How to tell whether it's a Server Core box

It's easy to tell whether Windows Server 2008 is installed as Server Core. I know what you're thinking: "Duh! it only shows a command prompt window after you log on", but that's not what I wanted to show you today. What if you wanted to find out programmatically? What if you're WinRS'ing into a Windows Server 2008 box?

Not the way to do this

I fiddled a bit to retrieve this information from my systems but couldn't find a difference between full installations and server core installations when I used the following commands:

wmic OS get Caption

wmic OS get Name

systeminfo

Sure, I gathered a lot of information on the box and the Operating System I have installed, but couldn't find a shred of information on how the Operating System was installed in terms of a Server Core installation or a Full Installation.

The way to do this

The solution to determine whether you're dealing with a Server Core box, is to type the following command:

wmic OS get OperatingSystemSKU

When it returns any of the following values it's a Server Core box:

I agree a couple of other dead give-aways exist (checking for the existence of oclist.exe or SCregEdit.wsf would suffice as well) but none of these are really decent...

Concluding

When determining whether a server is a Server Core remotely isn't as simply as typing a command and getting it served on a silver platter. You need to actually decipher a value using the table provided here.

What a pity this isn't easier...

Further Reading

GetProductInfo Function using wmic path win32_Operatingsystem get OperatingSystemSKU 
Windows Server 2008: Compare Server Core Installation Options 
Core flavors of Windows Server 2008 
MSDN Application Compatibility: Windows Server 2008 Server Core