The
following sections look at the procedures for doing both a manual
installation and an unattended installation. We will also consider what
is involved in upgrading to Windows Server 2008 from an existing
operating system.
Manual Installation
The
Windows Server 2008 installation procedure has been streamlined. If you
are familiar with the Windows 2003 Server installation, you may
remember that during the installation, you were prompted to answer
configuration questions. With Windows Server 2008, these prompts have
been moved to the Initial Configuration Task Wizard, which appears when
the installation is complete. The following is the only information you
need to provide during the actual installation:
Language, currency, and keyboard layout information
A valid product key
Installation location
Which version of the operating system you are going to install (if no product key is entered)
Whether you are performing an upgrade or fresh installation
The complete setup for Windows Server 2008 requires only three stages:
Operating System Setup
Follow these steps to set up the OS:
1. | Insert the installation CD and boot the server to the CD.
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2. | When you are prompted for language, time and currency, and keyboard format information, as shown in Figure 1, make the appropriate selections and click Next.
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3. | The
Install Now option appears. If you are unsure of what hardware
requirements are needed, you can click the link What to Know Before
Installing Windows. You can also click the link to perform and repair
the OS rather than perform a full installation.
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4. | Input your product key and check the box Automatically Activate Windows When I’m Online (see Figure 2). Click Next.
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5. | If
you did not enter a product key in the previous window, you now have to
choose which edition of Windows Server 2008 you will install and check
the box I Have Selected an Edition of Windows That I Purchased (see Figure 3).
If you did enter a product key, the installation program will be able
to identify which edition of Windows Server 2008 you are going to
install. Then click Next.
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6. | Read the license terms and accept them by checking the box. Then click Next.
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7. | In
the screen that now appears, you decide whether to perform and upgrade
or a custom (advanced) installation of Windows. Because you booted from
the installation CD, the Upgrade option is disabled (see Figure 4). Click Custom (Advanced).
Note
If you wanted to perform an upgrade, you would need to execute the installation procedure from within the original Windows OS.
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8. | On
the next screen, decide where you want to install Windows and, if you
have any third-party storage drivers, load them by clicking the Load
Driver link (see Figure 5).
Now the actual Windows installation takes place. You will see the
progress of each step as it completes, by percentage. During the
installation, the server will reboot multiple times. The installation
will complete the following tasks:
- Copying files
- Expanding files
- Installing features
- Installing updates
- Completing installation
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9. | When
the installation is complete, change the administrator’s password
before the first logon. When the password had been changed you are
logged in to the OS. You have completed phase 1 of the installation.
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Initial Configuration Tasks
Now
that the OS install is complete and you have logged in to the Windows
Server OS, the Initial Configuration Tasks Wizard appears (see Figure 1.6). There are three sections in this wizard:
So what configuration changes can you make in these different sections?
In the Provide Computer Information section, you can do the following:
Change the time zone.
Configure
the network settings on your network interface card (NIC) interfaces.
You can also assign static IP addresses, subnet masks, default
gateways, and DNS/WINS server. In many environments, you will probably
be teaming two NICs for a production data LAN (using third-party
software) and have a separate NIC dedicated for backup data connected
to a backup LAN. Alternatively, you can leave the setting to be
automatically assigned by a DHCP server, assuming that you have a DHCP
server configured.
Note
In
a real-world environment, you will usually assign static IP addresses
to infrastructure servers. If this is the case, you will need to have
gathered this information along with valid IP addresses for the default
gateway and for DNS and WINS servers prior to the installation, along
with the new server name if you are held to a strict naming convention
in your organization.
Supply a computer name for the server, along with domain or workgroup information.
You need to reboot the server for these changes to take effect.
In the Update This Server section, you can do the following:
In the Customize This Server section, you can do the following:
Add
the server role or multiple roles. When you select a role, a wizard
takes you through the complete installation of that role. You can
choose from the following roles:
Active Directory Certificate Services
Active Directory Domain Services
Active Directory Federation Services
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
Active Directory Rights Management Services
Application Server
DHCP Server
DNS Server
Fax Server
File Services
Network Policy and Access Services
Print Services
Terminal Services
UDDI Services
Web Server (IIS)
Windows Deployment Services
Add
features. As with roles, when you select a feature, a wizard takes you
through the installation of that feature. There are many features to
choose from, as shown in Figure 7.
Note
With
both the roles and features lists, if you highlight a role or feature,
you see a description of each role or feature on the right side of the
list. When you are selecting roles and features, keep in mind that you
should install as few as possible or only items you are currently
planning to use. If you install unnecessary roles and/or features, you
will also install services and possibly open up ports that will not be
used in production but will render the server less secure.
Enable Remote Desktop connections to the server.
Configure the OS firewall settings. By default, the firewall is enabled.
Now let’s move on to phase 3 of the installation.
Server Manager Setup
Server Manager (shown in Figure 8)
gives you a complete overview of your server. When looking at the
default details pane, you can see computer information, security
information, and a summary of the roles and features installed. And at
the bottom of the page, you see a resources and support section. On the
left side of the window are many tools to help you add/remove and
configure roles and features. You can also see options for diagnostics,
configurations, and disk management. When you have completed your
changes in Server Manager, your manual installation is complete.
Unattended Installation
Now
that
you have completed the manual installation, let’s take a look at
how you would go about performing an unattended installation. With
Windows Server 2008, you use a unattend.xml file rather than an
unattend.txt file; in fact, the unnattend.xml file also replaces the
Sysprep.inf, Winbom.ini, and Cmdlines.txt
files. The XML format has been adopted because it makes it easier to
describe nested values, add new elements, and validate the answer file.
You can open the unattend.xml file in Internet Explorer 5.5 and later to parse the .xml file and see if it is well formed. If the file is not formed correctly, Internet Explorer shows you where the errors are.
To run an unattended installation, you execute the setup.exe file with the unattend switch:
C:>setup.exe /unattend:<path>\unattend.xml
The unattend.xml file contains the responses needed while running the setup.exe
file. This file contains such information as computer name, acceptance
of the End User License Agreement (EULA), installation disk
information, and so on. You can also show or hide the user interface
(UI) for each value that is set by using ShowUI flag = Yes/No. Let’s take a look at how the installation reacts when you use the ShowUI flag:
ShowUI flag = Yes and setting is specified in the unattend.xml file: Setup uses the setting specified in the unattend.xml file and shows the UI with this setting.
ShowUI flag = No and setting is specified in the unattend.xml file: Setup uses the setting specified in the unattend.xml file and does not show the UI.
ShowUI flag = Yes and the setting is not specified in the unattend.xml file: Setup shows the UI, with the default value, and the user can change this setting, if needed.
ShowUI flag = No and the setting is not specified in the unattend.xml file: Setup uses the default value and does not show the UI.
While performing an unattended installation over a network, the system installer must have access to the unattend.xml file. When the setup is started from removable media (CD or DVD), the setup program looks for the unattend.xml file in the following locations:
The current working directory
The root of the removable media where setup.exe was initiated
Other removable media, such as floppy disks, USB devices, or another CD or DVD
The syntax for the unattend.xml
file is broken up into elements, and each element needs to be opened
and then closed in the proper order (when nested). When this is
achieved, it is a well-formed .xml file. There is only one root element, <unattend>. Figure 9 shows a portion of an unattend.xml file, with some syntax explanation, so that you can get the feel for the syntax.
The running of the unattend.xml file stops with an error message if any of the following is true:
The EULA has not been accepted
The product key is invalid
The install disk cannot be written to
Creating an unattend.xml
file can be tricky, but when you have this file created, it can make
your job much easier. There are some tools available on the web that
can help you create these files. You can also get very creative by
adding some scripting to your installations to automatically generate
computer names that adhere to your naming convention as well as many
other configuration options.
