Performing tasks hands-on is, for most people, the best way to learn and retain information. Each chapter in this book contains not only text and practice questions that will help you attain your CompTIA Server+ certification but also hands-on exercises to reinforce what was covered in each chapter.

Lab Exercise Overview

Figure A-1 shows a diagram of the three virtual machine servers that you’ll create and configure through the exercises.

Figure A-1  Virtual machine layout used in lab exercises

Microsoft Windows

The Windows Server operating system is widely used around the world in numerous industries. The lab exercises in this book are designed to familiarize you with how to configure the operating system to meet specific business needs.

Windows servers can be administered using various graphical tools either locally on the server or remotely using a remote management solution such as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). For many years, administrators have also managed Windows servers from the command line using batch files, Visual Basic scripts, and, more recently, PowerShell.

Command line tools provide a way for you to automate repetitive tasks by creating scripts containing the relevant commands. These scripts can even be scheduled using the Windows Task Scheduler in the Control Panel.

The CompTIA Server+ Certification SK0-005 exam will not test you on many specifics of the Windows operating system, but you will be tested on general server concepts that are reinforced by completing the lab exercises. It’s similar to a boxer doing push-ups or skipping rope; those exercises will never be used in the ring during a boxing match, but they help condition the body (and, by extension, the mind) for the real thing.

Linux

Like Windows, Linux is widely used around the world in numerous industries for a variety of network services. According to Microsoft, the Azure cloud platform contains more Linux virtual machines than Microsoft virtual machines—apparently, there is some interest in Linux.

CompTIA Server+ certification candidates should be comfortable performing basic administrative tasks in the Linux environment. Despite the fact that there are hundreds of different Linux distributions, the vast majority of concepts and command line syntax are the same for all of them.

Throughout this book, in the lab exercises, you’ll be working with Ubuntu Linux 20.04.1, mostly at the command line. Linux commands, unlike Windows commands, are case-sensitive. This is true even with some command parameters, so that –c and –C, for example, may not mean the same thing (it depends on the command).

If you install Ubuntu Linux 20.04.1 according to the instructions in the lab exercise, the labs should run smoothly.

Requirements for Hands-on Exercises

You’ll need VMware Workstation 16 Pro as well as the installation media for Windows Server 2019 and Ubuntu Linux 20.04.1 to follow along with the hands-on exercises in this book.

You can download free trials of both, so you won’t have to buy them to experiment with them. If you decide to install the server operating systems on physical systems or in a virtualization environment other than Workstation 16 Pro, the exercise steps will differ slightly from the ones in this book. For example, adding virtual hard disks in VMware takes seconds, but on a physical host, you need to acquire and install the physical disks before they can be used by the server operating system.

The lab exercises are written for Workstation 16 Pro running on a Windows 10 computer. You’ll need the appropriate access to install software on the computer, and it will have to meet hardware requirements listed in the following section.

Hardware Requirements

To facilitate the installation and configuration of the Windows and Linux operating systems, the lab exercises are written to be used on Workstation 16 Pro virtual machines. Microsoft Hyper-V, Oracle VM VirtualBox, or another virtualization system will work equally well, but if you don’t use Workstation 16 Pro, the lab instructions shown in this book will differ slightly from those you’ll need for your environment.

You can run Workstation 16 Pro on any type of machine as long as certain requirements are met. For example, if you have a laptop computer that meets the following requirements, you’re good to go! Here are the hardware requirements for your VMware host computer that will run Windows and Linux virtual machines:

•   64-bit computer

•   Hardware virtualization (Intel Virtualization Technology or AMD Virtualization)

•   At least 8GB of RAM in total

•   Enough storage space for both the Windows and Linux ISO files (approximately 7GB of disk space)

•   Enough storage space to create Windows and Linux virtual machines (approximately 80GB of disk space)

Note that these are minimum requirements; more RAM and disk space is better!

VMware Workstation 16 Pro

You can download Workstation 16 Pro from https://www.vmware.com/ca/products/workstation-pro/workstation-pro-evaluation.html, as shown in Figure A-2. You can use it for free for 30 days, but you’ll need to create an account at VMware before you can proceed with the download. If you want to follow along with the specific instructions for labs, make sure you download and install Workstation Pro for Windows.

Figure A-2  Workstation Pro download web page

Install Workstation 16 Pro

The downloaded installation provides an executable (.exe) file that you can run on your Windows computer. Make sure that you don’t have another virtualization product installed, because it could interfere with the installation or running of Workstation Pro, or the steps and messages may differ. You may also need to pause your antimalware real-time protection feature temporarily to complete the installation, including the Windows 10 built-in virus and threat protection tool.

If you’re installing the product from scratch, meaning a previous version is not installed, follow these steps:

1.   Right-click the downloaded .exe installer file and choose Run As Administrator. Depending on your Windows configuration, you may be informed that the app is not a Microsoft-verified app, but click Install anyway. On the Do You Want To Allow This App To Make Changes To Your Device? screen, click Yes.

2.   On the Welcome To The VMware Workstation Pro Setup Wizard screen, click Next.

3.   On the End-User License Agreement screen, select I Accept The Terms In The License Agreement, and then click Next. If you see a Compatible Setup dialog box because Hyper-V components are installed, select Install Windows Hypervisor Platform (WHP) Automatically and click Next.

4.   On the Custom Setup screen, accept the default settings and click Next.

5.   On the User Experience Settings page, uncheck both options and then click Next.

6.   On the Shortcuts screen, accept the default selections and click Next.

7.   On the Ready To Install VMware Workstation Pro screen, click Install.

8.   On the Completed The VMware Workstation Pro Setup Wizard screen, click Finish.

9.   Once the installation completes and you’ve closed any installation windows, go to your computer’s Start menu and start the Workstation Pro application to ensure that it launches.

10.   On the VMware Workstation 16 screen, select I Want To Try VMware Workstation 16 For 30 Days and then click Finish, and if prompted with a Windows UAC message, choose Yes.

11.   If presented with a Thank You screen, click Finish, and then close the VMware Workstation application.

12.   If you disabled antivirus real-time protection to complete the installation, remember to turn it back on.

Acquiring Windows and Linux Installation Media

Since URLs change, you may need to use your favorite search engine to find these downloads; however, URL links that are valid at the time of this writing are provided in the following sections for convenience.

Windows

Visit the Microsoft Evaluation Center at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-windows-server-2019, as shown in Figure A-3, to download the Windows Server 2019 installation ISO file. If you don’t already have an account, you’ll need to register before you can download the ISO file for a free 180-day evaluation.

Figure A-3  Windows Server 2019 download web page

Save the ISO file in a place that you can access from the machine on which you install Workstation 16 Pro. You’ll need approximately 5GB of disk space to store this Windows Server ISO file.

Linux

Visit https://ubuntu.com/download/server and select the Option 3 button to download Ubuntu Server 20.04.1 LTS, or whatever the newest version is.

The machine on which you plan to run Workstation 16 Pro must have access to the ISO file. You can even store the ISOs on a USB flash drive with enough space if you choose. You’ll need approximately 1GB of disk space to store this Linux ISO file.

Figure A-4  Ubuntu Server 20.04.1 LTS download web page

Lab Exercise Miscellany

When installing both the Windows and Linux operating systems in Workstation Pro during the lab exercises, you’ll be prompted to specify a password. Passwords expire, so if you must change your password, take careful note of it. The lab exercises provide the original installation password, but if you changed the password, you’ll have to enter that instead.

The lab exercises correspond to the topics covered in each chapter, and the interesting thing is that some labs are written for the Windows Server operating system, while others are written for the Linux operating system. This means you’ll get great exposure to common administrative tasks on both platforms.

Topics covered in the labs range from installing server operating systems to configuring server roles such as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Domain Name System (DNS), encrypting files using the Encrypting File System (EFS) and OpenSSL, setting file system permissions, using performance monitoring tools, and using backup tools, to name a few. The labs are designed to be performed sequentially from Chapter 2 through Chapter 8; failure to do them in order will cause confusion.

Even though every lab may not mention it, if you have plenty of free disk space, you may want to take a virtual machine snapshot of each virtual machine after you successfully complete the lab exercises in each chapter. This way, you can easily revert back to the original configuration if something goes wrong in a future lab.

As you perform each step in a lab exercise, always ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” to make sure you’re getting the most out of the exercise. Learn lots, and have fun!