Problems & questions (NT Update tool, post-setup scripts, office deployment, winget)

[Regally3628]

Hi,
ISO: Windows 10 LTSC 2021.
Problem 1:
NTLite built in tool for grabbing updates doesn’t seem to grab ALL updates (ex. Jan 2023 update is manually downloaded by Windows Update after boot up).
Expected behavior: ALL updates should be already integrated into windows iso.
Problem 2:
Microsoft Edge is being installed online by Windows Update (all Internet Explorer/Edge components were removed from iso)
Problem 3:
Post-Setup section is absolutely anti-intuitive.
example from: click to go

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\SetupWinget\winget_install.ps1"

So, In first section should I put only powershell and in next section pass all the params ex. “-NoProfile” etc?
Some automatic deployment scripts use even more complicated syntax as:

start powershell someparams somexecs

So: “start” is going into first section and the “powershell…” part needs to be embedded into parameters in right section?
Problem 4
Main focus of this tool is debloating & AUTOMATION. Right now there’s no way for integration of nvidia drivers (can be added but without NVContainer which will cause problems.
Problem 5
Integration of winget without using scripts which will add ALL msstore deps is nearly impossible. Tried every possible method but winget is still not recognized in powershell & cmd.
Problem 6
Office auto-deployment using forums winrar method (creating SFX package) seems to install winrar execs into Windows (discovered by running bleachbit). So ‘reducing footprint’ is not the case here but also needs manual launch of SFX package.
Expectations and possible solutions
I understand that NTLite devs can’t create scripts for everything I need for full automation but some features (Problems 1-3) could be improved. I can’t imagine using tool that promise to grab latest updates & easily setup env with AAD’s when there’s little involvement by devs into actually making this tool full-featured for auto-deployment.
Imagine deploying Windows on 10 machines after grabbing all updates using NTLites tool and you realize that all of these machines need to download around 3-4 more updates, MSOffice needs to be deployed manually from pendrive using OCT&ODT and manually installing deps for winget and making it work. From my observation there’s too much focus on “component removal” tool and it’s “compability list” by default setting up compability for Teamviewer, Discord etc which is usually not needed because Discord can be run from Chrome instead of grabbing electron desktop version and Teamviewer can be easily replaced by open source remote tools. Maybe better approach will be focusing on STABLE versions of Windows instead of diving deep into some “insider” crap on Win11. Life would be easier if NTLite’s team provided some easy scripts for installing winget etc. Let’s make Windows great again until linux nvidia drivers & wayland will mature enough to use it as a daily-driver.

Some community-created scripts are actually crucial to make Windows bloat-free and make this OS more optimized so I want to send huge thanks to Hellbovine Guides&Scripts.

 

[garlin]

I'll try to stay constructive, since you're hitting on many advanced topics. Hopefully, you've read the context of why things are this way and if not, here's the long explanation.

Problem 1:
NTLite built in tool for grabbing updates doesn’t seem to grab ALL updates (ex. Jan 2023 update is manually downloaded by Windows Update after boot up).
Expected behavior: ALL updates should be already integrated into windows iso.

Depending on CU updates, there might be pending actions (staged tasks to be executed after the first reboot) which will lead to Servicing Stack metadata conflicts. A set of components is marked "downrev", and WU has only one possible action -- to reapply the latest CU.

But in reality, all the required files are present. WU thinks it needs to re-install the whole CU to service a handful of discrepancies.

This can happen even if you integrated updates using DISM, and not used NTLite. It's a well known problem, especially with images with language packs, or .NET Framework add-ons.

Problem 2:
Microsoft Edge is being installed online by Windows Update (all Internet Explorer/Edge components were removed from iso)

It's not WU, but OOBE ZDP.
https://www.ntlite.com/community/in...fully-remove-edge-unlike-8850.3007/post-28501

Problem 3:
Post-Setup section is absolutely anti-intuitive.
example from: click to go

So, In first section should I put only powershell and in next section pass all the params ex. “-NoProfile” etc?
Some automatic deployment scripts use even more complicated syntax as:

So: “start” is going into first section and the “powershell…” part needs to be embedded into parameters in right section?

First column is the base command, ie. powershell, cmd.
Second column is all other parameters.

NTLite doesn't take a single command line, because it needs to properly recognize specific interpreter or file types. Like if you simply enter "MyScript.ps1", it will implicitly execute it as "powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass MyScript.ps1"

Problem 5
Integration of winget without using scripts which will add ALL msstore deps is nearly impossible. Tried every possible method but winget is still not recognized in powershell & cmd.

Read the entire LONG THREAD.
This isn't a NTLite problem. winget is packaged for (reasons??) as UWP app, are subject to all the stupid annoyances. Had they decided to release winget as a normal Win32, nobody would have this insanity.

If you need to add Store to LTSC, use this PS script and integrate the missing packages.
PowerShell GUI for downloading Microsoft Store Apps - W10_11StoreApps.ps1

Problem 6
Office auto-deployment using forums winrar method (creating SFX package) seems to install winrar execs into Windows (discovered by running bleachbit). So ‘reducing footprint’ is not the case here but also needs manual launch of SFX package.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the SFX solution. To me it's "below sub-optimal" to repackage a giant offline installer inside a SFX, inside a OEM setup folder...
I've provided a much better alternative. But nobody cares to try that one. Again it's just an user-provided solution, you're free to follow any Office setup guide on the web.

Expectations and possible solutions
I understand that NTLite devs can’t create scripts for everything I need for full automation but some features (Problems 1-3) could be improved. I can’t imagine using tool that promise to grab latest updates & easily setup env with AAD’s when there’s little involvement by devs into actually making this tool full-featured for auto-deployment.

Some community-created scripts are actually crucial to make Windows bloat-free and make this OS more optimized so I want to send huge thanks to Hellbovine Guides&Scripts.

NTLite is an image customization and automation tool. There's plenty of post-setup automation examples out there, where you can plug in the script to Post-Setup to run. What you're griping about is some of those suggestions are messy at the edges.

For other solutions, we have this community. What separates us from other Windows modders, is our contributors are actually interested in why things work in specific way, or why they don't. We're not just yelling at people to blindly install XYZ script, and call it a day.

 

[Kasual]

Problem 1:
NTLite built in tool for grabbing updates doesn’t seem to grab ALL updates (ex. Jan 2023 update is manually downloaded by Windows Update after boot up).
Expected behavior: ALL updates should be already integrated into windows iso.

Today is the month's second tuesday, a "Ms official updates release day", has been said in early responses that we, as users, must wait to have listed all the updates in the built in tool.

Problem 2:
Microsoft Edge is being installed online by Windows Update (all Internet Explorer/Edge components were removed from iso)

No idea about what it means, if is updated as standalone package or if is updated when CU are installed, for the second, already has been said that CU brings back components/features, thats why there we have the tool 'Remove Reinstalls'.

Problem 3:
Post-Setup section is absolutely anti-intuitive.
example from: click to go

So, In first section should I put only powershell and in next section pass all the params ex. “-NoProfile” etc?
Some automatic deployment scripts use even more complicated syntax as:

So: “start” is going into first section and the “powershell…” part needs to be embedded into parameters in right section?

using "start" has been useless for me since the early days (years), NTLites takes the first word in the command as a program to launch and that behaviour is expected.

Problem 4
Main focus of this tool is debloating & AUTOMATION. Right now there’s no way for integration of nvidia drivers (can be added but without NVContainer which will cause problems.

Not all drivers are ready for integration unless you extract the very basic, whatever we put in Post-Setup, we need to adapt it, we have a subforum called Automated application deployment

Problem 5
Integration of winget without using scripts which will add ALL msstore deps is nearly impossible. Tried every possible method but winget is still not recognized in powershell & cmd.

I think I have answered this already, is about "AUTOMATION" but there are 2 sections in Post-Setup, test both, if you don't know, use the lower section.

Problem 6
Office auto-deployment using forums winrar method (creating SFX package) seems to install winrar execs into Windows (discovered by running bleachbit). So ‘reducing footprint’ is not the case here but also needs manual launch of SFX package.

The same as before.

Expectations and possible solutions
I understand that NTLite devs can’t create scripts for everything I need for full automation but some features (Problems 1-3) could be improved. I can’t imagine using tool that promise to grab latest updates & easily setup env with AAD’s when there’s little involvement by devs into actually making this tool full-featured for auto-deployment.

Everything that is possible, we can expect that will be improved.
Ms is changing everything too often and the tool needs to be updated and adapted to Ms changes that aren't public, other program's developers also needs to adapt their work to Ms changes. Ms has been doing bigger changes in the latest years, isn't smooth as before, an update can break programs or not allow to install and isn't NTLite's fault, bugs can be reported and fixed as soon as needed as there other reports by email support and priority matters most when critical bugs are found.

To your knowledge, NTLite is a "one man's work". If you have seen people moderating the forums, they aren't paid and not part of the NTLite development but they are helpful.

Imagine deploying Windows on 10 machines after grabbing all updates using NTLites tool and you realize that all of these machines need to download around 3-4 more updates, MSOffice needs to be deployed manually from pendrive using OCT&ODT and manually installing deps for winget and making it work. From my observation there’s too much focus on “component removal” tool and it’s “compability list” by default setting up compability for Teamviewer, Discord etc which is usually not needed because Discord can be run from Chrome instead of grabbing electron desktop version and Teamviewer can be easily replaced by open source remote tools. Maybe better approach will be focusing on STABLE versions of Windows instead of diving deep into some “insider” crap on Win11. Life would be easier if NTLite’s team provided some easy scripts for installing winget etc. Let’s make Windows great again until linux nvidia drivers & wayland will mature enough to use it as a daily-driver.

Remember, Ms has changed Windows, but all their programs, years ago was very easy to integrate lots of programs, Office too. Probably you don't know, but Ms have, let's say "disabled" oobe.cmd and setupcomplete.cmd execution in branded computers, needed for automation since Windows 10 (don't know the build where it has been disabled), this took time to investigate and adapted to make automation works, isn't NTLite's fault.

Some community-created scripts are actually crucial to make Windows bloat-free and make this OS more optimized so I want to send huge thanks to Hellbovine Guides&Scripts.

I agree, Hellbovine has been doing a very good work and is appreciated.
To your knowledge, there is no "team" or "devs" and many tests needs to be done on many Windows builds/versions now, we, as forum users, can contribute on whatever we can/want.
Due to all Ms changes, NTLite could have a "basic mode" where the very basic that Ms allows to do without issues, would be done but that would be almost nothing.

 

[nuhi]

Just to add, NTLite has switches, see ntlite.exe /? for more info.
Through presets you can automate it via a script.
I'll jump in with more answers once the topic crystallizes, too much was said already.