Remotely Deploy Windows 2000

How much time have you spent in front of a computer, trying to install a new OS? Windows 2000 Server's (Win2K Server's) Remote Installation Services (RIS) cures installation headaches.

RIS, partnered with Active Directory (AD), DHCP, and DNS, can eliminate the need for you to go to each workstation to install Windows 2000 Professional (Win2K Pro). RIS is easy to install, but it requires a well-designed AD, DHCP, and DNS infrastructure to work properly. If you configure RIS properly, when users log on the first time, they can provide their username, password, and domain name and RIS will install Win2K Pro. After you understand how RIS works and explore how to set up and configure this new tool, you'll be well on your way to a successful RIS implementation.

RIS Technology
The Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) architecture is the technology behind RIS. PXE is part of Intel's Wired for Management (WfM) initiative. (For more information about PXE, see "Related Articles in Previous Issues," page 78, or go to http://www.intel.com/ial/managedpc.)

PXE lets a NIC use a universal network driver to download a boot image from a PXE-based server. By interfacing with a PC's BIOS, a PXE-enabled NIC can become a PC's boot device. When a user turns on a PC, the boot ROM sends out a DHCP request for an IP address and the name of a boot server. The DHCP server answers this request with the boot server's IP address and additional information. The boot ROM uses this information to send a request to the boot server for the bootstrap program. To respond, the boot server uses the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) to send the bootstrap program. This course of action lets the PC begin the boot process. The client system doesn't require a vendor-specific driver because PXE-capable NICs use the Universal Network Driver Interface (UNDI). After the server sends the bootstrap program to the client PC, the server sends additional programs such as RIS's Client Installation Wizard, which provides a menu of OS images for the user.

RIS's Hardware and Infrastructure Requirements
Now that you have an overview of RIS technology, let's look at the hardware and infrastructure requirements necessary to implement RIS. The server on which you install RIS must have a 400MHz Pentium II processor or better and 128MB of RAM or more. If you plan to store several custom OS images on the server, you might want to start with more disk space. In addition, Microsoft recommends 256MB of RAM if your RIS server will pull double duty as your DNS or DHCP server. RIS has a big appetite for disk space, so your system files need to be on a separate partition, and you need at least a 2GB NTFS-formatted partition for the remote installation directory tree. I recommend that you err on the side of too much horsepower for your Win2K Server systems.

The client systems on which you're using RIS to install Win2K Pro must have at least a 166MHz Pentium processor, 32MB of RAM, and a 1.2GB hard disk. In addition, these systems must have PXE-enabled NICs.

If your server and clients meet these specifications, you're ready to set up the infrastructure. If you've built your Win2K network, you already have the necessary components for RIS: AD, DHCP, and DNS. RIS uses AD to locate and authenticate users and computers, DHCP for IP addressing and providing the RIS server's location to clients, and DNS for AD name resolution. After you meet these hardware and infrastructure requirements, you can build and configure the RIS server.

Setup and Configuration
You can use two methods to install RIS: You can install it as one of the Win2K Server add-in components when you install Win2K Server, or you can use the Control Panel Add/Remove Programs applet to install RIS on an existing Win2K Server installation. After you install RIS, run risetup.exe to start the Remote Installation Services Setup Wizard.

The wizard first asks you to specify the location of the remote installation folder, as Screen 1 shows. As I previously mentioned, RIS's files and images must be on a separate partition from the Win2K system files, and RIS must be on an NTFS-formatted partition. Microsoft recommends a RIS partition larger than 2GB.

Next, the wizard presents you with the Respond to client computers requesting service and Do not respond to unknown client computers options, as Screen 2 shows. If you don't select the first option, you'll have to turn on the service later. The second option tells RIS to deny service to unknown computers (i.e., systems that you haven't pre-staged in AD). I don't recommend enabling this option at this point—enable this option after you've tested the system and you're confident that it works.

When the wizard prompts you for the source file location and destination directory, point the wizard to the CD-ROM or network share that contains the Win2K Pro source files. The destination directory is the name of the folder on the RIS server to which the wizard will copy the images. By default, the wizard names this folder win2000.pro. After you specify a directory name, you can provide a friendly name for the image, as Screen 3 shows. This name will appear in the Client Installation Wizard as a menu option. You also can enter an image description that the Client Installation Wizard will display when users select the image.

Finally, the wizard lets you review and verify your settings, as Screen 4 shows. When you select Finish, the wizard will begin to copy the files and create the first OS image on the RIS server.

Authorize the RIS Server
After you create the OS image, you need to authorize the RIS server in AD. The authorization process is a new security feature in Win2K that helps reduce the number of rogue DHCP and RIS servers on the network. When you first start a RIS server, it contacts AD. If Win2K Server has authorized the server, AD lets RIS provide its services on the network. If Win2K Server hasn't authorized the server, AD instructs RIS to remain disabled.

For Win2K Server to authorize your RIS server, open the DHCP Microsoft Management Console (MMC) from the Administrative Tools menu, right-click DHCP, and select the Manage authorized servers option. Input your RIS server's name or IP address, and click OK. Verify that you typed the correct information, and click Yes to add your server to the list of authorized servers.

Additional Configuration
By default, Win2K Server will create your RIS server's account in the AD Computers container. If your server is a domain controller as well as a RIS server, Win2K Server will create the account in the Domain Controllers container. For additional configuration options, open the Properties dialog box of your RIS server by right-clicking the server in AD and selecting the Remote Install tab, which Screen 5 shows. In this dialog box, you can instruct the server to respond to requests from clients and ignore requests from unknown clients (the Remote Installation Services Setup Wizard presents these options during setup), and you can verify that your server is functioning correctly.

Clicking Advanced Settings and selecting the New Clients tab presents you with a variety of preset and custom choices for naming the new computer accounts and three choices for account location, which Screen 6 shows. You can put new computer accounts in the default Directory Services container, the same location as the user installing the image, or in another location that you specify. The Images tab lists the OS images available on the RIS server. From this window, you can add new CD-ROM-based images to and remove images from the server. The Tools tab lists the preboot tools that you have installed on the server.

At this point, your RIS server is ready to provide OS images to new clients. Let's look at how to set up your client PCs.

Setting Client PCs' Boot Devices
When your computer has a PXE-enabled NIC, the NIC becomes a boot device, such as a 3.5" disk drive, CD-ROM drive, or hard disk. Therefore, you must designate the NIC as the primary boot device in the client PC's BIOS. After you make this change, reboot the system. Upon restart, the system will present you with a message similar to the message that Screen 7 shows. The PXE-enabled NIC gets an IP address and the RIS server information from the DHCP server, then downloads the boot image. The message that appears when you reboot shows this process in action. After the system presents you with instructions to Press F12 for network service boot, you're ready to start the Client Installation Wizard.

If your system has a newer, but non-PXE-enabled NIC, you might be able to use a boot disk to connect to RIS and run the Client Installation Wizard. To create the boot disk, select Start, Run and enter rbfg.exe to run the Remote Boot Floppy Generator tool. This program creates a boot disk that lets a few (i.e., approximately 20) non-PXE-enabled NICs boot to the RIS server.

Microsoft intends to update the list of supported cards as more become available. If you're using a system that has a PC Card, you can't use RIS to install Win2K Pro because PC Cards don't support PXE or boot disks created with the Remote Boot Floppy Generator tool.