answer file, you must configure the settings manually.
For more information about using the Windows Firewall parameters in an unattended installation answer file, see "Windows Firewall Tools and Settings" in the Windows Firewall Technical Reference on the Microsoft Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=42729). For more information about the Windows Firewall parameters that are available for use in an unattended installation answer file, see "Unattended Installation Tools and Settings" in the Unattended Installation Technical Reference on the Microsoft Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=42729).