Automating Server Installation and Upgrade

Creating Distribution Folders

To install Windows 2000 Server on multiple computers over a network, you must create at least one set of distribution folders. The distribution folders typically reside on a server where computers can connect and install Windows 2000 by running Winnt.exe or Winnt32.exe on the destination computer. You can use the same set of distribution folders with different answer files for different system implementations. Even if you intend to use disk imaging as your installation method, starting with distribution folders will provide consistent implementations for a variety of system types. In addition, you can use distribution folders to update future images by modifying the files in the distribution folders or by modifying the answer files to generate updated images without having to start from the beginning.

To help load balance the servers and make the file-copy phase of Windows 2000 Setup faster for computers already running Microsoft® Windows® 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, or Windows 2000, you can create distribution folders on multiple servers. You can then run Winnt32.exe with up to eight sourcefile locations. For more information about Setup commands, see "Reviewing the Windows 2000 Setup Commands" later in this chapter.

Note

In this chapter, the term "Windows NT" refers to both Microsoft® Windows NT® 3.51 and Microsoft® Windows NT® 4.0.

The distribution folders contain the Windows 2000 Server or Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Advanced Server installation files, as well as any device drivers and other files needed for installation.

Setup Manager, a tool that is available on the Windows 2000 Server CD, can help you automate the process of creating a distribution folder. For more information about Setup Manager, see "Reviewing the Answer File" later in this chapter.

Note

In this chapter, "Windows 2000 Setup" is also referred to as "Setup."

To create a distribution folder

Connect to the network server on which you want to create the distribution folder.
Create an \i386 folder on the distribution share of the network server.
To help differentiate between multiple distribution shares for the different versions of Windows 2000 (Microsoft® Windows 2000 Professional, Microsoft® Windows 2000 Server, and one for Microsoft® Windows 2000 Advanced Server), you can choose another name for this folder. If you plan to use localized language versions of Windows 2000 for international branches of your organization, you can create separate distribution shares for each localized version.
Copy the contents of the \i386 folder from the Windows 2000 Server CD to the folder that you created.
In the folder you created, create a subfolder named \$OEM$.
The \$OEM$ subfolder provides the necessary folder structure for supplemental files to be copied to the target computer during Setup. These files include drivers, tools, applications, and any other files required to deploy Windows 2000 Server within your organization.

Structuring the Distribution Folder

An example structure for the distribution folder is shown in Figure 13.2.

Enlarge figure

Figure 13.2 Example Structure for the Distribution Folder

\I386

This is the distribution folder, which contains all of the files required to install Windows 2000. You create this folder at the root of the distribution share by copying the contents of the \i386 folder on the Windows 2000 Server CD to the distribution folder.

\$OEM$

You create the \$OEM$ subfolder in the distribution folder directly beneath the \I386 folder. During Setup you can automatically copy directories, standard 8.3 format files, and any tools needed for your automated installation process to the \$OEM$ subfolder.

Note that if you use the OEMFILESPATH key in the answer file, you can create the \$OEM$ subfolder outside of the distribution folder. The answer file is defined in "Reviewing the Answer File" later in this chapter. For more information about answer file parameters and syntax, see "Microsoft Windows 2000 Guide to Unattended Setup" (Unattend.doc) on the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system CD. The Unattend.doc file is part of the Deploy.cab file in the \Support\Tools folder. In Windows 98 or Windows 2000, use Windows Explorer to extract this document. In Windows 95 and earlier, or in MS-DOS, use the Extract command to access the file.

\$OEM$ can contain the optional file Cmdlines.txt, which contains a list of commands to be run during the Graphical User Interface (GUI) portion of Setup. These commands can be used to install additional tools that you want to include with your installations. For more information about the Cmdlines.txt file, see "Using Cmdlines.txt" later in this chapter.

As long as Setup finds the \$OEM$ subfolder in the root of the distribution point, it will copy all of the files found in this directory to the temporary directory that is created during the text portion of Setup.

Note

In this chapter, the GUI portion of Setup is referred to as "GUI mode," and the text portion of Setup is referred to as "text mode."

\$OEM$\Textmode

The \$OEM$\Textmode subfolder contains new or updated files for installing mass storage device drivers and hardware abstraction layers (HALs). These files can include OEM HALs, drivers for small computer system interface (SCSI) devices, and Txtsetup.oem, which directs the loading and installing of these components.

Make sure to include the Txtsetup.oem file. All files placed in the \$OEM$\Textmode subfolder (HALs, drivers and Txtsetup.oem) must be listed in the [OEMBootFiles] section of the answer file.

\$OEM$\$$

The \$OEM$\$$ subfolder corresponds to the %systemroot% or %windir% environment variables. The subfolder contains additional files that you want copied to the various subfolders of the Windows 2000 installation directory. The structure of this subfolder must match the structure of a standard Windows 2000 installation, where \$OEM$\$$ matches %systemroot% or %windir% (for example, C:\Winnt), \$OEM$\$$\System32 matches %windir%\System32, and so on. Each subfolder needs to contain the files that will be copied to the corresponding system folder on the target computer.

\$OEM$\$1

The \$OEM$\$1 subfolder, which is new for Windows 2000, points to the drive on which Windows 2000 is installed. The term $1 is equivalent to the %systemdrive% environment variable. For example, if you are installing Windows 2000 on drive D, \$OEM$\$1 points to drive D.

\$OEM$\$1\Pnpdrvrs

The \$OEM$\$1\Pnpdrvrs subfolder, which is new for Windows 2000, allows you to place new or updated Plug and Play device drivers in your distribution folders. These folders are copied to the %systemdrive%\Pnpdrvrs location on the target computer. Adding the OemPnPDriversPath parameter to your answer file tells Windows 2000 to look (both during and after Setup) for new or updated Plug and Play drivers in the folders that you created, as well as those originally included with the system. Note that you can replace Pnpdrvrs with a name that is eight characters or less.

\$OEM$\$1\Sysprep

The \$OEM$\$1\Sysprep subfolder is optional. This subfolder contains the files that you need to run the Sysprep utility. These files are described in "Using Sysprep to Duplicate Disks" later in this chapter.

\$OEM$\Drive_letter

During text mode, the structure of each \$OEM$\Drive_letter subfolder is copied to the root of the corresponding drive in the target computer. For example, files that you place in the \$OEM$\D subfolder are copied to the root of drive D. You can also create subfolders within these subfolders. For example, \$OEM$\E\Misc causes Setup to create a \Misc subfolder on drive E.

Files that have to be renamed must be listed in $$Rename.txt. For more information about renaming files, see "Converting File Name Size Using $$Rename.txt" later in this chapter. Note that the files in the distribution folders must have short file names (format 8.3).

Installing Mass Storage Devices

In Windows 2000, Plug and Play detects and installs most hardware devices, which can be loaded later during Setup. However, mass storage devices, such as hard disks, must be properly installed for full Plug and Play support to be available during GUI mode.

Note

You do not need to specify a device if it is already supported by Windows 2000.

To install SCSI devices during text mode—that is, before full Plug and Play support is available—you must provide a Txtsetup.oem file that describes how Setup must install the particular SCSI device.

Important

Before you use updated drivers, verify that they are signed. If they are not signed, Setup will fail. You can check the signed status for individual drivers in Device Manager, or you can run Sigverif.exe to generate a Sigverif.txt file in the %windir% subfolder. Sigverif.txt lists the signed status for all drivers on the system.

To install a mass storage device

Create the \Textmode subfolder in the \$OEM$ subfolder in the distribution folder.
Copy the following files, which you can obtain from the device vendor, to the \Textmode subfolder (replace the word Driver with the appropriate driver name):
- Driver.sys
- Driver.dll
- Driver.inf
- Txtsetup.oem

Note

Some drivers, such as SCSI miniport drivers, might not include a .dll file.

In the answer file, create a [MassStorageDrivers] section, and in this section type the driver entries that you want to include. For example, a possible entry in the [MassStorageDrivers] section would be:

"Adaptec 2940..." = "OEM"

Information for this section can be obtained from the Txtsetup.oem file, which is provided by the hardware manufacturer.

For more information about answer file parameters and syntax, see the "Microsoft Windows 2000 Guide to Unattended Setup" (Unattend.doc) on the Windows 2000 operating system CD. The Unattend.doc file is part of the Deploy.cab file in the \Support\Tools folder. On Windows 98 or Windows 2000, use Windows Explorer to extract this document. In Windows 95 and earlier, or from MS-DOS, use the Extract command to access the file.

In the answer file, create an [OEMBootFiles] section, and in this section type a list of the files in the $OEM$\Textmode folder. For example:

[OEMBootFiles]

<Driver>.sys

<Driver>.dll

<Driver>.inf

Txtsetup.oem

Where <Driver> is the driver name.

If your mass storage device is a Plug and Play device, it will have a section called [HardwareIds.Scsi.yyyyy] in the Txtsetup.oem file. If your mass storage device does not have such a section, you will need to create one and then type the following entry in the section:

id = "xxxxx", "yyyyy"

where xxxxx represents the device id, and yyyyy represents the service associated with the device.

For example, to install the Symc810 driver, which has a device identifier (ID) of PCI\VEN_1000&DEV_0001, verify that your Txtsetup.oem file contains the following additional section:

[HardwareIds.scsi.symc810]

id = "PCI\VEN_1000&DEV_0001", "symc810"

Installing Hardware Abstraction Layers

To specify hardware abstraction layers (HALs) for installation, you need a Txtsetup.oem file and the HAL files, which the vendor provides. You must use the same Txtsetup.oem file if you are installing mass storage device drivers. Only one Txtsetup.oem file can be used, so if you need to install HALs and mass storage device drivers, you need to combine the entries into one file.

To use third-party drivers, you must also make appropriate changes to the answer file. For more information about answer file parameters and syntax, see the "Microsoft Windows 2000 Guide to Unattended Setup" (Unattend.doc) on the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system CD. The Unattend.doc file is part of the Deploy.cab file in the \Support\Tools folder. On Windows 98 or Windows 2000, use Windows Explorer to extract this document. In Windows 95 and earlier, or from MS-DOS, use the Extract command to access the file.

To install a HAL

If you have not already done so, create a \Textmode subfolder in the \$OEM$ folder.
Copy the files that you receive from the device vendor to the \Textmode subfolder.
In the answer file, edit the [Unattend] section for the HAL and add any drivers you want to install. For example:

[Unattend]

Computertype = "<HALDescription >", OEM

Information for the <HALDescription> can be obtained from the [Computer] section of the Txtsetup.oem file from the driver provider.

In the answer file, create an [OEMBootFiles] section, and enter the names of the files in the $OEM$\Textmode folder.

Installing Plug and Play Devices

The following procedure demonstrates how to install Plug and Play devices that are not mass storage devices or HALs, and are not included on the Windows 2000 operating system CD.

To install Plug and Play devices

Create a subfolder in the distribution folder for special Plug and Play drivers and their .inf files. For example, you can create a folder called PnPDrvs:

$OEM$\$1\PnPDrvs

Add the path to the list of Plug and Play search drives by adding the following line to the answer file:

OEMPnPDriversPath = "PnPDrvs"

If you have subfolders in the PnPDrvs folder, you must specify the path to each subfolder. The paths must be separated by semicolons.

To easily maintain the folders so that they can accommodate future device drivers, make sure to create subfolders for potential device drivers. By dividing the folders into subfolders, you can store device driver files by device type rather than having all device driver files in one folder. Suggested subfolders include Audio, Modem, Net, Print, Video, and Other. An Other folder can give you the flexibility to store new hardware devices that might not be currently known.

For example, if the PnpDrvs folder contains the subfolders Audio, Modem, and Net, the answer file must contain the following line:

OEMPnPDriversPath = "PnPDrvs\Audio;PnPDrvs\Modem;PnpDrvs\Net"

Converting File Name Size Using $$Rename.txt

The $$Rename.txt file changes short file names to long file names during Setup. $$Rename.txt lists all of the files in a particular folder that need to be renamed. Each folder containing short file names that need to be renamed must contain its own version of $$Rename.txt.

To use $$Rename.txt, put the file in a folder that contains files that need to be converted. The syntax for $$Rename.txt is as follows:

[section_name_1]

short_name_1 = "long_name_1"

short_name_2 = "long_name_2"

short_name_x = "long_name_x"

[section_name_2]

short_name_1 = "long_name_1"

short_name_2 = "long_name_2"

short_name_x = "long_name_x"

Parameters are defined as follows:

section_name_x — The path to the subfolder that contains the files. A section does not need to be named, or it can have a backslash (\) as a name, which indicates that the section contains the names of the files or subfolders that are on the root of the drive.
short_name_x — The name of the file or subfolder within this subfolder to be renamed. This name must not be enclosed in quotation marks.
long_name_x — The new name of the file or subfolder. This name must be enclosed in quotation marks if it contains spaces or commas.

Tip

If you are using MS-DOS to start the installation, and your MS-DOS tools cannot copy folders with path names longer than 64 characters, you can use short file names for the folders and then use $$Rename.txt to rename them later.