Multilanguage RIS Servers

To assist administrators supporting multiple languages, it is possible for a single RIS server to service clients that install different languages versions of the Windows 2000 operating system.

The Welcome.osc screen in the root of the \Oschooser directory in the RIS directory tree is the first file sent to the Client Installation Wizard. By modifying this screen, you can provide a list of languages that you want the server to support. The Multilng.osc file (in that same directory) is a sample OSC file that prompts the user to select their desired language. Subsequent Client Installation Wizard screens are obtained from the specified language folder in the \Oschooser directory, and the list of operating system images presented to the user is restricted to those images in the language selected.

For each language made available to users, a set of Client Installation Wizard screens must also be made available in a separate folder in the \Oschooser folder (\Oschooser\English is supplied by default).

Language Restrictions

The Client Installation Wizard does not support non-101 key keyboards, non-OEM fonts, or Multi-Byte Character Set (MBCS)/Unicode character sets. These limitations apply to data used within the Client Installation Wizard, such as computer names, domain names, and directory and file names (such as answer files). It also applies to what can be displayed to users, such as example or descriptive text, and what users can input to the Client Installation Wizard, such as user names, passwords, and domain names.

Because of these restrictions, ensure that the common strings of users accessing RIS servers, such as domain names, user names, and user passwords, do not contain characters that cannot be used within the Client Installation Wizard.

In addition, even though a different set of Client Installation Wizard screen files can be used depending on the language selected, in many cases creating screens that are fully localized to the selected language is not possible using the available character sets.

To enable language selection in the Client Installation Wizard

1. Using a text editor such as Notepad, open the Multilng.osc file, located in the \Oschooser directory.
2. Modify the <OPTION> tags to match the list of the languages supported by the server.
3. Save the modified Multilng.osc over the Welcome.osc file. (A copy of the original Welcome.osc file is found in the language-specific directory. For example, the English language directory is \Oschooser\English.)
4. Create folders for each supported language in the \Oschooser folder.
5. Create the Client Installation Wizard screens required for each language. If you want, these can be copied directly from the supplied \Oschooser\English folder.

When you complete these steps, users who perform a network service boot will receive the multilanguage welcome screen. Subsequent Client Installation Wizard screens will be obtained from the \Oschooser\<language> folder that matches the selected language. The selected language limits the list of image options displayed to the user.

Note

To support RIPrep images of different languages, a CD image of the language must also exist on the RIS server. This is required to supply files such as device drivers that are required during installation of the RIPrep image but that were not a part of the original RIPrep source computer.

© 1985-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.