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Server Core Installation Option Getting Started Guide

Updated: October 22, 2009

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2

This guide provides instructions for building a server that is based on the Server Core installation option of the Windows Server® 2008 or Windows Server® 2008 R2 operating systems. It includes information about installation, initial configuration, and managing a server that is running a Server Core installation.

What is a Server Core installation?

The Server Core installation option is an option that you can use for installing Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2. A Server Core installation provides a minimal environment for running specific server roles, which reduces the maintenance and management requirements and the attack surface for those server roles. A server running a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 supports the following server roles:

  • Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)

  • Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS)

  • DHCP Server

  • DNS Server

  • File Services

  • Hyper-V

  • Print Services

  • Streaming Media Services

  • Web Server (IIS)

A server running a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 supports the following server roles:

  • Active Directory Certificate Services

  • Active Directory Domain Services

  • Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS)

  • DHCP Server

  • DNS Server

  • File Services (including File Server Resource Manager)

  • Hyper-V

  • Print and Document Services

  • Streaming Media Services

  • Web Server (including a subset of ASP.NET)

To accomplish this, the Server Core installation option installs only the subset of the binary files that are required by the supported server roles. For example, the Explorer shell is not installed as part of a Server Core installation. Instead, the default user interface for a server running a Server Core installation is the command prompt.

Downloadable, printable job aids which include the most commonly used commands and procedures for administering Server Core installations are available at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=151984.

What’s new in the Server Core installation option?

The Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 requires initial configuration at a command prompt. A Server Core installation does not include the traditional full graphical user interface. Once you have configured the server, you can manage it locally at a command prompt or remotely using a Terminal Server connection. You can also manage the server remotely using the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) or command-line tools that support remote use.

Server Core installations of Windows Server 2008 R2 support additional server roles (see the “What is a Server Core installation” section) and Windows features (see Installing Windows Features on a server running a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2: Overview).

In Server Core installations of Windows Server 2008 R2, the Removable Storage feature has been removed. You can also remotely manage a Server Core server using Server Manager.

Who should use this guide?

The target audience for the Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 includes:

  • IT planners and analysts who are technically evaluating the product.

  • Enterprise IT planners and designers for organizations.

  • IT professionals who are managing any of the server roles supported in Server Core installations.

Benefits of a Server Core installation

The Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 provides the following benefits:

  • Reduced maintenance. Because the Server Core installation option installs only what is required to have a manageable server for the supported roles, less maintenance is required than on a full installation of Windows Server 2008.

  • Reduced attack surface. Because Server Core installations are minimal, there are fewer applications running on the server, which decreases the attack surface.

  • Reduced management. Because fewer applications and services are installed on a server running the Server Core installation, there is less to manage.

  • Less disk space required. A Server Core installation requires only about 3.5 gigabytes (GB) of disk space to install and approximately 3 GB for operations after the installation.

In this guide

Tags What's this?: / (x) and (x) disk (x) or (x) requirements (x) space (x) wrong? (x) Add a tag
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Disk space requirements of server core misleading and / or wrong?      Andreas9988776 ... jaimeo   |   Edit   |   Show History
Hi - There seems to be a documentation bug.

This document states:

"A Server Core installation requires only about 3.5 gigabytes (GB) of disk space to install and approximately 3 GB for operations after the installation."

However, Microsoft document http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc771345%28WS.10%29.aspx states

"A Server Core installation only requires about 1 gigabyte (GB) of disk space to install, and approximately 2 GB for operations after the installation."

Which requirement is correct?

This document (the Server Core Installation Option Getting Started Guide) is always the authoritative source.
Product key instructions are incorrect      John Paul Cook   |   Edit   |   Show History
There are three places -ipk appears in the documentation on this page. -ipk is incorrect. To insert the product key into Windows Servero 2008 R2 core, use /ipk instead. The /ipk must be followed by a space before the product key is entered. You must enter the product key with the dashes.
Minor content error (2008 R2)      Hans dD   |   Edit   |   Show History
There's a small error in the 2008 R2 to install DFSN &;; DFSR, displaying at the moment:


For Distributed File System service, type:
Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:???

For Distributed File System Replication, type:
Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:DFSN-Server


This should be the following:


For Distributed File System service, type:
Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:DFSN-Server

For Distributed File System Replication, type:
Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:DFSR-Infrastructure-ServerEdition
SLMGR.VBS -DID ?      Nexient Learning Shared Account ... Thomas Lee   |   Edit   |   Show History

What's "SLMGR.VBS -did" switche ? Is it only on server core before the product is activated maybe ?

[tfl - 24 07 09] Hi - and thanks for your post.You should post questions like this to the Technet Forums at http://forums.microsoft.com/technet or the MS Newsgroups at

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/. You are much more likely get a quick response using the forums than through the Community Content. For specific help about:
Exchange : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.exchange%2C&;;
SQL Server : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.sqlserver%2C&;;
Windows : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.windows%2C&;;
Windows Server : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.windows.server%2C&;;
Virtual Server : http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.virtualserver/topics?lnk
Full Public : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public%2C&;;

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Flag as ContentBug
USB Disk      vlan14 ... Thomas Lee   |   Edit   |   Show History

How can I safe remove a USB Disk in a server core installation ?

[tfl - 24 07 09] Hi - and thanks for your post.You should post questions like this to the Technet Forums at http://forums.microsoft.com/technet or the MS Newsgroups at

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/. You are much more likely get a quick response using the forums than through the Community Content. For specific help about:
Exchange : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.exchange%2C&;;
SQL Server : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.sqlserver%2C&;;
Windows : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.windows%2C&;;
Windows Server : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.windows.server%2C&;;
Virtual Server : http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.virtualserver/topics?lnk
Full Public : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public%2C&;;

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Remote Device Management GP Path Correction      Philip E.   |   Edit   |   Show History
When going to enable remote device management for the Server Core installation, the GP path should be:

  • Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Device Installation\Allow remote access...
Hardware / Vendor - Management Software      Wayne Prinsloo   |   Edit   |   Show History
I searched for hours and hours to find out if my Hardware Management Software is supported on the Server Core Edition.
I can now say that the Dell OMSA 5.5 can work and is supported on the Server Core Editions.
See: http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/power/ps2q08-20070611-tsai.pdf for full instructions and additional detail.
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Configure the paging file - sizes measured in MB      Dave A-W   |   Edit   |   Show History

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 megabytes.

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

Graphic UI for Windows 2008 Core      Asaf Ganot   |   Edit   |   Show History

If you find it hard to remmember CLI commands for basic 2008 Core operations, there is a neat tool which provides a Graphic UI for 2008 core. http://www.smart-x.com/

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A couple corrections...      Adam [MCS]   |   Edit   |   Show History

At a command prompt, type:
netsh interface ipv4 set address name(need to add = here)<ID from interface list> source=static address=<preferred IP address> gateway=<gateway address>

At a command prompt, type:
netsh interface ipv4 add dnsserver name=(this should be the interface name, not DNS server name) address=<IP address of the primary DNS server> index=1

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Minor error on this page      Thomas Lee   |   Edit   |   Show History

In the text above, it states:

"

To enable automatic updates, type:
cscript scregedit.wsf /AU /4

To disable automatic updates, type:
cscript scregedit.wsf /AU /1
"

This appears to be incorrect, I think it should read:

cscript scregedit.wsf /AU 4

cscript scregedit.wsf /AU 1
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