Adding and Removing server roles and optional features on Server Core

To install a server role on Server Core, you need to use the following command line:

Start /w ocsetup “RolePackage” where RolePackage is one of the following: 

Use OClist.exe to view installable roles 

DHCP = DHCPServerCore
DNS = DNS-Server-Core-Role
File = File-Server-Core-Role
File Replication service = FRS-Infrastructure
Distributed File System service = DFSN-Server
Distributed File System Replication = DFSR-Infrastructure-ServerEdition
Network File System = ServerForNFS-Base
Single Instance Store = SIS
 

You may be wondering why Active Directory isn’t in the list above and that is because it is a bit different from the other roles. To install Active Directory, you need to use the following command line:

Dcpromo /unattend:Unattendfile

In Server Core 2008, the dcpromo tool that is installed by default performs the installation and removal of the rest of the Active Directory binaries. The unattend file is the same file and format that you can use when running dcpromo unattend on Server.

To install an optional feature on Server Core, you need to use the following command line:

Start /w ocsetup OptionalFeaturePackage

Where OptionalFeaturePackage is one of the following:

Failover Cluster = FailoverCluster-Core
Network Load Balancing = NetworkLoadBalancingHeadlessServer
Subsystem for UNIX-bases applications = SUA
Multipath IO = Microsoft-Windows-MultipathIO
Removable Storage Management = Microsoft-Windows-RemovableStorageManagementCore
Bitlocker Drive Encryption = BitLocker
Backup = WindowsServerBackup
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) = SNMP-SC
 To remove a server role or optional feature, you use the same command line but add /uninstall.

Ocsetup and listed roles seem like they are currently case sensitive, so you need to use the names exactly as above.