Installing MS-DOS Files on the Remoteboot Server

When a client starts and requests an MS-DOS remoteboot, the remoteboot server gives it a boot block, which will load some version of the MS-DOS operating system. The server can also provide Windows 3.1 for the client. You must copy MS-DOS and Windows 3.1 files to the server; they are not shipped with Windows NT Server.

Note

You must have a separate, valid, software license for each client computer, including remoteboot clients, that runs MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows 3.1, or Microsoft Windows 95.

In the following procedure you install MS-DOS files on the server. For information about how to install Windows 3.1 files, see "Installing Windows 3.1 for MS-DOS Clients" later in this chapter. For information about how to install Windows 95 files, see "Installing Windows 95 for Windows 95 Clients" later in this chapter. You cannot install Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 until you have at least one MS-DOS remoteboot client running.

To copy MS-DOS 6.2x files to the server

1. Check that the <systemroot>\Rpl\Rplfiles directory is being shared on the remoteboot server. It should have the share name Rplfiles.

2. From an MS-DOS client (running a version of MS-DOS 6.2x that you want to support on the remoteboot server), connect to the remoteboot server's Rplfiles share by typing:

net use v: \\server\rplfiles

where server is the name of the remoteboot server.

3. Copy all the MS-DOS files to the <systemroot>\Rpl\Rplfiles\Binfiles\Dosxxx directory, where xxx is the version number (for example, Dos622), by typing:

copy c:\dos\*.* v:\binfiles\dos622
attrib -s -h c:\io.sys
attrib -s -h c:\msdos.sys
copy c:\io.sys v:\binfiles\dos622
copy c:\msdos.sys v:\binfiles\dos622
attrib +s +h c:\io.sys
attrib +s +h c:\msdos.sys

As shown, you may need to remove the hidden file attribute in order to copy these files and then reset the attribute after copying. You can do this with the MS-DOS attrib command.

Note

Do not set the hidden or system file attributes on the new copies of the files in the <systemroot>\Rpl\Rplfiles\Binfiles\Dosxxx directory.

Copy files to an existing Dosxxx directory only; do not create a new directory. For example, any version of MS-DOS 6.2x must be copied to the existing Dos622 directory.

4. If you copied DOS files other than MS-DOS (such as PC-DOS), you must rename the following files. From the <systemroot>\Rpl\Rplfiles\Binfiles\Dosxxx directory on the remoteboot server, type:

rename ibmdos.com msdos.sys
rename ibmbio.com io.sys