5.13. Installing and configuring Windows Server on Dedicated

Attention!

  • Use only licensed software and official distributions. You can purchase licenses from official representatives of Microsoft.
  • We do not sell licenses for Windows Server and are not responsible for unlicensed software.

The instruction describes the process of installing and configuring Windows Server 2016. For other versions of the OS, the process may differ, but the general logic of actions is approximately the same.

Installation

Installation is done using KVM. Further work with the system is carried out using the RDP protocol (Remote Desktop Protocol).
  1. Boot from the installation disk.
  2. Select language, time format, currency, keyboard layout and press "Further":
  3. Select the desired distribution option and click "Further":
  4. Click "Custom: Windows installation only (for advanced users)":
  5. Partition the disk, select the desired partition and click "Further":

    Attention!

    Before pressing "Further" the selected partition must be exactly the partition where the OS will be installed.

  6. Wait for the files to finish copying. The process usually takes no more than 30 minutes.
  7. Make sure the correct language is selected and set the administrator password:
  8. Log in (when entering your password, also make sure the correct language is selected).
  9. When prompted to allow PC discovery on the network, click "No":

Customization

Static IP

  1. Right click on the network icon in the tray and select "Network Control Center…".
  2. Click on the current connection.
  3. Click "Properties" in the status window.
  4. Pleaseselect "IP version 4 (TCP / IPv4)" and press "Properties".
  5. Pleaseselect "Use the following IP address", indicate IPaddress server and save the changes.

Timezone

  1. Right click on the date in the tray and select "Setting the date and time".
  2. Select the desired time zone in the field "Timezone".

Activation

  1. Open File Explorer.
  2. Right click on "This computer" and select "Properties".
  3. Click "Windows Activation".
  4. Click "Change product key", enter your license key and save changes. Note If the contents of the window do not load, try reopening it.
  5. In request "Need to connect to the server…" click "Further". Note Even if an activation error occurs "Failed to connect…", double-check if Windows has actually activated.

Enabling RDP Access

  1. Open File Explorer.
  2. Right click on "This computer" and select "Properties".
  3. Click "Setting up remote access".
  4. Pleaseselect "Allow remote connections to this computer" and save your changes.

Enabling ICMP packet reception

Attention!

Without enabling ICMP packet reception, the server will not be pinged and, as a result, will be unavailable for monitoring.
  1. Openup "Start → Options → Network and Internet".
  2. Click "Windows Firewall".
  3. Click "Extra options".
  4. Pleaseselect "Rules for incoming connections", right click on "Monitoring the virtual machine (echo request - ICMPv4 - incoming traffic)" and press "Enable Rule".

Checking and installing drivers

Open the device manager and check that there are no unrecognized devices in the system (these are usually marked with a yellow icon with an exclamation point):

If there are unidentified devices, drivers for them must be installed manually. It is recommended to use the official ones if available. If it is not possible to identify an unidentified device, you can try to do this by its VEN / DEV codes. You can define them like this:

An example of a resource where you can search for drivers directly by a string like "PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_10D3…" — devid.info.

Windows update

To check for updates, open Start → Options → Update and Security" and press "Check for updates". The update process can take quite a long time.

Software RAID 1

When installing the system, only one physical disk should be used, the second should remain completely clean and untouched. Before setting up RAID, the system must be fully installed and configured.

  1. Openup "Disk Management" ("Server Manager → Facilities → Computer management" next in the list on the left "Disk Management").
  2. Agree to initialize the second drive. MBR or GPT — depends on whether the system was installed without UEFI (in most cases MBR) or with UEFI (GPT).
  3. Right-click on each of the logical partitions of the main (first) disk and click "Add mirror" to the second disk. If for any of the sections the item "Add mirror" inactive — deleting the logical partition and then just adding it again directly via "Disk Management".
  4. Wait for the resynchronization process to complete (starts automatically after adding mirrors). The process may take a long time. In section "Disk Management" the second disk will be displayed with a warning.
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