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-- Ben Armstrong, Virtualization Program Manager

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Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

People have been asking me how to install Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2.  There are a couple of things to know in order to do this:

  1. The default install of IIS on Windows Vista Beta 2 is missing several components the Virtual Server needs to run.  Most importantly it does not support CGI applications or Windows authentication.  You can either manually select these components under the Windows component installer - or you can run the following command (all one line):

    start /w pkgmgr /l:log.etw /iu:IIS-WebServerRole;IIS-WebServer;IIS-CommonHttpFeatures;IIS-StaticContent;IIS-DefaultDocument;IIS-DirectoryBrowsing;IIS-HttpErrors;IIS-HttpRedirect;IIS-ApplicationDevelopment;IIS-ASPNET;IIS-NetFxExtensibility;IIS-ASP;IIS-CGI;IIS-ISAPIExtensions;IIS-ISAPIFilter;IIS-ServerSideIncludes;IIS-HealthAndDiagnostics;IIS-HttpLogging;IIS-LoggingLibraries;IIS-RequestMonitor;IIS-HttpTracing;IIS-CustomLogging;IIS-ODBCLogging;IIS-Security;IIS-BasicAuthentication;IIS-WindowsAuthentication;IIS-DigestAuthentication;IIS-ClientCertificateMappingAuthentication;IIS-IISCertificateMappingAuthentication;IIS-URLAuthorization;IIS-RequestFiltering;IIS-IPSecurity;IIS-Performance;IIS-HttpCompressionStatic;IIS-HttpCompressionDynamic;IIS-WebServerManagementTools;IIS-ManagementConsole;IIS-ManagementScriptingTools;IIS-ManagementService;IIS-IIS6ManagementCompatibility;IIS-Metabase;IIS-WMICompatibility;IIS-LegacyScripts;IIS-LegacySnapIn;IIS-FTPPublishingService;IIS-FTPServer;IIS-FTPManagement;WAS-WindowsActivationservice;WAS-ProcessModel;WAS-NetFxEnvironment;WAS-ConfigurationAPI

    (I have attached this command in a text file to help with running it)

    Once you have done this you should be able to install Virtual Server (remember to launch the installer 'as administrator').

    UPDATE1: If you do a manual installation of IIS (rather than using the script) you will also need to select to install everything under the 'IIS 6 Management Compatibility' section under 'Web Management tools' (and the already mentioned CGI and Windows authentication support).

    UPDATE2: The above command line seems to not work on some systems.  If the install does not work - try using the manual method.
  2. In order to access Virtual Server, you will need to launch Internet Explorer 'as Administrator' and manually go to the Virtual Server website (http://localhost/VirtualServer/vswebapp.exe)

With these two simple steps - you should be able to use Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2 with no problems.

Cheers,
Ben

Published Monday, June 05, 2006 6:54 PM by Virtual PC Guy
Attachment(s): vistaIISInstall.txt

Comments

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

I followed the same process (even went into the Windows Features to enable relavent IIS features) but the setup still complains that the IIS admin service is not running (when I install the website application).

Any ideas?
Monday, June 05, 2006 11:12 PM by Keeron

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

Now THAT is a command line :)
Monday, June 05, 2006 11:26 PM by Rodney Buike

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

Keeron,

Can you try running the command-line provided?  Also - can you try manually launching the installer as Administrator (rather than letting Windows catch it and elevate)?

Cheers,
Ben
Tuesday, June 06, 2006 1:52 AM by Virtual PC Guy

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

I am having the same issue as Keeron, I have ran the commandline first as Admin, it didnt install with the same meassage as Keeron.  Then I installed IIS - no good, then ran the commandline again - no good.  Any other suggestions?
Tuesday, June 06, 2006 3:49 PM by David Merrell

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

Are there any issues reported about installing VPC 2004?

I installed VPC 2004, applied SP1, but I am not able to apply FIX described in Article ID:889677. Any ideas?

George J.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006 6:59 PM by George J. Capnias

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

I think that the Windows Task Manager in Windows Vista Beta 2 will refuse to display that entire command line.  (It already truncates the command lines for two or three built-in executing processes.)
Tuesday, June 06, 2006 8:31 PM by Norman Diamond

# Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2 works only once than yo need to reinstal

Hi,
I had all the IIS setup done in the Windows Features add-install dialog. I can install the Virtual Server 2005 R2 and can even add and start vm's. But once I restart the Vista Beta 2 box the virtual server service can't be started anylonger. Looking at the event log reveals the message that a dependend service named "vmm" has been marked for deletion and couldn't be started so the virtual server service can't be started again. The vmm is the Virtual Machine Monitor which is vmm.sys located under %SysDir%\system32\drivers. Comparing the registry entries on a functional Windows XP SP 2 box with the Windows Vista Beta 2 box reveals a couple of different entries but I have no idea what that is all about. So, my workaround at the moment it to reinstall the Virtual Server again and again and again, which isn't fun at all. So, Ben do you have any ideas of what's going on here?

Regards,
Andreas
Wednesday, June 07, 2006 1:18 PM by Andreas Mauer

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

I have added some updates with feedback I have received from people...

Cheers,
Ben
Thursday, June 08, 2006 7:13 PM by Virtual PC Guy

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

Speaking of Vista, ugh, I swear to God it's treating me like it's an alpha product, not a beta by a long shot.

- MS' included video drivers claim to support glass but really don't.
- Shart | Shutdown bluescreens.
- Gives me "Access Denied" errors whenever I try to access items on my XP drive, even after I've taken ownership of the whole thing.

Summary of my Vista experience so far: more error dialogs, but they're PRETTY.
Friday, June 09, 2006 9:07 AM by Dan Bugglin

# Virtual Server VMRC Performance on Vista

Hi Ben,

I have successfully installed and configured Virtual Server 2005 R2 on Vista Ultimate edition - thanks for the tips! Unfortunately, the performance of the VM is substantially less than when running on XP - specifically the screen updates seem to be very sluggish. Any tips on any tweaks? Do I need to reinstall VM additions? The VM is running with emulated SCSI.  Thanks.
Saturday, June 10, 2006 10:15 AM by Daren May

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

I have now successfully got Virtual Server installed; however, now I can not add my wireless adapter to any of the virtual devices.  When I enable the virtual networking on the wireless adapter I loss connection to the internet, but not the local network.  Any ideas?
Saturday, June 10, 2006 8:20 PM by David Merrell

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

Thanks for the tip Ben, I've finally got VServer2K5R2 installed on Beta2.  Created a new VM, started it and switch over to remote and black screen.... CPU is up to 70% (P4-3GHz) and after 5 minutes, still the same old boring black remote screen, any tip's for this issue?
Tuesday, June 13, 2006 11:02 AM by Andrew B. Longdale, MCSE

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

Hi Ben,

Is the process similar to achieve the same thing on Vista x64?

Andrew
Wednesday, June 14, 2006 9:05 AM by Andrew A

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

For anyone else who had my problems above...

- WinSAT decided Glass was "too good" for my computer.  A registry tweak set it straight.
- Bluescreens don't happen when I use my keyboard to sleep.  They do happen when I try to use the start menu to do it.  Weird.
- I had to take ownership of both drives and then give myself full control access rights.  I decided the benefits of restricted access to virii and malware was outweighed by the sheer annoyance of not being able to access MY OWN FILES.  (Also I have never really gotten infected on XP.  I think maybe I did once or twice, but I was never quite sute.)
Thursday, June 15, 2006 11:13 AM by Dan Bugglin

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

The command line didn't work for me, package manager elevated itself, worked for far too short a time, and then returned.  No error message or anything.

I went to "Windows Features" and IIS was still uninstalled, so I installed it from there.

It appears even if the Web services are installed and IIS Admin is started, you may have to restart the installer for it to see them.
Thursday, June 15, 2006 11:43 AM by Dan Bugglin

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

I got it installed per the instructions but I cannot access the admin console.  I get an access denied error.  Any ideas?  this is driving me crazy.
Monday, June 19, 2006 4:34 PM by GW

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

I have followed everything and things appear to be installed. However when I bring up the management console for VS I get this error message:

An error occurred accessing the website application data folder.

The virtual machine folders are located in "\\Users\Public\Public Documents\Shared Virtual Machines\, different from the XP or Win 2003 folder but semantically equivelant.

Any Ideas?
Tuesday, June 27, 2006 4:09 PM by Paul Divan

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

I installed Virtual Server but when I open the admininstration page I have the same error
The following error occurred:
An error occurred accessing the website application data folder.
Thursday, June 29, 2006 8:24 AM by Mohamed

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

You must disable the User Account Control in order to allows the virtual server users to access the \\Users\Public\Public Documents\Shared Virtual Machines\ directory
Alternative you can change the right on that directory
Saturday, July 01, 2006 12:28 AM by Francis

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

please help me, i have deleted the default site on iis and now when i install virtual server it wont add itself to iis. ive added a new site and by right clicking it, ive added virtualserver as an new application.. now when i go to my link it just downloads the exe instead of running it.. i cant access web admin now. how do i get it to work?
Saturday, July 01, 2006 4:49 AM by Tony Ko

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

David Merrell -

Yes - there is a known incompatibility with wireless networking.  No work arounds are available today.

Andrew B. Longdale, MCSE -

No idea - sorry.  It should work.

Andrew A -

Yup - I have been doing this on x64 and x86 Vista.

GW -

Are you launching IE eleveated?  What error message do you get?

Paul Divan -

Are you launching IE as administrator?

Francis -

I have never needed to do this.

Tony Ko -

Probably the easiest thing to do is to uninstall IIS and Virtual Server and then reinstall both.

Cheers,
Ben

Monday, July 03, 2006 6:01 PM by Virtual PC Guy

# re: Installing Virtual Server on Windows Vista Beta 2

GW-

Try to add the user you are using to the local "Distributed COM Users" group. worked for me.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006 3:59 AM by Martin
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