Adding and removing the GUI from Windows Server 2012

Microsoft introduced the ability to add and remove the GUI from Windows Server 2012 in case you find yourself lost with only a Command Prompt for administration and configuration of your servers. If you do a Core installation of Windows Server 2012 and want to add the full GUI back to your server you can use the Install-WindowsFeature cmdlet to install it.

To install the full GUI

> Install-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra, Server-Gui-Shell -Restart

To uninstall the GUI from a full installation of Windows Server 2012

> Uninstall-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra, Server-Gui-Shell -Restart

You may be wondering why you would ever want to uninstall the GUI? A good scenario is that you want to configure your server initially using the graphical tools, and after it's full configured, you want to reduce the footprint and attack surface of your server.