Hello Readers/Viewers! Ryan Andorfer has done it again - created a great solution which you can leverage as an example to perform similar tasks… This time it is all about AUTOMATING the ability to EXPORT and CHECK-IN Runbooks from Orchestrator to Team Foundation Server. NOTE: This example solution does...

Hello Readers and Viewers! Again, it has been a while, but I hope to make it up to you with an extra-special (and extra-long) “8 Minute Demo” Video! This one is warm off the heels (okay, cold off the heels) of MMS 2012, where I presented and demonstrated some Policy to Runbook Migration Tips… I did my...

Hello Readers and Viewers! The long awaited and highly anticipated SC2012 Solution Runbook Examples are here! I mentioned them yesterday during my first Instructor-Led Lab @ MMS 2012 , and now they are available here, from my blog and CodePlex . If you happen to be attending MMS 2012, be sure to stop...

Hello Readers/Viewers! I realize that these posts have been few and far between lately, but all that is going to change during and after MMS 2012 ! (believe me, this was by design, not by laziness ;) To get this blog rolling again, albeit slowly, I wanted to let everyone know that the post I made a couple...

Hello Readers/Viewers! During a recent Microsoft Internal Event (TechReady), I realized that the CodePlex IPs that I updated for System Center 2012 Orchestrator were in fact just that, updated – not UPGRADED . Original Blog Post is here: http://blogs.technet.com/b/charlesjoy/archive/2011/11/03/orchestrator...

Hello Readers/Viewers! I know, I know, it has been quite some time since I made a "real" update to my blog, you know, something with actual content. :) After a couple days of upgrading, testing, renaming, testing some more, recompiling, documentation updating, and finally more testing the following...

Hello Readers/Viewers! I am proud to announce that the System Center Opalis Integration Server 6.3 Unleashed book is now available. For some of you this is not news, as it was actually released a couple weeks ago, this is just the first opportunity I have had to get the information on my blog. :) Some...

Hello Readers/Viewers! Today we take a look at some new functionality within the VMM Self-Service Portal 2.0 SP1 Release. BACKGROUND If you haven’t already heard, Virtual Machine Manager Self-Service Portal 2.0 SP1 was recently released. In the long list of new features , one in particular stood out...

I recently completed a project where I needed to orchestrate and automate the deployment of System Center Advisor Agents (and pre-requisites) on 228 different Host machines. PROBLEM SUMMARY: A recent configuration request required we enable System Center Advisor for a large number of Sales Demo Host...

Readers/Viewers, in the event that you have not yet heard about the release of the SC Orchestrator 2012 BETA, here it is: ***Announcing the System Center Orchestrator Beta!*** Here are some related and helpful links to accompany this announcement: Download the SC Orchestrator 2012 BETA: http://www.microsoft...

Happy Friday Readers and Viewers! I thought it was time I present you with a collection of “Advanced Workflow & Best Practice” Video Tutorials. I realize that many of you may think the timing on this is strange, given that the public SC Orchestrator 2012 Beta is due to release TODAY . Rest assured...

Good Morning Readers and Viewers! I had my head in the clouds for this installment of the 8-Minute-Demo Video Series . Today we explore Windows Azure and the Orchestrated Deployment of a Cloud Application utilizing System Center ( Opalis Integration Server and Service Manager ). VIDEO VIDEO DEMONSTRATION...

Readers/Viewers – The following is a guide to my past and current blog posts: ALL VIDEOS - YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/charlesjoyMS COMMUNITY CONTENT - CodePlex: http://opalis.codeplex.com/ and http://orchestrator.codeplex.com/ What is Opalis Integration Server / System...

I wanted to provide a quick guide to this blog for those of you new to this blog (especially those of you who have been directed to this site from one of the people at the System Center Orchestrator booth @ TENA 2011 !) :) SYSTEM CENTER ORCHESTRATOR BETA CEP SIGN-UP!!! - https://connect.microsoft.com...

Hello again Readers/Viewers, I wanted to quickly post about this very useful blog site: http://unofficialsystemcentercatalog.wordpress.com/ There are two Unofficial Catalogs available there: Opalis: “Is there an integration pack for … ?” Operations Manager: “Is there a management pack for …?” As more...

Good Morning Readers/Viewers! Today, I am happy to announce the next addition to my collection of OIS 6.3 QIK based IPs on CodePlex. As you can see from the blog title, this one is all about PowerShell. :) ORCHESTRATOR RC UPDATE (11/01/2011) CodePlex Links: Orchestrator IP for PS Script Execution (RC...

Good morning readers/viewers! Many of you have seen a preview of SC Orchestrator’s new PowerShell provider. That new functionality will allow you to invoke runbooks from a simple to use PS command line. As that feature/functionality is still a bit away, I have something else to preset to you today. The...

I recently completed a project where I needed to orchestrate and automate Windows 2008 R2 NIC settings and the iSCSI Initiator. PROBLEM SUMMARY: Recent SAN Upgrades/Modificat ions required a large number of host reconfiguration: Old iSCSI configurations removed and New iSCSI configurations applied. In...

Good evening readers/viewers! Today we take a look at a topic that you may or may not know you need to learn. :) SCENARIO: You have a policy or set of policies that you would like to export and share. ISSUE: Regardless of the number of Global Settings and/or Global Configurations you use within your...

Ok, I have to confess, this is more of a tutorial than a demo, but still, it is all about branding! :) ORCHESTRATOR RC UPDATE (11/01/2011) CodePlex Links: Orchestrator IP for Standard Logging User Guide Usage Guide NOTE: The rest of this post is unchanged, and can be referenced for OIS 6.3 (documents...

Good Evening readers and viewers! I thought I would “go back to the basics” with you today, so I recorded another “8-Minute-Demo” about the available Data Manipulation functions found within OIS. These very powerful, yet mostly unknown functions allow you to manipulate the data on the OIS data bus to...

Hello readers and viewers! I realize it has been a LONG time since I published an “8-Minute-Demo”, but I figured it was time. I was going to wait until my voice was back to normal, but I didn’t know how long you would have to wait. So, please excuse the hoarseness of my voice. Today’s Video Topic: Have...

I am very please to announce some recent additions to the Opalis CodePlex site . ORCHESTRATOR RC UPDATE (11/03/2011) Orchestrator CodePlex Links: Orchestrator IP for Windows Tasks (RC) File System Maintenance - User Guide Multi-Server WMI Query - User Guide Orchestrator IP for MSSQL Tasks (RC) User Guide...

Hello Readers and Viewers! It has been a while since I added to the “8 Minute Demo” Video Series, but today, along with some CodePlex content, I submit to you… drum roll… My 40th YouTube Video! Nah, though that is a true statement, it is not the intent of this post //obvious (besides, one of those videos...

Our friend randorfer is back! Now with more great content with his new blog and CodePlex projects. Blog: http://opalis.wordpress.com/ CodePlex Projects: Exchange Mail QIK Integration Pack: http://opalisexchangemail.codeplex.com/ Active Directory QIK Integration Pack: http://opalisadextension.codeplex...