Use the Windows EBS Preparation Wizard

Applies To: Windows Essential Business Server

The Preparation Wizard scans your network to verify that it is functioning properly and that it meets the specific technical requirements that you need to successfully deploy Windows EBS. If Windows EBS requires changes or updates in your environment, the wizard identifies the issue, and it guides you to Microsoft Knowledge Base articles for more information and procedures.

You must complete the Preparation Wizard before you can run the Planning Wizard. If the Preparation Wizard finds an error when it scans your environment, you must correct it and then rescan your environment to complete the wizard. You can keep the wizard open while you correct an issue.

Firewall IP address

The Preparation Wizard collects information from you about the internal IP address settings for your existing network firewall. You should type the internal network address of the primary firewall or gateway device in your environment. If you are migrating from Windows Small Business Server (SBS), and you are using your Windows SBS server as a network firewall, you should type the internal network address of your Windows SBS server. The IP address settings that you type appear later in the Planning Wizard to help you plan the deployment of the Security Server in Windows EBS.

If you are deploying Windows EBS in an environment that does not have a network firewall (for example, a test network that connects to the Internet independently of your production network), you can still complete this page of the Preparation Wizard. In this scenario, type a valid IP address for your network (for example, a gateway address that is provided by an Internet service provider). If warning messages about these settings appear in the Preparation Wizard, you can safely ignore them in order to complete the preparation and planning steps.

Choose an Active Directory forest

When you run the Preparation Wizard, you choose how you plan to configure Active Directory Domain Services in Windows EBS. Your choice determines the checks that are included in the health scan.

Two options are available for configuring Active Directory Domain Services:

• Connect to an existing domain. If your current environment includes Active Directory, in most cases you will join Windows EBS to the existing domain. When you run the Windows EBS Installation Wizard, your Active Directory environment is upgraded, and then the Management Server and the Messaging Server join your domain as domain controllers. Network services in your current environment that depend on Active Directory migrate automatically to Windows EBS during installation.

• Set up a new root domain in a new forest. When you install Windows EBS, the Management Server and the Messaging Server become domain controllers in the root domain of the new forest. Select this option if you are not currently using Active Directory in your environment, or if you are planning to create a new domain. After you install Windows EBS, you need to manually move server roles (such as the DNS Server service and the DHCP Server service) and redirect mail flow from your existing environment

If you choose to connect to an existing domain, the wizard scans your Active Directory infrastructure and related network components to verify that they are functioning properly. If you plan to create a new forest, the Preparation Wizard verifies only that basic network services are working in your existing environment.

Health scan

After it establishes connections to components in your network, the Preparation Wizard scans components such as Active Directory Domain Services, the DHCP Server service, the DNS Server service, Exchange Server, network adapters, domain controllers, and other network services and components.

The Preparation Wizard uses Windows Management Interface (WMI) to scan several network components. You may be required to install WMI provider software (such as the DNS WMI provider) so that the Preparation Wizard can perform the health scan in your environment. This is likely if server workloads in your environment are running on the Windows 2000 Server operating system. If installing WMI provider software on a server is necessary, the wizard guides you to the Microsoft Web site to obtain the software. After you install the WMI provider software, restart the server before you scan the environment with the Preparation Wizard.

Depending on the configuration of your environment, the wizard performs more than 100 tests within a few minutes. The results of the scan are reported in the wizard. You can save or print a report for later reference.

The Preparation Wizard scans and verifies the following:

• Configuration of sites in Active Directory

• Configuration of subnets in Active Directory

• Replication of Active Directory

• Replication of the file system and administration of the SYSVOL shared folders

• Name resolution by DNS

  Note

  One test performed by the Preparation Wizard detects whether domain controllers are associated to a DNS zone. This association indicates that DNS is integrated with your Active Directory environment. If DNS is not integrated with your Active Directory environment, you need to perform additional steps to configure and migrate DNS settings after you install Windows EBS. Guidance for performing these steps is available at the Microsoft Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=95814).

• Configuration of the network adapters of all servers in the network

• Health of the domain controllers

• Configuration of the Network Time Protocol (NTP) for all domain controllers

• Configuration of Exchange Server

• Configuration of the network

• Entries in the Event Log that could indicate installation issues

• Readiness of the environment to install Windows EBS

  Note

  The tests for readiness to install Windows EBS are described in the following section.

Windows Essential Business Server readiness

The Preparation Wizard health scan verifies that your network environment meets the licensing and the technical requirements for deploying and running Windows EBS. These requirements include the following:

Resolving issues found by the Preparation Wizard

If the Preparation Wizard finds an issue that requires attention, the wizard describes the problem, indicates the severity, and links you to guidance at the Microsoft Web site (such as a Knowledge Base article) to help you resolve the issue.

For more information about troubleshooting issues in your Active Directory environment, see the Microsoft Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=123023).

Two kinds of issues are reported by the Preparation Wizard:

• Errors   Issues that must be corrected to complete the Preparation Wizard and to continue with the deployment of Windows EBS. In most cases, an error would prevent the successful installation of Windows EBS. For example, an existing domain controller may be unable to replicate data.

• Warnings   Issues that may interfere with the configuration or operation of Windows EBS. You are not required to correct these issues. However, it is recommended that you investigate and correct them.

After you make changes to correct issues, scan your environment again with the Preparation Wizard to verify the corrections. You may need to scan your environment several times to find and correct all potential issues that are found by the Preparation Wizard. After you resolve all the issues that require attention and complete a scan that verifies the health of your environment, you have completed the Preparation Wizard.