Guest OS Customization fails when using a newly created template with the following error:
The following error appears in the guestcust.log.
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS: GuestCustUtil: DEBUG] Status marker file C:/WINDOWS/.post-gc-status doesn't exist
[
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
: WindowsOsAbstractionLayer: INFO] Executing command: 'C:\WINDOWS\system32\sc.exe query "VMware Guest OS Customization Task" '[
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
: WindowsOsAbstractionLayer: WARN] Command execution failed with exit code: 1060, output: '[SC] EnumQueryServicesStatus:OpenService FAILED 1060:The specified service does not exist as an installed service.
ESXi 8.x
This is a normal error in guestcust. The service is checking to see if "VMware Guest OS Customization Task" is running, and it's not, so it doesn't need to be deleted.
[
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
: GuestCustUtil: INFO] Task 'VMware Guest OS Customization Task' exists and will be deleted: false
We can see here where we start to update sysprep, which means guest customization is done and we're handing off the process to sysprep
[
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
: GuestCustUtil: DEBUG] Creating sysprep copy in dir:'C:\sysprep1008'` [
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
: GuestCustUtil: INFO] Copying C:\sysprep to C:\sysprep1008.` [
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
: : DEBUG] Copying file/directory from 'C:\sysprep' to 'C:\sysprep1008'` [
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
: GuestCustUtil: DEBUG] Schedule command: 'C:\sysprep1008\guestcustutil.exe post-run HandleCustomizationCompleted<\|/>'`
The absence of the "VMware Guest OS Customization Task" service (error 1060) is expected and does not impact customization success.
Ensure that all sysprep and imaging tools used are compatible with the target Windows version (e.g., Windows Server 2022, Windows 11).
For further troubleshooting, review setupact.log and setuperr.log for additional WinRE-related errors, and confirm that no third-party software interferes with OOBE processes.WinReOobeInstall WinRE install succeeded`
Engage Microsoft support to assist in troubleshooting sysprep issues.