What is an Answer File?

Answer files are XML files that you can use to automate deployments, so your technicians won’t have to manually click through the Deploy Wizard for each device at deployment time. Any setting that you would typically configure in Deploy Wizard at deployment time (including mapping a network share and selecting a network-based image file) can be automated with an answer file to create a light- or zero-touch deployment.


SmartDeploy makes creating an answer file easy with a simple wizard. An answer file created by SmartDeploy is meant to replace using the Deploy Wizard and to fully automate the deployment. Alternatively, you can walk through the Deploy Wizard on a manual deployment and export the answer file, which will save all the options that you selected for future deployments.

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