2012R2 Core and Hyper-V on Intel Nuc

As I am currently between jobs (read: Unemployed), I thought I would build my own mini lab to help practice the timeless art of being a Windows System Administrator.  To that end I have purchased a Intel i5 NUC (D54250WYKH). I chose this as a lab computer because my current place doesn’t have much space, and while it may not have incredible performance, it’s reasonably powerful enough to run a number of virtualised servers, provided you have enough ram and an SSD.

This post will cover installing Windows Server 2012 R2 Core with Hyper-V on an Intel NUC in a workgroup environment (non domain joined).

Initial Notes

1. According to Intel the D54250WYKH does not come with AMT, so unfortunately you’ll have to connect a keyboard and monitor at least initially as Windows Server 2012 R2 does not come with the nic drivers ootb.
2. The steps below rely on using both the command prompt and PowerShell. To enter PowerShell from the command prompt in Windows Server Core, just type: powershell. To exit PowerShell back to the command prompt, just type: exit.
3. The client I am using is a Windows 8.1 Pro computer

Ingredients

You’ll need the following:

1. An Intel NUC (D54250WYKH), and the following drivers:
   1. Ethernet Adapter (you will need to modify the driver to allow installation on Windows Server 2012 R2, follow these steps)
   2. Chipset Device Software (you will need to extract the driver from the installer, you can do that by running SetupChipset.exe with the -extract argument)
   3. Management Engine Driver
2. Windows 2012 R2 on a bootable USB
3. Hyper-V Remote Management Configuration Utility (HVRemote)

Steps

1. Install Windows Server 2012 R2 Core.
2. Give the server a name, in PowerShell run:
   Rename-Computer -NewName server-name -Restart

3. Because we are installing modified drivers, we need to disable Windows restrictions around unsigned drivers, run the following commands in command prompt:
   bcdedit /set LOADOPTIONS DISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS
   bcdedit /set TESTSIGNING ON
   bcdedit /set nointegritychecks ON
   You will now need to reboot the server

4. Install the drivers using pnputil in command prompt:
   pnputil.exe -i -a D:intel-driversnicRarSFX0PRO1000Winx64NDIS64e1d64x64.inf
   You will be prompted with Windows can’t verify the publisher of this driver software, just Install this driver software anyway
   pnputil.exe -i -a D:intel-driverssmbusChipset_SMBus.inf
   pnputil.exe -i -a D:intel-driversintelMEDriversMEIheci.inf

5. Now you should have network connectivity, lets enable remote desktop connections, file sharing and ping with powershell:
   Set-ItemProperty -Path ‘HKLM:SystemCurrentControlSetControlTerminal Server’ -Name “fDenyTSConnections” -Value 0
   Enable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup “Remote Desktop”
   Enable-NetFirewallRule –DisplayGroup “File and Printer Sharing”

6. Install Hyper-V and allow remote management (this is where you will need the hvremote script):
   Install HyperV: Install-WindowsFeature –Name Hyper-V -IncludeManagementTools –Restart
   cscript hvremote.wsf /mode:server /add:administrator
   cscript hvremote.wsf /mode:server /firewallhypervmgmt:enable
   cscript hvremote.wsf /mode:client /anondcom:grant

7. If you are remoting to this server you will need to whitelist clients using the following command:
   winrm set winrm/config/client @{TrustedHosts=”client-name”}

8. On your Hyper-V client
   1. Make sure you have PowerShell and the HyperV Management Tools installed
   2. Open Component Services
   3. Expand Component Services, then Computers
   4. Right click on My Computer and click on Properties.
   5. In the COM Security tab, click Edit Limits under Access Permissions.
   6. Enable Remote Access for Anonymous Logon
   7. In PowerShell run:
      Set-Item WSMAN:LocalhostClientTrustedHosts -Value * -Force # *
   8. In command prompt (replace the server-name and password):
      cmdkey /add:server-name /user:ADMINISTRATOR /pass:password

Closing Notes

You should now be able to:

1. Connect your client HyperV manager to the server you created
2. Enter remote PowerShell sessions via Enter-PSSession -ComputerName
3. Ping and File Share with your server

There will be some devices that aren’t installed, these are 2 Audio Devices and the Infrared sensor on the front of the Nuc, I have not bothered to install those drivers.

If you have any comments, please leave them! I would appreciate the feedback, and I would also love to know if I have missed anything or whether I should have done something differently.