Windows Server 2008 – Server Core Quick Start

Here’s a quick list of the steps I use to get a Server 2008 Server Core install up and running with the Hyper-V role installed.

• Set the administrator password
  • at first login… or after with Ctrl-Alt-Del
• List examples of administrative tasks that can be performed from the command line
  • Change to the system32 directory
    • cd \windows\system32
    • cscript scregedit.wsf /cli
• Set the Date, Time, and Time Zone
  • control timedate.cpl
• Configure Networking
  • To show current IP config
    • ipconfig /all
  • To identify interface to configure
    • netsh interface ipv4 show interfaces
  • Set the static IP address
    • netsh interface ipv4 set address name=”2″ source=static address=x.x.x.x mask=255.255.255.0 gateway=x.x.x.x
  • Set static DNS servers
    • netsh interface ipv4 add dnsserver name=”2″ address=x.x.x.x index=1
  • To check configuration
    • ipconfig /all
• Changing the server name
  • To verify name
    • hostname
  • To Change the server name
    • netdom renamecomputer %computername% /NewName:ServerName
    • shutdown /r /t 0
  • To verify name change
    • hostname
• Join a Domain
  • To join the domain
    • netdom join ServerName /domain:CONTOSO /userd:Administrator /passwordd:*
  • To restart the server
    • shutdown /r /t 0
• Activate the Server
  • Change to the system32 directory
    • cd \windows\system32
  • To display slmgr script help
    • cscript slmgr.vbs /? (or slmgr -h)
  • To display current expiration
    • cscript slmgr.vbs -xpr
  • To display additional information
    • cscript slmgr.vbs -dl
  • To enter a MAK license key (if you do not have a KMS server)
    • cscript slmgr.vbs -ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
  • To activate the server
    • cscript slmgr.vbs -ato
  • To verify
    • cscript slmgr.vbs -xpr
  • To verify
    • cscript slmgr.vbs -dli
• Enable Automatic Updates
  • To get help
    • cscript scregedit.wsf /?
  • To check current setting
    • cscript scregedit.wsf /au /v
  • To configure automatic updates to automatically download and install (this is the only option)
    • cscript scregedit.wsf /au 4
• Enable Remote Desktop
  • To enable
    • cscript scregedit.wsf /ar 0
  • To disable
    • cscript scregedit.wsf /ar 1
• Installing Roles
  • To show rolls currently installed and currently not installed
    • oclist
  • To install the DNS Server role (note that ocsetup is case sensitive)
    • Start /w ocsetup DNS-Server-Core-Role
  • To confirm new role installed
    • oclist
• Installing Hyper-V Note: Ensure that you have hardware-assisted virtualization enabled prior to installation. If BIOS reconfiguration changes were made to enable hardware features, you must complete a full power-cycle before proceeding.
  • To enable Hyper-V role
    • Start /w ocsetup Microsoft-Hyper-V

RSS Readers follow-up

My last post talked about RSS Readers and which one was the best fit for my needs. Well since then I have started using Google’s online RSS reader, Google Reader (www.google.com/reader). Since starting to use this tool, I have not been able to find anything else that matches it. I looked briefly at Newsgator, they currently have a decent portfolio of RSS products including fat client reader called FeedDemon (PC), in addition to an online and a mobile offering. But they haven’t been able to make it just work and in my opinion there are some issues that make it not worth the switch.

In the end, Google Reader is my current RSS Reader of choice. Since it is online I can access it from any PC or from my mobile. It has a good feature set for sharing, starring, searching, etc… When using it from within IE on my PC I can use delicious and tumblr to easily post things I want to share / flag outside of Google Reader.

The wide wide world of RSS

I’ve been using RSS feeds for a while. I use them to track personal and work related news, which means of course I read RSS feeds while at work and when I’m at home. At this point and for some time now, it is an important part of my job. RSS is a tool that helps keep me informed, exposes me to new technologies, and even helps me solve technical problems from time to time.

So, needless to say, RSS feeds are important to me. If they are important, then you could reason that I have put some time into finding the right tool (RSS reader) for browsing this information. This part however is not as easy as it sounds.

There are a number of options from online services like Google Reader and Bloglines to client side applications like RSS Bandit and Attensa. I mention these particularly because they are a few that I have tried personally for an extended period of time and they certainly each have their strengths and weaknesses. RSS Bandit was probably the first product I used heavily, it was a good product and helped me navigate the mountain of feeds I read, but it was really just a local client, there was not an easy way to share with myself or others.

This leads to an interesting point, when I am reading an RSS feed my first priority is sharing with myself. I need to be able to revisit something in a specific context from any number of locations / devices. My second priority then is sharing things with my friends and colleagues, which could be just as challenging, but seems like it is typically a little easier.

So, I want to be able to share (flag for follow-up, tag with delicious, post to tumblr, blog, email) anything I might find interesting or relevant.

At the moment Attensa is the product that does this best for me. It can be used to add a “river of news” to Outlook or you can use their stand alone reader. I use the river of news in Outlook 2007, the feeds can be organized a number of different ways. It took a little effort to get things looking just the way I wanted, but as a whole the product makes reading RSS feeds a much better experience. The ability to tag with delicious and blog (with Windows Live writer even) are built right in, all I have to do is click a little icon next to the post title. Attensa really has put a lot of thought into the product and seems to be genuinely trying to give people and businesses the best tool to harness the power of RSS

Let me know what you think and what you use.

Welcome!

I’ve been meaning to start a blog for some time. My biggest concern is reproducing what is already out there. I know pesonally I experience a bit of blog overload, but thankfully RSS Bandit has a version compatible with Windows Vista.

The primary focus will be on topics surrounding Microsoft technologies. However my passion for technology in general could pull us in a different direction from time to time, but I will try to keep it interesting.

My main intention is to use this as a tool to spur conversation around technology. Since I spend most of my time thinking about, designing, deploying, and to a certain extent operating Microsoft technologies, I hope to be able to bring some value to the community. However, I do hope to be able to pull something out as well.

 Check back for general musings, best practices, new findings, solutions, etc…