Developing Management Applications for Server Core

  • Article

Although Server Core is not an application platform, it does support the development of management tools, utilities, and agents.

Management tools written for Server Core can include any or all of the following functions:

  • Local command execution
  • Access to a terminal server
  • Web Services for Management (WS-Management) and Windows Remote Shell (WinRS) for remote command execution
  • Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
  • Task Scheduler for scheduling jobs and tasks
  • Event logging and event forwarding
  • RPC and DCOM for remote MMC support
  • SNMP

Server Core includes a management script, \Windows\System32\Scregedit.wsf, which can be used as a base for further script development.

Management tools should be designed to run without user interaction. This allows the tools to be run remotely or automatically by scripts. Prompts, such as "Press any key to continue", must be avoided when designing management tools, especially those used with WS-Management and Windows Remote Shell.

Server Core supports a limited set of functions. Before using a function, check that the function name appears in Server Core Functions by Name or Server Core Functions by DLL. Managed code is not supported. Management tools should be tested on Server Core before deployment.

See Also

Migrating Management Agents to Server Core

Determining Whether Server Core Is Running

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Build date: 3/5/2009