Windows Server 2008: The Definitive Guide

Initial Configuration

Like most servers, you need to tweak some settings and add some information to the Server Core system before you can reasonably deploy it into production. In this section, let's step through some of the initial steps to set up a Windows Server 2008 Server Core box, including:

• Changing the administrator password

• Entering date, time, and time zone/location information

• Setting up network connections

• Establishing the name of the server and joining it to an existing domain

• Enabling automatic updates, if necessary, and downloading available updates

• Activating the server

Setting an Administrator Password

By default, Server Core installs itself with a built-in local administrator account that is enabled with no password, but that requires a password change (effectively establishing a password for the account itself) upon the first logon. This is great for the first logon, but there are two other ways in which you can change the password of an associated account:

• You can use the venerable command line-based net user utility. For example, net user administrator * will ask you to type a new password for the administrator account.

• You can hit Ctrl-Alt-Del (the three-keystroke salute) and click the Change Password option that appears. You'll need to enter the old password, the new password, and a confirmation entry. Click the right arrow to perform the change.

Configuring Date, Time, and Location Options

One of the only two Control Panel GUI-based dialog boxes that you can access is ...