Technical Articles: Installing the Nano Server

We have a physical server. We plan to run Hyper-V on it. It does not need to have a GUI. It does not need a lot of other things. It just needs the hypervisor.

The more components we have in a server, the more vulnerabilities it will have. Thus, it is generally not a good idea to install unneeded components in a server.

We can use the Nano Server to build a minimalistic hypervisor. The Nano Server does not have GUI. It contains just the bare minimum needed to run whatever it needs to run.

In this article, we will be building a Nano Server, running Hyper-V.

Here's what we need.

A physical server. The Nano Server will be installed here. In this article, we are using a Supermicro X9SCL-F.
The Windows Server 2016 ISO (or the DVD).
2 USB sticks. One of the USB sticks will be using in installing the Nano Server. 1GB sticks is good enough.
A Windows computer which we will be using to build the bootable USB sticks mentioned above. In the article, we are using a Windows 10.

Here are the major steps.

Build the image file for Nano Server. Use image file to create bootable USB stick. (This step forms most part of the work.)
Install Nano Server into physical server using the USB stick.

Let's get on with it.

1. Build the image file for Nano Server. Use image file to create bootable USB stick.

This is done on our Windows 10. We need to install...

Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK)
Nano Server Image Builder

... in our Windows 10. We will now download these 2 programs and install them. It is straightforward.

Downloading the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK)...

Installing the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK)...

Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) installed.

Downloading the Nano Server Image Builder...

Installing the Nano Server Image Builder...
Click "Next" till it has completed the installation.

After the Nano Server Image Builder has been installed,

insert one of the USB sticks (preferably the one with the smaller capacity) into the Windows 10 computer first,
mount the Windows Server 2016 ISO (or the DVD),
then launch Nano Server Image Builder.

Click "Create a new Nano Server image".

Click "Next".

Specify the location of the Windows Server 2016 ISO (or DVD).
Click "Next".

Agree to the terms and click "Next".

Choose "Physical machine image".
Specify the location of the to-be-created image file (NOT the USB drive),
and the location of the log files.

Before we actually create the Nano Server image file, we need to know certain settings / configurations in the physical server. The wizard lets us create a bootable USB drive that can detect these settings / configurations.

Choose the drive of the USB stick, click "Next".

Click "OK".

Creation of bootable USB stick in progress...

Bootable USB drive created. Click "Next".

At this point, safely remove the USB stick from the Windows 10 computer.
Insert the USB stick into the to-be-installed-with-Nano-Server physical server.
Start the physical server, enter its BIOS and configure to boot from the USB stick, and let it boot up.

Configuring the physical server to boot from the USB stick.

After the physical server has booted up from the USB stick, it will automatically run the script that detects the important settings / configurations in the physical server (needed for building the Nano Server image later). The next few screenshots show the detection in progress, and what it found out.

This command is issued automatically.
User action not required.

This command is issued automatically.
User action not required.
Note the "InterfaceIndex" and "Server firmware interface".

Key in "exit" when the detection is all done.

At this point, we remove the USB stick from the physical server, and go back to Nano Server Image Builder in Windows 10.

Click "Next".

We are going to install "Hyper-V", so we tick that.

Add in any other needed drivers to be packed in the image.

Assign the computer name and administrator's password
for the Nano Server. Click "Next".

We are not joining any domain in this article.
Click "Next

Tick "Enable WinRM and remote PowerShell connections from all subnet".
This is not the most secure setting, but it makes connecting to the Nano Server easier.
Scroll down for more settings.

The network settings of the Nano Server are configured here.
In this article, we are going to manually configure the IP address, so we choose "Manually set IP address".
The physical server's network interfaces were previously detected as having "2" and "4" as the "Network Interface Index". We choose "2" in this instance.
The rest of the IP address settings are then assigned.
Click "Next".

We can click "Create basic Nano Server image" to start creating the image.
In this article, we are clicking "Continue to configure advanced settings" to see what further options are available.
The next few screenshots show what those advanced settings are.