Server 2003 R2 question

[shodge37]

This is my first time installing R2 on a server and I've tried it twice now and I can't figure out when it downloads SP2 how to make it be R2 and not just a regular SP2. I believe that the license I used was for R2. Is there a chance that the R2 just doesnt show up in System Info, but that it's really R2? I can't even find good guidance for this on microsoft's website. So I'm hoping someone here has experience with this.

TIA,
Sonja

 

[CalvinHobbes]

The first disc of R2 is identical to the normal Windows 2003 server disc. The only place it actually says R2 is maybe on the login screen other than that it's identical. The thing that made it "R2" was really just the second CD that had all the extra utilities and tools.

 

[RebateMonger]

Did you install the second Install CD? That's what makes it "R2".

If it's SBS 2003 R2, it'll say so at the top right of the "Server Management Console".

Have you tried typing "Winver" at the MS DOS Command Prompt? This won't work for SBS, but it apparently works for straight Server 2003.

Also: Microsoft: How Can I tell which of our Windows 2003 Computers are running R2?

"Q: Hey, Scripting Guy! We have a bunch of Windows Server 2003 computers in our organization. Some of these computers are running Windows Server 2003 R2 and some are not. How can I tell which of our Windows Server 2003 computers are running R2?

-- TX


A: Hey, TX. You know, that?s a question that people have been trying to answer for hundreds and hundreds of years: how can I determine whether a computer is running Windows Server 2003 R2 or not? And we?re not exaggerating here, either: after all, who could ever forget Julius Caesar?s last words: ?R2, Brute??

Now, if a Julius Caesar had no idea how to determine whether or not a computer is running Windows Server 2003 R2, what makes anyone think the Scripting Guys can succeed where even the mighty Caesar failed? Well, it?s definitely true that Caesar had wealth, power, and a genius for military tactics. What he didn?t have, however, was WMI:

strComputer = "."

Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")

Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_OperatingSystem")

For Each objItem in colItems
If InStr(objItem.OtherTypeDescription, "R2") Then
WScript.Echo "This computer is running Windows Server 2003 R2."
Else
WScript.Echo "This computer is not running Windows Server 2003 R2."
End If
Next

Yes, we know: it seems like this script should be a little fancier than that, doesn?t it? But this will do the trick, and in just a second we?ll explain how, and why.

The script starts off like most WMI scripts: it simply makes a connection to the WMI service on the local computer. (And, like most WMI scripts it can easily be modified to run against a remote computer: just assign the name of that remote computer to the variable strComputer.) We then use this line of code to retrieve information about the operating system currently in use on the machine:

Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_OperatingSystem")

Now comes the part that will have people singing the praises of the Scripting Guys long after they have forgotten Julius Caesar. As it turns out, the Win32_OperatingSystem class includes a property named OtherTypeDescription. Throughout recorded history this property has always returned a Null value. (Try it on a computer running Windows 2000 Server or Windows XP or regular old Windows Server 2003. You?ll always get back the same value: Null.) On a computer running Windows Server 2003 R2, however, this property does return a value. Not only that, but that value includes the string R2. And that?s how you determine whether or not a computer is running R2: you simply check to see if the string R2 can be found anywhere within the OtherTypeDescription property.

Needless to say, then, that?s what we do with the rest of the script. We set up a For Each loop to walk through the collection of operating systems returned by our query. (There will be only one such operating system, but we still need to use a For Each loop, something which will not be the case in Windows Vista.) We then use the InStr function to check for the presence of the string R2 in the OtherTypeDescription property:

If InStr(objItem.OtherTypeDescription, "R2") Then

If InStr returns True we report back the fact that the computer is running R2; otherwise we report back the fact that the computer is not running R2. That?s all we have to do.

So is this the most important script ever written? Well, we wouldn?t go quite that far. On the other hand, Julius Caesar didn?t know about the OtherTypeDescription property and look what happened to him. So on second thought ?."

 

[shodge37]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
Did you install the second Install CD? That's what makes it "R2".

If it's SBS 2003 R2, it'll say so at the top right of the "Server Management Console".

I don't think I installed the second one...I guess that's what I need. What I really need the R2 version for is the replication components of DFS. Apparently these are not included in straight 2003.

I'll see if someone around here has Disc 2.

Thanks

 

[RebateMonger]

If it's SBS 2003 R2, there ARE NO R2-type DFS features. It was removed from SBS 2003 R2.

 

[shodge37]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
If it's SBS 2003 R2, there ARE NO R2-type DFS features. It was removed from SBS 2003 R2.

no, this is not SBS. it is standard edition

 

[mooseracing]

It's on the second disk like what has been said then. I just did this about a week ago as one of our servers somehow missed the R2 features. I also had needed it for DFS. IIRC SP2 is the same for Server 03 and Server 03 R2

 

[shodge37]

i just found this post and hopefully someone that knows about R2 can help me. i tried installing the Disc 2 on a VMWare Domain Controller a couple weeks ago and it would not even run the install. gave me an error about not being compatible with the system or something. i dont remember it exactly, but i could find out, if needed.

would anyone know if this could possibly result from the license keys being for different types of channels? i.e. open license vs. single or some other cause?

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: shodge37
i just found this post and hopefully someone that knows about R2 can help me. i tried installing the Disc 2 on a VMWare Domain Controller a couple weeks ago and it would not even run the install. gave me an error about not being compatible with the system or something. i dont remember it exactly, but i could find out, if needed.

would anyone know if this could possibly result from the license keys being for different types of channels? i.e. open license vs. single or some other cause?

A vmware domain controller????????

 

[shodge37]

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: shodge37
i just found this post and hopefully someone that knows about R2 can help me. i tried installing the Disc 2 on a VMWare Domain Controller a couple weeks ago and it would not even run the install. gave me an error about not being compatible with the system or something. i dont remember it exactly, but i could find out, if needed.

would anyone know if this could possibly result from the license keys being for different types of channels? i.e. open license vs. single or some other cause?

A vmware domain controller????????

yes...a virtual domain controller...

it wasn't me! it was my boss lol

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: shodge37

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: shodge37
i just found this post and hopefully someone that knows about R2 can help me. i tried installing the Disc 2 on a VMWare Domain Controller a couple weeks ago and it would not even run the install. gave me an error about not being compatible with the system or something. i dont remember it exactly, but i could find out, if needed.

would anyone know if this could possibly result from the license keys being for different types of channels? i.e. open license vs. single or some other cause?

A vmware domain controller????????

yes...a virtual domain controller...

it wasn't me! it was my boss lol

Ok, what you meant to say is a Windows PDC running in a Vmware virtual machine. There is no construct called a vmware domain controller.

That said, sounds like your mixing the r2 second disk with a standard 2003 server install. You must install from the r2 disk 1 to be able to install from disk 2, you can not upgrade a 2003 server to r2 by just running the second disk.

 

[shodge37]

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: shodge37

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: shodge37
i just found this post and hopefully someone that knows about R2 can help me. i tried installing the Disc 2 on a VMWare Domain Controller a couple weeks ago and it would not even run the install. gave me an error about not being compatible with the system or something. i dont remember it exactly, but i could find out, if needed.

would anyone know if this could possibly result from the license keys being for different types of channels? i.e. open license vs. single or some other cause?

A vmware domain controller????????

yes...a virtual domain controller...

it wasn't me! it was my boss lol

Ok, what you meant to say is a Windows PDC running in a Vmware virtual machine. There is no construct called a vmware domain controller.

That said, sounds like your mixing the r2 second disk with a standard 2003 server install. You must install from the r2 disk 1 to be able to install from disk 2, you can not upgrade a 2003 server to r2 by just running the second disk.

hhmmm...ok...i'll look into that. thanks