Server 2003 Setup [Additional Question]

[RobDog888]

Ok, I finally got around to setting up Server 2003 on one of my systems
and, being the network guru that I am, I dont have a domain yet
so how do I set the server up during installation for a PDC? I am
at the screen where it is prompting for the designation of either a
Workgroup or a Domain. If I dont have a domain set up yet then
how am I supposed to add it to one when it prompts me? Or am I
supposed to select the Workgroup mode without a domain or not
on a domain?

I am running three systems in workgroup mode and tI want the
fourth to be my server and add the other three to the new
domain.


Thanks for any input on this.

[Ideas Man]

Yes select workgroup as if it's gonna be standalone. When Windows first boots up and you login, you'll get this nice setup screen, select Domain Controller from the list of roles you want it to have, fill in the blanks and it will install and configure all the required items. When it's finished, your server will then be a Domain Controller.

After it's reboted, add the clients to the domain.

[plenderj]

Well during setup, if you want the server to be your DC, just select domain and make it your DC...

[Ideas Man]

That won't work because setup asks you to join a domain or workgroup, not host one (become DC).

[plenderj]

Does it? :confused:
Bah its been to long :D

[Ideas Man]

You're most probably thinking of the old NT days, where when you installed the OS, you specified whether it was a DC, PDC or a member server and the only way of changing was a complete re-install. Server 2003 you can change it very easily simply by clicking a couple of buttons inside an easy to follow wizard.

[plenderj]

Yeah I've a few 2003 servers that I installed in here, but its just been so long :)

[RobDog888]

Ideas Man has it right about not being able to add it to a domain
until after it is set up. It would try to add itself to a domain but
would error out saying that it didnt exist. This was my problem,
but thanks to everyones input I think I know what to do next. I
may still have some questions when I get to setting up the
domain. So until then thanks guys.

:)

[Ideas Man]

No problem. I'll be happy to help if you have any more troubles with it.

Don't forget to change the icon to the green checkmark (http://www.vbforums.com/images/icons/completeclear.gif)

[RobDog888]

How about [Semi-Resolved] since I will have more questions
on this and this way the history will be in the same thread. :D

There are going to be more setup questions coming today. I just
know it.

[RobDog888]

Doh! I knew it. Here is another related question.

I also want to host my own website. Can I do it with the PDC as I
have just finished loading it, or do I need to install Server 2003
Web Edition. I have it on another CD.

I am reading through the server roles I thats where it says if you
want to host websites or services you need...

So do I have to install the W.E. on the same server? or can I do it
just with the server role of PDC?

Thanks for your help and patience.

[Ideas Man]

No you do not. Windows Sever 2003 Web Edition is designed specifically to host web sites, it can't do anything else in a sense. You can install that on another computer if you wish i.e. it's a cheaper licence than Standard or Enterprise. But you can also install it on your PDC (I did). Go back into the Manage Server dialog and add the Application Server role i think it is, it will say that it includes IIS. Add that role and your server will also be a web server.

Yey!! My 800th Post

[RobDog888]

:thumb: on 800!

I thought it was another component to install from the PDC and
not another CD. The Web ed. CD was messing me up. :rolleyes:

So, I will go to Manage my server and add IIS from the
Application Role. Anything else involved in setting up IIS?

Thanks.

[Ideas Man]

Yes that's all you do and nope there's nothing else. If you want ASP.NET, check the box as it installs and install the updates from Microsoft Windows Update (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com) then you just gotta create your web sites etc. Very easy. You can still add additional components later if you want like the remote desktop connection web client or the SMTP server, FTP server etc.

[RobDog888]

Thanks, Ideas Man. I will only need ASP.NET and HTTP services.
Oh ya, and HTTPS also, but when I get there I will post again.

Later.

[RobDog888]

Finally got time to create the domain and I have a question.

I am starting to create the Domain and it is prompting for this...

http://www.vbforums.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=1814962

Do I need to enter a dot com name or just the name I want for
the domain? I want my domain to be called "DEVELOPMENT".

Thanks.

[Ideas Man]

Yes, just enter Development if that's what you want. You do not need to do all that extra stuff, can't exactly remember what it's used for, but in your case, it's unnecessary.

[plenderj]

If you're going to be hosting a web project, its easier in the long-run to actually put in you FQDN.
For example, our two domain controllers where I work are: nt1.everymancomputers.com and nt2.everymancomputers.com

[RobDog888]

Yes, I want to host a website or two but I havent come up
with the .coms for them yet. I thought I needed to put it in like
this... computername.dotcomname.com. Not sure if I just enter
DEVELOPMENT I wont have any issues later when I get
the .coms?

[dglienna]

that sounds more like a workgroup name. I'd make it machine-specific, so that the machine doesn't matter to the domain.

[RobDog888]

I am getting ready to create a new domain on my server. I dont
have an existing domain yet or a dot com name either. I want my
network domain to be named "DEVELOPMENT" and my server
name is APSDEV. If I dont enter a FQDN will I have issues later
when I get my dot com name and start hosting sites?

[Ideas Man]

No. Remember, the domain is tacked onto the end of a computer name to make the FQDN. So in your case, your server would be called APSDEV.DEVELOPMENT. You don't need your domain to be the same as your internet domain name if you don't want to, it will still work.

[RobDog888]

Sorry for being a complete n00b but I just enter DEVELOPMENT or
APSDEV.DEVELOPMENT? I want DEVELOPMENT to be the actual
domain name for my network.

Thanks.

[dglienna]

I'm pretty sure that you don't need the aspdev. Development will be the domain name, and all computers in it will have their name in place of aspdev.

[Ideas Man]

I'll clarify it again, APSDEV was the computer name you used for your server, a FQDN consists of ComputerName.Domain so when I said APSDEV.DEVELOPMENT, I was referring to the FQDN for that computer, your domain is Development, add that when it asks for it.

[RobDog888]

I finally got around to creating the domain. Now I get this message
about DNS...

http://www.vbforums.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=1824890

I am running DNS on my Linksys router. Wont
this be a problem if I have DNS on the server too?

[dglienna]

I think I had the same problem when configuring W2K with my cable modem as I didn't have a static address, which I think is required. Not sure, though. (MANY YEARS AGO)
That's why I never implemented Active Directory, too. (I did have it running for a few weeks, but re-installed due to problems.)

[RobDog888]

So you cant have AD without DNS?

[Ideas Man]

No you can't. Active Directory relies on DNS so you cannot use it w/o it. You don't need to use the Microsoft DNS services, but it makes life a lot easier.

[RobDog888]

So then I wil set it up, but wont that interfere with my Linksys router?

[dglienna]

I took it to mean that AD requires the same IP address, all of the time. If you have a static IP address, then just connect it directly to the server, and run the router FROM another port.

[Ideas Man]

Yes it will. It is possible to tell Active Directory that you have a DNS server somewhere else on the network, you just have to ensure that Active Directory can read and write to the one on the router, if it can't, then you will need to set it up on the same computer.

Another method would be to install it and try and get it to 'synchronize' with your DNS server on the router, if that's even possible, I'd say it is.

[RobDog888]

Sorry guys, I was confusing DNS with DHCP. My router is in control
of DHCP and I have a statice IP from my ISP. Is ther a way to set
things up so everything goes to the server and then distributes
to the workstations on the network?

Would this be the more secure setup or keep it the way it
currently is where all workstations / server get their IP from the
router and are directly getting internet from the router?

Would the first suggestion of everything going through the server
be slower for the workstations?

Thanks.

[Ideas Man]

If you can provide a proxy for the server so the computers to access the internet via the server, there's no problems with that. If you wanna setup DHCP on your server and disable the one on the router, that's fine too (I'd actually recommend this). This way you can let your clients get their IP addresses from your server so you can centrally manage them and if you want them to have direct access to the internet, put your routers IP address as the default gateway in the server properties and they will access it for the internet.

[dglienna]

I don't think that AD would like the IP from the router. Maybe if all of the network were behind the router, they could still talk to each other, but they would prolly be problems connecting outside of the network. I'm not positive, but I think it is the case (but I think that I may NOT have had a router back then, just a hub, and the cable modem and its 192.168.0.1 address for my server)

If you use DHCP on the server, then you'd still be able to see everything else, so I'd recommend it.

You would probably need more IP addreses for the other machines to talk to computers outside of your LAN. We have 4 with our DSL, so I may set up our server there, and do things remotely in the near future)

I didn't have AV software for the server, in the past, also!

[Ideas Man]

As long as he places the IP address of the router in the Default Gateway address for the DHCP clients, they will be able to access the internet.

And yes, it is highly recommended to give your server a static IP, is you do end up using the router as your DHCP server, find out how to restrict or reserve the IP you assign to your server.

Yey! My 900th post :)

[RobDog888]

So I should turn the routers DHCP off and then assign the server
a static IP with a default gateway of the router IP. Then assign
the default gateway to the routers IP address in the servers
DHCP settings so all workstations obtain an IP address from the
server.

The router can filter specific IP address / ranges for outgoing
access. This may be a problem if the server assigns an invalid
address range. Is there a way to setup DHCP on the server to
assign specific IP ranges?

Thanks.

[Ideas Man]

If you want to do that, yes, that's perfectly fine and yes you can configure special ranges on your DHCP server for it to hand out.

[dglienna]

I think that you can supply MAC addresses to map to IP addresses.