Step By Step Guide for Windows Server 2008 Domain Controller and DNS Server Setup

Click on Start > Run
The system will start checking if Active Directory Domain Services ( AD DS) binaries are installed, then will start installing them. The binaries could be installed if you had run the dcpromo command previously and then canceled the operation after the binaries were installed.

The Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard will start, either enable the checkbox beside Use Advanced mode installation and Click Next , or keep it unselected and click on Next
The Operating System Compatibility page will be displayed, take a moment to read it and click Next
Choose Create a new domain in a new forest, Click Next

Enter the Fully Qualified Domain Name of the forest root domain inside the textbox, click Next
If you selected Use advanced mode installation on the Welcome page, the Domain NetBIOS Name page appears. On this page, type the NetBIOS name of the domain if necessary or accept the default name and then click Next.

Select the Forest Functional Level, choose the level you desire and click on Next.

Make sure to read the description of each functional level to understand the difference between each one.

In the previous step, If you have selected any Forest Functional Level other than windows Server 2008 and clicked on Next , you would then get a page to select the domain Functional Level. Select it and then click on Next
In the Additional Domain Controller Options page, you can select to install the domain Name Service to your server. Note that the First domain controller in a forest must be a Global Catalog that’s why the checkbox beside Global Catalog is selected and it cannot be cleared. The checkbox is also selected by default when you install an additional domain controller in an existing domain, however you can clear this checkbox if you do not want the additional domain controller to be a global catalog server. The first domain controller in a new forest or in a new domain can not be a Read Only Domain Controller (RODC), you can later add a RODC but you must have at least one Windows Server 2008 Domain Controller.

I want to set my DC as a DNS Server as well, so I will keep the checkbox beside DNS server selected and click on NextIf you don’t have static ip assigned to your server you will see similar to the following screen now you need to assign static ip and start the above process.

If you don’t have static ip assigned to your server you will see similar to the following screen now you need to assign static ip and start the above process.

Now you will have the location where the domain controller database, log files and SYSVOL are stored on the server.

The database stores information about the users, computers and other objects on the network. the log files record activities that are related to AD DS, such information about an object being updated. SYSVOL stores Group Policy objects and scripts. By default, SYSVOL is part of the operating system files in the Windows directory either type or browse to the volume and folder where you want to store each, or accept the defaults and click on Next
In the Directory Services Restore Mode Administrator Password (DSRM) page, write a password and confirm it. This password is used when the domain controller is started in Directory Services Restore Mode, which might be because Active Directory Domain services is not running, or for tasks that must be performed offline.Make sure that you memorize this password when you need it.

Summary page will be displayed showing you all the setting that you have set . It gives you the option to export the setting you have setup into an answer file for use with other unattended operations, if you wish to have such file, click on the Export settings button and save the file.

DNS Installation will start
Followed by installing Group Policy Management Console, the system will check first if it is installed or not.

Configuring the local computer to host active directory Domain Services and other operations will take place setting up this server as a Domain Controller active Directory Domain Services installation will be completed, click Finish.

Click on Restart Now to restart your server for the changes to take effect.

Once the server is booted and you logon to it, click on Start > Administrative Toolsyou will notice that following have been installed :
Active Directory Domains and Trusts
Active Directory Sites and Services
Active Directory Users and Computers
ADSI Edit
DNS
Group Policy Management

That’s it now your new win server 2008 domain controller with dns server setup was completed.

For complete screen shot please refer the link.

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How To Install and Configure DNS Server in Windows Server 2003

Before You Start
Before you start to configure your DNS, you must gather some basic information. Internic must approve some of this information for use on the Internet, but if you are configuring this server for internal use only, you can decide what names and IP addresses to use.

You must have the following information:
Your domain name (approved by Internic).
The IP address and host name of each server that you want to provide name resolution for.
Note: The servers may be your mail servers, public access servers, FTP servers, WWW servers, and others.

Before you configure your computer as a DNS, verify that the following conditions are true:
Your operating system is configured correctly. In the Windows Server 2003 family, the DNS service depends on the correct configuration of the operating system and its services, such as TCP/IP. If you have a new installation of a Windows Server 2003 operating system, then you can use the default service settings. You do not have to take additional action.
You have allocated all the available disk space.
All the existing disk volumes use the NTFS file system. FAT32 volumes are not secure, and they do not support file and folder compression, disk quotas, file encryption, or individual file permissions

Install DNS
Open Windows Components Wizard. To do so, use the following steps:
Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs.
Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
In Components, select the Networking Services check box, and then click Details.
InSubcomponents of Networking Services, select the Domain Name System (DNS) check box, click OK, and then click Next.
If you are prompted, in Copy files from, type the full path of the distribution files, and then click OK.

Configure DNS
Start the Configure Your Server Wizard. To do so, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Configure Your Server Wizard.
On the Server Role page, click DNS server, and then click Next.
On the Summary of Selections page, view and confirm the options that you have selected. The following items should appear on this page:
Install DNS
Run the Configure a DNS Wizard to configure DNS
If the Summary of Selections page lists these two items, click Next. If the Summary of Selections page does not list these two items, click Back to return to the Server Role page, click DNS, and then click Next.
When the Configure Your Server Wizard installs the DNS service, it first determines whether the IP address for this server is static or is configured automatically. If your server is currently configured to obtain its IP address automatically, the Configuring Components page of the Windows Components Wizard prompts you to configure this server with a static IP address. To do so:
In the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties.
In the Internet Protocols (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box, click Use the following IP address, and then type the static IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway for this server.
In Preferred DNS, type the IP address of this server.
In Alternate DNS, type the IP address of another internal DNS server, or leave this box blank.
When you finish setting up the static addresses for your DNS, click OK, and then click Close.
After you click Close, the Configure a DNS Server Wizard starts. In the wizard, follow these steps:
On the Select Configuration Action page, select the Create a forward lookup zone check box, and then click Next.
To specify that this DNS hosts a DNS zone that contains DNS resource records for your network resources, on the Primary Server Location page, click This server maintains the zone, and then click Next.
On the Zone Name page, in Zone name, specify the name of the DNS zone for your network, and then click Next. The name of the zone is the same as the name of the DNS domain for your small organization or branch office.
On the Dynamic Update page, click Allow both nonsecure and secure dynamic updates, and then click Next. This makes sure that the DNS resource records for the resources in your network update automatically.
On the Forwarders page, click Yes, it should forward queries to DNS servers with the following IP addresses, and then click Next. When you select this configuration, you forward all DNS queries for DNS names outside your network to a DNS at either your ISP or central office. Type one or more IP addresses that either your ISP or central office DNS servers use.
On the Completing the Configure a DNS Wizard page of the Configure a DNS Wizard, you can click Back to change any of the settings. To apply your selections, click Finish.
After you finish the Configure a DNS Wizard, the Configure Your Server Wizard displays the This Server is Now a DNS Server page. To review all the changes that you made to your server in the Configure Your Server Wizard or to make sure that a new role was installed successfully, click Configure Your Server log. The Configure Your Server Wizard log is located at %systemroot%\Debug\Configure Your Server.log. To close the Configure Your Server Wizard, click Finish.

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Setting up a DHCP server in Windows 2003

The DHCP server assigns a client an IP address taken from a predefined scope for a given amount of time. If an IP address is required for longer than the lease has been set for, the client must request an extension before the lease expires. If the client has not requested an extension on the lease time, the IP address will be considered free and can be assigned to another client. If the user wishes to change IP address then they can do so by typing "ipconfig /release", followed by "ipconfig /renew" in the command prompt. This will remove the current IP address and request a new one. Reservations can be defined on the DHCP server to allow certain clients to have their own IP address (this will be discussed a little later on). Addresses can be reserved for a MAC address or a host name so these clients will have a fixed IP address that is configured automatically. Most Internet Service Providers use DHCP to assign new IP addresses to client computers when a customer connects to the internet - this simplifies things at user level.

For step by step guide with diagrams check the link.

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WINS

The purpose of WINS is to allow a NetBIOS name to be converted to an IP address. Therefore computers using WINS must be using NBT (NetBIOS over TCP/IP). WINS was originally put in place to compensate for a shortcoming of NetBEUI which is the fact that it is not routable. Therefore on large Networks IP is used to transport NetBIOS and rather than using broadcasts, information is sent to the WINS server.

WINS converts Windows computer names to IP addresses but does not do name lookups based on IP addresses. The use of Windows Explorer or NET commands invokes the NetBIOS interface. NetBIOS names, if repeated on another domain that is on the network, may cause a problem since there is no way to distinguish NetBIOS names between two domains. Each computer, when booted, sends a name registration broadcast. If there is no response, the computer will use the name it registered. A NetBIOS broadcast releases the computer name when the computer is shutdown gracefully.

WINS reduces this broadcast traffic when using NBT. The registration and release is sent to the WINS server rather than being broadcast. The clients have the IP address of the WINS server and they are configured to use WINS before using NetBIOS broadcasts. A backup WINS server may be available on the network for fault tolerance.

For more info please refer the link

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