Overview

Microsoft¡¦s Remote Installation Services (RIS) is one of the product that have been designed to help IT organizations manage both networks and desktops throughout an enterprise, RIS provides a fast and reliable ¡§bare metal¡¨ installation solution.

Prerequisites

1. The Windows 2000 Server must be an Active Directory mode Domain Controller.

2. Microsoft DNS and DHCP must be available to the server.

3. Windows 2000 Server must be updated to SP4 for Windows XP image.

Process

1. Gather everything necessary for installation (SP3 or SP4, other updates, etc.).

2. When you install Windows 2000 Server, leave it in workgroup mode for all of the base installation requirements.

3. Use a static IP address.

4. Create a second NTFS partition (either extended or primary) on the machine where you intend to run RIS. (RIS must have its install files located on another NTFS partition.)

5. From Start/Run, type DCPROMO, then press <Enter> to launch the Active Directory wizard.

6. Complete the Active Directory Wizard. DNS is automatically installed if the Wizard can¡¦t see a Microsoft DNS Server.

If you are setting this RIS Server up for demo or lab purposes, avoid adding it to another server¡¦s DNS, even if one is available on the network. Demo and lab servers require a new tree and a new forest of trees. You must type a fully qualified DNS name; for example PQTest.com or PQDemo.com. A message will be returned stating that it can¡¦t contact the DNS Server, which is OK ( and necessary). The wizard will install DNS for you. Select Pre-Windows 2000 compatibility. It will take a fair amount of time to build the DNS directory.

If you are creating a production RIS server, you can choose to use an existing DNS Server. Once it is installed, select the defaults.

7. Configure the NIC, and LEAVE the DNS SERVER ADDRESSES EMPTY.

8. Install DHCP services. Remember that the DHCP server must have a fixed IP address.

9. Set up the DNS address (192.168.0.1 or whatever you choose, just NOT 127.0.0.1), the gateway, and a scope for assigning addresses to clients. Right-click the server name in the DHCP manager, and click Authorize on the menu to authorize the DHCP server and enable it to work correctly.

10. After the reboots are completed, go to Configure Your Server, and install RIS.

11. After RIS is installed, you can create an OS image for example Windows XP by filling in RISetup in Start/Run, and press Enter.

12. When Remote Installation Services Setup Wizard starts, you must configure it to point to a Windows XP CD¡¦s I386 folder to create the Windows XP image.

13. After RISetup does its work, it¡¦s time to put the RIS server to work. Add Uli lan Windows XP driver to RIS installations by,

a. On the RIS server, copy ¡§netali.inf¡¨ and ¡§alilan.sys¡¨ files for Uli network controller to the RemoteInstall\Setup\Language\Images\Dir_name\i386 folder, just replace the original ¡§netali.inf¡¨ in the Windows XP images.

b. At the same level as the I386 folder on the RIS image, create a $oem$ folder with the following structure:

\$oem$\$1\Drivers\Nic

c. Copy ¡§netali.inf¡¨ and ¡§alilan.sys¡¨ files to the folder RemoteInstall\Setup\Language\Image\Dir_name\$oem$\$1\Drivers\Nic.

d. Copy ¡§netali.inf¡¨ and ¡§alilan.sys¡¨ files to the folder RemoteInstall\Setup\Language\Image\Dir_name.

e. Open Ristndrd.sif in the RemoteInstall\Setup\Language\Image\Dir_name\i386\Templates

f. Add the following unattended Setup parameter to the Ristndrd.sif file to be used for this image installation:

[Unattended]

DriverSigningPolicy = Ignore

g. Make the following changes to the Ristndrd.sif file to be used for this image installation:

[Unattended]

OemPreinstall = yes

OemPnpDriversPath = Drivers\Nic

h. Stop and restart the BINL service on the RIS server. Type the following lines at the command prompt, pressing ENTER after each command:

Net stop binlsvc

Net start binlsvc

Note: Stopping and restarting the BINL service is necessary because BINL needs to read all the new network interface card-related .inf fles and create .pnf files in the image. Because this is a time consuming task, it is only done once, which is when the BINL service starts.

When you use this method, you can install PXE clients with the Uli network controller using RIS.