So what is Forefront? basically think of it as free antivirus for Windows Server, like Microsoft Security Essentials is for client versions of Windows. As you might know Security Essentials refuses to install on Windows Server, however this will install perfectly on Windows Server with no problems. Once installed you will receive virus definition updates through Windows Update, just as Security Essentials does.
So you have me interested, how do i go about installing?
First you will need to open your en_forefront_client_security_x86_x64_cd_x13-62435.iso which can be downloaded from Technet or MSDN, go in to the /CLIENT/X64/ folder and extract MP_AMBITS.MSI.
A good application that will extract content from ISO’s is WinRAR:
Next click on MP_AMBITS.MSI and it will automatically install:
After Forefront has installed on Windows Server you will be notified no new definitions or updates are available, don’t worry that is normal:
Now load Windows Update from the start menu and click on “Findout more” where it says “get updates for other Microsoft Products”:
A webpage will load up you will need to agree to the terms for Microsoft Update, then click the install button:
All been well you should get a message saying Microsoft Update was successfully installed:
Now load Windows Update again and you will see Windows Update now checks for Windows Updates along with updates for other Microsoft Products:
When Windows Server has finished checking for updates you should now see an update for the Forefront Client Security application, and the latest definitions available to download:
Future updates will just install automatically with Windows Update from now on:
The end result is Forefront Client Security running on Windows Home Server 2011 (or the Windows Server variant of your choice), it will work exactly the same for other Windows Server variants too. I have personally tested Forefront on Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard and it worked perfectly fine.
