MITPro https://mitpro.ca Montreal IT Professionals Community Sat, 15 Apr 2017 19:13:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 Server Manager: Manage multiple servers just got easier. https://mitpro.ca/2012/10/server-manager-manage-multiple-servers-just-got-easier/ https://mitpro.ca/2012/10/server-manager-manage-multiple-servers-just-got-easier/#comments Wed, 10 Oct 2012 05:36:56 +0000 MITPro https://mitpro.ca/?p=70 One of the things I love about Windows Server 2012 is the ability to manage multiple servers from the same Server Manager console. In this video I will perform the following steps:

Add a second server to be managed to the Server Manager console
Add roles and features to the remote server
Configure the remote server as a domain controller.
Export the PowerShell script to create a domain controller.
In previous versions of Windows Server I was able to manage servers remotely with MMC consoles, but if I wanted to add or remove roles and features then I had to either do it locally, or use PowerShell or System Center to do it. With Server Manager in Windows Server 2012 I can do all of this and more, both locally and remotely, on both physical and virtual hosts. My life as a systems administrator just got easier, which is always my goal!

By Mitch.Garvis

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From Server Core to GUI to… MinShell? https://mitpro.ca/2012/10/from-server-core-to-gui-to-minshell/ https://mitpro.ca/2012/10/from-server-core-to-gui-to-minshell/#comments Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:15:31 +0000 MITPro https://mitpro.ca/?p=124 In Windows Server 2008 we were introduced to a revolutionary way to install Windows Server: Server Core.

Server Core may look boring – there’s nothing to it except the command prompt – but to an IT Pro it is really exciting for several reasons:

  • It requires fewer resources, so in a virtualization environment you can optimize your environment even more than previously;
  • It has a smaller attack surface, which makes it more secure;
  • It has a smaller patch footprint, which means less work for us on Patch Tuesdays; and
  • We can still use all of the familiar tools to manage it remotely, including System Center, MMC Consoles, and PowerShell.

imageDespite all of these advantages in my experience a lot of IT Pros did not adopt Server Core.  Simply states, they like the GUI (Graphical User Interface) manageability of the full installation of Windows Server.  Many do not like command lines and scripting, and frankly many are just used to the full install and did not want to learn something new.  I have even met some IT Pros who simply click the defaults when installing the OS, so they always ended up with the full install.

As you can see in this screenshot, the default installation is now Server Core. This is not done to confuse people, but going forward most servers are going to be either virtual hosts or virtual machines, and either way Server Core is (more often than not) a great solution.

Of course, if you do this and did not want Server Core you are still in good shape, because new in Windows Server 2012 you can add (or remove) the GUI interface on the fly.  You can actually switch between Server Core and Full (GUI) Install whenever you want, making it easier to manage your servers.

There are a couple of ways to install the GUI from the command prompt, although both use the same tool – DISM(Deployment Image Service Manager).  When you are doing it for a single (local) server, the command is:

Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:ServerCore-FullServer /featurename:Server-Gui-Shell /featurename:Server-Gui-Mgmt

While the Dism tool works fine, one of the features that will make you want Windows Server 2012 on all of your servers now is the ability to manage them remotely, and script a lot of the jobs.  For that Windows PowerShell is your friend.  The script in PowerShell would be nearly as simple:

Import-Module Dism
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature –online -Featurename ServerCore-FullServer,Server-Gui-Shell,Server-Gui-Mgmt

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It takes a few minutes, but once you are done you can reboot and presto, you have the full GUI environment.

While that in and of itself is pretty amazing, we are not done yet.  There is a happy medium between Server Core and Full GUI.

MinShell (Minimum Shell) offers the administrator the best of both worlds.  You have the GUI management tools (Server Manager) but no actual GUI, which means that you are still saving the resource, have a smaller attack surface, less of a patch footprint, AND full manageability!

imageWhat the product development team has done is simple: they made the GUI tools a Server Feature… in fact, they made it three separate features (see graphic).  Under User Interfaces and Infrastructure there are three options that allow the server administrator to customize the visual experience according to his needs.

The Graphical Management Tools and Infrastructure is the Server Manager, along with the other GUI tools that we use every day to manage our servers.  It also includes the Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE) which allows administrators an easier to create and manage their PowerShell scripts.

The Desktop Experience gives the administrator the full desktop experience – similar to the Windows 8 client OS – including features such as Picture and Video viewers.

The Server Graphical Shell is exactly that: the GUI.  In other words we can turn the GUI on or off by using theAdd Roles and Features Wizard (and the Remove Roles and Features Wizard).

Now there are a number of catches to remember:

First of all when you go down to MinShell the Add Roles and Features Wizard is still available, but not in Server Core.  Make sure you have this article on hand if you do go down to Server Core.

Next, if you install the full GUI and then remove the components then re-adding them isn’t a problem; however if you install the Server Core installation from the outset then the GUI (and Management) bits are not copied to the drive, which means that if you want to add them later you will need to have the installation media handy.

While hard drive space is pretty cheap, and it is easy to decide to install the full GUI every time and then remove it (so that the bits will be there when you want them).  However remember that with Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 the limits are pretty incredible, and it is entirely possible that you will have up to 1,024 VMs on a host; that means that the few megabytes required for the GUI bits could add up.

Removing the GUI: PowerShell

Sean Kearney, a Microsoft PowerShell MVP, reminded me that there are a couple of ways to achieve the same goals.  The Dism tool is one way, but you can also use the ServerManager module.  Here’s how you would use that one to remove the GUI:

 

Import-module servermanager
Uninstall-windowsfeature -name Server-GUI-Mgmt-Infra,Server-GUI-Shell
RESTART-Computer

 

Whether you opt for the Server Core, Full GUI, or the MinShell compromise, Windows Server 2012 is definitely the easiest Server yet to manage, either locally or remotely, one-off commands or scripts.  What I expect admins will be most excited about is the choices.  Run your servers your way, any way!

 

By Mitch.Garvis

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Linux Integration Services for Hyper-V 3.4 https://mitpro.ca/2012/09/linux-integration-services-for-hyper-v-3-4/ https://mitpro.ca/2012/09/linux-integration-services-for-hyper-v-3-4/#comments Tue, 11 Sep 2012 04:02:01 +0000 MITPro https://mitpro.ca/?p=238 Microsoft has been taking tremendous steps to prove that Hyper-V is not simply the best hypervisor for Windows users and administrators, it is also a viable option if you have Linux servers as well.  Last week Microsoft released the Linux Integration Services v3.4 for Hyper-V.  Integration Services are the tools that you need to get the full functionality of your hardware within a guest OS, including the drivers that enable synthetic device support in (supported) Linux virtual machines under Hyper-V.

Here is the overview of what is included:

When installed in a supported Linux virtual machine running on Hyper-V, the Linux Integration Components provide. Driver support: Linux Integration Services supports the network controller and the IDE and SCSI storage controllers that were developed specifically for Hyper-V. Fastpath Boot Support for Hyper-V: Boot devices now take advantage of the block Virtualization Service Client (VSC) to provide enhanced performance. Time Sync: The clock inside the virtual machine will remain synchronized with the clock on the virtualization server with the help of the pluggable time source device. Integrated Shutdown: Virtual machines running Linux can be shut down from either Hyper-V Manager or System Center Virtual Machine Manager by using the “Shut down” command. Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP) Support: Supported Linux distributions can use multiple virtual processors per virtual machine. The actual number of virtual processors that can be allocated to a virtual machine is only limited by the underlying hypervisor. Heartbeat: This feature allows the virtualization server to detect whether the virtual machine is running and responsive. KVP (Key Value Pair) Exchange: Information about the running Linux virtual machine can be obtained by using the Key Value Pair exchange functionality on the Windows Server 2008 virtualization server. Integrated Mouse Support: Linux Integration Services provides full mouse support for Linux guest virtual machines.

The requirements are simple: If you have Hyper-V (including Windows Server 2008 RTM and Windows 8) on the host, and a supported build of Linux in the guest OS, the LIS will work.

Supported builds:

I am not an expert in Linux, but I do know that previous LIS sets supported several builds, including:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • SuUSE Linux Enterprise Server
  • FreeBSD
  • Ubuntu
  • CentOS

This most recent build only includes support for several builds of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (5.7, 5.8, 6.0, 6.3).  This is not because Microsoft does not care about Linux, nor because it feels that other builds are less important.  Simply stated, all versions of Linux based on Linux Kernel 2.6.32 and later include the drivers for Linux in Hyper-V out of the box.  There are articles on-line which explain how to enable these modules (see article from Port 25).

Microsoft wants you to use Windows Server; they are also realistic to know that not everyone does, and there are a huge number of heterogeneous environments out there.  Just because you use Linux in addition to Windows Server does not mean that you should discount Hyper-V (and all of its great benefits) as your hypervisor of choice.

By the way, the best resource that I have found for Open Source support with Microsoft technologies is the Port 25 Blog right here on TechNet… Check them out here.

 

By Mitch.Garvis

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