Hi, in this video I will show you how to build a hard driveless network with a server running Windows server operating system.
In the previous video I showed how to build with Ubuntu server but that way you have to enter a lot of commands and there is no graphical interface
So in this video I use Windows server operating system, it uses a graphical interface to configure and operate
Here I have pre-installed Windows server operating system, in this video we are only interested in how to configure it
Let's do it together
First you set up a static ip address for the server
Next you download the Windows 10 operating system image file for the client computers
You access the link above and use the torrent client to download the Windows 10 image file
I already downloaded the image file, but we have to convert it before it can be used
The downloaded file has the extension vhd so we will convert it to a file with the extension vhdx
There are many ways to convert files but I will use hyper v on Windows operating system
Windows OS doesn't come with Hyper V by default so I'll install it
After the installation is complete you will be asked to restart the server
I will do as requested and restart the Windows server
The server has finished booting and let's check if Hyper V is installed
Now that Hyper V is installed, we will use it to convert the operating system image file downloaded from the previous step.
You browse to the Windows image file and convert it to a file with the extension vhdx
The conversion is finished and here is the result file
You need to make sure the new file has the extension vhdx
It is slightly larger than the original file
Next you create the block storages for the client computers, so you install the iscsi target for the Windows server
So there is no need to reboot when installing iscsi target
Next we import the Windows 10 image file to the iscsi storage system
You browse to the newly created file with extension vhdx to create a new iscsi target
The client computer can only connect to the iscsi target if it has a matching MAC address
Once created, you can add as many MAC addresses as you want
And here is the newly created iscsi target, I decided to change the iqn to suit my needs
You can also use default iqn
We have finished creating the Windows 10 image storage block data, next we will download the ip-addressing software for the client and transfer the boot file to the client computer
That software is Tiny PXE Server, a small, free software that helps you get boot over the network
These are the files after downloading and unzipping
Next we will configure it to suit your Windows server
You navigate to the files folder and open the menu.ipxe file with Notepad available on Windows operating system
You delete the default lines and replace them with lines like above
Next you replace with your server ip address
After completing the menu.ipxe file, create a new folder named config
This directory will store the configuration files for the client computers
I will create a new configuration file for the first client with the same mac address as above
The name of the configuration file is very important so make sure you name it with the client computer's MAC address
The name of the file has no uppercase characters
Then you enter the lines as above
Next you update the ip address of the Windows server
Then you update the iqn you just created in the previous step
By default, the Tiny PXE Server software is blocked by the Windows server's firewall, so you configure the firewall to allow this software to pass through.
You allow the Tiny PXE Server software to pass through the Windows Server firewall
For ease of operation, you create a software shortcut to the desktop
Depending on the client using BIOS or UEFI, you choose the appropriate boot file
In this example I use the file ipxe unonly.kpxe because the client computer uses BIOS
The preparation steps have been completed, you put the software online so that the client computer can connect and run the Windows 10 operating system.
As you can see the client computer is connected, the ip address has been allocated
So I've introduced how to build a Windows server that boots over the network, client computers running Windows 10 don't need a hard drive.
This way you don't need to use commands like I did in previous videos
I connect the client computer on the same intranet to the server by wire and configure it to start over the network
The client computer is given an ip from the Windows server
Then the client computer connects to the iscsi target created in the previous step and then the computer runs Windows 10 without a hard drive.
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