Server Core - Move that Swap/Page File - WMI Error Code = 0x80041017

UPDATED 2012-01-17: MPECS Inc. Blog: Server Core–How to Properly Move the Swap File

This one was a really tough find ...

From the Microsoft TechNet Server 2008 Core online documentation on managing Server Core we get (square brackets because Blogger can't seem to interpret greater than or less than symbols properly):

Disable paging file management: At a command prompt, type:

wmic computersystem where name="[computername]" set AutomaticManagedPagefile=False

So, in our Core command line we type on one line (ignore text wrapping):

wmic computersystem where name="MyCoreServerName" set AutomaticManagedPagefile=False

WMI tells us that the command was successful.

On to step 2:

Configure the paging file: At a command prompt, type:

wmic pagefileset where name=”[path/filename]” set InitialSize=[initialsize],MaximumSize=[maxsize]

Where:

path/filename is the path to and name of the paging file
initialsize is the starting size of the paging file in bytes.
maxsize is the maximum size of the page file in bytes.

Okay, no matter how we interpret the above command, we cannot get a success message from WMI.

The errors we were getting the following two errors consistently:

• No Instances Available
• Error Code = 0x80041017
  Description = Invalid query
  Facility = WMI

Any amount of searching either turned up a regurgitation of the TechNet article, or out of date instructions that did nothing to help us.

After a number of different searches using a number of different search engines, we finally stumbled on the following on the Server Core blog: Tips and Tricks Vol. 4:

1. wmic computersystem where name=”[computername]” set AutomaticManagedPagefile=False
2. wmic pagefileset where name=”C:\\pagefile.sys” set InitialSize=500,MaximumSize=1000

How refreshing. :) The second command worked for establishing an 8-16GB page file on the S: partition and it verifies after the reboot.

We are fortunate that we have blogs to turn to in this day and age. Here is a good example where the documentation for a product is not so good, but the product team's blog documentation is very good.

This is not the first time we have run into poor product documentation for a new Microsoft product. It probably will not be the last. This is truly unfortunate because we then need to waste a bunch of time searching out the answer to something that should be right in front of us in the first place. :(

UPDATE 2008-06-25: For clarification on the above: Assuming that we have created a partition with the S: label:

1. wmic computersystem where name=”MyCoreServer” set AutomaticManagedPagefile=False
2. wmic pagefileset where name=”S:\\pagefile.sys” set InitialSize=2500,MaximumSize=10240

The above commands will disable the system managed pagefile and create a new one using the sizes indicated on the S: partition. Note the lack of spaces between the Intial and Maximum size settings.

Also note, if the command continues to fail, reboot after disabling the automatic pagefile management and run the command again. We are finding that the command does not always run successfully after disabling the automatic management.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

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