Understanding Remote Installation Services

After the system is ready, run the RIPrep utility on the source computer. The RIS installation automatically installs RIPrep under the RemInst share of every RIS server, and it's accessible using the UNC pathname \\RIS_server\RemInst\Admin\i386\Riprep.exe. Running this utility launches the Windows 2000 Setup Manager Wizard, which Figure 4 shows.

In the dialog boxes that follow, the wizard will prompt you to specify the RIS server name that will hold the RIPrep image, assign an image folder name, and provide the image with a descriptive name. At the end of the configuration process, the wizard lets you review and confirm your settings. When you're ready, click Next to start the image-creation process. At this point, the wizard strips the machine of its SID and other unique information and generates an image on the specified RIS server.

To create a RIPrep image on the server, the account you're logged on to on the source computer must have backup privileges. If you're logged on as the domain or local administrator, you automatically have this permission.

After you've used RIPrep to create images, you can configure security to control access to them. To do so, remove the reference to the Everyone group from the ACL associated with each answer file related to your RIPrep images (i.e., the .sif file in the image's \i386\Templates subfolder). Then add Read permissions for each user or group that is allowed to access and install the image.

If you're planning to include Microsoft Office 2000 in a RIPrep-created image, you must turn off 8.3 filename creation, which creates DOS-compatible filename equivalents for long filenames. (This option is enabled by default.) To do so, use a registry editor to navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem subkey, add (or modify if it already exists) an NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation value of type REG_DWORD, and set its value to 1 (the default value is 0). Then reboot the machine to cause the change to take effect.

Managing RIS Servers and Images
After you use the RIS setup wizard to get your RIS server up and running, you can concentrate on the next phase of RIS administration—long-term maintenance of images and other configuration settings. Over time, you'll need to perform several maintenance activities on your RIS server, including managing images and changing client naming conventions.

To manage a RIS server's configuration and installed images, run the MMC Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in on any server that has RIS installed. After you load the snap-in, locate the RIS server you want to manage by opening its organizational unit (OU) container. Right-click the server, and select Properties. If the server you're working on has the RIS component installed, you'll see a Remote Install tab, which Figure 5 shows, in the Properties dialog box.

If you need to manage a RIS server from a Win2K Server system that doesn't have RIS installed, you have several options. You can install and configure Win2K Server Terminal Services in remote-administration mode on the RIS server and the Terminal Services client on the server that you want to use to manage the RIS server. Then use a terminal session to manage the remote RIS server.

Alternatively, you can install the RIS component on the server that you want to manage the RIS server from, but cancel the configuration and setup of RIS when the RIS setup wizard launches. This method provides the modified Properties dialog box, which includes the Remote Install tab in the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in.

One of the most common administrative tasks on a RIS server is managing images. Although RIS doesn't provide a dedicated management console (e.g., an MMC snap-in), you can use a RIS server's Properties dialog box in the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in. To do so, run the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in on any RIS-enabled server and locate the RIS server's parent container in the left pane. Right-click the RIS server you want to manage, and select Properties from the pop-up menu. On the Remote Install tab of the Properties dialog box, click Advanced Settings. The resulting Images tab, which Figure 6 shows, displays a list of the currently installed images on this server. At this point, you select an image and click Remove to delete it, Properties to change the image's description, or Add to launch the Add New Image Wizard.

Alternatively, to add a new image to a RIS server, run risetup.exe, and in the first dialog box, select the option to add a new image. Or, use the following command to launch the RIS setup wizard:

risetup 	add

RIS Is Great, but Not Perfect
Although RIS is a wonderful new technology, it has a major and unfortunate shortcoming: limited network adapter support. As of this writing, RIS supports only 25 PCI-based network adapters (this number includes standard peripheral cards and some motherboard-embedded network adapters). The PCI-specific support also means that systems with network adapters that use other bus types (e.g., ISA, EISA) and laptop systems that use PC Card or CardBus-based network adapters can't use RIS. (However, I'm aware of at least one laptop model—IBM Thinkpads—that uses a mini-PCI slot type that supports PXE and RIS.) The most represented brand of network adapters that RIS supports is 3Com, although the list also includes models from Intel, Digital Equipment, SMC Networks, and Hewlett-Packard (HP). The 3Com-centric list isn't surprising given that a subsidiary of 3COM, Lanworks Technologies, developed RIS's remote boot technology.

Related Articles in Previous Issues

You can obtain the following articles from Windows 2000 Magazine's Web site at http://www.win2000mag.com. SEAN DAILY "Customizing Unattended Win2K Installations," January 2000, InstantDoc ID 16219 JOHN M. GUNSON II "Remotely Deploy Windows 2000," May 2000, InstantDoc ID 8433 MARK MINASI "Using Win2K's Remote Installation Service," September 1999, InstantDoc ID 7109 JOHN D. RULEY "Windows 2000 Professional Deployment Options," March 2000, InstantDoc ID 8142

Although Microsoft has promised regular updates to the list of RIS-supported network adapters, no such updates have appeared thus far. This shortcoming keeps RIS out of the hands of many companies. If you're one of the organizations left out in the cold as a result of RIS's feeble adapter support, I encourage you to write Microsoft at ntwish@microsoft.com and request that the company provide RIS support for your network adapter brand and model.

In addition to its lack of adapter support, RIS has other notable shortcomings. For instance, RIS supports imaging only one volume—the C drive—to a RIS client. In addition, Microsoft designed RIS to provide only Win2K Pro images, so you can't use it to deploy other client OSs such as NT, Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me), and Windows 98.

Despite these shortcomings, RIS is an important technology that will prove invaluable to many Win2K administrators. RIS can help facilitate initial machine rollouts and the type of machine replacement that saved the day for Craig. However, using RIS successfully requires a commitment on your part: Specifically, you must maintain up-to-date RIS images. If you take the time to augment your RIS deployments by combining RIS with other deployment tools such as RIPrep, you can turn this new technology into an amazing timesaver that lets you sit back, relax, and finish your cup of coffee.

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