My AD boxes are Windows Server 2008 Core SP2, which does not have Powershell. I'd like to run the AD app and understand some of the metrics collected are only available via Powershell. The UFs can be installed, of course.
What specifically will I be missing if I don't have Powershell? I understand some of the 'health' data requires it, but I'd like to know specifics.
Pretty much all of the reports that are not under the Security Reports section require the PowerShell components.
First, the good news. Some of the AD scripts can be re-written to use WMI remotely to gather the data. None of it is easy to get, but it is possible to do a lot of it remotely.
Now, the bad news. None of it is easy to get, and no-one has done the work to translate the scripts to access the domain controllers or DNS servers remotely. So there is some significant script writing to do to get to the same point as is provided by the local PowerShell scripts.
The following pieces of info will not be collected as a result of missing powershell –
1. DNS Health
2. DNS zone info
3. AD site info
4. AD Health
5. AD replication status