Presets
Reuse a session on another image - the preset list, auto-save and auto-load, overwrite and merge load modes, and extracting the current image state.
The Preset list sits on the right of the Start - Image page. A preset is an XML file holding the choices made in a session, so a configuration can be reused on another image or handed to someone else.
Presets can also be saved and loaded from the command line. See the Command Line reference, or run ntlite.exe /? in the app.
Preset List
Contains a list of presets - XML files containing previous choices for a given session. The last saved preset will be named “Auto-saved” and usually appears on top of the list.
To use these files, first load an image. After loading an image, if there is a previously associated preset, it will be automatically loaded (this can be disabled in File → Settings). To load a preset, same as with images, either double-click or select one and choose Load from the toolbar.
Auto-Save, Auto-Load and Backup
Three options in File → Settings keep sessions flowing between images without you hunting for the right preset each time. All three are on by default.
- Save last session as ‘Auto-saved’ - every applied session is written to the preset list on its own, so nothing is lost if you forget to save, or need to see what a previous run did. Auto-load depends on it.
- Load last session ‘Auto-saved’ - when you load an image, the auto-saved session is loaded with it, but only if the image is the same starting point that session was made from. Say you load a fresh 26100.1 edition, add updates and removals, then apply. Reloading the resulting image does not auto-load that session, because the updated image is not the starting point the session was tied to. Revert to, or copy in, a fresh 26100.1 and the session auto-loads again on image load, so you can continue where you left off.
- Back up preset and log on the edited image - copies the auto-saved preset and the session log into the edited ISO folder. The tool's Presets folder gets cleaned and changed over time; the copy travels with the image, so its original source remains on record.
Load Modes
The Load button carries a drop-down with two modes. Load (Overwrite) sets all the page choices to what is found on the loaded preset.
Load (Merge) loads one on top of another, without resetting to image defaults before loading.
Multiple presets can also be loaded by selecting more than one preset at once using CTRL+click, then clicking Load. This is useful when combining multiple sessions at once.
Extract Current Image State
Located in Preset toolbar → Save suboption, captures a preset of a loaded image with detected removed components, configured settings and features, ignoring current UI selection for those.
It also carries what the image already has set up for deployment: the answer file it ships with, read into the Unattended page when the image loads, and the entries already queued on the Post-Setup page - the latter with placeholder paths to correct once the preset is loaded elsewhere.
Short guide:
- Load source image
- Go to Components → Compatibilities → disable those not needed → OK
- Go to Images → Preset → Save → Extract current image state → OK
- Image → New session
- Load destination image
- Load the saved preset and apply changes