Remote Installation of OS/2 Warp Connect

Erik Mintz

''This Little Solution discusses the remote installation utility included with OS/2 Warp Connect. It covers the products included with OS/2 Warp Connect, installation methods, remote installation server setup, the client boot diskettes, and remote client installation.''

IBM's most recent release of its award-winning 32-bit operating system is OS/2 Warp Connect. Like OS/2 Warp, this package comes in two versions: one without WIN-OS2 support (the red-spine product box) and one with WIN-OS2 support (the blue-spine box).

OS/2 Warp Connect installs on top of DOS and Windows systems meeting the minimum requirements (see "Server and Client Requirements" below), as well as on top of OS/2 2.1 or 2.11. If you currently use OS/2 for Windows 2.1, we recommend that you use the OS/2 Warp Connect product with the red spine, which uses your existing DOS and Windows.

Products Included in OS/2 Warp Connect
Delivered on CD-ROM only, OS/2 Warp Connect includes the following products:
 * Base product:
 * OS/2 Warp 3.0 (with WIN-OS2 support)
 * IBM Peer for OS/2
 * IBM LAN Requester 4.0
 * NetWare Client for OS/2
 * LAN Distance Remote 1.1
 * Network SignON Coordinator
 * TCP/IP for OS/2 3.0 (including the Internet Access Kit)
 * Utilities:
 * AskPSP
 * Diskette images for OS/2 Warp and Networking Products Single-Component Installations for Connectivity Products
 * View/print publications
 * BonusPak for OS/2 Warp (on a separate CD-ROM):
 * Internet Connection
 * CompuServe Information Manager for OS/2
 * HyperACCESS Lite for OS/2
 * Person to Person for OS/2
 * Multimedia Viewer
 * Video IN for OS/2
 * IBM Works
 * FaxWorks for OS/2
 * System Information Tool
 * Lotus Notes Express (on a separate CD-ROM)

Two Installation Methods
OS/2 Warp Connect includes two installation methods: (1) local, where you install directly from the CD-ROM, or (2) remote, where you install across a local area network (LAN) from a workstation set up as a remote installation server.

Remote Installation Server
One of the best features of OS/2 Warp Connect is its ability to set up a workstation equipped with a CD-ROM as a remote installation server. This remote installation capability allows a client machine to attach across a LAN to an OS/2 Warp Connect server workstation and then install all of the products contained in OS/2 Warp Connect.

Server and Client Requirements
Below are the hardware and software requirements for both the server and client machines.
 * Server:
 * 16 MB of RAM
 * OS/2-compatible CD-ROM drive
 * LAN adapter card supported by OS/2 LAN Server
 * OS/2 Warp Version 3 or later
 * Client:
 * Intel 80386SX processor or greater
 * 8 MB to 12 MB of RAM
 * 1.44 MB, 3.5-inch diskette drive configured as drive A:
 * VGA video support
 * IBM-compatible mouse
 * LAN adapter card supported by OS/2 LAN Server

Remote Installation Server Setup
Your remote installation server must meet the hardware requirements listed previously under "Server and Client Requirements." Its software requirements are OS/2 Warp and native NetBIOS.

Begin the OS/2 Warp Connect installation by booting the installation diskettes provided with the package. Install only OS/2 Warp, without any networking options (unless required). It does not matter which drive you use to install OS/2 Warp.

Once OS/2 Warp is configured, installed, and running on your server, you must install LAN adapter and protocol support. Multi-Protocol Transport Support (MPTS), included with OS/2 Warp Connect, provides these LAN adapter device drivers and protocols.

To install MPTS, type x:\cid\img\laps\mpts where x: is the drive letter of the CD-ROM drive on your remote installation server.

Choose the appropriate device driver for your LAN adapter card, and choose the NetBIOS protocol (see Figure 1). When MPTS has been successfully installed and configured, shut down and reboot your machine.

Note: If you are installing OS/2 Peer or LAN Requester, remember two things:
 * 1) Native NetBIOS is required for remote installations.
 * 2) Skip installing MPTS for LAN Adapter and Protocol Support.

Client Boot Diskettes
Open the OS/2 System object, then the OS/2 Warp Connect Install/Remove object, then the OS/2 Warp Connect Remote Install object (see Figure 2). This last object guides you through building a set of client boot diskettes based on the client workstation's LAN adapter card (see Figures 3 and 4).



Remote Installation Server Startup
After you build your client boot diskettes, you can start your remote installation server (see Figure 5).

Client Installation
When a client connects to the remote installation server via the LAN installation diskettes, the status bar at the server shows "Installation in progress" (see Figure 6).

If the client machine does not have OS/2 Warp already installed, the client's user can choose between the Easy or Advanced installation option. But if OS/2 Warp is already installed and running on the client machine, the installation is flexible enough to give the client's user two other choices: install networking only or reinstall OS/2 Warp with networking.

When the client completes the installation, the status bar at the server shows "Installation complete."