Server newbie seeks help

[Pandamonium]

I've got a system that I term a server (it currently acts as a print and file server) that I would like to make more useful. I want to have XP authenticate users, settings, email, files, etc from this server. I also want to look into serving programs. (Say, Office or other programs not bundled with XP) Essentially, I'd like to convert all my other systems to thin clients and be able to log into my desktop/workspace/email folders/etc from any system. The server is running Windows 2000 Advanced Server (probably overkill, but I found a deal on eBay) and is behind a Linksys BEFSR41 (4-port router).

What kind of software do I need to look into to make this work? (cheap is good, but functionality, stability, and relative ease of use are of greater importance)

Also, if I wanted to rig my server with internet hosting capabilities, what else should I get? All I've got are (or is?) bandwidth and IIS. As far as I know, my ISP doesn't block port 80.

 

[Iron Woode]

being a relative newbie myself, may I suggest a book for Windows 2000 Advanced Server.

It should have plenty of info on what you are looking for.

 

[FiberOptik]

Setup Active Directory on 2k advanced server, with that you can setup roaming profiles that allow all clients on your network to keep the same desktop no matter which workstation a user logs into. This is a great feature if you have an app server running office apps among other things. Install terminal services so that you can manage the 2k server remotely that way you can unplug the keyboard/mouse/monitor and just have a standalone box that you can manage from anywhere inside your network. 2k advanced generally has some decent help files on how to get active directory and terminal services running on your server. If you have other questions either post them here or check Microsoft's help database, they have some amazing stuff on there if you dig deep enough. Hope this helps.

BTW, no matter what keep plugging away with this stuff. You're gaining valuable experience that 80% of the other users here don't have. Being able to install/manage/use 2k server is a great skill to put on a resume.

 

[Pandamonium]

Now that I've figured out terminal services, I'm trying to run Win2k AS without a keyboard an mouse, but after a reboot, some system services (including terminal services) have errors at startup and fail to run. Is this normal?

 

[jbritt1234]

Many computers will not run properly without a keyboard attached.

 

[Nothinman]

Many computers will not run properly without a keyboard attached.

If the computer POSTs and beings booting without them it's a Windows problem, I've run many computers headless using Linux.

 

[Need4Speed]

windows generally behaves badly without a KB or mouse. Being that its GUI driven it was never really intended to be used without them. *nix on the other hand works wonferfully without a KB/mouse. I've got 5 linux boxes running without a kb or mouse. I use SSH to admin them remotely. The only nix box that i have that has a kb is my firewall, as my rules are setup not to accept any connections from the lan or net, only locally.

 

[Rainsford]

Originally posted by: Need4Speed
windows generally behaves badly without a KB or mouse. Being that its GUI driven it was never really intended to be used without them. *nix on the other hand works wonferfully without a KB/mouse. I've got 5 linux boxes running without a kb or mouse. I use SSH to admin them remotely. The only nix box that i have that has a kb is my firewall, as my rules are setup not to accept any connections from the lan or net, only locally.

Eh, not really. Running headless boxes with AFAIK any remotely recent version of Linux and Windows 2000 plus is only a problem if your computer gives you a post error. And you can usually turn that off in the BIOS. The only problem you might run into would be that windows sometimes doesn't like working with a mouse if you boot without one. YMMV with that. But if you are running it remotely and headless anyways...not too much of a problem.

And actually Linux has the same mouse issue (at least in my experiece), but you can restart your GUI if that's what you are running and the command line obviosly doesn't need it. Don't listen to these Linux guys, you can remote admin a Windows box just fine Of course low bandwidth is not recommeded

 

[CrimsonKing]

Citrix is the solution to all your problems!!!!
(sorry. starting to prepare for a certification - getting in the mindset!)

Citrix is way overkill here. But I wanted to say congrats for just getting this much set up. I help manage about 1800+ Wintel servers at work and I still don't have a server at home to play with and set up from scratch. Kinda sad, but no $ for toys! :-(

I should become a Linux admin. I could run it on everyone else's garbage!

 

[Pandamonium]

I have no idea what's going on here - help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Symptom #1: Logging into my domain from my WinXP Pro machine takes forever.
Symptom #2: Printer won't show up under Active Directory configuration
Symptom #3: Can't get roaming profiles working (ok, not really a symptom, but it's the whole reason I'm trying 2000AS out)

Here's what I've done

1) Format server HDDs to NTFS, clean install of Win2000AS (with most of the components selected at initial install, so I didn't have to add stuff like terminal services, iis, etc...)

2) Set up DNS and router connectivity. Basically, I made the server use itself to resolve DNS addresses and set up DNS lookup forwarding to try my ISP's DNS servers if it didn't have DNS information on hand.

3) Configured/installed Active Directory. Steps 2 and 3 were done by the book according to this resource.

4) Joined domain from WinXP Pro machine (after it was already logged in locally). When joining the domain, I used the Administrator account information I created on the server during setup.

Note: I set up the domain as "network.local" and was only able to join it as "network".

5) Configured, through terminal services, a user (Justin) for this machine under Active Directory. Also connected to the server's printer directly. (It doesn't show up in the Active Directory configuration window, and this way, I can print)

6) Followed the instructions to here to configure roaming profiles. In short, I created a folder "Profiles" and shared it. Then I specified that the user created in step 5 (Justin) access a profile in "\\2x200-128\Profiles\Justin". Finally, I right clicked on My Computer (server), went to properties>user profiles, and copied my administrator profile to "\\2x200-128\Profiles\Justin".

Note: I could not create the dedicated account with "profile administrator" rights, so I just copied the server's Administrator account instead. The "Environment Profile" dialog box didn't have a field for user profile path, so I also omitted this step.

7) Logged out of "Justin" (XP Pro). Logged in, this time to the domain and not the computer, using the credentials I had specified in user "Justin" on the server's Active Directory management window. Waited aeons while it loaded. Got an error (notification) about not being able to use roaming profiles.

Of course there were a lot of intermittent steps, etc. I tried to undo most of whatever I had done though. The above steps outline what I was trying to stick to. Something tells me that my situation is, at least in part, due to the fact that I had skipped some of the instructions given by Microsoft; however, I couldn't comply with those instructions since they appeared to not apply to my particular situation.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[jbritt1234]

Sounds like you have done most of this correctly and are on the right track. Here are a few tips.

Problem 1
How are the workstations getting their IP?s?

Turn off DHCP on your router (I?m assuming you have one). Assign your server a static IP address. Be sure to fill in all the required IP addresses, DNS server info etc. You can get all that by doing a ipconfig /all before you turn off the DHCP. Just manually set the IP to the same on it was handed out.

Set up DHCP on your Server. Enter all the info you need. When you are entering DNS / WINS / Gateway addresses, put in the IP address of your Server.

Problem 2
The printers are not just going to show up automatically. You have to go into Active Directory Users and Computers and set them up manually.

Go into the container that you want the printer in and right click, select new, then printer. You will have to type the network path to the printer \\server\sharename.

Problem 3
Fix problem 1 first, then we will tackle this one. Some of the problems could be caused by prob 1. Probably not, but maybe?

 

[Pandamonium]

My workstations and server have static IPs through my BEFSR41 router. I've left DHCP on since it only kicks in when a computer without a static IP set up is turned on.

However, I want to stay away from DHCP as much as possible though. Can I set up roaming profiles without DHCP enabled?

As for my printer issues.... AD won't let me add the printer to "network.local" (or is this not a container..) or to "network.local => *". I get the error: "This printer cannot be published. To publish printers on Windows 2000 computers, use the printer folder." In my printer folder, I shared the printer I'm trying to add to AD. So far, I can access the printer by browsing through my network from my workstation and connecting to the printer manually.

 

[Nothinman]

However, I want to stay away from DHCP as much as possible though

Why? It can save a lot of headaches, and with reserved addresses and dynamic-DNS I don't see a reason to avoid it. I have 2 boxes that need to have the same IP because ports are forwarded to them from my firewall, so I just reserved their IP via their MAC address on my DHCP server. And since I have dynamic-DNS setup any new box that gets plugged into my network instantly has an A record in my local domain.

Can I set up roaming profiles without DHCP enabled?

Sure, the two aren't related at all.

 

[Pandamonium]

With DHCP turned on, I have to look up what IPs are taken by machines at any given moment... and I wouldn't be able to use port forwarding. All of my IPs are being assigned by my router (Linksys BEFSR41). I'm only trying to use the server to store roaming profiles, share files/printers, and eventually web serving via IIS. DHCP and NAT aren't things I want handled by this box when I can just have my router handle it all.

New questions though... (I'm giving up on printer sharing through AD... as long as it works I'm happy)

1) For active directory, what kind of user level is needed to JOIN a domain, not be able to administer the domain, but be able to have full administrative permissions on a workstation?

2) Does anybody have a link stored in favorites or something with regard to getting roaming profiles up and running? Mine sucks.

TIA!

 

[Nothinman]

DHCP and NAT aren't things I want handled by this box when I can just have my router handle it all.

But as you can see those routers don't handle it very well. Reservations and dynamic-DNS are nearly invaluable, that way I get to use port forwarding and I don't have to worry about putting info in anything statically.

1) For active directory, what kind of user level is needed to JOIN a domain, not be able to administer the domain, but be able to have full administrative permissions on a workstation?

To join a domain you just need user access on that domain, but you need local admin access on the workstation. I don't know of a way to automatically add custom groups to local admin groups to workstations. The only group added automatically is the normal Domain Admins group.

2) Does anybody have a link stored in favorites or something with regard to getting roaming profiles up and running? Mine sucks.

All you should have to do is have the permissions right on the file server and set the roam profile attribute in the user account properties I thought.