MCITP 70-640: Installing Active Directory on Server Core

For a GUI interface for servers, check out Core Configurator,
This free open source product is great for quickly configuring Server Core and even supports promoting the server to a Domain Controller. Microsoft will not test you on this product so for the exam you should have an understanding of the command line tools demonstrated in this video. For the everyday administrator of Server Core, this product is a life saver.

The advantages of running Server Core are as follows:
Smaller attack surface due to less software running
Less CPU and memory used
Fewer updates required

The disadvantage of Server Core is it is harder to administer because it only comes with the command prompt. Server Core does support remote administrator tools. You can also use the core configurator listed above to give you access to some basic GUI admin tools to help initially configure Server Core.

Commands used in this video to configure the networking 02:04
echo %computername%
netdom renamecomputer localhost /NewName:dc2
netsh interface IPv4 show interfaces
netsh interface IPv4 set address name=21 source=static address=192.168.1.2 mask=255.255.255.0 gateway=192.168.1.1
(The index of 21 listed above was obtained from the show interfaces command)
netsh interface IPv6 set address interface=21 address=fd00:0:0:1::2
netsh interface IPv4 add dnsserver name=21 address=192.168.1.1 index=1
netsh interface IPv4 add dnsserver name=21 address=127.0.0.1 index=2
oclist | more
start /w ocsetup DNS-Server-Core-Role
shutdown /r /t 0
ipconfig /all | more
Commands used to promote the server using an answer file 09:23
Net use * \\dc1\it
Command line only 12:45
/SafeModeAdminPassword:Pa$$word1

[ronadona]

Coming from a management background... the first thing I do before watching any of your videos is liking it. You have great way of teaching. Not only the high level of accuracy of information, but also the very high level of recording quality, time use and the way you priorities concepts. This is a great peace of work. Indeed, a very great peace of work!

[jenskepense]

@itfreetraining

I managed to fix my issue.
Apparantly I had to set both of my network adapters of my virtual machines to "Internal network", similar to what you said.
I'm so glad I finally found the problem after hours of struggling... :D

[itfreetraining]

Thanks very much for watching the video and the likes. This really helps us a lot. :)

[itfreetraining]

When a network adapter is installed on the computer it will use the next index number available. If you have had a previously installed network adapter on the computer it may have used index 1. Also certain software based adapter can use an index number. You can't assume that the index number will be a certain value as the value will be determined when the network adapter was installed.

[itfreetraining]

In the example, DC1.txt is a text need that is modified for to promote DC2. The text file needs to be available on the other server. You could copy it on a USB key or floppy disk if you wanted. You could even type the file in if you wanted. As long as it is available to the other computer.

[itfreetraining]

Open a command prompt and try to ping the address. Run ipconfig and see if you network adapter is running and configured correctly. It is more than likely your network adapter is not configure correctly or the network adapter is not plugged in.

[itfreetraining]

Yes, this is the smart way and easiest way to do it.

[itfreetraining]

@jenskepense This maps a drive to a share called IT on server DC1. This share is not there by default and needs to be created. You are free however to use any share on the network that you want.

[itfreetraining]

@jenskepense O.k, I see the problem now. It is something we need to address in future courses. The video are designed to stand alone so your should not have to refer to previous videos. The problem is when people do follow on along like you did and we have changed the network around from video to video. We basically need to have the same network for all videos to make it easier

In your case use the DNS address of 192.168.0.14 assuming you installed DNS on dc1. This should also fix the net use

[itfreetraining]

If you need to change networks adapter in VMware workstation which I assume you are using, this needs to be done using Virtual Network Editor. Once this is configured, you can edit the virtual network being used by your virtual machine and select the network you want to use with that virtual machine.

[itfreetraining]

NAT. This will share the network adapter with your computer. Tour computer and virtual machines will be using the same network adapter.
Host only will isolate the network from the outside. All the Virtual Machine can talk to each other but can't communicate on the network.
Bridge the virtual machine will use the network adapter all to itself.
Lan1 I assume is a virtual network, probably a VLAN.
If your home network is on 192.168.0.0/24 I would configure it for NAT with Vmware DHCP off.

[chobombo]

Very informative, the video was easy to understand and the steps were easy to follow, based on this I took some notes for future reference as well as installed and configured my first Win 2008 core Domain Controller. kepp up the good work @itfreetraining

[jenskepense]

@itfreetraining
I'm using VirtualBox and configured the first Windows 2008 Server using your Video 6 tutorial where you create dc1 and give it a static IP address of 192.168.0.14.

Now I made a second Virtual PC and am following your 7th Video.
I thought I needed to set the DNS server to the dc1 machine I have just created in the previous video.

[itfreetraining]

All the settings in the answer file can be placed on the command line so you could run something like

dcpromo /unattend /username:(domain admin) /userdomain:domain /password:(DA password) /administratorpassword:(local admin password)

You should not use forceremoval parameter unless you really have to. (E.g extreme hard failure) If the Domain Controller is not being removed there must be something that is wrong. E.g not replicating so check the logs for errors.

[itfreetraining]

@jenskepense Servers should be able to ping each other. Make sure the DC's are on the same subnet. DC2 should have an IP address 192.168.1.*

When using virtual machines ensure that both computers are on the same virtual network. They should be by default.

The command net use * \\dc1 will connect to the IPC share. The IPC is used for communication. This is used to browse the computer and show shares and printers. If you run net use this will show shares that are connected. So this should work.

[itfreetraining]

Thanks very much, glad you liked the video.

[dewminator]

Thanks for these videos... They are great! clear, concise and easy to understand while not being to slow at the same time... Well done.. keep 'em coming :-)

[itfreetraining]

Error 53 is a resolution problem. You DNS may not be set up correctly you. To confirm this is the problem, attempt to map a drive using the IP address rather than than name. For example, if your server has the IP address of 192.168.1.2 your would use the command net use * \\192.168.2.2\it

[itfreetraining]

They don't need to be one the same network. You could have them on separate networks but they would need to be connected by a router. If you are using IP addresses on the same network, for example 192.168.1.10 and 192.168.1.11 they need to be on the same network. If they are not on the same network they will not be able to communicate with each other.

[maya]

Excellent video Very Useful to set up AD core from scratch through command line only.