Like I mentioned in a previous post I would be playing around with Server Core and Virtual Server 2005 just to see how it works. So what I have done is I installed a new Windows Server 2008 Server Core onto my physical box. The installation is straight forward, just make sure you select Server Core, and after a reboot you have your machine. I also discovered that with the June CTP you need to change the admin password after the reboot. Now that we have a server core running we need to perform a few additional steps.

1. Change the name of the machine: after the initial setup you need to change the name into something more readable and easy to remember
   
   netdom Renamecomputer oldmachinename /NewName:newmachinename
   
2. Activate the server: Because my machine will not be connected to Internet all the time I activate my machines right away
   
   slmgr.vbs -ato
   
   This script will generate a msgbox to inform you if the activation was successful or not. (This tool can also be used onto a Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 box)
   
3. Set a fixed IP address: In my environment I don't have a DHCP server so I need to set a fixed IP Address:
   
   netsh int ipv4 set address "Local Area connection" static 192.168.0.1 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.254
   netsh int ipv4 set dnsserver "Local Area Connection" static 192.168.253
   
   Note you can use the "netsh int ipv4 sho int" to identify which interfaces you have. See the example below.
   
   
   
4. Add server to domain: Because I will use the VMRCplus tool to manage my server and with this tool you cannot remotely administrate Virtual Servers who are member of a workgroup
   
   netdom join servername /DOM:domainname /userd:user@domain /passwordd:*
   
   Reboot you server with the following command: shutdown /r /t 0
   
5. Install Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1: Just run setup and follow the wizard. Make sure you don't install the web admin tools.
   
6. Virtual Server configuration steps: Now you have your VS2005 R2 SP1 running but you need to enable VMRC and configure some security settings if you want to use the VMRCplus client to manage the environment:
   
   A) Enable the firewall exception for VMRC: netsh fi add all "c:\program files\Microsoft Virtual Server\vssrvc.exe" "Virtual Server" ENABLE
   
   B) Run a VB script to enable VMRC onto the VS box:
   
   set vs = wscript.createobject("VirtualServer.Application")
   vs.VMRCEnabled = True
   vs.VMRCAdminportNumber = 5900
   vs.VMRCIdleconnectionTimeOutEnabled= false
   vs.VMRCXResolution = 800
   vs.VMRCYResolution = 600
   
   Source: virtual_pc_guy
   
   C) Run another VB script to allow a particular group to have access onto the VS:
   
   Dim ace

set objVs = wscript.CreateObject("VirtualServer.Application")
Set objSecurity = WScript.CreateObject("VirtualServer.VMSecurity")

set objSecurity = ObjVs.Security

Set ace = objSecurity.AddEntry("wds\Domain admins",vmAccessRights_Allowed)
    ace.WriteAccess = True
    ace.ReadAccess = True
    ace.ExecuteAccess = True
    ace.DeleteAccess = True
    ace.ReadPermissions = True
    ace.ChangePermissions = True

ObjVs.Security = objSecurity

Source: virtual_pc_guy

Now you have prepared you VS environment and you can start manage it from another domain joined machine with the VMRCplus tool.

Note: I want to inform you again that this is not supported by Microsoft and I only tested because of personal interest and to see how easy or difficult it was to configure and manage a server core environment. If you want to have Virtualization onto Windows Server Core you will have to wait until we release Windows Server Virtualization.