Release Notes for Windows Server 2008

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

These release notes address late-breaking issues and information about the Windows Server® 2008 operating system. Unless otherwise specified, these notes apply to all editions of Windows Server 2008.

Activation

The telephone numbers for French Guiana in the product activation user interface are incorrect.

The correct telephone numbers are:

  • Toll-free: (0) (800) 779-809

  • Toll: (33) (1) 5517-4075

Active Directory Domain Services

  • If you place the Active Directory® database and log files in the root directory of a disk other than the disk that contains %systemroot%, a Stop error will result. You will also receive a Stop error if you place these files on an Internet SCSI (iSCSI) drive that is not available as a boot device.

    To avoid this, ensure that the Active Directory database and log files are in a volume other than the root volume of a local, nonremovable drive.

    Some iSCSI devices incorrectly report that they are local drives even when they are not. If this occurs, contact the drive vendor to determine if the hardware can be configured as a boot device. If the hardware cannot be configured as a boot device, perform the following steps.

To move the Active Directory database and log files

  1. Restart the computer and enter the Directory Services Restore Mode by pressing F8 while the computer starts.

  2. Move the Active Directory database and log files to a subdirectory at least one level beneath the root directory of a local drive.

  3. Use Regedit.exe to find this registry key: HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NTDS\Parameters

  4. Change the DSA Database File value to the new path from Step 2. For example, x:\ntds.

  5. Change the DSA Working Directory value to the new path from Step 2. For example, x:\ntds\logs.

  • If your Active Directory database and log files are placed in any of the following directories, ensure that the volume has at least twice the space used by the database and log files available before you install this release of Windows Server 2008:

    • %SystemRoot%

    • %ProgramFiles%

    • %SystemDrive%\Program Files

    • %ProgramFiles(x86)%

    • %SystemDrive%\build

    • %SystemDrive%\InstalledRepository

    • %ProfilesFolder%

    • %ProgramData%

    • %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings

    If your Active Directory database and log files are not in any of the directories listed above, follow these steps before you install this release of Windows Server 2008.

To prepare before upgrading

  1. Copy the full contents of the Windows Server 2008 installation image to a shared network resource.

  2. Find the file Offline.xml (in the Sources directory of the installation image) and open it with a text editor.

  3. Delete the following lines in the file:

    Line 434: <pattern type="File">%DSA_WORKING_DIR%\* [*]</pattern>

    Line 435: <pattern type="File">%DATABASE_LOG_FILES_PATH%\* [*]</pattern>

  4. Save and close the Offline.xml file.

  5. Start the Windows Server 2008 installer from the shared network resource.

Hyper-V role

Hyper-V™ is available in Windows Server 2008. To install this role, the computer must meet specific hardware and software requirements. For more information about configuration, usage considerations, and known issues, see the release notes for Hyper-V (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=98821).

For links to other information, see the role page on the Windows Server 2008 TechCenter (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=48557).

Networking

Windows Server 2008 no longer includes drivers for the Intel 10/100 family of devices.

You can obtain the appropriate driver from the manufacturer, from Intel, or in some cases with Microsoft Update.

Streaming Media Services

This issue affects Windows Server 2008 Standard, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, Windows Server 2008 Datacenter, and Windows Web Server 2008.

After you install Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows® Media Services on a computer running Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows Vista Enterprise, or Windows Vista Business, the Windows Media Services snap-in in Windows Vista may not be able to access a remote server running the Streaming Media Services role in Windows Server 2008. You might receive error codes 0x80070005, 0x800706BA, or both.

To correct this, create access permissions for Remote Server Administration Tools and enable an exception for Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) in Windows Firewall on the server.

To create access permissions

  1. On the server, open Component Services. (Click Start, click Run, and then type dcomcnfg.)

  2. In the Component Services console tree, under Component Services, right-click the local computer (My Computer), and then click Properties.

  3. On the COM Security tab, in the Access Permissions area, click Edit Limits.

  4. In the Access Permission dialog box, on the Security tab, click ANONYMOUS LOGON.

  5. In the Permissions for ANONYMOUS LOGON area, make sure that the Allow Remote Access check box is selected.

To enable the firewall exception

  1. On the server, open Windows Firewall. (Click Start, click Run, and type firewall.cpl.)

  2. In Windows Firewall Settings, on the Exceptions tab, select the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) check box.

Windows Firewall

Although the default behavior for Windows Server 2008 is that Windows Firewall is turned on, if you install Windows Server 2008 on a computer running Windows Server 2003 that had Windows Firewall turned off, the firewall will remain off after the installation unless you turn it on using the Windows Firewall control panel.

UDDI Services

These issues only affect Windows Server 2008 Datacenter, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, and Windows Server 2008 Standard.

  • Upgrading from the RC version of Windows Server 2008 to this release is not supported for computers with Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) Services installed. To avoid this, perform a clean installation of Windows Server 2008.

  • If you install Windows Server 2008 on a computer running Windows Server 2003 that has Internet Information Services (IIS) but not UDDI Services installed, subsequent installation of UDDI Services will succeed, but UDDI Services will not function.

    To avoid this, complete the installation of Windows Server 2008, and then reinstall IIS 7.0 before attempting to install UDDI Services.

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