System Center Virtual Machine Manager

KB976246 - Removing a VHD from a virtual machine in VMM 2008 R2 deletes the file on the Hyper-V server without warning

2009-11-16T16:05:28Z

In Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2, you remove a virtual hard disk (VHD) from a virtual machine. You expect that the .vhd file is detached from the virtual machine. However, the .vhd file is actually deleted on the Hyper-V server.

Fortunately there's a hotfix available that addresses this issue. You can read all the details and download the hotfix here:

KB976246 - When you remove a virtual hard disk from a virtual machine in System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2, the .vhd file on the Hyper-V server is deleted without warning

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

New KB: KB976244 - Description of the System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 hotfix rollup package: November 10, 2009

2009-11-16T15:53:56Z

This article describes the Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 issues that are fixed in the hotfix rollup package that is dated November 10, 2009.

List of issues that are fixed

Issue 1

If a virtual machine that was created from a template fails during the customization phase, the owner of the virtual machine cannot use the self-service portal to connect to the virtual machine.

Issue 2

The Enable spoofing of MAC addresses option in the virtual machine properties is cleared when you configure the network adapter to connect to a different virtual network.

Issue 3

The "Refresh host cluster" job can take more than 10 minutes to finish.

For all the details see:

KB976244 - Description of the System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 hotfix rollup package: November 10, 2009

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

2009-11-10T16:05:01Z

I know this isn’t VMM 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

Two new Virtual Machine Manager KB articles for the week ending 11/7

2009-11-09T21:18:22Z

We published two new knowledge base articles for System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 last week. The first discusses some steps that will help you troubleshoot a status of "Not Responding" that may appear in the Administrator Console. The second is regarding an issue where the Virtual Machine Manager Service may crash when you add a virtual machine host that has more than 16 logical processors. The article titles and links are below:

KB976640 - How to troubleshoot the "Not Responding" host status in VMM 2008

KB976639 - The Virtual Machine Manager Service crashes when you add a virtual machine host that has more than 16 logical processors in VMM 2008 R2

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

TechNet Webcast: Microsoft Virtualization Best Practices for Exchange Server

2009-11-02T15:46:11Z

Virtualizing business critical applications delivers significant benefits, including cost savings, enhanced business continuity, and an agile and efficient management solution. In this webcast, we focus on virtualizing Microsoft Exchange Server using Microsoft solutions, we discuss the benefits of using Microsoft virtualization technologies instead of technologies from key competitors such as VMware, and we provide technical guidance and best practices for virtualizing Exchange Server in various production scenarios. We also discuss results from lab deployment tests.

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032428203&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

TechNet Webcast: PRO Tips in System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2

2009-10-28T19:34:54Z

Being able to react to a changing server infrastructure is important for achieving a rationalized or dynamic IT infrastructure. This becomes a necessity with virtualization and the dynamic natures of workloads sharing an infrastructure. With Microsoft System Center Server Management Suite Datacenter, understanding and reacting to the dynamic nature of workloads becomes possible with our Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO) Tips.

In this webcast, we detail the architecture of PRO Tips explaining the configuration, setup, and content of a PRO Tip along with a demonstration on how PRO Tips can rebalance the workload of a virtualized infrastructure, allowing customers to achieve savings in a more dynamic environment.

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032429329&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

The Microsoft Hardware-Assisted Virtualization Detection Tool

2009-10-27T13:35:44Z

Do you have a bunch of random machines in your environment and need to know which have processors that support hardware assisted virtualization and if this setting is enabled? If so we have a tool for you:

Windows Virtual PC requires processors capable of hardware-assisted virtualization with AMD-V™, Intel® VT or VIA® VT turned on in the BIOS.

The HAV detection tool helps you check if the computer processor supports hardware virtualization. The tool also checks if this feature is enabled on the processor.

For all the details and to download the tool see http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0ee2a17f-8538-4619-8d1c-05d27e11adb2&displaylang=en

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

New Hyper-V KB Article : KB976924

2009-10-26T15:53:27Z

I know this isn’t VMM specific but I figured you might appreciate a heads-up on a new Hyper-V Knowledge Base article we published last week. This one discusses an issue where you may receive Windows Time Service event IDs 24, 29, and 38 on a virtualized domain controller that is running on a Windows Server 2008-based host server:

KB976924 - You receive Windows Time Service event IDs 24, 29, and 38 on a virtualized domain controller that is running on a Windows Server 2008-based host server with Hyper-V

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

New WSUS Product Category for Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2

2009-10-26T14:49:44Z

In case you missed the announcement on Friday, there will be a new product category added to the WSUS server Products and Classifications dialog under the existing System Center Virtual Machine Manager family called Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2. This new category will allow all classifications of updates to be offered to the Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 product. For more information see http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/archive/2009/10/23/new-product-category-for-microsoft-system-center-virtual-machine-manager-2008-r2.aspx...(read more)

Solution: You may be unable to create Virtual Machines after re-installing SCVMM using a retained database

2009-10-13T15:15:55Z

Here’s a good tip in case you ever want to reinstall System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM). If you use the "Retain Data" option you will likely be unable to create Virtual Machines if the same build of SCVMM is re-installed. If you try to create a Virtual Machine on a host after the reinstallation, this error is encountered: Error (2912) An internal error has occurred trying to contact an agent on the ContosoHost.Costoso.lab server. (Element not found (0x80070490)) The reason...(read more)

Disk2vhd utility now available for download

2009-10-08T17:47:38Z

I know this is not VMM specific but it’s a pretty cool tool that I’m sure you’ll find help when working with Hyper-V or Virtual PC. Disk2vhd is a utility that creates VHD (Virtual Hard Disk - Microsoft’s Virtual Machine disk format) versions of physical disks for use in Microsoft Virtual PC or Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines (VMs). The difference between Disk2vhd and other physical-to-virtual tools is that you can run Disk2vhd on a system that’s online. Disk2vhd uses Windows’ Volume Snapshot...(read more)

Momentum Webcast: Unlock Value and Savings with Microsoft Virtualization

2009-10-07T20:15:55Z

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...(read more)

How to fix: Hypervisor not running error

2009-09-29T16:59:06Z

Yea, I know this isn’t Virtual Machine Manager specific but it’s something we run into every now and then that I thought could use a little publicity. If you ever get the error “The Hypervisor is not running” when you try to launch a VM then Felipe Ayora has a video you’ll probably want to see. In this video, Felipe walks you through the steps needed to investigate such a failure and fix it: http://www.microsoft.com/video/en/us/details/25d07f2e-b2e0-4c0c-b456-79b08bfe58be Enjoy! J.C....(read more)

New KB article: KB975426 - Virtual machines cannot migrate from a Windows Server 2008 stand-alone server to a Windows Server 2008 cluster after you upgrade to System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2

2009-09-28T19:02:43Z

We had a new System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Knowledge Base article published last week. This one discusses an issue where SAN migration may fail with error 1600 after upgrading to to System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2: KB975426 - Virtual machines cannot migrate from a Windows Server 2008 stand-alone server to a Windows Server 2008 cluster after you upgrade to System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 Enjoy! J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer...(read more)

Troubleshooting and data gathering for SCVMM

2009-09-24T18:21:16Z

I was working with the System Center Virtual Machine Manager support team a few months back looking for a way that we could help reduce the amount of time it takes to resolve a case as well as reduce the number of incidents we get, and one of the things that was suggested at the time was a site explaining some of the initial troubleshooting and data gathering steps we traditionally do for the majority of our cases. That way you can get a head start on any issue you’re calling about, plus we...(read more)