Roles and features
Roles and features allow you to add functionality to your server. A role is something you want to use your server to do. For instance, you may install the Active Directory Domain Services role so that you can make this server a domain controller. A feature is typically used to support a role. In this case, you would also install the management tools for Active Directory Domain Services (you’ll be prompted to install this feature when you select the role). The management tools are a feature.
FIGURE 1-2: The File and Storage Services management window.
Diagnostics
Server Manager gives you quick and easy access to many of the diagnostic tools that you may need over your career. To access them, simply click Tools in the top menu, shown in Figure 1-3.
Here are a few of the items in the Tools menu that have helped me over the years:
Event Viewer: When I’m troubleshooting an issue, my first stop is almost always the Event Viewer. I start with the System, Application, and Security logs, and then I get into role- and/or component-specific logs if needed.
Performance Monitor: Performance Monitor is a very useful tool when you need to be able to measure very specific metrics in relation to performance like central processing unit (CPU) idle time, interrupt time, user time, and so on. It provides hundreds of counters out of the box and can be set to start when a certain criteria or threshold is met. This tool is most useful for troubleshooting issues related to performance like slowness and/or freezing.
Resource Monitor: If you just want a quick look at how your system is doing, Resource Monitor is great for that. It has a simple summary screen that gives you information on your CPU, disk, network, and memory usage. This tool focuses on resource utilization and could help troubleshoot issues like low disk space, an overutilized disk, or insufficient network bandwidth.FIGURE 1-3: The Tools menu in Server Manager.
System Configuration: I use System Configuration when I’m having boot issues. The Boot tab gives me several helpful options, including whether I want to use safe boot, if I want to create a boot log, and if I want to use a very basic video setting.
System Information: When you need to know what your hardware specs are or what some of your settings are, this should be your go-to utility. It can even tell you what version of BIOS you’re running and what mode it’s running in.
Windows Memory Diagnostic: This is the same memory diagnostic that I cover in Book 1, Chapter 2. You’re simply launching it from the menu rather than typing in the name of the program.
Windows PowerShell: PowerShell is always handy. You can query settings and export to a text file if need be.
Configuration tasks
The majority of your configuration tasks will be done in the Local Server section in Server Manager. When you click Local Server, you’re presented with a Properties page that displays current server information, shown in Figure 1-4. The great thing about this page is that every setting is a clickable hyperlink. If you click it, you’re taken to where you can configure that individual setting. Pretty cool, right? When you have a freshly built server, it simplifies the configuration process because you can change the hostname and IP address from here, as well as update the server, add it to a domain, even activate the operating system.
FIGURE 1-4: The Server Manager’s Local Server properties screen.
Configure and Manage Storage
I mention earlier that, by default, all Windows Server 2022 systems have the File and Storage Services role installed. This gives you an easy-to-access menu to work with your server’s storage. When you click File and Storage Services in the navigation menu, you’re presented with several options; select Disks. This is where you can bring new disks online, initialize the disks, and create volumes, shown in Figure 1-5.
FIGURE 1-5: Working with disks in the File and Storage Services area of Server Manager.
Understanding Server Roles
As I mention earlier, a role is something that we want the server to do. By installing roles, you make servers useful. Maybe you’re building out an Active Directory infrastructure, or maybe you’re creating a robust virtualization platform. Regardless of what you’re trying to accomplish, you’ll most likely start by installing a role.
Let’s take a look at the roles that are part of Windows Server 2022.
Active Directory Certificate Services
Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) is a role that allows you to create a public key infrastructure (PKI) in your organization that will allow you to issue your own internal certificates. This may include certificates for your domain controllers so they can support Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) over Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), or certificates for internal web servers, or even code-signing certificates for scripts that will run on your organization’s systems. You can install certificate authorities (CAs) and provide additional services like Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP), which provides lookups for certificate revocation information, and Network Device Enrollment Service (NDES), which allows network devices to enroll for certificates without domain credentials.
AD CS has a lot of moving pieces. If you’re interested in learning more about AD CS, including how to install and configure it, check out Book 5, Chapter 6.
Active Directory Domain Services
Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) gives you the ability to store information about users and other network objects in a directory service. You can organize these objects in a hierarchical structure with forests, domains, and organizational units (OUs).
Active Directory contains a global catalog, which contains information about every single object in the directory, and is required for successful logon to the domain. With Active Directory, it’s simple to search for and locate specific objects if you know a little information about them.
If you’re interested in AD DS, you can learn more about installing and configuring AD DS in Book 2, Chapter