MDT 2012 Update 1 Beta 1

The Microsoft Deployment Toolkit team is pleased to announce that Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012 Update 1 Beta 1 is now available for download!

Download MDT 2012 Update 1 Beta 1 now!

Download the latest release to stay up-to-date on your deployment needs. New features and enhancements make large-scale desktop and server deployments smoother than ever!

This release expands your deployment capabilities with support for the latest software releases, including Windows 8 Release Preview, Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate, and System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 Community Technology Preview. Other notable new features include:

  • Support for using the DaRT 8 Beta with the Windows 8 Release Preview version of the Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK).
  • New "Build Your Own Pages" support for User-Driven Installation (UDI), enabling IT pros to create new wizard panes using simple drag-and-drop operations – no coding required.
  • Integration with System Center Orchestrator, enabling task sequences to invoke Orchestrator runbooks at any point in the deployment process.
  • Completely reworked "Roles and Features" logic, supporting both installation and removal, as well as providing a new Lite Touch wizard pane for selecting roles and features to install at deploy time.
  • Support for PowerShell 3.0 to make it easier to run PowerShell scripts inside task sequences on Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, and Windows PE 4.0.
  • Simple monitoring functionality for Configuration Manager task sequences, leveraging the monitoring capabilities provided initially in MDT 2012 for Lite Touch deployments.
  • Improved "boot from VHD" deployment capabilities, supporting both bare metal and refresh deployments.

System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 CTP2 available

This Community Technology Preview (“CTP2”) enables System Center customers to jointly evaluate System Center 2012 and Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate. CTP2 includes updates and enhancements to the following System Center 2012 components:

  • Virtual Machine Manager
    • Improved Support for Network Virtualization
    • Extend the VMM console with Add-ins
    • Support for Windows Standards-Based Storage Management Service, thin provisioning of logical units and discovery of SAS storage
    • Ability to convert VHD to VHDX, use VHDX as base Operating System image
  • Configuration Manager
    • Support for Windows 8
    • Support for Mac OS clients
    • Support for Linux and Unix servers
  • Data Protection Manager
    • Improved backup performance of Hyper-V over CSV 2.0
    • Protection for Hyper-V over remote SMB share
    • Protection for Windows Server 2012 de-duplicated volumes
    • Uninterrupted protection for VM live migration
  • App Controller
    • Service Provider Foundation API to create and operate Virtual Machines
    • Support for Azure VM; migrate VHDs from VMM to Windows Azure, manage from on-premise System Center
  • Operations Manager
    • Support for IIS 8
    • Monitoring of WCF, MVC and .NET NT services
    • Azure SDK support
  • Orchestrator
    • Additional support for Integration Packs, including 3rd party
    • Manage VMM self-service User Roles
    • Manage multiple VMM ‘stamps’ (scale units), aggregate results from multiple stamps
    • Integration with App Controller to consume Hosted clouds
  • Service Manager
    • Apply price sheets to VMM clouds
    • Create chargeback reports
    • Pivot by cost center, VMM clouds, Pricesheets
  • Server App-V
    • Support for applications that create scheduled tasks during packaging
    • Create virtual application packages from applications installed remotely on native server

You can get the System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 CTP2 Downloads here:

Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate Build 8400 in VMware Workstation Technology Preview 2012

This procedure describes how to install Windows Server 2012 in VMware Workstation. The following versions are used:

  • VMware Workstation Technology Preview 2012 e.x.p Build-646643
  • Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate Datacenter Build 8400

In VMware Workstation Technology Preview 2012 create a new VM with the following settings:

  • New Virtual Machine
  • Custom (advanced)
  • Workstation Tech Preview
  • Select “I will install the operating system later”
  • Select “Microsoft Windows” and select as version “Windows 8 x64”
  • Set the Name and Location
  • Minimal 1 processor, 1 core
  • 2048 MB memory
  • Select “Use network address translation (NAT)”
  • Select “LSI Logic SAS”
  • Create a new virtual disk
  • SCSI
  • 60 GB disk size
  • Leave default disk file
  • Finish
  • After the VM is created, edit virtual Machine settings and browse for the Windows Server 2012 ISO in the the CD/DVD option

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Edit the VMX file  and add the following line to the end to of the VMX file:

vmGenCounter.enable = FALSE

During the installation choose for the Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate (Server wit GUI)

Special thanks to my colleague Ivo Beerens

Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 2

The Exchange team released Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 2.

The list of bug fixes that I found the most interesting:

  • 2510607  "Cannot open the free/busy information" error message when you try to view folder permissions in Outlook
  • 2586828 The EdgeTransport.exe process consumes 100 percent of CPU resources on an Exchange Server 2010 Edge Transport server
  • 2633043 "There were no writeable domain controllers found in Active Directory site" error message when you run the ExBPA tool in an Exchange Server 2010 organization
  • 2647396  You cannot disable a public folder by using the "Disable-MailPublicFolder" cmdlet in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2667120 MSExchangeAutodiscoverAppPool application pool crashes on an Exchange Server 2010 Client Access server when you try to view the free/busy information about a user in a trusted domain
  • 2671128  RPC Client Access Cross-Site connectivity issues occur in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2674185 MAPI_E_CALL_FAILED errors occur when a MAPI application that uses the MAPI function in Outlook 2007 MAPI or in Outlook 2010 tries to access an Exchange Server 2010 server
  • 2674445 cannot change the access permissions of a Calendar folder in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2682047 You cannot access a mailbox for several hours after you disconnect and then reconnect the mailbox in an Exchange Server 2010 SP2 environment
  • 2695836 You cannot move a mailbox in an Exchange Server 2010 environment that has a message size limit configured
  • 2698960 You cannot move some users’ mailboxes from one Exchange Server 2010 mailbox database to another
  • 2705647 A user cannot log on to a mailbox that is full by using Outlook Web App in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2706523 You cannot create a mailbox or mail-enable a mailbox for a disabled user account in an Exchange Server 2010 environment.

See KB2685289 Description of Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 2 for full info.

Download File: Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 2

Windows Server 8 Beta Active Directory install in Workstation 2012 Tech Preview

Some days ago I was installing Windows Server 8 aka 2012 in Workstation 2012 Tech Preview. I used the default settings where I choise for Windows 8 x64 as version.
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I have used these VMs with the VMware Tools from the TechPreview.

As soon as I try to install and configure the Active Director Domain Services, the VM needs to reboot. Once it has rebooted, it goes in a blank screen, and there is nothing I can do. Workstation thinks the VM is running, but there is no response via the GUI in the VM, no response to ping traffic to the VM or RDP.

Solution:
Downgrade from Workstation TP2012 hardware to Workstation 8 hardware and to select Windows 2008 R2 as the guest OS Knipogende emoticon
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Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012 – RTM

A couple of hours ago, Microsoft released MDT 2012

In contains numerous bug fixes as well as support for SCCM 2007 and SCCM 2012.

Improvements for All MDT Technologies

The MDT improvements that affect all MDT technologies, which are discussed in a subsequent section, are as follows:

  • Support for upgrading from previous versions of MDT
  • Integration with security and compliance templates generated by Microsoft Security Compliance Manager (SCM) version 2.0
  • Run Windows PowerShell™ scripts within an MDT task sequence
  • Create partitions to support best practice recommendations for deployment of BitLocker® Drive Encryption
  • Automatically configure participation in the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) and Windows Error Reporting (WER)
  • Guidance that describes how to use Microsoft SQL Server® 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) for all database needs within MDT
Improvements for LTI Deployments

MDT includes the following improvements for LTI deployments:

  • Support for Windows 8 Consumer Preview and Windows Server 8 Beta. Note: The deployment of Windows Server 8 Beta roles and features using the Install Roles and Features task sequence action is not supported.
  • Support for the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK). Note: Currently, the Windows ADK is only supported for deploying Windows 8 Consumer Preview or Windows 7 in lab environments, not in production environments.

Windows ADK requires the Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.0. If not already installed, the Windows ADK installation installs the Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.0. For more information, see Introduction to the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit.

  • Monitoring of LTI deployment process. MDT includes the new LTI monitoring feature that allows you to perform centralized monitoring of LTI deployments in the Monitoring node in the Deployment Workbench.
  • Deployment of Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE). Windows RE helps users troubleshoot and recover from startup-related problems on their computers.
  • Deployment of Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolkit (DaRT).
  • Deployment to computers that use the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI).
  • Deployment to computers that require the new globally unique identifier (GUID) Partition Table (GPT) format.
  • Deployment to virtual hard disks (VHDs) for native boot.
  • Support for Windows Thin PC.
  • Support for Windows Embedded POSReady 7.
  • Add local administrator accounts.
  • Deployment Wizard user experience improvements.
Improvements for Configuration Manager Deployments

MDT includes the following improvements for MDT deployments with Configuration Manager 2012 or Configuration Manager 2007 R3:

  • Support for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager. MDT includes support for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager for ZTI and UDI deployments
  • Support for new application model in Configuration Manager 2012.
  • Support for the user device affinity feature in Configuration Manager 2012.
  • Support for prestart command files.
  • Support for automatically starting a specific task sequence.
  • UDI Wizard user experience improvements.
  • The UDI Wizard has been completely revised to improve user experience.
  • UDI Wizard Designer user experience improvements.
  • The UDI Wizard Designer UI has been improved to make configuring the UDI Wizard even easier than previous versions.
  • Support for enabling BitLocker in UDI.
  • Support for MDT Replace Computer deployment scenario.
  • Localization of UDI Wizard.
  • Guidance for customizing UDI.
  • Upgrade tasks sequences created in Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012.
  • Guidance for Configuration Manager 2007 R3.

Read more and download it from here 

Special thanks to Mikael Nystrom

VMware Workstation 2012 TechPreview

What’s new for Workstation?

  • Installation and operation of VMware Workstation on Windows 8 and Windows Server 8
  • Installation and operation of Windows 8 consumer preview and Windows Server 8 in a virtual machine
  • Rendering and graphics correctness issues on all platforms and applications
  • Linux 3D desktop experience, particularly when using the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Beta
  • Linux 3D application graphics correctness and performance
  • Stability in real-world scenarios including suspend/resume and display and device support
  • Nested Virtualization – running ESX and even trying Hyper-V* as a guest OS
  • VNC connection performance and stability

Download

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012 RC1

The Solution Accelerators team released Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012 RC1 is available for download on Connect now.

Download the MDT 2012 RC1 release now

New features and enhancements:

Support for Configuration Manager 2012 RC2: This update provides support for Configuration Manager 2012 RC2 releases. MDT 2012 fully leverages the capabilities provided by Configuration Manager 2012 for OS deployment. The latest version of MDT offers new User-Driven Installation components and extensibility for Configuration Manager 2007 and 2012. Users now also have the ability to migrate MDT 2012 task sequences from Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012.

Customize deployment questions: For System Center Configuration Manager customers, MDT 2012 provides an improved, extensible wizard and designer for customizing deployment questions.

Ease Lite Touch installation: The Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolkit (DaRT) is now integrated with Lite Touch Installation, providing remote control and diagnostics. New monitoring capabilities are available to check on the status of currently running deployments. LTI now has an improved deployment wizard user experience. Enhanced partitioning support ensures that deployments work regardless of the current structure.

Secure Deployments: MDT 2012 offers integration with the Microsoft Security Compliance Manager (SCM) tool to ensure a secure Windows deployment from the start.

Reliability and flexibility: Existing MDT users will find more reliability and flexibility with the many small enhancements and bug fixes and a smooth and simple upgrade process.

Support for Windows 8: The RC1 release of MDT 2012 provides support for deploying Windows 8 Consumer Preview in a lab environment.

Key Benefits:

  • Full use of the capabilities provided by System Center Configuration Manager 2012 for OS deployment.
  • Improved Lite Touch user experience and functionality.
  • A smooth and simple upgrade process for all existing MDT users.

New Features:

For System Center Configuration Manager customers:

  • Support for Configuration Manager 2012 (while still supporting Configuration Manager 2007)
  • New User-Driven Installation components for Configuration Manager 2007 and Configuration Manager 2012
    • Extensible wizard and designer, additional integration with Configuration Manager to deliver a more customized OS experience, support for more imaging scenarios, and an enhanced end-user deployment experience
  • Ability to migrate MDT 2012 task sequences from Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012

For Lite Touch Installation:

  • Integration with the Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolkit (DaRT) for remote control and diagnostics
  • New monitoring capabilities to see the progress of currently running deployments
  • Support for deploying Windows to computers using UEFIAbility to deploy Windows 7 so that the computer will start from a new VHD file, "Deploy to VHD"
  • Improved deployment wizard user experience

For all customers:

  • Integration with configuration templates from the Security Compliance Manager Solution Accelerator, ensuring Windows is secure from the start
  • A simple mechanism for running Windows PowerShell scripts during a deployment, with task sequence environment and logging integration
  • Better partitioning support, creating the recommended partitioning structures on new computers and ensuring deployments work regardless of the current structure
  • A smooth and simple upgrade process for all existing MDT users
  • Many small enhancements and bug fixes

Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2010 SP2

The Exchange Team released Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2010 SP2.

It’s a long list with issues that are fixed in this rollup:

  • 2465015 You cannot view or download an image on a Windows Mobile-based device that is synchronized with an Exchange Server 2010 mailbox
  • 2492066 An automatic reply message is still sent after you clear the "Allow automatic replies" check box for a remote domain on an Exchange Server 2010 server
  • 2492082 An Outlook 2003 user cannot view the free/busy information of a resource mailbox in a mixed Exchange Server 2010 and Exchange Server 2007 environment
  • 2543850 A GAL related client-only message rule does not take effect in Outlook in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2545231 Users in a source forest cannot view the free/busy information of mailboxes in a target forest in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2549255 A meeting item displays incorrectly as multiple all-day events when you synchronize a mobile device on an Exchange Server 2010 mailbox
  • 2549286 Inline contents disposition is removed when you send a "Content-Disposition: inline" email message in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2556113 It takes a long time for a user to download an OAB in an Exchange Server 2010 organization
  • 2557323 Problems when viewing an Exchange Server 2003 user’s free/busy information in a mixed Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2563245 A user who has a linked mailbox cannot use a new profile to access another linked mailbox in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2579051 You cannot move certain mailboxes from an Exchange Server 2003 server to an Exchange Server 2010 server
  • 2579982 You cannot view the message delivery report of a signed email message by using Outlook or OWA in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2585649  The StartDagServerMaintenance.ps1 script fails in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2588121 You cannot manage a mail-enabled public folder in a mixed Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2589982 The cmdlet extension agent cannot process multiple objects in a pipeline in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2591572 "Junk e-mail validation error" error message when you manage the junk email rule for a user’s mailbox in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2593011 Warning 2074 and Error 2153 are logged on DAG member servers in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2598985 You cannot move a mailbox from a remote legacy Exchange forest to an Exchange Server 2010 forest
  • 2599434 Public Folder Calendar folder is missing in the Public Folder Favorites list of an Exchange Server 2010 mailbox
  • 2599663 The Exchange RPC Client Access service crashes when you send an email message in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2600034 A user can still open an IRM-protected email message after you remove the user from the associated AD RMS rights policy template in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2600289 A user in an exclusive scope cannot manage his mailbox in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2600943 EMC takes a long time to return results when you manage full access permissions in an Exchange Server 2010 organization that has many users
  • 2601483 "Can’t open this item" error message when you use Outlook 2003 in online mode in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2604039 The MSExchangeMailboxAssistants.exe process crashes frequently after you move mailboxes that contain IRM-protect email messages to an Exchange Server 2010 SP1 mailbox server
  • 2604713 ECP crashes when a RBAC role assignee tries to manage another user’s mailbox by using ECP in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2614698  A display name that contains DBCS characters is corrupted in the "Sent Items" folder in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2616124 Empty message body when replying to a saved message file in an Exchange Server 2010 SP1 environment
  • 2616230 IMAP4 clients cannot log on to Exchange Server 2003 servers when the Exchange Server 2010 Client Access server is used to handle proxy requests
  • 2616361 Multi-Mailbox Search fails if the MemberOfGroup property is used for the management scope in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2616365 Event ID 4999 when the Store.exe process crashes on an Exchange Server 2010 mailbox server
  • 2619237 Event ID 4999 when the Exchange Mailbox Assistants service crashes in Exchange 2010
  • 2620361 An encrypted or digitally-signed message cannot be printed when S/MIME control is installed in OWA in an Exchange Server 2010 SP1 environment
  • 2620441 Stop-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup or Start-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup cmdlet fails when run together with the DomainController parameter in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2621266 An Exchange Server 2010 database store grows unexpectedly large
  • 2621403 "None" recipient status in Outlook when a recipient responds to a meeting request in a short period of time in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2628154 "The action couldn’t be completed. Please try again." error message when you use OWA to perform an AQS search that contains "Sent" or "Received" in an Exchange Server 2010 SP1 environment
  • 2628622 The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service crashes in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2628693 Multi-Mailbox Search fails if you specify multiple users in the "Message To or From Specific E-Mail Addresses" option in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2629713 Incorrect number of items for each keyword when you search for multiple keywords in mailboxes in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2629777  The Microsoft Exchange Replication service crashes on Exchange Server 2010 DAG members
  • 2630708  A UM auto attendant times out and generates an invalid extension number error message in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2630967A journal report is not sent to a journaling mailbox when you use journaling rules on distribution groups in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2632206 Message items rescanned in the background in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2633044 The Number of Items in Retry Table counter displays an incorrect value that causes SCOM alerts in an Exchange Server 2010 SP1 organization
  • 2639150 The MSExchangeSyncAppPool application pool crashes in a mixed Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2640218 The hierarchy of a new public folder database does not replicate on an Exchange Server 2010 SP1 server
  • 2641077 The hierarchy of a new public folder database does not replicate on an Exchange Server 2010 SP1 server
  • 2642189 The RPC Client Access service may crash when you import a .pst file by using the New-MailboxImportRequest cmdlet in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2643950 A seed operation might not succeed when the source mailbox database has many log files in a Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 DAG
  • 2644047 Active Directory schema attributes are cleared after you disable a user’s mailbox in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2644264 Disabling or removing a mailbox fails in an Exchange Server 2010 environment that has Office Communications Server 2007, Office Communications Server 2007 R2 or Lync Server 2010 deployed
  • 2648682 An email message body is garbled when you save or send the email message in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2649727 Client Access servers cannot serve other Mailbox servers when a Mailbox server encounters a problem in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2649734 Mailbox replication latency may occur when users perform a Multi-Mailbox Search function against a DAG in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • 2649735 Warning of undefined recipient type of a user after the linked mailbox is moved from an Exchange Server 2007 forest to an Exchange Server 2010 forest
  • 2652849 The MailboxCountQuota policy is not enforced correctly in an Exchange Server 2010 hosting mode
  • 2665115 Event ID 4999 is logged on an Exchange Server 2010 Client Access server (CAS)

Download the rollup at HERE

Public Folder Migration from Exchange 2003 or 2007 to Exchange 2010

Step 1: Replicating Exchange 2003 or 2007  PF’s to Exchange 2010

Add PF replica’s to an Exchange 2010 Server:

.\AddReplicaToPFRecursive.ps1 -server "Exchange 2003/2007 Server" -TopPublicFolder "\" -ServerToAdd "Exchange 2010 Server"

Replicate the System Folders to an Exchange 2010 Server:

.\AddReplicaToPFRecursive.ps1 -TopPublicFolder "\NON_IPM_Subtree" -ServerToAdd "exchange2010 server”

If you are planning to have multiple Exchange 2010 PF servers, you can repeat the Cmdlet

From the Exchange 2010 server: Update-PublicFolderHierarchy -Server "Exchange 2010 Server"

Step 2: Moving Exchange 2003/2007 PF’s to Exchange 2010

As a last step, after you confirmed that all the PF have been replicated to the Exchange 2010, you can move all replicas from Exchange 2003/2007 to Exchange 2010. The "move all replicas" will actually remove the Exchange 2003/2007 replicas.

To move all Exchange 2003/2007 replicas to Exchange 2010, which will actually remove the Exchange 2003/2007 replicas:

.\MoveAllReplicas.ps1 -Server "Exchange 2003 Server" -NewServer "Exchange 2010 Server"

Additional Cmdlets

To view a list of the replicas in the public folder hierarchy: Get-PublicFolder -recurse |fl name,replicas

For System Folders: Get-PublicFolder -recurse \non_ipm_subtree |fl name, replicas

To compare content replicated between the source and destination servers: Get-PublicFolderStatistics

Reference

Move Public Folder Content from One Public Folder Database to Another Public Folder Database – http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb331970.aspx

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