Executive Summary:
Windows Server 2008 has abandoned the familiar Computer Management console, and you’re left with the unwieldy Server Manager GUI tool. But if you’re faced with the prospect of rolling out dozens, hundreds, or thousands of servers, your best bet is to use the tool’s less celebrated command-line brethren, ServerManagerCmd, Ocsetup, and Oclist.
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By the time you read this column, Microsoft
will have released Windows Server 2008. Even
if you’ve decided not to immediately upgrade
to the new server OS, y probou’reably setting up a
few test servers to try it out. And as you tinker with
these fresh Server 2008 systems, you’ll begin making
observations.
First, Computer Management is gone! Right-clicking
Computer and choosing Manage brings up not the
familiar Computer Management console but rather the
new Server Manager console. And if you try to use Server
Manager to add, say, the DNS Server service, you’ll see
that you’re now dealing with roles and features. Second,
you can no longer use Control Panel’s Add/Remove
Windows Components applet. It doesn’t exist in the
new OS, so you’ll be forced to use the newfangled Server
Manager tool.
Pshaw, I say. Eventually, you’re going to be faced
with the prospect of rolling out dozens, hundreds, or
thousands of servers and—let’s all say it together—you’re
not going to use the Server Manager console to do it.
Instead, let me introduce you to the tool’s less celebrated
command-line brother, ServerManagerCmd (servermanagercmd.
exe), and its cousins Ocsetup (ocsetup.
exe) and Oclist (oclist.exe). ServerManagerCmd works
only if you’re running the “full” (GUI-equipped) version
of Server 2008. (I’ll get to the Server Core commands in
a bit.)
ServerManagerCmd
Working from an elevated command prompt (as always)
in Server 2008, type
servermanagercmd -query
This simplest of ServerManagerCmd commands will
display several screens that show all the add-on capabilities
that your server currently has and hasn’t enabled.
(I say “capabilities” because Server 2008 breaks them
into roles and features, and I haven’t figured out the difference.
Given that DNS is a role and WINS is a feature,
can we assume that roles are cool and features are less
so?) One such line might look like
[ ] DNS Server [DNS]
where DNS Server means that the server has the potential
to become a DNS server, the empty opening brackets
mean that you haven’t enabled the service (if you did
enable it, an X would appear between the brackets),
and—most important—[DNS] informs ServerManager-
Cmd that you want to perform a task involving the DNS
server service.
That terminology is the key to making this server
capable of acting as a DNS server:
servermanagercmd -install dns
Notice that ServerManagerCmd recognizes the DNS role
but is case-insensitive.
Ocsetup and Oclist
Now, if you’re setting up DNS on a Server Core installation
of Server 2008 rather than a full installation, you’ll
find no ServerManagerCmd tool; instead, to list the
capabilities you do and don’t have installed, you can
type
oclist
You’ll see output similar to that which ServerManager-
Cmd -query provides, but the official names for the
roles and features are lengthier. For example, the DNS
line looks like
Not Installed:DNS-Server-Core-Role
To install a role or feature, just use Ocsetup, followed by
the role or feature’s name. To install DNS, for example,
you’d type
ocsetup DNS-Server-Core-Role
Note that you don’t need an -install option. Ocsetup
only installs and uninstalls; it has no option like -query
because the separate Oclist program fills that need.
You’ll also find that, like many Server Core–
specific commands, Ocsetup is one of those “strong,
silent type” commands. If you’ve typed an Ocsetup
command with correct syntax, your only response is
another command prompt. Be aware, though, that
just because you’ve gotten another command prompt
doesn’t mean that Server Core has finished installing
the DNS server role. Occasionally, I’ve gotten in
trouble by assuming that. Now, I use the belt-andsuspenders
technique of running Oclist on a Server
Core system to be certain that my desired role has
been installed.
Command-Line Power
Honestly, would you rather click through Server Manager
to install DNS when you can just type
servermanagercmd -install dns
from the command line? Of course not! So go out and
buy one of those comfortable keyboards, because Server
2008 is here!
End of Article
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