Remote Server Administration Tools for Vista

If you want to manage your Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 servers from a Vista workstation you need to install the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT). These tools are the equivalent to the Admin Pack used by Windows XP and Windows 2000. This requires that Vista has been upgraded to Service Pack 1. To download the tools for the 32 bit version of Vista, go here. For the 64 bit version of Vista, go here.

This information pertains to the following courses:

• Course 6416: Updating your Infrastructure and Active Directory Technology Skills to Windows Server 2008
• Course 5199: Accelerated Vista Training

WINS Replication Script

Automating the creation of WINS Replication partners can be accomplished with NETSH. This comes in handy in a scenario where you need to set up a replication partner at a remote location, and the local administrator does not have the expertise to configure the partner manually. Setting up this script is fairly straightforward by using the "add partner" command. Here is the syntax from the Microsoft help file:

add partner

Adds a replication partner to the list of replication partners on the specified WINS server.

Syntax

add partner [Server=]IPAddress [[NetBIOS=]ServerNetBIOSName] [[Type=]{0 | 1 | 2}]

Parameters

[ Server=] IPAddress

Required. Specifies the replication partner to add to the WINS server. Identifies the partner server by IP address.

[ NetBIOS=] ServerNetBIOSName

Specifies the replication partner to add to the WINS server. Identifies the partner server by NetBIOS name.

[ Type=]{ 0| 1| 2}

Indicates the type of partner to add: 0-Pull, 1-Push, 2-Both (default).

Remarks

•	If the IP address does not resolve, the NetBIOS name parameter is used to create the partner record. Otherwise, the NetBIOS parameter is not used.

Examples

In the following example, this command adds a push/pull replication partner with an IP address of 10.2.2.2 to the current WINS server.

add partner 10.2.2.2

For example, if I wanted to create a Push\Pull replication partnership with a server named Server1 that has 10.10.0.1 as an IP Address, the command would look something like this:

netsh wins server add partner 10.10.0.1  Server1 2

This information pertains to the following courses:

• Course 2277: Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure: Network Services

DHCP: Migrate database from Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2003

If you are moving your DHCP Server from Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2003, you can migrate the existing database without re-creating it on the new server. This is done by simply exporting the database from the Windows 2000 server, installing DHCP on the Windows Server 2003 server, and then importing the database. The details on this process can be found here. Note that these steps also apply when migrating from a Windows NT DHCP server.

This information pertains to the following courses:

• Course 2277: Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure: Network Services

Custom ZTI and LTI settings

A ZTI or LTI installation can be customized by editing the customsettings.ini file, which can be accessed through the Deployment Point  properties in the BDD 2007 Deployment Workbench. You can find a reference for the available customization settings here.

This information pertains to the following courses:

Course 5105: Deploying Windows Vista Business Desktop

Demand-dial VPN router

Setting up a demand-dial VPN router can be tricky. The Microsoft Technet website walks through the steps in a fictional scenario, which can be accessed here.

This information pertains to the following courses:

• Course 2277: Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure: Network Services