Share via

WINS server role: Configuring a WINS server

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

WINS server role: Configuring a WINS server

Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) servers dynamically map IP addresses to computer names (NetBIOS names). This allows users to access resources by computer name instead of by IP address. If you want this computer to keep track of the names and IP addresses of other computers in your network, configure this computer as a WINS server.

This topic explains the basic steps that you must follow to configure a WINS server. When you have finished setting up a basic WINS server, you can complete additional configuration tasks, depending on how you want to use the WINS server.

This topic covers:

Before you begin

Configuring your WINS server

Next steps: Completing additional tasks

Before you begin

Before you configure your computer as a WINS server, verify that:

  • You are familiar with WINS concepts such as NetBIOS names, WINS server, WINS clients, and replication partners. For more information, see Understanding WINS.

  • The operating system is configured correctly. In the Windows Server 2003 family, WINS depends on the appropriate configuration of the operating system and its services. If you have a new installation of a product in the Windows Server 2003 family, you can use the default service settings. No further action is necessary. If you upgraded to a product in the Windows Server 2003 family, or if you want to confirm that your services are configured correctly for best performance and security, then verify your service settings using the table in Default settings for services.

  • You know how many WINS servers you need to install and where to locate each server on your network. When you add the WINS server role, you configure this server to maintain a database of computer names and IP addresses. In a large network, you may need to add the WINS server role to additional servers in order to ensure that client computers always have access to at least one WINS server. For more information, see Planning WINS networks.

  • This computer has a static IP address. For more information, see Configure TCP/IP for static addressing.

  • All existing disk volumes use the NTFS file system. FAT32 volumes are not secure, and they do not support file and folder compression, disk quotas, file encryption, or individual file permissions.

  • Windows Firewall is enabled. For more information, see Enable Windows Firewall with no exceptions.

  • The Security Configuration Wizard is installed and enabled. For information about the Security Configuration wizard, see Security Configuration Wizard Overview.

Configuring your WINS server

To configure a WINS server, start the Configure Your Server Wizard by doing either of the following:

  • From Manage Your Server, click Add or remove a role. By default, Manage Your Server starts automatically when you log on. To open Manage Your Server, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Manage Your Server.

  • To open the Configure Your Server Wizard, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Configure Your Server Wizard.

On the Server Role page, click WINS server, and then click Next.

Summary of Selections

Completing the Configure Your Server Wizard

Removing the WINS server role

Summary of Selections

On the Summary of Selections page, view and confirm the options that you have selected. If you selected WINS server on the previous page, the following appears:

  • Install WINS

To apply the selections shown on the Summary of Selections page, click Next. After you click Next, the Configuring Components page of the Windows Components Wizard appears, and then closes automatically. You cannot click Back or Next on this page. The Configure Your Server Wizard installs the WINS Server service. Unlike many other services, the WINS service installs without any input from the administrator.

If you cancel Configure Your Server, then WINS Server service is not installed. To install it later, restart Manage Your Server and add the WINS role.

Completing the Configure Your Server Wizard

After the components are configured, the Configure Your Server Wizard displays the This Server is Now a WINS Server page. To review all of the changes made to your server by the Configure Your Server Wizard or to ensure that a new role was installed successfully, click Configure Your Server log. The Configure Your Server Wizard log is located at systemroot\Debug\Configure Your Server.log. To close the Configure Your Server Wizard, click Finish.

To verify that your server is secure and has the most recent updates, do the following:

  1. Run Windows Update. For more information, see Windows Update.

  2. Run the Security Configuration Wizard. For more information, see Security Configuration Wizard Overview.

Removing the WINS server role

If you need to reconfigure your server for a different role, you can remove existing server roles. If you remove the WINS server role, and this server is the only WINS server that clients can use to register and resolve computer names, you need to add the WINS role to another server. Also, if this server is configured to replicate WINS database information with other WINS servers, then you must reconfigure replication on those other WINS servers.

To remove the WINS server role, restart the Configure Your Server Wizard by doing either of the following:

  • From Manage Your Server, click Add or remove a role. By default, Manage Your Server starts automatically when you log on. To open Manage Your Server, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Manage Your Server.

  • To open the Configure Your Server Wizard, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Configure Your Server Wizard.

On the Server Role page, click WINS server, and then click Next. On the Role Removal Confirmation page, review the items listed under Summary, select the Remove the WINS server role check box, and then click Next. On the WINS Server Role Removed page, click Finish.

Next steps: Completing additional tasks

After you complete the Configure Your Server Wizard, the computer is ready for use as a basic WINS server that can keep track of server IP addresses and provide this information when a client requests it. Up to this point, you have installed the WINS Server service on one server. If you want to support WINS clients on a complex network, you may need to install additional WINS servers on other subnets.

The following table lists some of the additional tasks that you might want to perform on your WINS server.

Task Purpose of task Reference

View WINS name records registered at the server.

Verify that the WINS server is functioning correctly.

Finding and viewing WINS records

Modify WINS server defaults.

WINS uses several default server configuration parameters that determine how NetBIOS name records are managed in the WINS server database. These parameters are usually acceptable. You may want to modify them in special circumstances, such as when a host name change must be made, or when you renumber the network so that clients and servers use a different set of IP addresses.

Modifying WINS server defaults

Configure replication settings on primary and secondary WINS servers.

WINS servers replicate database changes to each other so that each WINS server has the same information about the servers on the network and the IP address of each.

Configuring WINS replication; Configure Replication

Configure ports to allow remote administration.

To manage the WINS server from other computers on the network.

Windows Firewall Settings