NEW SERVER! :) NEW 2012 R2 INSTALLATION! :(

[Koldov]

So....

 

I have a new server! WOOP! WOOP!

 

Now I have to put 2012 R2 on it in the morning...

 

I'm a complete novice at server installation and even more so with 2012.

 

Anybody got any hints, tips, gotchas, things to be aware of in general?

 

No piece of advice is too small, even if you think it may be obvious. If it stumped you, or made you think twice, it's bound to happen to me too!

 

I'm not installing any roles yet though, as it's going to be fresh for migrating SIMS (a very nice man from Capita is being paid to do it for me this time) and hopefully SQL and SOLUS 3:)

 

Kol.

[cullingsh]

Just a member server? I can't think of anything unusual of the top of my head - other than I only use Win7 atm so it is a bit alien as it is Win8.1 based. Asides from that - have fun. And if it's not being commissioned yet - remember you can always go back to scratch and re-install - the reason I love new systems is that you can play with them :-)

[robjd]

Run windows 8 and have a play with the new server manager if you have not already. Really useful.

[XiJ]

I was a bit I sure at first but Iove win 2k12 r2. I rarely say that about a microsoft OS! I do install classic shell but I find the OS very good and easy to use.

[3s-gtech]

I jumped into 2012 R2, after a reasonable amount of time with 2012. It's an awesome server OS - the UI is a bit of a hash but you get used to it. Many of the management tools and functions are a huge advancement over previous versions - its stability as a DC and file server were enough to convince me.

 

I have moved the majority of my servers over to it now with no regrets.

 

Advice and tips? Promoting to a DC is very simple - all UI prompts and automatic upgrades of the schema etc. It is a better SYSVOL host due to it auto-restarting the JET database after a failure, unlike previous versions which leave your DFS-R stopped after a fault (unless you change some registry settings). .NET 1.1 applications won't run, so if you need anything that old, watch out! Some things like NTFSFix can be installed by dragging and dropping the exe onto it, where the installers no longer work. Also, if you need .NET 2.0 and .NET 3.5 applications, install these features from Add Features before giving the server other roles - sometimes it will refuse to install once the server is in production and you can't fix it!

Edited November 13, 2014 by 3s-gtech
Grammar and clarifications

[win]

I installed 2012r2 on my servers, nothing out of the ordinary for the install except it requires a lot more RAM than 2008r2. If you're looking to add hyperv then you'll need to reserve more RAM for the host machine (2012r2).

[detjo]

I only have 2012 R2 now, and I love it. All other server OS's have been scrapped.

Installation is no different to Win8, I would recommend going with the 'Server with a GUI' option tho, as its so much easier to work on.

[edutech4schools]

all UI prompts and automatic upgrades of the schema etc

 

So you do not need to upgrade the schema manually. Nice.

 

Sorry for my little hijack.

[IanT]

How have you setup your disks (in terms of RAID)?

[Davit2005]

So you do not need to upgrade the schema manually. Nice.

 

Sorry for my little hijack.

 

Double hijacked

 

It SHOULD update the Schema, however I tried in a working lab 2008R2 DC and it kept failing upgrade of OS till I upgraded the Schemma manually.

 

One thing I did notice was that the DC kept on restarting within 24 hour OS upgrade which turned out to be the fact that I had to install the product key. The server was healthy activated till the OS upgrade.

[mikeyd101]

I had a little stumble my first trip into 12r2, when i removed .net 3.5 which promptly removed the gui, next reboot I was back to a command line, so had to go digging how to re-install it. So my tip is when doing things read the information that its giving you and not assume (like me) that its doing what you expect.

 

I blame being too excited about actually getting server hardware.

[Koldov]

Hmmmm.... Well currently I'm running a 2008 and a 2003 server, which I thought I could run alongside until roles etc were ready to be moved over. Upgrading the schema automagically will have an effect on that, do you think?

 

RAID wise, I have had it set up as 2 x 300BG SAS in RAID 1 for OS - and 4 x 600GB SAS in RAID1+0 for data etc.

[localzuk]

Hmmmm.... Well currently I'm running a 2008 and a 2003 server, which I thought I could run alongside until roles etc were ready to be moved over. Upgrading the schema automagically will have an effect on that, do you think?

 

RAID wise, I have had it set up as 2 x 300BG SAS in RAID 1 for OS - and 4 x 600GB SAS in RAID1+0 for data etc.

 

You can run along side, upgrading the schema will upgrade it on those servers too - you won't notice any difference.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Hmmmm.... Well currently I'm running a 2008 and a 2003 server, which I thought I could run alongside until roles etc were ready to be moved over. Upgrading the schema automagically will have an effect on that, do you think?

 

RAID wise, I have had it set up as 2 x 300BG SAS in RAID 1 for OS - and 4 x 600GB SAS in RAID1+0 for data etc.

 

You can run along side, upgrading the schema will upgrade it on those servers too - you won't notice any difference.

[woreilly]

I installed 2012r2 on my servers, nothing out of the ordinary for the install except it requires a lot more RAM than 2008r2. If you're looking to add hyperv then you'll need to reserve more RAM for the host machine (2012r2).

 

I put in a few servers over the Summer into schools. 1 x 16gb RAM host and 2 x 32gb Hosts. They both run 1 VM which acts as the DC. I gave the vDC on the 16gb host 10GB and it is running fine leaving the host with 6gb (i gave 24gb to the 32gb hosts leaving 8gb for the host).

[Koldov]

Well, I haven't gone VM so I'm not too worried.

 

All installed and added as a DC as per these instructions from another thread here:

 

Step-By-Step: Adding a Windows Server 2012 Domain Controller to an Existing Windows Server 2003 network - Canadian IT Professionals - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

 

At some point I will be doing this:

 

Step-By-Step: Active Directory Migration from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2012 R2 - Canadian IT Professionals - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

 

However, I think it might wait until the holidays... The only thing that bothers me, is at the end of the second article - after migrating the FSMO roles, AD and such, it says "All that's left is to demote the old 2003 Windows server by first adding the new 2012 R2 Windows Server as the Primary DNS, followed by running DCPROMO to demote the old 2003 Windows server" and that's all a little bit vague for my liking!

 

Anybody have some links (like these step-by-step ones) about running DC promo and removing the old server?

 

Kol.

[woreilly]

RAID wise, I have had it set up as 2 x 300BG SAS in RAID 1 for OS - and 4 x 600GB SAS in RAID1+0 for data etc.

 

Of the 3 servers I put in, 2 of them had 8 x 500GB HDDs which I did 2 in RAID-1 for the OS, 5 in RAID-5 for Data and 1 Global HotSpare.

The 3rd server had 6 500GB HDDs at 2 in RAID-1 and 4 in RAID-5 and no Global HotSpare