Swiss IT Professional and TechNet Blog : Windows Server

Windows Server 2008 R2 – Core Configurator 2.0

mepprecht — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:54:25 GMT

The latest version of Core Configurator built and designed for Windows Server 2008 R2 Core edition is now available on http://www.codeplex.com/CoreConfig

It is completely open source so it can be amended to fit your requirements, this version has been a year in the making and has been written in Powershell with a reference to Winforms so that a GUI format is displayed.

The primary focus of this project is to get feedback and contributions back from the community to make this a tool the best/ free tool everyone will want in their toolkit.

Core Configuration tasks include:

Product Licensing
Networking Features
DCPromo Tool
ISCSI Settings
Server Roles and Features
User and Group Permissions
Share Creation and Deletion
Dynamic Firewall settings
Display | Screensaver Settings
Add & Remove Drivers
Proxy settings
Windows Updates (Including WSUS)
Multipath I/O
Hyper-V including virtual machine thumbnails
Join Domain and Computer rename
Add/remove programs
Services
WinRM
Complete logging of all commands executed

http://www.codeplex.com/CoreConfig

Free E-Book - Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2

mepprecht — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:19:34 GMT

“Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2" from Microsoft Press is available as a free download. Authors are Charlie Russel and Craig Zucker.

Download from here (PDF 11MB, 182 pages)

http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/C/0/5C0BD0AB-040D-4C56-A60B-661001012DDA/Windows_Server_2008_R2_e-book.pdf

What .NET functionality does Server Core on Windows Server 2008 R2 not support?

mepprecht — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:59:00 GMT

As you may know, Server Core installations of Windows Server 2008 R2 now support the .NET framework.

But, some functions are not available on Server Core. As Server Core only has a command prompt and no GUI, mostly Graphical User Interface objects are not supported.

For a list of the .NET 2.0 features, excluded see here
Additionally for .NET 3.0/3.5 see here

Also remember that installing products like SQL Server 2005/2008/2008 R2, Exchange Server 2003/2007 , SharePoint Server 2003/2007 and others are not supported on Server Core. If a Server product supports Server Core installations, it will be clearly documented. If nothing is said, you need to assume it is not supported.

WSUS 3.0 SP2 is now RTM

mepprecht — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:52:24 GMT

Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP2 is now available for download.

WSUS 3.0 SP2 supports the latest operating systems including Windows Server® 2008 R2 and Windows 7 clients. WSUS 3.0 SP2 is more robust and features significant improvements in client performance, reliability, and increased server usability and reliability.

If your are still not using WSUS for your patch management, find out here how it can help you on “Patch Tuesdays”

Key Management Service (KMS) 1.2 for Windows Server 2003 Released

mepprecht — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:04:10 GMT

Key Management Service (KMS) 1.2 for Windows Server 2003 has been released. KMS 1.2 provides support for the following KMS client installations:

Windows 7
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2)
Windows Vista and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2)

For documentation and download: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968915

Swiss TechNet Seminars - Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7

mepprecht — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:00:00 GMT

For the RTM Releases of Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7, we are offering the appropriate Swiss TechNet seminars. The new features and functions will be discussed and Demo’d.

Presentation language will be in German.

28 August 09	Windows 7 – alles, was Sie als IT Professional über die finale Version wissen müssen (Repeated on 6 November)
09 September 09	Windows Server 2008 R2 unter der Lupe
15 September 09	Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2
06 November 09	Windows 7 – alles, was Sie als IT Professional über die finale Version wissen müssen (Repeat of 28 August)

Microsoft Connection Days

mepprecht — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:46:55 GMT

At five locations in Switzerland from 28 September up to 8. October 2009, Microsoft Connection Days (ex Partner Days), an event for Partners and IT professionals will be held.

This year, Microsoft Partners and now IT Professionals will have the opportunity, under one roof, to network and make interesting contacts. Five IT professional topics will be available for you to obtain the latest information about cloud computing (key note), Windows 7, Office/Exchange 2010, Windows Server R2 and Hyper-V R2, SQL Server and Online Services (BPOS).

Are my PC’s Capable of Running Windows 7?

mepprecht — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:17:47 GMT

You can assess your existing PC hardware compatibility with Windows 7 requirements and do this network-wide with the free Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 4.0 for Windows 7.

More information here and the same toolkit can do Server readiness for Windows Server 2008 R2 too.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Released to Manufacturing

mepprecht — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:02:52 GMT

Windows 7 release to manufacturing (RTM) means that it’s time for our OEM partners to get their PCs ready, for software development partners to test their new applications, and for hardware vendors to ready their hardware. Find out what it means for you as an IT professional—and learn how and when you can get the final bits.

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/07/21/when-will-you-get-windows-7-rtm.aspx

http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver/

Windows Server 2008 Product Activation in a Virtual Environment

mepprecht — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:57:48 GMT

OEM-, ROK- and FPP Licenses

Windows Server 2008 OEM-, ROK- and FPP Products are supplied with 2 license keys, one Product Key and a Virtual Key.

Importantly, you must use the Product Key for the Physical System (Parent Partition) and the Virtual Key for the Guests (Child Partitions).

If a Product Key is used in a Child Partition, then you may need to activate the Child Partition again if you move the VM to another physical server.

As to how many Child Partitions that can be activated with a Virtual Key depends on the Windows Server Edition and the definitive resource is http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/949748

Volume Licenses

Volume License Keys do not differentiate between Parent and Child Partitions and only 1 key is supplied. It is recommended that a KMS Server is used to manage Volume Licenses which will re-activate the system automatically if needed. How to setup a KMS server is documented here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc303280.aspx

Update for DNS Devolution - Microsoft Security Advisory - 971888

mepprecht — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:17:33 GMT

Update for DNS Devolution - Microsoft Security Advisory – 971888 has been published.

What is the article about?
A malicious user could host a system with a single-label name outside of an organization's boundary and due to DNS devolution may successfully get a Windows DNS client to connect to it as though it were internal to the organizational boundary.

Please ensure that you fully understand, and have tested the effects of this update before deploying it in your organization as the behavior of DNS resolution that you currently rely on may be affected.

After the update is installed, the DNS resolver will only perform devolution to a level based on the domain settings of the Windows client, potentially breaking any applications or configurations that rely on this behavior

The DNS update will not be published on Windows Update, and will only be available on the Download Center.

Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008 R2 availability dates announced

mepprecht — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:32:23 GMT

It is official!

Windows 7 will Release to Manufacturing (RTM) in the Second half of July 2009 and the general availability date is set at 22 October 2009.
Windows Server 2008 R2 will be available on the same dates also.

Now you can plan your rollouts!

Hyper-V R2 – News from Tech Ed USA

mepprecht — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:47:19 GMT

Yesterday at Tech Ed USA, we announced the following relating to Hyper-V R2 (Hyper-V release that will ship with Windows Server 2008 R2):

Support for 64 physical processors per server
Support for 512 virtual processors per server
Support for 384 Concurrently Running Virtual Machines per server (Highest Density of VM’s per server on the market)
Live Migration
Processor Compatibility for Live Migration. This allows you to move a virtual machine up and down multiple processor generations from the same vendor.

All the technical information on here: http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2009/05/12/tech-ed-windows-server-2008-r2-hyper-v-news.aspx

Practical PowerShell Videos

mepprecht — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:12:01 GMT

PowerShell.com and Idera have created a 5 part video series on PowerShell. How you use Powerhell together with Microsoft Server and Client Products.

Part 1: Getting to Know PowerShell
Part 2: PowerShell for Active Directory
Part 3: PowerShell for Exchange Server 2007
Part 4: PowerShell for SQL Server 2008
Part 5: PowerShell for Windows Servers and Clients

To view the series, visit http://www.idera.com/Promo/Practical-PowerShell/

Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta and RC Expiry Dates

mepprecht — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:00:00 GMT

All good Betas and Release Candidates need to expire some time. Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are no exception.

	Beta	Release Candidate
Message: “Is Expiring”	17 June 2009	14 February 2010
Timebomb: Shutdown every 2 Hours	1 July 2009	1 March 2010
License Expires: Shutdown every 2 Hours and Black Desktop Background	1 August 2009	1 June 2010

Please upgrade before the expiry dates!