ED 300: Windows 2016 Server Virtual Machine (15 pts)

What You Need for This Project

Task 1: Installing a Fresh Windows Server 2016 Virtual Machine

Downloading the Installer ISO File (180-day Evaluation)

In a Web browser, go here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-windows-server-2016

Click "Register to continue".

Fill in name, email address, etc., and click Continue.

Click ISO, as shown below.

Click Continue.

Select English.

It's a 6.5 GB download.

The file name is "Windows_Server_2016_Datacenter_EVAL_en-us_14393_refresh.ISO", as of Dec. 3, 2018. The SHA-256 hash value is:

1ce702a578a3cb1ac3d14873980838590f06d5b7101c5daaccbac9d73f1fb50f

Installing Windows

Start VMware Player. Click Player, File, "New Virtual Machine...", as shown below.

In the "Welcome to the New Virtual Machine Wizard" screen, click the "I will install the operating system later." button, as shown below.

Click Next.

In the "Select a Guest Operating System" box, select "Microsoft Windows" and "Windows Server 2016", as shown below.

Click Next.

In the "Name the Virtual Machine" box, enter a Virtual machine name of Win16-YOURNAME, replacing "YOURNAME" with your own name, as shown below.

Click the Browse... button and navigate to the VMs drive and the folder with your name on it.

DO NOT SAVE VIRTUAL MACHINES ON THE C: DRIVE IN S214

Click Next.

In the "Specify Disk Capacity" box, accept the default options, as shown below, and click Next.

In the "Ready to Create Virtual Machine" box, click the "Customize Hardware..." button, as shown below.

In the "Hardware" box, on the left side, click "New CD/DVD". On the right side, click the "Use ISO image file" button.

Click the Browse... button. Navigate to your Downloads folder and double-click the 4393.0.161119-1705.RS1_REFRESH_SERVER_EVAL_X64FRE_EN-US.ISO file, as shown below.

Click the Close button.

In the "Ready to Create Virtual Machine" box, click the Finish button.

VMware Workstation Player now shows a "Win16-YOURNAME" item on the left side, as shown below.

On the right side, click "Play virtual machine".

If a box pops up titled "Software Updates", click "Remind Me Later".

If a box pops up titled "Removable Devices", click OK.

A "Windows Setup" box appears, as shown below.

Click Next.

On the next screen, click the "Install now" button.

In the "Select the operating system you want to install" box, click "Windows Server 2016 Standard Evaluation (Desktop Experience)", as shown below.

Click Next.

On the next screen, click the "I accept the license terms" box, and click Next.

On the next screen, click "Custom: Install Windows only (Advanced)" box.

In the "Where do you want to install Windows" box, click Next.

Wait a few minutes while Windows installs.

Your virtual machine restarts twice, and you see the box shown below.

Enter these values:

Click Finish

Windows starts, as shown below.

Logging In

In VMware Player, at the top left, click Player, "Send Ctrl+Alt+Del".

At the login screen, enter a password of P@ssw0rd as shown below. Then press Enter.

Adjusting Resolution

If the text in the virtual machine is tiny, and hard to read, do these steps:
  • At the top right of the VMware Workstation Player window, click the red X.
  • A box pops up. Click Suspend button.
  • On your desktop, right-click the "VMware Workstation Player" icon and click Properties.
  • In the "VMware Workstation Player Properties" box, on the Compatibility" tab, click the "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings" box.
  • Click OK.
Then restart VMware Workstation Player and run your VM again. The font should be larger.

Task 2: Lowering Security Settings

Blocking Automatic Updates

Updates are important for security, but for this class we want a vulnerable target machine, so we'll stop them.

On your Windows Server 2016 desktop, in Server Manager, on the top right, click Tools, "Windows PowerShell", as shown below.

In PowerShell, execute this command:

sconfig
A menu appears, as shown below. Enter these values:

After a minute or two, an "Update Settings" box pops up. Click OK.

Disabling IE Enhanced Security Configuration

This setting prevents you from downloading software directly on the server, which is a poor practice.

We want to allow that, so do these steps:

In Server Manager, on right side, find "IE Enhanced Security Configuration". Click the word On next to it, as shown below.

In the "Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration" box, click both Off buttons, as shown below.

Click OK.


ED 300.1 Recording Your Success (15 pts)

In a Command Prompt window, type in this command and then press the Enter key:
systeminfo
You should see information about your Windows version, as shown below. Find the text that is covered by a gray box in the image below. That's the flag.


Extending the Trial Period

In Powershell, execute this command to see how many days you have left in your trial:
slmgr -dlv
Execute this command to extend the trial for another 180 days:
slmgr -rearm
You can extend the trial six times, for up to three years.