Windows Server 2012 R2 DC Edition UEFI Install - Nightmare?

By game_over
in Microsoft (Windows)

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Grand Master

game_over

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I'm trying to do a UEFI installation of Windows Server 2012, i'm either missing something blatantly obvious or it's stupidly difficult..

 

The only ISO that i can download from MVL is over 5GB so it can't go on DVD.

 

UEFI needs FAT32 but the INSTALL.WIM file is over 4GB so it won't go on a FAT32 USB drive

 

I thought about splitting the partition on the USB so it can boot from FAT32 and install from NTFS, however I can't split the partition on the USB because I don't have Server 2012 installed (obviously), apparently it can't be done on Windows 8?

 

I tried using the Windows 7 USB DVD Tool which seems to work but won't boot so i'm guessing it's formatted to NTFS.

 

What are my options?

Grand Master

game_over

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5GB is weird size :o

anyways, you have option to use duel layer 8GB DVD.

Try Rufus it might create a bootable USB for you.

 

5.02gb to be exact.. i think it's because it contains both x86 and x64 versions of Standard and Data Centre editions, even though i've only requested DC there is no option to download any other image in the DC variety.

 

Rufus says the same thing 'This ISO image contains a file larger than 4GB, which is more than the maximum size allowed for a FAT or FAT32 file system.".. but thanks anyway.

 

f-you Microsoft.

Mentor

riceBox

Posted
Posted

Extract the ISO in a directory, and split the install.wim using DISM.

dism /split-image /imagefile:c:\iso\sources\install.wim /swmfile: c:\iso\sources\install.swm /filesize:4095 /checkintegrity

More here:

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/53532-murphy78-DiskPart-and-Apply-Image-Script

 

As for making it back into an ISO, I just took the lazy way and used WinReducer for that.

Grand Master

game_over

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Thanks, I didn't know DISM existed, it has successfully created two .swm files.. Can i just copy these to my prepared USB rather than back to an ISO, just to extract to a USB again? (i'm attempting this now anyway)

Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted

I'm trying to do a UEFI installation of Windows Server 2012, i'm either missing something blatantly obvious or it's stupidly difficult..

 

The only ISO that i can download from MVL is over 5GB so it can't go on DVD.

 

UEFI needs FAT32 but the INSTALL.WIM file is over 4GB so it won't go on a FAT32 USB drive

 

I thought about splitting the partition on the USB so it can boot from FAT32 and install from NTFS, however I can't split the partition on the USB because I don't have Server 2012 installed (obviously), apparently it can't be done on Windows 8?

 

I tried using the Windows 7 USB DVD Tool which seems to work but won't boot so i'm guessing it's formatted to NTFS.

 

What are my options?

USB sticks of the 8 GB variety are what I use - and I use RUFUS for the construction thereof.

 

Even better, by default, RUFUS creates USB sticks that are dual-capable - and thus support MBR and GPT installs.

 

Finally, RUFUS is, in fact, free.

 

http://rufus.akeo.ie.

  • Aergan and goretsky
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Grand Master

sc302 Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
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USB sticks of the 8 GB variety are what I use - and I use RUFUS for the construction thereof.

 

Even better, by default, RUFUS creates USB sticks that are dual-capable - and thus support MBR and GPT installs.

 

Finally, RUFUS is, in fact, free.

 

http://rufus.akeo.ie.

That looks pretty slick....I am currently using yumi to create boot usb, but it can multiboot.  Would want something that can multiboot ntfs so that I can have multiple isos/boot distros on it.

Grand Master

Aergan

Posted
Posted

That looks pretty slick....I am currently using yumi to create boot usb, but it can multiboot.  Would want something that can multiboot ntfs so that I can have multiple isos/boot distros on it.

 

Rufus takes what you give it, there's not anything built in that will multiboot different NTFS partitions etc that i'm aware of.

 

If you master your own WIM / WIM set into WinPE environment media then it will happily make a USB bootable stick from it.

Grand Master

sc302 Veteran

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  • Veteran
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never said anything about different ntfs partitions.  I multiboot isos, the tools create a boot loader (usually grub) and allow you to boot to several isos.  On the same boot stick, I can boot acronis, hirens, windows 7, windows 8, windows 2008 r2 server, windows 2012 server, vmware, ubuntu, or redhat without carrying multiple disks or pendrives with me. I simply insert the usb and choose what I want to boot to through a simple menu.

 

This is what I am currently using (it says it supports ntfs but have not been able to get it to work in ntfs)

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/

 

I think I may try this out

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/xboot-multiboot-iso-usb-creator/

Grand Master

game_over

Posted
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I managed to install Windows using the DISM method but still had a few problems with firmware + drivers, realising i was supposed to be using HP Intelligent Provision tool which downloads firmware, drivers and then modifies the windows image for installation.

 

It won't seem to pick the windows installation I prepared on the USB, it lets me browse the folders but can't proceed, I'm guessing it doesn't support install.swm files, nor can it read NTFS drives.

 

I downloaded a Windows Server 2012 R2 DC Edition evaluation image from Microsoft which is under 4.7GB so it fits on a DVD, however after the initial file copy the server reboots to finish the installation, it fails with the following error message:

 

"Windows cannot find the Microsoft Software Licence Terms. Make sure the installation sources are valid and restart the installation."

 

I have tried various methods of creating USB disks, DVDs and unattended the install.. nothing works.

 

I have now downloaded the HP Service Pack for ProLiant ISO, next i will try running this first to make sure everything is up to date and then try again, otherwise i'll try manually installing Windows again and then running the Service Pack from within.

 

The whole process just seems awkward and unnecessary, i've never witnessed anything like it, although the last server i setup was a Gen6 so it has been a few years.

Grand Master

binaryzero

Posted
Posted

Not sure why you didn't just burnt the ISO to DVD?

 

File name: SW_DVD5_Windows_Svr_Std_and_DataCtr_2012_R2_64Bit_English_Core_MLF_X19-05182.ISO

Size: 4.00 GB (4,297,373,696 bytes)

 

You're hacking away too much for a server install. Get the HP discs, boot from them, there'll be an option to install an OS with the correct drivers and config, insert Windows disc when prompted. 

Grand Master

game_over

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Not sure why you didn't just burnt the ISO to DVD?

 

File name: SW_DVD5_Windows_Svr_Std_and_DataCtr_2012_R2_64Bit_English_Core_MLF_X19-05182.ISO

Size: 4.00 GB (4,297,373,696 bytes)

 

You're hacking away too much for a server install. Get the HP discs, boot from them, there'll be an option to install an OS with the correct drivers and config, insert Windows disc when prompted. 

 

I tried that, I do not have that ISO

 

Windows Server Standard and DataCenter 2012 R2 64 bit English

SW_DVD9_Windows_Svr_Std_and_DataCtr_2012_R2_64Bit_English_-4_MLF_X19-82891.ISO

5149 MB

 

I couldn't find a double-layer DVD disc anywhere, the only place that sold them was my local PC World that didn't have any stock. It wouldn't fit on a USB so i needed to 'hack away' also the HP tools are beyond useless, I ended up doing it manually because the provisioning tool wouldn't pick up Windows installation from my USB.. i was forced to run the ProLiant Service Pack ISO which upgraded the firmware on my RAID controller and killed the cache module... After spending 3 hours on a support call with HP, i've got a replacement coming out this morning because they couldn't remove the errors.

  • 1 month later...
Neowinian

ThaNutzack

Posted
Posted

Another option if you're using Dell.

 

My Server 2012 Datacenter image was also 5.1gb; and I had no dual layer DVD's.

 

My solution: created a bootable USB drive image of Server2012 Datacenter, I used the Windows7USB tool;

then use the Dell Build Utility CD instead of UEFI.

 

When you use the Dell Build Utility CD, it will prompt you for the DVD after the initial boot.

When the utility prompts for the DVD, simply plug in the USB image instead. It will actually search both DVD and USB ports.

Providing you have created the USB correctly, it will find Server 2012 Datacenter and proceed with installation.

 

-TnS

 

Neowinian

grazer

Posted
Posted

Goodbytes: Found your post while googling the exact same issue.

 

I had used Rufus to create an NTFS USB with the same Server2012 image you are using - and only read the Intelligent Provisioning documentation later, which states only FAT32.

 

I'm trying to work out how to get the USB / IP boot working, and if I make any progress I'll post back - until then I just wanted you to know that your pain is being shared. I cannot believe that in this day and age, HP can release a next gen server that cant install Server2012R2 from USB.

 

Grazer

Grand Master

game_over

Posted
  • Author
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Goodbytes: Found your post while googling the exact same issue.

 

I had used Rufus to create an NTFS USB with the same Server2012 image you are using - and only read the Intelligent Provisioning documentation later, which states only FAT32.

 

I'm trying to work out how to get the USB / IP boot working, and if I make any progress I'll post back - until then I just wanted you to know that your pain is being shared. I cannot believe that in this day and age, HP can release a next gen server that cant install Server2012R2 from USB.

 

Grazer

 

I didn't use the Intelligent Provisioning in the end.. using the DISM command on the above best answer allowed me to copy it to a USB which I installed using traditional methods... I then downloaded the HP Service Pack for ProLiant servers: http://h17007.www1.hp.com/us/en/enterprise/servers/products/service_pack/spp/index.aspx this will install everything that the IP tool installs... note if you read above: upgrading my the firmware of my SmartArray controller using the SSP method completely killed it, I was given a replacement part by HP as the cache storage module wouldn't stop throwing errors... everything else worked fine and have been using the OS since early Jan without any problems.

Veteran

REM2000

Posted
Posted

i always burn ISO's to 8GB memory sticks using the Microsoft Win7 download usb creator,always seems to work ok, plus the installs are faster than DVD's.

 

Also finding more and more servers coming without optical drives now, stuff like Cisco servers come with no optical drives,

Neowinian

grazer

Posted
Posted

I have created the install.swm and install2.swm files using DISM.  Did you just copy the two new .SWM files back to the original USB and boot the server from it or is there anything special you need to do?

 

Many thanks,

 

Don't worry - the copy of those two files back to the 'Sources' folder on the USB drive did work ok.

 

Many thanks for your post!

i always burn ISO's to 8GB memory sticks using the Microsoft Win7 download usb creator,always seems to work ok, plus the installs are faster than DVD's.

 

Also finding more and more servers coming without optical drives now, stuff like Cisco servers come with no optical drives,

 

The only problem in this case was that the ISO contained a file greater than 4GB and the USB required to be formatted as FAT32 as it is a UEFI based server.

  • 5 months later...
Neowinian

AlwaysLearning

Posted
Posted

I'm posting this here hoping that this helps someone else... We spent a couple of days in VirtualBox, vSphere and a couple of test machines trying to get this right before installing Windows Server 2012 R2 across a pool of ProLiant servers that included both BIOS and UEFI firmware. Disturbingly all of the annoyances came from the UEFI servers, such as not being able to boot NTFS over USB!

As with a couple of people here the .iso we downloaded from the MSDN Subscription Portal (en_windows_server_2012_r2_with_update_x64_dvd_6052708.iso @ 5.02 GB), was too big for single layer DVD media  plus we had the added complications of wanting to add an AutoUnattend.xml file (which only works from optical media or USB flash keys) as well as drivers for the storage controllers and NICs.

The solution for us was to create a 2 x 4.7 GB DVD installation using the following procedure:

  1. The DISM and OSCDIMG tools are required, so download and install Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) for Windows 8.1 Update to a technician computer, http://www.microsoft.com/en-au/download/details.aspx?id=39982
  2. Download the WS2012R2 .iso
  3. Create D:\Span\DVD1 and D:\Span\DVD2\Sources folders
  4. With the .iso mounted on E:, copy all of the folders and files from E:\ into D:\Span\DVD1
  5. Add our AutoUnattend.xml file and driver folders to D:\Span\DVD1
  6. Delete the D:\Span\DVD1\Sources\Install.wim file
  7. Use DISM to split the original Install.wim file into Install.swm and Install2.swm files:
    ...\dism.exe /Split-Image /ImageFile:E:\Sources\Install.wim /SWMFile:D:\Span\DVD1\Sources\Install.swm /FileSize:3500
  8. Move the Install2.swm file into the D:\Span\DVD2\Sources folder
  9. Use OSCDIMG to create two new .iso files with the UDF file system, the first bootable, the second not bootable:
    ...\oscdimg -m -p0x00 -u2 -b"etfsboot.com" D:\Span\DVD1 "D:\Span\WS2012R2-custom-disc1.iso"
    ...\oscdimg -m -u2 D:\Span\DVD2 "D:\Span\WS2012R2-custom-disc2.iso"
  10. Burn your new .iso files to media
  11. ...
  12. Profit!

During setup on the target server, after copying all of the required files and drivers from the first disc, Windows Setup will prompt: Insert Windows installation disc 2. It did this automagically, no changes to the AutoUnattend.xml file were required.

In theory you could avoid using 2 DVDs with a disc switch and just use a bootable FAT32 USB key to hold the *.swm files instead of the single Install.wim file. This was the first thing we tried, before discovering DISM, but the original Install.wim file is 4.4 GB and thus too big to be written to a FAT32 file system. We couldn't use an NTFS format USB key because of the UEFI servers. The separate Install.swm (3.5 GB) and Install2.swm (1 GB) files output from the DISM command above would probably be just fine on a FAT32 USB key, though.

  • 1 month later...
Neowinian

trZone

Posted
Posted

Someone asked if you could split the WIM & put it on a flash drive.
You can, but Intelligent Provisioning won't validate the USB stick... Maybe someone could improve these steps:

1. Create bootable Flash drive using Rufus (I found the URL somewhere above), it makes the drive NTFS
2. Copy all contents off of that into a folder. Example C:\Flash
3. Split the Install.wim using AlwaysLearning's steps, above
4. Put both Install.swm AND Install2.swm here: C:\Flash\Sources
5. Delete C:\Flash\Sources\Install.wim (this is the file bigger than 4gb)
6. Format your USB drive to FAT32
7. Copy contents of C:\Flash to Flash drive
8. Do a one-time UEFI boot from the flash drive

BTW this site (neowin) has HUGE hoops for someone just to post a comment. What If I don't WANT an account!

Grand Master

sc302 Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted (edited)

 


BTW this site (neowin) has HUGE hoops for someone just to post a comment. What If I don't WANT an account!

We want people who contribute, we don't want to keep monitoring and banning new ip's and users (spambots) that come up.

Neowinian

trZone

Posted
Posted

We want people who contribute, we don't want to keep monitoring and banning new ip's and users (spambots) that come up.

We can have "sign in with Facebook" and then leave it at that... It was literally 7 steps instead of 2. I hope that clarifies it.

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