Windows Server interview questions and certification prep

Start DC01, DC02, SRV01 and CL01. Work as SAATLAB\adm.rahul in PowerShell as administrator on DC01.

1Export your lab inventory

On DC01, list your servers and the roles on each:

$servers = 'DC01', 'DC02', 'SRV01'
$servers | ForEach-Object {
    $roles = Get-WindowsFeature -ComputerName $_ | Where-Object { $_.Installed -and $_.FeatureType -eq 'Role' }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Server = $_; Roles = ($roles.Name -join ', ') }
} | Tee-Object -Variable inv | Format-Table -Wrap
$inv | Export-Csv C:\Lab\lab-inventory.csv -NoTypeInformation

You’ll see something like this:

Server Roles
------ -----
DC01   AD-Domain-Services, DNS, FileAndStorage-Services
DC02   AD-Domain-Services, DHCP, DNS, FileAndStorage-Services
SRV01  AD-Certificate, DHCP, FileAndStorage-Services, Print-Services, Remote-Desktop-Services, Web-Server

This is your answer to “what have you built?” You can describe each server, why it has those roles, and what you broke and fixed on it.

✅ Checkpoint: C:\Lab\lab-inventory.csv lists each server with its roles.

2Practise explaining real output

Run these, then explain each result out loud in under a minute:

repadmin /replsummary
dcdiag /s:DC01 /q
Get-ADDomain | Select-Object PDCEmulator, RIDMaster, InfrastructureMaster
Get-ADForest | Select-Object SchemaMaster, DomainNamingMaster

You’ll see something like this:

PDCEmulator           RIDMaster             InfrastructureMaster
-----------           ---------             --------------------
DC01.saatlab.internal DC01.saatlab.internal DC01.saatlab.internal

SchemaMaster          DomainNamingMaster
------------          ------------------
DC01.saatlab.internal DC01.saatlab.internal

Interviewers love “what does this output tell you?” Practise saying what each line means, what a bad result would look like, and what you’d do next. Record yourself once; you’ll hear where you hesitate.

✅ Checkpoint: You can explain repadmin, dcdiag and FSMO output in your own words.

3Run a timed troubleshooting drill

Apply one random fault and time how long it takes you to fix it:

C:\Lab\Break-SaatLab.ps1 -Fault (1..10 | Get-Random)
$timer = [Diagnostics.Stopwatch]::StartNew()
C:\Lab\Test-SaatLab.ps1 | Where-Object Result -eq 'FAIL'
# ...find and fix it, then:
C:\Lab\Test-SaatLab.ps1 | Where-Object Result -eq 'FAIL' | Measure-Object | Select-Object Count
"Fixed in {0:N0} minutes" -f $timer.Elapsed.TotalMinutes

You’ll see something like this at the end:

Count
-----
    0

Fixed in 7 minutes

Do one drill a day for two weeks and say every step out loud as you go. Live troubleshooting rounds feel very different when you’ve done it twenty times.

✅ Checkpoint: You fixed a random fault and recorded the time.

4Map your lab to the AZ-802 skills

Save this table and mark your confidence for each area from 1 to 5:

$skills = @(
    [pscustomobject]@{ Area = 'Deploy and manage AD DS';                  Weight = '20-25%'; Lessons = '10-13, 31-35' }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Area = 'Manage Windows Server in a hybrid setup';  Weight = '10-15%'; Lessons = '6, 7, 27, 40' }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Area = 'Manage virtual machines';                  Weight = '10-15%'; Lessons = '28-30' }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Area = 'Networking infrastructure';                Weight = '10-15%'; Lessons = '9, 14, 15, 26' }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Area = 'Storage and file services';                Weight = '15-20%'; Lessons = '16, 17, 36, 41' }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Area = 'Secure Windows Server';                    Weight = '10-15%'; Lessons = '21-24, 34' }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Area = 'Monitor and troubleshoot';                 Weight = '15-20%'; Lessons = '37-39, 42-52' }
)
$skills | Export-Csv C:\Lab\az802-plan.csv -NoTypeInformation
$skills | Format-Table -AutoSize

You should see this:

Area                                    Weight Lessons
----                                    ------ -------
Deploy and manage AD DS                 20-25% 10-13, 31-35
Manage Windows Server in a hybrid setup 10-15% 6, 7, 27, 40
Manage virtual machines                 10-15% 28-30
Networking infrastructure               10-15% 9, 14, 15, 26
Storage and file services               15-20% 16, 17, 36, 41
Secure Windows Server                   10-15% 21-24, 34
Monitor and troubleshoot                15-20% 37-39, 42-52

The weights come from Microsoft’s AZ-802 study guide. Hybrid topics (Azure Arc, Azure File Sync, Azure Monitor and similar) appear across several areas, so add Microsoft Learn’s AZ-802 learning paths for the Azure parts this course only introduced.

✅ Checkpoint: C:\Lab\az802-plan.csv lists the seven skill areas with weights and lessons.

5Write three STAR stories

Save a story file you can practise from:

$stories = @'
STORY 1 - Replication stopped (Lesson 53)
S: In my lab, changes made on the branch DC weren't reaching HQ.
T: Restore replication without losing changes.
A: repadmin /replicate showed error 8456; repadmin /options showed DISABLE_OUTBOUND_REPL on DC02. Removed it, ran /syncall, checked a test user on both DCs.
R: Replication healthy in 10 minutes; added a daily replsummary check.

STORY 2 - Pick one from Lessons 42-52
STORY 3 - Pick one from Lessons 36-41
'@
$stories | Set-Content C:\Lab\star-stories.txt
(Get-Content C:\Lab\star-stories.txt).Count

You should see this:

8

Be honest that these come from your lab. Interviewers respect a candidate who built and broke a real environment, explains it clearly, and doesn’t pretend it was production.

✅ Checkpoint: C:\Lab\star-stories.txt has your first STAR story and two more to write.