Share via

Administering a Server Core installation

  • Article

Administering a Server Core installation

This section focuses on common administrative tasks that are performed locally or remotely from a command prompt. The commands are grouped into the following sections:

  • Configuration and installation

  • Networking and firewall

  • Updates and error reporting

  • Services, processes and performance

  • Event logs

  • Disk and file system

  • Hardware

  • Remote administration

Prerequisites for administering a Server Core installation

To complete this task, you need:

  • A computer on which you have installed and configured a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008.

  • An administrator user account and password for the server running a Server Core installation.

Known issues for administering a Server Core installation

  • Server Core installation supports Windows Installer in quiet mode so that you can install tools and utilities from Windows Installer files.

  • If you need to write a script for managing a server running a Server Core installation, which requires the secure inclusion of an administrative password, see the scripting column on Microsoft TechNet (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=56421).

Steps for administering a Server Core installation

The following procedures summarize common administrator tasks for a server running a Server Core installation.

Many of these procedures and commands are summarized in a job aid that you can download and print to take with you for use in the field. Separate versions for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are available at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=151984.

Configuration and installation

Task Steps

Set the local administrative password

At a command prompt, type:

net user administrator *

Join a computer to a domain
  1. At a command prompt, type on one line:

    netdom join %computername% /domain:<domain> /userd:<domain>\username> /passwordd:*

  2. Restart the computer.

Confirm that the domain has changed

At a command prompt, type:

set

Remove a computer from a domain

At a command prompt, type:

netdom remove

Add a user to the local Administrators group.

At a command prompt, type:

net localgroup Administrators /add <domain>\<username>

Remove a user from the local Administrators group

At a command prompt, type:

net localgroup Administrators /delete <domain\username>

Add a user to the local computer

At a command prompt, type:

net user <domain\user name> /add *

Add a group to the local computer

At a command prompt, type:

net localgroup <group name> /add

Change the name of a domain-joined computer

At a command prompt, type:

netdom renamecomputer %computername% /NewName:<new computer name> /userd:<domain\username> /passwordd:*

Confirm the new computer name

At a command prompt, type:

set

Change the name of a computer in a work group
  1. At a command prompt, type:

    netdom renamecomputer <currentcomputername> /NewName:<newcomputername>

  2. Restart the computer.

Disable paging file management

At a command prompt, type:

wmic computersystem where name="<computername>" set AutomaticManagedPagefile=False

Configure the paging file

At a command prompt, type:

wmic pagefileset where name=”<path/filename>” set InitialSize=<initialsize>,MaximumSize=<maxsize>

Where:

path/filename is the path to and name of the paging file

initialsize is the starting size of the paging file in bytes.

maxsize is the maximum size of the page file in bytes.

Change to a static IP address.
  1. At a command prompt, type:

    ipconfig /all

  2. Record the relevant information or redirect it to a text file (ipconfig /all >ipconfig.txt).

  3. At a command prompt, type:

    netsh interface ipv4 show interfaces

  4. Verify that there is an interface list.

  5. At a command prompt, type:

    netsh interface ipv4 set address name <ID from interface list> source=static address=<preferred IP address> gateway=<gateway address>

  6. Verify by typing ipconfig /all at a command prompt and checking that DHCP enabled is set to No.

Set a static DNS address.
  1. At a command prompt, type:

    netsh interface ipv4 add dnsserver name=<name of primary DNS server> address=<IP address of the primary DNS server> index=1

  2. At a command prompt, type:

    netsh interface ipv4 add dnsserver name=<name of secondary DNS server> address=<IP address of the secondary DNS server> index=2

  3. Repeat as appropriate to add additional servers.

  4. Verify by typing ipconfig /all and checking that all the addresses are correct.

Change to a DHCP-provided IP address from a static IP address.
  1. At a command prompt, type:

    netsh interface ipv4 set address name=<IP address of local system> source=DHCP

  2. Verify by typing Ipconfig /all and checking that DCHP enabled is set to Yes.

Enter a product key

At a command prompt, type:

slmgr.vbs –ipk <product key>

Activate the server locally.

At a command prompt, type:

slmgr.vbs -ato

Activate the server remotely.
  1. At a command prompt, type:

    cscript slmgr.vbs –ipk <product key><server name><username><password>

  2. At a command prompt, type:

    cscript slmgr.vbs -ato <servername> <username> <password>

  3. Retrieve the GUID of the computer by typing cscript slmgr.vbs -did

  4. Type cscript slmgr.vbs -dli <GUID>

  5. Verify that License status is set to Licensed (activated).

Note

If Slmgr.vbs fails to activate the computer, the resulting error message advises you to run Slui.exe, along with the error code for more information. Slui.exe is not included in Server Core installations—it is available in Windows Vista, Windows 7,and full installations of Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Networking and firewall

Task Steps

Configure your server to use a proxy server.

At a command prompt, type:

netsh Winhttp set proxy <servername>:<port number>

Note
Server Core installations cannot access the Internet through a proxy that requires a password to allow connections.

Configure your server to bypass the proxy for internet addresses.

At a command prompt, type:

netsh winttp set proxy <servername>:<port number>bypass-list="<local>"

Display or modify IPSEC configuration.

At a command prompt, type:

netsh ipsec

Display or modify NAP configuration.

At a command prompt, type:

netsh nap

Display or modify IP to physical address translation.

At a command prompt, type:

arp

Display or configure the local routing table.

At a command prompt, type:

route

View or configure DNS server settings.

At a command prompt, type:

nslookup

Display protocol statistics and current TCP/IP network connections.

At a command prompt, type:

netstat

Display protocol statistics and current TCP/IP connections using NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT).

At a command prompt, type:

nbtstat

Display hops for network connections.

At a command prompt, type:

pathping

Trace hops for network connections.

At a command prompt, type:

tracert

Display the configuration of the multicast router.

At a command prompt, type:

mrinfo

Enable remote administration of the firewall.

At a command prompt, type:

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group=”Windows Firewall Remote Management” new enable=yes

Updates, error reporting, and feedback

Task Steps

Install an update.

At a command prompt, type:

wusa <update>.msu /quiet

List installed updates

At a command prompt, type:

systeminfo

Remove an update.
  1. Type at a command prompt:

    expand /f:* <update>.msu c:\test

  2. Navigate to c:\test\ and open <update>.xml in a text editor.

  3. In <update>.xml, replace Install with Remove and save the file.

  4. At a command prompt, type:

    pkgmgr /n:<update>.xml

Configure automatic updates.

At a command prompt:

  • To verify the current setting, type:

    cscript scregedit.wsf /AU /v

  • To enable automatic updates, type:

    cscript scregedit.wsf /AU 4

  • To disable automatic updates, type:

    cscript scregedit.wsf /AU 1

Enable error reporting.

At a command prompt:

  • To verify the current setting, type: serverWerOptin /query

  • To automatically send detailed reports, type:

    serverWerOptin /detailed

  • To automatically send summary reports, type:

    serverWerOptin /summary

  • To disable error reporting, type: serverWerOptin /disable

Participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP).

At a command prompt:

  • To verify the current setting, type:

    serverCEIPOptin /query

  • To enable CEIP, type:

    serverCEIPOptin /enable

  • To disable CEIP, type:

    serverCEIPOptin /disable

Services, processes, and performance

Task Steps

List the running services.

At a command prompt, type either of the following:

  • sc query

  • net start

Start a service.

At a command prompt, type either of the following:

  • sc start <service name>

  • net start <service name>

Stop a service.

At a command prompt, type either of the following:

  • sc stop <service name>

  • net stop <service name>

Retrieve a list of running applications and associated processes.

At a command prompt, type:

tasklist

Stop a process forcibly.
  1. Use the tasklist command to retrieve the process ID (PID).

  2. At a command prompt, type:

    taskkill /PID <process ID>

Start Task Manager.

At a command prompt, type:

taskmgr

Manage the performance counters and logging with commands such as typeperf, logman, relog, tracerprt.

See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=84872.

Event logs

Task Steps

List event logs.

At a command prompt, type:

wevtutil el

Query events in a specified log.

At a command prompt, type:

wevtutil qe /f:text <log name>

Export an event log.

At a command prompt, type:

wevtutil epl <log name>

Clear an event log.

At a command prompt, type:

wevtutil cl <log name>

Disk and file system

Task Steps

Manage disk partitions.

For a complete list of commands, at a command prompt, type:

diskpart /?

Manage software RAID.

For a complete list of commands, at a command prompt, type:

diskraid /?

Manage volume mount points.

For a complete list of commands, at a command prompt, type:

mountvol /?

Defragment a volume.

For a complete list of commands, at a command prompt, type:

defrag /?

Convert a volume to the NTFS file system.

At a command prompt, type:

convert <volume letter> /FS:NTFS

Compact a file.

For a complete list of commands, at a command prompt, type:

compact /?

Administer open files.

For a complete list of commands, at a command prompt, type:

openfiles /?

Administer VSS folders.

For a complete list of commands, at a command prompt, type:

vssadmin /?

Administer the file system.

For a complete list of commands, at a command prompt, type:

fsutil /?

Verify a file signature.

At a command prompt, type:

sigverif /?

Take ownership of a file or folder.

For a complete list of commands, at a command prompt, type:

icacls /?

Hardware

Task Steps

Add a driver for a new hardware device.
  1. Copy the driver to a folder at %homedrive%\<driver folder>.

  2. At a command prompt, type:

    pnputil -i -a %homedrive%\<driver folder>\<driver>.inf

Remove a driver for a hardware device.
  1. For a list of loaded drivers, at a command prompt, type:

    sc query type= driver

  2. At the command prompt, type:

    sc delete <service_name>