After much searching and a couple of failed attempts, I finally found the instructions for configuring Windows Server Core 2008 R2 so that it will accept remote connections. Visit http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd759202.aspx and search the page for the “To configure remote management on the Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2008 R2” section. Alternatively, I’ve reproduced the steps here.
Make sure the client and server are both in the same domain and that you’re logged into the client with an account in the Domain Admins group. Other scenarios can supposedly work, but this is the easiest starting point. This requires the server to be joined to a domain. For that, Greg Shields’s Beginners Guide to Server Core in Windows Server 2008 is helpful. Alternatively, you can promote it to a domain controller.
Then, login to the server locally (or with remote desktop) and run the following in a command prompt:
Dism.exe /Online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:NetFx2-ServerCore /FeatureName:MicrosoftWindowsPowerShell /FeatureName:ServerManager-PSH-Cmdlets /FeatureName:BestPractices-PSH-Cmdlets
Reboot the computer when prompted and then start powershell and run two more commands in there:
powershell
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
Configure-SMRemoting.ps1 -force -enable
exit
If this server will be a domain controller, use the following commands to make the Best Practices Analyzer work for the Active Directory Domain Services role:
ocsetup ActiveDirectory-PowerShell
powershell
Import-Module activedirectory
exit