Networking with Windows Server 2008 R2

Server Manager

    The primary graphical interface for server management in Windows Server 2008 R2 is the
Server Manager console, shown in Figure 2-6.
Figure 2-6 The Server Manager console.
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The Server Manager console includes integrated management consoles for the roles and
features that are enabled on the server. New in Windows Server 2008 R2 is the ability to
run the Server Manager remotely without having to open a Remote Desktop session to the
remote server.
Also new in the R2 version of Server Manager are Best Practice Analyzers (BPAs) that are
directly integrated into the Server Manager for those roles that have them.
Adding Roles, Role Services, and Features
Adding a role, role service, or feature in Windows Server 2008 R2 can be done from Server
Manager, from the Initial Configuration Tasks Wizard, or from Windows PowerShell. The
Server Manager and Initial Configuration Tasks Wizard experience is essentially the same as it
was in Windows Server 2008, but the option to use Windows PowerShell is new.
To use Server Manager to add a role or feature, select Server Manager () in
the tree pane and then, from the Action menu, select Add Roles (or Add Features). To add
a role service for an already installed role, highlight that role in the tree pane and, from the
Action menu, select Add Role Service. The Add Role Wizard, Add Role Services Wizard, or
Add Feature Wizard will open. All three wizards are essentially the same. The Add Role Wizard
is shown in Figure 2-7.
Figure 2-7 The Add Role Wizard, with the File Services role selected.
A new alternative that makes it easier to script and automate the configuration of servers is
Windows PowerShell. Windows Server 2008 R2 has a new ServerManager module that can be
used to add or remove roles, role services, or features. Figure 2-8 shows a Windows Power-
Shell session that sets the execution policy to only require signing for scripts that originate
Windows Server Core CHAPTER 2 21
remotely, then imports the ServerManager module, and finally adds the File Services role,
along with the File Server role service.
Figure 2-8 Adding the File Services role using Windows PowerShell.

Windows Server Core

     The option to choose a minimal environment for running specific server roles was a very new
installation option in Windows Server 2008, and that option has been enhanced in Windows
Server 2008 R2 with the addition of Active Directory Certificate Services as a role, and the
inclusion of Windows PowerShell as a supported feature.
Server Core is an installation option, not a separate edition of Windows Server 2008 R2.
You can install Server Core regardless of which edition you are installing—it’s really just a
decision about interface and functionality.

Configuring Server Core
 
     Configuring and managing a Server Core installation is a bit different than a full installation
of Windows Server 2008 R2. The initial configuration is especially different because the
Initial Configuration Tasks Wizard isn’t available. Once the server is configured, however, you
can use standard remote management tools to manage the roles and features on the server,
including using Server Manager.
The following steps outline how to perform a basic Server Core configuration to give the
server a fixed Internet Protocol (IP) address and join it to the domain. These instructions
assume you’ve completed the basic installation and set the default administrator password,
and you are now staring at the blank Cmd.exe prompt shown earlier in Figure 2-1. Use the
commands shown in Figure 2-9 to configure the network adapter for a fixed IP address of
192.168.51.4 with a Domain Name System (DNS) server at 192.168.51.2.
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Figure 2-9 Setting a fixed IP address.
Now, join the server to the example.local domain using the following command:
Netdom join %computername% /domain:example.local /userd:example\Charlie /passwordd:*
Restart the server using shutdown –r and log back in with a domain administrator
account to confirm that the domain join went as expected. Once you’re back at the inspiring
Server Core command line, you need to rename the computer something a bit more memorable
than the random name given it during the initial install. The command to do this is
Netdom again:
Netdom renamecomputer %computername% /newname:
Answer Yes at the prompt, and then restart the computer after the rename and log back in
with a domain administrator account.
Now, configure the firewall for remote administration and enable remote management
through the firewall, using the commands shown in Figure 2-10.
Figure 2-10 Enabling remote management.
Windows Server Core CHAPTER 2 23
Finally, use the new Server Configuration utility, Sconfig.exe, to configure the rest of the
settings, as shown in Figure 2-11.
Figure 2-11 Sconfig.exe makes configuring some options much easier.
Sconfig.exe is new in Windows Server 2008 R2 and allows you to configure most of the
settings you need to get up and running with Server Core. This includes enabling remote
Server Manager, remote management consoles, and Windows PowerShell, which are critical
steps to getting your Server Core installation ready to use.

Managing Server Core
 
     Once Windows PowerShell is installed, and you have remote management and Remote
Desktop enabled, you are in a position to manage the server comfortably using familiar
tools. You’ll need to use Windows PowerShell or the Dism.exe command-line utility to add
or remove roles, role services, and features because you can’t use the remote management
tools or Server Manager to add roles remotely. You can manage a server running Server Core

installation in the following ways:
 
    1. 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.
   2. 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.
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   3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Remotely using a Microsoft Management Console (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.
  6.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.
Figure 2-12 shows Server Manager connecting to a Server Core computer.