Server Core Archives

May 5, 2015

Need a User Interface for Windows Server Technical Preview 2? It’s Not On By Default

Long time no see, everyone. I’ve been busy with work as well as the book. I’ll be posting an update about the book soon, but I wanted to do a technical post since it’s not only been awhile, but there’s a lot happening – especially with Ignite going on in Chicago right now (not the least of which was the formal announcement of SQL Server 2016 – that will be covered in yet another blog post sometime soon).

Microsoft released Windows Server Technical Preview 2 (aka Windows Server 2016) on Monday, May 4 (download link in the article; it’s also on MSDN). I have been looking forward to this release for quite some time. All the known issues so far with Windows Server Technical Preview 2 can be found at this link. Keep that one bookmarked.

Since Windows Server 2008, Microsoft has offered two main variants of Windows outside of edition: Server Core (no graphical user interface, or GUI) and the full server with a GUI. Windows Server 2012 introduced something in the middle called MinShell, which is GUI-less but allows certain GUI-based administration tools such as Failover Cluster Manager and Server Manager to be run.

A few of us have joked over the years that Microsoft has been pushing people towards Server Core. Guess what? That day has arrived. Nearly everyone I know – SQL Server or Windows person – has been telling you to learn PowerShell or command line. Here is where your procrastination bites you. Welcome to the year 2015.

There are two options for installing Technical Preview 2. The first (Windows Server Technical Preview 2) is the default. It is pure Server Core. Option two adds the local administrator tools and is MinShell. There is no option to install with a full graphical user interface in this build, and if they keep it this way, also not in the final version.

Figure 1. Installation options for WSTP2

Even changing the administrator password is text based in the default option. This can be seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Changing the admin password after installation

To verify it’s pure Server Core, I looked for one specific feature (Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra), and it was disabled (status of Removed). See Figure 3.

Figure 3. Missing GUI admin features in the default WSTP2 installation option

Figure 4 shows the value for Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra for the second installation option. Notice it is checked and has a status of Installed. This means it’s MinShell.

Figure 4. GUI admin features present in the non-default WSTP2 installation option

Figure 5 shows what you see after logging in. If you’ve seen Server Core or MinShell, this is familiar.

Figure 5. What you see after logging into WSTP2

One thing I do find annoying all these years into Server Core/MinShell (and with Nano on the horizon) – these variants default to a command prompt – not PowerShell! I change a registry key to alter this, but Microsoft really should in my not so humble opinion default MinShell, Nano, and Server Core to a PowerShell prompt.

EDIT: I put an item up on User Voice for this. Go upvote it!

Having said all of the above, you can still add the full GUI in, but it is only done via PowerShell or the command line-based dism. Figure 6 is an example of using PowerShell after installing Technical Preview using the second option to add in the full Windows UI.

Figure 6. Adding in the full shell

After rebooting, you will see something which many of you are much more familiar with – the desktop. This is shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7. WSTP2 with a GUI

You can force a reboot with the -Reboot option when adding the feature. You should also note that depending on the option you chose, you may also have to add the GUI admin tools (Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra mentioned above). Adding both of these can also be done via Server Manager (assuming MinShell), and adding the tools can be done after adding the full UI.

I’m excited to play with what WSTP2 has to offer, but this change will be a shock to many – hence this blog post. I’ll be doing more WSTP2 posts regarding some features as they relate to SQL Server soon …

January 24, 2013

Mission Critical SQL Server 2012: A Book Update

Can you believe it’s been almost four years since the publication of Pro SQL Server 2008 Failover Clustering (Apress; Print | Kindle | PDF) and six since Pro SQL Server 2005 High Availability (Apress; Print | Kindle | PDF)? I can’t. I want to thank everyone who has purchased it and contacted me (coming up to me at a conferecec, e-mailing, etc.) or written a positive review of them, especially the 2008 book. It’s very humbling as well as gratifying to know that all that time spent is worth it. Technical books are not vanity projects nor do you get rich – these are not New York Times bestsellers, which makes them hard propositions for publishers to begin with.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d write follow up. With all of the changes in SQL Server 2012, doing just a book based on FCIs wouldn’t do, so it would need to be bigger. If it was going to be bigger, I wanted to do it more like the 2005 book and tell the whole story but that would be even bigger than just covering features. I first visited possibly writing a book in 2011 when I took a stab at an outline and submitted it to Apress. We went through 6 revisions and at the end of the day, it was just not what they wanted (which was something smaller like my 2008 book). I didn’t want to compromise the vision and integrity of the book. Don’t send them hate mail; they are in the business of making money and my books as noted are not NYT bestsellers. Over time they sell well. It was then I started looking into self publishing. I also would love to be able to be agile and correct things (like some stuff I either dislike or now is wrong – like the DTC thing which I blog about here).

I have been on the fence but did utilmately commit to doing something. My inner writer couldn’t not (I know, double negative) do a book. But it would be a lot of work, especially on my own and with the scope I was looking at, a printed book was no guarantee mainly for cost and size reasons. Timing is everything, and with a topic like mission critical, you need lessons learned so having something out by RTM of SQL Server 2012 wasn’t necessary. The perfect time is usually 12 – 18 months after RTM (which is where we are now). Fast forward to fall. SQL Server 2012 SP1 is released and Windows Server 2012 RTMs, which means that I can write one book and cover everything including all supported OSes (and their variants like Server Core) as well as the patching story. RTM-based book wouldn’t have that. Because I was busy and on the road most of last fall, I shelved things for a bit.

Over the past few weeks I have finally felt inspired again to pick this project back up. I put together a revised outline. I had some people look it over and boy was I over ambitious. Apress was right in a way; that book would not only NOT be digestible, but it’d never get done. I want to tell the whole story, but I’m also not stupid. Here’s where I am:

Based on the outline comments, I have enough content for three (or four) books. That is the approach I am going to take: split things up into chunks. Right now I’m only committing to the first book, which is the HA technologies and related topics (let’s call that Volume I). Volumes II and II may get written, but let me get through I first!
Breaking this up allows more agility to get content out quicker and be more focused. As a reader, you will arguably be less overwhelmed, too!
It will definitely be available as ePub and mobi (for Kindle).
I may be able to offer a print version (even if on demand) if the size is manageable and cost isn’t bad. Or, if any tech book publishers are interested in picking the book up, contact me.
I have no formal ETA on Volume I, II, or III. I would like to get Volume I out by TechEd in North America which is about 6 months from now, but no promises.
I will not announce a release date or give anything like pre-order information until I am at a point where I know I can give a real date.

That is the update. It’s all good news. I hope you’re as excited as I am and the final product will live up to my previous efforts which have been well received.

<PSA>

I appreciate people who have e-mailed me that my 2008 book is out there on sites which shall not be named. Sigh. As you may guess, I do not get rich off of writing. If I calculated the time spent in getting it out the door, I’d lose money. You can’t keep people from doing what they do, but all I ask is that you should try to support authors by buying books. I know times are tough out there and whether it is $29.99 or $69.99, that can be a lot of money to some. That doesn’t make downloading it for free right. It just inhibits people like me from writing future books.

</PSA>

November 13, 2012

Not-So-Subtle: Windows Server 2012 Full vs. Server Core and SQL Server Supportability

Hello again everyone. It’s been quite a busy few weeks, especially with PASS Summit 2012 in Seattle last week. I wound up doing a lot of speaking – two regular sessions, a pre-con, and I was over in Redmond on Monday for something else. It was a really great Summit, and I thank everyone who came to the pre-con and the two sessions. It was nice to see such a packed house for nearly everything. Even my failover clustering session which was scheduled to be the last one on Friday had a decent turnout. No matter what the scores wind up saying (and I hope they’re good), I have no real complaints.

I’ve been in Australia for a few days adjusting to the time difference and preparing for the mission critical/HA class with Wardy IT in Brisbane and Canberra. If you’re in Australia, I hope you’ve signed up and I’ll see you there. Anyway, I’m going through the labs I’ve put together for the class and while I’ve noticed a difference visually (more than just a command prompt) between Full and Server Core before, I’ve finally taken the time to grab some screen captures.

As you know, since Windows Server 2008 there has been a Core variant of the operating system. This clearly continues in Windows Server 2012, but there’s an interesting twist. I’ve blogged a little about how you can switch shells between Full, MinShell, and pure Server Core. Microsoft published the important KB article “Using SQL Server in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 environments” (go bookmark it now!). It clearly states the following in terms of switching between the shells when SQL Server is installed:

… be aware that you cannot switch from Full Server to Minimal Server Interface or Server Core when one or more instances of SQL Server 2012 is installed.

To switch from Full Server to Minimal Server Interface or Server Core when one or more instances of SQL Server 2012 are installed, you must uninstall SQL Server 2012, switch modes, and then reinstall SQL Server 2012. However, you can turn on SQL Server 2012 installation prerequisites in Full Server mode, switch to Server Core mode, and then install SQL Server 2012.

Ouch! So clearly you need to choose your shell up front or else you’re going to have to uninstall and reinstall. Truth be told, I have tested and you can technically switch with SQL Server installed. There does not seem to be any issues, but this is how Microsoft has chosen to support how this will work. Also note the following in the KB:

SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 are not supported in Minimal Server Interface or Server Core modes.

So even if you could get them to work with Server Core since SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 are supported under Windows Server 2012, it doesn’t matter. If you want to use those versions of SQL Server with Windows Server 2012, you’ll need the full GUI.

Here’s a fun fact which can be shown in pictures: if you install just Windows Server 2012 Server Core, did you know the logon screen color is different? Well, it is! See the Figure 1 below – it’s a light blue/aqua/turquoise-y/cyan color.

Figure 1. Server Core Logon Screen

Figure 2 shows when you install with the full GUI you get a grey color. The color does not switch if you change shells to Server Core (or MinShell for that matter), so how you install it influences the color. Assuming you’re not color blind (and no offense to those who are), it’s an easy way to tell how your OS was installed. Neat.

Figure 2. GUI Logon Screen

Hope this helps some of you out there in your planning and deployment. This is important stuff! I’ve got a bit more to say on this topic around clusters, but that is for another post soon …

May 14, 2012

Switching Between Server Core and Full GUI with Windows Server 2012

It’s been awhile, so I figured I’d write a more technically-focused post. I’m putting together my TechEd session for Orlando (DBI313: Deploying SQL Server 2012 Using Windows Server Core) which is on Monday, June 11th at 1:15 PM. I’m hoping to show some Windows Server 2012 stuff, and in testing, I did find something interesting which may trip some of you up.

As I hope you already know, with Windows Server 2008 R2, you can configure Windows in one of two ways: with the full-blown user interface or in a Server Core configuration which just gives you a command prompt when logged in. Unlike Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 allows you to switch between Core and full GUI, and even adds what I call a “halfway house” known as MinShell. MinShell allows some GUIs to run – namely MMC snap-ins.

There is one caveat that isn’t well documented. While you can switch between Core and Full, how you started will determine the initial step. If you installed the full GUI, switched to Core, and then want to change back – no problem. If you first install Server Core and then decide to go with a GUI, the payload that has the interface is not installed by default (much like .NET 3.51, as I blogged about here). First, you’ll see the error as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Error when trying to switch to the full UI

Shown in Figure 2, when you examine things with dism, you’ll see the payload isn’t there.

Figure 2. UI payload not enabled

Like .NET 3.51, you’ll have to install the payload as part of the enabling of the UI as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Adding the package

You’re not done just yet. You also have to enable the feature Server-Gui-Shell (either with dism or using PowerShell [Add-WindowsFeature featurename]). An example is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Adding the GUI shell feature

Once you reboot, you will see the full Windows Server 2012 GUI. You may see some instructions that also tell you to enable Server-Gui-Mgmt–Infra, but as you can see in Figure 5 which was done in testing this blog post, it’s enabled when you add Server-Gui-Shell.

Figure 5. Management tools enabled

Hope this helps some of you out there!

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