#Setup a New Microsoft Windows Server 2019 Core Installation to Accept Incoming PowerShell Remoting connections in a Workgroup
#You will not need to do this if you perform your PowerShell tasks directly from your server. You need this if you have virtual machines or headless devices… or just plain lazy. Also not everyone has a domain controller and sometimes even a Hyper-V host computer will remain in a workgroup since it might host the domain controller and it is off topic… I work in PowerShell ISE for the most part and connect to where ever I need to.
#Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to begin configuring Microsoft Windows Server 2019 Core
#Press Enter to select OK to change password
#Set password for .\administrator
#This initial password is for the local administrator account .\administrator is also a way to access this account. It is not part of active directory and therefore doesn’t fall under the Active Directory password policy. Do not make it something easy to guess. The standard policy require 8 characters minimum with upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols. I suggest you follow that as this password will be passed to your initial domain administrator account, where it will fail to work, so it is just best to avoid issues.
#This is cmd.exe start screen for Microsoft Windows Server 2019 Core. Type sconfig to bring up the cheater menu.
#Type powershell and press enter to start a PowerShell session directly in Microsoft Windows Server 2019 Core cmd.exe prompt.
#Type Enable-PSRemoting -Force to enable PowerShell Remoting. You can use -SkipNetworkProfileCheck to allow management requests on a network Microsoft Windows has categorized as Public such as Hotspots and new unrecognized networks.
Enable-PSRemoting -Force
#This will show you what computers you “trust” to connect remotely via PowerShell Remote, no remote hosts are allowed by default.
Get-Item WSMan:\localhost\Client\TrustedHosts
#This adds the computers you “trust” to make PowerShell Remote connections to. It doesn’t need a value if you don’t connect to other computers from the server and just have a management PC you use to connect remotely to the server. This is not to allow client PCs to use Enter-PSSession to connect to the server and most likely you need to run this command on a Windows 10 computer instead.
#You can use either the server IP address or computer name if you need to perform this step. I choose to use both so I avoid any issues when connecting. You need to type y and press Enter to confirm. A value of ‘*’ allows the server to connect to any remote host.
#Now you can use Enter-PSSession to connect to your Microsoft Windows Sever 2019 Core install to configure it using PowerShell or RSAT tools.
#At this point you should not have Active Directory installed so you would use this command to connect. I use PowerShell ISE to open my command list and run them remotely.
#If you are running you Microsoft Windows 2019 Core on Hyper-V then you can connect this way above and to perform these steps you could connect this way first rather than using the server console. Be aware that connecting -VMName Vs. -ComputerName can cause some commands to behave differently or not at all.
#Manage Active Directory Users And Computers Using Windows 10 Creators Edition Using PowerShell Direct Without CredSSP Or “Second-Hop” Issues
#If you connect to a virtual machine using PowerShell Remote then you need to enable CredSSP to avoid “Second-Hop“ or “Multi-Hop” Issues when managing Active Directory objects. CredSSP is always needed when connecting to a physical machine since PowerShell Direct only works when connecting to a virtual machine directly from the host computer.
#PowerShell Direct doesn’t have the “Second-Hop” issue when managing Windows Server 2016 from a Windows 10 Creators Edition virtual machine running Hyper-V. I have enabled the Hyper-V role on Windows 10 Professional and my physical machine is not joined to a domain. The Windows 10 virtual machine will need to be joined to the Active Directory domain you intend to manage without making further “workgroup” related configuration changes.
Enter-PSSession -VMName Win10 -Credential DOMAIN\administrator #Connect to a Windows 10 Creators Edition virtual machine using PowerShell Direct
New-ADOrganizationalUnit -Server KERMIT -Name Test -Description 'Administrator Rights' -DisplayName Test -PassThru -Verbose #Create a new OU called Test
Get-ADOrganizationalUnit -Server KERMIT -Identity 'OU=Test,DC=domain,DC=muppetlabs,DC=com'|Set-ADOrganizationalUnit –ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion $false #Unprotect OU=Test for intentional deletion
Get-ADOrganizationalUnit -Server KERMIT -Identity 'OU=Test,DC=domain,DC=muppetlabs,DC=com'|Remove-ADOrganizationalUnit -Verbose #Delete OU=Test
#The Longer Story…
#Create a new Organizational Unit in PowerShell Remote using just the computer name
#Without CredSSP enabled this command fails in PowerShell Remote
Enter-PSSession -ComputerName KERMIT -Credential DOMAIN\administrator #Connect to a Windows 10 Creators Edition virtual machine using PowerShell Remote
New-ADOrganizationalUnit -Server KERMIT -Name Test -Description 'Administrator Rights' -DisplayName Test -PassThru -Verbose #Create a new OU called Test
#Create a new Organizational Unit in PowerShell Direct using just the computer name
#Just using OU=Test as an example to show how this command doesn’t fail in PowerShell Direct like it did in the previous example.
Enter-PSSession -VMName Win10 -Credential DOMAIN\administrator #Connect to a Windows 10 Creators Edition virtual machine using PowerShell Direct
New-ADOrganizationalUnit -Server KERMIT -Name Test -Description 'Administrator Rights' -DisplayName Test -PassThru -Verbose #Create a new OU called Test
#Set –ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion to $false on OU=Test so it can be deleted
#This needs to be done to allow the OU to be deleted.
#Use the next command with care if you changed the temporary folder from c:\RSAT to something else
Remove-Item -Path $MSUPath -Recurse -Verbose
#The Longer Story…
#This was a real pain in the ass. .MSU files are not ideal to deal with in PowerShell and far different from .MSI installs. It is possible that Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 can’t be installed remotely using wusa.exe. There are security issues with wusa.exe and Windows 10 for sure. The wusa.exe /extract option doesn’t work in Windows 10 either, due to the same security concerns.
#Set temporary path for installation
#Set this to whatever path you want. I prefer to use a empty new folder but any temporary folder will do. Watch out for the Remove-Item command later on though if you use an existing folder for your download location.
$MSUPath = 'c:\RSAT' #Set temp path
$MSUPath = ‘c:\RSAT’
#Create temporary folder
#Create the folder c:\RSAT or as set in the previous command. Skip this step if you plan to use an existing folder.
#Download 64-bit version of Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10
#I am dealing with the 64-bit version only. I don’t know why you would even have a 32-bit version of Windows 10 Creators Edition but I’m guessing there are people doing it. You need to figure out the link yourself or download the RSAT package some other way. This command only works in PowerShell and PowerShell Remote but not in PowerShell Direct since it uses BITS.
#wusa.exe /extract does not work in Windows 10 so expand.exe must be used. These are the -ArgumentList options I had to set using a variable due to the really appalling quote and double quote bullshit that needs to happen to get some of these commands to work. I do not recommend trying to use the wusa.exe method of installing Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 if even just to be stubborn as wusa.exe is just not designed to work properly when installing .MSU files via PowerShell in Windows 10.
$ExpandOpt='-f:* "'+$MSUPath+'\WindowsTH-RSAT_WS2016-x64.msu" '+$MSUPath #Create argument list for expand.exe
#Set -ArgumentListfor Start-Process to launch the dism.exe command. Using dism.exe is just another crutch to get Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 installed remotely using PowerShell Remote. There is not an equivalent native PowerShell command to replace dism.exe yet.
#Dism.exe is what actually works and is the method I recommend but it is slow. Takes about 5 minutes to install with my setup. You will have to wait. I have had varying degrees of success using pkgmgr.exe to install also but also I get a message in certain instances that pkgmgr.exe is depreciated so I have stayed away from using that method to install RSAT.
Start-Process -FilePath dism.exe -ArgumentList $DismOpt -PassThru -Wait #Run dism with argument options. Takes a few minutes to install.
#Remove c:\RSAT once install of WindowsTH-RSAT_WS2016-x64.msu has completed
#If you changed $MSUPath then pay attention here. You don’t want to delete a folder with other data in it. The RSAT install files are no longer needed though and can be safely deleted.
Remove-Item -Path $MSUPath -Recurse -Verbose
Remove-Item -Path $MSUPath -Recurse -Verbose
#You do not have to do anything else but here is the command to verify what features are currently installed.
#All Remote Server Administration Tool features are installed and enabled by default. Also you no longer need dism.exe to manage the RSAT package features. Instead Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature and Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature should be used at this point. The command below should get you started if you need to tweak available installed features. The list is too long to screen shot all at once so a snip is not included.
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName *RSAT*|ft -a
#The Remote Server Administration Tools icons are there under Control Panel and then Administrative Tools.
#The image below shows what the default installation should look like in Windows 10.
#Yeah so PowerShell Direct doesn’t do everything and neither does PowerShell Remote. Simply put, PowerShell Direct is a connection to a remote computer initiated with Enter-PSSession -VMName.PowerShell Remote uses WinRM to communicate and is initiated using Enter-PSSession -ComputerName. It is important to know the difference because each way of connecting doesn’t function exactly the same way. You will get errors in PowerShell Direct using commands that require the Background Intelligent Transfer Service, or BITS, for one. BITS only works in PowerShell Remote.
#Sometimes using Remote Desktop isn’t even enough to do everything but you can do so much more running commands directly. Simple things like using Out-GridView for formatting complex command output needs to be run directly from the machine you are running PowerShell ISE on via a Remote Desktop session and PowerShell ISE. PowerShell Direct and PowerShell Remote sessions are not allowed to call on Out-Gridview at all.
#Note: These commands work in Windows 10 and in PowerShell Remote and PowerShell Direct.
These are the default Remote Desktop settings (Disabled)
#Enable the Remote Desktop Services (also known as RDP and Terminal Services)
#For maximum security only run this and the firewall command like I have shown above under #Just the code:.
Get-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup "Remote Desktop"|Set-NetFirewallRule -enabled true -PassThru|select Name,DisplayName,Enabled,Profile|ft -a
#Add users to the Remote Desktop Users group
#The default administrator account is automatically added so this is only needed if you have additional accounts to add. You can also add Active Directory domain user accounts and groups using domain\remoteuser credentials after the –Member switch.
Add-LocalGroupMember -Group 'Remote Desktop Users' -Member remoteuser -Verbose #username or domain\username will work
#Disable NLM authentication
#Allow older versions of Windows to connect with weaker authentication by issuing the following command. I would not disable NLM authentication unless you absolutely need to.
#Automatically Determine Unallocated Space And Expand Drive C In PowerShell After Expanding Drive In Hyper-V
#Code to automatically determine unallocated space and expand boot drive C.
#NOTE: I am not responsible if you muck everything up. I am working in a lab under optimal conditions. Always backup your critical data before messing with your hard drives and virtual machines. BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP!!! if you are doing this in a production environment. At least create a checkpoint in Hyper-V so you can go back if needed. I am not responsible for random code snippets I wrote or posted here. You choose what to run on your computers and I am not part of that decision or any undesired consequences. Ok then, moving on…
#Change $Drive2Expand = 'C' to whatever other drive you wish to expand but be aware that I am running Get-Disk with the IsBoot parameter equal to Yes. If you change $Drive2Expand to a non-boot drive these commands with fail.
#Just the code:
$Drive2Expand='C' #Change to the NTFS drive letter you want to expand
$VirtDiskNum=(Get-Disk -FriendlyName 'Msft Virtual Disk'|? IsBoot -eq Yes) #Get disk number of default hyper-v boot drive but change if expanding a secondary or non-boot drive
$PartitionNum=(Get-Partition -DriveLetter $Drive2Expand) #Get the partition number for drive c
$PartSize=(Get-PartitionSupportedSize -DiskNumber $VirtDiskNum.number -PartitionNumber $PartitionNum.PartitionNumber) #Get partition info for drive c
Resize-Partition -PartitionNumber $PartitionNum.PartitionNumber -Size $PartSize.SizeMax -DiskNumber $VirtDiskNum.number #Expand drive C using all unallocated space available
#The longer story…
#This used to be done with diskpart but PowerShell can get the job done without launching an application and is much more easily scripted.
#Run Get-Disk to get the disk number
#? is an alias to the where command. You can change IsBoot to any parameter or value listed with the Format-List command or fl in the code I type. I am basing this on working with virtual hard drives in Hyper-V but these command can be modified to address the same issues with physical drives.
Get-Disk|ft -a #If you have only one virtual disk installed then this command is fine.
Get-Disk -FriendlyName 'Msft Virtual Disk'|? IsBoot -eq Yes|fl #Get a list of the available parameters on an automatically created default boot drive
#Run Get-Partition on -DriveLetter C to get drive CÂ configuration information
#Note the PartitionNumber in the command output as that will be needed for the rest of the commands. Change -DriveLetter to whatever drive you wish to expand.
Get-Partition -DriveLetter C
#Another option is to get only the PartitionNumber value instead of the standard output.
#Use Resize-Partition to use the maximum size available to expand –PartitionNumber 4.
#I just copied and pasted the SizeMax number from above to the command below. I can’t screenshot this command at the moment since my drive is fully expanded but I update with screenshot soon.
Resize-Partition -PartitionNumber 4 -Size 2209358000 -DiskNumber 0 #Expand drive C using all unallocated space available
#SCREENSHOT PLACEHOLDER#
#Get free space on drive C
#The following commands are  to get the free space on drive C and display it in a friendly manor. This code is just for fun.  It is not really needed. Is just to show how to manipulate number results in PowerShell by converting the free space on drive C to a easily readable format. Many of the principles below can be applied to the results of the above commands.
$Free = (Get-PSDrive C) #Set drive information to variable
$Free = ($Free.free/1GB) #Get free space and divide by 1 gigabyte
$Free = ([math]::Round($Free,2)) #Round free space to two decimal places
Write-Host $Free'/GB Free on Drive C:\' #Display free space is an easily readable format
#Enable The Hyper-V Role in Windows 10 Professional, Enterprise Or Education Using PowerShell
#If this is the first time, and if if this will be the only time enabling the Hyper-V role in Windows 10, then this PowerShellcommand is all you need. If you need to switch the Hyper-V services on/off to avoid interference with other hypervisors and without removing the Hyper-V role then download Hyper-V Switch.
#Continue reading if you are having issues or are using a conflicting hypervisor or emulator and getting the dreaded Blue Screen of Death.
#Having Issues Enabling Hyper-V Role In Windows 10 Professional, Enterprise Or Education?
Check Requirements
Windows 10 Enterprise, Professional, or Education
64-bit Processor with Second Level Address Translation (SLAT)
CPU support for VM Monitor Mode Extension (VT-c on Intel CPU’s)
Minimum of 4 GB memory
NOTE: The Hyper-V role cannot be installed on Windows 10 Home.
OK so beyond those requirements lies a different issue many are facing with the advent of Android based virtual machines and emulators.
BlueStacks Android Emulator and Andy Android Emulator both crash on load every time, when the Hyper-V role is active. It looks like both used to work together before the Anniversary Edition update broke the support of Hyper-V and other emulators running at the same time. Here is the bulletin from BlueStacks regarding this issue.
I want my computer to run everything and work right all the time, so I tried to install x86Android Android Emulator in Hyper-V as an alternative. Once I finally was able to get an older version to work; I found the touchscreen support / controls were unsuitable for my needs. The controls were pure garbage. I may revisit that scenario and try for a more complete configuration but BlueStacks Android Emulator is just so much more user friendly on every level. For now, I switch back and forth between a Hyper-V and a BlueStacks setup.
Here is what I found to switch Hyper-V on and off. Previously, I was removing the Hyper-V role and adding it again when needed, but a caveat of doing that is the Hyper-V Virtual Switch Manager settings are lost in the process. The settings need to be recreated and reattached to each virtual machine, every time the role is reinstalled. You end up with a lot of orphaned network adapters.
!!!Hyper-V Switch To The Rescue!!!
Calm down. This utility doesn’t allow Hyper-V to run simultaneously with VMWare, VirtualBox or BlueStacks, but this great tool I found at least saves a reboot (it takes two reboots if you add and remove the Hyper-Vrole). Also, I don’t have to reconfigure Virtual Switch Manager every time I do it. This program automates a bcdedit process to disable Hyper-V without removing the Hyper-Vrole as part of the process.
Use Hyper-V Switch to toggle Hyper-V support on and off when using other emulators like VirtualBox or Andy Android Emulator to keep it fast and simple. I saved it to my Desktop and edited the executable file to Run as Administrator just to be sure it has the rights needed. You can also single right-click on the executable file or shortcut and then single left-click on Run as Administrator every time.
Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V#Type y and press Enter
Manually Enable Hyper-V From The GUI
Windows Key-R to bring up the Run box.
Type optionalfeatures.exe and single left-click OK to execute (just means to run) optionalfeatures.exe. This method actually allows for more control of the Hyper-V installation since you can deselect unneeded features. For example, some people may not have any need for the Hyper-V Module for Windows PowerShellmodule if they don’t use PowerShell or PowerShell Directto administer any virtual machines.
Single left-click to select the Hyper-V option. Single left-click the Plus sign to expand if you need to select or deselect any of the default features. I use all the Hyper-V features so PowerShell for this installation works just fine for me. The end goal is to avoid moving my mouse as much as possible.
