Installing Windows Server 2012

MICROSOFT WINDOWS SERVER 2012

Microsoft released the latest version of their server operating system in September 2012, named Windows Server 2012.
This is a step-by-step guide to a standard installation of Windows Server 2012, the installation method is similar to Windows Server 2008 although there are some minor differences.

THE INTALLATION INSTALLTION PROCESS

1. Boot from installation media, press any key to boot from media when prompted to do so.

 

2. You will now see the “Windows is loading files” screen.
 

3. The Language screen will now appear. Choose your locale settings and click Next.
 

              
4. Click Install now from the Windows Server 2012 installation screen.
 

5. At the Operating System menu select the operating system you want to install. For the purposes of this document, the selected option is Windows Server 2012 Standard with a GUI.  The other option is server core which was first introduced in Windows Server 2008 and is a minimal install with no GUI but provides remote management through Windows PowerShell and other tools.

6. Read and accept the End User Liscence Agreement then click Next.

7. Setup will now prompt you to choose the type of installation, choose Custom: Install Windows only (advanced)

8. You will now have to choose were to install Windows Server 2012. Setup will list all disks detected, because we will be partitioning the hard drive click Drive option (advanced). There is no particular reason I'm choosing to partition the disk, the only reason is to show the process involved.

 

 

9. The partition screen opens, click new to create a new partition. Resize new partion to desired size then click Apply to create.

 

 

10.Server 2012 automatically creates a 100MB partion. This “System Reserved” partition is where the bootloader resides. Click OK at the prompt.


 

11.Highlight the partition you created and click Next.

 

12.The installation will now begin. The screens will change as the installation progesses, don’t be alarmed by this.

 

 

13.Once installtion is completed, you will be prompted to enter a password. Enter password then click Finish to proceed.

14.The installation process is now complete. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to login.
 

 

In the next post we will look at configuring the basics e.g. joining a domain and renaming computer.