Exam 70-215 - Installing, Configuring,
and Administering Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

Installing Windows 2000 Server: (KB# Q242955)

Requirements:

Component	Recomended Minimum	Suggested Configuration
CPU	Pentium 133	Pentium II or higher
Memory	128 MB*	256 MB or higher
Hard disk space	1 GB	2 GB or higher
Networking	NIC	NIC
Display	VGA	SVGA
CD-ROM	needed when not installing over the network	needed when not installing over the network
Keyboard and mouse	required	required
Sound card	not required	required for visually impaired users needing narrative voice to guide installation

*Some MS documentation says 64 MB is recommened for 5 users or less. Setup will abort if the machine has less than 64 MB. The MS site currently specs 128 MB as the minimum.

All hardware should appear on the Windows 2000 Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) (KB# Q142865)

Windows 2000 Server supports Symetric Multi-processing with a maximum of four processors, and up to 4 GB of RAM. Advanced Server scales up to 8 processors and 8 GB of RAM. Windows 2000 DataCenter Server is only available in OEM configurations and supports up to 32 processors and 64 GB of RAM.

Servers install as Member Servers (standalone) by default. File, print and Web servers are usually installed as Member Servers to reduce the administrative overhead placed on the system by participating in Active Directory as a Domain Controller. Member Servers can access Active Directory information, but do not perform any AD related authentication or storage functions. To promote a machine to a Domain Controller, run dcpromo.

If Windows 2000 is being integrated into an existing Windows NT 4.0 domain structure, mixed mode must be used (installed by default). If Windows 2000 is being installed into an infrastructure where all domain controllers will be running Windows 2000, then domain controllers should be switched to native mode to take advantage of Active Directory's full benefits. (KB# Q186153)

Attended installations:

Setup has four stages:

1.       Setup Program (text mode)- preps hard drive for following stages of install and copies files needed for running Setup Wizard. Requires reboot.

2.       Setup Wizard (graphical mode) - prompts for additional info such as product key, names, passwords, regional settings, etc.

3.       Install Windows Networking - detects adapter cards, installs networking components (Client for MS Networks, File & Printer Sharing for MS Networks), and installs TCP/IP protocol by default (other protocols can be installed later). Choose to join a workgroup or domain at this point (must be connected to network and provide credentials to join a domain). After all choices are made components are configured, additional files copied, and the system is rebooted.

4.       Setup Completion - installs Start Menu items, register's components, saves configuration, removes temporary files and system rebooted one final time.

Installing from CD-ROM:

• Setup disks are not required if your CD-ROM is bootable or you are upgrading a previous version of Windows.
• To make boot floppies, type makeboot a: in the \i386 directory of your W2K CD. Creates set of four 1.44 MB boot floppies. (KB# Q197063)
• If installing using a MS-DOS or Win95/98 boot floppy, run winnt.exe from the i/386 to begin Windows 2000 setup.
• Setup will not prompt the user to specify the name of an installation folder unless you are performing an unattended installation or using winnt32 to perform a clean installation. (KB# Q222939)

Installing over a Network:

• Create a distribution server which has a file share containing the contents of the /i386 directory from the Windows 2000 CD-ROM.
• 1 GB minimum plus 100 - 200 MB free hard drive space to hold temporary files during installation.
• Install a network client on the target computer or use a boot floppy that includes a network client (KB# Q142857). Run winnt.exe from file share on distribution server if installing a new operating system or winnt32.exe if upgrading a previous version of Windows.
• Clean installation is now possible with Windows 2000. NT 4 required a pre-existing FAT partition.

Command line switches for winnt.exe:

Switch	Function
/a	Enables accessibility options
/e[:command]	Specifies a command that will be run at the end of  Stage 4 of setup
/r[:folder]	Specifies optional folder to be installed. Folder is not removed with temporary files after installation
/rx[:folder	Specifies optional folder to be copied. Folder is deleted after installation
/s[:sourcepath]	Specifies source location of Windows 2000 files. Can either be a full path or network share
/t[:tempdrive]	Specifies drive to hold temporary setup files
/u[:answer file]	Specifies unattended setup using answer file (requires /s)
/udf:id[,UDF_file]	Establishes ID that Setup uses to specify how a UDF file modifies an answer file

Modifying Setup using winnt32.exe:

Switch	Function
/checkupgradeonly	Checks system for compatibility with Windows 2000. Creates reports for upgrade installations.
/copydir:folder_name	Creates additional folder inside %systemroot% folder. Retained after setup.
/copysource:folder_name	Same as above except folder and its contents are deleted after installation completes
/cmd: command_line	Runs a command before the final phase of Setup
/cmdcons	This adds a Recovery Console option to the operating system selection screen
/debug[level] [:file_name]	Creates a debug log. 0=Sever errors only. 1=regular errors. 2=warnings. 3=all messages.
/m:folder_name	Forces Setup to look in specified folder for setup files first. If files are not present, Setup uses files from default location.
/makelocalsource	Forces Setup to copy all installation files to local hard drive so that they will be available during successive phases of setup if access to CD drive or network fails.
/nodownload	Used when upgrading from Win95/98. Forces copying of winnt32.exe and related files to local system to avoid installation problems associated with network congestion. (KB# Q244001)
/noreboot	Tells system not to reboot after first stage of installation.
/s:source_path	Specifies source path of installation files. Can be used to simultaneously copy files from multiple paths if desired (first path specified must be valid or setup will fail, though).
/syspart:drive_letter	Copies all Setup startup files to a hard disk and marks the drive as active. You can physically move the drive to another computer and have the computer move to Stage 2 of Setup automatically when it is started. Requires /tempdrive switch. (KB# Q234037 & Q241803)
/tempdrive:drive_letter	Setup uses the specified tempdrive to hold temporary setup files. Used when there are drive space concerns
/unattend: [number] [:answer_file]	Specifies answer file for unattended installations.
/udf:id[,udf_file]	Establishes ID that Setup uses to specify how a UDF file modifies an answer file.

Unattended installations:

• Unattended installations rely on an answer file to provide information to provide information during setup process that is usually provided through manual user input. (KB# Q183245)
• Answer files can be created manually using a text editor or by using the Setup Manager Wizard (SMW) (found in the Windows 2000 Resource Kit Deployment Tools).
• SMW allows for creation of a shared Distribution Folder and OEM Branding
• If you had a CD in drive D: and an unattended installation answer file named salesans.txt in C:\, you could start your install with this command: D:\i386\winnt32 /s:d:\i386 /unattend:c:\salesans.txt (KB# Q216258)
• To automatically promote a server to a Domain Controller during unattended setup, specify the following command to run after setup completes; dcpromo /answer:<answer_file>. The answer file is a text file containing only the [DCInstall] section. (KB# Q224390)
• There are five levels of user interaction during unattended installs:

1.       Provide Defaults - Administrator supplies default answers and user only has to accept defaults or make changes where necessary.

2.       Fully Automated - Mainly used for Win2000 Professional desktop installs. User just has to sit on their hands and watch.

3.       Hide Pages - Users can only interact with setup where Administrator did not provide default information. Display of all other dialogs is supressed.

4.       Read Only - Similar to above, but will display information to user without allowing interaction to pages where Administrator has provided default information.

5.       GUI Attended - Only used for automating the second stage of setup. All other stages require manual input.

System preparation tool (SYSPREP.EXE): (KB# Q240126)

• Can be used to automate installations of Windows 2000 Server
• Removes the unique elements of a fully installed computer system so that it can be duplicated using imaging software such as Ghost or Drive Image Pro. Avoids the NT4 problem of duplicated SIDS , computer names etc. Installers can use sysprep to provide and answer file for "imaged" installations.
• Must be extracted from DEPLOY.CAB in the \support\tools folder on the Windows 2000 Professional CD-ROM.
• Adds a mini-setup wizard to the image file which is run the first time the computer it is applied to is started. Guides user through re-entering user specific data. This process can be automated by providing a script file. (KB# Q196667)
• Use Setup Manager Wizard (SMW) to create a SYSPREP.INF file. SMW creates a SYSPREP folder in the root of the drive image and places sysprep.inf in this folder. The mini-setup wizard checks for this file when it runs.
• Specifying a CMDLINES.TXT file in your SYSPREP.INF file allows an administrator to run commands or programs during the mini-Setup portion of SYSPREP. (KB# Q238955)
• Available switches for sysprep.exe are: /quiet (runs without user interaction), /pnp (forces Setup to detect PnP devices), /reboot (restarts computer), and /nosidgen (will not regenerate SID on target computer).

Upgrading from a previous version: (KB# Q232039 & Q242859)

• Run winnt32.exe to upgrade from a previous version of Windows. (KB# Q199349)
• Windows 2000 Server will upgrade and preserve settings from the following operating systems: Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0 Server, Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server, and Windows NT 4.0 Enterprise Edition.
• Upgrade paths do not exist for Windows NT 3.51 with Citrix or Microsoft BackOffice Small Business Server.
• Upgrade installations from a network file share are not supported in Windows 2000 (this *can* be done, but only by using SMS). You must either do a CD-based upgrade or perform a clean installation of Windows 2000 and re-install needed applications.
• Because of registry and program differences between Windows NT and 2000, upgrade packs (or migration DLLs) might be needed. Setup checks for these in the \i386\WinNTmig folder on the Windows 2000 CD-ROM or in a user specified location. (KB# Q231418)
• Run winnt32 /checkupgradeonly to check for compatible hardware and software. Generates a report indicating which system components are Windows 2000 compatible. Same as running the chkupgrd.exe utility from Microsoft's site.

Troubleshooting failed installations:

Common errors:

Problem	Possible fix
Cannot contact domain controller	Verify that network cable is properly connected. Verify that server(s) running DNS and a domain controller are both on-line. Make sure your network settings are correct (IP address, gateway, etc.). Verify that your credentials and domain name are entered correctly.
Error loading operating system	Caused when a drive is formatted with NTFS during setup but the disk geometry is reported incorrectly. Try a smaller partition (less than 4 GB) or a FAT32 partition instead. (KB# Q234621)
Failure of dependency service to start	Make sure you installed the correct protocol and network adapter in the Network Settings dialog box in the Windows 2000 Setup Wizard. Also check to make sure your network settings are correct.
Insufficient disk space	Create a new partition using existing free space on the hard disk, delete or create partitions as needed or reformat an existing partition to free up space.
Media errors	Maybe the CD-ROM you are installing from is dirty or damaged. Try using a different CD or trying the affected CD in a different machine.
Nonsupported CD drive	Swap out the drive for a supported drive or try a network install instead. (KB# Q228852)

Log files created during Setup:

Logfile name	Description
setupact.log	Action Log - records setup actions in a chronological order. Includes copied files and registry entries as well as entries made to the error log.
setuperr.log	Error Log - records all errors that occur during setup and includes severity of error. Log viewer shows error log at end of setup if errors occur.
comsetup.log	Used for Optional Component manager and COM+ components.
setupapi.log	Logs entries each time a line from an .INF file is implemented. Indicates failures in .INF file implementations.
netsetup.log	Records activity for joining a domain or workgroup.
mmdet.log	Records detection of multimedia devices, their port ranges, etc.

Install, Configure and Troubleshoot Access to Resources:

Install and configure network services:

TCP/IP Server Utilities:

• Telnet server - Windows 2000 includes a telnet server service (net start tlntsvr) which is limited to a command line text interface. Set security on your telnet server by running the admin tool, tlntadmn. (KB# Q225233)
• Web Server - Internet Information Services 5, Microsoft's full-blown Web server. Now supports Internet Printing and Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV). Can be managed using IIS snap-in.
• FTP Server - stripped version of Internet Information Server 5 (IIS5) FTP server. Also adminstered using the IIS snap-in.
• FrontPage 2000 Server Extensions - extends the functionality of the Web server by adding pre-compiled scripts and programs that allow Web site authors to implement advanced features in their pages without requiring much in the way of programming knowledge.
• SMTP Server - basic mail server included with IIS. Used for sending mail in conjuction with FrontPage 2000 Server Extensions and Active Directory replication. Does not support IMAP4, POP3, etc. If you need advanced mail handling, consider using Exchange Server.

TCP/IP Client Utilities:

• Telnet client - Can be used to open a text based console on UNIX, Linux and Windows 2000 systems (run telnet servername)
• FTP client - Command line based - simple and powerful (run ftp servername)
• Internet Explorer 5 - Microsoft's powerful and thoroughly integrated Web browser (see IE5 Cramsession for details)
• Outlook Express 5 - SMTP, POP3, IMAP4, NNTP, HTTP, and LDAP complaint E-mail package.

Install and Configure Local and Network Printers:

• Windows 2000 Server supports the following printer ports: Line Printer (LPT), COM, USB, IEEE 1394, and network attached devices.
• Print services can only be provided for Windows, UNIX, Apple, and Novell clients. (KB# Q124734)
• Windows 2000 automatically downloads the printer drivers for clients running Win2000, WinNT 4, WinNT 3.51 and Windows 95/98. (KB# Q142667)
• Internet Printing is a new feature in Windows 2000. You have the option of entering the URL where your printer is located. The print server must be a Windows 2000 Server running Internet Information Server. All shared printers can be viewed at: http://servername/printers
• Print Pooling allows two or more identical printers to be installed as one logical printer.
• Print Priority is set by creating multiple logical printers for one physical printer and assigning different priorities to each. Priority ranges from 1, the lowest (default) to 99, the highest.
• Enabling "Availability" option allows Administrator to specify the hours the printer is available.
• Use Separater Pages to separate print jobs at a shared printer. A template for the separater page can be created and saved in the %systemroot%\system32 directory with a .SEP file extension. (KB# Q102712)
• You can select Restart in the printer's menu to reprint a document. This is useful when a document is printing and the printer jams. Resume can be selected to start printing where you left off.
• You can change the directory containing the print spooler in the advanced server properties for the printer. (KB# Q123747)
• To remedy a stalled spooler, you will need to stop and restart the spooler services in the Services applet in Administrative Tools in the Control Panel. (KB# Q240683 &
• Use the fixprnsv.exe command-line utility to resolve printer incompatibility issues. (KB# Q247196)

Services for UNIX 2.0:

Miscellaneous:

• TCP/IP protocol is required for communicationg with UNIX hosts
• Windows 2000 uses CIFS (Common Internet File System) which is an enhanced version of the SMB (Server Message Block) protocol
• UNIX uses NFS (Network File System)
• FTP support has been added to Windows Explorer and to Internet Explorer 5.0 allowing users to browse FTP directories as if they were a local resource.
• Install SNMP for Network Management (HP, OpenView, Tivoli and SMS).
• Print Services for UNIX allows connectivity to UNIX controlled Printers (LPR)
• Simple TCP/IP Services provides Echo, Quote of Day, Discard, Daytime and Character Generator..

Client for NFS:

• Installs a full Network File System (NFS) client that integrates with Windows Explorer. Available for both W2K Professional and Server.
• Places a second, more powerful Telnet client on your system in the %windir%\system32\%sfudir% directory. This new client has been optimized for Windows NT Telnet server and can use NTLM authentication instead of clear text. (KB# Q250879)
• Users can browse and map drives to NFS volumes and access NFS resources through My Network Places. Microsoft recommends this over installing Samba (SMB file services for Windows clients) on your UNIX server.
• NFS shares can be accessed using standard NFS syntax (servername:/pathname) or standard UNC syntax (\\servername\pathname)
• If users' UNIX username/password differ from Windows username/password, click "Connect Using A Different User Name" option and provide new credentials.
• The following popular UNIX utilities are installed along with the Client for NFS (not a complete list):

Utility	Description