Install and configure ADDS on Windows Server 2022 Core in Azure (Part 2)

A question I often get is ‘why should I use Windows Server Core edition’? This is difficult to manage and I do not like a server without a graphical interface.

The first thing I always tell you is, you DON’T HAVE to do anything, but my advice is to do it. Especially for a number of crucial server roles.

Some advantages of Windows Server Core edition at a glance:

Continue reading “Install and configure ADDS on Windows Server 2022 Core in Azure (Part 2)”

Install and configure ADDS on Windows Server 2022 Core in Azure (Part 1)

Today, I’m going to show you how to install and configure Active Directory Domain Services on Windows Server 2022 Core edition on Azure.

I’ve used some ARM templates to deploy my two domain controllers in Azure, based on Windows Server 2022 Core edition. These servers are in a separate subnet within my Azure environment. In this example, Í’ve two domain controllers, mss-dc-core001 and mss-dc-core002.

Continue reading “Install and configure ADDS on Windows Server 2022 Core in Azure (Part 1)”

How to: Windows 2012 switch from GUI to Core and from Core to GUI

When you install Windows 2012 Server, you’ve two options to install. The first one is the Core version, the second one is the graphical version (GUI). In the previous version, Windows Server 2008, it was also possible! There is one mayer difference in Windows 2012 Server. You’ve the possibility to change between the Core edition and graphical interface and back without installing the whole server again!

In a few steps you can transform your fully graphical version of Windows 2012 Server to only a black command line box! 😉 Let’s have a look.

1.) Install a Windows 2012 Server with the GUI version
2.) Open Powershell
3.) Type the following command:
Get-WindowsFeature *gui*. As you can see, there’re two Windows feature.
Graphical Management Tools and Infrastructure (Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra)
Server Graphical Shell (Server-Gui-Shell)
4.) Type the following command to uninstall the GUI:
Get-WindowsFeature *gui* | Remove-WindowsFeature
5.) After restarting the server, you don’t have the GUI anymore
6.) Open Powershell
7.) Type the following command to install the GUI:
Get-WindowsFeature *gui* | Install-WindowsFeature
8.) After restarting the server, the GUI is back again.

       

       

       

       

   

How to: List all enabled features using the command prompt in 2008 R2 Core

When you’re using Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Core Edition, you only have an command prompt available within a console session. For some sysadmins it’s a no go. When you know what tools are available by default whitin the command prompt, it’s no big deal to manage some basic things through the command prompt.

For example, when you want to view all the available features in the Core Version, you can use the command:
dism /online /get-features /format:Table
dism /online /get-features /format:List