- Command Prompt — press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, click Start Task Manager, click More Details, click File, click Run, and then type cmd.exe.
- PowerShell — open a Windows PowerShell windows by running PowerShell at a command prompt
Remotely using GUI tools
You can simplified manage a Server Core Server remotely by using graphically tools, such as Server Manager. Server Manager provides a single source for managing a server’s identity and system information, displaying server status, identifying problems with server role configuration, and managing all roles installed on the server. You can use Server Manager from a client PC by installing Remote Server Administration Tools.
IMPORTANT ! You must allow once Remote Server management by running PowerShell cmdlets on the Core Server:
- Enable Remote Server Manager — Configure-SMRemoting.exe –Enable
- Allow Remote Server Manager firewall rule — Enable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup "Windows Remote Management"
Many snap-ins for Microsoft Management Console (MMC) can be remotely used to manage your server. To arrange this:
- If working in a workgroup environment, then establish alternate credentials on the client computer — cmdkey /add:<ServerName> /user:<UserName> /pass:<password>
- On the server show Firewall RuleGroups — Get-NetFirewallRule | Select DisplayGroup -Unique | Sort DisplayGroup
- To allow a specific MMC snap-ins to connect — Enable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup "<rulegroup>"
Converting the server to GUI mode
You can freely switch to the Server with a GUI optionand use the graphical tools to configure the server, and then later switch back to the Server Core mode.
- Determine the index number for a Server with a GUI image — Get-WindowsImage -ImagePath <path to wim>install.wim
- Install GUI — Install-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra,Server-Gui-Shell –Restart –Source wim:<path to wim>install.wim:<Index>
- Uninstall GUI — Uninstall-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra -restart