Windows Small Business Server 2011 : Installing the Second Server (part 5) - Customizing the Server

2.2.6. Getting Updates

The final option in the middle section of the ICT Wizard is to go online and download updates right now. Just click Download And Install Updates. The Windows Update dialog box shown in Figure 22 opens.

Figure 22. The Windows Update dialog box

If updates are available, they’ll be displayed and you can choose to install them immediately. The default is to connect to Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) running on the main SBS server. Install the updates, and get the reboot out of the way.

2.3. Customizing the Server

The final section of the ICT Wizard is used to add roles and features to the server, enable remote access, and configure Windows Firewall. We can finally get down to actually setting the server up to do some real work. All the rest has just been getting ready.

Roles are a new way that Windows Server 2008 R2 groups similar functionality together for installation and configuration. A role is a specific set of functionality that the server needs for a particular set of uses. Roles can also have role services, which are subsets of the functionality in the role and can be installed only as part of the role.

Features can be installed on any server, without being specific to a particular function of how the server will be used. We think that at least one feature, the Windows Server Backup Features (including the command-line tools), should be installed on every server that isn’t backed up by some other tool, so we’ll cover that installation here.

The other two settings in this last section of the ICT Wizard are enabling Remote Desktop and configuring Windows Firewall.

2.3.1. Adding the Windows Server Backup Features

Windows Server Backup is the new backup utility introduced in Windows Server 2008 and significantly enhanced in Windows Server 2008 R2. It includes a graphical user interface (GUI) by default, but also has command-line tools (including Windows PowerShell cmdlets) available. Whenever you add the Windows Server Backup features, you should include the command-line tools to ensure that you can script backups.

You can’t back up your new server until you install the Windows Server Backup features. To add the features from the ICT Wizard, follow these steps:

1. Click Add Features in the Initial Configuration Tasks Wizard to open the Add Features Wizard, shown in Figure 23.

   Figure 23. The Select Features page of the Add Features Wizard

   

2. Scroll down to near the bottom of the Features list, and select Windows Server Backup Features, including all subfeatures, as shown in Figure 23.

3. Click Next to open the confirmation page. You’ll see a list of features that are going to be installed and a warning that this might require a reboot. Don’t worry, the server will not reboot as long as this is the only feature you’re installing.

4. Click Install to begin the actual installation. When the installation completes, you’ll see the Installation Results page. Any problems will be highlighted here, or it will simply report that the installation was successful. Click Close to exit the Add Features Wizard.

2.3.2. Remote Desktop

Next on the ICT Wizard list is a link to enable Remote Desktop. Remote Desktop allows administrators to connect directly to the server without having to sit down at the console in the server room. Windows Server 2008 R2 introduces version 7 of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). The Remote Desktop Client version 7 is included in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, and version 7 clients for Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista SP1 and SP2 are downloadable from Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 969084 at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969084.

Version 7 of RDP includes many improvements over earlier versions, including 32-bit color, server authentication, Windows Media Player redirection, Aero glass support, and Remote-Apps support. For remote administration of a server, the most important improvement is server authentication, which ensures that you are actually connecting to the computer you think you are.

At this point, with a freshly installed Windows Server, you’ll see that Remote Desktop has been automatically enabled. But it won’t last. After you move the server to the correct organizational unit (OU), it will lose that Group Policy setting and you’ll need to redo it. So the best thing to do is first move the server to the correct OU now, using the following steps:

1. On the Windows SBS 2011 server, log in with an account that is in the Network Administrator role.

2. Open the Active Directory Users And Computers console by typing dsa.msc in the Search field of the Start menu.

3. Navigate to the MyBusiness, Computers, SBSComputers OU as shown in Figure 24.

   Figure 24. The Active Directory Users And Computers console

   

4. Click the server you just added to the domain (xmpl-rds-05 in our case), and drag the server to the SBSServers OU.

5. You’ll get a warning about moving objects in Active Directory Domain Services, as shown in Figure 25. In this case, you can ignore the warning, so click Yes.

   Figure 25. Never move objects in Active Directory Domain Services without a clear idea of why you’re doing it

   

6. Close Active Directory Users And Computers, and log in to the server you just moved. Use an account in the Network Administrator role.

7. Open a command window (Cmd.exe), using Run As Administrator, and run gpupdate/force.

8. The ICT Wizard will now show that the Remote Desktop is disabled, as shown in Figure 26.

   Figure 26. The change in OU has disabled Remote Desktop

   

9. Click Enable Remote Desktop to open the System Properties dialog box shown in Figure 27. Select Allow Connections From Computers Running Any Version Of Remote Desktop (Less Secure), and click OK to return to the ICT Wizard.

   Figure 27. The System Properties dialog box

   

10. Select the Do Not Show This Window At Logon check box, and then click Close to close the ICT Wizard. (You can always get it back by running oobe.exe.)

11. Finally, there’s one more little bit of customization we do on every server. When you closed the ICT Wizard, the Server Manager console opened, as shown in Figure 28.

    Figure 28. The Server Manager console

    

12. In the Server Summary section, click Configure Server Manager Remote Management to open the dialog box shown in Figure 29.

    Figure 29. Enabling Server Manager remote management

    

13. Select the Enable Remote Management Of This Server From Other Computers check box, and click OK to return to the Server Manager console.

2. 3.3. Configure Windows Firewall

By default, Windows Firewall is enabled on all new servers. This is a very different version of Windows Firewall than the one that came with the first release of Windows Server 2003. The new Windows Firewall is location-aware, with different rules for Domain traffic, Private Network traffic, and Public Network traffic. And it’s bidirectional, controlling both incoming and outgoing traffic.

As you change the roles and features enabled on the server, Windows Firewall will be automatically configured to work optimally within your SBS network. Some settings are directly controlled by SBS Group Policy, and others are configured automatically by the Windows Server 2008 R2 role and feature wizards.