Kevin Remde's IT Pro Weblog
(CTP = Community Technology Preview – which means “earlier than beta”)
Late on Friday the System Center Virtual Machine Manager Blog released a post enthusiastically titled “System Center 2012 CTP for Windows Server ‘8’ Beta support now available!!!”. It would seem the System Center team is looking for early feedback on running System Center against the next version of Windows Server (currently codename Windows Server “8”). And they are particularly interested in people trying out even newer Virtual Machine Manager and Data Protection Manager components, to test how they work with some of the new and exciting features in Server 8.
“But…this is a CTP? I thought System Center 2012 was already in the Release Candidate phase.”
It is. But the soon-coming release of System Center 2012 won’t have support for Windows Server “8”, which will still be in beta (or maybe RC – I don’t know the exact timings here) when System Center is released. Support for Server 8 features such as the new VHDX disk format, “shared nothing” live migrations, and live storage migration won’t be directly supported in System Center 2012 until after Server “8” is released, probably in the form of an update to System Center. These CTPs are the first publically available versions of those updated System Center components.
“These ‘CTPs’? There’s more than one?”
Well.. I say that because what you’ll be getting is not the entire System Center 2012 product set, but only the CTPs of new Virtual Machine Manager and Data Protection Manager components that have the necessary new functionality.
So..
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Are you going to try this out? I will, very soon. Let us know your thought or experiences with this in the comments (after providing feedback to the SC team, of course).
I thought this was pretty interesting.. so for a lighter, geeky-cool post on a Friday afternoon, as I’m busy waiting for large file copies in my home office lab to complete, I thought I’d share it with you.
Microsoft Research recorded a demonstration of how responsive a typical touchscreen operating system is, and how much better the experience could be if the latency (the time between the screen sensing the finger move and the visual feedback of something moving on the screen) could be reduced.
Check it out:
(Credit: @TechCrunch’s tweet about Chris Velazco’s article on Tech Crunch – found HERE.)
Do you want that kind of experience? I sure hope our hardware partners are going to give us this kind of amazing experience with Windows 8.
Are you interested in learning the ins-and-outs of working with Windows Azure? Wondering how to get started cheaply - as in “for FREE”? We’re giving you a chance to spend a day with some of the nation’s leading cloud experts and for you to learn how to build a web application that runs in Windows Azure. You will learn how to sign up for free time in the cloud, and how to build a typical web application using the same ASP.NET tools and techniques. You’ll explore web roles, cloud storage, SQL Azure, and common scenarios. Get your questions answered via open Q&A, and learn what workloads should not be moved to cloud.
This will be a hands-on learning experience. The invite links below have the details needed for setup your machine. Of course we’ll have help onsite to get the right software installed as well. Lunch will be provided, and prizes awarded. You can use the registration links below to get registered.
By the way.. If you have an MSDN Subscription you already have free cloud benefits! This video shows you how to get your risk free access to Windows Azure to explore and learn the cloud. Or activate your MSDN Cloud benefits here. If you have questions, send our Azure team members an email: msnextde at microsoft.com.
Here is the schedule. Click the date to get location details and to register. Do it soon, because seats are limited.
Happy Friday!
I thought I’d just take this opportunity to again share my three-part screencast series with you; this time all in one place.
The topic: System Center 2012 Unified Installer
The goal: Help you prepare for and use the Unified Installer to build your lab for testing and trying the System Center 2012 components out
The added benefit: You get to see my pretty metro-style (I like to call them “metrofied!”) PowerPoint slides.
Enjoy. And enjoy even more in full-screen, and 1280x768 if you can…
Here is Part 1:
Here is Part 2:
And here is Part 3:
Alex M asked several questions about Office 365 at our TechNet Event in Kansas City:
“Do we need to purchase Office 365 for resources (for example: conference rooms)?” ”Can the user access Office 365 from work PC as well as his personal PC from home?” ”If we are using cloud services, why do we need any servers (including virtual servers)?”
And my initial answers are: “No”, “Yes”, and “Because”.
“Can you address these more specifically?”
Whoa.. pretty demanding there, Alex. Okay…
Your first question was…
“Do we need to purchase Office 365 for resources (for example: conference rooms)?”
The Exchange Server running in Office 365 is no different than if you have Exchange in your datacenter. But I think what you’re really asking is: Do I have to pay for a user license if I’m creating a mailbox that represents a room resource or some other schedulable resource? And the answer to that is still NO. According to the first paragraph on page 34 of the Microsoft Exchange Online for Enterprises Service Description document…
Conference room mailboxes represent a company’s meeting rooms or other facilities. Users can reserve rooms by adding the conference room email alias to meeting requests in Outlook or Outlook Web App. Conference rooms appear in the Global Address List in Outlook and Outlook Web App, and administrators can create conference rooms in the Exchange Control Panel or through Remote PowerShell. Administrators can also use the Directory Synchronization tool to synchronize conference rooms from on-premises Active Directory. The mailbox quota for conference rooms is 250 MB. Conference rooms do not require a user subscription license. Custom resource properties cannot be added to conference rooms in Exchange Online.
So that’s good news.
Your next question was…
”Can the user access Office 365 from work PC as well as his personal PC from home?”
And my answer is absolutely YES, if you’re talking about accessing Office 365 e-mail and documents from a browser. You can do that from anywhere you have connectivity. However, if you’re asking about the subscription levels that include the desktop installation of Office 2010 Professional Plus, and whether nor not you have the right to install it onto more than one PC… Well, what do you think? Would Microsoft give you the ability to install more than one copy of Office? And if so, how many should we let you install for a subscribed user?
“Um.. I dunno… in the past you gave us some home use rights for some licenses.. so, maybe 2?”
How about FIVE?
“Seriously?”
Yep. Check out the Office Professional Plus description page, where it says right there:
(Highlighting and smiley-face added for extra emphasis and fun.)
So, yes. Each subscribed user can install Office Professional Plus on as many as 5 devices.
Your final question was…
”If we are using cloud services, why do we need any servers (including virtual servers)?”
And my answer is simply “Because”. Because you might want Active Directory in-house for local authentication and policy application for your managed computers. Because you might want local file services in some cases. Because you have other applications besides the productivity suite that is Office 365. There are lot of “becauses”, but it’s all going to depend on your situation. Sure, if you’re a professional or business that can do everything they need using Office 365 and managing user accounts entirely in the cloud, then you may not need servers at all. Just a good Internet connection.
Did I answer your questions sufficiently? Have any more? Care to share some comments/criticisms/sarcasm? It’s all fair game! Enter a comment and let’s talk!
At our TechNet Event in Kansas City a couple of months ago, Travis asked:
“How many virtual machines can a single VMM instance manage?”
That’s easy: As many as you want, and as your hardware can handle.
“But how many are supported?”
Ah.. well, that’s simply a matter of how many Microsoft was able to test and verify. Currently the supported number is 400 virtualization hosts, and 8,000 virtual machines. But that isn’t a hard-limit as far as what is possible given the proper hardware. With the hardware that they had at the time, those were the numbers they decided they could officially support.
The Planning for Hosts and Host Groups article in TechNet has the details for SCVMM 2008, R2, and R2 w/SP1.
”Oh.. that was for SCVMM 2008? What about the System Center 2012 version?”
I confess.. I wasn’t able to find any official statement on how many we support in the soon-coming version. When I find that – or if you find it and let me know in the comments – I will update this post.
We got this question at our TechNet Event back in January. The person didn’t give their name, so let’s call him Jooblety-Goop.
“Dynamic Memory and Exchange 2010 - What happens in that scenario?”
Well JG, I assume you’re asking about how Exchange Server 2010 works as a virtual workload (Short answer: Just great!), and more specifically if there is anything special about how (or if) virtualized Exchange Servers can take advantage of Hyper-V Dynamic Memory. (For those of you not familiar with what Dynamic Memory is, check out the first few pages of this Dynamic Memory Whitepaper.)
Dynamic memory is great for adjusting the memory used by a virtual machine when the need for additional memory is temporary, and when there are no applications that are tuned to assuming a certain pool of memory will simply be there continuously. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending upon which product group you work for), applications like Exchange Server and SQL Server (and many others, I’m sure) grab as much much memory as possible right up front (I may be oversimplifying, but this is basically the idea) in order to manage their memory pool in the way that best suits their needs, or tuned for performance given the existing limits of the hardware. That’s really smart; but it also means that they simply work better when they can depend upon a fixed set of memory to work with. A sudden change in the amount of memory available can actually have a negative impact on performance.
So the recommendation for Exchange Server 2007 and 2010 running on top of Hyper-V R2 w/SP1 is that you do not take advantage of Dynamic Memory for those virtual machines.
Here are some additional resources on the topic:
Understanding Memory Configurations and Exchange Performance – to understand, you know, the memory configurations and, like, how performance of, say, Exchange Server is impacted.
Microsoft Support Policies and Recommendations for Exchange Servers in Hardware Virtualization Environments – Recommendations of support policies from Microsoft for how, like, Exchange Server will work on, you know, environments of virtualized hardware.
Hyper-V Dynamic Memory Configuration Guide – to guide you, you know, through the configuration of dynamic memory in Hyper-V.
(In case you haven’t noticed, I have been, like, you know, talking with my teenage daughters a lot lately, and it’s, like, rubbing off.)
And huge props to the Hyper-V.Nu blog for this post, which lead me to personally understanding this topic better. Nice work!
How are you configuring virtualization to handle your Exchange workloads? Let us know in the comments!
In Saint Louis at our TechNet Event several weeks ago now, Chuck S. asked about AVIcode…
“App Insight - performance data? Component timing? Event Logs? Database events? (what is tracked in AVIcode?)”
That is a very good question.
For those of you not already aware of what AVIcode is; it is a product that enables “deep application insight”. Working in concert with Operations Manager, it monitors .NET application performance. It looks for code problems, performance issues, security, and connectivity of application components, and then through Operations Manager it alerts you if there is an issue. And once found, it even lets you drill down into the details of what it found. What part of my app is performing badly? Where was that error? In fact.. show me right down to the very line of code that caused the problem. In a “Dev-Ops” world, where the Developer blames the datacenter, the datacenter blames the Developer, and the App Ops person isn’t sure who to believe.. now the App owner can better determine who to bring the problem to, with solid data to support what they’ve found.
“That sounds great, Kevin. But is this a product that works only with Operations Manager 2007 R2, or will it work with the new System Center 2012 Operations Manager, too?
The good news is that Microsoft is including the AVIcode functionality as a part of System Center 2012. It’s no longer a separate purchase.
Read more about what AVIcode can specifically do and how it works on the AVIcode page. It should be easy to find, because every mention of the name AVIcode in this post has a URL behind it. Handy, eh?
And if you’re just interested in trying AVIcode with System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2, you can download the trial HERE.
What do you think? Are you a party to the struggle that is trying to make DevOps work? Will you consider AVIcode? Give us a comment!
Whoo boy! Finally! Part 3 of 3! The story so far…
In Part 1 we showed you how to download all that you need, and put it in its proper place.
In Part 2 we setup and pre-configured the destination servers properly.
And today in our final chapter, we actually run the Unified Installer. Oh joy!
NOTE: It is viewed best in full-screen, and 1280x768 if you can.
So.. that wasn’t so painful, was it?
“Actually, yes, it was. But I’m going to give it a try anyway. Thanks, Kevin!”
You’re quite welcome. Tell your friends.
Did you find this useful? Are you doing this install along with me? Let us know in the comments. Share your experiences here with the rest of the massive community that is “the people who read my blog”.
Finally! After the long wait, and expectation growing as the day approached, we are finally able to announce to the world that the Beta of the next version of Windows Server, currently codename: Windows Server “8”, is now available for download.
From the download page:
Windows Server "8" is the broadest, most scalable and elastic platform for web and applications. Its consistent, open set of tools and frameworks give developers the flexibility to build and deploy applications on-premises, in the cloud, and in a hybrid environment. Windows Server "8" will empower you to deliver: Flexibility to build on-premises and in the cloud: Developers can use the same languages and tools to build on-premises and cloud applications, allowing them to build applications that use distributed and temporally decoupled components. An open web platform: Windows Server "8", combined with Internet Information Services (IIS), offers a solid platform for both open-source web stacks and ASP.NET, opening up a wide range of choices for application development. A scalable and elastic web platform: Hosting providers can use new features in Windows Server "8" to increase density, simplify management, and achieve higher scalability in a shared web-hosting environment. Need more information? See the product details page.
Windows Server "8" is the broadest, most scalable and elastic platform for web and applications. Its consistent, open set of tools and frameworks give developers the flexibility to build and deploy applications on-premises, in the cloud, and in a hybrid environment. Windows Server "8" will empower you to deliver:
Need more information? See the product details page.
Click the photo of the handsome IT Pro above to go to the download page, or click http://aka.ms/Server8
“Wait.. aren’t all IT Pros handsome, Kevin?”
You’re right. That was redundant. And the girls are all pretty.
And in case you haven’t yet downloaded the Windows 8 Consumer Preview (the desktop/laptop/tablet OS), you can get it HERE as of yesterday: http://aka.ms/Win8Client
Have you tried it out yet? What do you think? Share your experiences in the comments!
Continuing on where we left off from our part 1 screencast yesterday, when we discussed the downloads and the prerequisites and what you needed in place for the installation; today in part 2 we discuss how to configure your servers.
“Is it really all that complicated, Kevin?”
Actually, yes. If you read the User Guide, you’ll see that there are several things you need to do to prepare the servers prior to using the Unified Installer to do the deployment to them. So in today’s screencast, I walk you through that process.
Make sure you come back tomorrow for part 3, where we actually run the Unified Installer, and deploy the entire set of components in System Center into my test lab!
Did you find this useful? Are you doing this install along with me? Let us know in the comments. And I’ll see you back here tomorrow for Part 3.
I received an e-mail late last night informing me of the release of a new RC (Release Candidate) for the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012.
“MDT 2012? Does that mean…”
Yes. This version is being built to support the latest-and-greatest solutions and technologies that are on the near-horizon and coming soon, such as Windows 8 and System Center 2012.
Here is the text from that e-mail, describing the new features and functionality (with hyperlinks added by yours-truly):
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 2012 Configuration Manager 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
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:
New Features:
For System Center Configuration Manager customers:
For Lite Touch Installation:
For all customers:
Good stuff, eh?
“What’s your favorite new feature?”
Well.. I confess I haven’t played with this tool yet, but from what I read here I’m pretty excited about being able to “Deploy to VHD” more easily. Supporting a test lab, you learn to appreciate virtualization really quickly. But there are only so many things that virtualization can do. Being able to deploy a .VHD file to a physical machine in order to try new stuff right on the physical hardware, and easily dismantle it when I’m done, is going to be great.
“But what will this cost when it’s released, Kevin?”
The MDT is (and likely will always be) a Solution Accelerator from Microsoft. That means it’s “Tested guidance and automated tools to help you plan, securely deploy, and manage new Microsoft technologies—easier, faster, and at less cost. All are freely available and fully-supported by Microsoft.” So, it’s FREE.
So if you’re interested in evaluating it along with your Windows 8 and System Center, go to the Microsoft Connect Download Details page, download it, evaluate it, and give the team that built it some useful feedback. They can’t make it better unless you tell them how to make it better.
Have you been using the current MDT for your Windows 7
Y’all heard that we released a new preview for consumers of Windows 8, right?
Windows 8 Consumer Preview
Like many of you, I’ve been playing with the Release Candidate of System Center 2012. And also like many of you, I have heard that there is something called the “Unified Installer”, that supposedly will allow a person to install many – or even all – of the components of System Center 2012 on to multiple servers.
“Really? That’s cool.”
Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. But after looking at it for a bit, I came to realize quickly that it wasn’t really as straightforward as just launching a Setup.exe and clicking Next –> Next –> Next –> Install –> Finish. In fact, it requires no small amount of thought and pre-work to get things downloaded, extracted, and configured properly prior to ever launching the Unified Installer.
In other words: It was a set of screencasts just screaming to be created.
So that’s what I’ve done. Here is Part 1, where I describe how to download and extract the components, plus download and prepare the prerequisites that are, um.. pre-required.
As promised, here are the links mentioned in the screencast:
Did you find this useful? Are you going to do this install along with me? Let us know in the comments. And I’ll see you back here tomorrow for Part 2.
This person at our Saint Louis, MO TechNet Event didn’t share their name, but it’s still a good question:
“In snapshots, why is ‘now’ misleading on where you really are w/snapshots?”
What Jerry (Let’s just call him or her Jerry) is referring to here is something that I think most of us experienced when we first started working with Hyper-V snapshots within the Hyper-V Manager.
In this screenshot here, it’s easy to see that the snapshot we’re currently running is the one called “Update Test”.
We can see that because “Now” is immediately following that in the snapshot hierarchy.
But here’s an example where it gets a little confusing. In the following screenshot, what snapshot it the machine currently based on?:
If you said “Configured 2”, [*buzzer sound*] ..you were wrong! It’s actually the snapshot labeled “Installed” that is currently applied. Yes, it can definitely be confusing.
The way I remember it is this: Look at “Now”, and remember that no matter what is actually “now” is more recent than “then”; the time in history when the snapsnot was taken. So, the snapshot is going to be one level to the left of the “then” that our “now” is based on. Just look at the line that connects “now” to the most recent snapshot, and you’ve found your “then”, then.
“Umm…”
Got it? Clear as mud? Yeah.. I thought so.
Do you have any opinions on this? Are you also, like me, wishing we’d have just called them “Checkpoints”, to avoid confusion when we started using Virtual Machine Manager? Give us your feedback in the comments!
In Saint Louis a few weeks ago at our TechNet Event, John B asked us:
“We are only running System Center Configuration Manager 2008 and now want to run SCOM. Should we install 2008 or 2012?”
Well, first off, John.. that’s a pretty cool trick that you have SCCM 2008 while the rest of the world is on SCCM 2007 R3 or older. (Is that SCCM for Mac?) Maybe you have some connections that the rest of us only wish we had. (Same for SCOM, which is currently 2007 R2.)
But enough abusing you. Let’s address your question. I guess at this point, if it were me, I would wait. You have to put a price on how much it’s worth it to you to get the current version installed and configured, plus then doing the migration later, when the time for the release of the next version is drawing closer and closer.
“How close?”
I don’t know exact details on release date. But the fact that you’ve got the Release Candidate in your hands; plus the new licensing and pricing have been announced.. so it should only be a matter of a few months at most. So, sure, you could install SCOM 2007 R2 now, and if you have it under Software Assurance you’ll be able to upgrade to System Center 2012; but you’ll still have to perform the upgrade.
So… Do you install the Operations Manager release candidate now?
Yes.
Do you use it in production?
NO. Oh sure, you can; but it’s not supported until after it becomes generally available. And you’d have to go through the process of upgrading your RC installations to the RTM versions. Install it – but do it in a virtualized test lab (or an actual physical test lab, if you’re made of money**) and work with it there first.
**in which case, I’ve got a resume’ I’d like to send you.
Have any of you been using the 2012 Operations Manager in production? Am I crazy telling John that he should wait? We’d love to hear your experiences, opinions, or cheap pot-shots. Put them in the comments!
Several weeks ago at our TechNet Event in Saint Louis, Joe F asked me:
“When virtualizing SQL Server I need to know how to best configure SQL and the VM to ensure it will run well. Where can I find configuration and setup information?”
A quick Bing of “virtualize SQL Server using Hyper-V Best Practices” will net you several good articles and options for finding some answers here. A few that stand out as being fairly authoritative are:
These resources will give you a good overview of the areas to consider, such as having sufficient processor-power, memory configuration, network configuration (for the VM as well as for storage), and so on.
I hope this helps!
===
Do you have any recommendations for Joe? Got any other go-to resources that someone planning the virtualization of SQL Server on Hyper-V should know about? Please share them in the comments. If they’re good, I’ll even add them to this blog post.
David U. asked this of us at our Saint Louis TechNet Event:
“Free Hyper-V Server can be installed on bare metal. Do I need Windows Server 2008 R2 plus Hyper-V running elsewhere to manage the Hyper-V Server, or is there another way I can manage that?”
Great question David. Thanks!
For those of you not familiar with it, there is a FREE (yes, FREE) version of Hyper-V that you can download and install onto bare metal called Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2. This installs basically just as a small, efficient platform for Hyper-V virtualization. To manage it, it’s best to do it from another computer using tools such as Hyper-V Manager and Server Manager. So, part of the answer to your question is: No, it doesn’t require Hyper-V to be installed elsewhere. Nor does it require you to manage it from a Windows Server 2008 R2 server. You can just install the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) and use those to manage the Hyper-V Server either from a Server or from a Windows desktop. See these TechNet articles for details on how to install the Hyper-V tools for remote administration, and how to remotely manage Hyper-V Server 2008 R2.
Another item you may not be aware of is that you can do much of the initial configuration right from the Hyper-V Server console. Your user interface for Hyper-V server is basically two windows. One is the basic commandline interface (very much like Windows Server 2008 R2 core installation). The other is the updated Server Configuration Tool:
The Server Configuration tool is designed to simplify the most common configuration tasks. It helps you configure the initial settings without having to type command-line strings. In Hyper-V Server 2008, this utility is called Hyper-V Configuration Utility (HVConfig). In Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, this tool is called the Server Configuration tool (SConfig.cmd). It is included in Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 and in the Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2008 R2. Two configuration options are available only when you run the Server Configuration tool on a server running Hyper-V Server 2008 R2: An option to have the Server Configuration tool start automatically every time you log on to a computer running Hyper-V Server with the Administrator account An option to configure failover clustering
The Server Configuration tool is designed to simplify the most common configuration tasks. It helps you configure the initial settings without having to type command-line strings. In Hyper-V Server 2008, this utility is called Hyper-V Configuration Utility (HVConfig). In Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, this tool is called the Server Configuration tool (SConfig.cmd). It is included in Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 and in the Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2008 R2. Two configuration options are available only when you run the Server Configuration tool on a server running Hyper-V Server 2008 R2:
On a related note – did you know that not only is Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 FREE, but it also includes support running as a node in a Hyper-V failover cluster, and as such can participate in the Live Migration of running virtual machines?
“Wait.. What? A free virtualization platform that does that? Do you have any idea how much that would cost us to do with VMware?”
Exactly…
I hope that answers your question. But if you have others, please feel free to put them in the comments.
At our TechNet Event in Saint Louis several weeks ago, Aubrey M. asked:
“Will there be an option in System Center 2012 Operations Manager to schedule maintenance windows, such as for patch Tuesday?”
So.. you’re asking if you’ll have a way to tell Operations Manager, “Hey.. tonight while I’m home watching TV with my husband, we’re going to be doing some maintenance on these objects, so please don’t send up any alerts during that time.”, right? You want to perform some maintenance (duh) such as updates.. because it’s the 2nd Tuesday of the month, and Microsoft might just come out with an update or two.
“Could happen.”
Exactly.
In SCOM 2007 and earlier you had the option to set this, but it wasn’t much of an automated thing. R2 made it easier. With the current version you can use a newer Admin Resource Kit to do it more simply, and event to schedule it in advance (which is what you were looking for).
In System Center 2012 Operations Manager you do still have the ability to automate and script it, which means that as before you could use a scheduled task or some other trigger to enter and exist maintenance mode. And I would bet that you could fully automate the process using a powerful automation tool such as System Center Orchestrator. But I don’t think there is anything new built-in to the OpsMangager GUI to support anything much more than what was already there. There are improvements in how Management Servers are handled with maintenance mode (un-doing some unintended troubles such as your RMS entering but never leaving MM).
A quick “Google-it on BING” search for “SCOM 2012 Maintenance Mode” finds other useful blogs and hints around the new improvements.
If one of you MVPs or otherwise knowledgeable people have additional ideas on getting this done, please feel free to share them in the comments. And if they’re really good, I’ll also add them to this post. Thanks!
This is cool. Microsoft is willing to PAY you to try some software and learn some stuff. And you could also win a very slick laptop in the process.
“Huh? Seriously?”
Well.. in a sense. We’re announcing today an opportunity for a limited (roughly 5,000) number of people to get a $20 coupon for the Microsoft Store, simply by doing two things:
And once those two items are completed, Microsoft will e-mail you (and the other first 4,999 people that complete it) a code redeemable for $20 off at the Microsoft Store.
NOTE: It is VERY important that you provide valid information with your Live ID sign in, because that’s how we will be able to reward you, and it’s to that e-mail address that we will send the code to retrieve your $20 coupon for use at the Online Store.
“Hey Kevin, what about that ‘slick laptop’ you mentioned?”
How slick is this?…
A Lenovo W520 15.6”
Check out these specs:
Important: Remember - There are a limited number of $20 coupons available (about 5,000) and are given out on a first come first serve basis; and only one per person. This promotional offer is only valid in the United States. Whether you get a $20 coupon or not, you will still be entered into the drawing for the W520. You can enter multiple times for the raffle – you just have to complete the two steps each time. Please read the full Rules on the Microsoft Private Cloud Offer Site, as my disclaimer only has a portion of the full rules.
So.. what are you waiting for?
For the full scoop, check out the main site.
At our Kansas City TechNet Event several weeks ago, Chris H. asked:
“How do I backup VMs without using Data Protection Manager or Virtual Machine Manager?”
You don’t, It can’t be done. You must buy our products. Resistance is futile.
“Oh c’mon.. get serious, Kevin.”
Sorry. Okay, I’m sure there are several ways that this can be accomplished. Virtual machines running under Hyper-V are typically really just a few configuration, hard disk, and differencing-disk files. So making a backup, at least at the heart of it all, is really just making a copy of those files. I’ll throw out a few suggested methods here, and if you folks reading this have other ideas or solutions, we’d love to have you share them in the comments. (You should also read the “Planning for Backup” article on TechNet.)
Make a copy of the hard disk files. Really, if you’re not using snapshots (which create additional files in a differencing disk relationship), the easiest way to make a quick, worst-case but simple backup, is to copy the .VHD files from a stopped virtual machine. Restoring would require you to re-create the machine and configure it to use the hard disk files.
Export the virtual machine. This is something that I do regularly. It takes some time, but you can make an importable copy of many virtual machines at once by using the Hyper-V Manager. What you end up with is a set of files that can be copied to a new location and easily imported.
And if you want to read a great description of how Export and Import of virtual machines works, read Ben Armstrong’s Part 1 and Part 2.
Script it. Even if you don’t have SCVMM, you can use PowerShell and it’s support of WMI to administer Hyper-V. So, a script could automate:
A most-excellent starting point for learning how to use scripting of PowerShell and WMI for Hyper-V is found on Ben Pearce’s blog, in THIS POST HERE. NOTE: This is going to become a whole lot (and I mean a WHOLE LOT) easier to do with the included PowerShell cmdlets in the next version of Windows Server coming later this year, and in beta very soon.
Use Windows Server Backup. You can register the Microsoft Hyper-V VSS writer with Windows Server Backup, and then use this to backup running virtual machines. And to, of course, restore them if needed. Read “How to back up Hyper-V virtual machines from the parent partition on a Windows Server 2008-based computer by using Windows Server Backup” for learning all about to back-up Hyper-V virtual machines from the parent partition on a… you get the idea.
Treat it like any other machine. If you treat it with the same love and respect as you to any other server, one option is to treat it as if it were a physical server – complete with backup agents installed into it, and using some enterprise class backup and archiving solution. It all depends upon the purpose of the server, the business applications and/or data housed therein, the ease with which you want to be able to recreate the server, etc.
“But what about ‘snapshots’? Aren’t those a good way to keep a backup?”
(READ THIS if you’d like to know more about Hyper-V Snapshots.)
No, they’re not a backup. Oh sure, they’re a way to maintain a point-in-time in cases where you may need to jump back (or ahead). I regularly use them as a kind of mile-marker during complex installations and configurations while I’m learning a new product or technology, so that I can go back to where A) I have a clean install of Windows with all current updates, or B) this is where I have SQL installed, or C) here is where the product was freshly installed, but not yet configured.. etc. For complex demonstrations I’ll use snapshots to jump ahead to a point in time after an ordinarily long process that I’m showing has completed. (The cooking show demo, where you immediately and magically pull the completely baked cake out of the oven.)
But for backup? No. Every snapshot you take adds additional disk space being consumed, plus additional overhead as the running OS has to refer to more and more files that represent the running hard disks.
One additional note about virtual machine backups: Remember that there is more to the machine running on a new server than just the VM files. The networking configuration needs to be taken into account. It’s not something that can’t be overcome without a little extra work, but it’s just annoying to import or restore a virtual machine to a new VM host only to find that you don’t recall how the networking was configured that made it work properly. That “Planning for Backup” article I referred to earlier goes into this in greater detail.
How are you doing VM backups and restores? Got any tips or tools or ideas to share? Any horror stories that we can all learn from? We’d love to hear about them in the comments!
For lucky 13, I reproduce a question here from Scott L, who asked it at our Saint Louis TechNet Event several weeks ago:
“Any plans for a hybrid option with both SCCM and InTune in an organization?”
No. At least none that I’m aware of. I will expand on my blunt answer in a moment, but first - for those of you not familiar with these,
These products have some similarities and cross-over of functionality. Configuration Manager is an enterprise-class tool for software and update distribution as well as asset inventory and reporting on those collected assets. Windows Intune is a cloud-based PC management tool that can do some inventory, software, and update distribution. But there certainly are some differences with regard to scale and capabilities; and understanding those would help you to determine which one is best for your needs.
Before I talk about your specific question around any potential integration between the two, let’s assume that you’re just now trying to decide which one to purchase. To do that, I’m going to ask you a few questions:
So now, back to your original question:
According to the most-excellent FAQ for Windows Intune:
Q: If I have System Center Configuration Manager already, can I use Windows Intune as well? A: At present we do not support the System Center Configuration Manager client and the Windows Intune client on the same machine.
And while I think that no, there are no announced plans for a solution that allows both of these to work side-by-side in a coordinated way within the same organization, there still perhaps may be situations that would call for owning and using both in the same organization. There may be cases where you didn’t want to buy additional Configuration Manager CALs for some PCs that you’re managing, but you want the power of Windows Intune. Maybe some PCs are not members of the domain. (Windows Intune allows you to manage those.) Or perhaps you use your purchase of Windows Intune as a good way to get Software Assurance (and therefore the right to upgrade to and run Windows 7 Enterprise edition and all of the benefits therein) on your Windows Intune managed PCs.
Which of these are you using? Are you considering one or the other (or both)? Let us know in the comments.
Tighe asked this question at our TechNet Event in Saint Louis several weeks ago:
“System Center 2012 - one agent for all products?”
That’s a great question, Tighe. Naturally one might assume that if we’ve changed-up how we sell System Center 2012 now as one product rather than a suite of separate products, that we might consider using only one management agent on the servers and desktops that are under management. I don’t know if that has been considered, personally, but I suspect that it wasn’t considered for very long. And here’s why:
Even though we’re going to be selling SC2012 as one product (in two varieties: Regular and Extra-Strength), you will still have the choice to implement one or two or 5 of the 8 components you own. If I just want to do desktop and server (and service and network and…) monitoring using System Center 2012 Operations Manager, but don’t care about doing deployment or updates using System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, then I certainly don’t care to have the additional functionality (and potential overhead) installed on the desktops I’m monitoring.
It’s because of this that I doubt Microsoft would create just one agent. But I could be wrong. I’m not on the product team. Perhaps they could do something to somehow simplify and unify agent deployments, but that’s pure speculation (wishful thinking) on my part.
“Okay smart guy… So, how many agents are in System Center 2012 then, if you were to install all of the components?”
Here are the components that utilize an agent (sometimes optional) for working with other machines:
Here are the ones that, unless I’m mistaken, don’t have any use for any deployed agents:
“Um.. wait.. ‘Regular and Extra-Strength’ System Center 2012?!”
Okay.. not really. By “Regular” I mean “Standard”, and by “Extra-Strength” I mean “Datacenter”. Read my blog post on the new System Center 2012 licensing model.
Do you have any questions for me? Ask them in the comments. Would you like to ask them in person? Then come to one of our TechNet Events coming up March-May, 2012!
A question I’ve actually heard several times before came up again at our TechNet Event in Kansas City several weeks ago:
“Can I use Hyper-V as a VM (within Windows 7)?”
No.
“Can you elaborate?”
Absolutely.
First of all, Hyper-V is a role added to Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Hyper-V can’t be run inside of a virtual machine – even one that supports Windows Server 2008 R2 – because in order to work Hyper-V requires at a minimum:
(Check out THIS PAGE for the full list of Hyper-V requirements.)
The problem with a virtual machine, whether it’s running on Hyper-V, Windows Virtual PC (the one that runs on Windows 7), or VMware, is that the virtualized processor that the running operating system sees is not a processor capable of running Hyper-V. So, while it would be cool to virtualize the actual virtualization platform, that’s not something that you can currently do. (UPDATE: "Sebastian" informs us in the comments that VMware Workstation 8 and ESXi 5 can actually simulate Intel VT, so it is indeed possible to get Hyper-V running from within a VM. http://www.veeam.com/blog/nesting-hyper-v-with-vmware-workstation-8-and-esxi-5.html)
An additional note regarding your question about Windows 7 specifically is that Windows Virtual PC running on Windows 7 doesn’t support 64-bit guest operating systems. So you can’t run the current Windows Server 2008 R2 as a virtual machine under Windows Virtual PC anyway. The good news is that Microsoft announced that we will include Hyper-V within the successor to Windows 7, currently codename “Windows 8”.
Remember: Our new event schedule is live. You can come and ask your questions, too! “We may be comin’ to your town.” -The Monkees
Our next set of IT Pro events (“IT Camps”) in the US Central Region have been scheduled and are now officially open for registration! The events are free, go from 9:00am to 3:00pm, and include some light breakfast and lunch. But most importantly, they are full of new and useful information that all IT Pros will benefit from. (And it never hurts that we might give out a few prizes at the end of the day, too.)
Here is our theme and information, followed by the event dates and registration links:
Being What’s Next in IT 2012 is an exciting year for I.T. because it’s an exciting year for Microsoft. Not only are there exciting new products and solutions on the near horizon such as System Center 2012 and Windows Server “8”, but also in the ways we can help you manage your infrastructure today. Gearing up for the Future (Camp Part 1) You may have heard Microsoft’s recent slogan: “Be What’s Next”. But sometimes in IT, for whatever the reason, it’s hard enough even just to be “what’s now” or “what’s current”. You’re running older versions of server operating systems and technologies you would like to replace, but maybe don’t know exactly how to make the move without causing one of the main things that keeps us up at night: service disruption. In this camp session we are going to introduce you to, and give you a chance to play with, the migration technologies that will help you transition to the most current versions of our solutions, and help you to take full advantage of Windows Server 2008 R2. Making the transition to the most current products isn’t always easy, but we have ways to help you get there and to get you ready for the future of I.T. and business productivity. The Future is Sooner Than You Think (Camp Part 2) Now that you are ready for what’s next, don’t you want to know a little more about what that is? There is a new wave of transition happening among IT organizations and IT workers to embrace more and more the concept of Cloud Computing. Yet many of us are still wondering how it will really fit into our own environment, or how it will benefit our businesses. In this camp session we are going to introduce to you to the future of the cloud. Together we’re going to walk through what our next System Center version - System Center 2012 - will bring to your IT organizations; both in overall manageability and in supporting private, public, and hybrid clouds. And we’ll introduce to you (and demonstrate for you) what is coming in the next version of Windows Server - currently known as codename Windows Server “8”. Preparation: This is not just a presentation! We will try not to kill you with PowerPoint! Our IT Camp format requires interaction, participation, and fun! And in order for you to get the most out of our day, we ask that you do a few optional-but-highly-encouraged things before coming to camp: 1. We ask that you download the evaluation software - Windows Server 2008 R2 w/SP1 and System Center 2012 Release Candidate. 2. Bring a laptop. In venues where we can support it, we will provide networking and power so that you can follow along and perhaps even participate in labs and examples. 3. And for the truly ambitious among you - Bring a Windows Server 2008 R2-capable machine. If you already have Server 2008 R2 installed, that’s great. But as long as you have a capable machine, we will provide you a .VHD file and instructions for how configure your computer to “dual-boot” into an already installed copy of Windows Server 2008 R2 – all without requiring you to remove your existing Windows installation. Here is the recommended minimum configuration: 4GB or more RAM 20 GB or more free disk space x64 compatible processor with Intel VT or AMD-V technology
Being What’s Next in IT 2012 is an exciting year for I.T. because it’s an exciting year for Microsoft. Not only are there exciting new products and solutions on the near horizon such as System Center 2012 and Windows Server “8”, but also in the ways we can help you manage your infrastructure today.
Gearing up for the Future (Camp Part 1) You may have heard Microsoft’s recent slogan: “Be What’s Next”. But sometimes in IT, for whatever the reason, it’s hard enough even just to be “what’s now” or “what’s current”. You’re running older versions of server operating systems and technologies you would like to replace, but maybe don’t know exactly how to make the move without causing one of the main things that keeps us up at night: service disruption.
In this camp session we are going to introduce you to, and give you a chance to play with, the migration technologies that will help you transition to the most current versions of our solutions, and help you to take full advantage of Windows Server 2008 R2. Making the transition to the most current products isn’t always easy, but we have ways to help you get there and to get you ready for the future of I.T. and business productivity.
The Future is Sooner Than You Think (Camp Part 2) Now that you are ready for what’s next, don’t you want to know a little more about what that is? There is a new wave of transition happening among IT organizations and IT workers to embrace more and more the concept of Cloud Computing. Yet many of us are still wondering how it will really fit into our own environment, or how it will benefit our businesses.
In this camp session we are going to introduce to you to the future of the cloud. Together we’re going to walk through what our next System Center version - System Center 2012 - will bring to your IT organizations; both in overall manageability and in supporting private, public, and hybrid clouds. And we’ll introduce to you (and demonstrate for you) what is coming in the next version of Windows Server - currently known as codename Windows Server “8”.
Preparation: This is not just a presentation! We will try not to kill you with PowerPoint! Our IT Camp format requires interaction, participation, and fun! And in order for you to get the most out of our day, we ask that you do a few optional-but-highly-encouraged things before coming to camp:
1. We ask that you download the evaluation software - Windows Server 2008 R2 w/SP1 and System Center 2012 Release Candidate. 2. Bring a laptop. In venues where we can support it, we will provide networking and power so that you can follow along and perhaps even participate in labs and examples. 3. And for the truly ambitious among you - Bring a Windows Server 2008 R2-capable machine. If you already have Server 2008 R2 installed, that’s great. But as long as you have a capable machine, we will provide you a .VHD file and instructions for how configure your computer to “dual-boot” into an already installed copy of Windows Server 2008 R2 – all without requiring you to remove your existing Windows installation. Here is the recommended minimum configuration:
Registration (The Camps I’m leading are highlighted, and the others are being facilitated by my buddies Brian Lewis and John Weston)
“Hey Kevin.. Why are some cities done twice?”
We filled up so many venues so quickly last semester that we thought that rather than trying to get (and afford) larger venues, we’d opt for the smaller venues and just do the same event two times in the same city. Plus, the format of the IT Camp lends itself better to a smaller group, anyway. And we can save on some travel expense by doing these over two consecutive days.
But don’t worry if your city is only listed once. That just means that we have found a sufficiently large venue that is less likely to be filled and have registration closed.
Clicking on the city for the date that you want to attend will bring you to the registration page. Do it now! Due to the excitement surrounding System Center 2012 and Windows Server “8” news, we expect these events to fill up fast!
City, State
Date
Des Moines, IA
March 21, 2012
March 22, 2012
Madison, WI
March 28, 2012
Milwaukee, WI
April 4, 2012
April 5, 2012
Detroit, MI
April 12, 2012
Downers Grove, IL
April 17, 2012
Omaha, NE
April 19, 2012
Minneapolis, MN
April 23, 2012
Columbus, OH
April 24, 2012
April 30, 2012
Houston, TX
May 3, 2012
May 4, 2012
Dallas, TX
May 7, 2012
May 8, 2012
Kansas City, MO
May 9, 2012
Austin, TX
May 10, 2012
May 11, 2012
Saint Louis, MO
Indianapolis, IN
Cincinnati, OH
May 17, 2012
Chicago, IL
May 18, 2012
Will we see you there? Do you have any questions about what we’re covering? Is there anything you’d specifically like to see in our events? Let us know in the comments.