2. Mark Wilson Infrastructure Architect/Technology lead for Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V, Fujitsu Services markw@markwilson.co.uk http://www.markwilson.co.uk/blog/

3. A community for everyone who is interested in Microsoft's Windows Server technologies - especially Windows Server 2008 Formed in 2007 – just getting started Have run a few events – more to come Find out more (join us!) at http://winserverteam.org.uk/ http://winserverteam.org.uk/

4. What? Why? How?

5. What is server core? And why do we need it? How does it work (architecture) How is it managed? Locally Remotely Questions? (and hopefully some answers!)

6. UK090922LT Fujitsu-Siemens S7210 Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz) 4GB RAM (joined to my organisation’s Active Directory) Full installation (x64) UK090922VM3 1 vCPU 1GB RAM Standalone (not domain-joined) Server core installation (x64)

7. Windows Server is frequently deployed to support a single role or a fixed workload Still need to install (and manage) a full installation Server Core is a new installation option: Minimal installation option for WS08 Benefits: Servers optimized by role are easier to manage and maintain Increased reliability and security Less installed and less running

8. Roles: RoleWebStandardEnterpriseDatacenter AD DS AD LDS DHCP Server DNS Server File Services Hyper-V Print Services Web Services (IIS) Features: Backup; BitLocker; Failover Clustering; UNIX Subsystem; Multipath IO; QoS; Removable Storage Management; SNMP; Telnet Client; WINS Not available Partial support Full support

9. Server Core Security; TCP/IP; File systems; RPC and other core sub-systems Server GUI;.NET Framework; Shell; Internet Explorer; MMC; Media; etc. Server Core Roles (and Features) Server Roles (and Features) AD DS AD LDS DHCPDHCPDNSDNSFileFileHyper-VHyper-VPrintPrintIISIIS NPASNPASTSTSWDSWDSetc.etc.

10. Server Core Roles (and Features) AD DS AD LDS DHCPDHCPDNSDNS FileFileHyper-VHyper-VPrintPrint IISIIS Server Core Hardware Hardware Support ComponentsResolved Category Dependencies Thin Management Tools (Local and Remote) Core Subsystems Infrastructure Features Disk, network card, etc. HAL, kernel, VGA, logon, etc. Command shell, domain join, event log, performance counter, WS-Management, WMI, licensing, WFP, HTTP support, IPSec, etc. Security (logon scenarios), networking (TCP/IP), file systems, WinLogon, RPC, necessary dependencies Configure IP address, join a domain, create users, etc.

11. Getting started

13. Locally: CLI with a few GUI tools that are tied into core features. Remotely: Remote desktop protocol (RDP) Publish Server Core command shell via Terminal Services RemoteApp WS-Management (WinRS and WinRM) MMC snap-ins PowerShell Third-party applications (management agents, anti-virus, etc.)

14. Server core does include the automatic updates client No notification functionality Manage patch deployment via WSUS (or another method) Same patches as for a full Windows Server 2008 installation – just less of them to apply!

15. Local management

17. Change the machine name (before joining a domain): netdom renamecomputer %computername% /newname:newcomputername Change the computer name (after joining a domain): netdom.exe renamecomputer %computername% /NewName:newcomputername /userd:domainname\username /passwordd:* Set the IP address for the primary NIC: netsh interface ipv4 set address "Local Area Connection" static ipaddress subnetmask gatewayipaddress Set the DNS server addresses: netsh interface ipv4 add dns "Local Area Connection" ipaddress [index=indexnumber] Join a domain: netdom join %computername% /domain:domainname /userd:domainname\username /passwordd:* Restart the server: shutdown -r –t 0 Add a domain user to a local group: net localgroup groupname /add domainname\username

18. Enable remote desktop (from a Windows Vista or Server 2008 client): cscript %windir%\system32\SCRegEdit.wsf /ar 0 Enable remote desktop (from a Windows XP or Server 2003 client): cscript %windir%\system32\SCRegEdit.wsf /cs 0 Disable the firewall (not recommended): netsh firewall set opmode disable Allow Remote Desktop connections through the firewall: netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="Remote Desktop" new enable=yes View the current Automatic Updates settings: scregedit.wsf /AU /v The following values correspond to the response generated by the scregedit.wsf script. 1 = Automatic Updates Disabled 4 = Automatic Updates Enabled Enable Automatic Updates: scregedit.wsf /AU 4 Disable Automatic Updates: scregedit.wsf /AU 1 Activate Windows: cscript %windir%\system32\slmgr.vbs -ato

19. Set the screen resolution: Run regedit.exe and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Video\{BBF118A6-4C44-4FE4- A8A3-965A9A577F98}0000 (or whichever GUID key has a subkey named VolatileSettings with a value of 0000), then change DefaultSettings.XResolution and DefaultSettings.YResolution to the desired values (in decimal format). Change the drive letter allocation for an existing disk (e.g. the CD-ROM drive): diskpart select volume volumenumber assign letter=driveletter Format additional disks: diskpart select disk disknumber select partition partitionnumber format fs=ntfs label=volumelable quiet Label a disk (e.g. the system disk): label driveletter: volumelable

20. Remote management with WS- Management, MMC and Windows PowerShell

22. Microsoft do not see server core as an application platform: “Server core is not an application platform [but it] does support development of management tools, utilities and agents” [Andrew Mason, Microsoft] But think about it from a customer perspective: Smaller attack surface Less patching You can run applications on server core: Cannot have shell or GUI dependencies Cannot use managed code

23. Installing third party applications {optional}

25. MinWin: A minimalistic variation of the Windows kernel, being developed for use in Windows 7 (codenamed MinWin) Publicly demonstrated by Eric Traut (Microsoft Distinguished Engineer) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNsS_0wSfoUEric Trauthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNsS_0wSfoU Sounds similar to server core but: Server core constrains OS by server roles: Unneeded components removed Dependencies still exist in code (must be present to compile) MinWin consolidates dependencies into the kernel. Code compiles even without any extraneous components resulting in a stripped-down self-contained OS kernel image.NET Framework subset, PowerShell support, limited ASP.NET support, Windows Communications Framework Some extra roles

26. Server core is a minimal installation option for Windows Server 2008 More secure and less to patch Local management is possible, especially with third party tools such as GNU Wget and CoreConfigurator Remote management is the preferred approach: RDP, TS RemoteApp, MMC, WS-Management, Windows PowerShell Microsoft don’t see server core as an application platform – but why not?

27. Ask the Core Team: http://blogs.technet.com/askcore/http://blogs.technet.com/askcore/ Server Core blog: http://blogs.technet.com/server_core/http://blogs.technet.com/server_core/ Windows Server 2008 Technical Library: http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/bab0f1a1 -54aa-4cef-9164-139e8bcc44751033.mspx?mfr=true http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/bab0f1a1 -54aa-4cef-9164-139e8bcc44751033.mspx?mfr=true A-Z Command Line reference: http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/f7cedeb1- 4996-4d29-8fcb-b44d9de7cd581033.mspx?mfr=true (not all of these are available in server core) http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/f7cedeb1- 4996-4d29-8fcb-b44d9de7cd581033.mspx?mfr=true Server Core installation option – step-by-step guide: http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/47a23a74- e13c-46de-8d30-ad0afb1eaffc1033.mspx?mfr=true http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/47a23a74- e13c-46de-8d30-ad0afb1eaffc1033.mspx?mfr=true Andrew Mason’s TechNet Spotlight video on server core: http://www.microsoft.com/emea/spotlight/sessionh.aspx?videoid=492 http://www.microsoft.com/emea/spotlight/sessionh.aspx?videoid=492 SDK: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms723891.aspxhttp://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms723891.aspx

28. Windows Server Team UK: http://winserverteam.org.uk/http://winserverteam.org.uk/ My blog: http://www.markwilson.co.uk/blog/http://www.markwilson.co.uk/blog/ A few commands to get started with server core: http://www.markwilson.co.uk/blog/2007/08/a-few-commands-to-get- started-with-windows-server-core.htm http://www.markwilson.co.uk/blog/2007/08/a-few-commands-to-get- started-with-windows-server-core.htm Customising server core: http://www.markwilson.co.uk/blog/2008/03/customising-windows-server- 2008-server-core.htm http://www.markwilson.co.uk/blog/2008/03/customising-windows-server- 2008-server-core.htm Another blog with lots of server core information: Sander Berkouwer: http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/sanderberkouwer/http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/sanderberkouwer/ Tools: CoreConfigurator: http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/guyt/archive/2008/03/22/windows- server-core-coreconfigurator-to-the-rescue.aspx http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/guyt/archive/2008/03/22/windows- server-core-coreconfigurator-to-the-rescue.aspx GNU Wget (compiled for Windows): http://users.ugent.be/~bpuype/wget/http://users.ugent.be/~bpuype/wget/ This slidedeck: http://cid-1453622c71a8a08e.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Public http://cid-1453622c71a8a08e.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Public

29. To find out more about Fujitsu and Microsoft’s industrialisation initiative – Accelerated Microsoft – visit http://uk.fujitsu.com/microsoft/http://uk.fujitsu.com/microsoft/

32. C This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. For further details, please visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/ cbnhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/ © 2008, Mark Wilson.Mark Wilson Some rights reserved.