So our console access for configuring a Server Core is pretty limited, and making changes at the console to a Nano Server only gives us four little options. Either we're missing something here, or Microsoft intended for us to be managing these servers differently. Queue the drumroll for remote management. Centralized administration of Windows Server operating systems is something that Microsoft really started pushing hard with the release of Server 2012, and it is increasingly important in Windows Server 2016. Tools like Server Manager are now becoming agnostic to the local machine that they are running on. You can use Server Manager on one server to manage a different kind of server halfway across the datacenter, without having to make any adjustments to the way that you are handling that administration. We can even use the RSAT tools to put a copy of Server Manager right on our Windows 8 or Windows 10 computers! Clearly the days of RDPing into every server should be diminishing. We are now technically capable of managing our servers from a single, central pane of glass. The question is—how many server admins are actually taking advantage of this functionality?
We have CORE1 and NANO1 up-and-running in the network. Now we are going to utilize Server Manager on a different server to manipulate these machines. I will be using another Windows Server 2016 for this task, which has the full Desktop Experience version of Windows server installed.
Follow these steps to manage Server Core or Nano Server right from inside Server Manager on another of your servers in the network:
There are certainly some useful configuration options inside Server Manager that you can use to push changes and settings to your headless servers, but it's not the only way. Continue reading through the recipes in this chapter to find some even more powerful options for tapping into your server configuration remotely. As you start navigating around inside Server Manager, you should also be aware that you may bump into some messages about the Windows Firewall rules needing to be adjusted on the remote computers. Server Core and Nano Server are both pretty locked down by default, enough so that even a trusted tool like Server Manager can't always communicate with those servers to the extent that is needed. You will occasionally have to log into the console of those Core and Nano servers in order to permit some firewall rules to be open and to allow Server Manager to do the tasks you are asking it to do.
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