GuillaumeD's blog : Microsoft Support

My working environment - Part 3

GuillaumeD — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:30:09 GMT

A while from the last post about this subject… So It’s now time to describe the virtual environment that I set up.

Below is a schema of the permanent network and virtual environment I daily use.

So I have one Active Directory domain (Windows Server 2008 at forest functional level) in which I have a basic PKI infrastructure, Terminal Servers, WDS servers, a MDT server, a Print server, a SCCM server and several clusters as well as some member servers.

Here is the detail of the most used VMs :

Server Name	Operating System	Role	Host
WS08-DC0	Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition x64	Domain Controller DNS Certificate Services DHCP iSCSI Software Target	Hyper-V
WS08-MDT	Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition x64	MDT 2008 Update 1 WDS	Hyper-V
WS03-WDS	Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP2 x64	WDS (Mixte mode)	Hyper-V
WS03-PRINT	Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP2 x64	Print Server	Hyper-V
W2K-ISCSI	Windows 2000 Server Advanced Edition SP4	File Server used to test iSCSI	Hyper-V
WS08-FC0	Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition x64	Cluster Node #1 – Cluster #1	Hyper-V
WS08-FC1	Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition x64	Cluster Node #2 – Cluster #1	Hyper-V
WS08-TS0	Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition x64	Terminal Services TS RemoteApps	Hyper-V
WS08-TS1	Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition x64	Terminal Services TS Web	Hyper-V
WS08-TSG	Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition x64	Terminal Services TS Gateway	Hyper-V
WS03-CL4	Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP2 x86	Cluster Node #3 – Cluster #3 (MNS)	Hyper-V
WS03-SCCM	Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP2 x64	SCCM 2007 SP1 WDS (native mode)	Hyper-V
WS03-CL0	Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP2 x86	Cluster Node #1 – Cluster #2	Virtual Server
WS03-CL1	Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP2 x86	Cluster Node #2 – Cluster #2	Virtual Server
WS03-CL2	Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP2 x86	Cluster Node #1 – Cluster #3 (MNS)	Virtual Server
WS03-CL3	Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP2 x86	Cluster Node #2 – Cluster #3 (MNS)	Virtual Server

I have additional virtual machines that are connected to the Corporate Network I used for short term purposes or as backup (as the Vista VM when my laptop is used elsewhere) :

Machine Name	Operating System	Role
V-VISTA	Windows Vista Enterprise Edition SP1 x86	My laptop backup
WS08-VMM	Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition x64	SCVMM 2008 used as dogfood

So nothing revolutionnary here but I wanted to show that I have some resources to work on issues for almost all situations. At least, on the technology I’m most skilled…

Next post will deal with the tools and ways I use to manage all of this and how I can set up really quickly a new environment if I need it to troubleshoot an issue.

~ Guillaume

Un nouveau blog sur la toile !

GuillaumeD — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Et hop !

L’équipe dont je suis membre a ouvert son blog :

Windows Internals – L’équipe Française de support Windows Core

N’hésitez pas à y faire un tour, il devrait y avoir bientôt quelques bulletins techniques intéressants (en plus de ceux déjà postés) !

~ Guillaume

My working environment - Part 2

GuillaumeD — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:27:48 GMT

Second post on this subject. This time I will deal with the technical steps involved to build my environment.

Machines setup

Server Core configuration

I will not describe all the steps involved but I will give the commands I used on my Server Core servers to set the general settings of a server when it enters in production.

Add or install drivers

Add to the Driver Store :

PNPUTIL -a %homedrive%\<driver folder>\<driver>.inf

Add to the driver store and install :

PNPUTIL -i -a %homedrive%\<driver folder>\<driver>.inf

Rename a computer

NETDOM RENAMECOMPUTER %COMPUTERNAME% /NEWNAME:TOTO

netdom command syntax

Configure network connections and TCP/IP

Rename a network connection :

NETSH INT SET INT NAME="Local Area Connection" NEWNAME="CorpNet"

Set an IP v4 address, mask and gateway :

NETSH INT IPV4 SET ADDR NAME="CorpNet" STATIC 192.168.2.3 255.255.255.0 192.168.2.1

Add another IP v4 address, mask and gateway :

NETSH INT IPV4 SET ADDR NAME="CorpNet" STATIC 192.168.14.3 255.255.255.0 192.168.14.1

Specify DNS servers :

NETSH INT IPV4 SET DNSSERVER NAME="CorpNet" STATIC 192.168.14.60 BOTH

Netsh Commands for Wired Local Area Network (LAN)

Netsh Commands for Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)

Join a domain

NETDOM JOIN %COMPUTERNAME% /DOMAIN:dom.local /userD:DOM\User /passwordD:*

Add a domain user/group to a local group

NETDOM LOCALGROUP Administrators DOM\User /add

Enable Remote Desktop for administration

CSCRIPT %WINDIR%\System32\scregedit.wsf /ar 0

Enable Windows Updates

CSCRIPT %WINDIR%\System32\scregedit.wsf /AU 4

Install Roles and Features

List roles and features :

OCLIST

Install a role :

START /W OCSETUP FailoverCluster-Core /QUIET /NORESTART

Uninstall a role :

START /W OCSETUP /UNINSTALL FailoverCluster-Core /QUIET /NORESTART

Enable remote administration

NETSH ADVFIREWALL SET ALLPROFILES SETTINGS REMOTEMANAGEMENT ENABLE

iSCSI Initiators configuration

As my cluster runs on Server Core servers, I had to use the CLI provided by the iSCSI components.

Configure the iSCSI service to start automatically :

SC CONFIG MSISCSI START= AUTO

Start the iSCSI service :

NET START MSISCSI

Add a iSCSI target portal :

ISCSICLI QADDTARGETPORTAL 192.168.2.2

List targets available :

ISCSICLI LISTTARGETS

You should have something like this as a result :

Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Version 6.0 Build 6000

Targets List:
iqn.1991-05.com.microsoft:iscsiserver-s-iscsiclient-target
The operation completed successfully.

Login to the target available :

ISCSICLI QLOGINTARGET iqn.1991-05.com.microsoft:iscsiserver-s-iscsiclient-target

Set the previous login persistent while restarting the computer :

ISCSICLI PERSISTENTLOGINTARGET iqn.1991-05.com.microsoft:iscsiserver-s-iscsiclient-target T * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 0

Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator Version 2.07

Cluster preparation

Continuing the configuration of the physical cluster under a command prompt I have to use cluster.exe.

First, I had to prepare the quorum disk (which is my disk 1, disk 0 being my system disk) :

C:\diskpart.exe

DISKPART> SELECT DISK1

DISKPART> ONLINE DISK

DISKPART> ATTRIB DISK CLEAR READONLY

DISKPART> CREATE PART PRI

DISKPART> ASSIGN LETTER Q:

DISKPART> FORMAT FS=NTFS LABEL=Quorum QUICK

DISKPART> AUTOMOUNT

DISKPART> DETAIL DISK

Note the DISK ID (if MBR then Disk Signature, if GPT then Disk GUID)

DISKPART> EXIT

I created my cluster :

C:\CLUSTER CLUSTER-FC /CREATE

C:\CLUSTER /CLUSTER:CLUSTER-FC RES "Quorum Disk" /CREATE /GROUP:"Cluster Group" /TYPE:"Physical Disk"

C:\CLUSTER /CLUSTER:CLUSTER-FC RES "Quorum Disk" /PRIV DiskSignature=0xA81F6D69

I used the DISK ID I identified in the previous step

C:\CLUSTER /CLUSTER:CLUSTER-FC RES "Quorum Disk" /ON

C:\CLUSTER /CLUSTER:CLUSTER-FC /QUORUM:"Quorum Disk"

I added the second node of my cluster :

C:\CLUSTER /CLUSTER:CLUSTER-FC /ADDNODE /NODE:NODE2

To create other resources in my cluster I used the Failover Clustering MMC from my laptop. It was quite easier !

cluster command syntax

Hyper-V installation

On my Hyper-V server, I first downloaded the Hyper-V Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB950050) and I ran the following command on my Hyper-V server (which is a Server Core) :

C:\WUSA C:\SRC\KB950050.MSU /QUIET

Then I installed the role :

C:\START /W OCSETUP Microsoft-Hyper-V

On my laptop, I downloaded the Hyper-V Remote Management Update for Windows Vista for x64-based Systems (KB952627) and installed it locally.

I was then able to manage my Hyper-V server remotely.

Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 installation

I first installed all IIS requirements :

Web Server
- Common HTTP features
  - Static Content
  - Default Document
  - Directory Browsing
  - HTTP Errors
- Application Development
  - CGI
- Health and Diagnostics
  - HTTP Logging
  - Request Monitor
- Security
  - Basic Authentication
  - Windows Authentication
  - Digest Authentication
  - Request Filtering
- Performance
  - Static Content Compression
- Management Tools
  - IIS Management Console
  - IIS 6 Management Compatibility
    - IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility
    - IIS 6 WMI Compatibility
    - IIS 6 Scriping Tools
    - IIS 6 Management Console

On my Virtual Server server I downloaded the following components and installed them as any other applications :

Note : installing the update requires an elevated Command Prompt

Release Notes for Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1

DPM 2007 installation

Some hints I used to install DPM 2007 on a Windows Server 2008 :

Manually Install Required Windows Components

Manually Install SQL Server 2005

Installing Protection Agents behind a Firewall

SCVMM 2008 installation

Well... I cannot explain how I did... the product is not released yet :-)

How did I set up my network ?

In my configuration I use two different physical networks. One is the Corporate Network on which I have no power at all and the second one is dedicated to private communication for my own stuff which consists of iSCSI and virtual machines traffic.

I have to use a separate network because we have strong security policies internally enforced to Windows Firewall and IPSec so I cannot run all scenarios I want on this side. All NICs connected on non-MS network do not suffer from that security and thus allowed me to set up my cluster with iSCSI without any trouble.

Additionally, I want to have two separated subnets on my private network two have an environment with a bit more complexity than a single IP range on a physical network.

Physical subnetting

I have nothing to say about the Corporate Network side. All my physical machines are connected to it and receive IPv4 and IPv6 addresses from the corporate DHCP server.

From the private network side, totally disconnected from the Corporate Network, here are the subnets used :

1 IP subnet for virtual machines hosted on the Hyper-V server
- Private Network #1 : 192.168.14.0/24
1 IP subnet for virtual machines hosted on the Virtual Server server
- Private Network #2 : 192.168.15.0/24
1 IP subnet for my physical iSCSI network
- iSCSI Network #1 : 192.168.12.0/24

In fact IP subnets of Private Network #1 and Private Network #2 are totally logical as they rely on the same network switch. These subnets exist because virtual machines on the Hyper-V server are configured with a 192.168.14.x address and virtual machines on the Virtual Server server are configured with a 192.168.15.x address.

In addition, my HP xw6200 has two IP addresses on the private NIC which are 192.168.14.1 and 192.168.15.1. As I installed the Routing and Remote Access Services role traffic between these two subnets is routed.

Virtual subnetting

I have several subnets configured :

1 IP subnet for a primary backbone (on the Hyper-V server)
- Backbone #1 : 192.168.14.0/24
1 IP subnet for a secondary backbone(on the Virtual Server server)
- Backbone #2 : 192.168.15.0/24
1 IP subnet for iSCSI traffic (on the Virtual Server server and on the Hyper-V Server)
- Virtual iSCSI #1 : 192.168.11.0/24
1 IP subnet for iSCSI traffic (on the Hyper-V server)
- Virtual iSCSI #2 : 192.168.12.0/24
1 IP subnet for clusters' traffic (on the Hyper-V server)
- Cluster #1 : 192.168.13.0/24
1 IP subnet for clusters' traffic (on the Virtual Server server)
- Cluster #2 : 192.168.13.0/24

All subnets still be logical as they rely on virtual network which reside on only one NIC on each virtualization server.

My HP xw6200 routes traffic as well between 192.168.14.1 and 192.168.15.1 subnets.

A schema to better understand

Routing

To allow routing between my two "backbones", I had to set up RRAS on my HP xw6200.

Routing and Remote Access Service configuration

From Start | Programs | Administrative Tools | Routing and Remote Access
Select the server you want to configure
Menu Action | Configure and Enable Routing and Remote Access
Click on Next
Select Custom configuration and click on Next
Select LAN Routing and click on Next
Click on Finish
Click on Start service

Routing configuration

Select <Servername> | IPv4 | Static routes
Menu Action | New static route…
1. Interface : select the physical adapter to configure (ex : Private Network)
2. Destination : IP address of the target network to route to (ex : 192.168.5.0)
3. Network Mask : second IP subnet mask (ex : 255.255.255.0)
4. Gateway : IP address of the first IP subnet's gateway (ex : 192.168.6.1)
Click on OK

Apply the same steps for the second IP subnet, you should obtain this configuration :

If I had two physical interfaces for my private network, while configuring routing for the second subnet, I should select the second physical interface and repeat the steps.

DHCP Relay configuration

If I had two physical interfaces for my private network I should have to allow PXE broadcast over my two IP subnets to allow PXE traffic. Currently I don't need as broadcasts are on the same physical network.

In the case you have to enable it :

Select <Servername> | IPv4 | General
Menu Action | New Routing Protocol…
Select DHCP Relay Agent and click on OK
Select <Servername> | IPv4 | DHCP Relay Agent
Menu Action | New Interface…
Select the physical adapter which represent the subnet on which reside PXE clients and click twice on OK
Menu Action | New Interface…
Select the physical adapter which represent the subnet where the DHCP and/or WDS servers are located and click twice on OK
Menu Action | Properties
Add IP addresses of the DHCP and/or WDS servers and click on OK

Virtual networks configuration ?

I have then to configure some virtual networks on my Hyper-V and Virtual Server servers to make all my virtual machines communicate together.

Hyper-V virtual networks

You should know that Hyper-V provides three types of virtual networks :

External which is bound to a physical network adapter and allow communication of virtual machines on a physical network
Internal which is a private network between virtual machines and their host
Private which is a truly virtual network on which only virtual machines can be bound

I adopted a basic taxonomy for my virtual networks to be able to quickly identify which access a virtual network provides :

For External networks : E-[Description]
For Internal networks : I-[Description] [IP subnet definition)]
For Private networks : P-[Description] [IP subnet definition)]

In my configuration I have this :

E-CorpNet LAN configuration :
- Used to attach virtual machines to the Corporate Network

E-Private LAN configuration :
- Used to provide communication over my private network to my virtual machines between my Hyper-V and Virtual Server servers

There is no specific configuration for the remaining virtual networks as they are Private networks and only used for virtual machines communications :

P-Cluster : bound to Windows clusters to assume the private network between nodes
P-iSCSI : bound to Windows clusters and some stand-alone servers for the virtual iSCSI network
P-LAN : bound to any virtual machines not requiring access to other resources

TechNet library - Hyper-V

Virtual Server virtual networks

The configuration on the Virtual Server is more simple as you can choose only between a virtual network bound to a physical network adapter or a virtual network allowing only guests communication.

The following virtual network is bound to the private NIC on the Virtual Server server and is intended to be used for iSCSI traffic to the HP xw6200 which services the iSCSI Software Target Initiator :

The following virtual network is also bound to the private NIC on the Virtual Server server and used as a backbone for virtual machines :

The following virtual network is not bound to any physical NIC on the Virtual Server server and is used as the private network for virtual machines running in a cluster :

Well, quite a long post. I hope I covered the main points but if I missed some stuff or if you ask for more : let me know !

Next time I'll describe my virtual machines and how I used some technologies to set up virtual machines quickly.

To be continued...

~ Guillaume

My working environment - Part 1

GuillaumeD — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:30:21 GMT

As products evolve, I want to use as much as possible the new technologies I have to support. To reach this goal I decided to build an environment respecting Microsoft security policies but enough flexible to host quickly and easily all kind of products and most of all : provide tools to troubleshoot customer issues !

From now, I have 4 more drafts in hand dealing with this subject (i.e. "My working environment") but I will begin by the beginning : describing what I installed and what I daily use in my job.

This first post will deal with an overview of the hardware involved and how I defined the job for each of the machines I have (hope nobody will ask me why I have so much machines :-) and how they work together.

Machines

I have some of those machines since my first(s) day(s) at Microsoft, I grabbed the old Dell OptiPlex when we had our last machines' upgrade and the GX620 from a team mate which has virtualized all his machines.

And a very old Dell OptiPlex I use to present SCSI disks to my HP xw6200.

Network

All my machines are connected to a Gb switch which is connected to the Corporate Network through my IP Phone. This one is limited to 100Mb but as most of my traffic is between my computers it's not a real issue.

I also have a private network (also on a Gb switch) to allow communication between my Hyper-V server and my Virtual Server 2005 server. I can then have more virtual machines (well... not so much !) in the same environment and have some routing capabilities which is useful to test stretched clusters or running some repro scenarios when dealing with customer issues.
This private network is also used for my physical iSCSI network (where the Initiator Software Target is my HP xw6200) used to present shared disks to my physical cluster and to some virtual machines.

Here is a schema to understand how it is configured physically :

Machines roles

So here are the roles I assigned to the machines :

Cluster Windows Server 2008
- Clustered File Server
- Clustered Print Server
- Machines involved
  - Dell Precision 690
  - Dell OptiPlex GX620
iSCSI network
- Used to share disks in my cluster
- Machines involved
  - HP xw6200 : ISCSI Software Target Initiator
  - Dell Precision 690 : iSCSI Target
  - Dell OptiPlex GX620 : iSCSI Target
Hyper-V
- Dell Precision 690
Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1
- HP xw6200
System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008
- Used to manage my Hyper-V and Virtual Server servers
- Machine involved
  - HP xw6200
System Center Data Protection Manager 2007
- Used to backup some data on my servers
- Used to backup my laptop
- Machine involved
  - HP xw6200

When I'm at the office, my laptop is the master commander of all of this. Through RSAT (Remote Server Administration Tools), the diverse MMC consoles, Windows Remote Shell and of course Remote Desktop I have a large set of tools to manage the servers. But I'll speak about this in another post.

My next post regarding this theme will describe all the configuration steps I followed to set up this small infrastructure.

To be continued...

~ Guillaume

Supportability of Microsoft products in a virtualized environment (updated)

GuillaumeD — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:45:00 GMT

Microsoft has announced supportability status of Microsoft applications running in virtualized environments.

You can find the official statement here :

KB957006 - Microsoft server software and supported virtualization environments

You can find additional information on the Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP) page to find participant vendors.

KB944987 - Support partners for non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software

And last, an updated version of the next KB article :

KB897615 - Support policy for Microsoft software running in non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software

~ Guillaume

Hotfix Online Submission ou comment récupérer les hotfixes par vous même

GuillaumeD — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:32:20 GMT

Désormais, pour un grand nombre d'entre eux, vous pourrez télécharger les correctifs qui n'étaient pas disponibles publiquement par vous même au lieu de contacter le support Microsoft.

Par exemple, pour cet article technique KB951308, vous verrez cet encart en haut de la fiche :

C'est la nouveauté de la plupart des articles techniques liés à un correctif qui indique leur disponibilité à travers le programme Hotfix Online Submission.

Après avoir rempli les champs requis, sélectionner la version du correctif et entrer un code permettant d'éviter les robots dans le formulaire "Hotfix Request" et cliquer sur le boutton "Request hotfix" vous devriez voir ceci :

Il faudra juste attendre de recevoir un mail contenant le lien vers le correctif.

Ce projet vise à rendre plus fluide la délivrance des correctifs à nos clients alors que jusqu'à présent, il fallait passer un appel au support pour ouvrir un dossier (non décompté dans les contrats de support), être contacté par un ingénieur support qui identifiait la plateforme cible, la langue, etc... pour ensuite recevoir le correctif.

A noter cependant que cela ne doit pas vous empêcher pas d'être rigoureux dans l'identification des problèmes afin de ne pas appliquer un correctif qui n'est pas lié à la problématique rencontrée :-)

C'est là une des valeurs ajoutée du support Microsoft qui après l'envoi du correctif, s'assure que le problème est résolu...

~ Guillaume