Except for a few control panel applets (and dialog boxes), Windows Server 2016 Build 1709 runs exclusively in Server Core text mode. This means that familiar graphical user tools are not available whether you sign-in right in front of the machine or connect from a distance over Remote Desktop.
Basic configuration such as domain/workgroup membership, computer name and network settings, etc. can be realized using the provided VB Script in the form of %windir%\system32\sconfig.cmd. Nevertheless, you can continue to use common GUI MMC legacy tools such as Event Viewer or services.msc to remotely connect to a Windows Server 2016 Build 1709 box.
Since Windows Server 2012 R2, PowerShell remoting is activated out-of-the-box, a feature which is dependent on Windows Remote Management (WinRM). This is what Server Manager relies on primarily to remotely manage Windows Server 2012 and higher versions. Server Manager remote administration of previous Windows Server versions continue to work over Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM)*.
Consequently, setting “4) Configure Remote Management” to “1) Enable Remote Management” via sconfig.cmd is only part of the story (WinRM portion). It may be necessary to follow-up with a one-time configuration with the help of netsh commands as follows:
netsh firewall set service type=remoteadmin mode=enable
netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group=”Remote Administration” new enable=yes
This step effectively enables remote administration for DCOM based server management (MMC/legacy) utilities.
Apparently, there is no PowerShell cmdlet for this administrative task; instead, use Configure-SMremoting.exe -Enable to carry out this modification for remote management.
* unless Windows Management Framework 3.0, 4.0 or WMF 5.1 is applied
REFERENCES
– Windows Server, version 1709 available for download!
– Network Shell (Netsh)
– Configure remote Management in Server Manager