1. Prerequisites for installing roles and features
To install a role or feature on a server running Windows Server
2012, the server must have access to the binaries for installing that
role or feature. A new capability called Features On Demand allows administrators to
completely remove the binaries for roles and features from a server
running Windows Server 2012 to reduce the amount of disk space the
operating system uses.
If the binaries for a particular role or feature you want to
install on a server have previously been removed from the server’s
system drive, Windows Server 2012 can obtain these binaries in several
ways:
-
By downloading them directly from Windows Update.
-
By copying them from the side-by-side store (SxS) folder on
a running installation of the same edition and service pack level
as your server. To do this, share the SxS folder or a parent
folder on the other server and then specify the UNC path to the
shared SxS folder when using the Add Roles And Features Wizard or
the Install-WindowsFeature cmdlet.
-
By copying the entire side-by-side store (SxS) folder of an
installation of the same edition and service pack level as your
server to a shared folder on a file server on your network. Then
specify the UNC path to this shared folder when using the Add
Roles And Features Wizard or the Install-WindowsFeature
cmdlet.
-
By using a mounted Windows image from a Windows Image (WIM)
file such as the Install.wim file in the \Sources folder on the
Windows Server 2012 product media (ISO file).
-
By using a mounted virtual hard disk file that includes an
installation of the same edition and service pack level as your
server.
You can use Group Policy to control whether removed binaries are
downloaded from Windows Update or not, and you can specify the path
where the binaries can be found if their associated roles or features
need to be installed. The policy setting for controlling this behavior
is as follows:
Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative
Templates\System\Specify Settings For Optional Component
Installation And Component Repair
Figure 1
shows the configuration options for this policy setting.
2. Installing roles and features using Server Manager
In previous versions of Windows Server, you could use the Add
Roles Wizard and Add Features Wizard to install roles and features,
respectively, on the server. Windows 2012 now includes a single
redesigned Add Roles And Features Wizard that provides greater
flexibility and control for installing roles and features on servers.
This wizard provides an easy way for administrators of small to
midsized organizations to install roles and features on servers
running Windows Server 2012 in their environment.
To use Server Manager to install a role or a feature on a server
running Windows Server 2012, begin by clicking the Manage menu and
selecting Add Roles And Features to open the Add Roles and Features
Wizard. The Select Installation Type page of this wizard shown in
Figure 2 offers two
options for installing roles and features on the server:
-
Role-based or feature-based
installation This option is similar to that used in
previous versions of Windows Server for installing the specific
roles or features you choose.
-
Remote Desktop Services
installation With this option, you can deploy a complete
Remote Desktop Services infrastructure, either for session-based
desktops or virtual desktops, on either a single server or
multiple servers.
Choosing the first option on the Select Installation Type page
leads to the Select Destination Server page of the wizard (shown in
Figure 3), which
you use to choose a remote server from your server pool on which to
install roles and features. Note that this page includes an option for
selecting an offline virtual hard disk instead of an online server. In
Windows Server 2012, you now can install roles and features on offline
virtual hard disks, and this capability .
On the Select Server Roles page, shown in Figure 4, you can choose
one or more roles to install on the selected server. When you do this,
the wizard might prompt you to install the remote Server
Administration Tools for that role or feature plus any other
management tools needed for managing the role or feature.
The Select Features Page is next, and you use it to choose
features to install on your server. Additional wizard pages might also
be displayed to provide you with additional information or
configuration options for the roles and features you decide to install
on the server, or a list of role services to choose from for the
particular roles you are installing.
When you reach the Confirm Installation Selections page, shown
in Figure 5, you can
select the check box if you want the remote server to be restarted if
this is needed to complete installation of the selected roles and
features.
At the bottom of the Confirm Installation Selections page shown
in Figure 5 is a Specify
An Alternate Source Path link. Click this link if you previously
removed any of the binaries for the roles or features you are
installing on the server. Clicking this link displays a Specify
Alternate Source Path dialog box for specifying the UNC path to the
location where you can find the binaries needed to install the roles
or features.
When a new role is installed on the server, a new page for this
role is added to the Server Manager console. For example, Figure 6 shows the Print
Services page, which appears once the Print And Document Services role
has been installed on one or more servers in your server pool. A new
tile named Print Services also appears on the Dashboard so that you
can monitor events, services, and the performance of your print
servers and confirm their manageability.
The notification flag in the menu bar of Server Manager in Figure 6 indicates that
one informational notification has been raised. Clicking this flag
provides brief summary information concerning this notification, which
indicates that installation of the selected feature has been
successful.
