🧩 Initial System Setup
- Install Windows Server 2025 (UEFI + GPT mode)
- Set computer name (e.g.
srv-backup-01) - Install all available Windows Updates
- Install VM tools or hardware drivers (e.g. Proxmox guest tools)
- Set system time zone and verify NTP sync
- Define and document common admin password
👤 User and Access Management
- Create local user accounts
- Assign user roles (Administrator, Backup Operator, RDP user, etc.)
- Configure unified “Documents” folder for all users (e.g.
D:\Documents)
🌐 Remote Access & Network
- Enable Remote Desktop
- Enable NLA (Network Level Authentication)
- (Optional) Disable RDP firewall rule (if behind hardware firewall)
- Set static IP or reserve DHCP lease
🧅 Tailscale Setup
- Install Tailscale
- Authenticate using auth key or login manually
- Assign hostname and optional tags - I tend not to
- Ensure ACLs allow RDP access to this node
- Enable Tailscale “Always On”
🔐 Backup and Security
- Install Veeam Agent for Windows (installer must be pre-downloaded)
- Configure backup job (volume-level or file-level)
- Set backup schedule and retention policy
- Configure backup target (local drive or network share - BOTH)
- Enable email notifications (optional)
- (Optional) Enable BitLocker disk encryption - NOT YET
- Install BITDEFENDER
🖨️ Printer Setup
- Install Canon MAXIFY GX7050 driver
- Set printer as SYSTEM default
- Enable printing for all users without elevation
📁 Storage & Folder Configuration
- Mount any external data volumes (e.g. My Pegasus)
- Create
D:\Data, and D:\Documents - Set NTFS permissions and ACLs
- (Optional) Use registry or group policy to map
Documentsfolder globally - done
🛠️ Optional Enhancements
Not sure much about these
- Install Chocolatey or winget for package management
- Install common tools (e.g. 7-Zip, Notepad++, Git, etc.)
- Disable Windows Error Reporting
- Configure power settings (e.g. prevent sleep) yes
- Create Scheduled Tasks (e.g. for network checks, health reports)
But all these “nice to haves” can wait.
ADD - agnostic partitioning
https://gparted.org/download.php