Managing Servers Running Windows Server 2012

Managing Roles, Role Services, and Features

When you want to manage server configurations, you’ll primarily use Server Manager to manage roles, role services, and features. Not only can you use Server Manager to add or remove roles, role services, and features, but you can also use Server Manager to view the configuration details and status for these software components.

Performing Initial Configuration Tasks

Server Manager is your central management console for the initial setup and configuration of roles and features. Not only can Server Manager help you quickly set up a new server, the console also can help you quickly set up your management environment.

Normally, Windows Server 2012 automatically starts Server Manager whenever you log on and you can access Server Manager on the desktop. If you don’t want the console to start each time you log on, tap or click Manage and then tap or click Server Manager Properties. In the Server Manager Properties dialog box, select Do Not Start Server Manager Automatically At Logon and then tap or click OK.

As Figure 2-1 shows, Server Manager’s default view is the dashboard. The dashboard has quick links for adding roles and features to local and remote servers, adding servers to manage, and creating server groups. You’ll find similar options are on the Manage menu:

• Add Roles And Features Starts the Add Roles And Features Wizard, which you can use to install roles, role services, and features on the server.
• Add Other Servers To Manage Opens the Add Servers dialog box, which you can use to add servers you want to manage. Added servers are listed when you select the All Servers node. Press and hold or right-click a server in the Servers pane of the All Servers node to display a list of management options, including Restart Server, Manage As, and Remove Server.
• Create Server Group Opens the Create Server Group dialog box, which you can use to add servers to server groups for easier management. Server Manager creates role-based groups automatically. For example, domain controllers are listed under AD DS, and you can quickly find information about any domain controllers by selecting the related node.

In Server Manager’s left pane (also referred to as the console tree), you’ll find options for accessing the dashboard, the local server, all servers added for management, and server groups. When you select Local Server in the console tree, as shown in Figure 2-2, you can manage the basic configuration of the server you are logged on to locally.

Information about the local server is organized into several main headings, each with an associated management panel:

• Best Practices Analyzer Allows you to run the Best Practices Analyzer on the server and review the results. To start a scan, tap or click Tasks and then tap or click Start BPA Scan.
• Events Provides summary information about warning and error events from the server’s event logs. Tap or click an event to display more information about the event.
• Performance Allows you to configure and view the status of performance alerts for CPU and memory usage. To configure performance alerts, tap or click Tasks and then tap or click Configure Performance Alerts.
• Properties Shows the computer name, domain, network IP configuration, time zone, and more. Each property can be clicked to quickly display a related management interface.
• Roles And Features Lists the roles and features installed on the server, in the approximate order of installation. To remove a role or feature, press and hold or right-click it and then select Remove Role Or Feature.
• Services Lists the services running on the server by name, status and start type. Press and hold or right-click a service to manage its run status.

The Properties panel is where you perform much of your initial server configuration. Properties available for quick management include the following:

• Computer Name/Domain Shows the computer name and domain. Tap or click either of the related links to display the System Properties dialog box with the Computer Name tab selected. You can then change a computer’s name and domain information by tapping or clicking Change, providing the computer name and domain information, and then tapping or clicking OK. By default, servers are assigned a randomly generated name and are configured as part of a workgroup called WORKGROUP. In the Small Icons or Large Icons view of Control Panel, you can display the System Properties dialog box with the Computer Name tab selected by tapping or clicking System and then tapping or clicking Change Settings under Computer Name, Domain, And Workgroup Settings.

• Customer Experience Improvement Program Shows whether the server is participating in the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). Tap or click the related link to change the participation settings. Participation in CEIP allows Microsoft to collect information about the way you use the server. Microsoft collects this data to help improve future releases of Windows. No data collected as part of CEIP personally identifies you or your company. If you elect to participate, you can also provide information about the number of servers and desktop computers in your organization, as well as your organization’s general industry. If you opt out of CEIP by turning this feature off, you miss the opportunity to help improve Windows.

• Ethernet Shows the TCP/IP configuration of wired Ethernet connections. Tap or click the related link to display the Network Connections console. You can then configure network connections by double-tapping or double-clicking the connection you want to work with and then tapping or clicking Properties to open the Properties dialog box. By default, servers are configured to use dynamic addressing for both IPv4 and IPv6. You can also display the Network Connections console by tapping or clicking Change Adapter Settings under Tasks in Network And Sharing Center.

• IE Enhanced Security Configuration Shows the status of Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration (IE ESC). Tap or click the related link to enable or disable IE ESC. If you tap or click the link for this option, you can turn this feature on or off for administrators, users, or both. IE ESC is a security feature that reduces the exposure of a server to potential attacks by raising the default security levels in Internet Explorer security zones and changing default Internet Explorer settings. By default, IE ESC is enabled for both administrators and users.

  Real World

  In most cases, you should enable IE ESC on a server for both users and administrators. However, enabling IE ESC reduces the functionality of Internet Explorer. When IE ESC is enabled, security zones are configured as follows: the Internet zone is set to Medium-High, the Trusted Sites zone is set to Medium, the Local Intranet zone is set to Medium-Low, and the Restricted zone is set to High. When IE ESC is enabled, the following Internet settings are changed: the Enhanced Security Configuration dialog box is on, third-party browser extensions are off, sounds in web pages are off, animations in web pages are off, signature checking for downloaded programs is on, server certificate revocation is on, encrypted pages are not saved, temporary Internet files are deleted when the browser is closed, warnings for secure and nonsecure mode changes are on, and memory protection is on.

• NIC Teaming Shows the status and configuration of NIC teaming. Tap or click the related link to add or remove teamed interfaces and to manage related options.

• Product ID Shows the product identifier for Windows Server. Tap or click the related link to enter a product key and activate the operating system over the Internet.

• Remote Desktop Tap or click the related link to display the System Properties dialog box with the Remote tab selected. You can then configure Remote Desktop by selecting the configuration option you want to use and tapping or clicking OK. By default, no remote connections to a server are allowed. In the Small Icons or Large Icons view of Control Panel, you can display the System Properties dialog box with the Remote tab selected by double-tapping or double-clicking System and then tapping or clicking Remote Settings in the left pane.

• Remote Management Shows whether remote management of this server from other servers is enabled. Tap or click the related link to enable or disable remote management.

• Time Zone Shows the current time zone for the server. Tap or click the related link to display the Date And Time dialog box. You can then configure the server’s time zone by tapping or clicking Change Time Zone, selecting the appropriate time zone, and then tapping or clicking OK twice. You can also display the Date And Time dialog box by pressing and holding or right-clicking the clock on the taskbar and then selecting Adjust Date/Time. Although all servers are configured to synchronize time automatically with an Internet time server, the time synchronization process does not change a computer’s time zone.

• Windows Error Reporting Shows the status of Windows Error Reporting (WER). Tap or click the related link to change the participation settings for WER. In most cases, you’ll want to enable WER for at least the first 60 days following installation of the operating system. With WER enabled, your server sends descriptions of problems to Microsoft, and Windows notifies you of possible solutions to those problems. You can view problem reports and possible solutions using Action Center. To open Action Center, tap or click the Action Center icon in the notification area of the taskbar and then select Open Action Center.

• Windows Firewall Shows the status of Windows Firewall. If Windows Firewall is active, this property displays the name of the firewall profile that currently applies and the firewall status. Tap or click the related link to display the Windows Firewall utility. By default, Windows Firewall is enabled. In the Small Icons or Large Icons view of Control Panel, you can display Windows Firewall by tapping or clicking the Windows Firewall option.

• Windows Update Shows the current configuration of Windows Update. Tap or click the related link to display the Windows Update utility in Control Panel, which you can then use to enable automatic updating (if Windows Update is disabled) or to check for updates (if Windows Update is enabled). In the Small Icons or Large Icons view of Control Panel, you can display Windows Update by selecting the Windows Update option.

Server Manager Essentials and Binaries

The Server Manager console is designed to handle core system administration tasks. You’ll spend a lot of time working with this tool, and you should get to know every detail. By default, Server Manager is started automatically. If you closed the console or disabled automatic startup, you can open the console by tapping or clicking the related option on the taskbar. Alternatively, another way to do this is by pressing the Windows key, typing ServerManager.exe into the Apps Search box, and then pressing Enter.

Server Manager’s command-line counterpart is the ServerManager module for Windows PowerShell. When you are logged on to Windows Server 2012, this module is imported into Windows PowerShell by default. Otherwise, you need to import the module before you can use the cmdlets it provides. You import the ServerManager module by entering Import-Module ServerManager at the Windows PowerShell prompt. Once the module is imported, you can use it with the currently running instance of Windows PowerShell. The next time you start Windows PowerShell, you need to import the module again if you want to use its features.

At a Windows PowerShell prompt, you can obtain a detailed list of a server’s current state with regard to roles, role services, and features by typing get-windowsfeature. Each installed role, role service, and feature is highlighted and marked as such, and a management naming component in brackets follows the display name of each role, role service, and feature. By using Install-WindowsFeature or Uninstall-WindowsFeature followed by the management name, you can install or uninstall a role, role service, or feature. For example, you can install Network Load Balancing by entering install-windowsfeature nlb. You can add –includeallsubfeature when installing components to add all subordinate role services or features. Management tools are not included by default. To add the management tools, add -includemanagementtools when installing components.

Binaries needed to install roles and features are referred to as payloads. With Windows Server 2012, payloads are stored in subfolders of the %SystemDrive%\Windows\WinSXS folder. Not only can you uninstall a role or feature, but you also can uninstall and remove the payload for a feature or role using the –Remove parameter of the Uninstall-WindowsFeature cmdlet. Subcomponents of the role or feature are removed as well. To also remove management tools, add the -includeallmanagementtools parameter.

When you want to install a role or feature, you can install the related components and restore any removed payloads for these components using the Install-WindowsFeature cmdlet. By default, when you use Install-WindowsFeature, payloads are restored via Windows Update.

In the following example, you restore the AD DS binaries and all related subfeatures via Windows Update:

install-windowsfeature -name ad-domain-services -includeallsubfeature

You can use the –Source parameter to restore a payload from a Windows Imaging (WIM) mount point. For example, if your enterprise has a mounted Windows Image for the edition of Windows Server 2012 you are working with available at the network path \\ImServer18\WinS12EE, you could specify the source as follows:

install-windowsfeature -name ad-domain-services -includeallsubfeature
-source \\imserver18\wins12ee

Keep in mind that the path you specify is only used if required binaries are not found in the Windows Side-By-Side folder on the destination server. While many large enterprises might have standard images that can be mounted using network paths, you also can mount the Windows Server 2012 distribution media and use the Windows\WinSXS folder from the installation image as your source. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Insert the installation disc into the server’s disc drive, and then create a folder to mount the Installation image by entering the following command: mkdir c:\mountdir.

2. Locate the index number of the image you want to use by entering the following command at an elevated prompt: dism /get-wiminfo /wimfile:e:\sources\install.wim, where e: is the drive designator of the server’s disc drive.

3. Mount the installation image by entering the following command at an elevated prompt: dism /mount-wim /wimfile:e:\sources\install.wim /index:2/mountdir:c:\mountdir /readonly, where e: is the drive designator of the server’s disc drive, 2 is the index of the image to use, and c:\mountdir is the mount directory. Mounting the image might take several minutes.

4. Use Install-WindowsFeature at a PowerShell prompt with the source specified as c:\mountdir\windows\winsxs, as shown in this example:

   install-windowsfeature -name ad-domain-services -includeallsubfeature
   -source c:\mountdir\windows\winsxs

Group Policy can be used to control whether Windows Update is used to restore payloads and to provide alternate source paths for restoring payloads. The policy you want to work with is Specify Settings For Optional Component Installation And Component Repair, which is under Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System. This policy also is used for obtaining payloads needed to repair components.

If you enable this policy (as shown in Figure 2-3), you can do the following:

• Specify the alternate source file path for payloads as a network location. For network shares, enter the UNC path to the share, such as \\CorpServer82\WinServer2012\. For mounted Windows images, enter the WIM path prefixed with WIM: and including the index of the image to use, such as WIM:\\Corp Server82\WinServer2012\install.wim:4.
• Specify that Windows Update should never be used to download payloads. If you enable the policy and use this option, you do not have to specify an alternate path. In this case, payloads cannot be obtained automatically and administrators will need to explicitly specify the alternate source path.
• Specify that Windows Update should be used for repairing components rather than Windows Server Update Services.

Managing Your Servers Remotely

You can use Server Manager and other Microsoft Management Consoles (MMCs) to perform some management tasks on remote computers, as long as the computers are in the same domain or you are working in a workgroup and have added the remote computers in a domain as trusted hosts. You can connect to servers running full-server, minimal-interface, and Server Core installations. On the computer you want to use for managing remote computers, you should be running either Windows Server 2012 or Windows 8 and you need to install the Remote Server Administration Tools.

With Windows Server 2012, the Remote Server Administration Tools are installed as a feature using the Add Roles And Features Wizard. If the binaries for the tools have been removed, you need to install the tools by specifying a source, as discussed in “Server Manager Essentials and Binaries” earlier in the chapter.

You can get the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8 as a download from the Microsoft Download Center (http://download.microsoft.com). Different versions are available for x64 and x86 systems.

By default, remote management is enabled for servers running Windows Server 2012 for two types of applications and commands:

• Applications and commands that use Windows Remote Management (WinRM) and Windows PowerShell remote access for management
• Applications and commands that use Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) remote access for management

These types of applications and commands are permitted for remote management because of exceptions configured in Windows Firewall, which is enabled by default for Windows Server 2012. In Windows Firewall, exceptions for allowed apps that support remote management include the following:

• Windows Management Instrumentation
• Windows Remote Management
• Windows Remote Management (Compatibility)

In Windows Firewall With Advanced Security, there are inbound rules that correspond to the standard firewall allowed apps:

• For WMI, the inbound rules are Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI-In), Windows Management Instrumentation (DCOM-In), and Windows Management Instrumentation (ASync-In).
• For WinRM, the matching inbound rule is Windows Remote Management (HTTP-In).
• For WinRM compatibility, the matching inbound rule is Windows Remote Management - Compatibility Mode (HTTP-In).

You manage these exceptions or rules in either the standard Windows Firewall or in Windows Firewall With Advanced Security, not both. If you want to allow remote management using Server Manager, MMCs, and Windows PowerShell, you typically want to permit WMI, WinRM, and WinRM compatibility exceptions in Windows Firewall.

When you are working with Server Manager, you can select Local Server in the console tree to view the status of the remote management property. If you don’t want to allow remote management of the local server, click the related link. In the Configure Remote Management dialog box, clear Enable Remote Management Of This Server From Other Computers and then tap or click OK.

When you clear Enable Remote Management Of This Server From Other Computers and then tap or click OK, Server Manager performs several background tasks that disable Windows Remote Management (WinRM) and Windows PowerShell remote access for management on the local server. One of these tasks is to turn off the related exception that allows apps to communicate through Windows Firewall using Windows Remote Management. The exceptions for Windows Management Instrumentation and Windows Remote Management (Compatibility) aren’t affected.

You must be a member of the Administrators group on computers you want to manage by using Server Manager. For remote connections in a workgroup-to-workgroup or workgroup-to-domain configuration, you should be logged on using the built-in Administrator account or configure the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy registry key to allow remote access from your computer. To set this key, enter the following command at an elevated, administrator command prompt:

reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v
LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Many other types of remote management tasks depend on other exceptions for Windows Firewall. Keep the following in mind:

• Remote Desktop is enabled or disabled separately from remote management. To allow someone to connect to the local server using Remote Desktop, you must allow related connections to the computer and configure access as discussed in Chapter 4.
• Remote Service Management must be configured as an allowed app in Windows Firewall to remotely manage a computer’s services. In the advanced firewall, there are several related rules that allow management via Named Pipes (NP) and Remote Procedure Calls (RPC).
• Remote Event Log Management must be configured as an allowed app in Windows Firewall to remotely manage a computer’s event logs. In the advanced firewall, there are several related rules that allow management via NP and RPC.
• Remote Volume Management must be configured as an allowed app in Windows Firewall to remotely manage a computer’s volumes. In the advanced firewall, there are several related rules that allow management of the Virtual Disk Service and Virtual Disk Service Loader.
• Remote Scheduled Task Management must be configured as an allowed app in Windows Firewall to remotely manage a computer’s scheduled tasks. In the advanced firewall, there are several related rules that allow management of scheduled tasks via RPC.

Only Remote Service Management is enabled by default.

You can configure remote management on a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2012 using Sconfig. Start the Server Configuration utility by entering sconfig.

Connecting to and Working with Remote Servers

Using Server Manager, you can connect to and manage remote servers, provided that you’ve added the server for management. To add servers one at a time to Server Manager, complete these steps:

1. Open Server Manager. In the left pane, select All Servers to view the servers that have been added for management already. If the server you want to work with isn’t listed, select Add Servers on the Manage menu to display the Add Servers dialog box.

2. The Add Servers dialog box has several panels for adding servers:

   • The Active Directory panel, selected by default, allows you to enter the computer name or fully qualified domain name of the remote server that is running Windows Server. After you enter a name, tap or click Find Now.

   • The DNS panel allows you to add servers by computer name or IP address. After you enter the name or IP address, tap or click the Search button.

3. In the Name list, double-tap or double-click the server to add it to the Selected list.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to add others servers. Tap or click OK.

To add many servers to Server Manager, you can use the Import process and these steps:

1. Create a text file that has one host name, fully qualified domain name, or IP address per line.
2. In Server Manager, select Add Servers on the Manage menu. In the Add Servers dialog box, select the Import panel.
3. Tap or click the options button to the right of the File box, and then use the Open dialog box to locate and open the server list.
4. In the Computer list, double-tap or double-click each server you want to add to the Selected list. Tap or click OK.

After you add a remote computer, the Server Manager console shows the name of the remote computer in the All Servers view. Server Manager always resolves IP addresses to host names. As shown in Figure 2-4, the All Servers view also lists the Manageability status of the server as well. If a server is listed as “Not accessible,” you typically need to log on locally to resolve the problem.

In the All Servers view, the servers you add are listed in the Servers pane so that you can manage them each time you work with Server Manager. Server Manager tracks the services, events, and more for each added server, and each server is added to the appropriate server groups automatically based on the roles and features installed.

Automatically created server groups make it easier to manage the various roles and features that are installed on your servers. If you select the AD DS group, as an example, you see a list of the domain controllers you added for management as well as any critical or warning events for these servers and the status of services the role depends on.

If you want to group servers by department, geographic location, or otherwise, you can create your own server groups. When you create groups, the servers you want to work with don’t have to be added to Server Manager already. You can add servers by searching Active Directory or DNS, or by importing a list of host names, fully qualified domain names, or IP addresses. Any server you add to a custom group is added automatically for management as well.

To create a server group, complete these steps:

1. Open Server Manager. Select Create Server Group on the Manage menu to display the Create Server Group dialog box.

2. Enter a descriptive name for the group. Use the panels and options provided to add servers to the group. Keep the following in mind:

   • The Server Pool pane, selected by default, lists servers that have been added for management already. If a server you want to add to your group is listed here, add it to the group by double-tapping or double-clicking it.

   • The Active Directory panel allows you to enter the computer name or fully qualified domain name of the remote server that is running Windows Server. After you enter a name, tap or click Find Now. In the Name list, double-tap or double-click a server to add it to the Selected list.

   • The DNS panel allows you to add servers by computer name or IP address. After you enter the name or IP address, tap or click the Search button. In the Name list, double-tap or double-click a server to add it to the Selected list.

   • The Import panel allows you to import a list of servers. Tap or click the options button to the right of the File box, and then use the Open dialog box to locate and open the server list. In the Computer list, double-tap or double-click a server to add it to the Selected list.

3. Tap or click OK to create the server group.

When you press and hold or right-click a server name in the Servers pane of a server group or in the All Servers view, you display an extended list of management options. These options perform the corresponding task or open the corresponding management tool with the selected server in focus. For example, if you were to right-click CorpServer172 and then select Computer Management, Computer Management connects to CorpServer172 and then opens.

You can work with a remote computer using an interactive remote Windows PowerShell session. To do this, open an elevated, administrator Windows PowerShell prompt. Type enter-pssession ComputerName –credential UserName, where ComputerName is the name of the remote computer and UserName is the name of a user who is a member of the Administrators group on the remote computer or in the domain of which the remote computer is a member. When prompted to enter the authorized user’s password, type the password and then press Enter. You can now enter commands in the session as you would if you were using Windows PowerShell locally. To exit the session, enter exit-pssession.

The following example enters an interactive remote session with Server85 using the credentials of Williams:

enter-pssession server85 -credential williams

Adding and Removing Roles, Role Services, and Features

Server Manager automatically creates server groups based on the roles of the servers added for management. As an example, the first time you add a domain controller, Server Manager might create AD DS, DNS, and File And Storage Services groups to help you more easily track the roles of the domain controllers.

When you select a role-based group in the left pane, the Servers panel shows the servers you added for management that have this role. The details for the selected server group provide the following information:

• Summary information about events. Server Manager lists recent warning and error events. If you tap or click an event, you can get more information about the event.
• Summary information about the status of related system services. You can press and hold or right-click a service to manage its run status.

You can manage a service by pressing and holding or right-clicking the service and then tapping or clicking Stop Service, Start Service, Pause Service, Resume Service, or Restart Service as appropriate. In many cases, if a service isn’t running as you think it should, you can use the Restart option to resolve the issue by stopping and then starting the service. See Chapter 3. for detailed information about working with events and system services.

The Manage menu has two key options for working with roles and features:

• Add Roles And Features Starts the Add Roles And Features Wizard, which you can use to install roles and features on a server added for management.
• Remove Roles And Features Starts the Remove Roles And Features Wizard, which you can use to uninstall roles and features on a server added for management.

With Windows Server 2012, you can install roles and features on running servers (whether physical machines or virtual) as well as virtual hard disks. Servers must be added for management in Server Manager, and they must be online. Virtual hard disks that you want to work with don’t have to be online, but they must be selectable when you are browsing for them. Because of this, you might need to map a network drive to access a network share. With this in mind, you can add a server role or feature by following these steps:

1. In Server Manager, select Add Roles And Features on the Manage menu. This starts the Add Roles And Features Wizard. If the wizard displays the Before You Begin page, read the introductory text and then tap or click Next. You can avoid seeing the Before You Begin page the next time you start this wizard by selecting the Skip This Page By Default check box before tapping or clicking Next.

2. On the Installation Type page, Role-Based Or Feature-Based Installation is selected by default. Tap or click Next.

3. On the Server Selection page, you can choose to install roles and features on running servers or virtual hard disks. Either select a server from the server pool or select a server from the server pool on which to mount a virtual hard disk (VHD). If you are adding roles and features to a VHD, tap or click Browse and then use the Browse For Virtual Hard Disks dialog box to locate the VHD. When you are ready to continue, tap or click Next.

   NOTE

   Only servers running Windows Server 2012 and that have been added for management in Server Manager are listed.

4. On the Server Roles page, select the role or roles to install. If additional features are required to install a role, you’ll see an additional dialog box. Tap or click Add Features to close the dialog box and add the required features to the server installation. Tap or click Next to continue.

   NOTE

   Some roles cannot be added at the same time as other roles. You have to install each role separately. Other roles cannot be combined with existing roles, and you’ll see warning prompts about this. A server running a Server Core installation can act as a domain controller and can also hold any of the flexible single-master operations (FSMO) roles for Active Directory.

5. On the Features page, select the feature or features to install. If additional features are required to install a feature you selected, you’ll see an additional dialog box. Tap or click Add Features to close the dialog box and add the required features to the server installation. When you are ready to continue, tap or click Next.

6. With some roles, you’ll see an extra wizard page, which provides additional information about using and configuring the role. You may also have the opportunity to install additional role services as part of a role. For example, with Print And Document Services, Web Server Role (IIS), and WSUS, you’ll see an additional information page and a page for selecting role services to install along with the role.

7. On the Confirmation page, tap or click the Export Configuration Settings link to generate an installation report that can be displayed in Internet Explorer.

8. If the server on which you want to install roles or features doesn’t have all the required binary source files, the server gets the files via Windows Update by default or from a location specified in Group Policy. You also can specify an alternate path for the source files. To do this, click the Specify An Alternate Source Path link, type that alternate path in the box provided, and then tap or click OK. For example, if you mounted a Windows image and made it available on the local server as discussed in “Server Manager Essentials and Binaries” earlier, you could enter the alternate path as c:\mountdir\windows\winsxs. For network shares, enter the UNC path to the share, such as \\CorpServer82\WinServer2012\. For mounted Windows images, enter the WIM path prefixed with WIM: and including the index of the image to use, such as WIM:\\CorpServer82\WinServer2012\install.wim:4.

9. After you review the installation options and save them as necessary, tap or click Install to begin the installation process. The Installation Progress page tracks the progress of the installation. If you close the wizard, tap or click the Notifications icon in Server Manager and then tap or click the link provided to reopen the wizard.

10. When the wizard finishes installing the server with the roles and features you selected, the Installation Progress page will be updated to reflect this. Review the installation details to ensure that all phases of the installation were completed successfully.

    Note any additional actions that might be required to complete the installation, such as restarting the server or performing additional installation tasks.

    If any portion of the installation failed, note the reason for the failure. Review the Server Manager entries for installation problems and take corrective actions as appropriate.

You can remove a server role or feature by following these steps:

1. In Server Manager, select Remove Roles And Features on the Manage menu. This starts the Remove Roles And Features Wizard. If the wizard displays the Before You Begin page, read the introductory text and then tap or click Next. You can avoid seeing the Before You Begin page the next time you start this wizard by selecting the Skip This Page By Default check box before tapping or clicking Next.

2. On the Server Selection page, you can choose to remove roles and features from running servers or virtual hard disks. Either select a server from the server pool or select a server from the server pool on which to mount a virtual hard disk (VHD). If you are removing roles and features from a VHD, tap or click Browse and then use the Browse For Virtual Hard Disks dialog box to locate the VHD. When you are ready to continue, tap or click Next.

3. On the Server Roles page, clear the check box for the role you want to remove. If you try to remove a role that another role or feature depends on, a warning prompt appears stating that you cannot remove the role unless you remove the other role as well. If you tap or click the Remove Features button, the wizard removes the dependent roles and features as well. Note that if you want to keep related management tools, you should clear the Remove Management Tools check box prior to tapping or clicking the Remove Features button and then click Continue. Tap or click Next.

4. On the Features page, the currently installed features are selected. To remove a feature, clear the related check box. If you try to remove a feature that another feature or role depends on, you’ll see a warning prompt stating that you cannot remove the feature unless you also remove the other feature or role. If you tap or click the Remove Features button, the wizard removes the dependent roles and features as well. Note that if you want to keep related management tools, you should clear the Remove Management Tools check box and then click Continue prior to tapping or clicking the Remove Features button. Tap or click Next.

5. On the Confirmation page, review the related components that the wizard will remove based on your previous selections and then tap or click Remove. The Removal Progress page tracks the progress of the removal. If you close the wizard, tap or click the Notifications icon in Server Manager and then tap or click the link provided to reopen the wizard.

6. When the wizard finishes modifying the server configuration, you’ll see the Removal Progress page. Review the modification details to ensure that all phases of the removal process were completed successfully.

   Note any additional actions that might be required to complete the removal, such as restarting the server or performing additional removal tasks.

   If any portion of the removal failed, note the reason for the failure. Review the Server Manager entries for removal problems and take corrective actions as appropriate.