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Eric Falsken
Asked: 2011-12-31 22:31:56 +0800 CST

Microsoft Data Protection Manager and Hyper-V on Server Core?

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I'm trying to determine if Microsoft Data Protection Manager will function on a Hyper-V host running Windows 2008 R2 Server Core. I've found this document in the documentation, but it still unclear which components of DPM will work. Or if I can install the management tools on a separate VM. Or do I install DPM into a VM and then install the protection agent onto the host?

windows hyper-v system-center

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Although this question was originally asked in 2011, someone decided today, 5 years later, that it was a good idea to make a comment on a 5 year-old answer. Which was enough to make me to want to update my answer to reflect my more current views. Since it still shows up in search results, I think it's worth making the answer more up-to-date.

    Several new versions of Windows and several new versions of Data Protection Manager have come out since you asked this question.

    Back in 2011, installing DPM on Server Core was difficult to impossible, depending on the version of DPM you were using, which specific components of DPM you were trying to install, (the agent or the server?) and your willingness to hack things like DCOM permissions to get it actually working. (And yes, there is still a lot of software, including Microsoft's own software, that doesn't run on Server Core because Server Core does not support the full .NET framework. Especially not back in 2011, when this question was asked.)

    But, time has marched on and there have been new developments.

    If you're talking about installing the DPM Agent on Server Core, you'll find examples of people successfully installing the agent from DPM 2012 on 2012 Core, albeit not entirely hassle-free.

    Here is an example of even getting the agent installed on 2008 R2 core, again, with some extra fiddling required.

    In the archived (read: outdated) Microsoft documentation that you cited, 2008 R2 Core was supported as being able to install the agent even as far back as DPM 2010, however, the DPM 2010 server component itself was not supported on Core.

    Now, onto documentation that is recent as of 2016.

    That link is a great compatibility matrix with regards to System Center 2016, including DPM. It shows that the agent can be installed on either Server Core or Server with "Desktop Experience," and the DPM Server component can be installed on Server Core as well, but the Remote Administration console still requires the "Desktop Experience," i.e., not Server Core.

    Hope that helps.

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