My favourite way of calling for the Windows charms is with WinKey +c. The main alternative to the keyboard shortcut is the mouse. There is a
knack of pointing the mouse gently over the bottom right corner. There is no
need to press any of the mouse's buttons, just let the pointer activate the
charms.
Using the mouse to make the charms emerge is a tricky skill. If at
first you don't succeed, try again but more slowly, circle the cursor nearer the corner of the screen.
Settings 'Cogs' Once the Server 2012 charms materialize on the right side of the
screen, then click on the cogs called 'Settings'. Now you seek the Power
button, which is at the bottom of the screen.
Left click on 'Power' and select Shut Down (or Restart).
Try WinKey +i An even quicker way to access these
settings is to press the Windows Key +i.
Windows Server 2012 Shutdown Trap If you Sign out (the
old logoff) there is no shut down button on the front screen as there is with
Windows 8.
Guy Recommends: A Free Trial of the Network Performance Monitor
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SolarWinds'
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Perhaps the NPM's best feature is the way it suggests solutions to network
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give this Network Performance Monitor a try.
If you are familiar with PowerShell's cmdlets then you need a verb called
'Stop' (not shutdown), coupled with the noun 'Computer'.
Launch PowerShell, type stop then tab, you should see Stop-Computer.
If this flashy technique does not work, then just type this one simple
command long-hand:
# PowerShell command to shutdown Windows Server 2012
Stop-Computer
Warning: Actually, there is no warning! If
you issue the above command then Server 2012 initiates the shutdown
procedure 'ready or not'. For a more leisurely method of downing the
server experiment with the built-in Shutdown command see the next section.
For as long as I can remember Microsoft's operating systems have a
built-in shutdown utility. However, there is a
little known switch to bring-up a GUI version of this command line utility.
# GUI method of using the built-in Shutdown command
Shutdown -i
Note: If you are going to use any of the Shutdown
commands, the first switch to learn is -a. Shutdown -a meaning abort!
Pure Shutdown I like to operate shutdown from within
PowerShell. To digress you can run almost all the build-in cmd
commands at the PowerShell interface.
# Shutdown the local Windows Server 2012 machine
Shutdown -s -m \\localhost
Note: When testing this command you have 60 seconds to
abort with Shutdown -a
Note: Use of \\ localhost for the present computer may
give you ideas for downing Windows Server 2012 remotely.
How to Reboot Windows Server 2012
As you may have guessed, restarting Server 2012 is conceptually the same
as shutting down. If you would like PowerShell to reboot the server then in place of 'Stop' use the
verb 'Restart'.
For occasions where you employ the shutdown command, then instead of
typing -s, substitute -r.
# How to Reboot Server 2012 with PowerShell Restart-Computer
# How to Reboot with the built-in command Shutdown -r -m
\\localhost
How to Create a
Shutdown Tile For Server 2012
My plan is to create a Shutdown button in the Windows Server 2012 Metro
interface.
This is not an easy task, it helps if you understand the three
underpinning concepts, and pay particular attention to detail.
Avoid over-think, go straight for the command.:
C:\windows\system32\shutdown -s -t 25 [My point is don't mess with
wrapping instruction in cmd files]
Find a particular location where you store all the shortcuts to all the
tiles: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs Note: Start at ProgramData not ProgramFiles.
Realize that you can Pin (and Unpin) tiles to the Metro UI.
Instructions for Creating a Windows Server Shutdown Tile
Navigate with Windows Explorer to this special folder:
C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start
Menu\Programs Note: This works for a user called
'Administrator', therefore amend your setting as required.
Create a shortcut. Right-click a blank area, from the menu
select: New, Shortcut. Paste this instruction:
C:\windows\system32\shutdown -s -t 25 Note: t means
time in seconds. You need a space between t and 25.
Give the shortcut a meaningful name, I chose Guy's Shutdown so
that I could find it. I like to click on the shortcut's advanced
button and 'Run as administrator'.
You should see your shortcut amongst the other Apps, especially if
you gave it a distinctive name.
Press the Windows Key to return to the Metro UI.
New tiles are always 'born' at the right of the Metro
screen, so you may need to scroll to find your short's tile.
Right-click its icon and check 'Pinned' I also like to Pin my
Shutdown shortcut to the Task Manager. See more on
how to create a Windows Metro Tile.
Windows Shutdown Tile Variations: Change your
shortcut's icon. Right-click, Properties, Change Icon. There is
a classic orange square with a vertical line. See screenshot above.
Tweak the Shutdown command, at least while your testing you may wish to
change /t 25 to /t 10. The benefit is you can go to the command prompt
(or PowerPoint) and issue the countermand: Shutdown -a. This aborts the shutdown.
Challenge: Make a second tile but with the Shutdown -a
command. See screenshot above.
Calculating IP Address ranges is a black art, which many network managers
solve by creating custom Excel spreadsheets. IPAT cracks this problem of
allocating IP addresses in networks in two ways:
For Mr Organized there is a nifty subnet calculator, you enter the network
address and the subnet mask, then IPAT works out the usable addresses and their
ranges. For Mr Lazy IPAT discovers and then displays the IP addresses of existing
computers.
Guy Recommends:
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SolarWinds' performance monitor is designed for detecting network outages,
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This utility guides you through creating network maps; it also helps
identifying whether the
root cause is faulty equipment, or resource overload. Give NPM a try.
