Windows Server 2012 - The Basics (Part 3)
This article discusses some more of the
basics of working with Windows Server 2012’s user interface.
If you
would like to read the other parts in this article series please go to:
Introduction
My
goal throughout this series has been to walk you through the process of
performing common management tasks in Windows Server 2012. Windows Server
2012’s version of the Server Manager is radically different from what was
included in previous versions of Windows Server. That being the case I wanted
to try to help people by demonstrating some of the more common management
tasks.
Configuring the Windows Firewall
Some
administrators like to control the Windows Firewall through group policy
settings, but others configure the firewall manually (especially in smaller
shops). If you need to access the Windows Firewall you can do so by opening the
Server Manager and then choosing the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security
command from the Tools menu, as shown in Figure A.
Figure A: You can open the configuration interface for the Windows Firewall by choosing the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security command from the Server Manager’s Tools menu.
Adding Roles and Features
The
process of adding new roles and features to Windows Server 2012 is at least
somewhat intuitive. The easiest way to accomplish this is to open the Server
Manager and choose the Add Roles and Features command from the Manage menu, as
shown in Figure B. This causes Windows to launch the Add Roles and Features
wizard. In many ways this wizard is similar to what you might be used to in
some of the previous versions of Windows Server, but there are a few
differences.
Figure B: You can launch the Add Roles and Features Wizard by
choosing the Add Roles and Features command from Server Manager’s Manage
window.
When
the wizard begins, click Next to bypass the Welcome screen. The next screen
that you will see asks you if you want to perform a Remote Desktop Services
installation or if you would prefer to perform a role based or a feature based
installation. Unless you are configuring the server to run the Remote Desktop
Services, you should choose the Role Based or Feature Based Installation
option. Click Next to continue.
The
next screen that you will see is very different from anything that existed in
previous versions of Windows Server. This screen asks you where you would like
to install the role or feature. Although this is a seemingly simple question,
the wizard gives you a few different options, as shown in Figure C.
Figure C: You must tell Windows where you want to install the role
or feature.
In
previous versions of Windows Server it was assumed that if you were installing
a role or a feature then you were performing the installation on the local
server. Windows Server 2012 still allows you to perform local installations of
roles and features. As a matter of fact, this is the default behavior. If you
were to simply click Next on the screen above then the wizard would assume that
the roles or features that you choose later on will be installed on the local
server. Although this is the default behavior, it is not your only option.
If you
look closely at the screen capture shown above, you will notice that the option
that is selected allows you to select a server from a server pool. In Windows
Server 2012, a server pool is simply a collection of servers that can be
managed through Server Manager. As it stands right now, no additional servers
have been added to the server pool for the lab server that was used to create
the figure above. If additional servers had been added to the server pool
however, those servers would appear directly beneath the server that is
selected. I will show you how to add a server to the server pool a little bit
later on.
The
other option that appears on the screen capture is the option to select a
virtual hard disk. Previous versions of Windows Server required you to install
roles and features on a running copy of Windows. This isn’t the case in Windows
Server 2012. It is actually possible to install a role or a feature on to a
virtual hard disk that contains a Windows Server installation that is not currently
running.
When
you click Next, you will see a screen displaying all of the various server
roles that you can install. The list of server roles really isn’t all that
different from those found in Windows Server 2008. When you make your selection
you can click Next and you will be taken to the Features screen. Here you can
choose the features that you want to install.
When
you click Next once again, you will see a confirmation screen that provides
information about the roles were features that are about to be installed. It is
a good idea to take just a moment to read this screen and verify that the roles
or features that are about to be installed are the ones that you intended.
Assuming that all is well, you can click the Install button to perform the installation.
Adding Servers to the Server Pool
In the
previous section, I mentioned that it was possible to add additional servers to
the server pool so that those servers could be managed through Server Manager.
The advantage to populating the server pool is that doing so allows you to
manage multiple Windows servers through a single pane of glass.
If you
want to add additional servers to the server pool, open Server Manager and
choose the Add Servers command from the Manage menu as shown in Figure D. When
you do, you will see the dialog box shown in Figure E.
Figure D: To add servers to the server pool choose the Add Servers command from the Manage menu.
Figure E: You can use this dialog box to add servers to the server
pool.
As you
can see in the figure, Windows provides three different methods for adding
servers to the server pool. In most cases, you will probably want to use the
Active Directory tab. This tab allows you to specify the names of computers
that are registered in the Active Directory database. You will notice in the
figure above that Windows gives you the option of specifying the computer’s
location, and you can even filter the search results by operating system.
Another
option is to specify computers by their fully qualified domain names or by IP
address. This can be accomplished through the DNS tab. The DNS tab is useful
for adding computers that exist on your network, but that are not members of an
Active Directory domain. For example, edge servers are almost never domain
members.
Finally,
the Import tab is used for importing large numbers of computers. This method
allows you to add all of the computers to a file, and then import that file
rather than having to import each computer individually. Once added, the
servers in the pool will be accessible through the Server Manager, as shown in
Figure F.
Figure F: Server Manager can be used to manage multiple computers.
Conclusion
In
this article, I have explored some more of the basics of working with Windows
Server 2012. In Part 4 I plan to conclude this series by showing you some more
techniques for working with roles and features.
If you
would like to read the other parts in this article series please go to:
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