What You Need To
Know About Server
2008 Core Edition
1-800-COURSES
www.globalknowledge.com
Expert Reference Series of White Papers
Introduction
Back in the days of Windows 3.1, you could choose what Windows components you wanted to install. In fact, I
remember doing the math at that time, and the number of possible component combinations was in the hun-
dreds of thousands, if not more. If you didn't want a component, you could tell Windows that you didn't want
it, and by George, you wouldn't get it.
Since then,
however, Windows setup has given customers less and less control over what bits should mak
e it
over onto your servers and workstations. The "give 'em everything" approach culminates in Windows Vista,
which puts everything on your system including the kitchen sink. With Vista, you turn Windows components on
and off rather than install or remove them. (Hence the renaming of the "Add/Remove Programs" wizard to
simply "Programs.")
While not having to hunt around for a Windows CD or an i386 folder on the network has a certain appeal,
there are also undeniable advantages to minimizing the footprint that Windows makes on a system, including
the following:
• Patching Windows has become a bigger and bigger job in recent years; the larger the feature set, the
more numerous the required patches.
• The less softw
are you have on a given system, the more lik
ely it is to be reliable, all other things being
equal. There are fewer chances for programs and components to interfere with each other.
• Finally, the less software you have, the smaller the "attack surface" and therefore the less likely you are
to be bothered with viruses and malware.
Considering how organizations use servers, it's also clear that a full install is often overkill. For example, partic-
ularly in medium to large organizations, a certain number of servers are used for a single purpose: file sharing,

a subset of the framework for Server Core but it will be released after the release of Server 2008,
if ever)
• PowerShell (although you can run this remotely to manage Server Core)
• DirectX (you don't play games on servers anyway, right?)
• Media Player (...or play MP3s and videos?)
• Sound card drivers
• Modem drivers
• Printer drivers (you actually can add these, but you must do so remotely)
• Windows Mail (the new version of Outlook Express)
Trimming all of these items saves something like 4GB of binaries, according to Microsoft. (My installation
required about 5.7GB.) It also is likely to save something approaching 60% of the patch requirements, if we
can use Windows 2000 Server as a guide.
Below is a partial list of functions that you
can perform or that do exist on Server Core:
• Product activation (use the phone, a KMS server, or the command "slmgr.vbs -ato")
• Change the password (ctrl-alt-del)
• Join a domain (using NETDOM)
• Rename the computer (again, using NETDOM)
• Add a server role (using the OCSETUP tool)
• Install
Active Directory and promote to a domain controller (using DCPROMO)
• Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (formerly known as ADAM, Active Directory Application
Mode)
• Configure IP address, add DNS server, etc. (using NETSH)
• View event log (run Event Viewer remotely from another system)
•
V
iew performance counters (run Perfmon remotely from another system)
• View Device Manager (remotely, and in read-only mode)
• Plug and Play (works silently with included drivers)

having to perform a from-scratch reinstall.)
The Command Line
Figur
e 1.
Lots of commands,
most in C:\Windows\System32.
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raining LLC. All rights reserved.
Page 4
H
ere's a sampling of the tools available at the command line include the following (most of the EXE's reside in
C:\Windows\System32):
• BCDEDIT to customize the boot configuration
• CACLS to display and modify file ACL's
• CMD to spawn a new instance of the command interpreter
• DISKPART to manage disk partitions
• DRIVERQUERY to see what device drivers are installed
• FTYPE to manage file suffix associations that live in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
• GPRESULT to evaluate applied Group Policy settings
• NETSH to configure network settings
• SC to display, configure, start, and stop services (for example, SC QUERY shows all services and their
state)
• SCHTASKS to manage scheduled tasks
• START to open a new window to run a particular program
• SY
STEMINFO to view a variety of specs for the particular system
• REGEDIT to manage the Registry (works as usual, in GUI mode)
You'll note that some of the tools, such as REGEDIT
, do bring up the graphical version of the utility, even
though the Explorer shell is certainly not present. Other examples include Notepad and Task Manager. (Just