Windows Server 2008 Core Edition NIC trouble

[FeelEuphoria]

I'm studying for one of my Microsoft server exam. For the exam I need to be able to attach Server 2008 Core Edition (an almost bare metal install of win server 2008) to a domain. I really need network connectivity in order to do anything with server 2008 core edition.

I can't get the server to recognize the network card and you can not from what I understand install the Parallels Tools. Is there any way I can change the emulated network card like I can on VMware and Virtualbox?

Thanks for your help

Richard

Here's more info about Server 2008 Core Edition from Wikipedia

Server Core
Default user interface for Server Core

Windows Server 2008 includes a variation of installation called Server Core. Server Core is a significantly scaled-back installation where no Windows Explorer shell is installed. All configuration and maintenance is done entirely through command line interface windows, or by connecting to the machine remotely using Microsoft Management Console. However, Notepad and some control panel applets, such as Regional Settings, are available.

Server Core does not include the .NET Framework, Internet Explorer, Windows PowerShell or many other features not related to core server features. A Server Core machine can be configured for several basic roles: Domain controller/Active Directory Domain Services, ADLDS (ADAM), DNS Server, DHCP Server, file server, print server, Windows Media Server, IIS 7 web server and Hyper-V virtual server. Server Core can also be used to create a cluster with high availability using Failover Clustering or Network Load Balancing.

Andrew Mason, a program manager on the Windows Server team, noted that a primary motivation for producing a Server Core variant of Windows Server 2008 was to reduce the attack surface of the operating system, and that about 70% of the security vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows from the prior five years would not have affected Server Core

PS Just in case I can't get it to work will there be any adverse effects (like a massive over head) to running a Virtualbox guest alongside my a Parallels guest?

 

[Elric]

I'm studying for one of my Microsoft server exam. For the exam I need to be able to attach Server 2008 Core Edition (an almost bare metal install of win server 2008) to a domain. I really need network connectivity in order to do anything with server 2008 core edition.

Hi,
So far we have not experimented with srv2008-core, but I'll try to find some time and create a solution for this soon.

I can't get the server to recognize the network card and you can not from what I understand install the Parallels Tools. Is there any way I can change the emulated network card like I can on VMware and Virtualbox?

Unfortunately, for the PD5 the answer is no, only installing Tools will help. I'll try to create a package with network drivers and installer in the nearest time.

PS Just in case I can't get it to work will there be any adverse effects (like a massive over head) to running a Virtualbox guest alongside my a Parallels guest?

No, I don't expect any problems, providing that your mac has enough memory

 

[Elric]

The steps to install network driver should be next:

1) Click menu VirtualMachine -> Install Parallels Tools. This will cause mount of Parallels tools ISO to the VM

2) type in the command line
pnputil -i -a d:\drivers\prl_eth5\prl_eth5.inf

In my test-environment that did the trick and driver was installed

 

[FeelEuphoria]

I did it!

I could not get to the driver through the iso, so I copied the driver from my other ms server 2008 install

C:\Program Files (x86)\Parallels\Parallels Tools\Drivers\prl_eth5

You have to copy the prl_eth5 folder not just the prl_eth5.inf

Thanks
Elric

 

[ron1701]

same solution, different problem

I had a win 2003r2 VM that was working fine. I upgraded to Win2008r2 full enterprise edition. I also found that the NIC was not recognized. The solution described above worked. From what I've found a clean install of win 2008r2 is no problem. Any ideas why this occurs ?

 

[Mat Kordell]

I did it!

I could not get to the driver through the iso, so I copied the driver from my other ms server 2008 install
Quote:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Parallels\Parallels Tools\Drivers\prl_eth5
You have to copy the prl_eth5 folder not just the prl_eth5.inf

Thanks
Elric

This worked for me as well where doing it from the dmg failed. Just copied the C:\Program Files\Parallels\Parallels Tools\Drivers\ (or C:\Program Files (x86)\Parallels\Parallels Tools\Drivers\) folder to a USB stick and mounted that in server core. Also successfully ran the same command against the prls_dd.inf, prls_fs.inf, prls_scsi.inf and prls_tg.inf. Not positive the extent of what they all do but I figure it may prevent me from running into issues in the future.

Mat

 

[BrentP]

Thanks!!

Thank everyone. That saved me a lot of time. I also used the USB stick to copy over the folder as directed. Ran the file within my text and it loaded the driver and allowed me to configure the network cards IP info.