Setting the IPX Internal Network Number During Unattended Setup

ID: Q195178

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information on how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" online Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" online Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SUMMARY

When you perform an unattended installation of Windows NT 4.0 and install the NWLink IPX/SPX Compatible Transport (IPX), you have no means of specifying the internal network number in the Unattend.txt file. This article will provide a detailed explanation of how you can set the internal network number during an unattended installation.

MORE INFORMATION

To set the internal network number during an unattended installation, follow these steps:

Copy all the Windows NT system files needed, usually the i386 directory and all its subdirectories from the compact disc to the distribution server, which is a network share devoted to network client setup. The directory name of this network share is usually also i386.

Create the Unattend.txt file with any parameters that you feel are necessary including NWLNKIPX. In your Unattend.txt file, make sure Oempreinstall is set to Yes.

For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q155197 Unattended Setup Parameters for Unattend.txt File

Q159837 Setting the Frame Type for IPX During Unattended Setup

Create a directory named $oem$ under the i386 directory (the directory of the network share on the distribution server).

In the $oem$ directory, create a text file named Cmdlines.txt that contains the following two lines:
```
      [Commands]
      ".\regedit /s ipx.reg" 
```

Also in the $oem$ directory, create a text file named ipx.reg that contains the following four lines:

REGEDIT4 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NwlnkIpx \Parameters] "VirtualNetworkNumber"=dword:00000007

NOTE: The second line is blank, but it must be present; line 3 above wraps to the next line for readability, but it should be all on one line in the ipx.reg file, with no spaces between \NwlnkIpx and \Parameters (that is, ...\NwlnkIpx\Parameters). Also please note, the value "00000007" is the internal network number. Please change this to your desired value.

Place a copy of the Regedit.exe file (from the i386 directory) in the $oem$ directory. At this point, there should be three files in the $oem$ directory: Cmdlines.txt, ipx.reg, and Regedit.exe.

Run unattended setup.

NOTE: Each computer on the network requires a unique internal network number. The value noted in step 5 above should be changed to a unique value prior to each installation.

REFERENCES

For additional information regarding the internal network number, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q150546 NWLink IPX/SPX: Network Number vs. Internal Network Number

Additional query words: unattend automated


Keywords          : kbnetwork 
Version           : WinNT:4.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: February 22, 1999