Wednesday, June 29, 2011

About Windows Server Core 2008

How to Install Windows Server 2008

There are two options to install Windows Server 2008:
  1. Graphical installation
  2. Core installation
Windows Server 2008 functionality is based on server roles and features. Server Manager gives you the ability to add and
remove roles. Certain roles require specific features and are added automatically when the role is installed. Roles can be added from the Initial Configuration Tasks window, Server Manager, or the command line.

Server Core Installation

Windows Server 2008 Core setup installs the minimal operating system components. There is no graphical interface like you normally see in Windows, no GUI, no taskbar, no Start menu. However, Server Core is very powerful, in that it is both efficient and secure. Along with administering Server Core in your data center, you can administer it remotely using the graphical server interface, for example, in a branch office location. You can have special servers with specific purposes. It is a command line driven environment where you can create server roles in both the physical and virtual machine environment.

note: only a clean install of Server Core is supported


Manually Installing Windows 2008 Server Core

The procedure for installing Server Core is the same for installing from a DVD-ROM as it is from a network share. The only difference is that with a network share, you will need a network client installed on your computer.


  1. Insert the DVD-ROM into your DVD drive and turn on the computer. If you do not see a message stating Windows is loading files, go into your BIOS setup and set your boot sequence so the computer boots from the DVD.
  2. In a few moments you will see the Install Windows screen. Verify the options that are displayed, and click Next.
  3. On the Install Windows screen, click Install Now.
  4. Type your product key, then click Next.
  5. You receive two options to install Server 2008: the complete version of Windows Server 2008 or Windows 2008 Core. Select the Windows Server Standard Core option, and click Next.
  6. Read and accept the licensing terms. Click Next.
  7. You receive the option to upgrade or to install a clean copy of Windows Server 2008. Select Custom (advanced) to install a clean copy of Windows Server 2008. The upgrade option is only available when you are installing from inside a Windows Server 2003 machine.
  8. Select the target disk where you want to install Windows Server Core. Click Next.
  9. The installation takes about 20 to 45 minutes and the computer will restart several times. 
  10. After installation is completed, the computer reboots. Follow the instructions to log on as the Other User.
  11. Type administrator and the arrow and complete the logon. After a minute or so, the desktop appears, containing a command window with no GUI.
  12. To set the correct time, type control timedate.cpl. Set your time zone, and date and time if needed. Click OK. 
  13. To set an administrator password, type net user administrator*. Follow the prompts to type and confirm a secure password.
  14. A random generated computer name is generated. To set a new name, type netdom renamecomputer %computername%/newname:ServerCore (Substitute ServerCore with the the name you have decided to assign to your server.).
  15. Windows warns the rename process might have an adverse effect on some services. Type Y to proceed. Type shutdown /r /t o to reboot the server.
  16. When the server reboots, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete, and log on using the secure password you set, previously.
Microsoft's Configuring a Server Core Installation: Overview:




The Server Core installation option is an option that you can use for installing Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2. A Server Core installation provides a minimal environment for running specific server roles, which reduces the maintenance and management requirements and the attack surface for those server roles. A server running a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 supports the following server roles:
A server running a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 supports the following server roles:
  • Active Directory Certificate Services
  • Active Directory Domain Services
  • Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS)
  • DHCP Server
  • DNS Server
  • File Services (including File Server Resource Manager)
  • Hyper-V
  • Print and Document Services
  • Streaming Media Services
  • Web Server (including a subset of ASP.NET)







Benefits of a Server Core installation
The Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 provides the following benefits:
  • Reduced maintenance. Because the Server Core installation option installs only what is required to have a manageable server for the supported roles, less maintenance is required than on a full installation of Windows Server 2008.

  • Reduced attack surface. Because Server Core installations are minimal, there are fewer applications running on the server, which decreases the attack surface.

  • Reduced management. Because fewer applications and services are installed on a server running the Server Core installation, there is less to manage.








Less disk space required. A Server Core installation requires only about 3.5 gigabytes (GB) of disk space to install and approximately 3 GB for operations after the installation. 








Steps for configuring a Server Core installation

The following procedures explain how to configure a computer running a Server Core installation. You’ll need to:
  • Set the administrative password.
  • Set a static IP address.
Note: A DHCP address is provided by default. You should perform this  procedure
   only if you need a static IP address.


The following youtube video explains the netsh command:








  • Join a domain.
  • Activate the server and entering a product key, if required.
  • Configure the firewall.
  • Configure several aspects with one tool (Windows Server 2008 R2 only).


To set a static IP address




  1. At a command prompt, type the following:
    netsh interface ipv4 show interfaces
  2. Make a note of the number shown in the Idx column of the output for your network adapter. If your computer has more than one network adapter, make a note of the number corresponding to the network adapter for which you wish to set a static IP address.
  3. At the command prompt, type:
    netsh interface ipv4 set address name=ID source=static address=StaticIP mask=SubnetMask gateway=DefaultGateway
    Where:
    ID is the number from step 2 above.
    StaticIP is the static IP address that you are setting.
    SubnetMask is the subnet mask for the IP address.
    DefaultGateway is the default gateway.
  4. At the command prompt, type:
    netsh interface ipv4 add dnsserver name=ID address=DNSIP index=1
    Where:
    ID is the number from step 2 above.
    DNSIP is the IP address of your DNS server.
  5. Repeat step 4 for each DNS server that you want to set, incrementing the index= number each time.

Note: If you set the static IP address on the wrong network adapter, you can change back to using the DHCP

address supplied by using the following command:
   netsh interface ipv4 set address name=ID source=dhcp
where ID is the number of the network adapter from Step 2.
To join a domain
  1. At a command prompt, type:
    netdom join ComputerName /domain:DomainName /userd:UserName /passwordd:*
    Where:
    ComputerName is the name of the server that is running the Server Core installation.
    DomainName is the name of the domain to join.
    UserName is a domain user account with permission to join the domain.
  2. When prompted to enter the password, type the password for the domain user account specified by UserName.
  3. If you need to add a domain user account to the local Administrators group, type the following command:
    net localgroup administrators /add DomainName \UserName
  4. Restart the computer. You can do this by typing the following at a command prompt:
    shutdown /r /t 0
To rename the server
  1. Determine the current name of the server with the hostname or ipconfig command.
  2. At a command prompt, type:
    netdom renamecomputer ComputerName  /NewName:ComputerName
  3. Restart the computer.
If activation is successful, no message will return in the command prompt.
To configure the firewall
  • Use the netsh advfirewall command. For example, to enable remote management from any MMC snap-in, type the following:
    netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="Remote Administration" new enable=yes
Note: You can also use the Windows Firewall snap-in from a computer running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 to remotely manage the firewall on a server running a Server Core installation. To do this, you must first enable remote management of the firewall by running the following command on the computer running a Server Core installation:
netsh advfirewall set currentprofile settings remotemanagement enable 

Installing a Server Role on Server Core


To see some of the features and roles available on your installation of Windows 2008 Server Core:
At the command prompt, type:




oclist 


To see some of the features and roles available on your installation of Windows 2008 Server Core R2:
At the command prompt, type:
Dism /online /get-features /format:table






Use ocsetup to install a server role on Windows Server Core 2008. Use Dism to install a server role on Windows Server Core R2. Commands are case-sensitive. 




Hyper-V role

To install the Hyper-V role, at a command prompt, type:
start /w ocsetup Microsoft-Hyper-V
To manage Hyper-V on a Server Core installation, use the Hyper-V management tools to manage the server remotely. These tools are available for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1.
To manage Hyper-V on a Server Core installation, use the Hyper-V management tools to manage the server remotely. In Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7, the management tools are available as part of the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) feature. In Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1, you can download the tools from the following locations:
DNS Role
At a command prompt, type:
   start /w ocsetup DNS-Server-Core-Role

To configure a DNS zone, type dnscmd at the command prompt. Or, you could configure a zone remotely by using the DNS mmc snap-in.

note: if you close all of the command prompts, the only way to get back in to manage the Server Core installation is to logoff and log back on again. Or, you can hit ctrl+alt+delete. Click Start Task Manager, click File, Run, type cmd.exe. 

Print Services 
At a command prompt, type:
   start /w ocsetup Printing-Server-Core-Role

Link here to see how to install additional roles:
Core Features










Available optional features

To discover the available optional features, open a command prompt and type the following:
Oclist
This command lists the server roles and optional features that are available for use with Ocsetup.exe. It also lists the server roles and optional features that are currently installed.
To install an optional feature
  • At a command prompt, type:
    start /w ocsetup 







Available optional features

To discover the available optional features, open a command prompt and type the following:
Dism /online /get-features /format:table
This command lists the server roles and optional features that are available for use with Dism.exe. It also lists the server roles and optional features that are currently installed.
To install an optional feature
  • At a command prompt, type:
    Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:

Managing Server Core






You can manage a server running Server Core installation in the following ways:
  • Locally and remotely using a command prompt. By using the Windows command-line tools at a command prompt, you can manage servers running a Server Core installation.
  • Remotely using Terminal Server. By using another computer running Windows, you can use the Terminal Server client to connect to a server running a Server Core installation, and manage it remotely. The shell in the Terminal Server session will be the command prompt.
  • Remotely using Windows Remote Shell. By using another computer running Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2, you can use Windows Remote Shell to run command-line tools and scripts on a server running a Server Core installation.
  • Locally or remotely using Windows PowerShell. By using Windows PowerShell locally on a computer running a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 or remotely from a computer running Windows Server 2008 R2, you can connect to a server running a Server Core installation in the same way that you would connect to any computer running Windows.
  • Remotely using an MMC snap-in. By using an MMC snap-in from a computer running Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2, you can connect to a server running Server Core installation in the same way that you would connect to any computer running Windows.
  • Remotely using Server Manager. By using Server Manager from a computer running Windows Server 2008 R2 you can connect to a server running a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 and manage it.
Windows Server 2008

http://blogs.technet.com/b/keithcombs/archive/2007/11/04/windows-server-2008-core-screencast-series-watch-all-eight-parts-here.aspx 
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