This tutorial will walk you through an installation of Windows Server 2008. It is a step-by-step process, so it should be appropriate even for those who are new to Server 2008.

Before beginning, you should make sure that the system you plan to install on meets the hardware requirements and that you have downloaded compatible drivers (Vista drivers should work in most cases in lieu of Server 2008 certified drivers, but if the system is going into high-availability production environments, I strongly recommend opting for hardware designed for Server 2008).

• Recommended Minimum Requirements (ignoring the technical minimums Microsoft suggests):
• Dual-Core 2.0GHz system or better
• 2GB of RAM or better (Max for 4GB for 32-bit Standard, otherwise 32GB (or higher) max)
• 40GB of Hard Drive Space
• DVD-ROM Drive Required
• Super VGA Display (800*600) or higher

Install Process

Microsoft has done a really good job of making the Windows Server 2008 as simple as possible, although you should definitely devote at least an hour to getting it up and running.

1. Start by inserting the DVD into your DVD drive and rebooting the system. You’ll want to use your available BIOS options to force the system to boot from the DVD. In my case, I was installing on a Dell PowerEdge, so I pressed F12 with the Dell logo displayed in order to view the Boot Options menu, and then I selected the DVD drive. You will see the following screen as setup loads…

2. Once setup has loaded, you’ll be prompted for language information. Choose English (or whatever is appropriate for you) and click Next…

3. The next prompt is to choose whether you are installing (the primary option) or whether you want to attempt the repair of an existing installation. In this case, choose Install Now.

4. Depending on the media used for the install, you may be prompted for your Product Key information. Enter it now unless you are prepping this install for a Ghost image.

Note: if you don’t enter your product key information, or if your installation media doesn’t prompt now, it will instead prompt for the type of license you have:

5. Next, apparently in an effort of redundancy, choose the actual install option you wish to perform (in this case, I’m installing the 32-bit Enterprise edition):

6. Accept the license agreement and click Next.

7. Upgrade options are only available when setup is run from within an existing version of Windows Server 2003, however, anyone administrator who chooses to do an OS upgrade on a server is a pitiful excuse for a systems administrator. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS install a fresh copy of Windows Server OS and always do a Custom install.

8. Next, choose the appropriate disk to install and click Next. If by some chance your hard drive is not listed, you can use the Load Driver option. If your drive is not partitioned already, it will be partitioned automatically with full capacity by clicking Next… if you want to customize the disk partitions, click the Drive options (advanced) option and adjust settings as needed.

NOTE: I recommend NOT partitioning physical disks. You will have much better performance if you use a physical disk if you need additional drive storage rather than partitioning. Whenever possible, I highly encourage the following drive configuration: 120GB C: drive (RAID1 array, 2 disks) for the OS and system page file; 300GB (or larger) D: drive (RAID1 array or better) for Data Storage, and 300GB (or larger) E: drive (RAID1 array or better) for log files (especially necessary for Exchange, SQL, or SharePoint services).

 

9. Now you have the pleasure of sitting and waiting for about 30-45 minutes while it copies files and configures the OS…

10. When setup finishes, it will reboot automatically. You will see the following login screen, so Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, choose Administrator/Other User (I’ve actually seen both– no idea why), leave the password empty, and click OK.

11. Since the password is currently blank, WS08 will force you to set a password now.

NOTE: This isn’t your grandma’s password either. You will be required to enter a strong password that meets these requirements:

• At least 7-characters-long.
• Contains at least 2 letters AND 2 numbers.
• At least one letter must be UPPERCASE and one lowercase… OR… must include punctuation/symbol characters.

Once typed, type it again to confirm, and click OK. Setup will change the password and then will confirm it.

That’s it! The system is up and running in the most basic role, but there is still some configuration to do. The system is pretty much locked down right now, so it’s not going to do any good as a server. This is why you’ll be prompted with the Initial Configuration Tasks wizard. I’ve seen several tutorials that treat this as a separate process from setup, but my guess is that since you were looking for a tutorial to install WS08, you probably wouldn’t mind some tips on getting the server to a useful state, so let’s look at the process now.

1. The first thing to do is to setup the Time Zone and Clock settings (click for larger versions)…

2. Next, setup your network adapter settings so that the network is accessible. This may require driver installation, but in my experience Server 2008 has a rather large driver catalog for network adapters. For this process, I’m going to assume you know how your server is meant to be setup on the network as far as IP addresses and such. Start by clicking on Configure networking and you’ll see the familiar Network Connections window. Right click on Local Area Connection and choose Properties to see the details of that connection. In this screenshot, I opted to change some of the Internet Protocol Version 4 settings so that I have a static IP address set. This is definitely recommended for any server and is required for an Active Directory Domain Controller (more on that in another tutorial).

NOTE: Unless you plan on running an Exchange Server 2007 or unless you require it in your environment, I recommend turning Internet Protocol Version 6 off (unchecked).

3. Next, click on Provide computer name and domain to setup the computer name. If this is going to be a member server (rather than Active Directory server) add it to the domain now. If you plan on using it as a Active Directory domain controller, DO NOT add it to the domain now. That process will be explained in another tutorial.

NOTE: Do NOT reboot when prompted.

5. Next, let’s configure the server for automatic updates and configure the Customer Experience Program and Error Reporting features. Start by clicking the Enable automatic updating and feedback option. Below are the settings I recommend choosing…

6. Next, let’s install any available Windows Updates and reboot before continuing. There will be at least 20 updates available if you choose the settings outlined above.

NOTE: When prompted after installation, DO reboot the system!

At this point, the server is still in a stand-alone server mode.

The Initial Tasks wizard begins again on login, and at this point, we’re ready to configure the server for different roles. Roles are functions that the server can provide—file sharing, DNS, DHCP, etc. This is actually one feature of Server 2008 that I wish existed in every version of Windows. It makes setting up all the different options you want considerably easier, and along the way it keeps the server as lean or full-functioned as you desire.

I will be posting separate tutorials on each role at some time in the future (or at least the ones I find genuinely useful).

Also at this point, you can configure any additional features you want on your server. These include everything from Vista Desktop features to advanced network features. Since there are so many, I will not be detailing them specifically, however, I will provide links to many of the more complex features.

Next—and almost done—you can choose to enable or disable Remote Desktop access to the server. I recommend leaving it on but locking it down to only two-or-three Administrator-level users.

Finally—and definitely do this last—you should setup the Windows Firewall service based on the roles and features you’ve chosen so far. In most cases, the Roles wizards will do this for you. Still, it never hurts to double-check those settings yourself as a reference.

Well, that’s pretty much it. Windows Server 2008 is definitely the easiest version yet to get up and running. Be sure to check out the tutorials on the different roles for any specific functions or problems you may encounter along the way. Oh and one more thing– you should DEFINITELY install any missing hardware drivers at this point, especially the hardware chipset drivers and firmware updates. These will guarantee that your server is operating at its optimal performance.