2. At the first screen, Windows Server 2012 R2 will ask you to configure your language, time and currency, and keyboard. Make your selections, and click Next.
3. At the next screen, click Install Now.
4. Depending on what version of Windows Server 2012 R2 you have (MSDN, TechNet, and so on), you may be asked to enter a product key. If this screen appears, enter your product key and click Next. If this screen does not appear, just go to step 5.
5. The Select The Operating System That You Want To Install screen then appears. Choose the Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter (Server With A GUI) selection and click Next.
6. The license terms screen appears. After reading the Windows Server 2012 R2 license agreement, check the I Accept The License Terms check box and click Next.
7. On the Which Type Of Installation Do You Want? screen, choose Custom: Install Windows Only (Advanced).
8. The next screen will ask you where you want to install Windows. If your hard disk is already formatted as NTFS, click the drive and then click Next. If the hard disk is not yet set up or formatted, choose the New link and create a partition. After creating the partition, click the Format link. Once the format is done, make sure you choose the new partition and click Next.
9. The Installing Windows screen will appear next. This is where the files from your media will be installed onto the system. The machine will reboot during this installation.
10. After the machine is finished rebooting, a screen requesting the administrator password will appear. Type in your password. (P@ssword is used in this exercise.) Your password must meet the password complexity requirements (one capitalized letter, one number, and/or one special character). Click Finish.
11. Next, log into the system. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del, and type in the administrator password. The machine will set up the properties of the administrator account.
12. Notice that the Server Manager dashboard automatically appears. Your Windows Server 2012 R2 installation is now complete.
13. Close Server Manager.
After you have logged into the Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter system, you will notice some big changes. The first is that the Start button in the lower-left corner of the screen has changed its look. Also, you can get to a Start button by clicking the Windows key (see Figure 1.2).
FIGURE 1.2 Windows key on a standard keyboard
Installing Windows Server 2012 R2 Server Core
In Exercise 1.2, you will learn how to install Windows Server 2012 R2 Server Core. You’ll notice that the steps are similar to the ones in Exercise 1.1, with a couple of exceptions. As mentioned earlier, Server Core is a command-line configuration of Windows Server 2012 R2.
EXERCISE 1.2: Installing Windows Server 2012 R2 Using Server Core
1. Insert the Windows Server 2012 R2 installation DVD, and restart the machine from the installation media.
2. At the first screen, Windows Server 2012 R2 will prompt you to configure your language, time and currency, and keyboard. Make your selections, and click Next.
3. At the next screen, click Install Now.
4. Depending on what version of Windows Server 2012 R2 you have (MSDN, TechNet, and so on), you may be asked to enter a product key. If this screen appears, enter your product key and click Next. If this screen does not appear, just go to step 5.
5. The Select The Operating System That You Want To Install screen then appears. Choose the Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter (Server Core Installation) selection and click Next.
6. The license terms screen appears. After reading the Windows Server 2012 R2 license agreement, check the I Accept The License Terms check box and click Next.
7. At the Which Type Of Installation Do You Want? screen, choose Custom: Install Windows Only (Advanced).
8. The next screen will ask you where you want to install Windows. If your hard disk is already formatted as NTFS, click the drive and then click Next. If the hard disk is not set up or formatted, choose the New link and create a partition. After creating the partition, click the Format link. Once the format is done, make sure you choose the new partition and click Next.
9. The Installing Windows screen will appear next. This is where the files from your media will be installed onto the system. The machine will reboot during this installation.
10. After the machine is finished rebooting, a screen requesting the administrator password will appear. Type in your password. (P@ssword is used in this exercise.) Your password must meet the password complexity requirements (one capitalized letter, one number, and/or one special character).
11. Log into the system. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del, and type in the administrator password. The machine will set up the properties of the administrator account.
12. You will notice that the command prompt will automatically appear. Your Windows Server 2012 R2 Server Core installation is now complete.
13. To log out or turn off the machine, press Ctrl+Alt+Del and then click Sign Out.
After Windows Server 2012 R2 server is installed, you need to look at how to manage and configure the server. In the next section, you will learn how to manage a server remotely and with Windows PowerShell.
Using Windows Deployment Services
Another way that many IT departments deploy operating systems has been through the use of Windows Deployment Services (WDS). WDS allows an IT administrator to install a Windows operating system without using an installation disc. Using WDS allows you to deploy the operating system through a network installation. WDS can deploy Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008/2008 R2, Microsoft Windows 2012, and Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2.
The following are some of the advantages of using WDS for automated installation:
■ You can remotely install Windows 7/Windows 8.
■ The procedure simplifies management of the server image by allowing you to access Windows 7/8 distribution files from a distribution server.
■ You can quickly recover the operating system in the event of a computer failure.
Here are the basic steps of the WDS process from a PXE-enabled WDS client:
1. The WDS client initiates a special boot process through the PXE network adapter (and the computer’s BIOS configured for a network boot). On a PXE client, the user presses F12 to start the PXE boot process and to indicate that they want to perform a WDS installation.
2. A list of available Windows PE boot images is displayed. The user should select the appropriate Windows PE boot image from the boot menu.
3. The Windows Welcome screen is displayed. The user should click the Next button.
4. The WDS user is prompted to enter credentials for accessing and installing images from the WDS server.
5. A list of available operating system images is displayed. The user should select the appropriate image file to install.
6. The WDS user is prompted to enter the product key for the selected image.
7. The Partition And Configure The Disk screen is displayed. This screen provides the ability to install a mass storage device driver, if needed, by pressing F6.
8. The