Installing a server operating system requires some assessment and preparation before you actually do the work. You'll want to review the server hardware and installation details, check the latest technical notes, verify backups, and have more than a few discussions with other Information Technology (IT) staff and managers.
Most versions of Windows Server 2003 share baseline requirements, such as a minimum of a 133-megahertz (MHz) Pentium CPU, 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM, and 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of hard disk drive space (for three of the x86-based servers). Yet, there are differences in recommended hardware for each edition—Web, Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter—and further differences to support the 64-bit versions on Itanium-based servers. Table 3-2 shows the hardware requirements for Windows Server 2003 on 32-bit x86 platforms, while Table 3-3 describes the requirements on the Itanium-based platform. For 64-bit extended systems, refer to Table 3-4.
Table 3-2. Hardware Requirements for x86-Based Computers (32-bit)
Version | Min CPU Speed | Recommended CPU Speed | # of CPUs | Min.–Max.RAM | Recommended RAM | Minimum Disk Space |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Web | 133 MHz | 550 MHz | 1–2 | 128 MB–2 GB | 256 MB | 1.5 GB |
Standard | 133 MHz | 550 MHz | 1–4 | 128 MB–4 GB | 256 MB | 1.5 GB |
Enterprise | 133 MHz | 733 MHz | 1–8 | 128 MB–32 GB | 256 MB | 1.5 GB |
Datacenter | 400 MHz | 733 MHz | 8–64 | 512 MB–64 GB | 1 GB | 1.5 GB |
Table 3-3. Hardware Requirements for Itanium-Based Computers (64-bit)
Version | Min CPU Speed | Recommended CPU Speed | # of CPUs | Min.–Max.RAM | Recommended RAM | Minimum Disk Space |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Web | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
Standard | 733 MHz | 733 MHz | 1–4 | 128 MB–32 GB | 256 MB | 2 GB |
Enterprise | 733 MHz | 733 MHz | 1–8 | 128 MB–64 GB | 256 MB | 2 GB |
Datacenter | 733 MHz | 733 MHz | 8–64 | 512 MB–512 GB | 1 GB | 2 GB |
If you have existing servers running the Windows operating system, you must decide which servers, if any, you will upgrade. The major differences between a clean installation and an upgrade are the following:
Upgrade During an upgrade, user settings are retained, existing applications and application settings are kept, and basic system configuration is not required. An upgrade installation should be used when you have existing servers running the Windows operating system that support upgrade to Windows Server 2003 and you want to minimize disruption by maintaining the existing operating system and settings, user information, and application configuration.
Clean installation In contrast, a clean installation does not retain any user or system settings or knowledge of any installed applications, and you must configure all aspects of the hardware and software. You should use a clean installation when the operating system cannot be upgraded, the system must boot to multiple operating systems, a standardized configuration is required, or (obviously) when no operating system is currently installed.
Tip
Install Standard Edition with more than two CPUs
If you are performing an installation of Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, on a system with more than two processors and there is not currently a copy of the Windows operating system installed, you are allowed to install, even though Standard Edition supports only two CPUs. Only two of the CPUs will function after installation.
Note that this is different from the behavior the installation does if the computer has any version of the Windows operating system installed. In this configuration, Setup will simply fail and exit.
Although the inability to upgrade to Standard Edition on a four-processor system might present limitations, the ability to do a clean install provides a workaround in case you must deploy this configuration.
Microsoft Server operating systems from Windows NT Server 4 Service Pack 5 and later can be upgraded to Windows Server 2003. In general, servers can be upgraded to a product with equal or greater capabilities, thus
There is no supported upgrade path to Windows Server 2003, Web Edition. Windows Server 2003, Web Edition, cannot upgrade to Standard, Enterprise, or Datacenter Editions.
Windows NT Server 4 or Windows 2000 Server can be upgraded to Standard or Enterprise Editions of Windows Server 2003.
Windows NT Server 4, Enterprise Edition, and Windows 2000 Advanced Server, however, can be upgraded only to Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition.
Only Windows 2000 Server, Datacenter Edition, can upgrade to Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition.
All other versions of the Windows operating system require a clean installation—no upgrade is possible.
Inside Out: Limitations on upgrading localized Windows versions
There are limitations on upgrading from one version to another, such as that servers with the Multilingual User Interface Pack can be upgraded only to an English edition of Windows Server 2003 and that localized versions cannot be upgraded to a different localized version.
Dynamic Update is a convenient way of ensuring that the most recently updated driver and setup files are always used during server installation. Dynamic Update connects to a distribution server containing updated files used during Windows installation. The files in dynamic updates include setup information files, dynamic libraries used during setup, file assemblies, device drivers, and system files.
The Dynamic Update files can be obtained by using two methods:
Dynamic Update files can be obtained directly from the Windows Update site during setup, ensuring that the absolute latest setup files are used during the installation.
Dynamic Update files can be downloaded to a server on your local network and then shared to provide clients with access to a consistent local copy of the files.
Hosting Dynamic Update files on a local network provides you with additional security and the advantage of being able to ensure that standardized setup files are applied to all systems within your network environment. You'll also want to assign permissions to the folder containing the Dynamic Update files, permissions that should commonly correspond to the permissions applied to your distribution folder for automated installations. The placement of this folder containing the Dynamic Update files should be on a server that is highly accessible to all locations on the network where installations are performed.
The Dynamic Update process does not provide new installation files, but rather supplies only updated files that replace existing files used during setup. Dynamic Update might, however, provide device drivers that are not a replacement for device drivers existing on the distribution CD (in-box device drivers) but that are new device drivers supplying additional support of devices or system hardware.
There are some basic requirements for Dynamic Update to work:
You must use Winnt32 to install the Windows operating system.
The target computer must be connected to the Internet (or your network if you are hosting a server with the Dynamic Update files).
You must be upgrading the system as opposed to doing a new installation.
Tip
Dynamic Update is disabled by default for automated installations and must be enabled in the answer file.
To support network-based distribution of Dynamic Update files, you must download both the
.cab files containing new device drivers and the Dynamic Update packages (sets of installation files). Dynamic Update package files are available from the Microsoft download center—to locate these files for your installation, select your operating system and search on "dynamic update."
You can also download new device drivers for hardware in your target computers that does not have device driver support on the Windows Server 2003 distribution CD. Use Device Manager to determine which of the devices in your standard hardware configuration for your target systems do not have device driver support by default—these devices will be high-lighted with a yellow exclamation point or question mark.
Tip
Try to limit use of Dynamic Update during installation
You should limit the use of Dynamic Update for device driver files to subsystems that are essential during the installation process, such as for the video display and hard disk subsystems. Supporting installations of new device drivers for peripheral devices such as printers should be specified in the answer file by using the OemPnPDriversPath entry in the Unattended section.
After downloading the driver and Dynamic Update .cab files to the network share you're using for distributing Dynamic Update files, you must prepare this folder and the files for use. Do so by following these steps:
First, extract the .cab files from the Dynamic Update package file. To do this, just run the downloaded package file. This extraction will create a folder for each supported operating system edition for which it has files. Each folder will contain four files: Duasms.cab, Winnt32.cab, Updates.cab, and Upginf.cab.
Copy the appropriate .cab files to the folder being used for your Dynamic Update network share, then prepare the folder using the /Duprepare parameter of Winnt32. Prepare the Dynamic Update folder using the /Duprepare parameter of Winnt32, as shown in the following command line:
Winnt32 /duprepare: path
When you use the /Duprepare parameter on the folder, Setup creates the Duasms, Winnt32, Updates, and Upginf folders—one for each of the .cab files extracted in the first step. The contents of the corresponding .cab files are then extracted into those folders, creating the Dynamic Update folder structure and populating it with files.
You can decide whether to use the Dynamic Update option each time you run Winnt32, allowing you to control the files used when installing the Windows operating system on a per-installation basis. To use Dynamic Update files in the installation process, use the following command-line option to direct Windows Setup to the network share location containing the Dynamic Update files:
Winnt32 /dushare:pathIf you are using an answer file that enables Dynamic Update and you want to disable it for a specific installation, use the /dudisable parameter on the command line, as follows:
Winnt32 /dudisable
This overrides the setting in the answer file and disables the use of Dynamic Update during that installation.
The files used by Windows Setup must be made available for use in installation in some fashion. There are two fundamental approaches, one in which the distribution files are stored on some form of media (such as CD or DVD), and the other in which the distribution files are stored on a network share.
Using a distribution folder can reduce required administrative tasks by making all necessary Windows installation and customization files available in a single secured location on the network. This means that common changes, such as new device drivers or changes to system configuration, can be made in one location with that single change affecting all subsequent installations. This ensures a consistent configuration within the enterprise network with a minimum of administrative overhead.
There are circumstances under which you might not want to use a network distribution folder, however, such as the lack of an available server or lack of space on the file server—it takes a minimum of 650 MB to support a network distribution folder for a single OS. Likewise, if the destination computer is located at a remote site with slow or no network connectivity, using a network distribution folder for automated installation might not be practical or possible.
Creating the distribution folders varies depending upon the type of installation process you will be performing as follows:
Distribution folders for interactive and unattended network setup are created by copying the contents of the I386 folder manually from the Windows Server 2003 CD to a network share. Unattended installations use answer files to configure system settings and to control the process.
The remote installation services utilities, RISetup and RIPrep, create distribution folders on a common network share on the RIS server.
Distribution of Sysprep-based images is dependent upon the capabilities of the disk image software you use because Sysprep prepares only the computer to be imaged.
To perform automated installations, you must establish the environment and create related answer files for each of the operating systems you want to install. In all automated installations, you must start by creating the distribution folder (or folders) containing the operating system files, answer files, and additional drivers, OEM files, or applications that will be installed.
The same general question applies to distribution folders whether they are used for interactive or automated installations: do you store them on the network or on media? However, automated installations can use customized distribution folders, allowing the addition of folders containing additional drivers or applications. This facilitates a more customized, and faster, rollout of preconfigured operating environments.
The distribution folder used in automated installations stores the Windows distribution files, as well as any necessary custom files. This folder is stored on a share accessible on the local network, allowing the computers that require an operating system installed to easily access the file share.
The organization of the distribution folder differs for each automation method. In the case of an unattended installation, for example, this is a folder structure reflecting the structure of the Windows Server 2003 CD-ROM.
In cases in which you have created a distribution folder containing additional drivers or applications, and yet a server-based distribution folder is not practical, you can create your own installation media. The customized distribution folder is simply stored on a CD or DVD and the installation media provided to the remote sites.
Inside Out: No PXE support? Create startup media
Sometimes you must create the startup media, such as in the case of installing Windows Server 2003 using RIS on a computer that does not have a Preboot Execution Environment (PXE)-compliant BIOS. For systems that have supported network cards, you can create a boot floppy disk that will detect the network card, contact a DHCP server, and establish the initial network connection to a RIS server.
Automated installations store configuration information in an answer file, which is read during the setup process and which holds data used to configure the system. An answer file (such as Unattend.txt) gets its name from its function—it supplies the answers to the prompts or dialogs that Windows Setup normally provides during the installation process.
An answer file is a structured text file containing discrete sections of information pertaining to the installation and initial configuration of the Windows operating system. Each section contains a number of entries that are either mandatory or optional—most are optional. An entry contains the name of a configuration setting, an equal sign, and a value supplying one of the acceptable arguments for that value (such as TimeZone=4).
You can either create an answer file (of one sort or another) to use in combination with a folder containing the distribution files for Windows Server 2003, or you can create an image of an existing Windows Server 2003 installation to use as your base for all computers deployed.
You create answer files using the improved Setup Manager tool (introduced in Windows 2000). Setup Manager generates answer files from information you supply using a new custom interface that lets you control the configuration settings used during an unattended installation.
You will want to assess the specifics of an installation and identify any tasks that must be done prior to the installation taking place. The following is a partial list—a general set of pointers to the installation-related tasks that must be performed.
Check requirements for OS version
Review the release notes on OS media
Determine upgrade/new installation
Check your system hardware compatibility
Note
For more information about hardware compatibility, see the Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) at http://www.microsoft.com/HCL. You also can check the Windows Server Catalog (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/catalog/server).
Configure how the target computer boots
Select installation type: interactive or automated
Choose installation partition
Select file system (usually NTFS)
Determine network connectivity and settings
Identify domain/workgroup membership account information
Disconnect uninterruptible power supply (UPS)
Tip
When doing a clean installation on old hardware, check to see whether an OS exists, and if so, check event or system logs for hardware errors, consider multiboot, uncompress drives, and resolve partition upgrade issues.
Tip
Plan for Dynamic Update
Hosting Dynamic Update on a local network server—as opposed to downloading updates directly from Microsoft each time you install the operating system—can speed update and ensure consistency of driver versions across the network environment.
You also must assess your installation requirements and plan the configuration of the drives and partitions on the target computers. If you must create a new partition, modify the system partition, or format the system partition before installation, you can use configuration tools such as the FDISK, FORMAT, OFORMAT, and CONVERT commands to manage partitions (prior to beginning the automated installation).
For companies that have purchased certain volume license agreements, a Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) CD is available. By using this CD, you can boot the system and run the Diskpart utility to partition and format drives. The license programs providing the WinPE CD include the Select License Software Assurance, the Enterprise Agreement, and the Enterprise Subscription Agreement.