Customizing Servers with Setup Wizards

As with Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003 takes some of the manual step out of customizing the server to perform common roles within the organization. By using the Configure Your Server Wizard, and the Manage Your Server utility, you can add/remove and customize a Windows Server 2003 server based on previously defined roles. This section will describe how to customize a server to support common roles in a Windows network environment.

Configuring Server Roles

Windows Server 2003 provides several roles for which the server can be configured with the Configure Your Server Wizard. Although the roles available through the wizard are mostly the same as were available in the Windows 2000 server family, the GUI interface looks a bit different. Figure 11.7 displays the list of server roles available in Windows Server 2003.

Figure 11.7. Configuring server roles.

The wizard automatically starts when you log in for the first time after the setup process is complete, and the wizard can be started from the Administrative Tools program group .

When a particular role is chosen in the Configure Your Server Wizard, the appropriate files and services are installed to satisfy that role. For example, if an administrator chooses to configure the Application Server role, the wizard will install IIS, as well as COM+ and ASP.NET, automatically. The wizard will then offer to install FrontPage extensions and enable ASP.NET.

Of course, you still have the capability to install these services and components individually through the Add or Remove Components applet in the Control Panel. The wizard simply streamlines the process. The Configure Your Server Wizard can also be used to remove roles from a previously configured server.

After the Configure Your Server Wizard completes (depending on the role installed, this often includes a reboot), the Manage Your Server utility will automatically start allowing the administrator to further customize the server based on the new role(s) installed.

There are a few important items to be aware of when assigning server roles to Windows Server 2003:

• When installing the Terminal Server role, you must ensure that there is a licensing server available on the Windows network to handle Terminal Server licensing. If there is no Terminal Server licensing server available on the network, the new Terminal Server will stop accepting connections after 120 days.

• The Domain Controller role cannot be installed on a server that is a Certification Authority (CA). If the server is already a CA, the Domain Controller role is not an available option in the Configure Your Server Wizard.

• If the DNS server role will be installed, it is important to choose a unique registered domain name if the DNS server will store records for computers that exist on the Internet. DNS configuration is detailed in Chapter 13, "Infrastructure Integration (DNS, DHCP, Domain Controllers)."

Managing Servers

When the Configure Your Server Wizard completes, the Manage Your Server utility launches automatically. This utility can also be found under the Administrative Tools program group. The Manage Your Server utility will display all the roles configured for the particular server. For each role, the utility will provide a list of specific actions appropriate for administering the functionality available to that role.

For example, if the server is configured with a Domain Controller role, the Manage Your Server utility will present options for executing the following management tools:

• Active Directory Users and Computers

• Active Directory Domains and Trusts

• Active Directory Sites and Services

If a particular role requires additional configuration, the Manage Your Server utility also provides a link to a help file that includes next steps. For example, for the File Server role, the next steps include information for configuring EFS, setting disk quotas, or installing the indexing service.