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In today’s Ask the Admin, I’ll show you how to customize Nano Server images using a free tool from Microsoft.
Nano Server is a headless install option for Windows Server 2016 that’s designed for cloud apps, microservices and DevOps environments. Windows Containers, when managed using Docker, allow developers to deploy apps to servers in seconds, providing businesses with a high-velocity development platform for creating more exciting products and faster innovation. For more information about Nano Server, see Thoughts on Windows Nano Server on the Petri IT Knowledgebase.
In the instructions below, I’m going to create a Nano Server image for a Hyper-V virtual machine (VM), using the Image Builder tool on Windows 10.
Create a new boot image or bootable USB (Image Credit: Russell Smith)
Choose the deployment type (Image Credit: Russell Smith)
Let’s select the installation packages and networking options.
Add optional packages (Image Credit: Russell Smith)
For more information on creating domain-join blobs and joining Nano to a domain, see Join Windows Server 2016 Nano to a Domain on Petri.
Configure optional network settings (Image Credit: Russell Smith)
Advanced Settings configuration allows you to set Emergency Management Services (EMS) options and debugging methods. Also, you can provide servicing packages to install Nano Server updates, and embed files or scripts that can be run when setup completes.
Note that a PowerShell command is displayed at the bottom of the Create Nano image screen. The New-NanoServerImage cmdlet can be used in the future to create Nano Server images without running the Image Builder tool GUI.
New-NanoServerImage -MediaPath 'D:\' -Edition 'Datacenter' -DeploymentType Guest -TargetPath 'C:\NanoServer\nano.vhd' -MaxSize 8589934592 -SetupUI ('NanoServer.DNS') -ComputerName 'NANO1' -SetupCompleteCommand ('tzutil.exe /s "Pacific Standard Time"') -LogPath 'C:\Users\Administrator.AD\AppData\Local\Temp\2\NanoServerImageBuilder\Logs\2016-12-05 03-40'
You’ll find the .VHD file for the Nano Server in the folder that you specified on the Select deployment type screen in the steps above. The image file can now be used to create a VM in Hyper-V or other virtualization solution that supports the .VHD file format.
For more information on creating a VM in Hyper-V, see Windows 8 Client Hyper-V : Create a Virtual Machine Based on an Exisiting VHD File on Petri.
In this article, I showed you how to customize a Nano Server image using the Nano Server Image Builder tool from Microsoft.
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