Making HVConfig work on a normal Server Core installation
Microsoft's Hyper-V Server 2008 product comes with a wizard, that allows easy configuration of the Server Core-based subsystem.
This tool can be used on normal Server Core installations of Windows Server 2008 too. This blogpost describes what files to copy from a US English Hyper-V Server 2008 installation, where to place them and how to install this wizard to autorun. All in five easy steps! 
Tip!
When you're using a different language change the En-Us bit for the files accordingly:
| Language |
String |
| US English |
en-US |
| Spanish |
es-ES |
| German |
de-DE |
| French |
fr-FR |
| Italian |
it-IT |
| Japanese |
ja-JP |
| Korean |
ko-KR |
| Portugese (Brazil) |
pt-BR |
| Russian |
ru-RU |
| Simplified Chinese |
zh-CN |
| Chinese (Hong Kong) |
zh-TW |
| Chinese (Taiwan) |
zh-TW |
Step 1
You will need to following files from a Hyper-V Server 2008 installation:
- C:\Windows\System32\hvconfig.cmd
- C:\Windows\System32\en-US\hvconfig.vbs
- C:\Windows\System32\en-US\WUA_SearchDownloadInstall.vbs
These files are also attached to this blogpost. Check the end of this post for a download link.
Step 2
Copy the files to their respective location on your Server Core installation.
Review the instruction here to get files onto your Server Core box.
Step 3
Open the Registry Editor, by running regedit.exe and browse to the following location:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Create a new String value (REG_SZ) named HVConfig. Right click it and select Modify Data from the context menu. Type C:\Windows\system32\hvconfig.cmd as the data and press the OK button to save.
Close the Registry Editor.
Step 4
Log off by typing logoff on the command prompt. Log on using an account with administrative privileges.
Step 5 (Optional)
Optionally change the contents of hvconfig.vbs to display another header.
Since we're no longer running the script on Hyper-V Server it would be appropriate to change the top banner.
Type the following command:
Notepad.exe C:\Windows\system32\en-US\hvconfig.vbs
Now change the L_Msg005_Text constant to something appropriate.
Tip!
You can also change the color of the screen by changing the second line in HVConfig.cmd. Default color is 17 (White on Blue), but I prefer 47. (White on Red)
Concluding
CoreConfigurator and CoreConfig are great tools, but HVConfig can be used just the same...