Manage Network Settings

Lab Overview:

This hands-on lab provides a Windows Server administrator with an understanding of how to leverage Windows PowerShell cmdlets to configure and manage a server’s network settings. The skills learned in this lab will provide insight into how to script common administrative tasks, which could help to automate and streamline workflows. These skills are essential for someone pursuing a career path as a Windows Server administrator.

Understand the scenario

You are a system administrator for a company that needs to manage network settings for a larger server environment. To prepare, you must determine which Windows PowerShell commands are required to create and modify the network settings on a single server. You will use PowerShell to view and modify network settings, and then you will confirm that the settings have been modified correctly.

Configure your environment:

You will access the lab environment using the Azure portal and then connecting via RDP to a Windows server. Once logged into the server, you will use Windows PowerShell to set up the environment. This lab's core purpose is to provide a basic understanding of PowerShell's functionality to perform routine administrative tasks. You will first ensure your server is configured to use the appropriate version of TLS; you will use the New-Item cmdlet to create a working directory for this lab.

Display the network management commands:

For this task, you will learn the PowerShell syntax for searching and listing the relevant modules you are interested in using. You will learn how to use wildcards with the Get-Module cmdlet for searching and listing out available modules. You will then identify the module that you are interested in and learn how to enumerate the commands associated with that module. As an administrator, this is an important function that will help you to explore the potential of using these modules and commands for scripting and automating tasks.

View the network adapters:

In this section, you will use Windows PowerShell to create a new Loopback Adapter, a dummy network adapter that will be used to demonstrate using other commands to view adapter properties. You will become familiar with the Get-NetAdapter cmdlet and how to list the properties of the adapter. As you explore the properties of the network adapter, consider the information you may need to gather and monitor for your enterprise.

Modify the IP address settings of a network adapter:

As you deploy systems throughout your enterprise, you may want to use a Windows PowerShell script to automate the assignment of IP addresses. In this section, you will learn how to use the New-NetIPAddress cmdlet and the associated options to configure the IP address and default gateway for the network adapter. Then you will learn how to configure your DNS settings, and enumerate the adapter's configuration to confirm the settings are correct.

Modify the DNS suffix search list:

The DNS suffix search list on a computer will determine the order in which domain names are appended to single-label names for name resolution. For this task, you will configure your DNS suffix search list using the Windows PowerShell cmdlet Set-DNSClientGlobalSettings. To confirm configuration, you will also use NSLookup to test single-label name resolution for aka, pop, mail, and www single-label names.

Lab Summary Conclusion:

In this hands-on virtual lab, you will learn how to use Windows PowerShell to configure basic network settings of a Windows server. These skills are essential for administering, configuring, and monitoring your enterprise network settings. You will explore the possibilities of automating administrative tasks, with these insights using PowerShell. These are important skills for someone who is pursuing a career as a Windows administrator.