Skip to main content

Windows PPKG Provisioning (Beta)

Windows is in Beta. Contact Esper Support to enable it on your tenant.

PPKG provisioning lets you register Windows devices in Esper and deploy the Esper agent by baking a provisioning package into a Windows image. You'll work across three tools: the Esper console, Windows Configuration Designer (WCD), and either a USB drive or an RMM tool.

Windows Management is in Beta. Contact Esper Support to join the Windows Beta.

Prerequisites

  • A supported version of Windows 10 or 11 Pro and Enterprise including Enterprise LTSC and IoT Enterprise LTSC
  • Windows Configuration Designer installed (note: this does not need to be the device you're provisioning)

In this article

  • Step 1: Register your devices and download the PPKG
  • Step 2: Deploy to devices
    • Option 1: Field Deployment
    • Option 2: Out of the Box (OOBE) Deployment
  • Troubleshooting

Step 1: Register your devices and download the PPKG

The Esper console provisioning flow showing Windows (BETA) selected as the device platform and PPKG as the provisioning method. A serial number has been entered in the Device Serial Number field, with an Add button and a Bulk Upload option below.

  1. In the Esper console, go to the provisioning flow and select Windows (BETA) as the device platform and PPKG as the provisioning method
  2. Select a provisioning blueprint and, optionally, a provisioning group
  3. Enter each device's serial number and click Add (to register multiple devices at once, separate serial numbers with commas)

The PPKG Package section of the Esper console with Windows PPKG (.ppkg) selected from the Select Package dropdown. The Esper Ppkg Provisioner Package 1.0.1, dated Jun 10, 2026, is listed with a Download Package button on the right.

  1. Expand PPKG Package, select Windows PPKG (.ppkg), and click Download Package

Deploy to Devices 

After downloading the PPKG file, choose how it should be distributed to devices. 

Option 1: Field Deployment

After downloading the PPKG file to the device, opening the file will start the provisioning process if it is connected to a network. 

For devices in the field, you may want to use an RMM tool or a similar distribution method to download the file to a fleet of devices.. 

Option 2: Out of the Box Deployment

For out of the box deployments, build the provisioning package in Windows Configuration Designer. 

 Build the provisioning package in WCD

  1. Open Windows Configuration Designer on a Windows device and select Advanced provisioning.

The Windows Configuration Designer start page showing project type options under Create, including Provision desktop devices and Advanced provisioning. A New project dialog is open with All Windows desktop editions selected.

  1. Name the project and click Next
  2. Select All Windows desktop editions and click Next

The Windows Configuration Designer start page showing project type options under Create, including Provision desktop devices and Advanced provisioning, with an Open tile under Recent projects.

  1. Under Import a provisioning package, browse to the downloaded Esper .ppkg file and click Finish. 

The New project dialog in Windows Configuration Designer showing the Import a provisioning package step. The file path C:\Users\kaila\Downloads\app.ppkg is entered, and package details are displayed below: Name is esper-ppkg-provisioner.1.0.1, Owner type is OEM, Rank is 1, and an ID is shown

You may see a warning at this step that some customizations from the PPKG file are not available in the current project and were not imported. This warning is expected. 

  1. Configure additional customizations. 

Required 

  1. Set Hide OOBE to true (required for OOBE)
  2. Ensure Available Customizations includes an Admin user, their password, and an Administrators UserGroup (required for OOBE) 
  3. Ensure Selected customizations includes Runtime settings > ProvisioningCommands > Device Context > CommandFiles. This is imported from Esper PPKG. 

Optional 

  1. Optionally, add a Wi-Fi setting to the current package. Devices will need a network connection to provision. Recommended.
  2. Other settings

Windows Configuration Designer showing the Accounts/Users/kaila/UserGroup setting. In the Available customizations panel, UserGroup is selected under Runtime settings > Accounts > Users > UserName: kaila. The setting value is set to Administrators. The Selected customizations panel on the right shows Runtime settings > ProvisioningCommands > DeviceContext > CommandFiles and CommandLine

Windows Configuration Designer showing the OOBE/Desktop/HideOobe setting. In the Available customizations panel, HideOobe is selected under Runtime settings > OOBE > Desktop, with the search term "oobe" entered. The setting value on the right is set to TRUE

  1. Click to File > Save
  2. Go to Export > Provisioning package, name the package, and click Next
  3. Configure security settings if needed and click Next
  4. Select an output location and click Next
  5. Review the build summary and click Build
  6. Click Finish. The .ppkg file will be saved to your output location

Distribute the file to the devices. 

Distributing the File

The PPKG file can be distributed in a variety of ways to fit your use case.  If using a USB, we recommend d the following: using Windows Installer, copy the PPKG file and OS files in the same root folder to a USB drive. Ensure the USB is plugged in and the device is connected to Ethernet or connected via Wi-Fi. Once the device boots, the device will provision. 

Troubleshooting 

My devices came with an MDM. How do I provision? 

The existing MDM will need to be removed before provisioning. Contact Esper Support. 

After attaching the USB with the PPKG package, the screen seems stuck in on the set up page. 

Press the Windows key five times to continue.  

What should you do if you see the OOBEPROVISIONINGSTATUS error?

This error is usually shown when the device is not connected to a network, or when the Wi-Fi configured in the package file is not reachable. In some cases, this error may appear even when the network is available. If the Wi-Fi configuration is correct and the device is connected to the internet, click Try again. The provisioning process should then start.

A Windows setup error screen reading "Something went wrong. But you can try again." The error code OOBEPROVISIONINGSTATUS is shown in orange text, with a Try again button in the bottom right corner.

Featured content