I am trying to create a VM using a Template, but facing an issue with respect to Product Key. The VHD I am using is ofWindows Server 2008 SP2 X86. If I do not provide Product Key in the Template/Guest OS Profile, the Virtual Machine creation fails even before starting. Seeing this behavior, I added a dummy key to the Guest OS Profile/Template which allowed me to deploy the machine, but the VM gets stuck at Customization before failing. When I take the remote console of the VM, the Error I see at the Remote Console is:
Windows could not parse or process the unattend answer file for pass. The settings specified in the answer files cannot be applied. The error was detected while processing settings for component [microsoft-windows-shell-setup]"
So, I am confused now what to do.
Is dummy key supported?
Do I need to provide the actual key in the Template/Guest OS Profile?