Creating a Production RIS Server

To create a production RIS server to provide operating system installation services on the network, you need to accomplish the following:

Install the hardware necessary on each server to support RIS installations. For more information about RIS server hardware requirements, see "Evaluating RIS Server Hardware Requirements" e 13413d317n arlier in this chapter.

Install the Windows Server 2003 operating system on each RIS server. For more information about RIS server software requirements, see "Assessing RIS Server Software Requirements" e 13413d317n arlier in this chapter.

Install RIS on each RIS server. For more information about RIS components and deploying RIS, see "Process for Deploying RIS" earlier in this chapter.

Create any additional Risetup images for the RIS servers using operating system CDs. For more information about choosing additional Risetup images to host on RIS servers, see "RIS Server Configuration Design Tasks" earlier in this chapter.

Configuring a Master Installation

To configure a master computer from which you generate Riprep images, you need to accomplish the following:

Install the appropriate hardware and the Windows XP Professional operating system on a computer you designate as the master computer and join it to the domain where the RIS server is located. For more information about master computer hardware requirements, see "Assessing Master Computer Requirements" earlier in this chapter.

Install and configure applications on the master computer, set operating system parameters, and add any special drivers required for a custom Riprep image. For more information about designing Riprep images, see "Design a Riprep-Based Installation" earlier in this chapter.

Test your Riprep images to determine the impact on user profiles. For more information about how Riprep image design affects user profiles, see "Riprep Image Design and User Profiles" earlier in this chapter.

Create the Riprep image on your RIS server by running Riprep.exe from the following location: \\risserver\reminst\admin\i386\riprep.exe.

Configure permissions on the answer files for each Riprep image you create and on the operating system image folders, to allow users to access the images. For more information about setting permissions on answer files, see "Evaluating Security for Operating System Images" earlier in this chapter.

When you install the operating system on the master computer, use the unattended method. By using unattended installs, it is easier to create and catalog unique configurations of operating systems that include different components such as drivers and applications. For each operating system installation, you create a separate answer file that identifies the components of the master installation configuration. The answer file facilitates the unattended installation and also serves as a record of your master operating system installation configuration, which is easily stored and can be used to re-create the original configuration.

Another benefit of using an unattended installation for your master computer configuration is that you can include a command in the GUIRunOnce section of the answer file to automatically start Riprep.exe when the unattended installation completes. By integrating Riprep into the unattended installation, you automatically create the master installation image on your RIS server.

For example, creating a master installation for a file server using an unattended installation with Riprep involves the following steps:

Create an answer file and configure it with entries and values for components that are appropriate for your master operating system configuration.

Specify the command to run Riprep.exe in the GUIRunOnce section of the answer file by using the following entry:

[GuiRunOnce]

"\\risserver\reminst\admin\i386\riprep.exe"

At a command prompt on the server, use the following syntax to run the unattended installation:

Winnt32.exe /unattend: answerfilepath

For more information about creating answer files for unattended installations, see "Answer files" in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Corporate DeploymentWindows Corporate Deployment Tools User's Guide (Deploy.chm). Deploy.chm is included in the Deploy.cab file in the Support folder on the Windows Server 2003 operating system CD.

To configure the master computer, you need to accomplish the following:

Create the desktop configuration.

Add hardware devices.

Set passwords.

Create an optional command file.

Set language and regional options.

Add and configure applications

You must also clean up the installation by doing the following:

Reset all history settings in the operating system and all applications that are installed on the master installation. This includes the most frequently used applications list and the history list in Internet Explorer.

Delete all files and folders that you do not want end users to see. This might include:

Files and folders that you used to build the master installation, such as tools, documents, and scripts.

Temporary Internet files, including cookies.

Files and folders in My Documents.

Configure the user profile for the Default User so that all of the installation and configuration tasks you performed are available to end users. To do this, you first create a local user account, and then add the account to the local Administrators group. Next, log on to the computer using the new user account, and copy the Administrator user profile to the Default User profile. Do not log off.

When creating Riprep images, you need to understand how user profiles affect the changes you make to a master installation and the impact on users who log on to computers that receive the Riprep image.

Applications that are compliant with the operating system that you are preparing to deploy properly separate user-specific and computer-specific configuration settings and data. Installing such applications in your Riprep master installation makes them available to all users of client computers on which you install the Riprep image. Applications that are not compliant with Windows Server 2003 might rely on per-user configurations that are specific to the profile of the user (typically the Administrator) who actually installs the applications prior to running Riprep, rather than computer-specific configurations. These configurations remain specific to the installing user, which can result in the application or configuration setting not being available or not functioning properly for the users of the client computer where you install the Riprep image. Also, some non-application configuration changes, such as the wallpaper specified for a user's desktop, are applied only to the current user's profile by default, which means they are not available to users of the client computer where you install the Riprep image.

To ensure that the application or configuration settings of your Riprep image work properly with the implementation of user profiles in your organization, you need to test them thoroughly. To test a configuration, you can make a change while logged on as the Administrator, log off, and then log on with a user account that is representative of your organization. If the change you made applies to the user account with which you log on, then it should also apply to all users who log on to systems installed with a Riprep image containing the same change. Complete your testing by creating a Riprep image and installing it on a client computer. Log on to the computer with a different user account and verify that the change applies and is fully functional.