Windows Server 2012 (R2) can be migrated with a single reboot to a Server Core and back. This quite handy feature is mostly used on domain controllers or Hyper-V controllers, this way you can install and configure your server roles with an GUI interface and afterwards go back to the Core edition to require lower recourses and have a small attack surface. These commands only work if you have installed the server with the GUI, you can’t install the GUI if you have installed the core edition.
If you want more information about the Windows Server Core features: please visit this link http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd184075.aspx
You can turn off the GUI with the following PowerShell command:
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Remove-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Shell, Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra |
Or turn the GUI back on if you want to modify something on your server with the following PowerShell command:
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Add-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Shell, Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra |
Don’t forget to reboot after running these commands succesfully.
This can be done with the following command:
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Shutdown –r -t 0 |