Implement Serverless (Client-Based) Sign-up

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If you are an Internet service provider (ISP) and choose serverless (client-based) sign-up for your Windows® Internet Explorer® Administration Kit 8 (IEAK 8) custom package, the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 8 prompts you to provide the necessary information to enable sign-up.

Important

The Internet sign-up option is not available for the Windows Vista® operating system.

Your customers will then be able to install the customized version of Internet Explorer by CD or a shared network resource that you provide. Users enter only their user name, password, and connection information to set up an account and connect to the Internet. Because configuration information is distributed with the IEAK package, and therefore is local on the user's computer, the process is not as dynamic as server-based sign-up.

Prepare sign-up files and folders

To ensure that your package installs correctly, the folder that contains your custom sign-up files must include the following files:

  • Signup.htm. This HTML page provides information about your Internet service and must include a link to the .ins file. This file contains the configuration settings for your custom browser package. A sample version of this file is included in the IEAK Toolkit in the <systemdrive>:\Program Files\Windows IEAK 8\toolkit\isp\servless\ folder and subfolders.

  • All other sign-up files. All related files, including .gif and .jpg graphic files, must be saved in the same folder with your custom sign-up files. For example, you might want to include your own customized versions of the Install.gif and Logohere.gif files.

Limitations of client-based sign-up

Because the configuration file is distributed with the IEAK package, you cannot dynamically change user settings on the sign-up server.

The regular sign-up server gathers information about a user, and then prepares a custom configuration file that is downloaded to the user's desktop computer. Software in the Internet Explorer installation package uses the configuration file to configure the desktop computer.

In the serverless or client-based version of sign-up, the configuration file is created before the package is shipped, and it is included in the installation package. Therefore, the configuration file contains no user-specific configuration information. The configuration file, Install.ins, is opened as a link from the local HTML page and configures most aspects of Internet Explorer. Because the configuration file is included in the installation package, it is local on the user's computer.

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