Nano server is Microsoft’s way to provide a very small footprint of an OS that gives the user everything they need to run certain services. Although a lot of Nano server will be deemed unnecessary after containers gain more steam, Nano Server is still a critical part of the 70-740 exam.
What services are and are not available in Nano Server?
Supported
- DNS Server
- IIS Web Server
- Hyper-V
- Desired State Configuration
- Network Performance Diagnostics Server
- System Center Virtual Machine
- Shielded Virtual Machines
- Containers
Not Supported - Nano Server cannot be configured to use a proxy server to access the internet.
- NIC Teaming (specifically, load balancing and failover, or LBFO) is not supported. Switch-embedded teaming (SET) is supported instead.
- System Center Configuration Manager and System Center Data Protection Manager are not supported.
- Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) cmdlets and BPA integration with Server Manager are not supported.
- Nano Server does not support virtual host bus adapters (HBAs).Activation
Nano Server does not need to be activated with a product key. When functioning as a Hyper-V host, Nano Server does not support Automatic Virtual Machine Activation (AVMA). Virtual machines running on a Nano Server host can be activated using Key Management Service (KMS) with a generic volume license key or using Active Directory-based activation.
No Migration or Upgrade path since Nano Server is new to 2016.
Creating a new Nano server to connect to a DC:
new-nanoserverimage -deploymenttype guest -edition standard –
mediapath d:\ -targetpath
c:\temp\nanoserver2.vhdx -computername nano2 -domainblobpath
c:\temp\nano3blob.txt
(djoin command: djoin /provision /domain domainname /machine computername
/savefile filename.txt)
New-NanoServerImage switches for services:
- Compute Installs the Hyper-V role on the image specified by the TargetPath
variable. - Clustering Installs the Failover Clustering role on the image specified by the
TargetPath variable. - OEMDrivers Adds the basic drivers included in Server Core to the image specified by the TargetPath variable.
- Storage Installs the File Server role and other storage components on the image specified by the TargetPath variable.
- Defender Installs Windows Defender on the image specified by the TargetPath variable.
- Containers Installs host support for Windows Containers on the image specified by the TargetPath variable.Add the Packages variable install a package in the packages directory.
Troubleshooting Nano Server
You can troubleshoot Nano Server using Serial with EMS (Emergency Management Services).
Debug Nano Server through Serial, IP, USB, Firewall IEEE 1394.
Recovery console is available through a text console physically or through a virtual machine.