Configure a Router - Windows Server Essentials

Applies To: Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials

To provide a better customer experience, preconfigure a router as an additional value with a preconfigured server.

To preconfigure the router

1. On the router, turn on DHCP.

2. Assign your server a static IP address. You can do this by DHCP reservation of an IP address or by assigning an IP address that is outside of the DHCP address range.

3. Preconfigure the port forwarding settings on the router to forward specific ports from the external interface of the router to the address of the server on the internal network.

Port Forwarding Settings

The following table lists the recommended port forwarding settings.

Configuration setting	Details
DHCP	On
Port forwarding	Forward the following ports to the address of the server: 80 (For hosted configuration, only use 443) 443
UPnP™	Enable UPnP support to provide the easiest router configuration for the customer and the best customer experience during installation. Warning The UPnP architecture can pose a security risk if it is left enabled.

Next Steps

In addition to the basic router preconfiguration settings, complete the following tasks to provide a more integrated user experience for managing the router.

• Extend the Dashboard by providing an add-in on the server that enables users to manage the router through a custom user interface.

• Extend the health alerts so that any alerts from the router can be seen in the Health Monitoring tab.

• If the router supports multiple subnets, the IP address of the server must be handed out as one DNS server through DHCP.

See Also

Concepts

Customize and Deploy Windows Server Essentials in Windows Server 2012 R2
Configure Server Storage - Windows Server Essentials

Other Resources

Windows Deployment Tools Technical Reference