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Introduction
Server Core is a new installation option that was introduced in Windows Server 2008.
It provides the ability to install and configure a trimmed-down version of
Windows Server 2008 which is designed to perform only certain server tasks.
There are a number of benefits of a Server Core installation, including:
- Reduced Attack Surface
- Reduced Management and Maintenance
- Reduced OS Overhead
That being said, the lack of the familiar Windows user interface can make
managing a Server Core installation rather intimidating. This series of articles
will introduce Windows Server 2008 Server Core and walk you through the steps
needed to get your very own Server Core instance up and running.
Setup
The first step in getting familiar with any operating system is obviously
getting a copy and getting it installed. I'll assume you already have
some flavor of a Windows Server 2008 install disk. I'm using
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, but there should be very few differences
between the versions.
You'll also need a computer on which to install and test the OS.
If you don't have a dedicated machine to use, I recommend you download
a copy of Microsoft Virtual PC 2007.
I've installed Windows Server 2008 Server Core on both a real machine and a virtual one
and the experience is almost identical.
Note: Installing an operating system is not something to be taken lightly.
It's quite easy to accidently format a drive and destroy all the data on the system being used.
Make sure you have a backup of all the important data on the system involved and that you really
don't mind wiping it clean before you begin.
Place the Windows Server 2008 disk in the intended computer's DVD drive and boot the
real/virtual machine. You might need to press a key to boot from the DVD... watch for
a message to that effect. Setup is similar to a normal Windows Server 2003 or Windows Vista
installation. I'm including screen captures for those of you who haven't done many installs before.
Now we come to the only real difference between setting up a "Full Installation"
and a "Server Core Installation". On the screen that says
"Select the edition of Windows that you purchased", you're going to select
the option that matches your server licence and ends in "(Server Core Installation)".
For example, I'm using Windows Server 2008 Enterprise so I'll select:
"Windows Server 2008 Enterprise (Server Core Installation)".
The rest of the setup process should be relatively uneventful. Set a few options
and then just wait as the files are copied and the new OS is installed.
Logging In for the First Time
Once the setup program completes and your Server Core installation is complete, the
computer will reboot and you'll be greeted by the Windows Server 2008 log on screen.
It can be a little confusing because unlike previous versions of Windows
you're never prompted for a password for the "Administrator" account
during setup. Simply log on as "Administrator" with a blank password
and the system will prompt you to set a new one.
The only part of the log on process that takes a while is the part where the computer is
"Preparing your desktop...".
Personally I find that quite funny since this is what you'll be greeted by
once you log on.
That's right... this is what all the hype is about. A Windows Server OS
with a bare minimum of actual windows. Administration is done almost completely
via command-line or remotely.
There are a few GUI apps available
(Task Manager, Notepad, Time/Date Control Panel, Regional Settings), but
aside from those you're pretty much on your own.
Note: Let me take this opportunity to explain how to recover from
an accidental closing of the last command prompt window. Simply press "CTRL + ALT + DELETE"
and select "Start Task Manager". From Task Manager's "File" menu, select
"New Task (Run...)" and enter "cmd.exe".
Restarting and Shutting Down
Before we go any further, I figure it's proabably a good time to tell you how to reboot or shut down
a Server Core machine. While there are probably other ways as well, these are the two I've been using.
-
"CTRL + ALT + DELETE" -> "Shut down options"
The first method will be familiar to most Windows users. Simply type the
"CTRL + ALT + DELETE" key sequence and use the "Shut down options"
button/menu at the bottom right of the screen.
You'll be greeted by the "Shutdown Event Tracker" which will be familiar to
most server admins.
-
"Shutdown.exe"
If you're looking a command-line solution, take a look at the shutdown.exe command.
Running it with no arguments:
shutdown
will display usage information, but the simplest form is simply:
shutdown /r
to restart the server or
shutdown /s
to actually shut it down and power off.
Changing the Computer's Name and Workgroup
Just like it didn't prompt you for a password to the "Administrator" account,
you'll probably recall that you never entered a computer name either. It's not a big
deal, but personally I like to know what my computers are called.
You can find the name that your computer was assigned by typing:
SET ComputerName
at the command prompt. Mine was assigned the name "WIN-IJUW8D0BOI6".
Let's change that to something a little easier to remember.
I'm going to use "ServerCoreWeb" since I'll be installing IIS on this box in a future
installment. It's not a great name, but at least I can remember it.
NETDOM RenameComputer WIN-IJUW8D0BOI6 /NewName:ServerCoreWeb
Next I want the computer to be part of my workgroup.
WMIC computersystem where name="ServerCoreWeb" call joindomainorworkgroup name="WorkgroupName"
Changing the Computer's IP Address
Now that the computer has a friendly name and is part of my workgroup so I can
easily find it from other computers on my network, the next step is to get its
networking set up properly. The default setup is DHCP which is fine to get started
with, but most servers will need a static IP address so let's set that up now.
The first step is to find the "Idx" value of the adapter you want to change.
To do this simply run the following command:
netsh interface ipv4 show interfaces
and make a note of the number associated with the connection you're trying to configure.
In my case, the "Name" of the connection was "Local Area Connection"
and its "Idx" value was "2". To set the IP address information use
these commands:
netsh interface ipv4 set address name="2" source=static address=192.168.0.210 mask=255.255.255.0 gateway=192.168.0.1
netsh interface ipv4 add dnsserver name="2" address=192.168.0.1 index=1
netsh interface ipv4 add dnsserver name="2" address=192.168.0.2 index=2
You'll obviously need to use your own values for name, address, mask, gateway, and dns servers.
If you want to check that your settings are correct you can verify them by using the:
ipconfig /all
command to display the server's networking information.
Conclusion
In this article I gave you a basic introduction to Windows Server 2008 Server Core and
walked you through the process of getting the very basics parts of the server up and running.
This included installation, restarting and shutting down, setting the the computer's name and workgroup,
and configuring TCP/IP.
In the next installment we'll install a role on the server, install patches and updates, and
enable a few different types of remote administration.
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