Book Image

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Cookbook

By : Leandro Eduardo S Carvalho, Leandro Carvalho
Book Image

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Cookbook

By: Leandro Eduardo S Carvalho, Leandro Carvalho

Overview of this book

Virtualization has proved that it can help organizations to reduce costs, and the Private Cloud has created a revolution in the way we manage and control our servers with centralization and elasticity. The new Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V release from Microsoft comes with a myriad of improvements in areas such as mobility, high availability and elasticity, bringing everything you need to create, manage and build the core components of a Microsoft Private Cloud for virtualized workloads."Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Cookbook" is the perfect accompaniment for Hyper-V administrators looking to take advantage of all the exciting new features the release has to offer. Through practical recipes, you'll master Hyper-V deployment, migration and management. "Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Cookbook" is an essential resource for any Hyper-V administrator looking to migrate, install and manage their virtual machine efficiently. With all the features of Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V covered, you will learn everything from installation to disaster recovery, security, high availability, configuration, automation, architecture and monitoring, all in a practical recipe format. The book also includes new features such as Storage and Shared Nothing Live Migration, Hyper-V Replica and Network Virtualization and much more.With "Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Cookbook" in hand, you'll be equipped to manage your Private Cloud with ease.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Cookbook
Credits
About the Author
Acknowledgement
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Managing a Server Core installation using sconfig


You read in the previous recipe about all the benefits of Server Core such as performance, security and so on. But without the GUI, it's not easy to do the daily management and maintenance of Hyper-V. If you want to change the computer name or the IP address, the GUI is always the easiest to use. But on the other hand, the command line can bring a fast and an automated process.

That's why in Windows Server 2012, the Server Core version of Windows and Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 comes with the Server Configuration (sconfig). This is a command line with a simple interface to reduce the time for doing the most common tasks in Windows. In the following screenshot, you can see an example of sconfig's first page:

sconfig can do this via an intuitive numerical menu to facilitate the Windows configuration.

A simple example is when you have to change the IP address of your computer by using the command line. Have a look into the following command:

netsh interface ip set address "Local Area Connection" static 192.168.0.10 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.1 1

Sometimes it is hard to remember the exact command syntax and this can lead to server misconfiguration.

Using sconfig, the process would be simply to press the numbers 8, 0, and then 1 from the menu and simply specify the new IP configuration. That's it.

Besides IP configuration, the sconfig offers 13 other options:

  • Domain/workgroup

  • Computer name

  • Adding local administrator

  • Configuring remote management

  • Windows update settings

  • Downloading and installing updates

  • Remote desktop

  • Network settings

  • Date and time

  • Help in improving the product with CEIP

  • Logging off the user

  • Restarting the server

  • Shutting down server

In this recipe, you will see how to set up the most common configurations in your server core without advanced command lines.

Getting ready

The Server Configuration tool is added by default on a Server Core installation or Hyper-V Server. Just type sconfig at the command line and the menu will be loaded.

How to do it...

In order to manage the server core installation using sconfig, carry out the following steps:

  1. To change the domain/workgroup settings, press 1.

  2. Press D for domain or W for workgroup.

  3. Specify the domain or workgroup name, the necessary username and the password, and press Enter.

  4. To change the computer name, press 2 and specify the new computer name.

  5. Select Yes to restart the computer.

  6. To add a local administrator, press 3.

  7. Enter the account to join the local administrators group and type the user password.

  8. To configure the remote management, press 4.

  9. Select one of the following options:

    • Allow MMC Remote Management

    • Enable Windows PowerShell

    • Allow Server Manager Remote Management

    • Show Windows Firewall settings

  10. To change Windows update settings:

    1. Press 5.

    2. Select A for automatic or M for manual.

  11. To download and install updates:

    1. Press 6.

    2. Select A for all updates or R for recommended updates only.

  12. To enable remote desktop:

    1. Press 7.

    2. Select E to enable or D to disable.

  13. To configure network settings:

    1. Press 8.

    2. Select the network adapter number you want to configure and then select one of the existing options:

    • Set network adapter IP address

    • Set DNS Servers

    • Clear DNS Server Settings

  14. To change the date and time, press 9 and a graphical interface will show up with the date and time settings to be configured.

  15. To restart and shut down the server:

    • Press 1+0 to join Customer Experience Improvement Program

    • Press 1+1 for logoff

    • Press 1+2 to restart the computer

    • Press 1+3 to shut down the server

    • Press 1+4 to exit to command line

  16. After these configurations using sconfig and with reduced command line interaction, your server will be ready for the production environment.

How it works...

Server Configuration basically runs scripts in the background for every option that has been selected through a numeric menu, making your life much easier. For every number you select, sconfig can run another script to show a submenu or just run the final script to apply the changes you have selected.

See also

  • The Enabling remote management for Hyper-V in workgroup environments recipe in Chapter 5, Hyper-V Best Practices, Tips, and Tricks