9 replies to this topic

[mimoid]

Unable to resist tinkering with my WHS server (HP X510), I took on a challenge to upgrade the onboard plain vanilla WHS OS to Windows Server 2008 R2. The X510 (and EX495) hardware is in its out-of-the-box configuration perfectly capable of running Windows Server 2008 R2, unless you are looking for some heavy virtualization tasks and I figured that the Server 2008 would give me a much more detailed control over my entire setup. Honestly, I was also curious to see if it could be done at all. The answer is yes, and if you are trying to do something similar, here are my notes.

I researched for a long time around various unattended USB-installations with little success, so I began looking for alternative and easier routes. I began wondering whether or not the trick would be to use a different computer to perform the installation on, and then simply transplant the operative system into the WHS server. Of course just installing the entire Server 2008 OS on a desktop computer and then swapping the disk drive did not work because of the differences in the peripherals, like network adapters, mass storage controller devices and so on. I tried, but I immediately ended up with a totally unresponsive server (probably a blue screen or something).

Well, finally I managed to find a way of getting Server 2008 on the WHS machine. For a successful installation, this is what you need:

1) A Windows Server 2008 R2 installation DVD
2) A blank hard drive
3) A standard USB keyboard

Begin with replacing the internal hard drive of a standard desktop computer to a blank hard drive. This will be the OS drive of the new server, so choose the size wisely.

(You may wish to add additional disks in a RAID-5 array later, but since you will be using a software RAID-controller, the OS disk cannot be part of the RAID array. You can thus get away with a relatively small drive as a system drive. Having an unused 1TB disk at hand, I installed the OS on this, and added three 2TB disks in a RAID-5 array later on.)

Start up the desktop computer and insert the Windows Server installation disk to begin the installation process. The trick is to run the installation to a point where all the necessary files have been placed on the new drive, but before the server OS becomes aware of its surroundings and adapts the remaining installation to it. This point is the first reboot during the installation sequence. Wait until the installer starts the reboot process. As soon as the computer has shut down, but before it has a chance to restart, switch the computer off (pull the plug or whatever).

Now take out the half-baked drive and move over to the WHS server. Shut it down, and pull out all the drives. Insert a standard USB keyboard into the front USB jack. Insert the new drive into one of the available slots and start the server.

You will of course now no longer be able to see the rest of the installation, nevertheless, you will still be requested to perform a few input tasks with the keyboard, blindly so to speak. Since I had already done a dress-rehearsal on my desktop computer, I had taken notes about what to press and where, so it was quite a simple task. As long as you don't slip on the keys or rush ahead, it should work just fine. I actually performed this operation three times, just to be sure. Here is the cuesheet:

1. After the first start, the server will boot up. It runs for a few minutes until it reaches another reboot point. You will see that the health light at the front will go red, and then again turns blinking blue as the server finishes the reboot cycle.
2. Wait a while - three or four minutes will do. At this time, the installer has come to a point where it prompts you to change the administrator password.
3. Press ENTER
4. Type the new password
5. Arrow down
6. Type the password again
7. Tab
8. ENTER
9. ENTER again.

Wait a few minutes and grab a coffee to give the installer time to finish.

At this time the installer is finished, but you will still need to enable the Remote Desktop service and also configure the firewall to allow RDP connections. This sounds awfully complicated without seeing what you are doing, but is in fact remarkably easy to do.

10. Press Alt+K (simultaneously)
11. Arrow down
12. ENTER
13. Press Alt and then F
14. Press X
15. Arrow down
16. ENTER
17. ENTER

That's it!

You should now be able to find the server's IP-address on your router's web page. Use this to remote into the server and finish what is left of the installation, like entering the product key, changing the server name, configuring server roles, installing antivirus software and so on.

Oh, you will need to perform one final task, and that is to download and install the driver for the SATA storage controller. It is a Silicon Image SiI3531 and you can download the 64-bit driver from here:

http://www.siliconim...duct.aspx?id=80

Just a sidenote for the server savvy users: if you wish to reuse the DNS domain that you have registered for your WHS ("servername.homeserver.com"), do not forget to export the DNS Server Authentication certificate from the WHS and import it into the new Server 2008 setup before wiping the old WHS disks.

//Thomas

[Magikmerlin]

 mimoid, on 09 March 2011 - 01:37 PM, said:

Unable to resist tinkering with my WHS server (HP X510), I took on a challenge to upgrade the onboard plain vanilla WHS OS to Windows Server 2008 R2. The X510 (and EX495) hardware is in its out-of-the-box configuration perfectly capable of running Windows Server 2008 R2, unless you are looking for some heavy virtualization tasks and I figured that the Server 2008 would give me a much more detailed control over my entire setup. Honestly, I was also curious to see if it could be done at all. The answer is yes, and if you are trying to do something similar, here are my notes.

I researched for a long time around various unattended USB-installations with little success, so I began looking for alternative and easier routes. I began wondering whether or not the trick would be to use a different computer to perform the installation on, and then simply transplant the operative system into the WHS server. Of course just installing the entire Server 2008 OS on a desktop computer and then swapping the disk drive did not work because of the differences in the peripherals, like network adapters, mass storage controller devices and so on. I tried, but I immediately ended up with a totally unresponsive server (probably a blue screen or something).

Well, finally I managed to find a way of getting Server 2008 on the WHS machine. For a successful installation, this is what you need:

1) A Windows Server 2008 R2 installation DVD
2) A blank hard drive
3) A standard USB keyboard

Begin with replacing the internal hard drive of a standard desktop computer to a blank hard drive. This will be the OS drive of the new server, so choose the size wisely.

(You may wish to add additional disks in a RAID-5 array later, but since you will be using a software RAID-controller, the OS disk cannot be part of the RAID array. You can thus get away with a relatively small drive as a system drive. Having an unused 1TB disk at hand, I installed the OS on this, and added three 2TB disks in a RAID-5 array later on.)

Start up the desktop computer and insert the Windows Server installation disk to begin the installation process. The trick is to run the installation to a point where all the necessary files have been placed on the new drive, but before the server OS becomes aware of its surroundings and adapts the remaining installation to it. This point is the first reboot during the installation sequence. Wait until the installer starts the reboot process. As soon as the computer has shut down, but before it has a chance to restart, switch the computer off (pull the plug or whatever).

Now take out the half-baked drive and move over to the WHS server. Shut it down, and pull out all the drives. Insert a standard USB keyboard into the front USB jack. Insert the new drive into one of the available slots and start the server.

You will of course now no longer be able to see the rest of the installation, nevertheless, you will still be requested to perform a few input tasks with the keyboard, blindly so to speak. Since I had already done a dress-rehearsal on my desktop computer, I had taken notes about what to press and where, so it was quite a simple task. As long as you don't slip on the keys or rush ahead, it should work just fine. I actually performed this operation three times, just to be sure. Here is the cuesheet:

1. After the first start, the server will boot up. It runs for a few minutes until it reaches another reboot point. You will see that the health light at the front will go red, and then again turns blinking blue as the server finishes the reboot cycle.
2. Wait a while - three or four minutes will do. At this time, the installer has come to a point where it prompts you to change the administrator password.
3. Press ENTER
4. Type the new password
5. Arrow down
6. Type the password again
7. Tab
8. ENTER
9. ENTER again.

Wait a few minutes and grab a coffee to give the installer time to finish.

At this time the installer is finished, but you will still need to enable the Remote Desktop service and also configure the firewall to allow RDP connections. This sounds awfully complicated without seeing what you are doing, but is in fact remarkably easy to do.

10. Press Alt+K (simultaneously)
11. Arrow down
12. ENTER
13. Press Alt and then F
14. Press X
15. Arrow down
16. ENTER
17. ENTER

That's it!

You should now be able to find the server's IP-address on your router's web page. Use this to remote into the server and finish what is left of the installation, like entering the product key, changing the server name, configuring server roles, installing antivirus software and so on.

Oh, you will need to perform one final task, and that is to download and install the driver for the SATA storage controller. It is a Silicon Image SiI3531 and you can download the 64-bit driver from here:

http://www.siliconim...duct.aspx?id=80

Just a sidenote for the server savvy users: if you wish to reuse the DNS domain that you have registered for your WHS ("servername.homeserver.com"), do not forget to export the DNS Server Authentication certificate from the WHS and import it into the new Server 2008 setup before wiping the old WHS disks.

//Thomas

Thomas,
I just looked for that driver for an install that I just did but the comapny appears to have pulled it for some reason. Could you please post it somewhere. This problem is making me crazy!!

Thanks!

[mimoid]

 Magikmerlin, on 13 April 2011 - 11:20 PM, said:

Thomas,
I just looked for that driver for an install that I just did but the comapny appears to have pulled it for some reason. Could you please post it somewhere. This problem is making me crazy!!

Thanks!

Hello,


No, it is still there under Support Tools --> Driver


//Tom

[Torben]

Hi

May i ask why the unattended approach did not work out?

[Thomas Rindom]

I was succeeding in installing Windows Home Server 2011 on my HP EX470 via another guide I found here:



http://www.dba-resou...diasmart-ex475/



I didn't have a USB key and it was too late to shop my local dealer for a USB thumb drive on 8 GB, that was required for WHS2011 installation files. So I just used my IDE/SATA-2-USB adapter and turned an old HDD into an installation media. But you must format the HDD to FAT32 and make it active in Disk Management.


But I am glad to see that its now also possible to install Windows Server 2008 R2 on this box. You could also use a special homemade cable with VGA and PS/2 ports I have seen someone sells on a WHS fora.



-Thomas

[Typhos]

Will this guide work with installing whs2011 ?

[ntlwhsle]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the post! I got Windows server 2008 R2 on my EX 485 no problem..

I am having a problem installing the Silicon Image Sata driver.. I downloaded it from

http://www.siliconim...duct.aspx?id=80

and got the 64 bit driver but there is no installer for it and also I tried to update the driver in device manager but nothing will take.

can you be more specific on how to install the driver?

The default windows driver won't make a raid-5 successfully, after it creates the raid it says resynching and than fails

Thanks so much!

[Drashna Jaelre (WGS)]

Have you tried the Windows 7 x64 driver? That should be the right one, and you may need to select the driver.

[GaPony]

You also need to make sure you have the right driver for the BIOS version installed on your card.

[Polorboy]

I followed the instructions above and everything seems to have worked fine with that, I can see the server in my routers dhcp table, and it even responds to nmap scans. My personal computer is running Windows 7 Ultimate, the server does not show up in my local network map. However I am able to connect to it's remote registry. The Remote Desktop Service is running, verified both by remote registry and through nmap scans. The RDC port 3389 is open and responding. Even though I am on an internal network I setup my router to forward 3389 to my servers IP address. I was watching traffic in wireshark and I noticed that the server never seems to send any traffic but the ethernet port is lighting up frequently and the indicator on the front of the server is very active for the network. The only traffic I saw was that the server was trying to find the default gateway for my home network but was not getting a response. Though, when looking throught the remote registry the server does know the correct address of the gateway. I try to setup a remote desktop connection from the control panel of my Win 7 machine but it can't connect. It says that it cannot find the machine at the address I typed. Any help?