Book Image

Windows Server 2016 Cookbook

By : Jordan Krause
Book Image

Windows Server 2016 Cookbook

By: Jordan Krause

Overview of this book

This hands-on Cookbook is stuffed full of practical recipes that will help you handle the essential administrative tasks in Windows Server 2016. You’ll start by familiarizing yourself with the look and feel of Windows Server 2016, and will then learn how to navigate through some daily tasks using the graphical interface. You will see how to compose optimal Group Policies and facilitate task automation with PowerShell 5.0 scripting. We will also take a look at the functions available to provide remote network access to your traveling users, and explore the much anticipated Nano Server and Hyper-V built-in integration support that is brand new in Windows Server 2016. By the end of this book, you will know how to take your Windows Server 2016-powered server and turn it into any common infrastructure role that might be required in your company.

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Windows Server 2016 Cookbook
Jordan Krause
Nov, 2016 | 494 pages
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Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Windows Server 2016 Cookbook
Windows Server 2016 Cookbook
Credits
Credits
About the Author
About the Author
About the Reviewer
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Preface
Free Chapter
1
Learning the Interface
Learning the Interface
Introduction
Shutting down or restarting the server
Launching Administrative Tools
Using WinKey + X for quick admin tasks
Using the search function to launch applications quickly
Managing remote servers from a single pane with Server Manager
Using PowerShell to accomplish any function in Windows Server
Installing a role or feature
Administering Server 2016 from a Windows 10 machine
Identifying useful keyboard shortcuts in Server 2016
Setting your PowerShell Execution Policy
Building and executing your first PowerShell script
Searching for PowerShell cmdlets with Get-Help
2
Core Infrastructure Tasks
Core Infrastructure Tasks
Introduction
Configuring a combination Domain Controller, DNS server, and DHCP server
Adding a second Domain Controller
Organizing your computers with Organizational Units
Creating an A or AAAA record in DNS
Creating and using a CNAME record in DNS
Creating a DHCP scope to assign addresses to computers
Creating a DHCP reservation for a specific server or resource
Pre-staging a computer account in Active Directory
Using PowerShell to create a new Active Directory user
Using PowerShell to view system uptime
3
Security and Networking
Security and Networking
Introduction
Requiring complex passwords in your network
Using Windows Firewall with Advanced Security to block unnecessary traffic
Changing the RDP port on your server to hide access
Multi-homing your Windows Server 2016
Adding a static route into the Windows routing table
Using Telnet to test a connection and network flow
Using the Pathping command to trace network traffic
Setting up NIC Teaming
Renaming and domain joining via PowerShell
Building your first Server Core
4
Working with Certificates
Working with Certificates
Introduction
Setting up the first Certification Authority server in a network
Building a Subordinate Certification Authority server
Creating a certificate template to prepare for issuing machine certificates to your clients
Publishing a certificate template to allow enrollment
Using MMC to request a new certificate
Using the web interface to request a new certificate
Configuring Autoenrollment to issue certificates to all domain joined systems
Renewing your root certificate
5
Internet Information Services
Internet Information Services
Introduction
Installing the Web Server role with PowerShell
Launching your first website
Changing the port on which your website runs
Adding encryption to your website
Using a Certificate Signing Request to acquire your SSL certificate
Moving an SSL certificate from one server to another
Rebinding your renewed certificates automatically
Hosting multiple websites on your IIS server
Using host headers to manage multiple websites on a single IP address
6
Remote Access
Remote Access
Introduction
DirectAccess planning question and answers
Configuring DirectAccess, VPN, or a combination of the two
Pre-staging Group Policy Objects to be used by DirectAccess
Enhancing the security of DirectAccess by requiring certificate authentication
Building your Network Location Server on its own system
Enabling Network Load Balancing on your DirectAccess servers
Adding VPN to your existing DirectAccess server
Replacing your expiring IP-HTTPS certificate
Reporting on DirectAccess and VPN connections
7
Remote Desktop Services
Remote Desktop Services
Introduction
Building a single server Remote Desktop Services environment
Adding an additional RDSH server to your RDS environment
Installing applications on a Remote Desktop Session Host server
Disabling the redirection of local resources
Shadowing another session in RDS
Installing a printer driver to use with redirection
Removing an RD Session Host server from use for maintenance
Publishing WordPad with RemoteApp
Tracking user logins with Logon/Logoff scripts
8
Monitoring and Backup
Monitoring and Backup
Introduction
Using Server Manager as a quick monitoring tool
Using the new Task Manager to its full potential
Evaluating system performance with Windows Performance Monitor
Using Format-List to modify PowerShell data output
Configuring a full system backup using Windows Server Backup
Recovering data from a Windows backup file
Using IP Address Management to keep track of your used IP addresses
Checking for viruses in Windows Server 2016
9
Group Policy
Group Policy
Introduction
Creating and assigning a new Group Policy Object
Mapping network drives with Group Policy
Redirecting the My Documents folder to a network share
Creating a VPN connection with Group Policy
Creating a printer connection with Group Policy
Using Group Policy to enforce an Internet proxy server
Viewing the settings currently enabled inside a GPO
Viewing the GPOs currently assigned to a computer
Backing up and restoring GPOs
Plugging in ADMX and ADML templates
10
File Services and Data Control
File Services and Data Control
Introduction
Enabling Distributed File System and creating a Namespace
Configuring Distributed File System Replication
Creating an iSCSI target on your server
Configuring an iSCSI initiator connection
Configuring Storage Spaces
Turning on data deduplication
Setting up Windows Server 2016 work folders
11
Nano Server and Server Core
Nano Server and Server Core
Introduction
Configuring Server Core from the console
Switching between Server Core and Desktop Experience?
Building your first Nano Server
Exploring the Nano Server console
Managing Nano and Core with Server Manager
Managing Nano and Core using remote MMC tools
Managing Nano and Core with PowerShell remoting
12
Working with Hyper-V
Working with Hyper-V
Introduction
Creating a Windows Server that runs Hyper-V
Creating a Hyper-V Server
Networking your VMs
Building your first virtual machine
Using the VM Settings page
Editing virtual hard disks
Using Checkpoints as rollback points

Searching for PowerShell cmdlets with Get-Help

With this recipe, let's take a minute to use Get-Help inside PowerShell in order to, well, get some help! I see both new and experienced PowerShell administrators going to the Web a lot in order to find commands and the parameters of those commands. The Internet is great, and there is a ton of data out there about how to use PowerShell, but in many cases the information that you are looking for resides right inside PowerShell itself. By using the Get-Help cmdlet combined with the functions you are running or searching for, you might not have to open that web browser after all.

Getting ready

We will be running some commands from inside PowerShell on a Windows Server 2016 machine.

How to do it…

To use the Get-Help function inside PowerShell, run the following steps:

  1. Launch a PowerShell prompt.

  2. Type Get-Help.

  3. You're finished! No, I'm just kidding. Using Get-Help by itself will present you with some helpful data about the Get-Help command, but that's not really what we are looking for, is it? How about using Get-Help with a search parameter, like this:

          Get-Help Computer

    Cool! That searched the available cmdlets and presented us with a list of the ones that contain the word Computer. Nice.

  4. Now, what if we wanted to find out some more particular information about one of these cmdlets? Maybe about Restart-Computer; that sounds like something we might use often. Use the following command:

          Get-Help Restart-Computer

    Now we're really cooking! This is wonderful information. Basically, this is exactly what you would find if you were looking for information about the Restart-Computer cmdlet and went searching on TechNet for it.

How it works…

The Get-Help cmdlet in PowerShell can be used with virtually any command in order to find out more information about that particular function. I often use it when the specific name of a cmdlet that I want to use escapes my memory. By using Get-Help as a search function, it will present a list of available cmdlets that include the keyword you specified. This is a brilliant addition to PowerShell, and makes it so much more powerful than Command Prompt.

Also included with the Get-Help files are all of the special syntax and parameter options for each cmdlet that you might be working with. This saves you having to go to the Web in order to search for these functions, and it is just way more fun doing it at the command line than in a web browser.

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