How To Install And Configure Windows Server 2019 And Project Honolulu

How To Install And Configure Windows Server 2019 And Project Honolulu

This article discusses how you can install and setup Microsoft’s Windows Server 2019 and Project Honolulu.

Step 1: Download Windows Server 2019 Technical Preview And Project Honolulu

To download Windows Server 2019 Technical Preview and Project Honolulu visit the link– https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windowsinsiderpreviewserver

Navigate to the Windows Insider’s website. You have two different choices here of accessing Windows Server 2019. The authorized number for the structure that is enumerated on the website is “Build 17623”. The fresh structure can be accessed through an ISO installer together with a VHDX hard disk that can be utilized in Hyper-V. You can install the two: in VMware with the Windows Server 2016 VM; you can as well install from ISO, also as Hyper-V with the use of the VHDX file. It is left for you to choose the preferred platform download option.

Step 2: Install Windows Server 2019 Through The ISO Option In Vmware

To do this, you can make use of the virtual machines presented below:

• Windows Server 2016 x64 bit VM
• ESX 6.5 hardware compatibility level

We have presented below clear-cut and easy to understand screenshots of the Windows Server 2019 “17623” build through an ISO integrated into a VMware VM.

Step 3: Click To Open Window Setup, Select Language Option And Click Next

By clicking and opening the Windows Setup, the Window server’s page displays options for you to select your preferred language.

The first page of Windows Server 2019 that opens during the installation through ISO in VMware

Step 4: Click On The “Install Now” Tab

After choosing your language option and clicking next, a new page opens with “Install now” tab, click on  install now to begin installation from the ISO.

Step 5: Choose The Operating System To Install

You have option to select from two Windows Server 2019 versions. You can either select the standard windows server or the windows server, Data center. When you have selected your preferred operating system from the list, click next.

Step 6: Accept The License Terms

Clicking next after the last step takes you to application notices and license terms page. Click on the tab below the page to accept the terms and conditions.

Windows Server 2019 EULA

Step 7: Choose Your Installation Location

After accepting the license terms and clicking next takes you to where you would need to select the location you want to   save the windows you are installing as shown in the screenshot below:

Choosing installation position

Step 8: Begin The Installation Of Windows

The installation of the Windows Server 2019 starts

After choosing the installation location and clicking on the next tab, you’ll be taken to the installation window, select the option; “Copying windows files” This will start the installation of windows. You can see from the above steps that the installation of windows server 2010 is a clear-cult and none complicated process. There is no much difference between the interface and that of the earlier versions of Windows Server builds at this time.

How To Install Windows Server 2019 Using The Hyper-V 2016 Option

To install the windows server 2019 with Hyper-V option, you are only required to download the VHDX file and duplicate a copy of the fill into the datastore you intent to execute the Hyper-V virtual machine from.  You can decide to copy the file into a FreeNAS volume that is linked through iSCSI to a lot of Hyper-V hosts.

The Particulars Of Hyper-V Environment Are Presented Below:

• Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V
• Nested inside ESXi 6.5 VMs
• Connected via iSCSI to FreeNAS datastore

Step 1: Name The VM And Specify The Location

The procedure to utilize the downloaded VHDX file is equivalent to generating any form of Hyper-V virtual machine.  Nevertheless, you will need to connect the hard disk to the hard disk file you have downloaded from the Microsoft insiders.  Your first step is to give the VM a name and specify a location as shown in the screenshot below.

Windows Server 2019 in hyper-v installation with a page option to select the name and location

Step 2: Choose The Generation Version

After you chose the location, click on next. This takes you to a new page where you would need to select the generation of windows you want. In this instance, we have selected Generation 2 as our generation version. You will not be able to change this option after you have created it by choosing an option.

State the Hyper-V generation of the virtual machine

Step 3: Specify The Amount Of Memory To Be Assigned To The Created Virtual Machine

Stipulate the Memory size you want to allocate to the Windows Server 2019 virtual machine.

Step 4: Choose the Networking Setup

You next step is to decide on the network configuration to use for your Microsoft’s windows server 2019 Hyper-V virtual machine you just created.

Set up the network for the Windows Server 2019 virtual machine

Step 5: ChooseUse An Existing Virtual Hard Disk

Clicking next after the last step takes you to a new page. Navigate to the Connect Virtual Hard Disk setup and choose the Use an existing virtual hard disk alternative.  Underneath, you’ll find the downloaded VHDX file selected. This was copied from the download.

Direct the Windows Server 2019 Virtual Machine to the VHDX file you earlier downloaded from the Insiders location.

Step 6: Finish Up The New Virtual Machine Wizard

Clicking next after the last step takes you to a page for completing the new virtual server machine wizard.

Finish stipulating the conditions for Hyper-V virtual machine for Windows Server 2019

Once you click on the Finish button, the Hyper-V virtual machine boots.  You’ll notice in the screenshot below that the technical preview runs Server Core.

How To Install The Project Honolulu In Windows Server 2019

The command to install Project Honolulu in Windows Server 2019 as presented onMicrosoft’s page is:

1. msiexec /i <HonoluluInstallerName>.msi /qn /L*v log.txt SME_PORT=6513 SSL_CERTIFICATE_OPTION=generate

You’ll observe from the command that we identified the log file.  This makes it priceless to be able view the installation status and troubleshoot any potential problem with the install.  If you have a failed installation, you can easily reboot the server and try again and this have proved to be successful.

The log file generated by Project Honolulu log file in Windows Server 2019

Running Project Honolulu on Windows Server 2019 Technical Preview

The interface dashboard of the Project Honolulu with Windows Server 2019 comes with a great look. It is made up of insightful design, functions, and app feel.  Everything in the latest release of the Preview 1803 version came properly organized in a responsive manner.  Additionally, the Also, the dashboard comes with a very attractive search feature that helps you to easily locate any item you want. It is much similar to the search in WHM in cPanel interface.  As soon as you start to type your search query, it launches the item you want to find.  It as well searches for sub-menu items within the main features in the dashboard.  Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement and we anticipate that it would improve while the product develops toward GA.  The following screenshots illustrates Project Honolulu incorporated into the Windows Server 2019.

Project Honolulu dashboard on Windows Server 2019

Putting Project Honolulu on the Network Settings of Windows Server 2019

Roles and Features of Project Honolulu

Configuring storage space with the use of Project Honolulu

Project Honolulu Search feature

How To Install Roles And Features With Project Honolulu Powershell On Windows Server 2019

Project Honolulu’s web based management platform makes it possible for you to gather together  Windows Server management together in just one web managed control panel to make it easy and smooth for managing different types of Windows Servers in the environment.  Microsoft terms Project Honolulu an evolvement of the in-box management tools similar to the Server Manager and MMC tools.  The first part of this article covers the installation of Project Honolulu locally on Windows Server 2019 and this part of the article covers the installation roles and features of Project Honolulu PowerShell on Windows Server 2019.

Windows Server 2019 Installing Roles And Features With Project Honolulu Powershell

Project Honolulu dashboard offers you a very attractive interface for management of Windows server.  The component of the dashboard is intuitive in nature. It results in a top level outlook of functionality metrics and improves the overall health of the Windows Server 2019. The Overview element on the control panel incorporates all the appropriate metrics you would require for obtaining general baseline of a server which includes the following:

• CPU
• Memory
• Network statistics
• Restart, Shutdown, disk metrics, path variable control, etc

The overview control panel for Project Honolulu for Windows Server 2019

When you navigate to the right hand side of the page, you’ll see controls for many aspects of the server which includes the Roles & Features.  We can utilize the Roles & Features dashboard of Project Honolulu to install any roles and features.  In the following illustration, we’ll install the Web Server role with the use of the Project Honolulu GUI.

Installation of Roles & Features in Windows Server 2019 Project Honolulu

Visit the overview page of the control panel and click on role and features. Choose the Roles and Features and then hit on the Install tab. This launches the installation of roles and features.

The Roles and Features installation in Windows Server 2019 starts

The installation of the Windows Server 2019 Web Server Role finishes with a success.

Windows Server 2019 Project Honolulu PowerShell

Windows Server 2019 Project Honolulu PowerShell Connection Closed

Although you can utilize Edge to link up with success to a PowerShell session with Project Honolulu, we are making use of the commandlet here to obtain the installed Windows features.

1. 1
2. 2 get-windowsfeature

Use Microsoft Edge to connect to Project Honolulu PowerShell.  You can also perform the same task of installing the Web-Server role to Windows Server 2019 server by executing the command below:

Windows Server 2019 install-windows feature

Conclusions

Microsoft is certainly making headway at advancing the Windows Server platform with integration of contemporary IT infrastructure.  The Microsoft Windows Insiders program is a fantastic feature. It allows you to have access to beta products and technical previews and that of the Windows Server with related product offers.