In this particular configuration, most of Windows administrator will be lost. You can hopefully manage remotely the server using the well known MMC consoles but there are a lot of basic tasks that will require manual configuration.

If you try this savor you’ll find some included scripts to enable/disable Windows Update or Remote Desktop but that’s all.

There is however a tool named “Core Configurator” available in 2 version (2.0 for R2 and 1.1 for R1) that enable you to easily configure your Server Core.

The following can be done:

• Product Licensing
• Networking Features
• DCPromo Tool
• ISCSI Settings
• Server Roles and Features
• User and Group Permissions
• Share Creation and Deletion
• Dynamic Firewall settings
• Display | Screensaver Settings
• Add & Remove Drivers
• Proxy settings
• Windows Updates (Including WSUS)
• Multipath I/O
• Hyper-V including virtual machine thumbnails
• JoinDomain and Computer rename
• Add/remove programs
• Services
• WinRM
• Complete logging of all commands executed

There is another tool (in command line this time) named Core Configuration Console R2 (also exist for R1). It does most of the jobs (perhaps more than Core Configurator) and it’s worth having a look on it.

Keep in mind that you can also manage Server Core using:

• GPO (for Firewall settings, WSUS, Service configuration, screensaver etc.)
• Custom scripts (in PowerShell since Windows Server 2008 R2) so they can be reusable and be part of your documentation (it’s always easier to launch a script than going through multiple screens)

These guides (in video and PDF format) show you how to deploy a PoC (Proof of Concept) from installing the environment (SCCM, SQL, MDT 2010), through capture a reference computer, deploy it afterwards, personalize images.

This is worth to look at it. It leverages the latest technologies :

• Windows 2008 R2
• SCCM 2007 R2 SP2 + WSUS
• SQL Server 2008
• MDT 2010
• Windows 7

It is from my point of view a good opportunity to discover what these products can do for you.

The link to download these guides (as a iso file) is here : http://www.deploymentcd.com/

Microsoft give you the opportunity to take 2 MCITP exams :

• 71-685 : MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician, WIndows 7
• 71-686 : MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Administrator, Windows 7

You can register to these exams on Prometric with these codes (for free):

• 71-685 : EDST7
• 71-686 : EDA7

Here are some information:

Availability

Public Registration begins: September 14, 2009

Beta exam period runs: September 21, 2009– October 16, 2009

Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a seat in the beta; we recommend that you register immediately. Beta exams have limited availability and are operated under a first-come-first-served basis. Once all beta slots are filled, no additional seats will be offered.

Testing is held at Prometric testing centers worldwide, although this exam may not be available in all countries (see Regional Restrictions). All testing centers will have the capability to offer this exam in its live version.

Regional Restrictions: India, Pakistan, China

The learning guides are available there :

• 71-685 : MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician, WIndows 7
• 71-686 : MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Administrator, Windows 7

You can find some interesting resources there :

• http://learning.microsoft.com/Manager/Catalog.aspx?clang=en-US&dtype=Table&Sort=Relevancy&page=1&search=windows%207
• My post about the other Windows 7, Configuring exam

I registered for them, let see what I can do !

For those who like me like to take beta Microsoft exams, you have now a new opportunity with Exchange Server 2010!

I’ll take it next month, just to be sure I’m well trained.

Exchange 2010 RC is widely available on MS Download Center http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd185495.aspx

You have great resources there: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd185494.aspx and http://www.msteched.com/online/channels.aspx?cname=track&channel=Unified+Communications

Just have a look for the following mail and register (if some seats remain).

You are invited to take beta exam 71-662: TS: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Configuring. You were specifically chosen to participate in this beta because of the SME profile you created on the Microsoft Learning Content Development site. If you pass the beta exam, the exam credit will be added to your transcript and you will not need to take the exam in its released form. The 71-xxx identifier is used for registering for beta versions of MCP exams, when the exam is released in its final form the 70-xxx identifier is used for registration.

By participating in beta exams, you have the opportunity to provide the Microsoft Certification program with feedback about exam content, which is integral to development of exams in their released version. We depend on the contributions of experienced IT professionals and developers as we continually improve exam content and maintain the value of Microsoft certifications.

71-662: TS: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Configuring counts as credit towards the following certification(s).
• MCTS: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Configuration
________________________________________
Availability
Registration begins: August 20, 2009
Beta exam period runs: August 31, 2009– September 14, 2009

Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a seat in the beta; we recommend that you register immediately. Beta exams have limited availability and are operated under a first-come-first-served basis. Once all beta slots are filled, no additional seats will be offered. Because of the limited nature of beta exam seats, please do not blog or otherwise post this beta code until 8/24/09 to increase the likelihood that a seat will be available.

Testing is held at Prometric testing centers worldwide, although this exam may not be available in all countries (see Regional Restrictions). All testing centers will have the capability to offer this exam in its live version.

Regional Restrictions: India, Pakistan, China
________________________________________
Registration Information
You must register at least 24 hours prior to taking the exam.
Please use the following promotional code when registering for the exam: E14J
Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a seat in the beta; we recommend that you register immediately.

To register in North America, please call:
• Prometric: (800) 755-EXAM (800-755-3926)
Outside the U.S./Canada, please contact:
• Prometric: http://www.register.prometric.com/ClientInformation.asp

___________________________________
Test Information and Support
You are invited to take this beta exam at no charge.
You will be given four hours to complete the beta exam. Please plan accordingly.
Find exam preparation information: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-662

In this example I’ll show you how you can perform DNS lookups using the Net.Dns class :

[System.Net.Dns]::GetHostentry(“blog.paux.fr”)

The result will be (depending if your input is a A or CNAME) :

HostName                  Aliases            AddressList
--------                  -------            -----------
dedibox2.jeanb-net.com    {}                 {88.191.92.204}

You can obviously pipe a list of hostname to this command and if you need to keep the original name you can add it to the resulted object and display it in a grid (new to PS2.0 !):

gc .\hosts.txt |% { [System.Net.Dns]::GetHostentry($_) | Add-Member -Name Host -MemberType NoteProperty -Value $_ -PassThru } | Select Host,AddressList | out-gridview

You can of course do the same with an IP address (or an IPv6 address):

[System.Net.Dns]::GetHostentry("2001:4860:a005::68")

The class in .Net Framework stay basic so you can’t resolve NS, SOA, MX or TXT records for example but you can try to use other classes as this implementation of a resolver in C# or using this one (that use the internal DNS resolver of Windows)

I really appreciate this new version, for a lot of reasons (conversation display in Outlook, improvements of UI in most of apps of the suite etc.) but I’d like to emphasis on one improvement I was asking for a long time : the ability to have multiple Exchange Accounts in the same Outlook process (without using App-V, run-as or other tips to launch multiple Outlook).

You can ask why do I have 2 Exchange accounts, but it is simply because I’ve got my Avanade corporate account and my personal Exchange server (Exchange 2007 but soon Exchange 2010)

So how to do this ?

1. Close Outlook
2. Go to control panel
3. Search “Mail”
4. Click on New Account
5. Enter your account settings (and use Autodiscovery !)
6. Launch Outlook

As you can see it is really straightforward so abuse of it !

I’ve got now my two Exchange accounts, as we had before for POP/IMAP :

I often use export-csv and open the result in Excel or out-GridView in PowerShell v2 (useful cmdlet BTW) for a nice graphical interface. I sometime use Excel API to create an Excel sheet directly or to import data but something was missing : simplicity.

These are an excellent solutions but why don’t we use Excel directly with an out-excel cmdlet ?

I just found this cmdlet there : http://pathologicalscripter.wordpress.com/out-excel/ and it is working very well ! So have fun using it.

Après avoir attendu depuis quelques jours les résultats de la certification Windows 7 : Configuration, je suis fier d’annoncer que je suis maintenant certifié (score 916/1000 !) !

La certification ressemble beaucoup à son équivalent Vista (70-620) tout en abordant les nouveautés/spécificités de Windows 7.

Quelques ressources si vous voulez bosser dessus :

• Le preparation guide de l’exam : http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-680&locale=en-us
• Un petit lot de guides d’apprentissage/formations (elearning, bouquins etc.) http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/training/windows.aspx
• Le site Technet et la RC de Windows 7 à télécharger d’urgence en attendant la release finale !
• Voir en bas du post une liste de ressources pour chaque point du learning guide (merci à Claymoore pour les quelques liens que j’ai copié et complété)

________________________________

After waiting for a few days the results, I’m glad to announce I’ve passed the Windows 7 : Configuration beta exam. It’s a bit harder than its equivalent for Vista (70-620) but make a good overview of all Windows 7 new features.

You have excellent ressources if you want to train:

• The prep guide http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-680&locale=en-us
• Some interresting learning documents http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/training/windows.aspx
• And obviously technet website + the RC (and the final release soon)
• Have a look below for a list of ressources by topics (thanks to Claymoore for the draft)

________________________________

• All virtual labs are Vista or Server 2008
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/virtuallabs/default.aspx
• Resource Sites
  http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/default.aspx
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/default.aspx
• Installing, Upgrading, and Migrating to Windows 7 (14 percent)
  • Perform a clean installation
    http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/installation-instructions.aspx
    http://www.techspot.com/guides/143-dual-boot-windows7/
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd494658.aspx
  • Upgrade to Windows 7
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd446674.aspx
  • Migrate User Profiles
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd671583.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd572169.aspx
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=E263796C-C7E4-44D6-96DD-32E821C88A25&displaylang=en
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc722344.aspx
• Deploying Windows 7 (13 percent)
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/desktopdeployment/default.aspx
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd349337%28WS.10%29.aspx
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772106%28WS.10%29.aspx
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=F1BAE135-4190-4D7C-B193-19123141EDAA&displaylang=en
  • Capture a system image
    http://www.microsoftvirtuallabs.com/express/registration.aspx?LabId=9b2229cd-7d65-465f-ae07-e07ecc784cbc
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd349343.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd349348.aspx
  • Prepare a system image for deployment
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=886CD1DD-91AA-4BF4-8557-DECEDEF7FA5D&displaylang=en
    http://edge.technet.com/Media/Microsoft-Deployment-Toolkit-Lite-Touch-Screencast/ (Vista)
    http://edge.technet.com/Media/System-Center-Configuration-Manager-2007-and-Microsoft-Deployment-Toolkit-Screencast/ (Vista)
    http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032329676&EventCategory=3&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US (Vista)
  • Deploy a system image
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd320284.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/desktopdeployment/dd392037.aspx
  • Configure a VHD
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd440865%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd440864%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd638413%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd638420%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd758779.aspx
• Configuring Hardware and Applications (14 percent)
  • Configure devices
    http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/01/10/windows-7-device-stage-overview
  • Configure application compatibility
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd320285.aspx
    http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032372479&EventCategory=3&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US (Vista)
    http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032373037&EventCategory=3&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US (Vista)
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc722055%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=8767A699-3C36-4E3F-A41C-83C56681887B&displaylang=en
  • Configure application restrictions
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd320283.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd548340%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd378941%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7A919629-4D8B-43C5-8115-78BC30A187C2&displaylang=en
  • Configure Internet Explorer
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc985354.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc985353.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc985357.aspx
    http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/01/10/windows-7-internet-explorer-8
• Configuring Network Connectivity (14 percent)
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd443486%28WS.10%29.aspx
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637835%28WS.10%29.aspx
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd367855%28WS.10%29.aspx
  • Configure IPv4 network settings
  • Configure IPv6 network settings
    http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/37947
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919739/en-us/
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/network/bb530961.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2007.08.cableguy.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2009.07.cableguy.aspx
  • Configure networking settings
    http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032331341&EventCategory=3&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US
    http://wingeek.com/articles/39444/automatic-location-based-default-printer-switching/
  • Configure Windows Firewall
    http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Whats-new-Windows-7-Firewall.html
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732283%28WS.10%29.aspx
  • Configure remote management
    http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/01/11/windows-7-easy-connect-overview
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b72d3ac2-4352-4184-9992-e122dbb80883&DisplayLang=en
• Configuring Access to Resources (13 percent)
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2009.05.win7.aspx
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd560691.aspx
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd548337%28WS.10%29.aspx
  • Configure shared resources
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=ab44f9bb-0f20-4145-8c18-04339c0e3e6c&displaylang=en
    http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2327049/home_group_windows_7/
    http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/01/13/windows-7-homegroup-overview
  • Configure file and folder access
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd349340%28WS.10%29.aspx
  • Configure user account control (UAC)
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd572175.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd446675%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd835546%28WS.10%29.aspx
  • Configure authentication and authorization
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2009.05.pki.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd367857%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd631686%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd367851%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd560628%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc755284%28WS.10%29.aspx
  • Configure BranchCache
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd573290.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637762%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637784%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=a9a1ed8a-71ab-468e-a7e0-470fd46e46b3
• Configuring Mobile Computing (10 percent)
  • Configure BitLocker and BitLocker To Go
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd548341%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd630628%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6E419E75-BBEC-44BF-BF94-48EC4E1265AC&displaylang=en
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd408739.aspx
  • Configure DirectAccess
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd572177.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637789%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637827%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637821%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2fdc531d-9138-454f-a820-78211755b52a&displaylang=en
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2009.05.cableguy.aspx
  • Configure mobility options
    http://www.microsoftvirtuallabs.com/express/registration.aspx?LabId=f4afbf0a-d6a3-420c-a86a-b7849451b942 (Vista)
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637787%28WS.10%29.aspx
  • Configure remote connections
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637783%28WS.10%29.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637830%28WS.10%29.aspx
• Monitoring and Maintaining Systems that Run Windows 7 (11 percent)
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd443489%28WS.10%29.aspx
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd367853%28WS.10%29.aspx
  • Configure updates to Windows 7
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/wsus/default.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc708429%28WS.10%29.aspx
  • Manage disks
  • Monitor systems
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd572173.aspx
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd320286.aspx
    http://www.microsoftvirtuallabs.com/express/registration.aspx?LabId=f4160331-2fdd-4a56-bcd7-0cdffa8d5b8c (Vista)
    http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/01/09/windows-7-action-center-overview
  • Configure performance settings
    http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032375078&EventCategory=3&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US (Vista)
    http://www.microsoftvirtuallabs.com/express/registration.aspx?LabId=cd77ef6d-9e4b-46a5-b19a-e73dcf01df43 (Vista)
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744567%28WS.10%29.aspx
• Configuring Backup and Recovery Options (11 percent)
  • Configure backup
    http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/0625443e-f5c7-4bec-a5e3-3b7e00503c481033.mspx
    http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/4230-registry-backup-restore.html
    http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/backup.aspx
    http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/01/18/windows-7-windows-backup-overview
  • Configure system recovery options
    http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/697-system-restore-point-create.html
    http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/700-system-restore.html
    http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/668-system-recovery-options.html
    http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2083-system-repair-disc-create.html
    http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/675-system-image-recovery.html
  • Configure file recovery options
    http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/shadow-copy.aspx

To configure this you will have to edit a GPO (or the Local group policy).

The settings to edit are depending of what you want to achieve:

User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Control Panel\Hide specified Control Panel Items
or
User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Control Panel\Show only specified Control Panel Items

In Windows Vista or Windows 7, you must enter the values defined in the MSDN documentation instead of the different .cpl you want to display. You can find the different settings there : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc144191(VS.85).aspx

If you want to restrict/show only the Display part in which you can set the resolution, display output, DPI, you’ll not find it in the previous link. The option is as simply as its name : Microsoft.Display.

You’ll now be able to restrict this view and have this kind of control panel