Create a Windows Server 2003 image

To create a Windows Server 2003 image for the Lab Management Active Directory Servers (Primary or Secondary), you add the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), get current updates, make configuration changes, and finally reset to DHCP before you run sysprep.

1. Start the VMware Server and create a virtual machine running the Windows Server 2003.
   Note: You must use a volume license version of Windows Server 2003 because Lab Management uses the sysprep tool to automate the deployment of the Active Directory Servers.
2. Perform a Windows update to obtain all current updates (other than Windows Server 2003, Service Pack 2, as of 10/18/07).
3. Install the following packages:
   Note: The first three packages (Lab Management API Client, Python, and Python Windows Plugin 32-208) are included with the Lab Management Installer installation CD.
   • Lab Management API Client—Use the latest version available
   • Python (http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.4.4)
   • Python Windows Plugin 32-208 (http://sourceforge.net/project/downloading.php?groupname= pywin32&filename=pywin32-208.win32-py2.4.exe&use_mirror= superb-east)
   • Cygwin (http://www.cygwin.com)
   • Windows Support Tools:

     Windows Server 2003 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId= 6EC50B78-8BE1-4E81-B3BE-4E7AC4F0912D&displaylang=en)

   • Windows Admin (deployment tools):

     Windows Server 2003 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId= A34EDCF2-EBFD-4F99-BBC4-E93154C332D6&displaylang=en)

   • Group Policy Management Console

     (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid= 0a6d4c24-8cbd-4b35-9272-dd3cbfc81887&displaylang=en)

   Note: Lab Management recommends that you adhere to your company’s computer security policies regarding anti-virus software.
4. Enable the Remote Desktop:
   1. Right-click My Computer.
   2. Select Properties and click the Remote tab.
   3. In the Remote Desktop section, click the checkbox for Allow users to connect remotely to this computer.
5. Disable automatic updates to prevent your computer from receiving all updates from Microsoft automatically and rebooting afterwards:
   1. Click Start.
   2. Select Settings > Control Panel.
   3. Double-click the Automatic Updates icon.
   4. Click Turn off Automatic Updates.
   You still need to make sure that your Domain Controller remains patched but this is a manual activity.
6. Make sure that the path to the Cygwin binaries (by default, Cygwin would be installed at: c:\cygwin\bin) is included in your system environment variables.
   1. Click Start and select Control Panel.
   2. Select System.
   3. Click the Advanced tab.
   4. Click Environment Variables.
   5. In the System variables section, select the Path variable.
   6. Click Edit.
   7. Edit the path or verify that the path to the Cygwin binaries exists.
7. Before you run sysprep, reset your Windows Server 2003 TCP/IP settings to DHCP:
   1. Click Start and select Control Panel.
   2. Select Network Connections.
   3. SelectLocal Area Connection..
   4. Click Properties.
   5. Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
   6. Click Properties.
   7. Select Obtain an IP address automatically and Obtain DNS server address automatically.
   8. Click OK.
   9. Click OK.
   10. Click Close.
8. Run the sysprep tool to reseal the image using the following command:

              sysprep.exe -mini -quiet -reseal -forceshutdown
                      

   This image is now ready for automatic deployment.
9. Rename this image as Windows_2k3stdR2.vmdk.
10. Save the image in the os/Microsoft/2k3std/i386/Windows2k3stdR2_ dc/4 directory on your NFS O/S images volume. The values in the directory path refer to the following elements:
    • 4 - refers to Version 4 of this image
    • Windows2k3stdR2 - is the image name
    The Lab Management default profile references these two images for the Active Directory Servers that are shipped with the product CD. If you name your image file differently or save it in a different location, you need to modify the profile to use the correct name and path to the image file.