MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Location: file:///C:/213256B2/Windows2000RIS-part2.htm Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" Setting up and Configuring RIS

Setting up and Configuring RIS

If you performed a typical installation of Windows 2000 Se= rver at the time you ran setup, RIS would not have been installed. RIS is an optional component that can either be selected in a custom setup or added l= ater through the Windows Components Wizard of the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel. When you launch the Windows Components Wizard, as shown in figure 13.01, you have a choice of components that you can add or remove. P= ut a check mark in the box for Remote Installation Services and click next.

Figure 13.01 RIS services are installed from the Windo= ws Components Wizard of the Add/Remove Programs applet

Once you click next, the installation wizard begins config= uring RIS, as shown in figure 13.02. Windows 2000 installs RIS services, but does= not actually allow any configuration of RIS during this initial setup. Once RIS= is installed you will see the window shown in figure 13.03. Click Finish, and restart your computer when prompted.

Figure 13.02 Windows 2000 installs the RIS service to = the hard drive, updating the system in the process

Figure 13.03 After RIS is installed, click Finish and = then restart the computer

RISetup

Once RIS is installed and you have restarted your computer= , it is still necessary to configure RIS. RISetup.exe is the utility used to configure RIS, and can be invoked from the Run line. The Remote Installation Services Setup Wizard, shown in figure 13.04, prepares the server to be a R= IS server. Over the next couple of pages we will walk through the setup and configuration of a RIS server.

Figure 13.04 The Remote Installation Services Setup Wi= zard is invoked through the RISetup.exe command

The first option that you are presented with, shown in fig= ure 13.05, is the installation directory for RIS. Note that this directory must reside on an NTFS partition with sufficient disk space for your RIS images.= If you attempt to install to a non-NTFS partition, the setup wizard will give = an error message. Windows 2000 will provide a default drive and directory, but= the drive may or may not be valid (the wizard does not check the drive for file system type and disk space before offering it as a choice). Therefore, you might have to choose a different drive for your RIS installation. In most cases, however, you should leave the default directory name.

Figure 13.05 The first step in installing RIS is to ch= oose an installation directory

The next step in our installation is to decide whether or = not your RIS server will immediately begin servicing requests once you have com= pleted setup, as shown in figure 13.06. By default, RIS services do not begin immediately after setup. This is primarily a security measure. Since you re= ally can't use RIS anyway until you've created a RIS image, there is little sens= e in having the services running when as we mentioned earlier RIS data is sent to and from the server in clear text. An unscrupulous individual could exploit your new RIS server if it were online before you were ready to start using = it. In most environments though, enabling RIS probably isn't that much of a security risk.

In addition to deciding whether or not to start RIS, you c= an choose whether or not RIS should respond to unknown computers. Select your choices, and then click next.

Figure 13.06 You can choose whether to start servicing= RIS clients immediately, and whether RIS should respond to unknown computers

The next step in configuring RIS is to point setup to the installation files for Windows 2000 Professional, as shown in figure 13.07. This can be a CD or a network path as in our example. Once you have your directory defined, click next.

Figure 13.07 You can define the installation directory= for Windows 2000 Professional as either a CD or a network path

Once you have defined your installation path, the setup wi= zard prompts you for the name of the folder to copy the Windows 2000 Professional setup files to on the RIS server. Unless you have a specific need to change= it, the default directory supplied by RIS setup, illustrated in figure 13.08, should be fine.

Figure 13.08 RIS setup next offers a default directory= to copy the Windows 2000 Professional setup files into on the RIS server

The next step is to determine a "friendly description= " for your RIS image, and the help desk that will be shown in the Client Installation Wizard when the user presses F12 to start RIS on the client. Figure 13.09 shows an example of this.

Figure 13.09 Assigning a friendly description to the R= IS image makes it easier to determine what RIS image to use when choices are presented in the Client Installation Wizard

Before setup actually begins, you are given the chance to = review your settings and go back to change any settings. Once you click Finish, as shown in figure 13.10, installation begins. Figure 13.11 shows the RIS setu= p as it runs through its task list.

Figure 13.10 You have a chance to review your installa= tion options before proceeding with the actual installation

Figure 13.11 The Remote Installation Services Wizard completes the list of tasks shown above as it configures RIS.

Once you have completed configuring RIS, you can go into W= indows Explorer and look at the new directory structure. It will look something li= ke that in figure 13.12 if you didn't make any changes from the default settin= gs.

Figure 13.12 RIS setup creates a directory structure as shown above during the setup wizard

Now that we have setup and configured RIS, let's look at creating additional RIS images and creating RIS boot disks.