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Installing Windows Features on a server running a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2: Overview

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Installing Windows Features on a server running a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2: Overview

After the Server Core installation is complete and the server is configured, you can install one or more optional features. The Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 supports the following optional features:

  • Failover Clustering

  • Network Load Balancing

  • Subsystem for UNIX-based applications

  • Windows Server Backup

  • Multipath IO

  • BitLocker Drive Encryption

  • Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

  • Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)

  • Telnet client

  • QWAVE

  • Subset of .NET Framework 2.0

  • Subset of .NET Framework 3.0 and 3.5

    • Windows Communication Framework (WCF)

    • Windows Workflow Framework (WF)

    • LINQ

    • Windows PowerShell

    • Server Manager cmdlets

    • Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) cmdlets

  • WoW64

  • 32-bit support for the Input Method Editor

The following procedure describes how to install these features on a server running a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2.

Note

Failover Clustering is not available in Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition.

Prerequisites for installing an optional feature on a server running a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2

The following optional features require appropriate hardware:

  • Failover Clustering

  • Network Load Balancing

  • Multipath IO

  • BitLocker Drive Encryption

Note

For more information about the hardware that is required for optional features, see the Additional References section at the end of this document.

There are no prerequisites for the following optional features:

  • Subsystem for UNIX-based applications

  • Windows Server Backup

  • Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

  • Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)

  • Telnet client

  • QWAVE

  • BranchCache

  • .NET Framework

  • Windows PowerShell

  • WoW64

  • IME support

  • Windows Server Migration Tools

Known issues for installing an optional feature on a server running a Server Core installation

You can install .NET Framework 3.0 and 3.5 functionality, but WPF is not available.

The following .NET Framework namespaces are not available in Server Core installations:

  • System.Data.Design

  • System.Deployment.Application

  • System.Diagnostics.Design

  • System.Media

  • System.Messaging.*

  • System.Speech.*

  • System.Web.UI.Design.* (although runtime support for expression builders is supported)

  • System.Windows.*

  • UIAutomationClientsideProviders

  • Microsoft.Aspnet.Snapin

  • Microsoft.Ink

  • Microsoft.ManagementConsole.*

  • Microsoft.StylusInput.*

  • Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility.VB6

  • Microsoft.Windows.Themes

  • Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms

  • Microsoft.WindowsMobile.DirectX.*

  • System.ComponentModel.Design.*

The standard installation of the Subsystem for UNIX-based applications, Windows PowerShell, and .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, and 3.5 does not include 32-bit support. If you need 32-bit support, install the WoW64 feature.

Steps for installing an optional feature on a server running a Server Core installation

To install an optional feature on a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2, perform the following procedure.

Note

The Dism.exe syntax is case sensitive so be sure to follow the examples explicitly.

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:<featurename>

    Where featurename is the name of a feature from the following list:

    • Failover Clustering: FailoverCluster-Core

    • Network Load Balancing: NetworkLoadBalancingHeadlessServer

    • Subsystem for UNIX-based applications: SUACore

    • 32-bit support for Subsystem for UNIX-based applications: SUACore-WOW64

    • Multipath IO: MultipathIo

    • Removable Storage: Microsoft-Windows-RemovableStorageManagementCore

    • BitLocker Drive Encryption: BitLocker

Note

To install the remote administration tool for BitLocker, type the following at a command prompt:
Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename: BitLocker-RemoteAdminTool 

  - Windows Server Backup: **WindowsServerBackup**  
      
  - Windows Server Backup Windows PowerShell cmdlets: **WindowsServerBackupCommandlet**  
      
  - Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP): **SNMP-SC**  
      
  - Windows Internet Name Service (WINS): **WINS-SC**  
      
  - Telnet client: **TelnetClient**  
      
  - QWAVE: **QWAVE**  
      
  - BranchCache: **PeerDist**, **PeerDistHashP**, and **SMBHashGeneration**  
      
  - .NET Framework 2.0: **NetFx2-ServerCore**

Note

If you need 32-bit support: Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFx2-ServerCore-WOW64. 

  - .NET Framework 3.0 and 3.5 (installed together): **NetFx3-ServerCore**

Note

If you need 32-bit support, run both of the following commands: Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFx2-ServerCore-WOW64 and Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFx3-ServerCore-WOW64. 

  - Windows PowerShell: **MicrosoftWindowsPowerShell**  
      
  - If you need 32-bit support for Windows PowerShell, run **Dism /online/enable-feature /featurename:MicrosoftWindowsPowerShell-WOW64**  
      
  - Windows PowerShell Server Manager cmdlets: **ServerManager-PSH-Cmdlets**  
      
  - Windows PowerShell Best Practices Analyzer cmdlets: **BestPractices-PSH-Cmdlets**  
      
  - WoW64 is installed by default, but for your reference: **ServerCore-WOW64**  
      
  - Input Method Editor 32-bit support: **ServerCore-EA-IME-WOW64**  
      
  - Windows Server Migration Tools: **ServerMigration**  
      
  - IIS Management Service: **IIS-ManagementService**

Note

Once you have installed IIS Management Service, to enable remote management of it, use Regedit.exe to find the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WebManagement\Server key and set EnableRemoteManagement to 1. Then start the Management Service with the command net start wmsvc.

Note

To remove an optional feature, use Dism /online /disable-feature /featurename:<name> with the appropriate feature name from above.