A few weeks ago, we had some discussion about the Server Core variant of Windows Server 2008, in which the graphical user interface is dispensed with in order to create a leaner, meaner version of the server operating system. After a few months of working with Server Core systems, I thought it might be useful to present a few of the commands you’ll need in this environment.
First are the GUI tools. Microsoft created “shims” for the operating system so that you can run a few graphical programs, even though Server Core is supposed to be a command-line-only environment. You can run REGEDIT, NOTEPAD, and TIMEDATE.CPL graphically by invoking them from the command line.
Some of the command-line tools that are indispensable include OCLIST, which tells you what roles and features are installed; OCSETUP, which lets you add or remove roles and features (note that the identifiers for those roles and features are case-sensitive!); SCREGEDIT.WSF, which contains a grab-bag of routines for performing specific actions such as activating Windows; and SHUTDOWN, which lets you easily restart or shut down a Server Core machine.
Should you accidentally close the command prompt window on a Server Core box, a quick CTRL-ALT-DEL will let you open a Task Manager window, from which you can click the “New Task” button and type in CMD.EXE.
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