Control Panel contains utilities for working with a system’s setup and configuration. From Start, you access Control Panel by tapping or clicking the Control Panel tile. From the desktop, you can display Control Panel by accessing the Charms bar, tapping or clicking Settings, and then tapping or clicking Control Panel. When you are working with File Explorer, you can display Control Panel by tapping or clicking the leftmost option button (down arrow) in the address list and then tapping or clicking Control Panel.

Many Control Panel tools and related Properties dialog boxes can be opened directly. On Start, just enter the name of the Control Panel Item with the .cpl extension and then press Enter. In the WindowsSystem32 folder, these items are listed with the Control Panel Item type. For example, type inetcpl.cpl to open the Internet Properties dialog box.

Most administration tools are found on the Tools menu in Server Manager. As Table 4-1 shows, dozens of administration tools are available for working with Windows Server 2012 R2. The tool you use depends on what you want to do and, sometimes, on how much control you want over the aspect of the operating system you are seeking to manage. Several tools, including Server Manager and Computer Management, are discussed later in this section. Other tools are discussed later in this chapter or in other appropriate chapters of this book.

Usually, you can use graphical administrative tools to manage the system that you’re currently logged on to and systems throughout your Windows domains. For example, in the Event Viewer console, you specify the computer you want to work with by pressing and holding or right-clicking the Event Viewer node in the left panel and then choosing Connect To Another Computer. This opens the Select Computer dialog box shown in Figure 4-1. You can then choose Another Computer and type the name of the computer, as shown.

Figure 4-1. Connecting to another computer enables you to manage remote resources.

Which administrative tools are available on a server depends on its configuration. When you add roles, role services, and features, the related management tools are installed on the server. One way remote management is made possible is by installing the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT). On servers, you install management tools as features of the operating system by using the Add Roles And Features Wizard.

For remote management from your desktop computer, you can get the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8.1 as a download from the Microsoft Download Center (http://download.microsoft.com). Because different versions are available for x64 and x86 systems, be sure to download the version that is appropriate for your desktop computer.

You can install management tools on a server by following these steps:

Many command-line utilities are included with Windows Server 2012 R2. Most of the utilities you work with as an administrator rely on TCP/IP. Because of this, you should configure TCP/IP networking before you experiment with these tools.

new-item –path alias:AliasName –value:FullCommandPath

new-item –path alias:sm –value:c:windowssystem32compmgmtlauncher.exe

Normally, Windows Server 2012 R2 starts Server Manager whenever you log on, and you can access Server Manager on the desktop. If you don’t want the console to start each time you log on, tap or click Manage and then tap or click Server Manager Properties. In the Server Manager Properties dialog box, select Do Not Start Server Manager Automatically At Logon and then tap or click OK.

As Figure 4-2 shows, the default view of Server Manager is the Dashboard, which has quick links for adding roles and features to local and remote servers, adding servers to manage, and creating server groups. You find similar options on the Manage menu:

Figure 4-2. Use the Dashboard for general administration.

In the left pane of Server Manager (also sometimes referred to as the console tree), you find options for accessing the Dashboard, the local server, all servers added for management, and server groups. When you need to connect to a server by using alternate credentials, press and hold or right-click a server in the All Servers node and then select Manage As. In the Windows Security dialog box, enter your alternate credentials and then tap or click OK. Credentials you provide are cleared when you exit Server Manager. To save the credentials and use them each time you log on, select Remember My Credentials in the Windows Security dialog box. You need to repeat this procedure any time you change the password associated with the alternate credentials.

When you are logged on to a server and select Local Server, you can manage the basic configuration of the server. The Properties panel is where you perform much of your initial server configuration. Properties available for quick management include the following:

Other information about the local server is organized into several main headings, each with an associated management panel. The available management panels include:

When you press and hold or right-click a server name in the Servers pane of a server group or in the All Servers view, you open an extended list of management options. These options perform the corresponding task or open the corresponding management tool with the selected server in focus. For example, if you right-click CorpServer53 and then select Computer Management, Computer Management connects to CorpServer53 and then opens.

Before you can use Server Manager to manage remote servers, you must add the servers for management. Any server running Windows Server 2012 R2 can be easily added. Servers running Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 or later and Windows Server 2008 Release 2 with Service Pack 1 or later can be added as well, as long as each server has .NET Framework 4.0 and Windows Management Framework 3.0 and has been enabled for remote management.

You can add a single server to Server Manager by completing these steps:

Rather than add servers one by one, you can use the Import process to add multiple servers. To do this, follow these steps:

Server Manager tracks the services, events, and more for each added server. Servers are listed in the All Servers view by server name, IP address, and manageability status. Server Manager always resolves IP addresses to host names. If a server is listed as Not Accessible, you typically need to log on locally and take corrective action as necessary. For example, you might need to use a console logon to enable remote management.

When you add servers to Server Manager, the servers are added to the appropriate server groups automatically, based on the installed roles and features. Automatically created server groups make it easier to manage the various roles and features that are installed on your servers. If you select the AD DS group, as an example, you see a list of the domain controllers you added for management in addition to any critical or warning events for these servers and the status of services the role depends on.

You can also create your own server groups to group servers by department, geographic location, or other characteristic. When you create groups, the servers you want to work with don’t have to be added to Server Manager already. You can add servers to a group at any time, and those servers are added automatically for management.

You can create a server group by completing these steps:

You can use Server Manager and other Microsoft Management Consoles (MMCs) to perform some management tasks on remote computers as long as the computers are in the same domain or you are working in a workgroup and have added the remote computers in a domain as trusted hosts. You can connect to servers running Full Server, Minimal Server Interface, and Server Core installations. On the computer you want to use for managing remote computers, you should be running either Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows 8.1, and you need to install Remote Server Administration Tools.

With Windows Server 2012 R2, remote management is enabled by default for applications and commands that use the following:

You’ll find that these types of applications and commands are enabled for remote management because related inbound rules and exceptions for Windows Firewall are enabled. For remote management, Windows Firewall has specific exceptions for Windows Management Instrumentation, Windows Remote Management, and Windows Remote Management (Compatibility). In Windows Firewall With Advanced Security, there are inbound rules that correspond to the standard firewall-allowed applications. For WMI, the inbound rules are Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI-In), Windows Management Instrumentation (DCOM-In), and Windows Management Instrumentation (ASync-In). For WinRM, the matching inbound rule is Windows Remote Management (HTTP-In). For WinRM compatibility, the matching inbound rule is Windows Remote Management - Compatibility Mode (HTTP-In).

You manage these exceptions or rules in either the standard Windows Firewall or Windows Firewall With Advanced Security, not both. Generally, if you want to allow remote management using Server Manager, MMCs, and Windows PowerShell, you should permit WMI, WinRM, and WinRM compatibility exceptions in Windows Firewall.

When you are working with Server Manager, you can select Local Server in the console tree to view the status of the remote management property. If you don’t want to allow remote management of the local server, tap or click the related link. Next, in the Configure Remote Management dialog box, clear Enable Remote Management Of This Server From Other Computers and then tap or click OK.

When you clear the Enable Remote Management Of This Server From Other Computers check box and then tap or click OK, Server Manager performs several background tasks that disable Windows Remote Management (WinRM) and Windows PowerShell remote access for management on the local server. One of these tasks is to turn off the related exception that allows applications to communicate through Windows Firewall, using Windows Remote Management. The exceptions for Windows Management Instrumentation and Windows Remote Management (Compatibility) aren’t affected.

You must be a member of the Administrators group on computers you want to manage by using Server Manager. For remote connections in a workgroup-to-workgroup or workgroup-to-domain configuration, you should be logged on using the built-in Administrator account or configure the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy registry key to allow remote access from your computer. To set this key, enter the following command at an elevated, administrator command prompt:

reg add HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystem /v
LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Another way to enable remote management is to type Configure-SMRemoting.exe –Enable at an elevated, administrator prompt.

Although these techniques enable basic remote management of computers, you also need to enable rules for these specific management areas:

Only Remote Service Management is enabled by default. Remote management is enabled by default on Server Core. You can configure remote management on a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2012 R2 by using sconfig. Start the Server Configuration utility by typing sconfig.

The system tools are designed to manage systems and view system information. The available system tools are these:

The Computer Management storage tools display drive information and provide access to drive-management tools. The available storage tools include the following:

The Computer Management Services And Applications tools help you manage services and applications installed on the server. Any application or service-related task that can be performed in a separate tool can be performed through the Services And Applications node as well. For example, if DHCP is installed on the currently selected system, you can manage DHCP through the Services and Applications node. You could also use the DHCP tool, which can be accessed on the Tools menu in Server Manager. Either way, you can perform the same tasks.