Tag: Deployment

Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter 3.0 Released

New Features in Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter 3.0
The 3.0 release of MVMC adds the ability to convert a physical computer running Windows Server 2008 or above server operating systems or Windows Vista or above client operating systems to a virtual machine running on Hyper-V host.

Standard stuff is:

  • Converts virtual disks that are attached to a VMware virtual machine to virtual hard disks (VHDs) that can be uploaded to Microsoft Azure.
  • Provides native Windows PowerShell capability that enables scripting and integration into IT automation workflows.
    Note The command-line interface (CLI) in MVMC 1.0 has been replaced by Windows PowerShell in MVMC 2.0.
  • Supports conversion and provisioning of Linux-based guest operating systems from VMware hosts to Hyper-V hosts.
  • Supports conversion of offline virtual machines.
  • Supports the new virtual hard disk format (VHDX) when converting and provisioning in Hyper-V in Windows Server® 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012.
  • Supports conversion of virtual machines from VMware vSphere 5.5, VMware vSphere 5.1, and VMware vSphere 4.1 hosts Hyper-V virtual machines.
  • Supports Windows Server® 2012 R2, Windows Server® 2012, and Windows® 8 as guest operating systems that you can select for conversion.
  • Converts and deploys virtual machines from VMware hosts to Hyper-V hosts on any of the following operating systems:
  • Windows Server® 2012 R2
  • Windows Server® 2012
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
  • Converts VMware virtual machines, virtual disks, and configurations for memory, virtual processor, and other virtual computing resources from the source to Hyper-V.
  • Adds virtual network interface cards (NICs) to the converted virtual machine on Hyper-V.
  • Supports conversion of virtual machines from VMware vSphere 5.5, VMware vSphere 5.0, and VMware vSphere 4.1 hosts to Hyper-V.
  • Has a wizard-driven GUI, which simplifies performing virtual machine conversions.
  • Uninstalls VMware Tools before online conversion (online only) to provide a clean way to migrate VMware-based virtual machines to Hyper-V.
    Important MVMC takes a snapshot of the virtual machine that you are converting before you uninstall VMware Tools, and then shuts down the source machine to preserve state during conversion. The virtual machine is restored to its previous state after the source disks that are attached to the virtual machine are successfully copied to the machine where the conversion process is run. At that point, the source machine in VMware can be turned on, if required.
    Important MVMC does not uninstall VMware Tools in an offline conversion. Instead, it disables VMware services, drivers, and programs only for Windows Server guest operating systems. For file conversions with Linux guest operating systems, VMware Tools are not disabled or uninstalled. We highly recommend that you manually uninstall VMware Tools when you convert an offline virtual machine.
  • Supports Windows Server and Linux guest operating system conversion. For more details, see the section “Supported Configurations for Virtual Machine Conversion” in this guide.
  • Includes Windows PowerShell capability for offline conversions of VMware-based virtual hard disks (VMDK) to a Hyper-V–based virtual hard disk file format (.vhd file).
    Note The offline disk conversion does not include driver fixes.

Download

Source

Hyper-V Configuration Toolkit

Mark Scholman has been working on a new script project to configure Hyper-V hosts.

This tool allows you to configure hyper-v hosts. It is using the converged network setup as described in this blog post. What it does is the following:

  • Rename Adapters
  • Create Teams
  • Create Tnics
  • Set Network Config (MGT,LM,CSV)
  • Join Server to the Domain
  • Create a server-local administrators group in the domain
  • Allows you to create a new or join an existing cluster
  • Configure Cluster network names
  • Configure Cluster Live migration subnet

On the to-do list is the following and will be added with upcoming releases:

  • Configure Storage network (iSCSI & SMB3)
  • Use of different topologies for converged networking as described here
  • Using Jea or PSCustomSessionConfiguration for deployment of Hyper-V hosts

How to use the tool:

On the newly provisioned Hyper-V Server start the Deploy-HyperVHost.ps1. On the Configure Nic’s tab select the adapters you want to use for Management (MGT / LM / CSV) and click “Set Management Adapters”:

Notice the list box will refresh with the new names for the adapters. Next select the adapters you want to use for VM Network and click “Set VMNet Adapters”

Finally configure Storage adapters:

Result is that we have configured all adapters now with a logical name we can use in the rest of the deployment:

Side note: I used 2 adapters for each team configuration, but you can use for example 3 adapters or 4 adapters for Management and 2 or 3 for the VMNet. The script is intelligent on using the logical names and reusing them in the Team setup.

Next part is to setup the host parameters and start the deployment of the host. Go to the tab “Configure host”

We need to specify the next parameters:
Host Name
The name of the server.
Domain Name
The domain to join the server to.
Management IP
The ip address for the management interface.
Management VLAN
If you’re using vlans specify the vlan id. Untagged is vlan 1.
Management gateway
The gateway for the management network.
Live Migration IP
The ip address for live migration (LM) communication
Live Migration VLAN
The VLAN id used for the LM network.
CSV IP
Cluster IP Address.
CSV VLAN
Cluster VLAN ID.
Primary DNS
The Primary DNS server to use for management network.
Secondary DNS (optional)
If applicable: The second DNS server for the management network.
Domain Controller Name
The Name of a Domain Controller. (needs remote Powershell enabled)
Local Admin Group Name (optional)
Name of a Domain group what is configured to be Local Administrator on the host
Group OU Path (optional)
The OU DN where the group needs to be created.
LAB: Build HyperV on HyperV

Used for demo purposes when you want to run this tool in a Hyper-V Virtual Machine. (Team settings and Hyper-V Role modification in the VM)

Next click on the “Deploy Host” button and enter domain admin credentials

Now wait until the server automatically reboots. While server is rebooting you can verify that the computer is in the domain and the local group is created:

When the server is rebooted login as the domain admin and start the Deployment tool again.

The last tab is for Configure the Cluster. You can create a new cluster:

Or add the node to an existing cluster:

Download the script http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Hyper-V-Deployment-Tool-419679d3

Important update available for Exchange Server 2013 hybrid deployments

An important update is now available to resolve issues customers are currently experiencing when using the Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) to create a new or manage an existing hybrid deployment with Microsoft Exchange Server 2013.

If you currently have an Exchange 2013-based hybrid deployment configured, you will not notice any issues unless you rerun the HCW as part of updating or managing your existing hybrid features. Unless you need to reconfigure your hybrid deployment, you can simply wait for the next update of Exchange Server 2013 (Cumulative Update 6) to correct this issue with the HCW.

For Exchange 2013 organizations creating new or managing an existing hybrid configuration with the HCW, the following HCW error message indicates you are experiencing the issue this update addresses:

Subtask CheckPrereqs execution failed: Check Tenant Prerequisites Deserialization fails due to one SerializationException: Microsoft.Exchange.Compliance.Serialization.Formatters.BlockedTypeException: The type to be (de)serialized is not allowed: Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.DirectoryBackendType

If you experience this issue, contact Microsoft support to obtain the fix as documented in KB2988229. This fix requires Exchange Server 2013 Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Cumulative Update 5 (CU5).

Once the Interim Update (IU) is applied, customers can successfully run the HCW and complete configuring a hybrid deployment with Office 365.

Exchange Tools

Here I’ll share some free tools that can help simplify Microsoft Exchange deployment, troubleshooting, and administration. Some of the tools are simple—but still convenient—whereas others provide some powerful functionality.

There are some tools you can use during deployment to ease the process and reduce issues in the future, tools you can use for troubleshooting to reduce down-times, and tools you can use during day-to-day administration to monitor server health and perform tasks.

Microsoft Exchange Server Deployment Assistant

Microsoft’s Exchange Server Deployment Assistant is an online tool that produces a custom step-by-step checklist you can utilize during a server installation or upgrade. It first asks you questions about your current and desired deployment environment, such as the deployment type (on-premise, cloud, or hybrid), migration questions, desired features/functionality, and other miscellaneous caveats that impact the installation or upgrade.

Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer

Microsoft’s Remote Connectivity Analyzer is a website with many tools to help test and troubleshoot connectively of Exchange servers, Outlook, Lync, OCS, Office 365, and POP, IMAP, and STMP email. Plus it offers downloadable Connectivity Analyzer Tools for local testing and a message header analyzer.

PFDAVAdmin and ExFolders
These are tools that enable you to perform tasks on Exchange public folders and mailboxes, such as checking or changing permissions. It can also connect to mailboxes, check the contents, and generate reports. PFDAVAdmin is for Exchange 2000, 2003, and 2007 and ExFolders is the updated version for Exchange 2007 and 2010 SP1 and later.

Jetstress

The Jetstress tool simulates disk I/O load on your server, allowing you to specify the amount of simulated Exchange users and profiles. This can help you verify the performance and stability of your server before installing Exchange and putting it into production-use.

Exchange Server Role Requirements Calculators

These are calculator tools that give sizing recommendations for your particular Exchange server roles for both client access and mailbox. The 2010 version is focused on mailbox calculations while the 2013 version includes recommendations on sizing Client Access servers too.

Exchange Environment Report

This Exchange Environment Report tool is from Steve Goodman and is a PowerShell script that generates an automatic overview of your Exchange environment. It supports Exchange 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013 servers and database availability groups. It reports the number of and details about the servers, mailboxes, roles, and versions. It also gives you useful status on the Database Availability Groups (DAG) and non-DAG databases.

Exchange Reports

Exchange Reports offers reports on overall information about your Exchange Environment, supporting Exchange 2010 & Exchange 2013. You can keep an eye on configuration changes and status with Group Reports, Single Group Information, Mailbox Report, Single Mailbox Information, Message Tracking, and Environment Report.

The program doesn’t require any installation, but requires .Net 4.0, Powershell 2.0, and Remote Powershell access to the Exchange Server. Reports can be saved in history and also exported to Excel.

Microsoft Exchange Server MAPI Editor (MFCMAPI)

Microsoft’s Microsoft Exchange Server MAPI Editor (MFCMAPI) tool provides access to MAPI stores, useful when troubleshooting Exchange and Outlook issues, which can serve as a replacement to the old Microsoft Exchange Server Information Store Viewer. You can open and navigate through the message stores that are exposed through MAPI.

Free Exchange Monitor

The Free Exchange Monitor from SolarWinds supports Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 and 2003. It keeps tabs on the Exchange server stats, services, mail queue sizes, and host server health. In addition to notifying you of outages it can be useful in troubleshooting Exchange server problems and even help with pro-active monitoring, for instance detecting growing mail queues that can indicate bigger issues like transport failures, Internet connection failures, and virus activity.

Free Exchange Monitoring

This is another monitoring application, but from ManageEngine and supports Exchange Server 2003, 2007, 2010, and 2013. It gives stats on server health and Exchange services. It also provides details on the client access server, transport, Active Sync counters, and delivery aspects. You can generate real-time performance reports to be downloaded or emailed in PDF format.

Exclaimer Outlook Photos

Exclaimer Outlook Photos can help you import staff photos into the Active Directory so they’ll show up in the Outlook People Pane, SharePoint profile, and on Microsoft Lync. It can auto-match pictures from a batch to names or other data in Active Directory, and even automatically crop and center the photos as well.

Certificate Manager for Exchange 2007

Exchange 2007 enables SSL within IIS by default, but creating and managing SSL certificates via PowerShell commands can be confusing. However, the Certificate Manager for Exchange 2007 from U-BTech eases the process with a GUI.

You can generate an Exchange 2007 Certificate Signing Request and process the Certificate Authority and enable certificates for Exchange 2007 Services (POP, IMAP, SMTP, IIS, UM). Plus you can include additional subject names in a single certificate. It supports import and exporting as well.

Exchange PST Capture

Exchange PST Capture from Microsoft will search your network for PST files and then import those files to mailboxes in your organization. It supports both on-premises Exchange Server 2010 and 2013 and Exchange Online. This tool can help, for instance, during the initial deployment of an Exchange Server, to move local Outlook data files into the Exchange Server.

LINK

Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Help Files

Microsoft has released “May 2014″ version of Exchange 2013 Help Files for On-premises and Hybrid Deployments. These help files include information up to date until Cumulative Update 5 . These are offline copy of Exchange 2013 TechNet content and very useful when you want to refer something in your lab environment and don’t have internet access.

Link to Download      : http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35395

MDT Enable TPM tools from Dell, HP, and Lenovo

If you want to automate enabling the TPM chip as part of the deployment process, you need to download the vendor tools and add them to your task sequences, either directly or in a script wrapper.

Add tools from Dell

The Dell tools are available via the Dell Client Configuration Toolkit (CCTK). The executable file from Dell is named cctk.exe. Here is a sample command to enable TPM and set a BIOS password using the cctk.exe tool:

cctk.exe --tpm=on --valsetuppwd=Password1234

Add tools from HP

The HP tools are part of HP System Software Manager. The executable file from HP is named BiosConfigUtility.exe. This utility uses a configuration file for the BIOS settings. Here is a sample command to enable TPM and set a BIOS password using the BiosConfigUtility.exe tool:

BIOSConfigUtility.EXE /SetConfig:TPMEnable.REPSET /NewAdminPassword:Password1234

And the sample content of the TPMEnable.REPSET file:

English
Activate Embedded Security On Next Boot
*Enable
Embedded Security Activation Policy
*No prompts
F1 to Boot
Allow user to reject
Embedded Security Device Availability
*Available

Add tools from Lenovo

The Lenovo tools are a set of VBScripts available as part of the “Lenovo BIOS Setup using Windows Management Instrumentation Deployment Guide.” Lenovo also provides a separate download of the scripts. Here is a sample command to enable TPM using the Lenovo tools:

cscript.exe SetConfig.vbs SecurityChip Active

Windows 8.1 Update (KB 2919355) prevents interaction with WSUS 3.2 over SSL

There is a known issue which causes some PCs updated with the Windows 8.1 Update (KB 2919355) to stop scanning against Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Service Pack 2 (WSUS 3.0 SP2 or WSUS 3.2) servers which are configured to use SSL and have not enabled TLS 1.2.

Issue Description

The problem is specific to the following scenario when all of the following are true

  1. Client PC has installed Windows 8.1 Update KB 2919355
  2. Windows 8.1 with Windows 8.1 Update KB 2919355 attempts to scan against WSUS 3.2 running on any affected platform:
    • Windows Server 2003 SP2, or
    • Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2, or
    • Windows Server 2008 SP2, or
    • Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
  3. HTTPS and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) are enabled on the WSUS server
  4. TLS 1.2 is not enabled on the server

Only users who have enabled HTTPS and have not enabled TLS 1.2 on their WSUS 3.2 servers and who are also using these WSUS 3.2 servers to manage PCs running the Windows 8.1 Update KB 2919355 are affected by this issue. Please note, while we do recommend the use of HTTPS on WSUS servers, HTTPS and TLS 1.2 are not enabled by default.

Workarounds

If you are using WSUS 3.2 on Windows Server 2008 R2, you may perform either of the following steps to restore the scan functionality if you have deployed the Windows 8.1 Update KB2919355.

  • Enable TLS 1.2 (follow the instructions under More Information > SCHANNEL\Protocols subkey), or
  • Disable HTTPS on WSUS

If you are using WSUS 3.2 on an operating system other than Windows Server 2008 R2, you may perform the following step to restore the scan functionality.

  • Disable HTTPS on WSUS

When Microsoft releases an update that resolves the issue, you may re-enable HTTPS on WSUS.

Microsoft plans to issue an update as soon as possible that will correct the issue and restore the proper behavior for Windows 8.1 Update KB 2919355 scanning against all supported WSUS configurations. Until that time, we are delaying the distribution of the Windows 8.1 Update KB 2919355 to WSUS servers.

You may still obtain the Windows 8.1 Update (KB 2919355) from the Windows Update Catalog or MSDN. However, we recommend that you suspend deployment of this update in your organization until we release the update that resolves this issue. You may also find the workarounds discussed in this article to be useful for testing this Windows 8.1 Update for your organization. Thank you for your patience during this time.

Cumulative Update 3 for Microsoft Exchange Server 2013

Issues that the cumulative update resolves

Cumulative Update 3 for Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 contains the fix for the security issue that is described in Security Bulletin MS13-061

(http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/bulletin/MS13-061)

and resolves the issues that are described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) articles:

  • 2865161 “Errors: Failed exporting item id: from source id” when you try to copy search results in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2866064 Can’t load OWA Premium by using Internet Explorer 11 in an Exchange Server environment

  • 2871980 Child domains are not displayed for selection when you create a mailbox by using EAC in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2874216 Security issue that is described in Security Bulletin MS13-061 is resolved by an Exchange Server update

  • 2878160 “The Active Directory user wasn’t found” error when you create or update an In-Place eDiscovery search in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2882608 Exchange Server 2013 does not share the inproxy.dll file

  • 2886115 Retention policies are not applied to Exchange Server 2013 mailboxes when user accounts are on different domains

  • 2888274 WebClientReadFormQueryString string and WebClientEditFormQueryString string return incorrect URLs in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2888315 Event 2112 or 2180 is logged when you try to back up a database in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2888612 Retention policy does not work after you run a cmdlet in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2889786 Sign-in format for Outlook Web App on mobile devices is not adjusted according to the Set-OwaVirtualDerictory cmdlet in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2890650 Items in the Drafts folder are not stamped with the retention policy tag in an Exchange Server 2010 or 2013 environment

  • 2895487 “Copy Search Results” option does not work in an Exchange server 2013 environment

  • 2895500 DBCS characters appear garbled when you run some PowerShell scripts in EMS in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2895678 “Nombre de usuario\dominio” is displayed unexpectedly on the Spanish version of the OWA and EAC logon pages in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2902929 You cannot forward an external meeting request in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2902933 “Generate incident report” does not display the “Bcc” field in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2902934 Korean language localization issue in Exchange 2013 OWA user interface

  • 2902936 You cannot change SMTP addresses for distribution groups by using EAC in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2902938 You cannot preview Office documents in shared folders by using Outlook Web App in an Exchange Server 2013 environment

  • 2902939 EMS connection error when you separately install an Exchange Server 2013 Mailbox server and a Client Access server

  • 2883203 Exchange Server 2013 restarts frequently after Cumulative Update 2 is installed

  • 2890814 No redirection to the Outlook Web App URL for Exchange Online users in an Exchange hybrid deployment

Download

Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2010 SP3

Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2010 SP3 contains the fix for the security issue that is described in Security Bulletin MS13-061

and resolves the issues that are described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) articles:

  • 2715761 “550 5.6.0” NDR when you send a yearly recurring meeting request in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2839533 RPC Client Access service freezes in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2840454 “The rules on this computer do not match the rules on Microsoft Exchange” error when you manage rules by using Outlook 2013 in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2866064 Can’t load OWA Premium by using Internet Explorer 11 in an Exchange Server environment

  • 2874070 Public folders are exposed although the user does not have rights to see the parent folders in an Exchange Server 2010 SP3 environment

  • 2878175 Client Access server crashes when you use Outlook with a Riverbed WAN optimizer in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2879320 Retention action setting is not updated in FAI items by running the Set-RetentionPolicyTag cmdlet in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2879736 Office 365 users cannot retrieve an on-premises user’s free/busy data in an Exchange Server 2010-based hybrid deployment

  • 2880153 RPC Client Access Service crashes if Outlook is in online mode in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2880290 RPC Client Access service crashes when you use Outlook in ANSI online mode in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2882467 RPC Client Access service stops if Outlook is in online mode in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2882677 BlackBerry device is not redirected in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2886469 EAS client receives status code 8 during synchronization in an on-premises Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2886567 “Objects added to a BindingSource’s list must all be of the same type” error message when you add an additional domain name in Exchange Server 2010 SP3

  • 2887574 RPC Client Access service freezes when your mailbox reaches the quota limit in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2888406 Mailbox Replication service crashes when you try to move mailboxes in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2888906 Events 1000, 4999, and 9775 are logged when Store.exe crashes on an Exchange Server 2010 SP3 Mailbox server

  • 2888911 W3wp.exe crashes when you decline a meeting request by using Outlook Web App or an EWS application in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2890650 Items in the Drafts folder are not stamped with the retention policy tag in an Exchange Server 2010 or 2013 environment

  • 2891194 Exchange ActiveSync devices are marked as “Blocked” in EMS and EMC when the devices are synchronizing with the Exchange Server 2010 server

  • 2892337 Outlook client freezes when you try to sort email folders by columns in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2893437 Delegate can read your AD RMS protected messages by using Outlook Web App in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2896304 Background image is displayed incorrectly in an email message when a disclaimer rule is enabled in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

  • 2899146 You cannot drag email messages to other folders by using Outlook Web App in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

Download

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2013 Final

Download from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40796

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2013 is a Solution Accelerator for operating system and application deployment. MDT 2013 supports deployment of Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2008 R2.
Feature Summary

  • Deploy Windows and Office with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2013. MDT is the recommended process and toolset for automating desktop and server deployment. MDT provides you with the following benefits:
  • Unified tools and processes, including a set of guidance, for deploying desktops and servers in a common deployment console.
  • Reduced deployment time and standardized desktop and server images

Some of the key changes in MDT 2013 are:

  • Support for the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) for Windows 8.1. Download final release here 
  • Support for deployment of Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2.
  • Support for System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager.
  • Improved support x86-based Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) systems.
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