Server Core 2008

One of the new features of Windows Server 2008 makes me kind of shiver with dred. Why?

Because I suck at command prompt.

And you all know this. As I'm typing, I make typos, I hit enter too early, I forget syntax, etc. Basically every single error that I could possibly make, I make. Which makes for frustrating times for Ben.

Command prompt? Isn't this a step backwards?

Well, yeah, in a way. Server Core is an installation of Windows Server 2008 which installs nothing but the bare essentials. And when I say "nothing", I mean nothing! Gone is the familiar desktop icons and even the Start button and taskbar. All we're presented with is a command prompt window. Creepy. This scaled down version of Server is Microsoft's way of reducing the attack surface of a server to almost nothing. That, from a security point of view, is pretty nice.

Installing Server Core is easy enough. At installation, you are presented with a screen asking which Windows implementation you'd like to install. Mostly, you'll be choosing the first choice, which is to install Windows normally (and that's with a Start button), but if you're wanting this handy-dandy-extra-secure-no-frills OS, then you'll want to click on the Core installation. Windows will install normally, but you'll notice that there is no opportunity to set up, well, anything! All this must be done later, manually, through the command prompt.

Changing User Information

Logging onto Server Core was kind of weird the first time after installation. I had never set up a user or anything, but there I was: looking at a logon screen requesting logon credentials. Hmm. Typing in Administrator with no password worked. Obviously, this is extremely wide-open, so we'll need to seal up the user account with a nice, complex password. But with no Users and Computers app, how would we do this?

net user administrator *

This now presents us with a place to type in a password for the administrator account. I type in the password (our class-favorite P@ssw0rd, if you're wondering). There! Account locked-down and secure!

Computer Naming and Joining a Domain

Now, taking advantage of Server's new "whoami" command, I see that my computer name is something freakin' strange: lh-7y6gi6m11swi. Hardly memorable. I'd like something just a touch easier to remember, like ServerCore. So, here we go in command prompt land:

netdom renamecomputer lh-7y6gi6m11swi /newname ServerCore

After a warning message about some services possibly getting messed up, and a message saying I need to reboot, I now have a much friendlier computer name on my network.

As you can see, not exactly hard stuff, but still enough to stump the uninitiated. Ok, we'll reboot with this command:

Shutdown /r /t 0

And once we're back, we'll join the domain:

netdom join ServerCore /domain:bensbaldhead.com /userd:bbedo /passwordd:P@ssw0rd

... and then reboot just like above.

Installing a Server Role

We're going to use this ServerCore computer as a DNS server. Installing DNS onto a 2003 Server or even 2008 "normal" server required going to Add/Remove Programs, but since there is no Control Panel in Server Core, we'll have to use the old fashioned command prompt for this too:

start /w ocsetup DNS-Server-Core-Role

After about 2 minutes, I see the command prompt again and DNS is installed. No wizards, no messages in the command line, even. What about administering DNS? Ha ha ha! We're using the DNSCMD tool (or just administering remotely).

I must say, after using it for a while, it does start to feel better -- learning commands, etc. and with the lowered vulnerability, Server Core is pretty nice.