Managing Windows Server 2012 Systems : Configuring Roles, Role Services, and Features (part 3) - Adding server roles and features

10/25/2014 8:58:26 PM

Managing server roles and features

When you select All Servers in Server Manager, the Roles And Features pane provides details on the current roles and features that are installed on all managed servers. As you set out to add roles to a server, keep in mind that some roles cannot be added at the same time as other roles, and you’ll have to install each role separately. Other roles cannot be combined with existing roles, and you’ll see warning prompts about this.

Adding server roles and features

You can add a server role or feature by following these steps:

In Server Manager, select Add Roles And Features on the Manage menu. This starts the Add Roles And Features Wizard.

Note

If the wizard displays the Before You Begin page, read the introductory text and then tap or click Next. You can avoid seeing the Before You Begin page the next time you start this wizard by selecting the Skip This Page By Default check box before tapping or clicking Next.
On the Installation Type page, Role-Based Or Feature-Based Installation is selected by default. Tap or click Next.
On the Server Selection page, shown in Figure 2, you can choose to install roles and features on running servers or virtual hard disks. Only servers running Windows Server 2012 and that have been added for management are listed. Either select a server from the server pool or select a server from the server pool on which to mount a virtual hard disk (VHD). If you are adding roles and features to a VHD, tap or click Browse and then use the Browse For Virtual Hard Disks dialog box to locate the VHD. When you are ready to continue, tap or click Next.

Figure 2. Select the server or virtual hard disk to use for the installation.
On the Server Roles page, shown in Figure 3, select the role or roles to install. Some roles cannot be added at the same time as other roles. You have to install each role separately. Other roles cannot be combined with existing roles, and you’ll see warning prompts about this. A server running a Server Core installation can act as a domain controller and can also hold any of the flexible single-master operations (FSMOs) roles for Active Directory.

Figure 3. Select the roles to install.
If additional features are required to install a role, you’ll see an additional dialog box. Tap or click Add Features to close the dialog box and add the required features to the server installation. Tap or click Next to continue.
With some roles, you’ll see an extra wizard page, which provides additional information about using and configuring the role. You might also have the opportunity to install additional role services as part of a role. Read the information page, and select additional role services to install as appropriate.
On the Features page, select the feature or features to install. If additional features are required to install a feature you selected, you’ll see an additional dialog box. Tap or click Add Features to close the dialog box and add the required features to the server installation. When you are ready to continue, tap or click Next.
On the Confirmation page, tap or click the Export Configuration Settings link to generate an installation report that can be displayed in Internet Explorer.
TROUBLESHOOTING: Accessing binary source files

Access to binary source files is required to successfully install server roles, role services, and features. If the server on which you want to install roles or features doesn’t have all the required binary source files, the server gets the files via Windows Update by default or from a location specified in Group Policy.

You also can specify an alternate path for the source files. To do this, click the Specify An Alternate Source Path link, type that alternate path in the box provided, and then tap or click OK. If you mount a Windows image and make it available on the local server, you can enter the alternate path as c:\mountdir\windows\winsxs. For network shares, enter the UNC path to the share, such as \\CorpServer36\WS12\. For mounted Windows images, enter the WIM path prefixed with WIM: and including the index of the image to use, such as WIM:\\CorpServer36\WS12\install.wim:4.
Restarting the destination server might be required to complete the installation of some roles and features. To automatically restart the destination server if required, select the related check box. If you do not select this check box and a restart is required, you will need to manually restart the server to complete the installation.
After you review the installation options and save them as necessary, tap or click Install to begin the installation process. The Installation Progress page tracks the progress of the installation. If you close the wizard, tap or click the Notifications icon in Server Manager and then tap or click the link provided to re-open the wizard.
When Setup finishes installing the server with the roles and features you selected, the Installation Progress page will be updated to reflect this. Review the installation details to ensure that all phases of the installation were completed successfully. If any portion of the installation failed, note the reason for the failure. Review the Server Manager entries for installation problems, and take corrective actions as appropriate.

Any additional actions that might be required to complete the installation are listed when Setup finishes installing the roles and features you selected. Typically, you’ll have a link you can click to begin these additional tasks. For example, installing a domain controller is a multipart process that begins with installing the components required for the role. After this, you must promote the server and configure directory services—all of which can be done in Server Manager.

If you close the Add Roles And Features Wizard, tap or click the Notifications icon in Server Manager to display a list of recent notifications, as shown in the graphic that follows:

In this example, there are several important notifications:

The first notification tells you that the automatic refresh of server information failed. This can happen for several reasons, with the most common reason being that one or more of the servers added for management is offline or otherwise inaccessible.
The second notification tells you that CorpServer64 must be restarted to complete the installation of an added feature. You also could confirm that a restart was required by selecting the All Servers node in Server Manager, where you’d see a status of Online - Restart Pending for CorpServer64 (as long as the server was online and accessible). Finally, tapping or clicking the Add Roles And Features link, opens the Add Roles And Features Wizard, where you’d see the Installation Progress page and could note exactly what had been installed to require the restart.
The third notification tells you that CorpServer64 has a post-deployment configuration task that needs to be performed for DHCP. Tapping or clicking Complete DHCP Configuration opens the DHCP Post-Install Configuration Wizard.