Server Core is a minimalistic

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...

Windows Server Windows Server (formerly Windows NT Server) is a group of operating systems (OS) for servers that Microsoft has been developing since July 27, 1993. The first OS that was released for this platform was Windows NT 3.1 Advanced Server. With the r ...

installation option, debuted in

Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2008 is the fourth release of the Windows Server operating system produced by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of the operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on February 4, 2008, and generally to retail on F ...

. Server Core provides a server environment with functionality scaled back to core server features, and because of limited features, it has reduced servicing and management requirements, attack surface, disk and memory usage.Microsoft Developer Network: What Is Server Core?
/ref>
/ref> Andrew Mason, a program manager on the Windows Server team, noted that a primary motivation for producing a Server Core variant of Windows Server 2008 was to reduce the

attack surface The attack surface of a software environment is the sum of the different points (for " attack vectors") where an unauthorized user (the "attacker") can try to enter data to or extract data from an environment. Keeping the attack surface as small a ...

of the operating system, and that about 70% of the security vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows from the prior five years would not have affected Server Core. Most notably, no

Windows Explorer File Explorer, previously known as Windows Explorer, is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file ...

shell is installed. All configuration and maintenance is done entirely through

command-line interface A command-line interpreter or command-line processor uses a command-line interface (CLI) to receive commands from a user in the form of lines of text. This provides a means of setting parameters for the environment, invoking executables and pro ...

windows, or by connecting to the machine remotely using

Microsoft Management Console Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is a component of Microsoft Windows that provides system administrators and advanced users an interface for configuring and monitoring the system. It was first introduced in 1998 with the Option Pack for Window ...

(MMC), remote server administration tools, and

PowerShell PowerShell is a task automation and configuration management program from Microsoft, consisting of a command-line shell and the associated scripting language. Initially a Windows component only, known as Windows PowerShell, it was made open-sou ...

Configuration levels

As Server Core implementations matured, it has evolved from an installation option to a configuration level.WindowsITPro: Windows Server 2012 Installation Options
/ref> Server Core is less looked down as a stripped version, instead the full GUI version is being thought of having a rarely needed client layer on top of the server layer. In newer Windows versions there is more granularity in configuration levels:
Windows Server Installation Types from NT to vNext

Windows Server Installation Types from NT to vNext

History

Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2008 was the first Windows Server with the Server Core option (in all editions, except

IA-64 IA-64 (Intel Itanium architecture) is the instruction set architecture (ISA) of the Itanium family of 64-bit Intel microprocessors. The basic ISA specification originated at Hewlett-Packard (HP), and was subsequently implemented by Intel in col ...

). Though no

shell is installed,

Notepad A notebook (also known as a notepad, writing pad, drawing pad, or legal pad) is a book or stack of paper pages that are often ruled and used for purposes such as note-taking, journaling or other writing, drawing, or scrapbooking. History ...

and some control panel applets, such as Regional Settings, are available. Server Core on Windows Server 2008 does not include the

Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft which was used in the Windows line of operating systems (in ...

or many other features not related to core server features. A ''Server Core'' machine can be configured for several basic roles: Active Directory Domain Services,

Active Directory Application Mode Active Directory (AD) is a directory service developed by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems as a set of processes and services. Initially, Active Directory was used only for centralize ...

(ADAM), DNS Server, DHCP server,

file server In computing, a file server (or fileserver) is a computer attached to a network that provides a location for shared disk access, i.e. storage of computer files (such as text, image, sound, video) that can be accessed by the workstations that are ab ...

print server In computer networking, a print server, or printer server, is a type of server that connects printers to client computers over a network. It accepts print jobs from the computers and sends the jobs to the appropriate printers, queuing the jobs loc ...

, Windows Media Server, IIS 7 web server and Hyper-V virtual server. Server Core can also be used to create a

cluster may refer to: Science and technology Astronomy * Cluster (spacecraft), constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft * Asteroid cluster, a small asteroid family * Cluster II (spacecraft), a European Space Agency mission to study th ...

with

high availability High availability (HA) is a characteristic of a system which aims to ensure an agreed level of operational performance, usually uptime, for a higher than normal period. Modernization has resulted in an increased reliance on these systems. F ...

using

failover clustering High-availability clusters (also known as HA clusters, fail-over clusters) are groups of computers that support server applications that can be reliably utilized with a minimum amount of down-time. They operate by using high availability soft ...

or network load balancing. As Server Core is not a different version of Windows Server 2008, but simply an installation option, it has the same file versions and default configurations as the full server version. In Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2, if a server was installed as Server Core, it cannot be changed to the full GUI version and vice versa. To make administration of a Server Core machine easier, a Windows script called "scregedit.wsf" was included to make basic changes like turning

Automatic Updates Automatic may refer to: Music Bands * Automatic (band), Australian rock band * Automatic (American band), American rock band * The Automatic, a Welsh alternative rock band Albums * ''Automatic'' (Jack Bruce album), a 1983 electronic rock ...

on or off, turning Remote Desktop on or off and change page file settings.

Windows Server 2008 R2

In Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Core includes a subset of the .NET Framework, so that some applications (including ASP.NET web sites and Windows PowerShell 2.0) can be used. Having .NET support, it is also the first Server Core version where

Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft. As a database server, it is a software product with the primary function of storing and retrieving data as requested by other software applications—which ...

can be installed (a supported scenario only with SQL Server 2012+). Server Manager has become remoteable. New roles had been enabled to run on Server Core, including Active Directory Certificate Services and the File Server Resource Manager component of the File Services role.

WoW64 In computing on Microsoft platforms, WoW64 (Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit) is a subsystem of the Windows operating system capable of running 32-bit applications on 64-bit Windows. It is included in all 64-bit versions of Windows—includi ...

is available by default, but can be disabled. In addition to the

DISM Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK), formerly Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK or WAIK), is a collection of tools and technologies produced by Microsoft designed to help deploy Microsoft Windows operating system imag ...

command, a new command line Server Configuration tool (Sconfig.cmd) has arrived to configure and manage several common aspects of Server Core installations. Server Manager can be used to remotely administer a Server Core machine.

Windows Server 2012

Unlike its predecessors,

Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2012, codenamed "Windows Server 8", is the sixth version of the Windows Server operating system by Microsoft, as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It is the server version of Windows based on Windows 8 and succe ...

can switch between "Server Core" and server with a DE installation option without reinstallation. Server Core is now the default configuration level. There is also a new installation option, "minimal server interface" that allows some GUI elements such as MMC and Server Manager to run, but without the normal desktop, shell or default programs like

File Explorer File Explorer, previously known as Windows Explorer, is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface for accessing the f ...

. The "minimal server interface" is in fact a server role ''(Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra)'', the full GUI version contains the ''Server-Gui-Shell'' role as well. Some new roles are available, like

Windows Server Update Services Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), previously known as Software Update Services (SUS), is a computer program and network service developed by Microsoft Corporation that enables administrators to manage the distribution of updates and h ...

(WSUS), Active Directory Rights Management Server, and Routing and Remote Access Server, and many new features as well.

Windows Server 2012 R2

In Windows Server 2012 R2,

Windows Defender Microsoft Defender Antivirus (formerly Windows Defender) is an anti-malware component of Microsoft Windows. It was first released as a downloadable free anti-spyware program for Windows XP and was shipped with Windows Vista and Windows 7. It has ...

is available in a Server Core installation, and is installed and enabled by default.

Windows Server 2016

Windows Server 2016 has a minimal footprint installation option (smaller than Server Core) called Nano Server, optimized for Windows Server

Containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The ter ...

and Hyper-V Containers, as well as other cloud-optimized scenarios. Microsoft removed the GUI stack, WoW64 and Windows Installer. There is no local logon or Remote Desktop support. On installation, Server 2016 offers two options: Windows Server 2016 (which is Server Core) and Windows Server 2016 Desktop Experience. Switching between these versions, as is available in Server 2012, is not supported (the possibility was removed in Technical Preview 3).Windows Server Blog: Windows Server 2016 Installation Option Changes
/ref>

Supported GUI programs

Windows Server 2016

Some graphical programs supported in Core version

Subset of Control Panel * control.exe intl.cpl - Region * control.exe timedate.cpl - Date and Time regedit.exe - Registry Editor notepad.exe - Notepad cmd.exe - Command prompt msinfo32.exe - System Information msiexec.exe - Windows Installer taskmgr.exe - Task Manager powershell.exe - Windows PowerShell iscsicpl.exe - ISCSI Initiator Properties subset of Explorer function - all what can be done from File - Open dialog like * File Copy, Paste, Rename, Delete, make new Folder * Disk properties including tools on dialog like Error check

Other working programs with GUI

adexplorer.exe - Sysinternals Active Directory Explorer procexp.exe - Sysinternals Process Explorer procmon.exe - Sysinternals Process Monitor tcpview.exe - Sysinternals TCPview vmmap.exe - Sysinternals VMMap rammap.exe - Sysinternals RamMap 1.50 portqueryui.exe - Microsoft PortQueryUI Version 1.0

References

External links

Microsoft Developer Network: What Is Server Core?

Microsoft Developer Network: Server Core for Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012

Michael Pietroforte: Nano Server – Goodbye Windows Server?
{{Microsoft Windows components Windows Server Windows administration

Configuration levels

History

Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2012 R2

Windows Server 2016

Supported GUI programs

Windows Server 2016

Some graphical programs supported in Core version

Other working programs with GUI

See also

References

Further reading

External links