T
Tom Stewart
When W2K came out, we ported out proprietary OS to run on top of it. We
scripted the Windows install via winnt.sif to eliminate everything
unnecessary -- including the networking components, since we use our own
protocol driver that we install after the OS is installed. This was possible
via the winnt.sif, even though the doc was misleading. In fact the SETUPMGR
tool allows you to delete all the networking components, and when you do it
spits out a very nice section into the resulting file:
[Networking]
InstallDefaultComponents=No
All seems great, but that didn't work. After much trial and error, I
discovered that by leaving out *all* references to networking, W2K would
install like I wanted -- driver for the NIC, but no IP protocol, no server
service, no client, etc.
Swell, but now W2K3 is here. We don't particularly need W2K3 for what we're
doing, but MS are going to make W2K harder to come by in the not too distant
future. So I'm trying to replicate my success with W2K, but the darned thing
seems heck-bent on installing those default components. Now I find a KB
article (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;247952)
that documents this behavior for W2K, but it doesn't mention W2K3. Setupmgr
still merrily spits out the same line, even though the option is no longer
documented.
I spend all of yesterday trying various permutations, but I can't get the
install to not install *any* of the default components. I always end up with
TCP/IP, Server, and Client. I even tried the bindings section of the sif
file, but I can't get those components un-bound.
Please, Microsoft, understand this -- your Windows Server operating system
is not *always* used the same way by everybody. I wish you'd stop forcing
things on people. We don't want IP on there if we don't need it, and we
*especially* don't want the server and client on there. Without IP, how many
security holes do you think can be exploited????
Sure, these things can be unbound or removed after install. Guess which is
cleaner -- a system on which they're un-installed, or a system on which
they've never been installed. When we're doing these in the field, guess
which is more reproducible -- a scripted install, or a scripted install
followed by two sheets of instructions for a human to follow. Guess!
I hope someone is listening out there.
scripted the Windows install via winnt.sif to eliminate everything
unnecessary -- including the networking components, since we use our own
protocol driver that we install after the OS is installed. This was possible
via the winnt.sif, even though the doc was misleading. In fact the SETUPMGR
tool allows you to delete all the networking components, and when you do it
spits out a very nice section into the resulting file:
[Networking]
InstallDefaultComponents=No
All seems great, but that didn't work. After much trial and error, I
discovered that by leaving out *all* references to networking, W2K would
install like I wanted -- driver for the NIC, but no IP protocol, no server
service, no client, etc.
Swell, but now W2K3 is here. We don't particularly need W2K3 for what we're
doing, but MS are going to make W2K harder to come by in the not too distant
future. So I'm trying to replicate my success with W2K, but the darned thing
seems heck-bent on installing those default components. Now I find a KB
article (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;247952)
that documents this behavior for W2K, but it doesn't mention W2K3. Setupmgr
still merrily spits out the same line, even though the option is no longer
documented.
I spend all of yesterday trying various permutations, but I can't get the
install to not install *any* of the default components. I always end up with
TCP/IP, Server, and Client. I even tried the bindings section of the sif
file, but I can't get those components un-bound.
Please, Microsoft, understand this -- your Windows Server operating system
is not *always* used the same way by everybody. I wish you'd stop forcing
things on people. We don't want IP on there if we don't need it, and we
*especially* don't want the server and client on there. Without IP, how many
security holes do you think can be exploited????
Sure, these things can be unbound or removed after install. Guess which is
cleaner -- a system on which they're un-installed, or a system on which
they've never been installed. When we're doing these in the field, guess
which is more reproducible -- a scripted install, or a scripted install
followed by two sheets of instructions for a human to follow. Guess!
I hope someone is listening out there.