Originally published on 1/25/07, updated on 1/8/08
In Windows Server 2008, Network Load Balancing (NLB) will continue to be shipped on all platforms (x86/x64/ia64).
The big change to NLB in Windows Server 2008 is that NLB is not installed by default.
To Install NLB on Windows Server 2008 there are 3 options.
· Server manager GUI
· Command line utility ocsetup.exe
· Unattended answer file passed to setup.exe during OS installation.
Server Manager Installation
First click on Start -> Administrative Tools -> Server Manager . Click on Add Features . Select/Install the Network Load Balancing feature.
Using ocsetup.exe
If you prefer to script installation of NLB use the ocsetup.exe, please refer to the command line help for ocsetup.exe for more information.
To install NLB using ocsetup.exe use the following command line depending on the components you want to install.
Server SKUs:
· > Ocsetup.exe NetworkLoadBalancingFullServer
o This give you the server and management client
· > Ocsetup.exe NetworkLoadBalancingManagementClient
o This give you only the management client
ServerCore SKUs:
· > Ocsetup.exe NetworkLoadBalancingHeadlessServer
o This gives you only the server
Unattended Install
You can also install NLB during OS installation using an unattend answer file unattend.xml.
To install the NLB through an unattend file you need to add the below xml section to unattend.xml and update the two keys (Version and processorArchitecture).
The version should be the version of the OS you have and the processorArchitecture should be set to the processor type which you are installing the server on.
<servicing>
<package action="configure">
<!-- Change version as needed ("6.0.NNNN.0", where NNNN is the build number) -->
<assemblyIdentity name="Microsoft-Windows-Foundation-Package"
version="6.0.6001.0"
processorArchitecture="x86"
publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35"
language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS"
/>
<selection name="NetworkLoadBalancingFullServer" state="true" />
</package>
</servicing>
-By Amit Date and Gary Jackman
Microsoft