The MED-V Team Blog

Resolution: The MED-V Server service fails to start with Error 1053

When you attempt to start the MED-V Server service on Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2, you may get the following error:

Error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.

Additionally, the system event log indicates this timeout failure by a log entry that is similar to the following:

Source : Service Control Manager

This can occur if the service control manager encounters a timeout.  To work around this problem, increase the default timeout value for the service control manager in the registry. This will require you to adjust the ServicePipeTimeout registry value.

Warning: Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

To increase the timeout value in the registry, follow these steps:

1. Start Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).

2. To change the value data for the ServicesPipeTimeout DWORD value to 60000 in the Control key, follow these steps:

3. Locate and then click the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet

4. Click the Control subkey

5. Right-click the ServicesPipeTimeout DWORD value, and then click Modify.

6. Click Decimal.

7. Type 60000, and then click OK.

If the ServicesPipeTimeout value is not available, add the new DWORD value, and then set its value data to 60000 in the Control key. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Locate and then click the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet

2. Click the Control subkey.

3.  On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.

4. Type ServicesPipeTimeout, and then press ENTER.

5.  Right-click the ServicesPipeTimeout DWORD value, and then click Modify.

6. Click Decimal.

7. Type a value of 60000, and then click OK.

The value is 60000 milliseconds and is equivalent to 60 seconds or one minute.

Note: This change does not take effect until the computer is restarted.

Steve Thomas | Senior Support Escalation Engineer

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 5.0 Community Technical Preview (CTP) Now Available!

I know this isn’t MED-V specific but I thought it was something you’d appreciate hearing about nonetheless.   The Solution Accelerator team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 5.0 Community Technical Preview (CTP). Designed to simplify and streamline the IT infrastructure planning process across multiple scenarios through network-wide automated discovery and assessments, this tool provides a quick and complete inventory of the current IT environment of any organization, hardware and device compatibility assessment, and actionable reporting of recommended hardware upgrades for migration.

The MAP Toolkit 5.0 CTP includes these new features:

· Heterogeneous Server Environment Inventory for Technologies including Windows Server, Linux, UNIX and VMware.

· Ability to determine usage of deployed System Center Configuration Manager, a member of the Core Client Access License Suite.

· Readiness assessment for migration or upgrade to Microsoft Office 2010.

Over 800,000 Microsoft customers and partners including Costco Wholesale Corporation, Continental Airlines, and Pella Corporation have already downloaded and used this toolkit to help plan for their server and PC deployments.

Additional MAP Toolkit Features include:

• Windows 7 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment.
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment.
• Virtualization Candidates Assessment for Hyper-V Server Consolidation.
• Inventory of VMware Server Hosts and Guests.
• Enhanced Usability and Improved Inventory Performance.
• SQL Server Instance Discovery.
• Desktop Security Assessment for Anti-virus and Anti-malware Programs Installation.
• Forefront Client Security/NAP Readiness Assessment.

To give you a quick sample, here are a couple MAP 5.0 Inventory and Assessment Wizard screenshots:

Here’s what the System Center Configuration Manager Server Report looks like:

Next Steps

· Register for the MAP Toolkit 5.0 CTP and download. (Live ID required)

· Want to influence the future of MAP? Complete the survey and receive a free 4GB Solution Accelerator branded Memory Stick.* (Live ID required)

· Download other Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 Solution Accelerators for your IT planning, deployment, and management needs.

Enjoy!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Using Variables to Manage the Naming of your Persistent MED-V Workspaces

Many organizations want to use variables to simplify the naming and manageability of MED-V workspaces. While regular operating system environment variables cannot be used inside the workspace policy, MED-V has variables that can be used for persistent workspaces. The workspace policy must use the VM Setup script to implement these variables.

These variables can be selected when configuring the MED-V workspace policy inside the MED-V management console (run from the client.)

To view and select these variables, do the following:

1.) Log into the MED-V Management Server (policy server) using the MED-V Management utility.

2.) When the policy loads, navigate to the Policy node.

3.) Select your desired workspace, then click on the VM Setup Tab. (Be advised that this option is only available for persistent workspaces which is defined in the Virtual Machine tab.)

4.) In the VM Setup tab you will see an option for "VM Computer Name Pattern" near the bottom of the page.

The default pattern for the machine image name is: MED-V%workspace########## where %workspace represents the name of the workspace used by this image on the client computer. The remaining # characters denote a random generated character. It is here where you have the option to insert different variables and where you can define your own computer name pattern. The variables that can be used are:

%Workspace: The name of the MED-V workspace being used by this image during the VM setup.

%User: The name of the user logged on to MED-V during the VM setup.

%Domain: The domain name (short name) of the authenticating MED-V Active Directory domain.

%Hostname: The hostname of the physical machine running the MED-V Client using this workspace.

%VMName: The name of the Virtual Machine name (Name of the virtual machine image file used by the workspace.)

Examples:

If a user named Ernie from the domain CORPORATE logged on to a machine named CLIENT234 using the workspace called IE_7 leveraging the image XP01 will have the following name translations after generation:

NOTE: The maximum limit for a name is 15 characters. Any pattern that generates a result that exceeds this limit will be truncated to the first 15 characters.

5.) Once this is determined, you will need to include the action within the VM setup script. This will require you to click the "Script Editor" option under Persistent VM Setup. Click on this button. The "Rename Computer" Action is required to generate the computer name. Also note, this will need to be followed by a "Restart Computer" action.

Steve Thomas | Senior Support Escalation Engineer

Configuring the MED-V Server by manually editing the ServerSettings.xml file

In most cases it is recommended to use the MED-V Server Configuration utility (%PROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization\ServerSettings.exe) to make configuration changes to the MED-V Policy Server, but there are some circumstances in which you will have to make modifications to the configuration file that controls the server settings (serversettings.xml). Those reasons include:

• Multi-Server Deployment/Provisioning
• Currently the serversettings.exe (MED-V Server Configuration Manager) is not supported on Windows Server 2008 R2 X64 edition.  The only supported way is to modify the serversettings.xml file located in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization\Servers.

NOTE: This feature will be addressed in a future service pack

The following sections correlate the settings in the XML configuration file with its location in the MED-V Server Configuration Manager user interface. We recommend you make these changes using NOTEPAD or a text editor. Please do not use an application such as wordpad or Microsoft Word as this can malform the XML file.

Client Connections Tab

The following Tags correlate with the options that can be set under the "Client Connections" tab.

<HttpPort>

If configuring the server for unencrypted connections, specify this tag with the port. The default is 80.

<SslPort>

If configuring the server for encrypted connections, specify this tag with the port. The default is 443.

 <EncryptionMode>

This should be set to either None, Optional, or Required.

None = means only HTTP connections will be allowed. Requires <HttpPort> to also be configured.

Optional = means both HTTP and HTTPS connections will be allowed. Requires both <HttpPort> and <SslPort> to also be configured. <SslCertificateThumbprint> will also need to be configured for SSL.

Required = means only HTTPS connections will be allowed. Requires <SslPort> to also be configured as well as the <SslCertificateThumbprint>

Images Tab

The following Tags correlate with the options that can be set under the "Images" tab.

<VmsDirectory>

This is the directory for the Virtual Machines for the Policy Server. The default is C:\MED-V Server Images.

<VmsServerBaseUrl>

This is the location of the URL for the path for Image upload and download (Image Distribution Server location.) There is no default.

Permissions

The following Tags correlate with the options that can be set under the "Permissions" tab. When you give a user permission to manage the MED-V server, you must specify several tags.

<LoginList>

This represents the section heading where the entries have to be added.

<LoginUserEntity Sid="SID"> - where SID is the actual SID of the user or group.

Each entry is identified by the <LoginUserEntity> tag. Each entry also needs to contain the following additional tags

<EntityType>

Type of security entity either user or group.

<Name>

The user name or group name.

<HasChangePermission>

This determines whether the management access will be read-only or whether changes can be made. The values are either true or false.

Here is an example of a <LoginList> section that grant read-only access to Everyone, grants change permissions to specific users, and read-only permissions to two groups.

<LoginList>
<LoginUserEntity Sid="S-1-1-0">
<EntityType>Group</EntityType>
<Name>Everyone</Name>
<HasChangePermission>false</HasChangePermission>
</LoginUserEntity>
<LoginUserEntity Sid="S-1-5-21-124525095-708259637-1543119021-630690">
<EntityType>User</EntityType>
<Name>CONTOSO\steveth</Name>
<HasChangePermission>true</HasChangePermission>
</LoginUserEntity>
<LoginUserEntity Sid="S-1-5-21-124525095-708259637-1543119021-209603">
<EntityType>User</EntityType>
<Name>CONTOSO\sbucci</Name>
<HasChangePermission>true</HasChangePermission>
</LoginUserEntity>
<LoginUserEntity Sid="S-1-5-21-124525095-708259637-1543119021-802833">
<EntityType>User</EntityType>
<Name>CONTOSO\jalanis</Name>
<HasChangePermission>true</HasChangePermission>
</LoginUserEntity>
<LoginUserEntity Sid="S-1-5-21-2127521184-1604012920-1887927527-5291531">
<EntityType>Group</EntityType>
<Name>CONTOSO\medvse</Name>
<HasChangePermission>false</HasChangePermission>
</LoginUserEntity>
<LoginUserEntity Sid="S-1-5-21-2127521184-1604012920-1887927527-5301847">
<EntityType>Group</EntityType>
<Name>CONTOSO\medvsee</Name>
<HasChangePermission>false</HasChangePermission>
</LoginUserEntity>
</LoginList>

Reports

The following Tags correlate with the options that can be set under the "Reports" Tab.

<DatabaseUsername>

This is only needed if you are authenticating using SQL authentication.

<DatabasePassword>

This is only needed if you are authenticating using SQL authentication.

<DatabaseEnabled>

If Reporting is enabled, set this to true. Otherwise, set it to false.

<DatabaseConnectionStringFormat>

This should correlate with the format normally placed in the user interface. It should contain the following options:

Data Source: The destination of the SQL Server configured for reporting.

Initial Catalog: The destination database

Integrated Security: Whether mixed mode authentication is enabled.

The following example uses a remote SQL Server instance named MEDV on SQL Server SQLSERVER01. The destination database is medv and Windows Integrated Security is used:

Data Source=SQLSERVER01\MEDV;Initial Catalog=medv;Integrated Security=True

Other Options

There are a couple of additional options which cannot be set in the user interface:

<ChangePasswordEnabled>

Determines whether a user has the option to change their password if expiry is hit when trying to log on to the workspace. By default, this is set to true.

<SslCertificateThumbprint>

This is the certificate thumbprint. You can find this by double clicking on the certificate (either on the filesystem or mmc window), going to the Details tab, and scrolling down to the Thumbprint value.

Hope this helps,

Steve Thomas | Senior Support Escalation Engineer

MED-V Documentation – Now Available on TechNet!

The Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) documentation library has recently been published to TechNet! This is the first time that MED-V documentation has been made available online and you can now see the newly published MED-V Planning, Deployment, and Operations Guide in the MED-V documentation library on TechNet here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee348978.aspx.

Having the documentation available online is a huge advantage over downloadable guides only because it makes the MED-V documentation available from a Web search and, even more importantly, it allows us to regularly update the documentation between product releases to address your concerns and comments about it. To be sure that you’re always getting the latest documentation about MED-V, you can check the topics in the MED-V documentation library, with the exception of orientation topics that just provide links to other topics, for their “Updated” date which tells you how recently the information in that topic was changed or updated. Please note that the information on the TechNet library will always be the most up-to-date and should be considered authoritative if content on the Download Center and TechNet are not the same.

So, if you have a minute, please take a look at the new documentation online and let us know what you think! As always, we the MED-V doc team, will be monitoring the MED-V documentation feedback alias for your comments and suggestions  (medvdocs@microsoft.com) and thanks in advance for your efforts in helping to improve the documentation!

Thanks!

Jeff Gilbert | Content Publishing Manager: App-V & MED-V

Solution: The Virtual PC engine may crash when attempt to start MED-V a workspace

When you attempt to start MED-V a workspace using a test image or a deployed image, the Virtual PC engine may crash and generate a Fault Report using Windows Error Reporting. Subsequently, the MED-V Workspace will fail to start.

The Virtual PC engine crash will show the following fault:

{virtual pc.exe, 6.0.210.0, unknown, 0.0.0.0, ffff08ef}

You will also see the following event in the Application Event Log:

Log Name:      Application
Source:        MED-V Workspace
Date:         
Event ID:      0
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:         
Computer:     
Description:

The following information was included with the event:

Failed intializing the service log: System.TimeoutException: Timed out waiting for the shared memory client to initialize
   at Kidaro.Foundation.Log.PrettyLogProxy.InitializeSharedMemoryClient()
   at Kidaro.Foundation.Log.PrettyLogProxy.Start()
   at Kidaro.Workspaces.Service.WorkspaceService.ServiceStartThread()

Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="MED-V Workspace" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="0">0</EventID>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2009-09-22T16:24:30.000Z" />
    <EventRecordID>1372</EventRecordID>
    <Channel>_evt_Application.evt</Channel>
    <Computer></Computer>
    <Security />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data>Failed intializing the service log: System.TimeoutException: Timed out waiting for the shared memroy client to initialize
   at Kidaro.Foundation.Log.PrettyLogProxy.InitializeSharedMemoryClient()
   at Kidaro.Foundation.Log.PrettyLogProxy.Start()
   at Kidaro.Workspaces.Service.WorkspaceService.ServiceStartThread()</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

Cause

This can happen if the MED-V Workspace (the workspace installation) binaries have been installed along with the client on the physical host machine. The MED-V workspace installer should only be run inside the virtual machine being used to create the workspace.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, please do the following:

1.) Uninstall both the MED-V Workspace and the MED-V Client.

2.) Reinstall the MED-V Client.

Hope this helps,

Steve Thomas | Senior Support Escalation Engineer

Momentum Webcast: Unlock Value and Savings with Microsoft Virtualization

How can an integrated virtualization strategy that brings server, desktop, and application virtualization together provide significant benefits to your business? Join this webcast to learn about the Microsoft end-to-end virtualization strategy, which uses flexible solutions and common management tools to deliver unique value and savings. We discuss the new features of Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2. Other topics we cover include simplifying deployment and compatibility testing with Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) and delivering scalable desktop virtualization scenarios via Remote Desktop Services, Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V), and Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032426071&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Troubleshooting Reporting and SQL Issues with MED-V 1.0

While reporting is technically an optional feature of MED-V version 1.0, it is valuable in tracking errors, client events, and workspace usage statistics. You may encounter issues at various stages of setting up and using the reporting feature. I have composed a list of issues you may encounter when setting up reporting to SQL.

Create Database before Testing Connectivity

Database configuration for MED-V reporting is done inside the MED-V Server Configuration Manager utility (shown below.)

You must create the database before testing connectivity. Since this feature is optional, the MED-V server installation process does not do this for you automatically. You will get the following error message

“Failed to establish a connection with the following SQL error: “A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and the SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: SQL Network Interfaces: error: 25 – Connection string is not valid)”

On the surface the error can be misleading. This is why you should always verify that you actually selected “Create Database” first before testing connectivity

Invalid Name/Instance Can Yield Same Error Message as Actual Login Failure

Usually if there is an error with the server name or instance name of the local or remote SQL server, an error will specify that. In the case of the MED-V Configuration Server, you will get a “Login failed for user “DOMAIN\USER” instead.

When you get this error, verify you are specifying the correct server name or instance name. You can also quickly determine if it is, in fact, an authentication failure by examining either the Security log on the SQL server (if remote) or the SQL Error Log (ERRLOG) as shown in the example below:

Error Accessing Reporting Page or No Entries Appear At All in the MED-V Reports Dashboard

These problems are more common when dealing with remote instances of SQL rather than local. You will either get a blank screen when running reports or an error message when trying to generate reports:

When troubleshooting missing reports or errors from the Reports Dashboard, we recommend the following steps:

1.) Verify the following two additional requirements are installed on the MED-V Server (Policy Server if you are separating your image distribution server from your policy server.)

SQL Native Client:

For SQL 2005, this can found in the SQL 2005 Feature Pack:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=d09c1d60-a13c-4479-9b91-9e8b9d835cdc

You can also download this directly using the following links:

X86:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/4/D/44DBDE61-B385-4FC2-A67D-48053B8F9FAD/sqlncli.msi

x64:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/4/D/44DBDE61-B385-4FC2-A67D-48053B8F9FAD/sqlncli_x64.msi

For SQL 2008, this can be found in the SQL 2008 Feature Pack:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=c6c3e9ef-ba29-4a43-8d69-a2bed18fe73c

You can also download this directly using the following links:

x86:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=123717&clcid=0x409

X64:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=123718&clcid=0x409

SQL Management Objects

The SQL Feature Packs also contain the Management Objects which are also required. You can also download them directly using the following links:

For SQL 2005:

x86:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/1/6/316FADB2-E703-4351-8E9C-E0B36D9D697E/sqlncli.msi

X64:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/1/6/316FADB2-E703-4351-8E9C-E0B36D9D697E/sqlncli_x64.msi

For SQL 2008:

x86:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=123708&clcid=0x409

X64:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=123709&clcid=0x409

2.) Verify the MED-V Server service is running under a service account (not Local System.) You make this change when configuring the service using the Services snap-in (as shown below)

3.) Then verify the logins are configured inside of SQL Server. The procedure may vary depending on which version of SQL Server you are using (SQL 2005 or SQL 2008.) In SQL 2005 Management Studio, after connecting to the correct instance, you will need to ensure the login accounts are configured under Security. You will need a login configured for both the service account used for the MED-V Server service. The login will also need to be granted to the MED-V database.

Hope this helps,

Steve Thomas | Senior Support Escalation Engineer

More details on MED-V Service Pack 1

As was mentioned last week on The Official MDOP Blog, MED-V will support Windows 7 in the first quarter of calendar year 2010 via MED-V 1.0 SP1.  We’ve been getting a few questions about what exactly SP1 brings to the table so I thought I’d take a minute and try to clear some of this up. 

The question I get asked most often is whether MED-V 1.0 SP1 will require PCs to have hardware assisted virtualization (e.g. Intel VT, AMD-V).  The answer is no.  Similar to MED-V v1, Service Pack 1 will use Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 therefore it will not require hardware assisted virtualization.

In addition, with Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization 1.0 Service Pack 1 we’ll be adding the following features:

- Support for Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit) hosts.

- Support for virtual machines (guests) running Windows XP SP3 (recommended) and also support for Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2000 SP4.

As it stands today, there is no support for Windows 7 or Windows Vista guests expected any time soon.

Hope this helps,

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Windows Virtual PC / MED-V live meeting available for viewing

The Tech.Ed Australia Live Meetings have now concluded but it's not completely over as you can still view many of the recorded sessions.  One in particular you may be interested in is Ben Armstrong’s presentation titled Windows 7 XP Compatibility mode, Virtual PC and Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization.  This seemed to be a pretty popular session so if you didn’t make it down under to see it in person then now’s your chance:

http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2009/09/07/windows-virtual-pc-med-v-live-meeting.aspx

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

MDOP 2009 R2: What's New in MDOP for Windows 7

In case you missed it over on the MDOP blog, they just announced that Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) 2009 R2 will be released in late October 2009 and will add Windows 7 support for all components except for MED-V. Regardless, they are working to ensure that MED-V will support Windows 7 in the first quarter of calendar year 2010 via MED-V 1.0 SP1.  They go on to say:

“With its virtualization technologies and manageability components, MDOP 2009 R2 is an essential part of your Windows 7 planning and deployment strategy.
This is a great opportunity to highlight the key innovations of MDOP 2009 R2 and talk about how MDOP can help you rapidly migrate to Windows 7, deploy applications with greater ease, resolve application incompatibility, and reduce desktop management costs.

Optimize Windows 7 Application Deployment Using App-V

With Application Virtualization (App-V) you can transform applications into centrally-managed virtual services:

• Reduce the costs of application deployment and increase user productivity - deliver most applications without actually installing them. Updates are made easier, application conflicts are minimized, and IT can spend less time in regression testing. For users, once they are granted access, the application is delivered and available instantly, following the user to enable easy roaming between corporate PCs.
• Reduce your base image footprint and new PC provisioning time - separate your applications from the base image, and minimize the number of applications installed after the image is deployed.

Windows upgrade is the best time to adopt App-V - as part of Windows 7 deployment all applications are tested and re-deployed. This is a great time to take a look at your application delivery strategy and adopt Application Virtualization with minimum overhead and cost.

You can read more in the App-V Cost Reduction Study - savings of $156/PC/Yr in direct costs (11.6% of PC TCO) plus $125/PC/YR in user productivity gains.  The sources of direct savings generated by App-V are across automated deployment, patching/updates, non-standard applications, image management, PC provisioning and replacement, and installation risk, as well as user productivity gains. 

App-V 4.5 SP1 also offers new capabilities and unique integration with Windows 7:

• Maintain user productivity regardless of application format - integration with the Windows 7 UI maintains the user experience and productivity as virtual applications behave just as regularly installed applications. Users are able to pin applications to the taskbar and leverage jumplists to navigate between applications.
• Increased IT control with AppLocker integration - enforcing compliance of virtual applications with AppLocker policies, and providing consistent policy management for all application types.
• Make users productive anywhere and save on IT infrastructure using BranchCache - virtual applications traverse the WAN only once and are available to users faster through local BranchCache points, eliminating the need for an IIS Server in every branch.
• Secure application delivery with BitLocker ToGo - IT administrators can confidently deliver virtual applications on a secured USB drive, as the associated applications are protected against unauthorized use. Only authorized users have access to the applications, including remote users who may not have connectivity to corporate network.
• Integrate with third-party LDAP directories - reduce administrative overhead for customers who maintain their user accounts in a third-party LDAP directory, and enable Kerberos via Active Directory trust.

Once available, App-V 4.5 SP1 can be deployed immediately to production environments running XP, Vista, Windows7, and Windows Server 32-bit platforms. For customers preparing to run App-V on 64-bit Windows Client and Server platforms they can download App-V 4.6 Beta at Microsoft Connect.   App-V 4.6 will be available in H1 2010…”

To read more about all the new features coming with MDOP 2009 R2 see http://blogs.technet.com/mdop/archive/2009/09/14/mdop-2009-r2-what-s-new-in-mdop-for-windows-7.aspx

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Free e-book: Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions

Microsoft Press offers complimentary book “Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions“.

This guide will teach you about the benefits of the latest virtualization technologies and how to plan, implement, and manage virtual infrastructure solutions. The technologies covered include: Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2009, Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5, Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization, and Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.

Book content:

1) Microsoft’s Virtualization Solution

2) Server Virtualization – Hyper-V

3) Managing Virtualization – VMM 2008

4) Application Virtualization – App-V

5) Presentation Virtualization – Terminal Services

6) Desktop Virtualization – MED-V and VDI

7) User State Virtualization

8) Building a Virtualization Infrastructure

Copy is available on  http://csna01.libredigital.com/?urmvs17u33

Enjoy!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Virtual PC and Windows XP mode for WIN7

Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 are currently in RC.             Please check out the blog here: Windows Virtual PC blog

Creating a MED-V Deployment Package

You may run into problems trying to create a deployment package using Packing Wizard from the MED-V Management Console.

The Packaging Wizard allows Administrators to provide end users with an installation deployment package that includes the MED-V Client, Microsoft Virtual PC, and the virtual image. The process requires almost no user interaction, and automatically installs everything required for MED-V deployment to a local drive.

The Packaging wizard walks you through the creation of a package by creating a folder on your local machine and transferring all the required installation files to the single folder. The contents of the folder can then be moved to multiple removable media drives for distribution.

If the Management Console is installed on a machine with the Windows Installer running version 3.1 or less, you will have problems creating packages that include the Virtual PC Engine and the required additional VPC QFE.

To resolve this issue, you will need to install and download Windows Installer version 4.5 on the Management Workstation. You can download the Windows Installer 4.5 here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=5a58b56f-60b6-4412-95b9-54d056d6f9f4

Creating a Deployment Package

The deployment package installation provides a method of installing the MED-V Client together with all its required prerequisites as well as any settings pre-defined by the administrator.

The Packaging wizard walks you through the creation of a package by creating a folder on your local machine and transferring all the required installation files to the single folder. The contents of the folder can then be moved to multiple removable media drives for distribution.

To create a portable MED-V package, perform the following steps:

1. From the Tools menu, select Packaging wizard:

2. Click Next.  The Workspace Image screen appears:

3. Check Include image in the package, to include an image in the package.  In the Image field, click on the drop-down box to view all available images. Select the image to be copied to the package. Click Refresh to refresh the list of available images.

4. Click Next. The MED-V Installation Settings screen appears:

5. Select the MED-V installation file by doing one of the following:

a. In the MED-V installation file field, type the full path to the directory where the installation file is located.

b. Click the ... button to browse to the directory where the installation file is located.

For example: use %ProgramFiles%\MED-V instead of, c:\MED-V).

c. In the Server address field, type in the Server name or IP address.

d. In the Server port field, type the Server port.

e. Check Server is accessed using https to require an https connection to connect to the server.

f. Select Default installation settings to continue and leave the default settings.

OR

g. Select Custom installation settings

h. Click Next to set the installation settings in the following screen:

6. In the Installation folder field, type in the path of the folder where the MED-V files will be installed on the host machine.

7. In the Virtual machines images folder field, type the path of the folder where the virtual images files will be installed on the host machine.

8. In the Minimal required RAM field, enter the RAM required to install a MED-V package. If the user installing the MED-V package does not have the minimal required RAM, the installation will fail.

9. The following 3 options are enabled or disabled based on the type of package being defined. The first 2 are enabled for a Local package and the last one is enabled for a Portable Workspace package. Check the options you wish from those that are enabled.

10. Start automatically on computer startup - start MED-V automatically on startup.

11. Create a shortcut to MED-V on the desktop - create a shortcut to MED-V on the host's desktop.

12. Install the MED-V management application - include the MED-V Management Console application in the installation.

13. Click Next.

14. The External Installations screen appears.

a. Check Include installation of virtualization software to include virtualization installation in the package.

b. The Installation file field is enabled. Type in the full path of the virtualization software installation file or click the ... button to browse to the directory.

c. Check Include installation of Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 to include the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 installation in the package.

d. The Installation file field is enabled. Type in the full path of the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 installation file or click the ... button to browse to the directory.

e. Select the Include installation of Virtual PC QFE (KB 958162) check box to include Virtual PC QFE installation in the package.

f. The Installation file field is enabled. Type the full path of the Virtual PC QFE installation file of click ... to browse to the directory.

15. Click Next.

16. The Finalize screen appears:

a. Select the location where the package should be saved by doing one of the following:

b. In the Package destination field, type the full path to the directory where the package should be saved.

c. Click the ... button to browse to the directory where the installation files should be saved.

d. In the Package name field, type in a name for the package.

17. Click Finish to create the package.

18. The package is created. Note that this may take several minutes.  Once the package is created a message appears notifying you that it has been completed successfully.

Steve Thomas | Senior Support Escalation Engineer

Full guide to MED-V server settings

This post describes how to install and configure MED-V server and IIS server (ver. 7.0) for Microsoft Server 2008.

1. Configuration of Internet Information Services (IIS)

1.1 IIS Installation

1. Verify that the Host Server is logged onto the Domain
2. Go to:
   Control Panel => Programs and features=> Turn Windows features on or off

   The following screen should open:

   

3. Scroll down and click Add Feature.
4. The following screen should open:

   

5. Select .NET Framework 3.0 Features.
6. Click Add requires role services.
7. Click BITS Server Extensions.
8. Click Next.
9. Click Next.
10. The following screen should open:

    

11. Click Install.
12. Click Close once the installation has been completed.

     

1.2 IIS Virtual Directory configuration

1.2.1 Add virtual directory

1. Open IIS Manager.
2. Expend <SERVER NAME> until you find Default Web Site.

   

3. Right-click Default Web Site.
4. Select Add Virtual Directory.
5. The following screen should open:

   

6. In the Alias box type your Virtual Directory name, and in the Physical path box type the actual folder where MED-V images are saved (Default: c:\MED-V Server Images).
7. Click OK. (The new Virtual Directory entry will be added under Default Web Site).

1.2.2 Bind http to desired port number

1. Click Default Web Site (on the left pane as shown in the image below).

   

2. Click Bindings.
3. The following screen should open:

   

4. Click type http and then click Edit.
5. The following screen should open:

   

6. Change the port to desired port number (for example port 8051).
7. Click OK.

1.2.3 Enable Directory Browsing

1. Click medv Virtual Directory (below Default Web Site).
2. Click Features View.
3. Set the window to be "Grouped by: Area", scroll to locate Directory Browsing under the IIS section (as shown in the image below).

   

4. The following screen should open:

   

5. Click Enable on the right pane.
6. Verify that Time, Size, Extension and Date checkboxes are selected.
7. Click Apply.

1.2.4 Configure “MIME Type”

1. Click medv Virtual Directory (below Default Web Site).
2. Click Features View.
3. Set the window to be "Grouped by: Area", scroll and locate MIME Types under the IIS section (as shown in the image below).

   

4. Double-click MIME Types.
5. The following screen should open:

   

6. Click Add on the left pane.
7. The following screen should open:

   

8. Under File name extension type “.ckm” (must be done for .index too)
9. Under MIME Type type application/octet-stream (must be done for .index too)
10. Click OK.

1.2.5 Configure BITS

1. Click medv Virtual Directory (below Default Web Site).
2. Click Features View.
3. Set the window to be "Grouped by: Area", scroll and locate BITS Uploads under the Other section (as shown in the image below).

   

4. Double-click BITS Uploads.
5. The following screen should open:

   

6. Select the Allow clients to upload files check box.
7. Select Use default settings from parent.
8. Click Apply on the right pane.

2. Firewall configuration

2.1 Configure firewall to allow connections through configured port (in the following example 8051)

1. Open Server Manager and expand the Configuration list.
2. Expand the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security” list.
3. Click Inbound Rules.
4. The following screen should open:

   

5. Click New Rule on the right pane.
6. The following screen should open:

   

7. Select Port and then click Next.
8. The following screen should open:

   

9. Select TCP.
10. Select Specify local port and type port number (8051).
11. Click Next.
12. The following screen should open:

    

13. Select Allow the connection.
14. Click Next.
15. The following screen should open:

    

16. Select all the check boxes.
17. Click Next.
18. The following screen should open:

    

19. Give a unique name to your rule.
20. Repeat steps 4-13 only this time selecting UDP on step 6.
21. Repeat steps 2-14 only this time selecting Outbound Rules on step 3.

3. Med-V Server Configuration

3.1 Med-V Server installation

1. Run the MED-V Server .MSI and follow the on screen instructions.

3.2 MED-V Server Configuration

1. Run Med-V Server Configuration Manager
2. The following screen should open:

   

3. Click the Connections tab and verify that the unencrypted connections port is set at 80.
4. Click the Images.
5. The following screen should open:

   

6. The VMs Directory should be the physical folder on the server where Med-V images will be uploading to.
7. The VMs URL should be: http://<Server Name>:8051/<Virtual Directory Alias>
8. Click the Permissions tab.
9. The following screen should open:

   

10. Click Add or Remove if you want to modify the permissions.
11. Click OK.