Issues with Server Install

skrpune

Alrighty, let me preface this with the fact that I'm a total noob when it comes to server installations and server setup. I've just started on my 290 studies and am going through the exercises in the MS Press book. But I'm stuck on some stuff in the server configuration (Chapter 1, Exercise 3: Configuring the Server).

The choices I am presented in the "Configure Your Server Wizard" do not match up with what I'm told to do or shown that I would see in the text, and I'm not quite sure why. (It might be because I installed SP2, or it's because there's an unstated/unspecified "typical setup for first server" option that wasn't presented to me because of one of the reasons listed here.) The book makes it seem like I can install DHCP, Active Directory, DNS Server, and create the contoso.com domain all in one fell swoop, but I've had to do piece by piece setup. Yar.

It also give a laundry list of configurations/installations/setups that are theoretically automatically part of the process after reboot, but I'm not finding it so:
- Assign static IP address x.x.x.x (did get a pop up to do this during one part of the install process, too frustrated & brain too fried now to remember which part)
- Install DHCP Server (had to do this separately after doing the Domain Controller/Active Directory setup)
- Install Active Directory (this was the first step I was able to do)
- Install DNS server (did this second or third, after AD install)
- Assign DNS forwarder x.x.x.x (I believe this was part of the DNS install wizard)
- Configure and activate DHCP scope x.x.x.x - x.x.x.x (I was able to configure/set the scope during the DHCP setup process, but I think I had to manually activate the DHCP scope...I manually made some changes after the fact to the addresses/scope to exclude a range of addresses that I have in use already with my home [workgroup] network to avoid any possible conflicts)
- Authorize DHCP server in Active Directory (got no prompts to do this, so had to do some googling to figure out how to add/authorize it manually)
- Set up an application naming context in Active Directory on this domain controller for use by TAPI client applications (absolutely no prompts to do this, but may have figured out how to do it...sorta).

Now this last part about the TAPI application directory is where I'm somewhat stumped. I figured out that I can go to command prompt and use the command tapicfg to install and create an application directory, but my questions are:
- is this necessary??
- am I right in thinking that the syntax would be:

tapicfg install /directory:tapi.contoso.com /forcedefault

...assuming I want to create a partition name of "tapi" on the local server01 on contoso.com. From what I understand, if I don't specifically include "/server/ xxxxx" then it automatically uses the local computer...which happens to be the domain controller, so I should be good, yes?

I am so very frustrated that I can't seem to get through a seemingly simple exercise in chapter 1, and I'm not quite sure how to proceed. It seems like there was way too much information left out of the process for server configuration, and I've had to fill in a lot of the blanks and do my own research on how to do things that were supposed to be part of an installation wizard...but on the plus side, I've figured out how to do a bunch of this stuff manually on my own so I am a wee bit encouraged by that.

Oh, one other thing: in researching the TCP/IP setup, most sources will say to leave the default gateway blank when doing setup for exercises. Why is this, am I missing something really simple? Without a default gateway I'm not able to connect to the internet with my virtual server, so I ended up modifying the addresses & settings so that I could connect my virtual server to the internet using my physical router, and I'm wondering if I shouldn't have done this and if I should go back to the default/prescribed addresses & a blank default gateway as prescribed in instructions here (yes I understand that the link referenced is for Server 2008 but the general setup of TCP/IP should still be the same, yes?).

I realize that this is a lot of text to sift through, but if anyone could provide me some insight, direction, etc. on whether I need to revamp my TCP/IP settings & whether I'm on the right track with tapicfg (or whether I can just drop it altogether), I'd be very very very appreciative...'cause right now, I feel very much like this: <sigh>

dynamik

I'm sort of lost. Where are you actually stuck?

The default gateway is personal preference. It just determines whether or not you want to communicate with networks besides the subnet the server is on. That's a best practice if you're doing something like testing VMs in a corporate environment.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the TAPI stuff. That's for specialized applications. Knowing that it exists and having a general understanding should be sufficient.

NetAdmin2436

The book must assume you don't need the internet for their particular exercises. But if you do, I'd just add the default gateway. It won't hurt you to have one specified. My labs are always a wee bit different from how the book wants them setup. That's so I can get internet, route to my other domain, ect. It makes me think more because I have to correlate what the book is trying to accomplish and apply it to another pre-existing network. This is more what you'd have to do in real life anyways. What book are you going off of? It sounds like your doing good though. Yes, you always want to assign static IP address to servers, especially a DC. DHCP will always be done in it's own steps separate from the AD/DNS install, as it's not required for active Directory. Some people have there router/firewall or printer do DHCP. I always like having my DC do DHCP though.

I wouldn't worry about the application partition for the exam. For the 290, I'd concentrate more on the NTFS permissions, Backups, ASR, Disk Configurations (RAID, Dynamic/Basic Disks), and managing users. I hope this helps

skrpune

thanks for the responses! The biggest part I was stuck on was the TAPI/application partition install - whether my syntax was right for installation/setup & whether it needed to be done in the first place. I'm leaning towards leaving it as is without that for now, and it kinda sounds like that's okay to do as long as I know it can be done and understand the general theory behind it.

I can see that it's better to not have a default gateway (and hence no internet connectivity) when you're doing a test installation so you can isolate it from the rest of a network, but I find it odd that this point isn't at least somewhat discussed in the instructions in the book. I guess they either are assuming that you don't want to or don't need to connect to the internet, or they're assuming you already know how to do it and they don't need to tell you.

I'm curious as to why the instructions in the MS Press book are so sparse for server configuration. I am pretty sure that it assumes you use "typical setup for a first server" but it doesn't actually say that it does, and I wasn't given that option to do so. I think that's the part that frustrated me the most (and made me drown my sorrows in sake last night ) - the lack of detail and lack of full disclosure on how to go through the server configuration process.

undomiel

Just treat it as a learning opportunity. Book leaves something out? Woohoo! Time to jump in and figure it out! Which it looks like you did pretty well there. You'll learn a whole lot that way, and retain the knowledge too.

skrpune

undomiel wrote: »

Just treat it as a learning opportunity. Book leaves something out? Woohoo! Time to jump in and figure it out! Which it looks like you did pretty well there. You'll learn a whole lot that way, and retain the knowledge too.

Thanks...yeah, I'm trying to look at this as a positive and as a learning experience, rather than a giant annoyance that had me ripping my hair out last night!! I was just confused as to why I was seeing different stuff than was I was "supposed to" be seeing and thought I was doing something wrong, but I think that I filled in the blanks okay.