IT Project work can generally be split into two categories, user facing and behind the scenes stuff. With either type it is important to properly plan everything that you need to do along the way.
Both Lewis and Andy are visually impaired engineers who have mastered the use of Windows Server 2012 R2 using voice synthesizers and a Braille Display to work quicker and smarter...
The conundrum which is the Internet of Things and the many innovations coming from its emergence. How does SharePoint fit in? Does it fit?
The core of any VDI deployment is the Virtual Desktop Template (VDT) which is the blueprint from which all the virtual desktop VMs are created. It occurred to me that there must be a way to create and maintain this using the deployment tools used to create real desktops rather than the way I hack the Windows 8.1 Enterprise Evaluation iso currently with this PowerShell ..
$VMName = "RDS-VDITemplate"$VMSwitch = "RDS-Switch"$WorkingDir = "E:\Temp VM Store\"$VMPath = $WorkingDir + $VMName$SysPrepVHDX = $WorkingDir + $VMName +"\RDS-VDITemplate.VHDX"
# Create the VHD from the Installation iso using the Microsoft Convert windows image scriptmd $VMPath cd ($WorkingDir + "resources").\Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 -SourcePath ($WorkingDir +"Resources\9600.16384.WINBLUE_RTM.130821-1623_X64FRE_ENTERPRISE_EVAL_EN-US-IRM_CENA_X64FREE_EN-US_DV5.ISO") -Size 100GB -VHDFormat VHDX -VHD $SysPrepVHDX -Edition "Enterprise"#Create the VM itselfNew-VM –Name $VMName –VHDPath $SysPrepVHDX -SwitchName $VMSwitch -Path $VMPath -Generation 1 -BootDevice IDE
# Tune these setting as you need toSet-VM -Name $VMName –MemoryStartupBytes 1024MbSet-VM -Name $VMName -DynamicMemorySet-VM -Name $VMName -MemoryMinimumBytes 512MbSet-VM -Name $VMName -AutomaticStartAction StartIfRunningSet-Vm -Name $VMName -AutomaticStopAction ShutDownSet-Vm -Name $VMName -ProcessorCount 2
So how does a deployment guy like Simon create Windows8.1 desktops - he uses the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2013 (MDT) and the Windows Assessment and Deployment Toolkit 8.1 (ADK) that it’s based on. So I created another VM RDS-Ops with these tools on and started to learn how to do deployment. I know that when I create a collection with the wizard or with PowerShell (e.g. New-VirtualDesktopCollection) I can specify an unattend.xml file to use as part of the process. The ADK allows you to do this directly but I am going to build a better mousetrap in MDT and because I want to go on to deploy Group Policy Packs, updates and applications which I know I can do in MDT as well.
If you have used MDT please look away now as this isn’t may day job,.However there doesn’t seem to be any posts or articles on creating a VDT from either ADK, MDT or even System Center Configuration Manager so I am going to try and fill that gap here
I wanted to install MDT onto a VM running Windows Server 2012R2 with 2x VHDXs the second one being for my deployment share so I could deduplicate the iso and wim files that will be stored here. I then installed the ADK which needs to be done twice - the initial ADK download is only tiny because it pulls the rest of the installation files as part of the setup so I first ran adksetup /layout <Path> on an internet connected laptop and then copied the install across to the VM (along with MDT) and then ran..
adksetup.exe /quiet /installpath <the path specified in the layout option> /features OptionId.DeploymentTools OptionId.WindowsPreinstallationEnvironment OptionId.UserStateMigrationTool'
before installing MDT with:
MicrosoftDeploymentToolkit2013_x64.msi /Quiet.
Now I am ready to start to learn or demo MDT to build my template based on the Quick Start Guide for Lite Touch Installation included in the MDT documentation. which goes like this:
However I deviated from this in two ways:
1. Creating the Reference Computer:
All I needed to do here was to create a VM (RDS-Ref) based on the iso created by the deployment share update process..
$VMName = "RDS-Ref"$VMSwitch = "RDS-Switch"$WorkingDir = "E:\Temp VM Store\"$VMPath = $WorkingDir + $VMName$VHDXPath = $WorkingDir + $VMName +"\" + $VMName +".VHDX"
# Housekeeping 1. delete the VM from Hyper-V $vmlist = get-vm | where vmname -in $vmname $vmlist | where state -eq "saved" | Remove-VM -Verbose -Force $vmlist | where state -eq "off" | Remove-VM -Verbose -Force $vmlist | where state -eq "running" | stop-vm -verbose -force -Passthru | Remove-VM -verbose -force #House keeping 2. get back the storage If (Test-Path $VMPath) {Remove-Item $VMPath -Recurse}# Create a new VHDmd $VMPath new-VHD -Path $VHDXPath -Dynamic -SizeBytes 30Gb
#Create the VM itselfNew-VM –Name $VMName –VHDPath $VHDXPath -SwitchName $VMSwitch -Path $VMPath -Generation 1
#Attach iso in the deployment share to build the Reference Computer from the MDT VM (RDS-OPs)Set-VMDvdDrive -VMName $VMName -Path '\\rds-ops\DeploymentShare$\Boot\LiteTouchPE_x64.iso'Start-VM -Name $VMname
Once this VM comes out of sysprep it will launch the Deployment Wizard on the Reference Computer. I designed the script to be run again and again until I get it right which was good because I kept making mistakes as I refined it. The documentation is pretty good but I also referred to the excellent posts by Mitch Tulloch on MDT especially part 7 on automating Lite Touch by editing the INI files scenario above on the Deployment Share properties described below.
2. Completing the Deployment Wizard on the Reference Computer
In the Lite Touch scenario the Reference Computer is captured back into MDT and used to deploy to target computers usually by using the Windows Deployment Services role in Windows Server directly or via Configuration Manager. In VDI the target computers are VMs and their deployment is handled by the RDS Broker either in Server Manager or with the Remote Desktop Powershell commands like New-VirtualDesktopCollection. Whichever way I create VDI collections all I need is that virtual desktop template and in this case that’s just the Reference Computer but it needs to be turned off and in a sysprepped state. The good news is that the Deployment Wizard in MDT 2013 has exactly this option so I can select that and when it’s complete all I need to do is to remember to eject the iso with the Lite Touch pre execution installation on (or that will be inherited by all the virtual desktops!).
Automation
If you are with me so far you can see we have the makings of something quite useful even in production. What I need to do now is automate this so that my Reference Computer will start install and configure the OS based on my Deployment Share and then sysprep and shutdwon without any user intervention. To do that I need to modify the bootstrap.ini file that launches the deployment wizard (from the Deployment Share properties go to the rules tab and select edit Bootsrap.ini)..
[Settings] Priority=Default [Default] DeployRoot=\\RDS-OPS\DeploymentShare$ UserID=Administrator UserDomain=CONTOSO UserPassword=Passw0rd KeyboardLocale=en-GB SkipBDDWelcome=YES.
to tell the wizard where my deployment share is and how to connect to it, and then suppress the welcome screen. Then I need to modify the rules themselves (Control Setting.ini) so that the wizard uses my task sequence, hides all the settings screens and supplies the answers to those setting directly..
[Settings] Priority=Default Properties=MyCustomProperty [Default] DeploymentType=NEWCOMPUTER OSInstall=YES SkipAdminPassword=YES SkipProductKey=YES SkipComputerBackup=YES SkipBitLocker=YES EventService=http://RDS-Ops:9800 SkipBDDWelcome=YES SkipTaskSequence=YES TaskSequenceID=Win81Ref SkipCapture=YES DoCapture=SYSPREP FinishAction=SHUTDOWN SkipComputerName=YES SkipDomainMembership=YES SkipLocaleSelection=YES KeyboardLocale=en-US UserLocale=en-US UILanguage=en-US SkipPackageDisplay=YES SkipSummary=YES SkipFinalSummary=YES SkipTimeZone=YES TimeZoneName=Central Standard Time SkipUserData=Yes
Note the bits of this in bold;
So what’s really useful here is that when I change my deployment share to add in applications and packages, modify my Task Sequence or the INI settings above, all I need to do to test the result each time is to recreate the Reference Computer like this:
Having got that working I can now turn my attention to deploy applications (both classic and modern) into my VDI collections, and then think about an automated patching process.
Welcome to the second article from our ‘Licensing Logic’ series. A series of exclusive articles brought to you from the Microsoft Licensing team, specifically for our TechNet audience. This ones all around SCE, but what is that I hear you ask?
SCE (pronounced ski) stands for Server and Cloud Enrolment. SCE is a new kid on the licensing block, springing to life in early November. SCE is also a bit of a rebel, having performed a coup by superseding three existing enterprise enrolments.
What is SCE and how does it work?
SCE is an enrolment under the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) which allows you to standardise on key server technologies, move these server licences to the cloud as needed, licence Windows Azure services and at the same time enjoy the best pricing and highest discounts.
Before SCE, customers had four enrolments under an EA (below): the Enterprise Enrolment for licensing Windows client, Office and the CAL suites; Enrolment for Application Platform for standardising and purchasing SQL Server, BizTalk Server, SharePoint Server and Visual Studio; Enrolment for Core Infrastructure to purchase Windows Server and System Center and Enrolment for Windows Azureto purchase Windows Azure services outside of an existing on-premises EA.
SCE simplifies this by combining the best of EAP, ECI and EWA into a new, single enrolment (below).
In the SCE agreement, you make an install-base commitment to one or more of the following components: application platform, developer platform or core infrastructure. The core infrastructure component is when you licence Windows Server and System Center across your entire server estate through the Core Infrastructure Suites. The application platform component is the commitment to maintain SA on every SQL Server installation you have (all versions) and optionally BizTalk and SharePoint server. The developer platform is the same concept but maintaining SA on Visual Studio Ultimate and Premium. Windows Azure doesn’t have an install-base so instead there’s a monetary commitment but we’ll come to that in a moment.
There are minimum requirements to licence through the SCE and these are detailed in the Product List(section 3 – volume licensing program terms). If you’re reading the December 2013 Product List, zoom over to page 42. I’ve also summarised them below. Note that if you’re choosing the Application platform component, SQL is a mandatory selection whereas BizTalk and SharePoint are optional.
Core infrastructure
50 processors (25 licences as each license covers up to 2 physical processors) for any combination of Core Infrastructure Server Suites Standard or Datacenter
Application platform
SQL: 50 cores or 5 SQL Server editions with 250 CALs
BizTalk: 24 Cores (any edition combination)
SharePoint: 5 Servers
Developer platform
Visual Studio: 20 Licenses of any combination of VS Ultimate with MSDN and VS Premium with MSDN.
In return for making this commitment, you’ll receive discounts such as 15% off new licence + software assurance (SA) SKUs and 5% off SA only SKUs. Other benefits include the rights to use System Center to manage your Windows Azure resources at no additional cost if you choose the core infrastructure component (up to 10 Azure Virtual OSEs for each CIS licence you have in SCE).
How do I licence Windows Azure through SCE?
If you’ve committed to one of the on-premises components you don’t need to make an upfront monetary commitment to start using Azure services; you just go ahead and use Azure and you’ll benefit from your EA level discount which could be as much as 36% off the published Azure rates. We would love you to just go ahead and use as much or as little Azure as you need to. To reflect your on-premises commitment, we’ll also give you an additional 5% discount off the EA level Azure pricing. So potentially that’s 41% discount off the published Azure rates. You’ll be billed per quarter in arrears for the services used.
If you only want Azure through an Enterprise program but don’t have an existing EA or aren’t making choosing one of the other on-premises commitments (and this was where the enrolment for Windows Azure used to fit in) you can sign up for an Azure-only SCE. This is ideal for an ecommerce organisation who are going to utilize a great deal of cloud services but don’t have the on-premises minimums for the other components. An Azure-only SCE does require a monetary up-front commitment but there’s no real minimum amount. The recommended minimum purchase is 20 Azure commitment SKUs at $100 each per month. So that’s $24,000 per year. Because you won’t have an EA price level discount, you would need to work with the licensing specialist in your reseller to gain the equivalent of an EA price level according to your upfront yearly spend. In terms of an example, if you commit to $200,000 you could gain level B pricing and a discount of 30% because of that commitment. You will not however, gain the additional 5% discount that we provide if you had signed up for one or more of the other SCE component; core infrastructure, application platform or developer.
What are the implications if I’m currently licensed under EAP, ECI or EWA?
As I mentioned at the start of this blog, we’ve taken the best of EAP, ECI and EWA in creating SCE. If you already have an EAP or ECI then you can transition to SCE on renewal but there are some implications. Discount levels for example. EAP offered 40% discount on new licence purchases for premium products (enterprise, etc.) and 15% discount on standard products whereas SCE will 15% discount for both standard and premium SKUs. However, SCE applies that discount to both the licence cost and the software assurance cost whereas EAP only applied it to the licence. So you may see slightly lower discounts if you’re buying new premium products throughout your SCE agreement and slightly higher discounts on purchasing standard products.
With EAP, you had the option to defer licence purchases to bring older versions up to date. If you had SQL Server 2005 for example, you could just purchase SA (known as SAPriorL) to bring it up to the current version without needing to pay for a new SQL Server 2012 licence as well. If you stopped paying SA, your rights returned to SQL Server 2005. SCE replaces that deferred licence with a subscription so you would subscribe to the current version (with SA being built-in to the subscription cost). This will mean higher initial costs than deferred licence but it provides great flexibility because you can retire the older versions easily as you consolidate or move them to the cloud. With EAP you needed to pay for older versions for the entirety of the three year agreement whereas with subscriptions you can decommission workloads and then true-down annually.
The primary change between ECI and SCE core infrastructure component is that you’re now required to make an installed-base commitment to the Core Infrastructure Suite (which wasn’t required with ECI). This is great for some customers because they can get all the benefits of SCE and seamless access to Windows Azure but for other customers who don’t wish to make that install-base commitment, CIS can be licensed through other volume licensing programs such as Select Plus, with no dedicated contract or minimums.
EWA is not going away in FY14 (our FY spans July to June) but SCE is a better vehicle if you just want to licence Windows Azure services without an existing EA.
As you can imagine, there’s a lot more detail to SCE and you might want to listen into our monthly licensing spotlight calls where we cover this and other topics (you can view archived calls here). In summary, SCE is a fully cloud enabled licensing enrolment that gives you flexibility to move workloads to the cloud, allows you to standardise your Microsoft platform technologies and gain access to Windows Azure services, all with our best pricing, terms and benefits.
Join the monthly licensing spotlight call to keep yourself current with updates and changes. Register for the call here using the invite code: A07BE1 , or why not come to one of our Customer Product and Programme Fundamentals event held in our London office, register here.
The MVA Hero t-shirt offer is available to any person resident in the United Kingdom who is eighteen (18) years of age or older at the time of entry & who have signed up to the MVA Hero Campaign. Employees of Microsoft or its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising or promotion agencies are not eligible, nor are members of these employees’ families (defined as parents, children, siblings, spouse and life partners). Limit one t-shirt per qualified person. Microsoft is not responsible for lost, corrupted or delayed entries. Choosing to accept this offer by clicking the link above constitutes full and unconditional acceptance of these terms and conditions. This offer is non-transferable and cannot be combined with any other offer. This offer runs from 12.01:00 am GMT on 3rd March 2014 and ends on 11.59:59 p.m. GMT on 30th June 2014 and cannot be collected after the end date. Each person who chooses to accept this t-shirt offer and has completed all required fields in the above registration form will be sent a t-shirt by mail to the address you specify in the form above, while stocks last. Please allow 2-4 weeks to receive the t-shirt.
Personal data which you provide when choosing to accept this offer will be used by Microsoft as indicated by you on the registration form, and otherwise only for the purposes of administering this MVA Hero Competition. No correspondence will be entered into regarding either this offer or these terms and conditions. In the unlikely event of a dispute, Microsoft's decision shall be final. Microsoft reserves the right to amend, modify, cancel, or withdraw this offer at any time without notice.
The promoter of this offer is Microsoft Limited, Microsoft Campus, Reading, Thames Valley Park, RG6 1WG, England
By Geoff Evelyn, SharePoint MVP and owner of SharePointGeoff.com.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
As the seasonal period quickly approaches, the discussions concerning what happens to supporting SharePoint over the holiday either approaches, or has been covered, or even assumed.
The Christmas period is of course where your SharePoint sponsors are more likely to show a little more concern than normal about how their SharePoint platforms are going to be monitored over the period.
So then, let’s remind ourselves of the holiday period in question - basically, the days that will relate to anyone, is the week of Christmas starting from the 23rd through to the 28th. There are two days pretty much important to us guys in the UK over the seasonal period, especially in Scotland - Christmas Day and New Years day. Then there is Boxing Day when it’s likely that you would be relaxing in front of the telly, or sledging, or skiing - using that day to wind down after the Christmas day madness. Then there's the two days after Boxing Day, the 26th and the 27th, where relaxation, relief and playing with the various presents, and getting stuck in to food :)
So that means that over the period you are likely to do over those two days, probably a combination of one or more of the following not be in the Office, switch off the mobile, inform people you are not available?
So chances are, that on the days in question, you will be chilling out, and possibly even like me having a choice Mince pie, a Glass of port (or more - like Rum)...
But this is not about what you will be doing over those periods away from the office. It is about how you are going to support SharePoint, isn't it?
First, let’s consider the available types of support:
· On Premise SharePoint Support / IT Support combined / Outsourced
· Off-Premise Office 365 Microsoft provisioned Support
· Third party product support
My dad once said to me when I was a lot younger that in order for Santa Claus to know what present I would like, that I should write a letter, and throw it into the wind when it was blowing north, so that the letter would reach the north pole.
Of course, by doing that I eventually realized that the letter would not get there, unless my dad without me seeing ran like the clappers to retrieve the letter once I threw it out of the window.
Clearly, I was throwing caution to the wind, assuming things would happen - luckily for me, most of the times when I did throw that letter, things would work out - but only because there was a contingency - my dad, running like the clappers.
This relates in a way to the lack of responsibility those charged with SharePoint management judge the level of the support needed to ensure the availability of SharePoint services over an important period, like Christmas! There is not enough preparation carried out preceding the Christmas period by some organizations, to ensure that there is adequate coverage of SharePoint support. In some organizations, instead, there is a laissez faire approach, by simply throwing caution to the wind. Or, worse still, their IT support departments will not think to include SharePoint as system that should be monitored, and instead not including those with basic knowledge of SharePoint on the support desk.
Take this real scenario which happened a while back. Fictional company used though, however, if their now SharePoint support individuals are reading this article, they will definitely remember this event!
Five days leading up to Christmas day. Fabrikam has an IT Support department, and a number of individuals who are tasked solely with looking after SharePoint, called 'SharePoint Admins'. These SharePoint Admins look after the platform solely, there are no monitoring systems in place except for the server monitoring systems (alarm bells ringing already - no pun intended). A member of IT Support asks what the SharePoint Administrators will be doing on Christmas day.
"We won't be around, that's for sure..." ... "SharePoint looks after it’self" - pipped the SharePoint Administrators. "We will just take a peek at midday to make sure all is well".
IT Support reports this discussion to the IT Support Manager. The IT Support Manager waves his arm saying 'that's not a problem, we have IT Support people on the desk who know a little of SharePoint, nothing can really go wrong'.
Over the next 4 days, no more is mentioned as the company 'winds down'. On the 23rd of December, the CEO puts a Christmas message to the communication team who then puts the message in an announcement list on the Fabrikam SharePoint Extranet.
Christmas Day. At 9.30am that day, the CEO of the company, with his family in the Seychelles, decides to show a friend the message that was put on the SharePoint Portal on the 23rd. When attempting to display the announcement, the web page displays an error. Concerned, he raises a call into IT Support. IT Support try to get hold of the SharePoint Administrator, who has switched off his mobile because he is at the top of the hill where he lives, sledging. The CEO asks whether there is anyone else who can help, but IT Support have no knowledge of anyone and neither do they have any other contact number for the SharePoint Administrator.
The SharePoint Administrator calls in at midday to find chaos. The CEO is fuming because he has no idea whether anyone saw the announcement, and even if they tried saw the error which was embarrassing. IT Support have stated to the CEO that they do not know how to fix the problem, which is embarrassing. And, guess what, the SharePoint Administrator, who fixes the issue in minutes finds that the rest of his day is spent building confidence with the CEO and IT Support - he is embarrassed.
That SharePoint Admin threw caution to the wind. And in doing so, assumed the following:
1: No one will care whether SharePoint is available or not
2: The SharePoint Admins does not care whether SharePoint is available or not
3: The SharePoint Admins assumed that the problem will 'fix it’self'
4: The SharePoint Admins assumed that they will eventually be told or will find out themselves that there is a problem, and that no one will moan when they do, or how long it takes to correct the problem.
5: That if a problem occurs where SharePoint is not available that there is no financial impact or otherwise
You must prepare your SharePoint environment to be supported over the Christmas period. This is just like preparing for Christmas it’self. Doing things like putting up a Christmas tree, carefully putting up decorations without falling off ladders, writing Christmas cards, posting them, wrapping presents (carefully) without getting the sellotape stuck on the wrong part of the wrapping paper and making a mess. You put effort into doing all of that because you want to make others comfortable and yourself prepared. Therefore, there is no difference when it comes to SharePoint support.
There are a nine things you could put in place, so that you can ensure that SharePoint is supported over the Christmas period:
· Make it clear the days when there will be SharePoint cover over the period. When on holiday, for example, ensure that there is phone contacts and that is communicated to IT Support and your SharePoint sponsor.
· Ensure that the contact details have a backup. One number is not enough. Consider adding on the home phone number or the number of the place you will be staying / visiting on the key days. Reasons for this could be bad mobile coverage, or you could be travelling
· Ensure that there is a remote method of you accessing the SharePoint environment. Most organisations using on-premise SharePoint have a method whereby individuals can log in over the Internet using say a Citrix / VPN / Xen Desktop etc. connection.
· Ensure that a member of the IT Support team is aware of any resolutions that can be used for 'possible issues'. For example, one issue could be that in order to quickly reset an application pool for a SharePoint site to go into IIS on a relevant server, etc.
· Ensure that there is a list of the infrastructure, and details of any specific login information.
· Based on point (3) above, try to log into the SharePoint environment at least once a day to quickly check the status of the environment.
· Ensure that relevant third party information concerning their levels of support is listed and the details made known to IT Support.
· Provision monitoring systems for IT support which includes the status of key services to the SharePoint platform (on-premise).
· Provision monitoring services which includes the status of services for Office 365 Tenants
At a very basic level, the provision of support for SharePoint over a Christmas could be divided two segments - the SharePoint 'supporter' - the associated services 'supporter'.
For on-premise SharePoint, the levels of support is:
1: The SharePoint 'supporter'. The person(s) responsible for managing the products provided in SharePoint services.
2: The Associated services 'supporter'. The person(s) responsible for providing support for the infrastructure and associated services.
The interesting aspect of Off-Premise (e.g. Office 365) Support is that there is in effect, also two levels:
1: The SharePoint 'supporter'. The person(s) responsible for managing the products provided in the Office 365 tenant - e.g. SharePoint Team Sites and relevant products in those sites.
2: The Associated services 'supporter'. The person(s) responsible for providing support for the Office 365 tenant.
Both of these, on-premise and Office 365 have monitoring tools. Both have the priorities and service delivery of support defined to SLAs, which is communicated to the person responsible for managing the products provided. This information is then cascaded in an understandable form to the client.
There is a huge amount of monitoring tools available to on-premise SharePoint support (default and third party provisioned), which I will not go into (and there are a huge number of articles that describe them). However, SharePoint Online does not, by default have the same capabilities available for those managing them to configure monitoring easily. However, Office 365 is starting to catch up though. For example, the Office 365 Admin app for the Windows Phone 8 is available which allows those responsible for supporting Office 365 to connect to their organization’s Office 365 service status on the go. The app enables them to view service health information and maintenance status updates from their mobile device. You can also filter information by service subscriptions and configure app data refresh intervals.
To get the app for Windows Phone 8, please visit here.
Office 365 also has the Office Message Centre. The Message Centre is located in the Microsoft Online Portal. The Message Centre is the central hub for communicating with you about Office 365. And in there you will find the topics including those in the Admin Task Newsletter, messages on new feature releases, and other important information. More information about the Office Message Centre is here.
I hope by reading this article you have understood the importance of providing adequate and understandable SharePoint support over the Christmas period. The ability for you as a SharePoint 'supporter' to be forewarned of issues so that at the very least clients can be informed is vital. For on-premise, the ability to be contacted, or the ability provided to IT support to be able to deal with common issues, provides a service which in the eyes of the SharePoint sponsor is 'good'. So I do hope that you are able to take points from this article and apply them to your SharePoint support cover proposals....
I'd like to finish up by wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season!
Geoff Evelyn is a SharePoint MVP, and likes to be known as a “Hands on” Technical Evangelist and works as a SharePoint Solutions Architect. He has published many articles, guides and books about SharePoint. With over 25 years of experience in information systems, he is a Fellow of the Institute of the Analysts and Programmers, a Fellow of the Institute of Computer Technology, a Member of the Institute of Management Information Systems, a Prince 2 Practitioner, with MCDST, MCSD, MCTS, MCITP Microsoft certifications and is M.O.S (Microsoft Office Specialist) Certified.
I realised I need to recreate a Domain Controller in my labs and in so doing I noticed a snag in my earlier scripts that really breaks when I use the same snippet for a new DC. I have this test to see if a VM is ready to be used..
do {Start-sleep –seconds 10}
until(Get-VMIntegrationService $VMName | where name -eq "Heartbeat").PrimaryStatusDescription -eq "OK")
#the code to create the $localcred credential is at the end of this post
It does work in that this will return true if the VM is on, but if a VM is coming out of sysprep this do until loop will exit way before I can log in and actually use the VM. So then I tried this command in my until clause ..
Invoke-Command –command 192.168.10.1 {dir c:\} –ErrorAction SilentlyContinue –Credential $LocalCred
a crude but effective test based on whether I could connect to and run a simple command on the VM.That worked for most of my VMs, but this was still no good for my script to build a Domain Controller (DC). The problem here is that after I add in the feature (which doesn’t require a reboot)..
Install-WindowsFeature -name AD-Domain-Services –IncludeManagementTools
and then create the Domain with..
Install-ADDSForest –DomainName Contoso.com –safemodeadministratorpassword (cofor thisnverttosecurestring “Passw0rd” –asplaintext –force) –force
this will at some point cause a reboot but this doesn’t happen inline as this command is itself calling PowerShell in a session I can’t control. The result is that my script will continue to execute while this is going on in the background. So my test for a C Drive could work before the reboot and I would be in a mess because some subsequent commands would fail while my VM reboots. So my hack for this is to trap the time my VM takes to come out of sysprep..
$Uptime = (Get-VM –Name $VMName).uptime.totalseconds
and test when the current uptime is LESS than $Uptime which can only be true after the VM has rebooted.
until(Get-VM –Name $VMName).uptime.totalseconds –lt $Uptime)
Then I can test to see if the VM is ready to be configured by checking the Active Directory Web Service is alive on my new DC..
Get-Service –Name ADWS | where status –EQ running
However even after this test returned true I was still getting errors from PowerShell saying that a default domain controller couldn't be found so I specified the DC with a –server switch in each command for example ..
New-ADOrganizationalUnit -Description:"RDS VDI Collection VMs" -Name:"RDS-VDI" -Path:"DC=Contoso,DC=com" -ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion:$true -Server:"RDS-DC.Contoso.com" Just to be extra sure I also slapped in a 20 second wait to ensure the service really was there as I want this to run cleanly again and again.
I won’t bore you with the code for adding the rest of the users, groups etc. to Active Directory as the easiest way to write that is to do something to a Domain controller in the Active Directory Administrative Centre and grab the stuff you need from the PowerShell History at the bottom of the console..
I also showed you how to read and write to text based CSV files in part 5 of this Lab Ops Series so you could amend my script to have a whole list of objects to add in to your DC from a CSV file that you have previously lifted from a production DC.
I also need a DHCP server in my lab and I typically put that as a role on MY DC. Here again you can see how PowerShell has improved for newbies like me..
#Install the DHCP Role Add-WindowsFeature -Name "DHCP" -IncludeManagementTools -IncludeAllSubFeature #Authorize this DHCP server in AD Add-DhcpServerInDC -DnsName contoso.com #Setup a scope for use with RDS/VDI later on Add-DhcpServerv4Scope -StartRange 192.168.10.200 -EndRange 192.168.10.254 -SubnetMask 255.255.255.0 -Name RDSDesktops -Description "Pool for RDS desktop virtual machines" #Set up the DNS Server Option (6) in DHCP so DHCP clients have the DNS Server entry set Set-DhcpServerv4OptionValue -OptionId 6 -value 192.168.10.1 Set-DhcpServerv4OptionValue -OptionId 15 -value "contoso.com"
Sadly the trusty old DHCP MMC snapin doesn’t have a history window so I looked at the options set by the wizard and set them as you can see here. Once all this is working I can go on to create the other VMs in this series. However this DC also sets up and uses a Hyper-V Internal Virtual Switch “RDS-Switch” and ensures that my physical host (Orange – which is my big Dell laptop) can connect to my new DC on that switch..
# Setup the Networking we need - we'll use an internal network called RDS-Switch. If it's not there already create it and set DNS to point to our new DC (RDS_DC) on 192.168.10.1 If (!(Get-VMSwitch | where name -EQ $VMSwitch )){New-VMSwitch -Name $VMSwitch -SwitchType Internal} # Now configure switch on the host with a static IPaddress and point it to our new VM for DNS $NetAdapter = Get-NetAdapter | Where name -Like ("*" + $VMSwitch + "*")
#Note the use of the !(some condition) syntax to refer to not true If (!(get-NetIPAddress -InterfaceAlias $NetAdapter.InterfaceAlias -IPAddress "192.168.10.100" -PrefixLength 24)) {New-NetIPAddress -InterfaceAlias $NetAdapter.InterfaceAlias -IPAddress "192.168.10.100" -PrefixLength 24} Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias $NetAdapter.InterfaceAlias -ServerAddresses "192.168.10.1"
The final piece of the puzzle is to join my physical laptop to this domain, as I am going to need the host for VDI, and for now I am going to run that manually with the add computer command..
$LocalCred = new-object -typename System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -argumentlist "orange\administrator", (ConvertTo-SecureString "Passw0rd" -AsPlainText -Force ) $DomainCred = new-object -typename System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -argumentlist "Contoso\administrator", (ConvertTo-SecureString "Passw0rd" -AsPlainText –Force ) add-Computer ComputerName Orange –Domain Contoso.com–LocalCredential $Localcred –DomainCredential $DomainCred –Force
Start-Sleep –seconds 5
Restart-Computer Orange $localcred
..and of course to test that I need to pull it out of that domain before I test it again with Remove-Computer. By the Way don’t put the –restart switch on the end of add computer as that will bounce your Host and hence your DC as well and while your host appears to be domain joined it doesn’t show up in the domain.
I have posted the whole script on SkyDrive (Create RDS-DC.ps1) and it’s called RDS-DC as it’s designed to underpin my Remote Desktop Services demos. For example there are a couple of write-host lines in there to echo output to the console where in reality you would log progress to a file.
As ever any advice and comments on this is welcome and I can repay in swag and by properly crediting your work.
Please note: this competition is now closed, winners below!
On the last day of Geekmas, my true love gave to me….. A Present from the TechNet Team!
We’ve reached the end of this seasons big TechNet Geekmas giveaway, across twelve tech-twist days we will have rewarded 78 winners with a grand total of 201 prizes. As you can imagine, that’s a lot of packing for the TechNet team, thanks for your patience in contacting winners, expect your prize in the post mid January!
Yesterday our true love gave away, ‘Two Beta Tests’. Were you one of our two lucky winners? Find out who’s won what here, we will be emailing winners as soon as we can.
Today is the final day of our Geekmas campaign, and with that in mind, we’ve made it the most rewarding one yet. The entry period is a lot longer and requires more effort, but we hope it will be worth it.
One lucky winner will have the chance to win an MSDN subscription, A Windows phone and Tablet plus monster headphones with a few other tech goodies. In return for all these awesome gifts, we require a 2013 retrospective tech story on ‘What you wish you’d known this year?’ be it from a Developer, IT Professional, Start-up or Student perspective.
HOW TO ENTER?
The final day, final challenge. With a longer entry period, we’ve given you a few weeks to write a short well explained tech-based article on what you regret not having known this year, leading into 2014. Just complete a two step entry method for your chance to win.
Entry Method:
Step 1 - Write a 500 word (+/- 10%) IT Pro, Developer, Start-Up or Student story on ‘what you wished you'd known this year?’
Step 2 - Email your story to ukitpro@microsoft.com with the following as a subject heading - 'Geekmas: What I wish I’d known’
An article example: “I wish I’d known about MVA then I wouldn’t have spent loads of money of training courses”
We’re marking entries on – Originality of entry, Technical skills demonstrated and Creativity of story.
Please note: Only one winner will be chosen, only entries from the UK will be eligible.
WHAT CAN YOU WIN?
We’ve been leading up to this day since the beginning of the competition and it’s by far the best TechNet bundle giveaway yet… one lucky winner will win ALL of the following:
- An MSDN premium subscription valid for one year (with an approximate value of £5169)
- A Windows 8 Asus Vivo Tab RT TF600 3G Tablet Complete with Removable Keyboard
- Nokia Lumia 625 Smartphone
- Nokia Monster Headphones
- A Nokia Radio Mug
- A Nokia keyring.
All entries from 09:30 on Friday 20th of December to 11:59pm on January 5th, 2014 will be considered, however only one winner will be decided by the team and announced on this page at approx. 09:30 Friday 10th of January.
Our Lucky Geekmas Winner
The winner of our most prestigious prize bundle across the competition is........ *Drum Roll* -
- David Mullenger
Congratulations to David and to all who entered, we truly did have some exceptional articles to choose from, you'll be able to see David's and the runner up articles published soon!
Star Chart
Search for the Star leading to Bethlehem this Christmas with this amazing star gazing app.
Explore the wonders of the Solar System with Star Chart, the definitive star gazing and astronomy app. From our own star - the Sun, to the moons of Jupiter and rings of Saturn, Star Chart gives you a virtual window into the visible universe.
Download the app for free here. Give it a go! If you're a fan, show the developer some love and give it a rating.
Geekmas instructions here.
T&C’s found here.
Good luck, and be sure to tweet us and let us know your geekmas thoughts!
Be sure to have a great Christmas and a happy new year,
The TechNet Team.
What are the best gadgets to get for Christmas? An Xbox One, a Dell Venue 8 Pro, a Spider II, Lotus F1 Team USB Charger and a something to keep the coffee warm. Of course the real test is, are they any good for the IT Guy?
Over the Christmas period it’s hard to get the right gifts for people that they love and that they actually want. I decided to help out my loved ones this year by bypassing their need to buy me gifts and to just buy them myself so that I could write about them in this blog post, as a result I’ll be happy with socks!
First up is the Xbox One because the holidays are a time for fun not just working. The Xbox One comes in at around £520 with a game and is obviously one of the two next gen consoles on the market, there are reviews of it all over the web from core gamers, journos and the like so I thought I’d give you some observations about the console itself that they might have missed.
The Kinect sensor is built in and voice commands are really handy as is having the sensor automatically sign you in when you’re in the room. What I’ve noticed though is that the sensor doesn’t have to be front on, under the TV or over the TV to work. I have it off angle to the left of my TV since the Kinect’s two meter cable doesn’t quite reach from our media unit to our TV. The Kinect doesn’t always “see” me in the room for a start but starting a game by saying “Xbox go to Forza Motor Sport 5” it seems to be enough to recognise who I am and sign me in.
The games themselves look stunning, Forza Motor Sport 5 has an amazing level of detail in every single frame you see on screen. The bonnet of my shiny Shelby reflects all detail of the oncoming horizon and i get to see little helicopters hovering around the race track as I drive.
The controller is excellent, as you’d expect, but the best thing about it is absolutely the rumble buttons which give great feedback while breaking, accelerating and hitting rumble strips in Forza.
Is it any good in the Datacentre? Well that depends…In the past I’ve been known to move a sofa into the DC over holidays for the operators, combine that with an Xbox One and you’ll probably receive less support calls…
I can’t talk highly enough of this device, actually few can and indeed it’s been so popular that when the Microsoft Store in the US recently offered a holiday discount taking the device down to $199 it sold out in minutes. The device is now available in the UK and it’s *possibly* the best Windows 8.1 device I’ve ever used. You can find my full review here on my Infrastructuralist blog.
Windows 8.1 is great on this device, really snappy thanks to a quad core Intel Atom, which also supports any desktop app you want. I find it works really well as a Sonos controller in my house as a result. It obviously also means you can use apps like iTunes that aren’t available on Android tablets for example. I don’t and I use Xbox music but some people are hooked on other music platforms (sidebar: devices are important, apps are important but it’s the music infrastrucutre and data that people want access too).
The Venue 8 Pro ticks all the boxes for me because:
IS it any good for the IT Pro? Yes, it runs Windows 8.1 which means I can carry the RSAT around with me and remotely manage anything I want. It’s the best tablet in the world for this, right now in my opinion.
What the heck is it? Well I am a man of many gadgets and it’s good for many of my gadgets, it’s a USB cable to connect device. One of the things I always have to have in my kit bag is a micro-USB cable to charge my Nokia 925 phone and my Dell Venue 8 Pro before this bit of kit though one thing has always troubled me. Cable length!
I don’t need a 2m cable or even a 1m cable to charge my phone. Very often I only need a tiny, weeny 1 inch cable to do the job and that’s what the Spider II provides but for lots of devices. It comes with Apple Lighting, iPhone and Micro-USB so it can connect anything that most people have in their pockets. It also comes with a tactility pleasing rubber case emblazoned with a Windows logo.
I’ve also started packing one of these into my every day kit and it’s something I’ll be packing into Christmas stockings a plenty. Just like the Spider II it has an iPhone and Micro0USB charging adapter but that’s not this things strength. One of the big problems with tablets and ultrabooks for me is a lack of USB ports and this device helps out there.
This device has a pass through USB port for power and it has a Micro-SD slot built in. As a result I can always connect some storage and be able to power my devices.
It’s getting cold out there folks, it’s time to take some coffee with you but it’s going to get cold … enter the flask.
So you’ve probably guessed by now that I’m not going to review the flask and that the last three items in this article aren’t the usual types of gadgets I look at…but it’s Christmas (other holidays are available) and so I’m going to give away a Spider II, a Lotus F1 Team USB charger and a Microsoft Branded Heat Retaining Aluminium Flask to three randomly selected folks who retweet this article with the following tweet and also follow me on twitter - @simonster* competition closes on the 10th of January, three lucky winners will be notified after, please refer to the T&C's below.
Just two small steps needed to win:
Step 1 - Follow myself on twitter - @simonster
Step 2 - Tweet: "I’m asking Santa for some gadgets, having read @Simonster’s ‘Five Gadgets to ask Santa for’ on the @TechNetUK blog: http://aka.ms/gadgetsanta”
*you need to follow me so I can get your mailing address and contact the winners!
**Just to be really clear I’m not giving you my Xbox One or Dell Venue 8 Pro!!
T&C's found here.
Merry Christmas
Simon
Terms & Conditions
Employees of Microsoft or its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising or promotion agencies are not eligible, nor are members of these employees’ families (defined as parents, children, siblings, spouse and life partners).
Follow @Simonster on the Website and Tweet the text “I’m asking Santa for some gadgets, having read @Simonster’s ‘Five Gadgets to ask Santa for’ on the @TechNetUK blog: http://aka.ms/gadgetsanta”.
To the extent that entry requires the submission of user-generated content such as photos, videos, music, artwork, essays, etc., entrants warrant that their entry is their original work, has not been copied from others, and does not violate the privacy, intellectual property rights or other rights of any other person or entity.
Entries will be ineligible for the prize draw if they:
Only one (1) entry per person will be accepted. No purchase necessary to enter the promotion. Entry constitutes full and unconditional acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. Microsoft is not responsible for lost, corrupted or delayed entries. Microsoft reserves the right to disqualify anyone who violates these Terms and Conditions.
Winning entries will be determined by a random draw conducted by Microsoft Ltd. on 13th January 2014 and will be supervised by an independent adjudicator. Chances of winning depend on the number of entries received.
A maximum of one prize per eligible entry is allowed. Winners will be notified or through the Website by 17th January 2014. If a potential winner has not confirmed receipt of the notification within TEN (10) days after the first attempt, an alternative winner will be selected on the same basis as described above (either at random for prize draws or according to the same judging criteria for competitions). Winners may be asked to provide identification proving their eligibility before they are entitled to receive the prize. Winners may be asked to participate in further publicity or advertising.
Prizes are as stated and are not transferable. No cash alternatives available. Microsoft reserves the right to substitute the prizes with prizes of equal or greater value. All prizes will be sent by Microsoft or its agent no later than 28 days after the prize draw has been made by Microsoft. Unless otherwise stated, all prizes are subject to their manufacturer's warranty and/or terms and conditions.
Prizes may be considered as a taxable benefit to the winners. Winners will be directly responsible for accounting for and paying to HMRC, or other relevant tax authority, any tax liability arising on their prize. Please contact ukstat@microsoft.com for any query related to the taxable amount for reporting to HMRC, or other relevant tax authority.
Participants in this promotion agree that Microsoft will have no liability whatsoever for any injuries, costs, damage, disappointment or losses of any kind resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly from acceptance, misuse or use of a prize, or from participation in this promotion. Nothing in this clause shall limit Microsoft’s liability in respect of death or personal injury arising out of its own negligence or liability arising out of Microsoft’s fraud.
Microsoft cannot guarantee the performance of any third party and shall not be liable for any act or default by a third party.
Promoter: Microsoft Limited (“Microsoft”), Microsoft Campus, Thames Valley Park, Reading, RG6 1WG, England.
Please Note: This competition is now closed, winners below.
On the second day of Geekmas, my true love gave to me….. Two Beta Tests!
Welcome to the second day of our ‘Twelve Days of Geekmas’ competition, today’s challenge should be second nature to any devs, so good luck!
As this week draw’s to a close, it’s our pleasure to announce below some of the awesome prizes we’ve got up for grabs today.
Yesterday our true love gave away, ‘Three VM’s’. Were you one of our three lucky winners? It will take us a little longer to determine winners for this one due to the entry method. so please bare with us. Find out who’s won what here as soon as released, we will be emailing winners as soon as we can.
Today's competition is somewhat of a treasure hunt. Somewhere within the code of this blog post you’ll find a hidden Geekmas phrase. Once you've found the hidden message, simply tweet it to @TechNetUK using the hashtag #Geekmas.
Follow these simple steps to enter:
1. Find the hidden geekmas message in the source code of this blog post
2. Follow @TechNetUK
3. Tweet the hidden message to @TechNetUK using the hashtag #Geekmas.
We’ve two fantastic TechNet bundles to giveaway today… two lucky winners will win the following:
- A pair of VIP Gadget Show Tickets for April (tickets gain entry to the show and super theatre, terms apply)
- a Nokia Lumia 820 phone (Dev spec)
- a Nokia wireless charging docking station,
- a Nokia Keyring
All entries from 09:30 - 23:59 on Thursday 19th will be considered, however only two winning entries will be decided by the team and announced on this page at approx. 09:30 Monday 23rd.
WINNING ENTRIES:
Congratulations to @GeorgeDuckett and @TopFiveSoftware who've one the above prizes on the penultimate day of #Geekmas. We'll be in touch with both winners soon :)!
Angry Gran Run
Take to the streets with ANGRY GRAN RUN Christmas edition for Windows Phone!
Angry Gran Run is the best free 3D running game! If your a fan of grandma games (because everyone is, right?) then you’ll love this cool FREE running game! Download the app for free here. Give it a go! If your a fan, show the developer some love and give it a rating.
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Good luck!
The TechNet Team
On the Third day of Geekmas, my true love gave to me….. Three VMs!
Welcome to the third day of our ‘Twelve Days of Geekmas’ competition.
With only three full days left the Geekmas competition is hotting up, we've got some great prizes left to give away!
Yesterday our true love gave away, ‘Four Jolly Nerds’. Were you one of our four lucky winners? Find all winning entries here.
For today's competition we're changing gear and heading to the Microsoft Virtual Academy, our free training site full to the brim with courses for Developers and IT Professionals alike. A little insight into Microsoft Virtual Academy:
Successful technologists never stop learning and great technology never stops evolving. Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA) offers online Microsoft training delivered by experts to help technologists continually learn, with hundreds of courses, in 11 different languages.
We have a specific MVA voucher code to share with all of you for today’s challenge, be sure to use it as this will be how we gage entries.
Follow these three easy steps to enter:
1. Visit the Microsoft Virtual Academy, and sign in or register if you haven't already.
2. Visit your MVA Dashboard, select the 'Redeem your Vouchers' tab and enter the code 'UKGeekmas2013', without quotation marks.
3. Benefit from all the brilliant free training courses on offer!
To wet your appetite for MVA, we've also hand-picked a selection of courses that are relevant to today's great prizes, so even if you don't win you still get an early Christmas present from Microsoft - the gift of knowledge!
What’s New in Windows® 8.1 for IT Professionals - What has changed in 8.1, covering Deployment, Security, Mobility and Windows Server functionality.Windows 8 for IT Pros Jump Start - IT Pro Tips & Tricks, Deployment, Productivity, Recovery and Security in Windows 8.C++: A General Purpose Language and Library Jump Start - Learn the basics of C++, including how to use the language and its Standard Library, coding and debugging within Visual Studio and writing efficient high-performance code.C# Fundamentals - Learn the fundamental concepts of C# applicable to video games, mobile environments, and client applications. Topics include getting the tools, writing code, debugging features, customizations and much more!
The guys over at Microsoft Virtual Academy also have some great free Windows 8.1 Developer Training courses coming up, so be sure to take a look and register if it sounds like you cup of tea.
We have Three TechNet goodies to giveaway today… Three lucky winners will win the following bundle of:
- A Kinect for Xbox 360 Dev kit
- A copy of Windows 8 ProAll entries from 09:30 - 23:59 on Wednesday 18th will be considered, however only three winning entries will be decided by the team and announced on this page at approx. 09:30 Thursday 19th.
Our Lucky Winners:
The lucky recipients of an the above prizes are -
- Jayne Samuel-Walker
- Curtis Parfitt-Ford
- Llifon Owen
Congratulations to todays winners, your prize will be in the post soon!
Patient.co.uk
A free app which allows you to search an entire database of patient information leaflets on health, conditions and diseases. Download the app for free here. If it helps you fight the December blues before Christmas, why not give the developer a rating.