ServersIn The Trenches: Win2k Remote Installation Boot Disk Doesn't Work

In The Trenches: Win2k Remote Installation Boot Disk Doesn’t Work

ServerWatch content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.




Thomas Shinder

Win2k includes a cool new tool called the Remote
Installation Service
or RIS. The service allows you to install Win2k
Professional network clients throughout your network via a single image or set
of images placed on the RIS Server. RIS even allows you to customize those
images using the RIPrep program. Using RIPrep, you can create images that
include customized desktops, applications and local profiles.

Win2k includes a cool new tool called the Remote Installation Service or RIS. The service allows you to install Win2k Professional network clients throughout your network via a single image or set of images placed on the RIS Server. RIS even allows you to customize those images using the RIPrep program. Using RIPrep, you can create images that include customized desktops, applications and local profiles.

Install even without an operating system

The most compelling aspect of RIS is that  you can
install these images on machines that have no operating system installed! In
this way, the RIS client behaves like a diskless workstation. The diskless
workstation uses BOOTP to request an OS image from a TFTP server. The RIS client
behaves in the same way. The RIS client must have a PXE .9x or above boot ROM,
or the NIC in the RIS client must be on the list of adapters supported by the
Win2k Remote Boot Floppy Generator program (rbfg.exe).

The Remote installation service provides us tools that
accomplish similar feats as third party products, such as Ghost and ImageCast
have for years. The great thing about RIS is that is that its included “in
the box” and therefore you don’t have to buy any additional software to
make it work.

Too good to be True?

As is typically the case, if something sounds too good to
be true, it usually is. RIS only allows you to install images of Win2k
Professional. You cannot install any version of Win2k Server, and you cannot
install any version of Win 9x. Also, the images must be installed on the
destination computer’s C: drive, and the source computer that has been
customized using RIPrep, will only have its C: drive included in the images.

The biggest problem is that the RIS boot disk often does
not work. You may be one of the legions of admins that have tried the RIS boot
floppy, only to receive the message:

Error: Can’t resolve IP address

of the DHCP server. Press a key to reboot the system.

And, if you’re like me, you probably tried a whole bunch
of things and spent hours or days tweaking your DHCP and RIS Server in an
attempt to make this work correctly.

The Fix Is IN

The problem is that the RIS boot disk always
tries to communicate via the default gateway it receives from DHCP, even when
the RIS Server is on the same subnet as the RIS client. This does not happen on
machines that boot from their PXE boot ROM, it only happens when you use the RIS
boot floppy.

Microsoft suggests that you remove the default gateway
entry in your scope that serves the RIS client’s network ID. There is a updated
version of the rbfg.exe program with the version number 1.0.0.30. The version
that comes with the original release of Win2k is 1.0.0.25, and the version
available with Win2k SP1 is 1.0.0.27. Note the Service Pack 1 does not fix this
problem! You will need to call Microsoft Product Support Services (MS PSS) for
the file if you don’t want or can’t use the work-around they suggest.

The Win2k Whipping Boy

I have noted in the past that the Remote Installation
Service may end up being the “whipping boy” of Win2k, because it
promises a lot, but often fails to deliver. NICs with the proper PXE ROMs are
expensive, and there’s no way for you to add adapters to the list in the
rbfg.exe program. Add those limitations to the problems regarding the default
gateway, and you might feel like you’re dealing with something like the Windows
NT 4.0 Replicator Service!

Let’s hope everything gets fixed, and that by the time
Service Pack 2 comes out, RIS bugs will just be a bad memory.

For More Information

For more information on this problem, check the TechNet
article ID Q255952

Get the Free Newsletter!

Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

Latest Posts

Related Stories