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Converting WS2012 Core to a WS2012 with GUI and vice versa.

In the last few weeks I installed several Hyper-V hosts in my production environment. On every host I installed WS2012 Core with Hyper-V role. Why? Because I don’t need anything on that hosts except Hyper-V role, but, what if I’ll ever need something more than Hyper-V role? What if I’ll ever need WS2012 with GUI on that hosts?
In order to be ready for something like that, I decided to try on one of the test servers, and I would like to explain how to convert your installed WS2012 Core to a WS2012 “full” version (with GUI) and vice versa.

Follow this few steps:

1. Create a directory where Windows image will be mounted

MkDir MountDir
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2. Determine the index number for a Server with a GUI image

Dism /get-wiminfo /wimfile:D:\sources\install.wim
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3. Mount the WIM file using this command:

Dism /mountwim /WimFile:D:\sources\install.wim /Index:4 /MountDir:
c:\mountdir\readonly
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4. On the last step, start PowerShell, then execute the following command;

a) PowerShell (press enter)
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b) Install-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra,Server-Gui-Shell –Restart –Source C:\mountdir\windows\winsxs
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Now we have WS2012 with GUI installed!
 

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If we want Core version of WS2012 we can do that through PowerShell! All you need to do is to execute the following command at an elevated Windows PowerShell:

Uninstall-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra
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Now, again we have WS2012 Core ;)

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Enjoy in this beautiful day :)

Romeo Mlinar
October 30, 2012
Administration, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Virtualization, Windows Server
3 comments

Hyper-V 3.0 on Windows Server 2012 Core

In my previous post I wrote about Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012, and I explained how to install and configure. Among other things I described how to enable Hyper-V Manager console on Windows Server 2012 Core and some of my blog visitors have been realized that we can install Hyper-V manager console direct on Hyper-V Server 2012! No, you can’t install Hyper-V Manager console on Hyper-V Server 2012, but you can connect remotely with Hyper-V manager console or with some others third-party software.

Few interesting things about WS2012 Core:

Windows Server Core is a very lightweight installation with access limited to the command line and PowerShell.
If you have deployed Server Core and then there is a change in what needs to run on the server that requires either Minimal Server Interface or Server with a GUI you can now convert up without having to reinstall and rebuild the server.
If there are any issues that you need to troubleshoot or configuration changes you want to make and find it easier to do either with the local GUI tools, you can convert to either Minimal Server Interface or Server with a GUI.
You can install Server with a GUI, configure the server as desired for your environment, and then convert to Server Core for production and get all the servicing and reboot reduction benefits of Server Core. Isn’t this wonderful?

 

Let’s see how to configure WS2012 Core and how to enable Hyper-V role on it.
When the installation is complete you will see black screen with white letters (command prompt) in the front of you. In the command prompt type sconfig and blue screen with white letters will appear Smile. This is Server Configuration command tools.
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First I’ll change computer name (option 1), and then I’ll enable Remote Desktop (option 7) and Network Settings (option 8). I need to enable Remote Desktop and connect with RDP on newly installed server because it’s very cold in a server room Smile.
Now I’ll join server to the domain (option 1), activate windows and I’m done with basic setup.
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When we have all necessary prerequisites enter the following command to install the Hyper-V role:

dism /online /enable-feature /FeatureName:Microsoft-Hyper-V

The installation will begin and you will be prompted to restart the server in order to complete the setup.
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Now, we need to enable Hyper-V Manager console which gives you a GUI.
Open PowerShell (type PowerShell in command prompt) and enter following command:
Install-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra –Source “source destination”
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When we are done launch the Hyper-V Manager from a command line by typing virtmgmt.msc. and enjoy in your WS2012 Core with Hyper-V role installed Winking smile.
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Also, if you do not want to use Hyper-V manager console on Hyper-V host you can connect remotely, (this is recommended if you have more than one Hyper-V host) with Hyper-V manager console, VMM console or with some other third-party software like 5nine or VT Utilities for Hyper-V.
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I hope this could be helpful.

Enjoy in the rainy weekend Smile

Romeo Mlinar
September 17, 2012
Administration, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Virtualization, Windows Server
10 comments

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012–installation and configuration

I this blog post I’ll describe how to install and configure Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 from the scratch.
Why I chose to use Hyper-V Server 2012 in my production environment?
1. It’s free!
2. Less maintenance!
3. We don’t need to restart the host so often for the updates!
4. Performance and security reasons!

In this scenario I have HP ML 350G6 with 2 CPUs 32GB of RAM and 3TB disk.
HP have a great tool called HP SmartStart CD with integrated drivers and other tools required for server management, but in this case doesn’t work because WS 2012 and Hyper-V 2012 is not covered. I used this tool to create RAID array.

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How do I integrate the drivers, (network, storage, etc…)? I used Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit software.

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After a very short time, my Hyper-V Server 2012 is up and running.

When Hyper-V Server 2012 console appears you can to configure Domain, Computer Name, Remote Management, Network Settings and so on….
If you don’t like command line you can use Hyper-V management console or even better Virtual Machine Manager console to connect to your Hyper-V Server 2012.
Of course, there are third-party tools, like 5nine, vtUtilities… that can maintain Hyper-V Server remotely.

Few words about Hyper-V Server 2012.
Hyper-V Server is a dedicated stand-alone product that contains the hypervisor, Windows Server driver model, virtualization capabilities, and supporting components such as failover clustering, bud doesn’t contain the robust set of features and roles as the Windows Server operating system.
Differences between Microsoft Windows Server 2012 with Hyper-V role installed and Hyper-V Server 2012:
– There is no GUI. You use PowerShell, SConfig, or remote administration to manage the machine.
– There are no free virtualization rights to install Windows Server in guest OS’s on this machine. This means it is good for labs, VDI, Linux hosting and upgrading older hosts without SA.
– It is stripped down so it is just a Hyper-V host and nothing else.

I hope that you will enjoy in Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 Winking smile

Romeo Mlinar
September 10, 2012
Administration, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Private Cloud, SCVMM, Virtualization, Windows Server
24 comments