Managing Network Connections in Windows server 2008 Core

This blog is going to discuss about configuring network setting on Windows server 2008 core and Windows server 2008 R2 core edition.  Once you install Server core edition, first thing we need is to bring the server online. Here is the small command line reference to manage and configure network settings on Windows server 2008 Core.

1. First, we need to check the network interface installed on the server.

netsh interface ipv4 show interface

The above command will also, list the name and id of the interface you want to configure. This will be required.

2. To configure static ip address

netsh interface ipv4 set address name=”” source=static address= mask= gateway=

Or it can be explained as:

Example:

netsh interface ipv4 set address name=”Local Area Connection” source=static address=192.168.1.125 mask=255.255.255.0 
gateway=192.168.1.1

The values in Italics are the one we need to enter.

3. To obtain ip address dynamically from DHCP

netsh interface ipv4 set address name=”Network Connection name” source=dhcp

4. To add DNS server ip address

netsh interface ipv4 add dnsserver name="" address= index=1

Example:

netsh interface ipv4 add dnsserver name=”Local Area Connection” address=192.168.1.50

Note: To add additional DNS Server details, keep incrementing the index value

5. To rename the server when its in workgroup:

netdom renamecomputer CurrentComputerName /newname:NewComputerName

Example:

netdom renamecomputer OldServer /newname:NewServer

In the above command we changed the name from 'OldServer' to 'NewServer'

6. To rename the server when its in domain:

net

dom renamecomputer %computername% /NewName:NewComputerName /userd:<domain\username> /passwordd:*

7. To join to a domain:

netdom join %computername% /domain:DomainName /userd:Administrator /passwordd:*

8. Confirm that the domain has changed:

set

9. To configure your server to use a proxy server:

netsh Winhttp set proxy ProxyServerName:PortNumber

10. Configure your server to bypass the proxy for a list of sites:

netsh Winhttp set proxy ProxyServerName:PortNumber bypass-list=""

11. to check the local routing table:

route

12. enable remote adminsitration of the firewall so that it can be managed remotely:

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group=”Windows Firewall Remote Management” 
new enable=yes