Microsoft

Windows Essential Business Server 2008's Management Server Installation wizard

By // April 7, 2010, 2:44 AM PST

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  • Welcome screen

    In part one of this two-part series on the installation process for Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (EBS), I explained how to run the Planning And Configuration wizard, which is the initial process necessary before moving on to the step that is discussed in this walkthrough: deploying the Management Server.

    After the base Windows 2008 system is fully installed, the system starts up and the Management Server Installation wizard begins, starting with the Welcome screen. Click the Next button.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Choose the network adapter to use for communication

    With the preliminaries out of the way, the wizard asks you to decide which network adapter you want the Management Server to use for network communications. As you see, my lab's virtual machine has a single network adapter from which to choose. If your server has multiple network adapters, all of them would be listed here. After you choose a network adapter, click the Next button. Once you do, the wizard queries the selected network adapter to gather information; then, you're moved to the next installation step.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Choose your temporary IP address assignment method.

    The installation wizard needs periodic network access in order to achieve its goals. For example, during the process, the wizard will look for updates that improve the installation process. In order to facilitate this communication, the wizard needs to assign a temporary IP address to the network adapter; this address can be assigned automatically via DHCP, or you can opt to manually assign an IP address.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Decide whether to update Windows during installation.

    With IP addressing out of the way, the installer moves on to ask if you'd like to download updates during installation. In order to maintain a secure system, I recommend selecting the Download And Install Optional Microsoft Updates During Installation; once you do, and after you click the Next button, the installation wizard looks for and downloads necessary updates from Microsoft. (This step can take a few minutes.) Once the installation wizard is updated, the system restarts and the installation continues.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Installation wizard critical updates are installed.

    Regardless of your selection on the Microsoft Update screen, the installer requires you to download critical updates that might affect the installation wizard.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Choose whether to create a new domain or join an existing one.

    If you're installing the management server for the first time, there is a high likelihood that you have yet to create your Active Directory domain. On the next page of the wizard, you're asked if you still need to create a new forest and domain or if you plan to join this server to an existing domain. In my case, I needed to create the domain, so I selected the Create A New Forest And Domain option. Click the Next button.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Locate the planning data.

    If you're wondering if all of the work you went through during the planning phase was for naught, you're about to find out. When you get to the next page of the wizard, you'll see the Load Planning Data button. At this point, you need to make available whatever media on which you stored the planning data from the first phase of the installation. In my lab, I added a second virtual CD-ROM drive to my virtual machine and pointed that drive to the location where my planning data was stored. You can use a disc or a USB key to store the planning data, or you can store the information at a network location. The goal is to point the wizard at the planning file that you created in the first phase.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Provide a Domain Name and an administrator Password.

    You've already decided that you need to create a new domain, so now you need to name it and define the password that will be used for the domain administrator's account. After you provide the requested information and click the Next button, the wizard scans the network to make sure that the domain name is not already in use.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Provide the names for your EBSs.

    The names you use for your EBSs are important and are defined on the next page of the installation wizard. I named my management server ebs-mgmt, my security server ebs-sec, and my messaging server ebs-mail. After you click the Next button, the wizard verifies your server names.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Provide the IP addresses for each of your EBSs.

    IP addresses make network communication possible. When you get to the Assign IP Addresses screen, provide the IP addresses that will be used for each of your services. Click the Next button.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Choose how you want to define internal IP addresses.

    The installation wizard knows what you want -- it even presents a list of internal network IP addresses for your consideration. You can choose to accept this list of IP addresses (which I opted to do) or make changes. Click the Next button.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Decide how DHCP should be handled on your network.

    The Management Server can also act as the DHCP server for your network, or you can choose to continue using your existing DHCP service, as you can see in this screen. In my lab, I didn't use EBS's DHCP server since I already have one, but in a real-world scenario, I highly recommend that you allow EBS to handle DHCP duty in order to facilitate smoother network communication. If you were to choose the EBS-based DHCP service, you would be presented with two additional DHCP configuration screens on which you would be asked to configure DHCP settings, including the name of a DHCP scope, the starting and the ending IP addresses, and the subnet mask and gateway addresses for the new scope.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • New DHCP scope

    Provide details for a new DHCP scope.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • DNS and address duration information

    The new DHCP scope also needs DNS and address duration information.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Choose the volume on which data should be stored.

    File storage continues to be one of the most basic uses for servers; your new EBS needs a place to store its files, and it's up to you to define a volume to use for this purpose. If you have only a single volume in your server, you won't have the option to choose any volume other than the system volume. If you know that you have other volumes in your server, click the Disk Management button to initialize and format the volume. Click the Next button.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Provide company profile information.

    EBS includes the Remote Web Workplace (RWW) feature, which provides users with a portal environment used to access resources remotely. The Company Profile page of the wizard asks you to provide some information about your company; this information will be used to generate an SSL certificate for use with RWW.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Microsoft's error reporting service

    The wizard also includes questions about whether you'd like to participate in Microsoft's error reporting service, which automatically sends crash reports to Microsoft, and in the company's Customer Experience Improvement Program, which sends actual usage information to Microsoft to help it develop future versions of Windows. Many company security policies prohibit the sending of this kind of information, so choose carefully.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Customer Experience Improvement Program

    Does your company want to participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program?

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Click the Install button.

    After you review your selections, click the Install button.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Progress screen

    You'll see a progress screen that shows how far along the installation has progressed. The installation can take hours. Also, your server may reboot multiple times during the installation. After each reboot, the installer picks up where it left off.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

  • Continue Installation screen

    At the end of the installation, you'll see the Continue Installation screen, which indicates that the Management Server has been installed but that you still need to deploy the Security and Messaging Servers.

    For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

Welcome screen

In part one of this two-part series on the installation process for Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (EBS), I explained how to run the Planning And Configuration wizard, which is the initial process necessary before moving on to the step that is discussed in this walkthrough: deploying the Management Server.

After the base Windows 2008 system is fully installed, the system starts up and the Management Server Installation wizard begins, starting with the Welcome screen. Click the Next button.

For more details, read Scott Lowe's post about deploying the EBS Management Server.

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