TechNet Blogs

PowerTip: Toggle Outline View in the Windows PowerShell ISE

The Scripting Guys — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:59:00 GMT

Toggle the Outline view in the Windows PowerShell ISE.

SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Support for System Center 2012 SP1 products

WIlfried Schadenboeck — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:48:22 GMT

During my project I tried to find out which System Center 2012 SP1 products support SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn functionality . I took me quite some time after browsing all products for supported configuration I finally found following technet article http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj628198.aspx which provides exactly the information I was looking for.

SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Support

In System Center 2012 SP1, SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn is supported in the following components:

App Controller
Operations Manager
Orchestrator
Service Manager
VMM

SQL Server AlwaysOn is not supported with Data Protection Manager (DPM) and Configuration Manager.

A Word document describing SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn can be found at SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn: Multisite Failover Cluster Instance.

Hope this helps saving some time

Willy

Embedding Videos in SharePoint 2010

renzedu — Sun, 19 May 2013 14:48:18 GMT

Embedding Videos in SharePoint 2010

Endpoint Protection – frissítések központi terítése

imresz-msft — Sun, 19 May 2013 12:49:31 GMT

Az alábbi cikkben a System Center Endpoint Protection 2012 SP1 (a továbbiakban SCEP) verziójával használható különböző definíciós állomány frissítési konfigurációkat mutatom be – kiemelve a System Center Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 integrált megoldás részleteit.

A frissítések központi terítésére az alábbi alternatívák állnak rendelkezésre:

Configuration Manager integrált terítés – ebben az esetben a Configuration Manager Software Update Management szolgáltatásán keresztül jutnak el a frissítések a kliensekig.

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) – ebben az esetben a vállalati WSUS infrastruktúrán keresztül jutnak el a frissítések a kliensekig.

Microsoft Update – ebben az esetben a kliensek direktben kapcsolódnak a Microsoft Update szolgáltatáshoz és töltik le a számukra szükséges frissítéseket.

Microsoft Malware Protection Center – ebben az esetben a Microsoft Malware Protection Center szolgáltatáshoz csatlakoznak a kliensek és töltik le a számukra szükséges frissítéseket.

UNC megosztás – ebben az esetben a frissítéseket valamilyen automatizált módon letöltjük és egy megosztáson keresztül tesszük elérhetővé a kliensek számára.

A Configuration Manager integrált megoldás kivételével mindegyik alternatíva esetében a frissítések menedzsmentje a SCEP kliensen keresztül történik. A különböző beállítások központi terítésére az Antimalware Policy-k szolgálnak, melyeket a Configuration Manager-ben definiálhatunk.

A Configuration Manager integrált megoldás esetében a frissítések letöltését a Configuration Manager végzi, ennek automatizálására Automatic Deployment Rule (ADR a továbbiakban) létrehozása szolgál – ami adott feltételeknek megfelelően letölti és publikálja az aktuális frissítéseket a kliensek felé. Az ADR-t 8 óránként sűrűbben futtatni nem érdemes. A frissen publikált frissítésekről a Configuration Manager agent-ek a soron következő házirend letöltés után tudomást szereznek, majd a Windows Update Agent segítségével kiértékelik azokat és a szükségesnek ítélt frissítéseket a Configuration Manager agent telepíti az adott számítógépre. Az aktuálisan használatban lévő definíciós állományról a SCEP UI-on keresztül tájékozódhatunk.

Amennyiben nem az elvárásainknak megfelelően működik a frissítések terítése, a nyomozás során az alábbiak segíthetnek:

Ha kizárólag Configuration Manager integrált forrást állítottunk be, a SCEP UI-on keresztül nem lehet azonnali frissítési folyamatot indítani az alábbi képen látható ’Update’ gomb megnyomásával – ez megfelel az elvárt működésnek a korábban
ismertetettekkel összhangban.

Minden más esetben használható a felület pl.: WSUS, UNC, stb.

Configuration Manager specifikus log-ok (C:\Windows\CCM\Logs):

ccmexec.log
updatesdeployment.log
execmgr.log
ciagent.log
updateshandler.log
scanagent.log
wuahandler.log

SCEP kliens specifikus log-ok (C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Microsoft Antimalware\Support):

MPDetection-<date-timestamp>.log
MPLog-<date-timestamp>.log
MPCacheStats.log

Végül, de nem utolsó sorban rengeteg hasznos információ található a Windows Update log-ban (C:\Windows\windowsupdate.log), a következő bejegyzésekre érdemes keresni:

Configuration Manager agent által indított hívás:

COMAPI -- START -- COMAPI: Init Search [ClientId = CcmExec]

SCEP kliens által indított hívás:

COMAPI -- START -- COMAPI: Init Search [ClientId = System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection]

Unattended installation of Virtual Machine Manager 2012 SP1 based on the IaaS PLA Fabric Management Guide

Panos Macheras — Sun, 19 May 2013 10:28:00 GMT

A few days ago we published what should be considered as the "golden rule" when it comes to guidance around architecting a System Center 2012 implementation for a Private Cloud solution. The guidance can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=38813. In this document my colleagues describe what we call an IaaS PLA (Product Line Architecture). PLAs are reference architectures that combine Microsoft software, consolidated guidance, and validated configurations with partner technology such as compute, network, and storage architectures, in addition to value-added software components. The IaaS PLA utilizes the core capabilities of the Windows Server operating system, Hyper-V, and System Center to deliver a private cloud infrastructure as a service offering.

In short: If you are interested to architect a Private Cloud solution based on the above, the IaaS PLA is the place to start.

One of the interesting aspects of the PLA is that it offers precise guidance on how to deploy the various components forming your Private Cloud solution.

In this Blog Post I will focus on how to make an unattended installation of Virtual Machine Manager 2012 SP1 (along with its accompanying SQL Server 2012) in a way that is compliant with the IaaS PLA Fabric Management Architectural guidance.

Let's Start!

Part 1: Installing the SQL Server and the SCVMMDB database instance

The IaaS PLA provides the guidance below for the Virtual Machine Manager database instance:

Fabric Management Component

Instance Name(Suggested)

Components

Collation

Storage

Requirements

Virtual Machine Manager

SCVMMDB

Database Engine

SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS

2 LUNs

We are going to deploy SQL Server 2012 on a highly-available Virtual Machine (not on a Guest Cluster). You can follow the guidance of the IaaS PLA on the VM specifications. In case you want to only host the VMM database instance then 4 GB of RAM and 4 vCPUs should be enough (unless you will manage more than 150 Physical Hosts, in which case you will need 8 GB of RAM and 8 vCPUs and also consider deploying a SQL Failover Cluster, see the IaaS PLA and here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/gg610574.aspx). Do not use Dynamic Memory for this VM. The layout of the Virtual Hard Disks should be as follows:

IDE Controller 0: Dynamically expanding or Static VHDX of 60 GBs (hosting the OS and the common components of the SQL Server).
SCSI Controller: Dynamically expanding or Static VHDX of 6 GBs (hosting the VMM Database)
SCSI Controller: Dynamically expanding or Static VHDX of 3 GBs (hosting the VMM Database Logs)

The recommended version is SQL Server 2012 Enterprise Edition with SP1 (or later).

To make an unattended installation of the SQL Server we can use a Configuration File like the following:

;SQL Server 2012 Configuration File
[OPTIONS]
IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS="True"
ACTION="Install"
ENU="True"
QUIET="True"
QUIETSIMPLE="False"
UpdateEnabled="True"
FEATURES=SQLENGINE,SSMS,ADV_SSMS
UpdateSource="MU"
HELP="False"
INDICATEPROGRESS="True"
X86="False"
INSTALLSHAREDDIR="C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server"
INSTALLSHAREDWOWDIR="C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server"
INSTANCENAME="SCVMMDB"
INSTANCEID="SCVMMDB"
SQMREPORTING="False"
ERRORREPORTING="False"
INSTANCEDIR="M:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server"
AGTSVCACCOUNT="DCS\SQLAgent"
AGTSVCPASSWORD=P@ssw0rd
AGTSVCSTARTUPTYPE="Manual"
COMMFABRICPORT="0"
COMMFABRICNETWORKLEVEL="0"
COMMFABRICENCRYPTION="0"
MATRIXCMBRICKCOMMPORT="0"
SQLSVCSTARTUPTYPE="Automatic"
FILESTREAMLEVEL="0"
ENABLERANU="False"
SQLCOLLATION="SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS"
SQLSVCACCOUNT="DCS\SQLDatabase"
SQLSVCPASSWORD=P@ssw0rd
SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS="DCS\Domain Admins"
SQLUSERDBLOGDIR="N:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.SCVMMDB\MSSQL\Data"
SQLTEMPDBLOGDIR="N:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.SCVMMDB\MSSQL\Data"
ADDCURRENTUSERASSQLADMIN="False"
TCPENABLED="1"
NPENABLED="0"
BROWSERSVCSTARTUPTYPE="Automatic"

You can find more info about Configuration Files for SQL Server 2012 unattended installations, here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd239405.aspx

The most important parameters, where a decision should be made, are the following:

Name of Instance: You set this on the INSTANCENAME and INSTANCEID parameters. "SCVMMDB" is the name recommended by the PLA.
Components: You should only select the Database Engine here (as per PLA). The Management Tools are also included for convenience.
Collation: SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
Location of the Database LUN: Replace M: with the drive letter of the LUN where you wish to place the Database files.
Location of the Logs LUN: Replace N: with the drive letter of the LUN where you wish to place the Database Log files.
SQL Server Agent account name: Replace "DCS\SQLAgent" in the AGTSVCACCOUNT parameter with a Domain Account of your choice (you can also use a local system account).
SQL Server Database Engine account name: Replace "DCS\SQLDatabase" in the SQLSVCACCOUNT parameter with a Domain Account of your choice (you can also use a local system account). If using a Domain Account also provide the password (in AGTSVCPASSWORD).
SQL Server System Administrators: Replace "DCS\Domain Admins" in the SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS parameter with a Domain Account or Security Group of your choice. If using a Domain Account also provide the password (in SQLSVCPASSWORD).

Replace the values above as you see fit and save the file as: C:\Config\SCVMMDB.ini

On the SQL Server from the SQL Server 2012 installation media execute the following command:

setup.exe /ConfigurationFile="C:\Config\SCVMMDB.ini"

During installation verbose output will be displayed in the command prompt (enable or disable this with the INDICATEPROGRESS parameter):

After successful installation we see the following:

We can verify successful installation by running SQL Server Management Studio and connecting to the Database Instance (SCVMMDB):

Part 2: Installing Virtual Machine Manager 2012 SP1

We are going to deploy VMM 2012 SP1 on a highly-available Virtual Machine (and not a VMM Failover Cluster). For managing less than 150 physical hosts create a VM with 4 GB of RAM and 4 vCPUs, for managing more consider creating a VMM Failover Cluster and follow the sizing guidance in the IaaS PLA and here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg610562.aspx). The layout of the Virtual Hard Disks should be as follows:

IDE Controller 0: Dynamically expanding or Static VHDX of 60 GBs (hosting the OS and the VMM installation).
SCSI Controller: Dynamically expanding or Static VHDX with enough disk space to host your VMM Library (ISOs, VM Templates, VHDXs files, etc.). You can also utilize a pass-through disk for the VMM Library in which case you can enable Disk Deduplication (on the Storage System).

Before setup you need to open the Firewall to allow communication between the VMM server and the SQL server. There are various ways to achieve this. One of them is to create a custom rule which opens all communications between the two IP addresses.

The command to do that on the SQL Server is:

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="SQL01-VMM01" dir=in action=allow enable=yes profile=domain localip=10.100.100.2 remoteip=10.100.100.3 interfacetype=any

The command to do that on the VMM Server is:

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="VMM01-SQL01" dir=in action=allow enable=yes profile=domain localip=10.100.100.3 remoteip=10.100.100.2 interfacetype=any

Replace any of the values above as needed to reflect your IP configuration and the rule name you want to assign.

VMM has three prerequisites when installed on Windows Server 2012:

Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit for Windows 8: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30652

Download the web installer (adksetup.exe) from the link above. Execute the web installer on your workstation (not the VMM server) and select "Download the Assessment and Deployment Kit for installation on a separate computer" and select a folder. Use the downloaded folder to install WADK to VMM by selecting the "Deployment Tools" and "Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE)" only.

SQL Server 2012 Native Client: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=239648&clcid=0x409
SQL Server 2012 Command Line Utilities: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=239650&clcid=0x409

You also need to add the VMM Domain Service account on the local admins group:

net localgroup administrators DCS\VMMService /add

Using a Domain Service account (vs. a local account) has several advantages one of them being that you can use sharing with ISO images (to attach them to VMs).

You can install VMM from the command prompt by using the guidance here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh852761.aspx

We need a configuration file (VMM.ini) that is similar to the following:

[OPTIONS]
ProductKey=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
SqlInstanceName=SCVMMDB
RemoteDatabaseImpersonation=1
SqlMachineName=SQL01
LibrarySharePath=E:\VMMLibrary
MUOptIn=1
VmmServiceLocalAccount=0

Provide your Product Key, configure the database details and set the location of your VMM Library. Save the file as: C:\Config\VMM.ini

On the Virtual Machine Manager server insert the media and execute the following command:

setup.exe /server /i /f c:\Config\VMM.ini /VmmServiceDomain DCS /VmmServiceUserName VMMService /VmmServiceUserPassword P@ssw0rd /SqlDBAdminDomain DCS /SqlDBAdminName Administrator /SqlDBAdminPassword P@ssw0rd /IACCEPTSCEULA

You need to provide credentials for the VMM Service (a Domain Account) and for a SQL Server Admin (from the group we configured earlier, for example the Domain Admins).

During installation observe (through Task Manager) the two processes running: "SetupVM" and "Virtual Machine Manager Setup".

You can troubleshoot setup by investigating the Log Files at: C:\ProgramData\VMMLogs

For example opening SetupWizard.log we observe the following:

Opening PrereqCheck.log we find the following issue:

In this case the solution is obvious: There is a pending restart prohibiting our installation. Restart the VM and retry.

If everything went ok, opening SetupWizard.log we would read the following:

Your installation of VMM is now finished successfully! Verify the installation by opening the VMM console:

Panos Macheras
Architect
Microsoft Consulting Services

Follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/panosmacheras

Weekend Scripter: Add Power and Functionality to the PowerShell ISE Part 2

The Scripting Guys — Sun, 19 May 2013 07:01:00 GMT

Summary: Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, adds more power and functionality to the Windows PowerShell ISE with a modified module.

Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. This is Part 2 of a two part series where I edit my Windows PowerShell ISE module and add five new functions. The five new functions are:

Add-RemarkedText
Remove-MarkedText
Edit-Module
Import-EveryModule
Switch-OutLineView

Yesterday, in Add Power and Functionality to the PowerShell ISE Part 1, I talked about the Add-RemarkedText and the Remove-MarkedText functions. Today I am going to talk about the remaining three functions.

The Edit-Module function

The Edit-Module function is a function that I have wanted to write for a long time. The scenario goes like this: I am in the Windows PowerShell ISE working on a script. I realize I want to add or to edit something to an installed Windows PowerShell module. So I have to click around and find the module, and then open it in the Windows PowerShell ISE so I can check something or edit something in the module.

Granted, it is not a huge problem, but it does slow things down a bit. Slow no longer—not with my Edit-Module function. To use it, all I need to do is type Edit-Module (em is an alias), and provide enough of the module name to distinguish it to Windows PowerShell. Yes, this function uses wildcard characters. For example, if I want to edit my PowerShellIseModule.psm1 file, I can type all of that, or I can just type PowerShell* (on my system) to gain access to the file. This technique is shown here:

Here is the complete Edit-Module function:

Edit-Module

Function Edit-Module

{

.Synopsis

This opens a module stored in the $env:PSModulePath location on a new tab in ISE

.Description

This function uses Get-Module to retrieve a module from $env:PSModulePath and then

it opens the module from that location into a new tab in ISE for editing. Wildcard

characters that resolve to a single module are supported.

.Example

Edit-Module PowerShellISEModule

Edit-Module PowerShellISEModule opens the PowerShellISEModule into a new tab in the

ISE for editing

.Example

Edit-Module PowerShellISE*

Edit-Module PowerShellISE* opens the PowerShellISEModule into a new tab in the

ISE for editing by using a wild card character for the module name

.Parameter Name

The name of the module. Wild cards that resolve to a single module are supported

.Notes

NAME: Edit-Module

AUTHOR: ed wilson, msft

LASTEDIT: 05/16/2013 18:14:19

KEYWORDS: Scripting Techniques, Modules

HSG: WES-5-18-2013

.Link

Http://www.ScriptingGuys.com

#Requires -Version 2.0

Param($name)

ISE (Get-Module -ListAvailable $name).path

} #end function Edit-Module

Importing every module

Yes, there are times when I need to import every module in Windows PowerShell. I used to type the following command:

Get-Module –ListAvailable | Import-Module

Even with aliases such as gmo and ipmo, the command got a bit tedious. So I finally decided to quit typing that command by creating my Import-EveryModule function. The previous code is the gist of the function,—he remainder is the gravy. Here is the complete function:

Import-EveryModule

Function Import-EveryModule

{

.Synopsis

This imports all modules from the $env:PSModulePath

.Description

This function imports all modules from $env:psmodulepath

.Example

Import-EveryModule

Import-EveryModule imports all modules from $env:psmodulepath

.Notes

NAME: Import-EveryModule

AUTHOR: ed wilson, msft

LASTEDIT: 05/16/2013 18:24:26

KEYWORDS: Scripting Techniques, Modules

HSG: Wes-5-18-2013

.Link

Http://www.ScriptingGuys.com

#Requires -Version 2.0

Get-Module -ListAvailable |

Import-Module -Force

} #end function Import-Everymodule

To make it easier to call this useful bit of code, I create an alias iem for Import-EveryModule.

Toggling the Outline view in the Windows PowerShell ISE

The last function I want to talk about is the Switch-OutlineView function. What this function does is toggle the Outline view in the current Windows PowerShell ISE script pane. This function is very helpful when working on a long script (such as the 500+ line PowerShellISEModule.PSM1 file). The best way to show this is to show you the script pane with the Outline view set to On:

Now I can expand the Outline view to full code mode by typing Switch-OutlineView in the execution pane (sov is an alias that I created for this).

Here is the complete text of the Switch-OutlineView function:

Switch-OutlineView

Function Switch-OutlineView

{

.Synopsis

This function toggles the outline view in the ISE

.Description

This function toggles the outline view in the ISE. It will expand

or collapse all functions in the current script pane.

.Example

Switch-OutlineView

Switch-OutlineView will either expand or collapse all functions

.Notes

NAME: Switch-OutlineView

AUTHOR: ed wilson, msft

LASTEDIT: 05/16/2013 19:28:37

KEYWORDS: Scripting Techniques, Modules

HSG: wes-5-18-2013

.Link

Http://www.ScriptingGuys.com

#Requires -Version 3.0

$psise.CurrentFile.Editor.ToggleOutliningExpansion()

} #end function switch-outlineview

The revised PowerShellISEModule and profile is available via the Scripting Guys Script Repository: Windows PowerShell ISE Profile and Modules.

I invite you to follow me on Twitter and Facebook. If you have any questions, send email to me at scripter@microsoft.com, or post your questions on the Official Scripting Guys Forum. See you tomorrow. Until then, peace.

Ed Wilson, Microsoft Scripting Guy

Top Contributors Awards!! Also, Ninja Secrets, FIM, HDInsight and THE GREATEST E-Book Gallery in the Wooooooorld!!

XAML guy — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:33:27 GMT

Welcome back for another analysis of contributions to TechNet Wiki over the last week (Fri-Sat)

Firstly, the usual weekly leader board snapshot...

Congratulations to Peter and Mehmet for topping the charts this week!

As usual, here are the results of another weekly crawl over the updated articles feed.

Most Revisions Award
Who has made the most individual revisions

Carsten Siemens has made it to the top spot this week, with 127 revisions over 97 articles! Great work Carsten!!

Fernando Lugão Veltem has also risen a spot to second, with 120 revisions over 55 articles! Just behind Fernando, another busy week!

Payman Biukaghazadeh is this week's third place winner, with 87 revisions over 27 articles.

Most Articles Updated Award
Who has updated the most articles

Slightly different line-up for the article tallies:

#1 Carsten Siemens with 97 articles!

#2 Fernando Lugão Veltem with 55 articles.

#3 Richard Mueller with 41 articles

Most Updated Article Award
Largest amount of updated content in a single article

The article most updated this week is a new arrival, Forefront Identity Manager (FIM) Events & Event logs by Peter Geelen - MSFT. This is a monster list of events and descriptions, essential library reference for any FIM professional. Thank you for pulling this into TechNet Peter, generations will love you.

Longest Article Award
Biggest article updated this week

The largest article to receive some attention this week is Forefront Identity Manager (FIM) Events & Event logs again by Peter Geelen - MSFT.

So it's worth also mentioning second largest document to receive some love this week was the legendary E-Book Gallery for Microsoft Technologies, originally started by Monica Rush, but since updated by an army of contributors, catapulting this article into wiki legend. This week alone TEN people have updated it!!

Most Revised Article Award
Article with the most revisions in a week

The article to receive the most revisions this week is as mentioned above, E-Book Gallery for Microsoft Technologies. Thanks to everyone who discovers, bookmarks, shares and contributes to this amazing resource.

Therefore I'll draw your attention to the next place winner, Wiki Ninja Belt Rankings by Ed Price - MSFT. This article will give you an insight into TechNet Wiki, how ideas take shape and are moulded by the community. As mentioned at the top, this reward program is not yet a reality and is just starting to take shape.

Smallest Significant Edit Award
Size isn't everything! Every edit counts.

Ignoring the addition of tags, this week's smallest but valuable tweak was to Microsoft HDInsight (Big Data) Solution by vishal0soni. The tiny edit was by this week's top scorer, Carsten Siemens.

The change was correcting a spelling mistake. Small but essential, and never overlooked! Thanks for all your hard work this week Carsten!

Thanks to everyone who contributed this week, even if you didn't get a mention, your changes have been seen and deeply appreciated!

Best regards,
Pete Laker

PowerTip: Find the Path to a PowerShell Module

The Scripting Guys — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:59:00 GMT

Summary: Easily find the path to a Windows PowerShell module.

How can I easily find the path to a Windows PowerShell module?

Use the Get-Module cmdlet and a wildcard character for the name, and select the Path property.
The following script finds the PowerShellISEModule (an optional module in the Script Repository):

(Get-Module -ListAvailable PowerShellIse*).path

You can shorten the command:

(gmo -l PowerShellIse*).path

The Four F’s of WPC: Expert Advice

Diane Golshan — Sat, 18 May 2013 15:54:20 GMT

by Jeff Shuey, Director of Strategic Alliances at Winshuttle

How does a first-time WPC attendee (aka a “WPC Newbie”) get the most out of the event? Follow the Four F’s of WPC and I predict you will have a very successful WPC experience.

First, what is WPC?

WPC is the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. It’s the chance for partners to connect with partners. It’s the best P2P event for Microsoft partners on the planet. It’s your chance to connect with the People that can help your business grow. It’s your opportunity to engage with the Partners that are as committed to the Microsoft community as you are. And it’s your chance to see the Products from Microsoft and partners that will help you create solutions.

This post is about what I call the Four F’s of WPC—simple guidelines to help new attendees get the most out of the event.

Think about these Four F’s as you finalize your plans over the next few weeks, and when you arrive in Houston, review them to make sure you are ready to maximize your time at WPC.

Now, what are the four F’s?

Familiarize yourself…

Find

Find a friend (or bring one).
Be a friend—if you see someone who looks like he or she could use a hand or some guidance, offer it! This is an idea from Bill Hole of The Hole Group, and it’s a GREAT idea.
Find someone you identified before the coming to WPC. Use the WPC Connect tool to make contact before you even show up—make the request and the connection.
Find the IAMCP booth. If you don’t know the IAMCP folks, you should. The International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners, or IAMCP, is a group of like-minded individuals who want to see partners in the Microsoft community be successful. There are IAMCP chapters all over the world, and they want to see YOU succeed with Microsoft.

Flow

Design your flow of activities.
Have a plan and follow it. If you get a little sidetracked by all the hoopla and excitement, that’s OK. It’s to be expected. The good thing about WPC is…there is never a lack of something to do!
Think about these points to make the most of your time:

What MUST you see?
What would you LIKE to see?
What can you SKIP? Can you learn about this topic from your colleagues or the new friends you have made? If yes, skip it.

Follow up (the most critical F!)

Everything you do, everyone you meet, everything you learn or want to learn, will need your attention after the event.
Plan time in your schedule to follow up.
My secret Trade Show Tip: plan for at least one hour every day to do follow up activities. You won’t be sorry you did when you get home.
As you meet people, write down whatever it is you promise to do, and follow up.

At the end of the conference, you may think you didn’t get enough from the event. And it’s possible you may not have. But if you follow these Four F’s of WPC, you will be on a very good path to getting the most out this year’s Worldwide Partner Conference.

In my next post, I’ll talk about what to do before, during, and after WPC. Stay tuned here on the US team’s WPC blog.

See you in Houston!

_______________________________________________

Jeff Shuey is a veteran in the Enterprise Content Management industry. Over the past 20 years he has worked with customers and partners to design, develop, and deploy solutions around the world. Jeff is the Director of Strategic Alliances at Winshuttle. He has worked for Microsoft, FileNet, K2, Captaris, Open Text, Kofax, and Kodak. He speaks and blogs about ECM and the intersection between social, mobile and cloud computing.

Connect with Jeff on Twitter, his blog, by email, and find him on Facebook, and LinkedIn. It’s also a good bet you can find him on WPC Connect.

Step-by-Step: Build Your Private Cloud in a Month with System Center 2012 SP1, Windows Server 2012, Hyper-V and Windows Azure

KeithMayer — Sat, 18 May 2013 14:27:00 GMT

UPDATED: Including the newly released Step-by-Step guides for implementing Windows Azure Virtual Network Site-to-Site VPN and Point-to-Site VPN hybrid networking in the list of linked resources in this study program.

My fellow Technical Evangelists and I have authored a content series that steps through building your very own Private Cloud by leveraging Windows Server 2012, our FREE Hyper-V Server 2012, Windows Azure Infrastructure Services ( IaaS ) and System Center 2012 Service Pack 1. Week-by-week, we walk through the steps to envision, plan and implement your very own Private Cloud to take your existing data center to the next level and give you the tools and time back in your day for improving IT services and being able to change and shift with your business / IT needs.

In this article, I introduce this series and provide a weekly breakdown of each topic that we've written to help you build your own Private Cloud ...

...(read more)

Migrating GPO Links between Domains with PowerShell

Manny Murguia — Sat, 18 May 2013 12:10:00 GMT

By popular demand, I recently completed a script to migrate links between two domains. Like every script I write, it probably won't be without its bugs due to corner cases, but it will hopefully save everyone some time when it does work. That being said, please run tests before going to your production environment with it.

This script is fairly straightforward and uses the Active Directory module for PowerShell. Here are some gotchas I came across during the creation and testing of this script:

1. The OU structure and Site names must be the same between the source and destination domains. By default, the script logs an error at C:\GPOLinksLog.txt if a particular OU or Site does not exist. There are probably plenty of scripts in Internet land that can be used to duplicate OU structures and sites, so happy searching!

2. The script overwrites the "gPLink" attribute during the Import process. That means any already existing links on the particular OU or Site will be overwritten. For more information about the gPLink attribute and gpLinkOptions, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc232505.aspx

3. By now, you should have already completed the steps in my previous blog post: Bulk Import of Group Policy Objects between Different Domains with PowerShell. If GPO's with the same name between the source and destination domain do not exist, the script will not be very effective. You may also want the old WMI filters linked. Scripts for that process are located here (for Exporting) and here (for Importing).

4. If the Input option is used and a particular GPO does not exist, an error is logged in the LogFile location, but the script still links the other GPO's that do exist on particular object. If none of the GPO's linked to an object exist, no action is taken on that object, and an error is logged.

Now, let's see how easy the script is to use. There are three switches:

-OutputFile: This switch is used to export GPO Links from the source domain. The full path to the desired file should be specified (e.g. -OutputFile C:\temp\migratelinks.txt) otherwise a relative path to the file specified is used.

-InputFile: This switch is used to import GPO Links to the destination domain. The full path to the desired file should be specified (e.g. -InputFile C:\temp\migratelinks.txt) otherwise a relative path to the file specified is used.

-LogFile: This optional switch is used to specify a log file (e.g. -LogFile C:\temp\LogFile.txt). The default value is C:\GPOLinksLog.txt.

When specifying OutputFile or InputFile, at least one and only one of the two switches must be specified. Helpful reminders of this rule will be displayed if both or neither value is specified.

Here's an example of how to use the script as a defined process:

1. On a source Domain Controller, run "Import-and-Export_GPO_Links.ps1 -OutputFile C:\temp\migration.txt"

2. Move "migration.txt" to a destination Domain Controller and put it into the "C:\temp" folder.

3. On the destination Domain Controller, run "Import-and-Export_GPO_Links.ps1 -InputFile C:\temp\migration.txt"

4. Review the log file for any errors.

Disclaimer: The information on this site is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, confers no rights, and is not supported by the authors or Microsoft Corporation. Use of included script samples are subject to the terms specified in the Terms of Use.

Imagining Surface

Steve Clayton - Editor — Sat, 18 May 2013 07:10:00 GMT

A new ad for Surface highlights the versatility of the device and asks you to imagine only carrying one device to meet your needs.

...(read more)

Weekend Scripter: Add Power and Functionality to the PowerShell ISE Part 1

The Scripting Guys — Sat, 18 May 2013 07:01:00 GMT

Summary: Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, begins a revision of his Windows PowerShell ISE Module by adding five new functions.

Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. I decided to block off the weekend to work on my Windows PowerShell ISE module. There are several things that I want to add to it because the “annoyance” factor has finally caught up with me. In fact my criteria, when a repetitive task gets to the point that it annoys me, I will write a bit of code and solve the annoying problem. I have a list of five functions that I want to write and add to my Windows PowerShell ISE module. Here are the functions I want to add:

Add-RemarkedText
Remove-MarkedText
Edit-Module
Import-EveryModule
Switch-OutLineView

So after I make a pot of Gunpowder Green Tea with jasmine, lemon grass, and a half spoonful of spearmint, I head back to my office, and my laptop is busy blaring Willie Nelson. I look over at the Scripting Wife and say, “I thought I was playing Mott the Hoople when I left. What happened?”

The Scripting Wife said, “You shouldn’t have left your computer unattended.” I guess she has a point, after all. Today I am going to talk about the first two functions: Add-RemarkedText and Remove-MarkedText. Tomorrow I will talk about the other three functions.

Comment (remark) out a block of selected script code

When I have a block of code that I want to comment (or remark) out, I generally use the Windows PowerShell 2.0 block quote feature of the <# to open the comment and #> to close the comment. This technique is shown here.

"this is my code"

"that I want to comment (remark) out"

"for now"

The problem with this is that one way I troubleshoot my scripts is by commenting out sections of my code. In the Windows PowerShell ISE, I would like to be able to use the mouse (or keyboard shortcuts) to select a block of code and then to comment it out. Using the <# and #> seems to be a bit cumbersome for me.

Note If I am going to make major changes to a script, I use my Copy-ScriptToNewTab function, which is already in my Windows PowerShell ISE module.

My solution for this dilemma is my new Add-RemarkedText function. To use it, I simply select a portion of the code in the current tab in the Windows PowerShell ISE, and in the command pane, I type Add-RemarkedText. This is shown in the image that follows.

When the Add-RemarkedText function runs, the selected code is now commented (remarked) out, and it will not execute when the script runs. The commented section is shown in the image that follows.

Here is the complete Add-RemarkedText function.

ADD-RemarkedText function

Function Add-RemarkedText

{

.Synopsis

This function will add a remark # character to beginning of line

.Description

This function will add a remark character # to selected text in the ISE.

These are comment characters, and is great when you want to comment out

a section of PowerShell code.

.Example

Add-RemarkedText

adds the comment / remark character to beginning of each selected line

.Notes

NAME: Add-RemarkedText

AUTHOR: ed wilson, msft

LASTEDIT: 05/16/2013

KEYWORDS: Windows PowerShell ISE, Scripting Techniques

HSG: wes-5-18-13

.Link

Http://www.ScriptingGuys.com

#Requires -Version 2.0

$text = $psISE.CurrentFile.editor.selectedText

foreach ($l in $text -split [environment]::newline)

{

$newText += "{0}{1}" -f ("#" + $l),[environment]::newline

}

$psISE.CurrentFile.Editor.InsertText($newText)

} #End function add-remarkedtext

Removing a commented section of code

After I have remarked out a portion of code, and I have completed my troubleshooting/testing scenario, it is time to remove the comments. In the past, this meant using the down arrow and the delete key, and hoping the mind numbing repetition did not lull me to sleep and cause me to delete a critical portion of the script.

With my Remove-RemarkedText function, this is no longer a problem. First I highlight (select) the commented out portion of the script, and then in the execution pane of the Windows PowerShell ISE, I type Remove-RemarkedText (rr is an alias). This technique is shown in the following image.

When I press ENTER, the comment character (remarked out code) is removed as shown here:

Keep in mind that the code is still selected, and you should click away to remove the selection to protect yourself from accidently deleting the section of your script.

Here is the complete text of the Remove-RemarkedText function.

Remove-RemarkedText

Function Remove-RemarkedText

{

.Synopsis

This function will remove a remark # character to beginning of line

.Description

This function will remove a remark character # to selected text in the ISE.

These are comment characters, and is great when you want to clean up a

previously commentted out section of PowerShell code.

.Example

Remove-RemarkedText

Removes the comment / remark character to beginning of each selected line

.Notes

NAME: Add-RemarkedText

AUTHOR: ed wilson, msft

LASTEDIT: 05/16/2013

KEYWORDS: Windows PowerShell ISE, Scripting Techniques

HSG: wes-5-18-13

.Link

Http://www.ScriptingGuys.com

#Requires -Version 2.0

$text = $psISE.CurrentFile.editor.selectedText

foreach ($l in $text -split [environment]::newline)

{

$newText += "{0}{1}" -f ($l -replace '#',''),[environment]::newline

}

$psISE.CurrentFile.Editor.InsertText($newText)

} #End function remove-remarkedtext

Join me tomorrow when I will complete my discussion of the other three new ISE functions for my Windows PowerShell ISE module. Tomorrow I will also share the link to the Windows PowerShell ISE module project in the Scripting Guys Script Repository.

Ed Wilson, Microsoft Scripting Guy

Search Service Application: Flip “Include” FileTypes list to “Exclude”

Anthony Casillas — Sat, 18 May 2013 05:57:19 GMT

It’s been a while since I have posted anything, so hello again! :) I have been meaning to post this for some time, but time seems to be my enemy. I worked with a customer a while back that ran into a scenario where they were using a standard “Search Service Application” within the SharePoint 2010 and they were crawling a non-SharePoint, Apache based wiki site, called “MediaWiki.” MediaWiki will allow you to create a new page with pretty much any name you would like. Example: http://www.contoso.com...(read more)

YouthSpark Profile: Gianisse Marie Adamantopoulos

Microsoft Citizenship Asia Pacific — Sat, 18 May 2013 04:30:00 GMT

This is part of a series of YouthSpark profiles where we highlight young people in Asia who are dedicated to changing the world through technology, and inspiring others along the way.

NAME GIANISSE

COUNTRY PHILIPPINES

OCCUPATION STUDENT

TWITTER GIGIADAMAN___

BIO

A student at De La Salle University, Gianisse Marie Adamantopoulos, also known as ‘Gigi’, combines her passion for music and technology by reaching out to other young, like-minded music enthusiasts in the Philippines. She aspires to introduce young people to the latest software, online materials and social media as an alternate avenue to realise their talents and achieve their musical ambitions. An avid musician, Gigi enjoys creating her own music in her free time.

Tell us one exciting thing that you have been working on in the past 3–6 months.

I belong to a school team that recently implemented the Microsoft Student Partners Programme. Over the past few months, we have been playing an active role in encouraging both freshmen and sophomore students at our school to embrace the use of technology to solve common issues that they may face on a daily basis. Besides my involvement with this school-related project, I have been trying my hand at producing sound mixes and musical recordings with the use of a variety of music software.

What are some of the challenges facing youth today that concern you the most?

I find that my generation tends to experience the pressures of life at a much earlier age. Among my peers, there are a lot of young people who are already feeling overwhelmed by practical considerations, such as the need to earn a good living to sustain their needs, and end up conforming to social norms — rather than pursuing their own dreams to create something that is truly new and innovative.

If you had the ability to create one change in the world, what would that be and how can technology help you achieve this change?

I would like to reach out to young people across the world and share with them the message that new technology, such as social media platforms, can help change their lives and shape a better future. Using social media, I want to do my part in spreading the message that technology enables them to continue pursuing their dreams and ambitions, without having to sacrifice their civic duties or personal obligations.

I’m inspired by… those who are willing to persevere against all odds in order to find success in their lives and careers.

YouthSpark Spotlight: Anthony Luigi De Vera

Microsoft Citizenship Asia Pacific — Sat, 18 May 2013 04:13:00 GMT

This is part of a series of YouthSpark profiles where we highlight young people in Asia who are dedicated to changing the world through technology, and inspiring others along the way.

NAME LUIGI

COUNTRY PHILIPPINES

OCCUPATION PROGRAMME DIRECTOR, TEN ACCOMPLISHED YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS FOUNDATION

TWITTER LUIGI_DEVERA

BIO
As the programme director of Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations Foundation, Anthony Luigi De Vera has worked with various organisations to empower young Filipinos to make a positive impact on society. Luigi recently headed the media and communications team for Youth Vote Philippines, a network of youth groups working toward voters’ education and empowerment. He also founded a nonprofit programme named Empower Philippines to broaden opportunities for young people to work at various local government agencies to nurture their interest in social projects.

Tell us one exciting thing that you have been working on in the past 3–6 months.

I led the communications efforts for Youth Vote Philippines’ 2013 campaign to educate and drive awareness among our young voters about the importance of voting, as well as helped in the redesign of our online portal. I’ve also been travelling across the country to spread the word about how young people can become more engaged in our nation’s political process. In April, I was invited by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to share my experiences in community projects with various Thai youth groups in Bangkok.

What are some of the challenges facing youth today that concern you the most?

A key challenge is the lack of opportunities that young Filipinos face in realising their dreams. There are many youth groups in the Philippines who are committed to solving social problems related to education, health, livelihood and the environment, but do not have the access to the latest information technology resources to develop their own projects.

If you had the ability to create one change in the world, what would that be and how can technology help you achieve this change?

I would like to transform the field of education, and help to provide every child with ample educational opportunities. With the prevalence of mobile technology, I see a great potential for the development of an app with a database of children who require funding assistance for their education. Helping a child go to school with just one click on a phone or a tablet is a great way to address the opportunity gap.

I’m inspired by… stories of courage and patriotism — such as the real-life story of Janela Lelis, a student who risked her life to save the Philippine Flag during the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Juaning in 2011.

How to create an Incident Dashboard using Excel in System Center 2012 SP1 - Service Manager (SCSM) 2012

Antoni H — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:32:27 GMT

This blog walks through the steps needed to create a dashboard in Excel that looks like this:

HIGH-LEVEL STEPS:

1) From the Service Manager Console in the data Warehouse pane and the Cubes node, click on a cube and select ‘Analyze Cube in Excel’

2) Create multiple sheets in the excel workbook – each one with a PivotTable and chart

3) Create a new sheet in the excel workbook and copy and paste each of your charts from the sheets you created them on to the new ‘dashboard’ sheet

4) Publish by either storing it in a Service Manager ‘Analysis Library’ so it can be accessed via others by the console, or publish to SharePoint.

NOTE: You may need to add users (preferably via an AD group membership) to the SCDW_Report_Readers Role in SQL Analysis Services, and grant the role access to the cubes and data sources as described here so users have permissions to open up the report and refresh it:

DETAILED STEPS:

1) In the Service Manager console, navigate to Data Warehouse>Cubes and click Service Manager Work Items Cube, then click on ‘Analyze Cube in Excel’

2A) In the first excel sheet, create the ‘Active Incidents by Classification’ Report:

a) Under the PivotTable Fields pane on the right-hand side, Change the Show Fields dropdown on the right-hand side to IncidentDim:

b) Check ‘Incidents Active’

c) Scroll down to IncidentDim_IncidentClassification, expand ‘More Fields and check ‘IncidentClassificationValue’:

d) Click on the Data ribbon and then click the properties button. Ensure ‘Refresh data when opening the file’ is selected.

e) Click on the Pivot Table and then in the Ribbon click PivotTable Tools>ANALYZE and the PivotChart button

f) Choose a bar type chart.

How the areas in the bottom right should be populated:
Filters – Blank
Legend – Blank
Rows - IncidentClassificationValue
Values – Incidents Active

so it looks like this:

2B) In a new Excel Sheet, Create the ‘All Incidents by Status’ report

d) This will open up a new pivot table so you can create a second table selection and chart.
e) Under the PivotTable Fields pane on the right-hand side, Change the Show Fields dropdown on the right-hand side to IncidentDim
f) Check ‘IncidentDimCount’ (This is the total number of incidents in the Warehouse)
g) Scroll down to IncidentDim_IncidentStatus, expand ‘More Fields and check ‘IncidentStatusValue’
h) Click on the Data ribbon and then click the properties button. Ensure ‘Refresh data when opening the file’ is selected.
i) Click on the Pivot table and then in the Ribbon click PivotChartTools>analyze and the PivotChart button
j) Choose a Pie Chart.

How the areas in the bottom right should be populated:
Filters – Blank
Legend – Blank
Axis - IncidentStatusValue
Values – IncidentDimCount

2C) In a new Excel Sheet, Create the ‘Incident SLA Status’ report

a) Create a new worksheet and then click Insert, then choose PivotTable on the far left of the ribbon
b) Check the ‘Use an external data source’ radio button and then click ‘choose connection’
c) Choose the Connection that has an icon with a cube on it and click open.
d) This will open up a new pivot table so you can create a second table selection and chart.
e) Under the PivotTable Fields pane on the right-hand side, Change the Show Fields dropdown on the right-hand side to Incident SLA Instance Information
f) Check ‘IncidentSLAInstanceInformation’ at the top
g) Scroll down to SLAInstanceStatus, expand ‘More Fields and check ‘SLAInstanceStatusValue’
h) Click on the Data ribbon and then click the properties button. Ensure ‘Refresh data when opening the file’ is selected.
i) Click on the Pivot table and then in the Ribbon click PivotChartTools>analyze and the PivotChart button
j) Choose a Pie chart .

How the areas in the bottom right should be populated:
Filters – Blank
Legend– Blank
Rows- SLAInstanceStatusValue
Values – IncidentSLAInstanceInformation

2D) In a new Excel Sheet, Create the ‘All Incidents by Source’ report

a) Create a new worksheet and then click Insert, then choose PivotTable on the far left of the ribbon
b) Check the ‘Use an external data source’ radio button and then click ‘choose connection’
c) Choose the Connection that has an icon with a cube on it and click open.
d) This will open up a new pivot table so you can create a second table selection and chart
e) Under the PivotTable Fields pane on the right-hand side, Change the Show Fields dropdown on the right-hand side to IncidentDim
f) Check ‘IncidentDimCount’ (This is the total number of incidents in the Warehouse)
g) Scroll down to IncidentDim_IncidentSource, expand ‘More Fields and check ‘IncidentSourceValue’
h) Click on the Data ribbon and then click the properties button. Ensure ‘Refresh data when opening the file’ is selected.
i) Click on the Pivot table and then in the Ribbon click PivotChartTools>analyze and the PivotChart button
j) Choose a Pie chart.

How the areas in the bottom right should be populated:
Filters – Blank
Rows– Blank
Axis - IncidentSourceValue
Values – IncidentDimCount

2E) In a new Excel Sheet, Create the ‘Active Incidents by Support group’ report

a) Create a new worksheet and then click Insert, then choose PivotTable on the far left of the ribbon
b) Check the ‘Use an external data source’ radio button and then click ‘choose connection’
c) Choose the Connection that has an icon with a cube on it and click open.
d) This will open up a new pivot table so you can create a second table selection and chart
e) Under the PivotTable Fields pane on the right-hand side, Change the Show Fields dropdown on the right-hand side to IncidentDim
f) Check ‘Incidents Active ’ (This is the total number of Active incidents in the Warehouse)
g) Scroll down to IncidentDim_IncidentTierQueues, expand ‘More Fields and check ‘IncidentTierQueuesValue’
h) Click on the Data ribbon and then click the properties button. Ensure ‘Refresh data when opening the file’ is selected.
i) Click on the Pivot table and then in the Ribbon click PivotChartTools>analyze and the PivotChart button
j) Choose a Pie chart.

How the areas in the bottom right should be populated:
Filters – Blank
Legend – Blank
Rows - IncidentTierQueuesValue
Values – Incidents Active

2F) In a new Excel Sheet, Create the ‘Incidents by resolved Date’ report

a) Create a new worksheet and then click Insert, then choose PivotTable on the far left of the ribbon
b) Check the ‘Use an external data source’ radio button and then click ‘choose connection’
c) Choose the Connection that has an icon with a cube on it and click open.
d) This will open up a new pivot table so you can create a second table selection and chart
e) Under the PivotTable Fields pane on the right-hand side, Change the Show Fields dropdown on the right-hand side to IncidentDim
f) Check ‘IncidentDimCount’ (This is the total number of incidents in the Warehouse)
g) Scroll down to IncidentDim, expand ‘More Fields and check ‘Resolved date’
h) Click on the Data ribbon and then click the properties button. Ensure ‘Refresh data when opening the file’ is selected.
i) Click on the Pivot table and then in the Ribbon click PivotChartTools>analyze and the PivotChart button
j) Choose a Line

how the areas in the bottom right should be populated:
Filters – blank
Legend – blank
Rows - Resolved Date
Values – IncidentDimCount

2G) In a new Excel Sheet, Create the ‘Incidents By Created Date’ report

a) Create a new worksheet and then click Insert, then choose PivotTable on the far left of the ribbon
b) Check the ‘Use an external data source’ radio button and then click ‘choose connection’
c) Choose the Connection that has an icon with a cube on it and click open.
d) This will open up a new pivot table so you can create a second table selection and chart
e) Under the PivotTable Fields pane on the right-hand side, Change the Show Fields dropdown on the right-hand side to IncidentDim
f) Check ‘IncidentDimCount’ (This is the total number of incidents in the Warehouse)
g) Scroll down to IncidentDim, expand ‘More Fields and check ‘Created date’
h) Click on the Data ribbon and then click the properties button. Ensure ‘Refresh data when opening the file’ is selected.
i) Click on the Pivot table and then in the Ribbon click PivotChartTools>analyze and the PivotChart button
j) Choose a Line

How the areas in the bottom right should be populated:
Filters – blank
Legend – blank
Rows - Created Date
Values – IncidentDimCount

3) On a new Excel Sheet, Create the dashboard

a) Create a new worksheet and rename it at the bottom left to ‘dashboard’
b) Copy and paste your charts form the other sheets to this worksheet.
c) Click the ‘View’ ribbon and uncheck formula bar, gridlines, and headings.

d) Click the ‘insert’ ribbon and choose textbox, and type a title such as Incident Dashboard at the top.

4) Publish by either storing it in a Service Manager ‘Analysis Library’ so it can be accessed via others by the console, or publish to SharePoint.

To use the Analysis Library, Create a share where you want to store reports and then specify this share in the Service Manager console underneath data Warehouse>Analysis Library:

Ensure that the Users who will be opening up reports on this share have access to it .

REPEATED NOTE: You may need to add users (preferably via an AD group membership) to the SCDW_Report_Readers and grant the role access to the cubes and data sources as described here so they have permissions to open up the report and refresh it:

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES:

This is a great blog post that talks about publishing to SharePoint using Excel web services: http://blog.scsmfaq.ch/2012/02/06/data-cubes-in-service-manager-2012-part-23-publishing-reports/

MMS 2013 - Advanced Real World System Center Data Warehouse and Reporting: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/MMS/2013/SD-B316

Service Manager 2012: System Center Data Warehouse, Reporting, and Dashboards http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/MMS/2012/SD-B312

This wiki page contains lots of good links too: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/15608.system-center-service-manager-data-warehouse-and-reporting.aspx

Creating Reports Using Performance Point: http://blog.concurrency.com/infrastructure/creating-scsm-2012-reports-using-performancepoint/

Launch of the Microsoft Certified Educator

Lauren Woodman — Fri, 17 May 2013 22:35:00 GMT

Access to quality professional development is critical to build educator capacity to ensure students are graduating with the skills needed for workplace success. Governments around the world continue to struggle to find scalable, quality professional development that is mapped to an international framework of educator competencies. This week we are happy to announce, the global availability of the Microsoft Certified Educator exam , a valid and reliable assessment of educator ICT competencies...(read more)

Apps for SharePoint and SharePoint Online

MSFTTS2 — Fri, 17 May 2013 22:26:17 GMT

Michael Kophs, Cloud TSP

A while back I blogged about adding Apps from the Office App store to Excel. You can also add apps to the latest version of Outlook, Word and Project as well. Now if you think Office Apps are cool, then you’re going to love SharePoint Apps!

The last time I checked, there were 171 Apps in the SharePoint App store. Most are free, some you have to purchase. OK, not quite the store size we’re used to, I get it, but there is still something very compelling about the Office and SharePoint App Store. 1) The current apps offer instant BUSINESS value and functionality to Office 365 (sorry no ill-tempered bird games, zombies or highly addictive word games) and 2) the new App Dev platform is based off of open standards, allowing for a much simpler development model. We can certainly expect the number of quality apps to rapidly grow in the coming months.

Following are screenshots of a few FREE apps that I think are pretty cool and could easily be deployed and adopted by any business using SharePoint Online (part of Office 365) or even SharePoint 2013 on-premises. Each screenshot is linked to the Office App Store:

Easily display the weather of each of your company offices on your SharePoint home page:

Here’s a must have App for every organization. Display your company news on your SharePoint homepage with this interactive news app that automatically cycles through each news item:

Easily download and deploy this Recruiting App to assist with your HR departments recruiting efforts:

Need a quick and painless way to track employee PTO requests? Check out the timeOFF Lite app:

Explore the app store and easily add apps that you find compelling to your Office 365 account and test them out yourself! Here are few links to get you started in your App evaluation:

Office and SharePoint App Store

Development Center for Office and SharePoint Apps

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/officeapps/archive/2012/07/17/introducing-the-new-office-cloud-app-model.aspx

Meccanismi di risoluzione DNS quando molteplici DNS server sono configurati su un client

Supporto Tecnico Enterprise Italia — Fri, 17 May 2013 22:00:00 GMT

Ciao a tutti!

Un pò di tempo fa avevamo parlato di DNS client in questo post, approfondendo i vari meccanismi di gestione della client cache e dei vari meccanismi di risoluzione record tramite suffissi quando era necessario andare ad interrogare un server DNS. Le cose però come sempre nel mondo reale sono un pò più complesse :)

Sicuramente infatti vi sarete trovati almeno una volta a configurare due o più server DNS da far utilizzare al vostro client dalle proprietà della scheda di rete o da uno scope DHCP:

Ma vi siete mai chiesti come funziona il meccanismo con cui i diversi server vengono utilizzati? è importante sapere che più server aggiungiamo alla lista, più aumentiamo le probabilità che la nostra query sia risolta. Ma dobbiamo tenere presente anche che se aggiungiamo più server, cambierà anche la modalità con la quale effettuiamo le query. Ma andiamo subito a vedere in dettaglio i vari scenari.

Qual è il comportamento di default di un client DNS quando è configurato un solo DNS server ?

Il comportamento è il seguente (testato su Windows XP, Windows 7 e Windows 8 con una sola scheda di rete)

Tempo (secondi dall’inizio della query)	Azione eseguita
0	Client effettua una query verso il server DNS
1	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 1 secondo, il client effettua una nuova query verso il server DNS
2	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 1 ulteriore secondo, il client effettua una nuova query verso il server DNS
4	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 2 ulteriori secondi, il client effettua una nuova query verso il server DNS
8	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 4 ulteriori secondi, il client effettua una nuova query verso il server DNS
10	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 2 ulteriori secondi, il client smette di effettuare query

Nota bene: ogni risposta di “Name Error” o “Server Failure” ricevuta da parte del server determinerà lo stop del processo: il client non riproverà a fare la query se ha ricevuto una risposta negativa ma solo se non ha ottenuto alcuna risposta.

In questo semplice scenario, il client esegue 5 query verso il singolo DNS server prima di stopparsi.

Esempio:

Ipconfig sul client

IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.31(Preferred)

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1

Estratto di una trace di rete (Network Monitor)

Qual è il comportamento di default di un client DNS Windows XP quando sono configurati 2 DNS server ?

Il comportamento è il seguente (testato su client Windows XP con una sola scheda di rete)

Tempo (secondi dall’inizio della query)	Azione eseguita
0	Client effettua una query verso il primo server della lista
1	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 1 secondo, il client effettua una nuova query verso il secondo server DNS e in contemporanea ritenta una query verso il server primario
3	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 2 ulteriori secondi, il client effettua una nuova query verso il server DNS primario
7	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 4 ulteriori secondi, il client effettua una nuova query verso il server DNS primario
9	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 2 ulteriori secondi, il client smette di effettuare query

In questo scenario, il client cerca di contattare prevalentemente il server primario, mentre utilizza il secondario una sola volta.

Esempio:

Ipconfig sul client

IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.31(Preferred)

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
10.0.0.2

Estratto di una trace di rete (Network Monitor)

Qual è il comportamento di default di un client DNS Windows 7 o Windows 8 quando sono configurati 2 DNS server ?

Il comportamento è il seguente (testato su client Windows 7 e Windows 8 con una sola scheda di rete)

Tempo (secondi dall’inizio della query)	Azione eseguita
0	Client effettua una query verso il primo server della lista
1	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 1 secondo, il client effettua una nuova query verso il secondo server DNS
2	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 1 ulteriore secondo, il client effettua una nuova query verso il secondo server DNS
4	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 2 ulteriori secondi, il client effettua una nuova query verso tutti i server della lista in contemporanea
8	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 4 ulteriori secondi, il client effettua una nuova query verso tutti i server della lista in contemporanea
10	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 2 ulteriori secondi, il client smette di effettuare query

Il client tenta di utilizzare nuovi server solo se gli altri sono irraggiungibili.

Esempio:

Ipconfig sul client

IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.31(Preferred)

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
10.0.0.2

Estratto di una trace di rete (Network Monitor)

Qual è il comportamento di default di un client DNS quando sono configurati 3 o più DNS server ?

Quanti e quali di loro sono utilizzati?

Il comportamento è il seguente (testato su client Windows XP, Windows 7 e Windows 8 con una sola scheda di rete)

Tempo (secondi dall’inizio della query)	Azione eseguita
0	Client effettua una query verso il primo server della lista
1	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 1 secondo, il client effettua una nuova query verso il secondo server DNS
2	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 1 secondo, il client effettua una nuova query verso il terzo server DNS
4	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 2 ulteriori secondi, il client effettua una nuova query verso tutti i server della lista in contemporanea
8	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 4 ulteriori secondi, il client effettua una nuova query verso tutti i server della lista in contemporanea
10	Se nessuna risposta è stata ricevuta dopo 2 ulteriori secondi, il client smette di effettuare query

Il client tenta di utilizzare nuovi server solo se gli altri sono irraggiungibili.

Se quindi ci aspettiamo di ottenere la risposta da un server in quarta posizione, abbiamo un ritardo annunciato di almeno 4 secondi dopo la query originale. Questo può causare problemi nel caso in cui l’applicazione che ha invocato la query abbia un timeout inferiore a questo valore. L’unico modo per risolvere il problema è impostare il server DNS corretto in una delle prime 3 posizioni.

Esempio:

Windows 8 Client configurato con cinque server DNS, che effettua una query per Microsoft.com

Ipconfig sul client

IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.31(Preferred)

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
                                            10.0.0.2
                                            10.0.0.3
                                            10.0.0.4
                                            10.0.0.5

Estratto di una trace di rete (Network Monitor)

Info aggiuntive:

Se sul client ci sono due schede di rete, entrambe configurate con DNs server differenti il meccanismo è leggermente diverso ed è descritto in questo blog post:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/networking/archive/2009/06/26/dns-client-resolver-behavior.aspx

Grazie a tutti e alla prossima!

Stefano Gagliardi
Sr. Support Engineer
Microsoft Enterprise Platform Support

DNS forwarders e Conditional forwarders

Supporto Tecnico Enterprise Italia — Fri, 17 May 2013 22:00:00 GMT

Ciao a tutti!

Nel precedente post abbiamo parlato di come funzionano i meccanismi di risoluzione DNS quando molteplici server DNS sono configurati su di un client. Oggi andremo a vedere come funziona invece quando molteplici forwarders o conditional forwarders sono configurati su di un DNS server.

Partiamo da una brevissima descrizione teorica:

Quando un client chiede ad un server DNS di risolvere un nome per una zona a lui sconosciuta, il server si deve organizzare per andare a recuperare la risposta da un ulteriore server DNS. Per questo fine possiamo utilizzare i Forwarders.

Un Forwarder non è altro che un server DNS al quale il nostro server di riferimento inoltra la query del client (passi 1-2 in figura). Il forwarder stesso poi può conoscere la risposta alla query, o può doverla richiedere ad altri in modo ricorsivo (passi 3-4). Quello che è importante è che alla fine del processo il Forwarder sia in grado di restituire la risposta al nostro server (5) che la inoltrerà al client (6).

I Conditional Forwarders funzionano in modo del tutto analogo, ma sono specifici delle zone per cui si effettuano le query. Il server quindi può indirizzare, in base a quale sia la richiesta del client, la query verso uno (o più) conditional forwarders specifici.

Ovviamente, così come per i client, anche in questi casi è bene configurare più di un singolo forwarder/conditional forwarder per evitare problemi di risoluzione in caso di problemi di connettività o di server down.

Qual è il comportamento di default di un server DNS quando due o più DNS server sono configurati come Forwarders?

è bene tenere in considerazione due importanti variabili:

- RecursionTimeout
”quanto tempo il DNS server rimane in attesa di risposte da altri server prima di terminare la ricerca”

Il parametro è salvato nel registro sotto:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DNS\Parameters\RecursionTimeout

e configurabile tramite il comando:

dnscmd /config /RecursionTimeout <valore>

Il valore di default è:

15 secondi su Windows Server 2003
8 secondi su Windows Server 2008, 2008R2 e 2012

Il RecursionTimeout è definito a livello server ed è indipendente dalla specifica zona per cui si sta effettuando la query

- ForwardingTimeout
”quanto tempo il DNS server rimane in attesa di uno specifico Forwarder”

Il parametro è salvato nel registro sotto:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DNS\Parameters\ForwardingTimeout

e configurabile tramite il comando:

dnscmd /config /ForwardingTimeout <valore>

Il valore di default è:

5 secondi su Windows Server 2003
3 secondi su Windows Server 2008, 2008R2 e 2012

Il ForwardingTimeout è definito a livello server ed è indipendente dalla specifica zona per cui si sta effettuando la query

Questo parametro è quello che possiamo vedere dalla interfaccia grafica dei Forwarders:

Quando il server DNS riceve una query per un record in una zona per cui non è autoritativo e necessita di usare i forwarders, il comportamento è il seguente:

Tempo (secondi dall’inizio della query)	Azione eseguita
0	Client effettua una query verso il server DNS. Server DNS inoltra la query immediatamente verso il primo forwarder.
<forwarding_timeout>	Dopo <forwarding_timeout> secondi, se il primo forwarder non ha risposto, il server DNS inoltra la query verso il secondo forwarder
2 * <forwarding_timeout> +1	Dopo <forwarding_timeout> +1 ulteriori secondi, se il secondo forwarder non ha risposto, il server DNS inoltra la query verso il terzo forwarder
...	...
N * <forwarding_timeout> +(N-1)	Dopo <forwarding_timeout> +1 ulteriori secondi, se l’N-esimo forwarder non ha risposto, il server DNS inoltra la query verso il N+1 esimo forwarder

Nota: in aggiunta al ritardo configurato può esserci un ulteriore ritardo di 0.5 secondi

L’algoritmo si ferma quando il tempo trascorso supera il valore di RecursionTimeout.
Se scade il RecursionTimeout il DNS server risponde al client con un messaggio di “Server Failure”. Questo messaggio non è inviato immediatamente dopo la scadenza del timeout, ma solo quando arriverà il momento di contattare il forwarder successivo.

Se il server finisce di contattare tutti i forwarders prima che sia scaduto il RecursionTimeout senza ottenere risposte, proverà ad usare i Root Hints.

Questo significa che, con default settings, un DNS Windows Server 2008 R2 sarà in grado di contattare al massimo 3 forwarders. Non ci sarà tempo sufficiente per arrivare ad usare il quarto. Infatti in base ai valori di default il server:

Contatterà il primo forwarder dopo 0 secondi
Contatterà il secondo forwarder dopo 3.5 secondi
Contatterà il terzo forwarder dopo 3.5 + 4 = 7.5 secondi
Dopo 8 secondi scadrà RecursionTimeout
Dopo 3.5 + 4 + 4 = 11.5 secondi (quando sarebbe stato tempo di contattare il quarto forwarder) il server risponderà “server failure” al client.

Esempio:

DNS server con IP address 10.10.10.10 e configurato con 5 forwarders (10.0.0.1-10.0.0.5).

Client ha IP address 10.0.0.8

In una cattura di rete vedremmo il seguente comportamento (notare 10.0.0.4 e 10.0.0.5 mai interrogati):

Qual è il comportamento di default di un server DNS quando due o più DNS server sono configurati come Conditional Forwarders?

Similmente al caso dei Forwarders, abbiamo due variabili in gioco. C’è ancora RecursionTimeout (a livello server) ma in questo caso utilizziamo ForwarderTimeout anzichè ForwardingTimeout. Oltre alla sottile differenza nel nome, la grande differenza è che ForwarderTimeout opera a livello di zona ed ha diversi valori di default.

- RecursionTimeout
”quanto tempo il DNS server rimane in attesa di risposte da altri server prima di terminare la ricerca”

Il parametro è salvato nel registro sotto:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DNS\Parameters\RecursionTimeout

e configurabile tramite il comando:

dnscmd /config /RecursionTimeout <valore>

Il valore di default è:

15 secondi su Windows Server 2003
8 secondi su Windows Server 2008, 2008R2 e 2012

Il RecursionTimeout è definito a livello server ed è indipendente dalla specifica zona per cui si sta effettuando la query

- ForwarderTimeout
”quanto tempo il DNS server rimane in attesa di uno specifico Conditional Forwarder”

Poichè i Conditional Forwarders sono configurati per specifiche zone DNS, anche ForwarderTimeout è zone-dependent.

Il parametro è salvato nel registro sotto:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\DNS Server\Zones\ <nome_zona>\ForwarderTimeout

Il valore di default è 5 secondi su Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2008R2 e 2012

Questo parametro è quello che possiamo vedere dalla interfaccia grafica dei Conditional Forwarders:

Quando il server DNS riceve una query per un record in una zona per cui non è autoritativo e necessita di usare i conditional forwarders, il comportamento è il seguente:

Tempo (secondi dall’inizio della query)	Azione eseguita
0	Client effettua una query verso il server DNS. Server DNS inoltra la query immediatamente verso il primo conditional forwarder.
<forwarder_timeout>	Dopo <forwarder_timeout> secondi, se il primo conditional forwarder non ha risposto, il server DNS inoltra la query verso il secondo conditional forwarder
2 * <forwarder_timeout> +1	Dopo <forwarder_timeout> +1 ulteriori secondi, se il secondo conditional forwarder non ha risposto, il server DNS inoltra la query verso il terzo conditional forwarder
...	...
N * <forwarder_timeout> +(N-1)	Dopo <forwarder_timeout> +1 ulteriori secondi, se l’N-esimo conditional forwarder non ha risposto, il server DNS inoltra la query verso il N+1 esimo conditional forwarder

Nota: in aggiunta al ritardo configurato può esserci un ulteriore ritardo di 0.5 secondi

Questo significa che, con default settings, un DNS Windows Server 2008 R2 sarà in grado di contattare al massimo 2 conditional forwarders. Non ci sarà tempo sufficiente per arrivare ad usare il terzo. Infatti in base ai valori di default il server:

Contatterà il primo conditional forwarder dopo 0 secondi
Contatterà il secondo conditional forwarder dopo 5.5 secondi
Dopo 8 secondi scadrà RecursionTimeout
Dopo 5.5 + 6 = 11.5 secondi (quando sarebbe stato tempo di contattare il terzo conditional forwarder) il server risponderà “server failure” al client.

Esempio:

DNS server con IP address 10.10.10.10 e configurato con 5 conditional forwarders (10.0.0.1-10.0.0.5) per la zona Microsoft.com

Client ha IP address 10.0.0.8 ed effettua una query per Microsoft.com

In una cattura di rete vedremmo il seguente comportamento (notare 10.0.0.3, 10.0.0.4 e 10.0.0.5 mai interrogati):

Per ulteriori informazioni:

Teoria

Understanding Forwarders
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc782142(v=ws.10).aspx

Configurazione

Forwarding Timeout
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc940784.aspx
Recursion Timeout
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc940788.aspx

Best Practice

The Recursion Timeout must be greater than the Forwarding Timeout
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff807363(v=ws.10).aspx
The Forwarding Timeout value should be 2 to 10 seconds
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff807396(v=WS.10).aspx

Grazie a tutti e alla prossima!

Stefano Gagliardi
Sr. Support Engineer
Microsoft Enterprise Platform Support

Is there a living Wiki legend? Yes, his name is R......

Gokan Ozcifci — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:59:00 GMT

Hello Wiki ninjas!

It’s again me, and today I want to highlight a wonderful contributor on our Friday International Update. He’s active in the Microsoft Forums, TechNet Wiki, and TechNet Gallery. His username on the Microsoft site is "Richard Mueller". Mostly he is active in the following TechNet Forums: "The Official Scripting Guys Forum", "Directory Services", "Windows PowerShell", and "Windows Server General".

Until there you can say that this is a simple biography. But wait?! A little focus on the Wiki articles: He edited more than 3300 articles and commented more than 2650 articles. WOW !

New Articles	350
Article Edits	3,308
Comments	2,678

Amazing work Richard! I’ve got only from you more than 50 articles modification emails. Thank you for you work, your contributions and your limitless passion to share!

I name of the community and our Wiki Ninjas Group I want to “MERCI" …

I hope you all will have a great week-end!

A+ (means in French see you ! :-) )

Gokan

Updates: Accesschk v5.11, Procdump v6.0, RAMMap v1.22, Strings v2.51

safarr_msft1 — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:47:00 GMT

AccessChk v5.11: AccessChk, a command line utility for
dumping the effective permissions and security descriptors for files, registry
keys, processes, tokens, object manager objects, now prefixes Windows 8
application container SIDs with the word “Package”, and includes several minor
bug fixes.

Procdump v6.0: Procdump is an advanced utility for
capturing process memory dumps based on a variety of triggers including CPU
usage, memory usage, performance counter values, and exceptions. Version 6.0 is
a major upgrade that adds the ability to specify multiple filters, attach to a
process by service name, and display/filter on the message text of a CLR or
JScript exception.

RAMMap v1.22: RAMMap is a graphic utility that shows
the breakdown of physical memory usage across different dimensions. This
release fixes a bug that could cause a crash when accessing the cached files
page when a cached file’s name exceeded a certain length.

Strings v2.51: This update to Strings, a command-line
utility that prints a file’s embedded Unicode and ASCII strings, fixes a signed
file offset printing bug.

Weekend Reading: May 17th Edition–The Nokia Lumia 925 is a thing of beauty

Jeffrey Meisner — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:38:00 GMT

In this edition of Weekend Reading, we’ve got stories on the new Nokia Lumia 925, Telefónica choosing Office 365 and Yammer for its 130,000 employees, an update on "Windows Blue" (now known as Windows 8.1) and a cross-company partnership with Paramount Pictures around the highly anticipated “Star Trek Into Darkness” film.

Something to behold: The Nokia Lumia 925. The folks at Nokia are not messing around. Less than a week after unveiling the Lumia 928 – the Windows Phone 8 device that became available on Verizon on Thursday – the Finnish phone maker on Tuesday lifted the curtain on the Lumia 925. The Lumia 925 makes its debut in June on Europe’s Vodafone network, then heads to China Mobile and China Unicom. It’s scheduled to launch on T-Mobile in the U.S. later this year, according to Nokia. The phone will cost around 469 euros before taxes and subsidies in Europe. Head on over to the Windows Phone Blog to get the rest of this story and to learn more about an update coming to Windows Phone 8 later this summer. Also, check out the video below that shows off some of the Lumia 925’s finer points. On the app front, we’d like to draw your attention to two new apps hit the Windows Phone Store this week - Angry Birds Rio and Zinio. Check ‘em out.

Telefónica chooses Office 365 and Yammer to connect 130,000 employees worldwide. Telefónica, a leading provider of integrated communication solutions, will deploy Microsoft Office 365 and Yammer across its operating businesses to employees worldwide. These technologies are part of a global IT transformation strategy led by Phil Jordan, group chief information officer at Telefónica, to drive greater simplification, agility and cost reductions, which will strengthen and enhance the company’s core digital capabilities and global footprint. With more than 130,000 employees in 24 countries, Telefónica is enabling and transforming the employee experience related to collaboration, providing a much faster, intuitive way with a seamless digital integrated experience. Head on over to the Microsoft News Center to get the full story.

Xbox 360 still no. 1 in the U.S. Xbox 360 maintained its position as the top console in the U.S. last month, selling more units than any other platform, according to new data from The NPD Group. April also marked the 28th consecutive month that the Xbox 360 was the best-selling console in the U.S. Read Thursday’s post on The Official Microsoft Blog to get the rest of this story. In other Xbox news this week, it was announced that two new apps are now available on Xbox LIVE – Machinima and Twitch. Machinima is one of the top entertainment destinations on YouTube, and with the Machinima Xbox LIVE app, users get a total access pass to episodic narrative series like the popular “Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn,” gameplay vids, live streams, original content and exclusives only available on Xbox 360. That’s a screenshot of Machinima below. Twitch is one of the world’s largest platforms for the live streaming of games, with more than 800,000 people streaming gameplay and over 34 million people watching online at Twitch.tv. And, of course, you’ve probably heard that this Tuesday, May 21, Microsoft will host #XboxReveal, a special press event marking the beginning of a new generation of games, TV and entertainment. To keep up on the latest news and developments on all things Xbox, check out the brand new blog Xbox Wire.

Free Windows 8.1 update will be unveiled June 26. The Windows 8 update formerly known as “Windows Blue” will be called Windows 8.1, and consumers will be able to get it as a free update to Windows from the Windows Store, Tami Reller said at the JP Morgan Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in Boston on Tuesday. More details about Windows 8.1 will be announced soon, Brandon LeBlanc wrote in a follow-up post on Blogging Windows Tuesday, adding: “We will also be making a public preview of Windows 8.1 available starting on June 26, timed with the Build developer conference in San Francisco. The preview will be available for Windows 8 and Windows RT.”

Bing and Paramount Pictures bring Star Trek flair to a phone or computer near you. In anticipation of the upcoming release of "Star Trek Into Darkness" we have teamed with Paramount Pictures to help you get it in the Starfleet Spirit. On May 16, the next installment of Star Trek hit theaters and we’ve been hard at work on a set of fun Bing features to celebrate your inner-Trekker. Curious how to say "beam me up" in Klingon? Just in time for your next soiree (or interplanetary rumble), Microsoft added Klingon to the list of supported languages on the Bing Translator. A few simple clicks is all it takes to translate text from English (or any one of 41 supported languages) to Klingon and vice versa. The Star Trek-themed fun is available online and also as an update to Bing Translator for Windows Phone 8. Also, the Bing homepage now goes boldly where no homepage has gone before, writes Sage Kitamorn, Bing program manager. Fans can visit Bing and type in one of several secret phrases (hint: beam me --) for some Star Trek-themed fun.

Announcing Surface Pro release dates in Europe. As we recently announced, we are expanding the number of markets where Surface Pro and Surface RT will be available. We’re excited for more people to be able to get Surface on the following dates: May 17 (France), May 23 (United Kingdom), May 30 (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland) and May 31 (Germany). Head on over to the Surface Blog for more information and to learn about a great Surface RT promotion.

That’s it for this edition of Weekend Reading!

Posted by Jeff Meisner
Editor, The Official Microsoft Blog

Resources and Tips from Career Week

Tech Student Experience — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:11:00 GMT

This week we shared resources for students who are starting their career search. This included tips to stand out and stories of Microsoft employees. We also hosted a Facebook Chat with Microsoft University Recruiter, Kimberly Wagner, and Imagine Cup and MSP Alumni, Wilson To, who now works in tech.

Your Career Questions Answered

Have questions about starting your career? Be sure to take a look at the chat recap from our time with Kimberly and Wilson. It offers great resources and career guidance. We’ve included the full list of resources below for you to reference. If you have additional questions about getting your career started, please leave us a comment or contact us on Facebook or on Twitter at @MS_Student.

From MSP to Microsoft Employee

Israel Arribas is a former MSP and Imagine Cup competitor from Madrid who now works for Microsoft in Spain. He shared his experience as a student and how it shaped his career path and got him to where he is today. Be sure to read Israel’s blog.

Australia to Redmond: Dion Hutching’s Tech Career

Dion Hutchings is a Microsoft Developer Evangelist specializing in Windows Azure. He’s also been a host of several of our development chats. We asked Dion how he ended up working for Microsoft in Redmond and he gave us the story as well as some advice for students. Read Dion’s blog post to get advice and learn from his experience.

5 Steps to Kick Start Your Career

We shared 5 steps students can take to start exploring career opportunities. Check out all five steps and get tips on how to get the ball rolling in your search.

Career Links – More to Explore

Check out these 6 tips to develop your networking skills
Get a peek at life on Microsoft campus with these photos
5 people from your college life to reconnect with before commencement

Thank you for participating in career week. Have something you’d like us to cover related to starting your career? Please tell us in the comments below.