Alexander’s Blog

As you may know, Windows Server 2008 Server Core is a minimal operating system that uses relatively little disk space (1 GB) and can improve security because there are fewer files installed and it makes the management easier because there is less fluff added to the Server Core. Server Core cannot run server applications and there is no Graphical User Interface (GUI). Yes, you heard it right. No Windows in Windows Server 2008 Server Core. I want to know who came up with this brilliant idea to come up with an operating system that should be named “Windows” that won’t have any windows?

So how do you manage services in Server Core? Obviously, you use the command shell. Sometimes I wonder if we are going back to the old DOS days. Exchange Server 2007 is a major step backwards for administrators who expect to manage servers using GUI. Server Core also doesn’t has a GUI and you must learn and use the command shell. I have been telling my students for more than a decade, if you want to become a successful network administrator you need to know MS-DOS well. In other words, you need to know the command line interface well.

You know that sooner or later someone will come up with some GUI tools that should have been part of the Exchange Server 2007 or Server Core in the first place. Well, a fellow Directory Services MVP from Israel by the name Guy Teverovsky has written a GUI tool for the Server Core. Check out his blog for all the details.

Here are some of the features of the tool.

• Product Activation
• Configuration of display resolution
• Clock and time zone configuration
• Remote Desktop configuration
• Management of local user accounts (creation, deletion, group membership,
  passwords)
• Firewall configuration
• WinRM configuration
• IP configuration
• Computer name and domain/workgroup membership
• Installation of Server Core features/roles

The tool can be downloaded from Guy’s blog here.