Five Ways to Manage Server Core

To create a RemoteApp rdp file, you need to install the Terminal Services role on a non–Server Core Server 2008 server. You can use Server Manager to accomplish this task.

After you install the Terminal Services role, select the TS RemoteApp Manager option from the Start menu, under Administrative Tools, Terminal Services. The RemoteApp Manager console will open.

Next, select the option to connect to another system, and choose the Server Core system. In the Actions pane on the far right, select Add RemoteApp Programs and locate the cmd.exe application (typically located under c$\windows\system32\cmd.exe). From the Allow list, select Remote cmd.exe. Then, select Create RDP package in the Actions pane.

After the package is created, you can double-click to open only the command prompt in a Terminal Services session. In addition, you can send the cmd.rdp file to other users who need to access the Server Core system in a RemoteApp command line.

4. Windows Remote Shell
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) is an implementation of the WS-Management protocol (a SOAP-based firewall-friendly protocol) that allows interoperability between the OS and a variety of hardware vendors. In addition, WinRM lets you connect to a Server Core system and work within a command prompt without creating a Terminal Services connection. One of the benefits of using WinRM is that it uses HTTP port 80 (or HTTPS port 443) to establish the connection. Because these ports are typically already open on firewalls, establishing the connection is quite easy. The idea is that you create a system that is a WinRM listener on one side (the Server Core machine), then use the WinRS tool to connect to that machine.

Before you begin, you need to join the Server Core system to the domain and log on to the domain at least once as an administrator on the Server Core machine. (Note that you must use a Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2003 R2 system to make the connection,)

Go to a command prompt on the Server Core system you want to administer and enter

 WinRM quickconfig 

Then, on the system you want to administer the Server Core machine from, enter the command you want to run, as follows:

 winrs -r:<ServerCoreSystemName> <command> 

You can initiate any command (e.g., dir, ipconfig), but an ideal approach is to issue the cmd.exe command, which fully connects your command prompt to the Server Core machine. Then, any command you enter will run on the Server Core system, and you don't have to reenter the entire winrs command.

5. MMC Snap-Ins
The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) provides a GUI method of administering Server Core. But before you can run the standard consoles, you must do some command-line work. First, you need to configure the firewall on your Server Core system to allow MMC snap-ins to connect.

Go to a command prompt and enter

 netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="remote administration" new enable=yes 

To allow only specific snap-ins, enter

 netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="<rulegroup>" new enable=yes 

I prefer to allow all snap-ins to connect. If you'd rather enable only the snap-ins you need, you must know the rule group names that correspond to the snap-ins. Table 1 provides this information. In order to use MMC snap-ins to manage a Server Core system, you must have administrative privileges on the system.

You need to consider whether the Server Core system you want to manage is a domain member. If the system is part of the domain, simply open the MMC console, right-click the hierarchy to select Connect to another computer, and enter the name of the Server Core system.

If the Server Core system you want to manage doesn't belong to the domain, you must use administrative credentials to create a connection to the Server Core system from your client machine. To do so, open a command prompt on the client machine and enter

 cmdkey /add:<Server Core System Name> /user:<Administrator Account

     User Name> /pass:<Administrator Password> 

You can then manage the Server Core machine as you would any other system in the domain.

Multiple Management Options
Now that you have more than one point of entry, you can use your command-line skills to take full advantage of Server Core. Server 2008 R2 will include the ability to run PowerShell also, which will undoubtedly increase your ability to administer Server Core both locally and remotely.

• Server Core: Manage Through Terminal Services
• Server Core: Manage Through RemoteApp
• Server Core: Manage with Windows Remote Shell
• Server Core: Manage with MMC Snap-ins