Alright, so today I’m gonna walk you through my little adventure with setting up a 2008 R1 server. It was a bit of a throwback, but hey, sometimes you gotta dust off the old stuff, right?
Getting Started: The Hunt for the ISO
First thing’s first, I needed the ISO. I rummaged through my old hard drives, you know, the ones filled with digital relics. Eventually, I struck gold and found a legitimate copy of the 2008 R1 ISO. Huge relief, didn’t want to mess around with shady downloads.
Virtualization Time: Firing Up VirtualBox
I decided to use VirtualBox for this little experiment. Fired it up, created a new virtual machine. Gave it a decent amount of RAM (4GB should be enough, right?), and a dynamically allocated hard drive. Nothing fancy, just the basics.
Installation: A Trip Down Memory Lane
- Boot from ISO: Pointed the VM to the ISO file and booted it up. The familiar Windows Server 2008 installation screen popped up. Nostalgia hit me hard.
- Language and Keyboard: Selected my language and keyboard layout. Standard stuff.
- Product Key: This was the tricky part. Thankfully, I had my old product key tucked away. Entered it, and the installation process continued.
- Edition: Choose the server edition. I went with the standard edition since it meets my needs.
- Installation Type: Did a custom install. I wanted to have full control over the partitions.
- Disk Partitioning: Created a new partition on the virtual hard drive. Gave it the whole space.
- The Wait: Now, the waiting game. Grabbed a cup of coffee while the installation files copied over.
- Initial Configuration: After the install, time to configure the server.
Configuration: The Nitty-Gritty
- Administrator Password: First thing, set a strong administrator password. Can’t be slacking on security, even on a test VM.
- Network Settings: Configured the network adapter. Gave it a static IP address. No DHCP for this guy.
- Computer Name: Changed the computer name to something descriptive. “SRV2008R1” seemed fitting.
- Windows Updates: Ran Windows Update to grab the latest patches. Gotta keep it relatively secure, even if it’s an old OS.
Roles and Features: Adding Some Functionality
Now, the fun part. Added some server roles and features.
- File Server: Enabled file sharing to access files from another computer on the network.
Testing: Kicking the Tires
Time to see if everything actually worked.
- File sharing: After setting up the file sharing now I can put my files in that folder on my main machine to the R1!
Wrap-Up: A Successful Revival
And that was it! Successfully set up a 2008 R1 server in VirtualBox. It was a fun little project that reminded me of the good old days.
