The Geek
Guide : Building a Microsoft NT 4.0 Web Server with IIS
Created by
Angst - 05/00
Every home that has a permanent connection to the Internet NEEDS a
webserver. Displaying information is
what it's all about, right? Why pay
some company to host your site, when you can do it yourself? If you have a home
network (more than one computer) than this is really your lucky day.
If you are a business, than you probably already know the
importance of web servers, whether it is Internet or Intranet, information is
money. So let's talk specifics and
time...
First I'd like to say that I do not yet accept Windows2000, so
I'll keep this particular instruction to NT4.0. I also have bad feelings toward Microsoft in general, but since I
am skilled in the products, I might as well help others come to conclusions
themselves. (BTW/ I have NOT had bad
experiences with the MS products listed, AS LONG AS they are done to the
following guidelines; otherwise, God help us all, it WILL crash.
Before we
talk about install time, etc., let's make sure we all meet Microsoft's power
hungry requirements:
Intel-based systems: 90 MHz Pentium processor; 64 MB RAM; 700 MB
hard disk space. (I recommend a P200 at
least)
DEC Alpha-based systems: 200 MHz processor; 64 MB RAM; 700 MB hard
disk space.
MAC OS, Be, OS2 systems: No Way, period. Don't even try, it can't happen. (I've tried) Try Linux on non-PC's, it's fast, and cheap.
(free in some cases) Take a peek at http://www.linux.org/
for specific links.
If you are creating an NT machine from a lower OS (Win3.1, 95, 98)
or creating a new machine build, be sure that your hardware is supported. There's nothing like the disappointment of
finding that your new 32Meg video card with TV support won't display anything
more than 16 colors at 640x480 resolution.
View the supported hardware at: http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/deploy/hcl.asp
Let's talk time. Since all
systems are different, I'll use a base line.
A dual PPro 200MHz System (kind of like a single processor PII350) with
128MB of RAM takes about 4 hours to build if you have all the files you need
stored locally. The easiest way to do
this is make a cd of all the files you will use, but if you don't have access
to that technology, I recommend storing the files on a network share or a
secondary hard drive...a SCSI tape drive may even be fast, if you have all the
NT drivers for it.
Now, do the
following before you even attempt moving to NT.
Get your drivers together. Make sure you have everything. Video drivers (card and monitor), external
drives (zip and jazz included), wheel mice, NIC's (network interface cards or
Ethernet cards), modems, etc.
Get your external network IP address(s)
written down. This is the cable modem
information, DSL, or ISDN info., including hub info on ISDN. Make sure you know everything. If you were running NT, get the DNS server
info, secondary NIC?, internal network, jet direct printer?, etc. NT users can go to the command prompt and
type "ipconfig /all|more" (the '|' symbol, pronounced 'pipe' is
located above the '\' key on most keyboards.)
Don't include the quotes. This
will get your local IP information. Win
95/08 users can go to the command prompt and type "winipcfg" and
click on [advanced] to see their info.
If you have an IP address, and a DNS, you are pretty much set from this
point, but the more info you can gather, the better.
Know if your computer will boot from
the CD-ROM drive or not. You can check
this in your CMOS/BIOS. Look for
something like "boot order" and make sure it is set to "CD,
Floppy, HDD". If you can't boot
from the CD, you will need to make sure you have boot disks for NT. There are three, and a new set can be
produced by going to the "i386" directory on the WinNT CD (Intel) or
the "alpha" directory for alpha users. Now place a blank floppy in the floppy drive and type
"winnt32 /ox". Change through
all three floppies and you’re all set.
I. Installing
Windows NT.
Okay, time to begin...Stick your NT CD in the CD-ROM drive and
boot your machine. (or your first boot floppy if you can't boot from the
CD-ROM)
I’m not going to walk you through the installation of NT, I’m just
going to say that when the time comes to specify what type of server you want,
pick “Primary Domain Controller”. If
you already have a PDC in your local network, and don’t want another one,
select “Stand Alone Server”.
To configure your NICs (Network Interface Cards), you’ll need your
IP information. The INTERNAL card (the
one that will talk to the computers inside your network, will need a local IP
address. Using a local address helps to
ensure that no one on the outside can screw around with your internal
network. I recommend using the set
192.0.0.0 – 192.0.0.255 or 10.4.1.0 – 10.4.1.255.
Start with your external card.
You may not have to enter anything except adding a checkmark to the
“Enable DHCP Box”, but if your host doesn’t accept DHCP, you’ll need to place
the host’s IP address, subnet, and gateway in the dialog box. If using 2 NIC cards (for an internal
network), also “enable routing” in the
“Routing” dialog box. If you know your
WINS server add it in the “WINS” dialog box.
Okay, time to set up your internal NIC (if you are running an
internal network). Set the IP address
to one of the aforementioned addresses, and set your subnet mask to
255.255.255.0. Set your gateway to the
IP address of your external card. Make
sure that routing is enabled. If your
external card uses DHCP to obtain an address, that’s okay too, by enabling
routing, you let the computer know that you want the cards to talk to one
another.
Your computer will need to reboot every time you make a change to
the networking, so let it, and log in using the Administrator password you
created during setup.
If you finally log in without errors, it’s time to test the
external network. You can test your
external card by “pinging” an external address. Here’s how it’s done.
1.
Go to the command prompt. ( [Start], [Run], and type “cmd” and hit
[Enter] )
2.
From the command line type “ping”, followed by an external IP
address. For example:
ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Where
“x” equals a number.
3.
If it is working you will get a response, otherwise it will time
out, or give an error message.
4.
If it is working, test your DNS by pinging a site via name, rather
than IP. For example:
ping www.somedomain.com . If it returns a value, DNS is working, if
not, your DNS is not configured properly in the Network Setup for the external
card.
5.
If everything works; great!
Otherwise, go check out your network settings for errors.
II.
Installing Windows NT Service Pack 3 (SP3)
This is a requirement, not a suggestion. NTSP3 contains IIS2.0 which IS NEEDED. I can’t stress this enough, you can’t just skip to a newer
Service Pack.
The install is pretty straight forward…it will ask you if you want
to back up old files…if you like to play it safe, then do so.
III. Install
Internet Explorer 4.01 SP2 (without Active Desktop)
Since you have your external NIC working, you might as well use it
to download IE4.01 SP2. (unless you have it on a CD) You can grab a copy from Microsoft for free. Currently the address is:
http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/ie/ie40/download/rtw/x86/en/download/setup.htm
Note: IE4.01 SP1 is included with the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack;
however, it is recommended that you install IE4.02 SP2. There is no need to install IE 5.0.
IV. Install
Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack.
Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack includes IIS 4.0.
The option pack is pretty easy to install. Make sure to turn on the VB Debugging if you plan on writing ASP
scripts, and add the other components as you see fit. Just make sure that IIS 4.0 is selected for installation.
V. Re-apply the latest Windows
NT 4.0 service pack.
You need to apply the latest service pack because the Windows NT 4.0 Option
Pack Setup program overwrites DLL files installed by the service pack. At the
time of composing this article, SP 6b was the most current version.
VI. Install MDAC 2.1 SP2.
This is your basic database connectivity. (ODBC32, etc)
That’s about it. If you plan on using FrontPage, etc. check out the following Post Installation
advice from Microsoft, otherwise set up your web server application, and get on
the net! Using IIS 4.0 with MMC is
pretty simple and self explanatory. If
you use Frontpage2000, it is even easier.
Creating a web or sub-web in FrontPage automatically sets up the server
extensions for the web in IIS! (Although you still have to manually set the
permissions for scripting, etc.)
Good Luck, soon you’ll be sharing
your website with others!
--Angst.