Tag: Windows

For the home lab: free toolkit from Veeam, Starwind and 5nine!

This is a little cool gem I discovered today: a free toolkit made available by Veeam, Starwind and 5nine software. This toolkit enables anyone to get started with virtualization, completely free. And even better, it’s very well known and high-quality stuff, too.

The most affordable toolkit to meet your goals!

There is no better way to start virtualizing than with a FREE Microsoft Hyper-V environment, free backup, free virtual storage and free management software!
With this free toolkit, you can create your own test lab, run a small business or even scale your production environment up to 1,000 VMs. It’s a FREE way to virtualize!

The toolkit consists of the following software:

Screen-Shot-2014-06-23-at-16.54.08-630x152

  1. Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 R2
    Free Hypervisor with all the functionality of it’s ‘big brother’, Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V
  2. Veeam Backup & Replication
    Effective and easy-to-use tool for Hyper-V backup
  3. StarWind Virtual SAN
    Reliable shared storage with unlimited storage capacity for a single-node device
  4. 5nine Manager
    Simple and easy-to-use Graphical User Interface, local or remote, to manage Hyper-V virtual machines

Now obviously, since it’s a free bundle, the contained software will be free editions with limited functionality. But for in a lab, or when you’re just getting started with virtualization, it might be very cost-effective.

Screen-Shot-2014-06-23-at-16.54.16-630x163

Finally, here’s the evaluation guides for each of the products.

  1. Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
  2. Veeam Backup Free Edition
  3. StarWind Virtual SAN
  4. 5nine Manager Free Edition

I think this is a good way to show the world what each of the products have in store, especially now with Hyper-V’s ecosystem evolving and maturing and having vendors like Veeam, Starwind and 5nine integrate not only with the hypervisor, but with each other, too!

Thnx to JOEP PISCAER

Exchange Shared Cache Service restarts frequently in Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 5

After you install Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 5, your monitoring solution indicates that the Microsoft Exchange Shared Cache Service restarts frequently.

This problem occurs because the managed availability probes that monitor this service have a time-out value that is too sensitive for standard operation. This causes the managed availability process to restart the service.

As of Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 5, this notice and the frequent restarts of the managed availability process are considered not to be a concern.
Therefore, you can safely ignore the problem.

Microsoft has published a Windows PowerShell script that you can use to disable the probes to prevent the Exchange Shared Cache service from restarting.

Download the script.

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

Important Hotfixes when running Exchange 2013 on Server 2008 R2 and Server 2012

Additional pre-reqs needed above and beyond Exchange requirements
.NET Framework 4.5.1 deployed on all Exchange servers with CAS role
If .NET Framework 4.5.1 cannot be installed, a hotfix for .NET Framework 4.5 is required

KB2745583 – Windows Server 2012 Download
KB2745582 – Windows Server 2008 R2 Download

Decreases CPU spent in .NET garbage collector
Benefits Mailbox & multi-role
Enable by installing hotfix and setting regkey:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\DisableRetStructPinning (REG_DWORD) = 1

A hotfix is now available for Windows Server 2012

Adds two control codes to determine which node owns the GUM lock and which node(s) is/are stuck

KB2779069

Script Browser for Windows PowerShell ISE

Script Browser for Windows PowerShell ISE enables you to search for over 9000 script samples in the TechNet Script Center from within the scripting environment.

image

Download

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.

Server 2012 R2 Update & Windows 8.1 Update (KB2919355) direct download links

Server 2012 R2 Update & Windows 8.1 Update is a cumulative set of security updates, critical updates and updates.

Windows 8.1 Update for x86 (KB2919355)

Windows 8.1 Update for x64 (KB2919355)

Windows Server 2012 R2 Update (KB2919355)

Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter 2.0

    Microsoft® Virtual Machine Converter (MVMC) is a Microsoft-supported, stand-alone solution for the information technology (IT) pro or solution provider who wants to convert virtual machines and disks from VMware hosts to Hyper-V® hosts and Windows Azure™.
    MVMC can be deployed with minimal dependencies. Because MVMC provides native support for Windows PowerShell®, it enables scripting and integration with data center automation workflows such as those authored and run within Microsoft System Center Orchestrator 2012 R2. It can also be invoked through the Windows PowerShell® command-line interface. The solution is simple to download, install, and use. In addition to the Windows PowerShell capability, MVMC provides a wizard-driven GUI to facilitate virtual machine conversion.
    New Features in MVMC 2.0
    MVMC 2.0 release of MVMC includes the following new features:

    • Converts virtual disks that are attached to a VMware virtual machine to virtual hard disks (VHDs) that can be uploaded to Windows 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.
    Standard MVMC Features
    In addition to the new features previously identified, MVMC provides the following functionality:

    • 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

Exchange Server Active Directory Supportability Matrix

Operating system environment

Exchange 2013 SP1

Exchange 2013 CU2 and CU3

Exchange 2010 SP3 RU5 or later

Exchange 2010 SP2

Exchange 2007 SP3 RU13 or later

Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Active Directory servers

X

X

X

X

X

Windows Server 2012 Active Directory servers

X

X

X

X

X

Windows Server 2012 R2 Active Directory servers

X

X

X

  

X

Domain and forest functional level

Exchange 2013 SP1

Exchange 2013 CU2 and CU3

Exchange 2010 SP3 RU5 or later

Exchange 2010 SP2

Exchange 2007 SP3 RU13 or later

Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 domain functional level

X

X

X

X

X

Windows Server 2012 domain functional level

X

X

X

X

X

Windows Server 2012 R2 domain functional level

X

  

X

    

Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 forest functional level

X

X

X

X

X

Windows Server 2012 forest functional level

X

X

X

X

X

Windows Server 2012 R2 forest functional level

X

  

X

    

Windows ADK 8.1 update (for Windows 8.1 Update) is available for download:

The Windows ADK 8.1 update (for Windows 8.1 Update) is available for download:

Windows ADK 8.1 update (direct download only: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39982

You still run adksetup.exe to install or download the updated ADK, but you do see that the new ADK is slightly bigger than the previous kit. The Patches folder content also have a higher version number. The October 18, 2013 release of Windows 8.1 ADK had a folder named 8.100.26020, but the April 2, 2014 release of Windows 8.1 ADK have 8.100.26629.

New features in ADK 8.1 are the WIMBoot option, updates to dism, updates to WinRE and a new WinPE version (5.1). There are also fixes for USMT.

Important Change:
DISM: Does not support Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 images.

More info about the changes here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn247001.aspx

Info on updating WinPE 5.0 to WinPE 5.1: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn613859.aspx

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