System requirements

The minimum system requirements for installing Windows Services for UNIX depends on which components you are installing and the file system of the disk where the components will be installed. Typically, because the NTFS file system stores small files more efficiently, the disk space required will be less on an NTFS disk partition than on a file allocation table (FAT) partition.

The maximum disk space required to install all Windows Services for UNIX components is approximately 184 megabytes (MB). The minimum disk space required is 19 MB.

The following sections describe the operating system and disk space requirements for each Windows Services for UNIX component. Note that the disk space requirements listed represent the additional disk space required by the component in addition to the minimum of 18 MB. For example, if you install only Server for NFS, the total disk space required is 19 MB.

The following table shows the operating systems requirements for each component. Following the component name is the disk space required if the component is installed alone.

	Required operating system
Component	Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, Windows 2000 Professional	Windows XP Professional	Windows NT 4.0 Server	Windows 2000 Server
Base utilities (62 MB)	X	X	X	X
UNIX Perl (38 MB, plus requirements for base utilities)	X	X	X	X
Interix GNU utilities (1 MB, plus requirements for base utilities)	X	X	X	X
Interix GNU Software Development Kit (SDK) (1 MB, plus requirements for GNU utilities and Interix SDK)	X	X	X	X
Client for NFS (1 MB)	X	X	X	X
Server for NFS (1 MB)	X	X	X	X
Gateway for NFS (1 MB)			X	X
Server for NIS (1 MB)				(domain controller only)
Password Synchronization (1 MB)	X	X	X	X
Telnet Server (1 MB)	X		X	X
Windows-based Remote Shell service (1 MB)	X	X	X	X
User Name Mapping (1 MB)	X	X	X	X
Server for NFS Authentication (1 MB)	X	X	X	X
Server for PCNFS (1 MB)	X	X	X	X
Interix SDK (41 MB, plus requirements for base utilities)	X	X	X	X
ActiveState Perl (36 MB)	X	X	X	X

Note

Although you cannot install Windows Services for UNIX Telnet Server on a computer running Windows XP, you can use Services for UNIX Administration to manage the Telnet server that is included with Windows XP.

Additional Requirements

Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and Server require Service Pack 6a or later and Active Directory Client Extension (DSClient) for Windows NT 4.0.
For Windows 2000, Service Pack 2 or higher is recommended.
It is strongly recommended that you install Windows Services for UNIX on an NTFS partition. If you install Windows Services for UNIX on a file allocation table (FAT) partition, Interix system files cannot be properly secured. In addition, file ownership and mode bits cannot be set on Interix files that are stored on a FAT partition, and file-name case sensitivity and setting file times on Interix files stored on a FAT partition will not work according to POSIX specifications. Likewise, Server for NFS files shared on a FAT partition cannot be secured, and file names will not be case sensitive. If you are installing Windows Services for UNIX 3.0 as an upgrade to a previous version that was installed on a FAT partition, it is strongly recommended that you convert the partition to NTFS before you perform the upgrade. It is also recommended that you use NTFS partitions exclusively for storing files used by Interix or files shared by Server for NFS.
For more information about using Interix with FAT and NTFS partitions, see File systems. For information about how Server for NFS works with various file systems, see Understanding file systems and NFS.
The computer must have Internet Explorer version 5 or later installed prior to running Windows Services for UNIX Setup.
Client for NFS and Gateway for NFS cannot be installed on the same computer.
If the passwords of domain accounts are to be synchronized, Password Synchronization must be installed on the appropriate domain controllers. In the case of a Windows NT domain, Password Synchronization must be installed on the primary domain controller. Password Synchronization cannot be installed on a Windows NT backup domain controller. For a Windows 2000 domain, Password Synchronization must be installed on all domain controllers in the domain.
If the passwords of local accounts on a standalone Windows NT or Windows 2000 server are to be synchronized, Password Synchronization must be installed on that server.
Server for NIS must be installed on an Active Directory domain controller.
Network file system (NFS) users can be authenticated using either Windows domain accounts or local accounts on the Windows server. Server for NFS Authentication must be installed on all domain controllers in the domain if NFS users will be authenticated using domain accounts. Server for NFS Authentication is always installed on the computer running Server for NFS.
It is recommended that the computer have at least 16 MB of RAM in addition to the recommended minimum configuration for the operating system.