We’ve put the cloud-side foundations in place.
Our Intune administrator role, automatic enrollment settings, Enrollment Status Page, Autopilot deployment profile, and required application assignments are configured. We even returned to WF-ESP-CORPORATE to make Company Portal our only selected ESP-blocking app.
Now it’s time to give those configurations a device to work with.
Instead of buying a physical laptop or running an Azure VM, I decided to use Oracle VirtualBox to build our first Windows 11 workstation locally. This gives us a repeatable lab without adding Azure compute costs.
Our target for this lesson: create WF-LT-001, install Windows 11 Pro manually, and stop at the first Windows Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE) screen. We won’t register the hardware or sign Olivia in just yet.
1. Meet Our First Pilot Workstation
We’re treating the virtual machine as a standard corporate laptop assigned to Olivia Carter, Finance Analyst.
| Item | Our decision |
|---|---|
| Asset identifier | WF-LT-001 |
| VirtualBox VM name | WF-LT-001 |
| Virtualization platform | Oracle VirtualBox on the local computer |
| Guest OS | Windows 11 Pro, 64-bit |
| Intended employee | Olivia Carter — Finance Analyst |
| Intended deployment | User-driven Windows Autopilot, Microsoft Entra joined |
| Intended management | Microsoft Intune |
One naming distinction matters: WF-LT-001 is our VM name and asset identifier. It doesn’t automatically become the Windows computer hostname. We deliberately left Apply device name template = No in our Autopilot profile, so we’ll inspect the actual Windows hostname after deployment.
2. Prepare VirtualBox and the Windows 11 ISO
I downloaded the software from the official sources:
- Oracle VirtualBox for the computer hosting the VM.
- Microsoft Windows 11 for the Windows 11 x64 ISO.
After installing VirtualBox, I opened VirtualBox Manager and selected New.
For the initial machine definition, I used:
| Option | Selection |
|---|---|
| Name | WF-LT-001 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Version | Windows 11 (64-bit) |
| ISO image | The Windows 11 x64 ISO |
| Unattended installation | Skipped |
Skipping unattended installation was intentional. VirtualBox can create a user account and complete parts of Windows setup automatically. That’s convenient for ordinary testing, but not for our lab: we need to see the original OOBE so we can perform Autopilot registration before Olivia’s first organizational sign-in.
Depending on the VirtualBox version, the option might appear as Skip Unattended Installation or Install OS Using Unattended Installation. I made sure the unattended installation was disabled.
3. Configure the Virtual Hardware
These are the resource values I used when creating WF-LT-001:
| VirtualBox setting | Value used |
|---|---|
| Base memory | 6,725 MB |
| Processors | 3 |
| Virtual hard disk | 80 GB, WF-LT-001.vdi |
| TPM type | v2.0 |
| EFI | Enabled |
| Secure Boot | Enabled |
| Graphics controller | VBoxSVGA |
| Video memory | 128 MB |
| Network Adapter 1 | Intel PRO/1000 MT Desktop — NAT |
| Network Adapter 2 | Intel PRO/1000 MT Desktop — Bridged Adapter |
Before powering it on, I checked the important items in the VM’s Settings:
- System: Three processors, EFI and Secure Boot enabled, with virtual TPM 2.0 configured.
- Display:
VBoxSVGAgraphics with 128 MB video memory. - Storage:
WF-LT-001.vdiattached on SATA Port 0, and the Windows 11 ISO mounted as an optical drive on SATA Port 1. - Network: Adapter 1 configured for NAT; Adapter 2 configured as a Bridged Adapter to the host wireless interface.
Why Two Network Adapters?
That’s how I configured this VM, but NAT alone is enough for the first Wire Finance Autopilot lab. We primarily need outbound connectivity to Microsoft’s services for script installation, Autopilot registration, Windows setup and Intune enrollment.
If you’re following the project on your own machine, you can start with Adapter 1 = NAT and leave Adapter 2 disabled. The Bridged adapter was part of my lab configuration, not an Autopilot requirement. We will test connectivity when we register the device in Lesson 7.
I also kept the virtual hardware settings stable once the machine was ready. We’ll capture its hardware identity in the next lesson, so changing virtual hardware afterwards could complicate device recognition.
Why TPM 2.0?
Windows 11 expects a compatible virtual TPM and UEFI/Secure Boot capability. That is separate from the Autopilot deployment mode: our user-driven deployment works with a VM and doesn’t require TPM attestation. Self-deploying and pre-provisioned Autopilot modes rely on physical-device TPM attestation, so we aren’t using those modes here.
4. Install Windows 11 Pro Manually
With the virtual hardware configured, I selected WF-LT-001 → Start in VirtualBox Manager.
The VM booted from the mounted Windows 11 ISO and opened the normal Windows Setup screen.
Here’s the installation sequence I followed:
- Language and keyboard: Select the installation language, regional format and keyboard options, then continue.
- Start installation: Choose Install Windows 11 or Install now, depending on the installer screen.
- Product key: Supply an appropriate licence key if prompted. If Windows offers I don’t have a product key, installation can continue, but valid activation rights still need to be addressed.
- Edition: Choose Windows 11 Pro, not Home. If the ISO or product key selects the edition automatically, confirm it’s Pro.
- Licence terms: Read and accept the applicable terms.
- Installation type: Choose the clean/custom installation option rather than upgrading an existing Windows installation.
- Disk: Select the unallocated 80 GB virtual disk and let Setup create the Windows partitions.
- Installation: Allow Windows to copy files, install and restart as needed.
The exact wording may vary with the Windows 11 installer version. What matters is that we’re installing Windows 11 Pro cleanly without completing account setup.
I also left VirtualBox Guest Additions for later. They weren’t needed for the initial Windows installation or Autopilot registration, and I wanted to keep this first setup straightforward.
5. Stop at the Windows OOBE Region Screen
After Windows finished installing, it reached its Out-of-Box Experience and displayed the country/region prompt.
This is exactly where I stopped.
I didn’t create a local user, sign in with a personal Microsoft account, or sign in as Olivia. We want her first work-account authentication—including Microsoft Authenticator setup—to happen during our actual Autopilot deployment in Lesson 8.
The next lesson will use this OOBE environment to open a command shell, retrieve the hardware identity and register the device in Windows Autopilot.
For now, the machine’s journey looks like this:
Microsoft environment and app assignments — READY
↓
WF-LT-001 built in Oracle VirtualBox — DONE
↓
Windows 11 Pro installed — DONE
↓
Windows OOBE region screen — STOP HERE
↓
Autopilot registration and Group Tag — LESSON 7
↓
Verify device targeting and assigned profile — LESSON 7
↓
Olivia's organizational sign-in — LESSON 8
6. Our VM-Build Checkpoint
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
WF-LT-001 created in VirtualBox |
Completed |
| 6,725 MB RAM, 3 CPUs, 80 GB virtual disk | Configured |
| EFI, Secure Boot, TPM 2.0 | Enabled |
| NAT and Bridged adapters | Configured |
| Windows 11 Pro manual installation | Completed |
| Unattended installation | Skipped |
| First Windows OOBE region screen | Reached |
| Autopilot hardware registration | Not yet in our walkthrough |
| Entra join, Intune enrollment and first employee sign-in | Not yet in our walkthrough |
We now have an actual Windows machine to test against the cloud configurations prepared in Lessons 1–5. But creating the VM doesn’t register it in Autopilot or make it an Intune-managed device. Those steps are still ahead.
Next: Windows Autopilot Registration and Troubleshooting — Lesson 7. We’ll use Shift + F10 at OOBE, work through the PowerShell repository and Microsoft Graph authentication problems we encountered, register the VM with Group Tag CORPORATE, and check that WF_AP_CORPORATE_USER_DRIVEN is assigned before proceeding to Olivia’s first sign-in.
Microsoft and Oracle references: Oracle VirtualBox: Create a VM and skip unattended installation · Windows Autopilot scenarios on virtual machines · Windows Autopilot user-driven mode