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You're reading from Windows Server 2016 Automation with PowerShell Cookbook - Second Edition

Product typeBook

Published inSep 2017

Reading LevelBeginner

Publisher

ISBN-139781787122048

Edition2nd Edition

Languages

PowerShell

Tools

Windows Server

Concepts

System Administration

Authors (2):

Thomas Lee

Ed Goad

View More author details

Chapter 2. Implementing Nano Server

This chapter contains the following recipes:

Deploying a Nano Server in a VM
Connecting to and managing a Nano Server
Installing features with Nano Server packages

Introduction

Nano Server is a new installation mode of Windows Server 2016. It is a minimal implementation of Windows Server with no desktop, and no default features or services. Nano Server has a minimal disk, memory, and CPU footprint to reduce attack surface and patching requirements.

Deploying a Nano Server in a VM

Deploying a Nano Server is a simple and customizable process. This recipe focuses on the most straightforward implementation which is deploying a Nano Server in a virtual machine. With Nano Server you have several customization options:

Network address: By default, Nano Server uses DHCP to acquire an IP address. You can configure the IP address, subnet, gateway, and DNS both before or after deployment.
Domain membership: By default, Nano Server is not domain joined. You can configure domain membership both before or after deployment.

As this book was going to press, Microsoft has announced that, going forward, Nano Server is only available as a container base OS image. Refer to: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/nano-in-semi-annual-channel for more information.

Getting ready

You need Windows Server 2016 installation ISO file and a Windows Server 2016 system running Hyper-V (HV1). This recipe assumes the path to the ISO file is D:\iso...

Connecting to and managing a Nano Server

Nano Server is designed to be managed remotely without the use of remote desktop services or local console access. You can connect directly to your Nano Server or use other tools to carry out management functions.

Nano Server lacks a desktop experience and remote desktop capability. You use the Nano Server Recovery Console to do some basic network management and to view operating system information. You perform most configuration and management remotely.

Perhaps the simplest way to connect to and configure virtual machines (VMs) is for you to use PowerShell Direct, a new feature introduced in Windows Server 2016. PowerShell Direct enables PowerShell remoting to VMs via the hypervisor instead of using the network, without the need to access the recovery console or configure networking for the VM.

Getting ready

Your Nano Server should be running in Hyper-V, and you should have administrator access on the Hyper-V host and know the VM Name and administrator...

Installing features with Nano Server packages

Nano Server is a minimal implementation of a Windows Server 2016. You can customize it to include only the desired features and roles you require. You customize Nano Servers using the PackageManagement module along with the NanoServerPackage provider. The NanoServerPackage provider can search, download, or install packages that implement features and roles for Nano Server from an online gallery. This provider enables you to install useful server features and roles which you will explore in this recipe.

In Nano Server, packages replace the Add Roles & Features functionality in other editions of Windows. For example, if you need a web server, in other editions of Windows you would install the Web Server (IIS) role, but in Nano server, you would install the Microsoft-NanoServer-IIS-Package package. Instead of installing the File Services role, you would install the Microsoft-NanoServer-Storage-Package package.

You can deploy a Nano Server in a...

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Authors (2)

Thomas Lee

Thomas Lee is a consultant/trainer/writer based in the UK and has been in the IT business since the late 1960s. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University, Thomas joined ComShare where he was a systems programmer building the Commander II time-sharing operating system, a forerunner of today's cloud computing paradigm. In the mid-1970s, he moved to ICL to work on the VME/K operating system. After a sabbatical in 1980/81, he joined Accenture, leaving in 1988 to run his own consulting and training business, which is still active today. Thomas holds numerous Microsoft certifications, including MCSE (one of the first in the world) and later versions, MCT (25 years), and was awarded Microsoft's MVP award 17 times.
Read more about Thomas Lee

Ed Goad

Ed Goad is a systems architect who has been working in various roles in the IT field for 16 years. He first became interested in scripting and automation when presented with a task to uninstall software from over 1,000 systems with limited time and resources. He has worked with scripting and automation on multiple platforms and languages including PowerShell, VBscript, C#, and BASH scripting. Ed currently holds multiple Microsoft certifications, most recently including the Microsoft Certified IT Professional Enterprise Administrator. Additional non-Microsoft certifications include VMware Certified Professional (VCP), Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA), EMC Proven Professional, Brocade Certified Network Engineer (BCNE), and Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA). Ed is currently on a sabbatical and volunteering full time at the Amor Fe y Esperanza school in Honduras(http://www.afehonduras.org). There he is teaching computer and math classes to the kids who live and work in the garbage dump outside of the capital city of Tegucigalpa.
Read more about Ed Goad

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