Quick start install guide for Windows Server 2012 Essentials

If Windows Server 2012 Essentials was purchased separately from a server, it must be installed using the following procedure. This section can be skipped if the operating system was pre-installed on your server at the time of purchase:

1. After connecting all of the server's components, connect the server to the local area network. Windows Server 2012 Essentials requires a network connection in order for installation to complete successfully.
2. Turn the server on and insert the Windows Server 2012 Essentials DVD into the drive.
3. At the Press any key to boot from CD or DVD prompt, press a key. If this prompt does not appear, it may be necessary to modify the server's BIOS boot sequence so that the DVD drive is at the top of the list of potential boot devices.
4. Select the desired language, time and currency format, and keyboard layout when prompted to do so.
5. Click Install now at the prompt.
6. Supply the operating system's product key, which is included with the installation media.
7. You must accept the license terms in order for the installation to proceed.
8. At the Which type of installation do you want? screen, select Custom: Install Windows only (advanced).
9. Select the hard drive on which Windows Server 2012 Essentials should be installed. This operating system requires a minimum of 60GB of disk space to install, though much more is recommended. Click Load Driver if you need to load a driver in order for Windows to recognize the hard drives in the server. You may also click Drive options (advanced) in order to partition your hard drives prior to installation.
10. Files will be copied from the installation media to the server's hard drives. This may take 30 minutes or longer, depending on the server's hardware. The server will reboot after completing the installation.

Once the initial installation has completed, some additional configuration steps must be performed before Windows Server 2012 Essentials is ready for use.

Note: The following steps assume that Windows Server 2012 Essentials is being installed into a new environment. It is also possible to migrate to Windows Server 2012 Essentials from a previous version of Windows Small Business Server, but this can be a lengthy and complex process, and it is not covered in this article.

1. Set the date, time, and time zone correctly at the Verify the date and time settings screen.
2. On the Choose server installation mode screen, select Clean install.
3. On the Personalize your server screen, enter the name of your organization, the name that will be used for your internal Active Directory domain, and the name of the server. Click Next when done.
   Note: The server name and domain name cannot be modified later without reinstalling Windows Server 2012 Essentials.
4. Provide information to be used to create the new administrator account. This account may not be named Administrator or Network Administrator, which are reserved names. Click Next when finished.
5. Provide information for a standard user account and click Next.
6. Select the method you wish to use to keep the server up to date and click Next.
7. The configuration of Windows Server 2012 Essentials will be completed and updates will be installed. This may take some time, and multiple reboots are normal during this process.
8. When the Your server is ready to be used screen appears, the configuration process has completed. It is recommended that you complete the Set Up My Server tasks on the Home page of the Dashboard as soon as possible to ensure that users have access to the full functionality of the server and to protect the data stored on it.