Nano Server (ATD 11)

Advanced

Technology Days18. i 19. studenog 2015., Cinestar Arena Centar

Nano Server:Sve što trebate znati!

Tomica Kaniški, Vipnet

[email protected]

I want just the components

I needand nothing more.

Complaints…

• „server restarts disrupting my business!”

‐ why should I restart my servers after patching a component I don’t even use?

‐ restarts should not take long!

• „server images are too big!”

‐ (too) long installations and configurations

‐ transfers take considerable amount of time (and bandwidth)!

‐ too much space wasted… in general!

well, there is dedup, but…

• „resource consumption is too high!”

‐ less resources for the OS = more VMs, more important stuff!

‐ more VMs per host = lower costs, higher efficiency!

Windows Server until now…

Do we really need GUI on servers?

… and then there was CLOUD!

• Azure

‐ patches and restarts disrupting services

‐ high number of servers * high load (OS side) => TROUBLES!

‐ provisioning of large host images (bandwidth impact)

• Cloud Platform System (CPS)

‐ Cloud-in-box (1-4 racks with System Center & Windows Server)

‐ need to decrease setup and configuration times

‐ patches and restarts disrupting services

‐ network bandwidth usage needs to be lowered

‐ restarts – compute host ~2 minutes, storage host ~5 minutes

Windows Server… from now on

• totally new, (only) 64-bit installation option

• „like Core but optimized for the cloud”

• built with focus on:

‐ CloudOS infrastructure

‐ cloud applications

Nano Server roles & features

• zero-footprint model

‐ server roles and features are outside of the Nano Server installation

‐ standalone packages install as applications

• main roles and features

‐ Hyper-V, Storage (SoFS) i Clustering

‐ Core CLR, ASP.NET 5, Defender

• full support for Windows Server drivers

• System Center i Apps Insight agents – TBR

Getting started…

• Nano Server is an installation option

• like Server Core (but better )

• cannot be selected during Setup

• must be customized with drivers

• located on the Windows Server installationmedia

Nano Server – availability

• available everywhere

‐ host OS for physical

‐ guest OS in virtual machine

‐ container

• future?

‐ PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC)

‐ PackageManagement (OneGet)

‐ additional roles and applications support

Deploying Nano Server (1)

• roles and features:

Role / FeaturePhysical /

GuestDescription

Compute Physical Hyper-V role

Storage Both Storage role

Clustering Both Failover Clustering role

Reverse

ForwardersBoth Helps in testing legacy tools on Nano Server

Defender Both Anti-malware Defender package

OEM drivers Physical Select drivers that ship in-box with Server Core

Guest drivers Guest Drivers needed to host Nano Server in a VM

Deploying Nano Server (2)

• physical server (example):

Generate a VHD from NanoServer.wim, specify computer name and admin password,

and add the Hyper-V (Compute), Failover Clustering, and OEM drivers packages:New-NanoServerImage –MediaPath D:\ –BasePath C:\NanoServer –TargetPathC:\NanoServerVM –Compute –OEMDrivers –Clustering –ComputerName NanoServer

–AdministratorPassword (“P@ssw0rd” | ConvertTo-SecureString –AsPlainText -Force)

Mount the ISO (mounted as D:), run the following:md C:\NanoServer

copy D:\NanoServer\*.ps1 C:\NanoServer

Copy the scripts from the mounted image and dot-source them:

cd C:\NanoServer

. .\Convert-WindowsImage.ps1

. .\New-NanoServerImage.ps1

Deploying Nano Server (3)

• virtual machine (example):

Generate a VHD from NanoServer.wim, specify computer name and admin password,

and add the Reverse Forwarders and guest drivers packagesNew-NanoServerImage –MediaPath D:\ –BasePath C:\NanoServer –TargetPathC:\NanoServerVM –GuestDrivers –ReverseForwarders –ComputerName NanoServerVM

–AdministratorPassword (“P@ssw0rd” | ConvertTo-SecureString –AsPlainText-Force)

Mount the ISO (mounted as D:), run the following:md C:\NanoServer

copy D:\NanoServer\*.ps1 C:\NanoServer

Copy the scripts from the mounted image and dot-source them:

cd C:\NanoServer

. .\Convert-WindowsImage.ps1

. .\New-NanoServerImage.ps1

Drivers, roles and features… (1)

• driver installation

‐ only what’s needed

Dism /Add-Driver /Driver:<path> /recurse

‐ out-of-the-box driver package (additional installation)

Dism /Add-Package /PackagePath:.\packages\Microsoft-NanoServer-OEM-Drivers-Package.cab

‐ VM (guest) package for Nano Server

Dism /Add-Package /PackagePath:.\packagesMicrosoft-NanoServer-Guest-Package.cab

• customizations

‐ unattend.xml

Drivers, roles and features… (2)

• roles and features

‐ folder Packages on the installation media

Dism /Add-Package /PackagePath:.\packages\<package>

Dism /Add-Package /PackagePath:.\packages\en-us\<package>

(no support for localized packages at this time, so use en-us)

• agents and tools

‐ no MSI support! (xcopy or PowerShell scripts)

‐ the new installer will be available by RTM(installations, deinstallations, inventory, online and offline installations, …)

Managing Nano Server

• sitting in front of a server today…

‐ …it makes no sense!

• options:

‐ PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC)

‐ Remote management/automation with Core PowerShell and WMI

‐ Server Manager

‐ Remote Server Management Tool (RSMT)

‐ 3rd party tools (5nine, …)

‐ integration with DevOps tools (Visual Studio 2015)

Core PowerShell (1)

• built on .NET Core Runtime

‐ lean, composable, open source, cross platform

• reduced disk footprint: 55MB total

‐ CoreCLR (45MB) + PowerShell (8MB) + Modules (2MB)

• full language, subset of features, most cmdlets

• PowerShell remoting (server-side only)

‐ backwards compatible with existing PowerShell remoting clients to PS 2.0

‐ file transfer over PowerShell remoting

‐ remote script authoring & debugging in ISE

• cmdlets for managing Nano Server components

Core PowerShell (2)

Remote Server Management Tools

• web interface containing management tools (like Azure portal)

• includes „replacements” for local tools like:

‐ Task Manager, Registry Editor

‐ Event Viewer, Device Manager

‐ SConfig

----------------------------

‐ Control Panel, File Explorer

‐ Performance Monitor

‐ Disk Management

‐ Users/Groups Manager

• management of Server Core/Server with GUI versions also

http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Nano-Server-Team/Remote-Server-Management-Tools-on-Nano-Server

Emergency Management Console

• new in Technical Preview 3

• provides local access to basic configuration and network settings:

‐ Computer name

‐ Domain or workgroup name

‐ ipconfig /all information for each networkadapter

• next release will include ability to modifynetwork settings

Improvements – servicing

* analysis based on all patches released in 2014

Improvements – security

Improvements – resources

Improvements – installation

Building the demo…

• VMware Workstation 11 on Windows Server 2012 R2

‐ will be replaced with WS 2016 and Hyper-V

‐ VM version configured as „Hyper-V (unsupported)”

‐ network adapters configured as vmxnet3 (not e1000e!)

Nano Server image with OEMDrivers!

• components:

‐ 1 x AD, DNS, DHCP, management server

‐ 4-node Hyper-V cluster (Nano Server)

using Storage Spaces Direct (with SATA drives!)

2 networks (domain, storage)

DEMO

What’s next?

• install Nano Server, applications and tools

‐ deployment guide – https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt126167.aspx

• take a look at

‐ http://channel9.msdn.com/Tags/nano-server

‐ http://www.mattmcspirit.com/big-training-on-little-servers-its-nano-server-on-mva/

‐ http://blogs.technet.com/b/ausoemteam/archive/2015/06/09/ignite-sessions-for-oem-and-system-builder-partners-nano-server.aspx

• share your thoughts (on Nano Server )

‐ http://windowsserver.uservoice.com/forums/295068-nano-server

‐ http://windowsserver.uservoice.com/forums/295071-remote-management-tools

Conclusion

• not everything works (and it probably never will) on top of Nano Server, but it has its purpose!

• no reason not to use it in supported scenarios… or maybe there are some?

• this session is based on Technical Preview 2 & 3 content, so stay tuned for changes until the RTM!

THANK YOU!

http://blog.kaniski.eu/

[email protected]

Session content

• http://1drv.ms/1QsYodM