Happy July 3rd everyone - I am harry brelsford, author of
Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices and I enjoy
posting a few pages of my book per day for your reading pleasure.
I hope to have the entire book posted up by the time SBS 2008
ships!
Today we look at the keystrokes to add a workstation to the
SBS 2003 network!
cheers and Happy 4th of July!
harry brelsford, ceo at smb nation, www.smbnation.com (I am
also a Microsoft Small Business Specialist! aka SBSC)
###
SBS Workstation Setup Process
The
SBS workstation setup approach is a four-step process, and
compared to the SBS server machine installation, it is relatively
simple. Another interesting point is that, whereas you perform
the SBS server machine setup only once, you perform the SBS
workstation setup multiple times. I’ve found that such
repetition breeds familiarity; your comfort level increases with
this process.
Of
the four steps, the first two (running the Add User Wizard and
then the Set Up Computer Wizard) are performed on the SBS server
machine via the To Do List. The last two steps are performed on
the SBS workstation. Run the setup program over the wire via a
Web browser and install the client applications. This process is
detailed in Figure 4-21.
A
quick SBS 2003-specific comment for you: If you have worked with
SBS in the past, say SBS 4.5, you will be very pleased to see
that SBS 2003 has greatly simplified the add user and computer
processes. This was accomplished in part by adding the bulk entry
capability, using user account templates, and eliminating the
“magic” setup diskette. All this and more will be
displayed and discussed in a moment.
Figure 4-21
SBS
Workstation setup process.
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latest updates for any Microsoft product.
The step-by-step process for adding
users and client computers commences right here, right now!
1 &nbs
p; Again,
assuming you’re logged on as the Administrator at the
server machine SPRINGERS1, you will click the Add Users and
Computers link from the To Do List.
2 &nbs
p; Click
Next at the Welcome to the Add User Wizard.
3 &nbs
p; On the
Template Selection screen, pick Power User Template, as
seen
in Figure 4-22 and click Next. Figure 4-22
There are
several templates to select from, including the new Mobile User
Template.
BEST
PRACTICE: There is an interesting design feature in the bulk add
capability that relates to the Template Selection screen in
Figure 4-22 above. If you look closely, the language clearly
states that the selected template will be applied to all users.
Furthermore, each user inherits the templates settings (as you
would expect). But, we’ve got a slight problem if you were
lead to believe that, using the bulk addition capability, we
could add all of the SPRINGERS
users all at once. Such is not the case, because if you
revisit the User List in Chapter 2, you see that two users are
“power users” and the rest of the users are
“users.” This translates into the following: You will
need to run the Add User Wizard twice in the SPRINGERS
methodology in order to add users that fall into two template
categories.
Oh
- and fear not that I’m ignoring the Mobile User Template.
I elevate a user’s template-based permissions to that level
in Chapter 11 using a cool new role transfer wizard.
BEST
PRACTICE: You may look at the specific properties for each of
these user templates to answer any questions you have. Such
questions are often focused on exactly what settings are being
invoked by selecting one template as compared to another
template. However, viewing these properties can only be done when
running the Add User Wizard in single-user mode (not bulk-add
mode, which is the default from the To Do List). So you would
click the User object under Standard Management in the Server
Management console followed by a click on Add a User. Then select
Display selected template’s default settings in the wizard
checkbox on the Template Selection screen. You should do this
while adding at least one of your users, so you better understand
the background process that is occurring.
Interestingly, you can create your own user templates
for use in SBS. This would make sense where you want to model a
particular group of users around an application or function. For
example, you might want to give users in the bookkeeping
department access to the shared folder containing the data. This
is done by selecting the Add Template button on the Template
Selection screen (this button appears in the Add User Wizard in
both single user and bulk add mode). The Add Template Wizard will
commence. To learn more about adding a template and even
importing and exporting templates between SBS server networks
(e.g., multiple SBS customer sites),
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for the latest updates for any Microsoft product.
click User Templates under Standard
Management on the Server Management console.
Finally, just when you’d have enough template
talk, I draw your attention to the fact that you are not required
to use a template at all when running the Add User Wizard in
single-user mode (select Do not use a template to define user
settings on the Template Selection screen). When running the Add
User Wizard in bulk-add mode, you must select a template (there
is no option for bypassing template usage).
1 &nbs
p; On the
User Information screen, select Add. Complete the Specify the
user information dialog box that appears in Figure 4-23. Click
OK.
2 &nbs
p; Click
Add again on the User Information screen and complete the Specify
the user information dialog box for Bob Easter in a manner
similar to the above step. Click OK when complete.
Figure 4-23
Adding the
first power user, Norm Hasborn.
1 &nbs
p; Click
Next after you’ve completed the entry of the two power
users on the User Information page.
2 &nbs
p; Select
Set up computers now on the Set Up Client Computers page. Click
Next.
3 &nbs
p; Add the
computer names PRESIDENT and CAREFEED01 by typing one name
at a time in the Client computer name field on the Client
Computer Names page and clicking Add. Click Next.
4 &nbs
p; Accept
the default selection of all client applications being selected
on the Client Applications page. Select the After Client Setup is
finished, log off the client computer checkbox as shown in Figure
4-24. Click Next.
Figure 4-24
Accepting
all of the settings on the Client Applications page.
10.
Click Next on the Mobile Client
and Offline Use page. Although this functionality isn’t
part of the SPRINGERS methodology, you might consider these
capabilities in the real world (functionality described under
More Information). Click Next.
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latest updates for any Microsoft product.
11. On
the Completing the Add User Wizard page, be sure to click the
here link and name the configuration page Add Users1.htm as part
of your network notebook exercise. Click Finish.
BEST PRACTICE: Speaking of documenting the SBS 2003
network, there are a two other logs you would want to know about
right now. These are located in \&#xSy;stem Drive%\Program
Files\Microsoft Windows Small Business Server\Support\
*add_user_wizard.log. This log documents how users were
added to the SBS 2003 network.
*
scw.log. This log documents how client computers where configured
for the SBS 2003 network.
A
more technical log, SBSClientApps.log, can be viewed at
\&#xSy;stem Drive%\Program Files\Microsoft Windows Small Business
Server\Tools\. This log reports on internal application execution
milestones.
Notes:
12.
CAREFULLY read the Finishing Your Installation dialog box and
click
OK. This is shown in Figure 4-25. Figure 4-25
A dialog box
that hints at a next step you will perform on a client computer.
BEST PRACTICE: When you read the dialog box in the step
above, you’ll note that you’re not being asked to
actually go to the URL of http://SPRINGERS1/ConnectComputer at
this time. Rather, the dialog box is telling you to go to a
client computer and perform this action. I’ve seen people
read this information far too rapidly and launch Internet
Explorer on the SBS server machine and type in the URL to connect
the computer. This happened repeatedly in the SBS 2003 hands-on
lab tour in the US in the fall of 2003. You can not successfully
run the connect computer command on the server machine, because
the server is already connected to the network.
13.
Click Close. Now repeat the above steps to add the remaining
SPRINGERS users (listed in Chapter 2 in the User List) in one
more pass using the User Template (this is the common template
for all of these users). You will answer Yes when asked if you
want to run the Add User Wizard again to add more users. Figure
4-26 displays the User Information screen you should have as part
of this process.
Notes:
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latest updates for any Microsoft product.
Figure 4-26
Now
you can really see the “bulk-add” capabilities in the
Add User Wizard with all of these names displayed!
BEST PRACTICE: Note an interesting tidbit as you add all
of the users for SPRINGERS. When you get to the Client Computer
Names screen, there will be many client computers listed that
have already been auto-named for you. This is typically the user
name followed by “01” (e.g., BarryM01). Of course,
this isn’t what we intend for the workstation naming with
SPRINGERS (the User List in Chapter 2 provides that names), so
you will use the Remove button to remove those names and then add
the proper client computer names (SPRINGERS names computers by
job function and then places 01 at the end).
So, let’s finish discussing the
To Do List and then proceed to attach the client machine to the
SBS network.
