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I admin a small Edu/MakerSpace, and we have a few donated pieces of equipment that require a Windows-based OS to run the controlling app.

I have tried looking for & tested a Linux/POSIX-based versions of the apps, but I'm not getting the buy-in to make it feasible.

The systems came with (licenced, proprietary) controlling software, so it's a bundled deal. Luckily these apps have nice web-interfaces (for the most part), so a full desktop is not required.

I'm trying to shrink our 'footprint' - reducing the number of boxes I need to maintain, and dedicating & maintaining an entire PC/laptop to run a single app is not ideal.

What I'd like to do is spin up a minimal headless Windows OS, install the apps over RDP, winget/choco or CLI.

I'm not exactly a Win SysAdmin, but I've been coming around of late.

I see that there are some nifty options that may suit my needs, in particular:

So, ideally, I just what a just-enough base windows-OS to install the requisite app & remotely admin the host.

It's not super-intuitive from what I've read IF these images (in last link) are images/stacks run IN/ON TOP of a pre-existing VM/container stack, or if they are the underlying OS binaries TO HOST containers on top.

For the single-purpose baremetal I hope to run this on, I don't really need the overhead of a full hypervisor or container infrastructure: I just wanna run a minimal OS for a single app.

If I can run a familiar skinny POSIX host (eg. Debian) for a minimal Docker for a single W32/64 OS+app, with minimal resource overhead, I can live with that, but if that's an avoidable complexity, that would be my preference.

Greg Askew
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kieppie
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1 Answers1

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So, the links on the last bullet: Server Core is both an installation option and a Windows container image. Nano Server is a container image. As an installation option, Server Core is a good choice as it uses less resources than the full Windows Server option. You can then install Windows Admin Center on that box itself or on your own PC to then access the box remotely to manage it. The caveat with Server Core is that while it does have an RDP option, it has no GUI. Which means, even if you RDP into that box, you get a CMD or PowerShell session. Other tools are there, such as notepad, some things like Task Manager, and you can even install Edge on it (please don't do that). If you are not familiar with a no-GUI Windows installation this would be either a good learning or a daunting task.

I think the best option for you is this. Server Core on the box, then install your app. Then use WAC to manage it. Windows containers or VMS would be a management overhead - but maybe VMs would be an option if you need to run more stuff on the same box?

Vinicius Apolinario
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