Scott Hinsley's WebLog

Windows Server Longhorn: Server Core

2007-04-20T05:46:00Z

What is Server Core?

Server core is a minimal installation option for Windows Server "Longhorn" providing a minimal environment supporting specific server roles. Server Core reduces servicing and management requirements while providing a minimum attack surface for supported roles.

Server Roles

· DHCP server

· File Server

· DNS server

· Active Directory®

Optional Components

· BitLocker

· BitLocker Remote Admin Tool

· Client For NFS

· DFS Server

· DFS Replication

· Failover Cluster

· FRS

· Media Server

· MultipathIO

· Removable Storage Management

· Network Load Balancing

· LPD Print Service

· Server For NFS

· Single Instance Storage

· SNMP

· Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications

· Telnet Client

· Windows Server Backup

· WINS

Installing Server Core

Minimum Requirements:

Requirement

Specification

Minimum CPU Speed

400 MHz for x86-based computers

733 MHz for x64-based computers

Minimum RAM

256 MB

This will likely be your first installation of Longhorn Server Core, but tuck this away for future reference:

- Previous version of Windows Server cannot be upgraded to Server Core,

- Full installations of Longhorn cannot be converted to Server Core,

- Server Core cannot be upgraded to a full installation of Longhorn Server

- Server Core will be upgradable to Server Core R2.

Installation

1. Now throw in the DVD, wait a few minutes and click Install now…

2. Enter your product ID. (You do have a product ID, don’t you?)

3. Choose the Server Core option.

4. Accept the license agreement.

5. Choose Advanced

6. Select a disk to install to…

7. Wait for the file copy to complete…

Configuring Server Core

8. Logon with blank password.

9. Set local administrator password:

net user administrator new_password

- OR -

net user administrator *

10. Activate the server:

a. Check license status:

Cscript c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs -xpr

b. Local activation:

Cscript c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs -ato

c. Remote activation:

Cscript c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs dc-contoso-01 contoso\administrator p@ssw0rd -ato

d. Activate with user provided activation code:

Cscript c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs -atp

e. Help -?

11. Rename the machine:

NETDOM RENAMECOMPUTER %computername% /NewName:DC-CONTOSO-01 /REboot

12. Set IP Properties

a. Get interfaces:

Netsh interface ipv4 show interfaces

b. Note IDX number for each network adapter to be modified.

c. Set Static IP, subnet mask and Default Gateway

netsh interface ipv4 set address name=3 source=static address=192.168.1.1 mask=255.255.255.0 gateway=192.168.1.2

Where:

Name is the number from step 2 above

Address is the static IP address you are setting

Mask is the subnet mask for the IP Address

DefaultGateway is the default gateway

d. To change back to DHCP:

netsh interface ipv4 set address name=3 source=dhcp

13. Configuring DNS Settings:

a. Set the DNS Server address.

netsh interface ipv4 add dnsserver name=3 address=127.0.0.1 index=1

netsh interface ipv4 add dnsserver name=3 address=192.168.0.1 index=2

Where:

Index is the interface number.

Address is the IP address of your DNS server

Index is the ordinal for the DNS address you would like to change.

b. Repeat for each DNS server you want to set, incrementing the index= number each time.

c. To delete a DNS address:

Netsh int ipv4 delete dnsserver index=3 address=192.168.1.2

Setting the display resolution to something useful with Regedit:

Open Regedit,
Find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Video

You'll have to go fishing to find the key for your video adapter

Set DefaultSettings.Xresolution & DefaultSettings.Yresolution to something you monitor will support.

Example:

DefaultSettings.Xresolution = 1152

DefaultSettings.Yresolution = 768

Managing Server Core

Server Core may be manage as follows:

· Locally and remotely with Command Prompt.

· Remotely with Terminal Server.

· Remotely using Windows Remote Shell on Vista or "Longhorn"

· Remotely via MMC snap-ins.

15. Check event logs with wevtutil from Vista or Longhorn:

Wevtutil qe System /f:text /c:1 /rd:true

NOTE: Options and values are case-sensative

16. Complete local configuration tasks with Scregedit.wsf (1217 lines of script!)

a. Enable Terminal Server Remote Admin Mode:

cscript C:\Windows\System32\Scregedit.wsf /ar 0

b. Enable connection by down level TS clients:

cscript C:\Windows\System32\Scregedit.wsf/cs 0

c. Configure the pagefile.

d. Enable automatic updates.

e. Enable error reporting.

Enable and use Windows Remote Shell (WinRS):

a. Enable WinRS on Server Core

WinRM quickconfig

b. Connect with WinRS:

winrs -r:dc-contoso-01 dir c:\windows

winrs -r:dc-contoso-01 wevtutil qe System /f:text /c:15 /rd:true

winrs -r:dc-contoso-01 wevtutil qe System /f:RenderedXml /e:SystemLog /c:15 /rd:true > event.xml

18. Time and International settings:

a. Setting Time:

control timedate.cpl.

b. International Settings:

control intl.cpl

19. Managing Server Core via MMC;

a. If you don't know how to do this, you are in the wrong session.

TIP: if not domain joined, establish a session first:

Net use * \\ServerName\c$ /u:UserName

Driver Management

20. Installing hardware with and without "in-box" drivers:

If the driver is included in Longhorn Server Core:

a. Add the hardware. PNP will start and do the rest.

Otherwise:

a. Copy the driver files to a temp folder on Server,

b. Execute the following command:

Pnputil –i –a <path>\<driver>.inf

c. Restart if needed.

21. List and delete installed drivers:

a. List installed drivers:

sc query type= driver

NOTE: The space after "type=" is a quirk of many tools you'll be using.

b. Delete specified driver:

sc delete service_name

22. Service Propeties

a. Change service parmeters:

Sc config /?

Sc config "RemoteRegistry" start= auto

NOTE: space after "=" sign.

Managing Applications

23. Installing, Viewing and Removing Applicaitons

a. Install:

Msiexec /I c:\install\NTBackupRestore.msi /qb

b. List applications by name:

Wmic product get name /value

c. Removing Applications

Wmic product where name="NTBackupRestore" call uninstall

d. Listing hotfixes

wmic qfe list

e. Installing Hotfixes

Wusa.exe <patchname>.msu /quiet

24. OCLIST & OCSETUP

NOTE: Ocsetup is case sensitive!!!

This will fail:

Start /w Ocsetup WindowsServerbackup

This will succeed:

Start /w Ocsetup WindowsServerBackup

Uninstall WindowsServerBackup

Start /w Ocsetup WindowsServerBackup /uninstall

Installing and Configuring Server Roles

Install and Configure DNS

25. Installing DNS Server Role - ALREADY INSTALLED!

a. Run the following:

Start /w Ocsetup DNS-Server-Core-Role

26. Configure DNS - Step By Step:

a. Allow auto-creation of reverse lookup zones.

dnscmd 192.168.1.1 /config /disableautoreversezones 0

b. Create a secondary zone:

dnscmd 192.168.1.1 /zoneadd contoso.com /Secondary 192.168.1.2

c. Create a Primary zone:

dnscmd 192.168.1.1 /zoneadd contoso.net /Primary

d. Create a new A record:

dnscmd 192.168.1.1 /RecordAdd contoso.net dc-contoso-01 A 192.168.1.1

e. Add CNAME:

dnscmd 192.168.1.1 /RecordAdd contoso.net www CNAME dc-contoso-01.contoso.com

f. Delete a zone:

dnscmd 192.168.1.1 /zonedelete contoso.net

27. To automate DNS configuration, put all the commands in a batch file and run:

Start /w c:\unattend\dns\dnsunattend.cmd

Install and Configure DHCP

28. Install DHCP Server Role using OCSETUP - Already Installed!!!

a. At the command prompt, type:

start /w ocsetup DHCPServerCore

29. Authorize/Deauthorize DHCP server in Active Directory:

a. Authorize:

Netsh dhcp add server dc-contoso-01.contoso.com 192.168.1.1

b. De-authorize:

Netsh dhcp delete server dc-contoso-01.contoso.com 192.168.1.1

30. Configure a DHCP scope:

a. Add a scope with specified IP network, subnet mask and comment:

netsh dhcp server 192.168.1.1 add scope 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 LonghornScope "Longhorn Engineering"

b. Add IP address range with ClientType set to DHCP:

netsh dhcp server 192.168.1.1 scope 192.168.1.0 add iprange 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.254

c. Add IP exclusion range:

netsh dhcp server 192.168.1.1 scope 192.168.1.0 add excluderange 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.20

d. Set router option value 003:

netsh dhcp server 192.168.1.1 scope 192.168.1.0 set optionvalue 003 IPADDRESS 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.2

e. Set DNS Server option value 006:

netsh dhcp server 192.168.1.1 scope 192.168.1.0 set optionvalue 006 IPADDRESS 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.2

f. Activate the new scope:

netsh dhcp server 192.168.1.1 scope 192.168.1.0 set state 1

31. Viewing DHCP Configuration:

Netsh dhcp server show scope

32. Removing DHCP Configurations:

a. Delete a scope:

Netsh dhcp server delete scope 192.168.1.0 DHCPFULLFORCE

DHCP configuration automation is possible much the same way as DNS. Put all the command in a batch file and run:

c:\unattend\DHCP\DhcpUnattend.cmd

Installing Active Directory Domain Services

Use DCPROMO /unattend:<filename> to install AD DS. DON’T USE OCSETUP!

a. New forest:

[DCINSTALL]

ReplicaOrNewDomain=Domain

TreeOrChild=Tree

CreateOrJoin=Create

NewDomainDNSName=contoso.com

DNSOnNetwork=yes|no (Yes mean use existing DNS, NO means install DNS)

ConfirmGC=Yes

DomainNetbiosName=contoso

AutoConfigDNS=yes

SiteName=STL

AllowAnonymousAccess=no

DatabasePath=%systemroot%\ntds

LogPath=%systemroot%\ntds

SYSVOLPath=%systemroot%\sysvol

SafeModeAdminPassword=<admin defined offline admin account password>

CriticalReplicationOnly=No

RebootOnSuccess=yes

b. Add new DC to existing forest/domain:

[DCINSTALL]

ReplicaOrNewDomain=Replica

CreateOrJoin=Join

DNSOnNetwork=yes|no (Yes mean use existing DNS, NO means install DNS)

ConfirmGC=Yes

DomainNetbiosName=contoso

AutoConfigDNS=yes

SiteName=STL

AllowAnonymousAccess=no

DatabasePath=%systemroot%\ntds

LogPath=%systemroot%\ntds

SYSVOLPath=%systemroot%\sysvol

SafeModeAdminPassword=<admin defined offline admin account password>

CriticalReplicationOnly=No

RebootOnSuccess=yes

c. Add new RODC to existing forest/domain:

NOTE: Read-Only DC requires Windows Server 2003 Forest Functional Level or greater.

[DCINSTALL]

ReplicaOrNewDomain=ReadOnlyReplica

ReplicatDomainDNSName="contoso.com"

CreateOrJoin=Join

DNSOnNetwork=yes

InstallDNS=yes

ConfirmGC=Yes

SiteName=STL

AllowAnonymousAccess=no

DatabasePath=%systemroot%\ntds

LogPath=%systemroot%\ntds

SYSVOLPath=%systemroot%\sysvol

SafeModeAdminPassword=<admin defined offline admin account password>

CriticalReplicationOnly=Yes

RebootOnSuccess=yes

d. Demote a domain controller:

[DCINSTALL]

AdministratorPassword="<password>" - Password is removed after use.

IgnoreIsLastDnsServerForZone=Yes

IgnoreIsLastDCInDomainMismatch=Yes

RebootOnSuccess=Yes

Install and Configure File Server Roles

The file server role is installed by default to provide administrative share support for management tools. To install additional file server features use the following procedure.

To install file server role features

For File Replication service, type:

start /w ocsetup FRS-Infrastructure

For Distributed File System service, type:

start /w ocsetup DFSN-Server

c. For Distributed File System Replication, type:

start /w ocsetup DFSR-Infrastructure-ServerEdition

d. For Network File System, type:

start /w ocsetup ServerForNFS-Base

Then type:

start /w ocsetup ClientForNFS-Base

e. For Single Instance Store, type:

start /w ocsetup SIS

Optional Features

To install an optional feature

At the command prompt, type:

start /w ocsetup featurename

Where featurename is the name of a feature from the following list:

· Failover Cluster: FailoverCluster-Core

· Network Load Balancing: NetworkLoadBalancingHeadlessServer

· Subsystem for UNIX-bases applications: SUA

· Multipath IO: Microsoft-Windows-MultipathIO

· Removable Storage Management: Microsoft-Windows-RemovableStorageManagementCore

· Bitlocker Drive Encryption: BitLocker

· Backup: WindowsServerBackup

· Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP): SNMP-SC

Additional Resources

Server Core Blog

http://blogs.technet.com/server_core/

Longhorn Server Product Site

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/longhorn/

Command Line Reference A-Z:

Http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=20331

Configuring DHCP with NetSH

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/library/df9ecef3-7d85-49e6-a2aa-ff84a5bd3a391033.mspx?mfr=true

DNSCMD.exe

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/library/d652a163-279f-4047-b3e0-0c468a4d69f31033.mspx

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/library/ed0e4eeb-34a5-420e-aa6a-961ae5fa0f291033.mspx?mfr=true

Manage Resource Records (Console & DNSCMD)

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/library/6432bae3-f734-48d2-9643-dfba56422a991033.mspx

Resource Record Types

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/library/7b005a9b-4397-4d94-a584-34c037e2457c1033.mspx

Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC)

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/library/ea5d7f04-07e8-4b96-bda3-a2b2cc15391e1033.mspx?mfr=true

AD DS Unattended Promotion

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223757/

HOWTO: TechNet Blogging with Windows Mobile

2006-12-21T21:36:00Z

The following was posted via Windows Mobile 5.0 using a Cingular 8525 with Pocket SharpMT...

Several folks expressed interest in blogging on TechNet and MSDN blogs using Windows Mobile, so I thought I'd share what I've learned... The Windows Mobile application I use is called Pocket SharpMT. It supports tags, images, text formatting and a lot of other coolness that I haven't even looked at yet. Having a slide-out keyboard makes blogging with Pocket SharpMT on my 8525 a breeze. Until now, I had only posted a couple of test entries. So this is the first public test of my newfound freedom. Now that I'm mobile, I hope to pick up the pace. Perhaps I'll blog from airports, waiting rooms, coffee houses, restaurants or anywhere else I'm inclined/required to hang out...

WARNING: The urge to blog while in traffic may be a symptom of a more serious genetic disorder requiring professional assistance.

HOWTO Section:

First things first...

Get the latest bits at (Thanks Randy!): http://www.randyrants.com/sharpmt/

Here's what you'll need to do once you've installed Pocket SharpMT:

1) Launch and click Tools | Options.

2) Complete the following for TechNet blogs (CGI-BIN path is likely the same for MSDN blogs. Someone else will need to verify).

Web server: blogs.technet.com

CGI-BIN path: /metablog.ashx

3) Provide your username and password.

4) Click refresh and verify your blog is listed...

The only thing I didn't like about Pocket SharpMT is the Software Input Panel (a.k.a. SIP) that pops out every time a text field is selected. Even setting the default device setting to NullKB didn't help. On most devices, this would be a plus, but with a slide-out keyboard it was annoying. After finding a hack, I noticed a handy little check-box labeled Auto-show SIP under Options. It was about then that I said "Gee, what do you suppose this does?" while smacking myself squarely on the forehead. In my enthusiasm over features, I had forgotten to RTFM. Those of us with slide-out keyboards haven't been left out after all!

Happy blogging!

MOM 2005: Alert when a percentage of machines in a computer group fail to respond to ping requests.

2006-12-02T00:39:00Z

I was recently asked if it would be possible to generate an alert when a certain number of machines in a computer group become unreachable. MOM already generates alerts when an agent fails to heartbeat and even notes when the heartbeat failure is accompanied by ping failures. This is great to the owner of an individual system, but what if we're interested in something a bit more pandemic?

Terminal or web farm can have hundreds or even thousands of individual servers that are part of a larger collective. Failure of an individual machine wouldn't cause the average person's blood pressure to go up. On the other hand, how can we tell when a large number of systems within a web farm goes down without watching all those individual heartbeat alerts?

Approach

Let use information that MOM already collects to avoid increasing network traffic or database size. For our purposes, the information we need comes in the form of active Heartbeat failures that include ping failures. We'll need to do a few things:

Create a computer group containing machines to be monitored for ping failures,
Create a script to monitor systems in your new group for ping failures,
Create a rule to run your new script.

1 - Create and Populate MOM Computer Groups

If you already have a computer group in mind, great move on to step two. If you don't have a computer group or you have one that has to be manually populated, open the MOM Administrator console and read on:

a) From the Admin console, right-click Computer Groups and create a new computer group.

b) Pause to appreciate the welcome screen then click Next,

c) Give your new computer group a meaningful name and description before clicking Next,

Example: Terminal Server Farm A

d) Pause once more to realize that laziness is indeed the mother of invention.

The next few pages offer several option to automate membership of your newly created computer group. You can use manual inclusion/exclusion, name searches using filters, wild-cards and regular expressions or my personal favorite; formulas.

e) Click next about 5 times until you come to the formulas page

f) Select Specify a formula for this computer group, click Attribute and New.

g) Create a new attribute by using the controls to browse the local or a remote registry. Select the key or value to be used to identify machines that could be used to identify systems that should belong in your new computer group. Really, it's that easy!

Tip: Do you have your own custom registry keys such as application service or server build markers? You can add your own custom registry keys to be used during attribute discovery or use any other key or value that is unique to this particular collection of computers that belong in the new group.

Example:

HKLM\Software\XYZSoftware

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MyCrashtasticCustomApplication

For additional information on creating computer groups see Creating Computer Groups in the MOM 2005 Management Pack Developers Guide.

2 - Create a script to monitor active ping failure for computer in a given computer group.

MOM does a lot of the work for us... The number of systems within a computer group and anything we could possible want to know about the alerts is in the OnePoint database. All we need is a little t-SQL and VBScript.

a) Locate the Scripts folder, right-click and choose New Script

b) Provide a name, description and language and click next. In this case, I'm using VBScript...

c) Insert your script and click next...

The following is provided as an example:

'*************************************************************************************************
'*percentFailed.vs
'*
'* Written by: Scott W. Hinsley
'* Date: 11/29/06
'*
'* Requirements:
'*
'* - MOM 2005
'* - Script Parameters:
'* MOM_COMPUTER_GROUP_NAME
'*  MOM Computer Group to be monitored for % ping failure.
'* PERCENT_FAILED_THRESHOLD
'*  Failure threshold expressed as a percentage of system in MOM_COMPUTER_GROUP at
'*  which an alert should be generated. Expressed in a range of 1 to 100.
'* ONEPOINT_SERVER
'*  Name of SQL Server hosting the OnePoint database.
'*
'* Provided "AS IS" without warranty.
'*
'*************************************************************************************************

Option Explicit
On Error Resume Next

Dim strMomComputerGroupName
Dim strPercentFailedThreshold

'Script Parameters
strMomComputerGroupName = ScriptContext.Parameters.Get("MOM_COMPUTER_GROUP_NAME")
strPercentFailedThreshold = ScriptContext.Parameters.Get("PERCENT_FAILED_THRESHOLD")
strOnePointServer = ScriptContext.Parameters.Get("ONEPOINT_SERVER")

' Alert Constants

CONST ALERT_DESCRIPTION_STRING = "'% does not respond %'"
CONST ALERT_RESOLVED = 255
CONST ALERT_INFORMATION = 20
CONST ALERT_WARNING = 30
CONST ALERT_ERRROR = 40
CONST ALERT_CRITICALERROR = 50
CONST ALERT_SERVICEUNAVAILABLE = 70

'Database Constants

CONST adOpenStatic = 3
CONST adLockOptimistic = 3

Dim strQuery
Dim dblPercentFailed
Dim strAlertDescription
Dim strAlertName
Dim strName
Dim intLevel
Dim strDescription

'ADO variables
Dim objConnection
Dim objRecordSet

'strQuery: Contains query used to get MOM_COMPUTER_GROUP member count
'     and the number of active heartbeat failures with ping
'       failures. Used to form percentage to be compared with
'         PERCENT_FAILED_THRESHOLD.
'
'    Consider making strQuery a stored procedure to enhance
'  performance and code effeciency.

strQuery = "DECLARE" & _
    " @vComputerGroupGUID NVARCHAR(39)," & _
    " @SearchString NVARCHAR(21)," & _
    " @vExcludeResolutionState NVARCHAR(3)," & _
    " @PingFailCount DECIMAL(4,0)," & _
    " @ComputersInGroup DECIMAL(4,0)," & _
    " @vComputerGroupName NVARCHAR(100)," & _
    " @PercentFailed DECIMAL(3,2)" & _
  " SET @vComputerGroupName = " & "'" & strMomComputerGroupName & "'" & _
  " SET @SearchString = " & ALERT_DESCRIPTION_STRING & _
  " SET @vExcludeResolutionState = " & ALERT_RESOLVED & _
  " SET @vComputerGroupGUID =" & _
     " (SELECT GUID" & _
   " FROM [OnePoint].[dbo].MSFT_ComputerGroup" & _
   " WHERE [OnePoint].[dbo].MSFT_ComputerGroup.Name = @vComputerGroupName)" & _
  " SET @PingFailCount =" & _
      " (SELECT COUNT([OnePoint].[dbo].[SDKAlertView].ComputerName) AS ActiveCount" & _
      " FROM [OnePoint].[dbo].[SDKAlertView]" & _
   " INNER JOIN [OnePoint].[dbo].[SDKComputerToComputerGroupView]" & _
    " ON [OnePoint].[dbo].[SDKAlertView].ComputerName =" & _
                " [OnePoint].[dbo].[SDKComputerToComputerGroupView].ComputerName" & _
   " WHERE [OnePoint].[dbo].[SDKComputerToComputerGroupView].ComputerGroupGUID =" & _
    " @vComputerGroupGUID" & _
    " AND [OnePoint].[dbo].[SDKAlertView].Description LIKE @SearchString" & _
    " AND [OnePoint].[dbo].[SDKAlertView].ResolutionState <> @vExcludeResolutionState)" & _
  " SET @ComputersInGroup = (SELECT NumberOfComputers" & _
     " FROM [OnePoint].[dbo].[ComputerGroupView]" & _
     " WHERE ComputerGroupName = @vComputerGroupName)" & _
  " SET @PercentFailed = (SELECT @PingFailCount/@ComputersInGroup)*100" & _
  " SELECT @PercentFailed AS PercentFailed"

'Creating the data connection...

Set objConnection = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
Set objRecordSet = CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")

'The following connection string demonstrates using a non-trusted SQL account.
'Update credentials for your particular needs.

objConnection.Open _
    "Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=" & ONEPOINT_SERVER & ";" & _
        "Trusted_Connection=No;Initial Catalog=OnePoint;" & _
         "User ID=<ReadOnlySQLAccount>;Password=<password>;"

objRecordSet.Open strQuery, objConnection, adOpenStatic, adLockOptimistic

objRecordSet.MoveFirst

dblPercentFailed = CDbl(objRecordSet.Fields.Item("PercentFailed"))

'Compare value retrieved with strQuery with PERCENT_FAILED_THRESHOLD
'Alert if PERCENT_FAILED_THRESHOLD is exceeded.

If dblPercentFailed > strPercentFailedThreshold Then
strAlertDescription = dblPercentFailed & "%" & " of systems in " & strMomComputerGroupName & _
    " failed to respond to ping attempts. This is greater than the" & _
    " defined threshold of: " & strPercentFailedThreshold & "%"

strAlertName = strMomComputerGroupName & ": Ping failure threshold exceeded."

AlertRaise strAlertName, ALERT_CRITICALERROR, strAlertDescription

Else
End If

'AlertRaise is Called if PERCENT_FAILED_THRESHOLD
'exceded.

Sub AlertRaise(strName, intLevel, strDescription)
Dim objAlert
Set objAlert = ScriptContext.CreateAlert()
objAlert.Name = strName
objAlert.AlertLevel = intLevel
objAlert.Owner = "[unassigned]"
objAlert.ResolutionState = 0
objAlert.Description = strDescription
ScriptContext.Submit(objAlert)

End Sub

'* End VBScript
'*************************************************************************************************

d) Add any necessary parameters to your script. In this case, I use the following parameters:

MOM_COMPUTER_GROUP_NAME
PERCENT_FAILED_THRESHOLD
ONEPOINT_SERVER

* See code comments for details.

3 - Create a rule that will run the script on a scheduled interval.

Find an appropriate spot for your new rule. You may want to create a new rule group... I'll leave that to you.

a) Right-click Event Rules and select Alert or Respond to an Event.

b) Select New | Timed Event | OK. Configure an interval texceededhat is appropriate for your needs and click OK.

c) Click Next until you come to the Reponses screen. This is where you will put your script to work.

d) On the reponses screen, select Add | Launch a script.

e) ResponsesresponsesSelect your newly created script and and configure the required parameters.

f) Last but not least, complete the company knowledge and provide a descriptive name for you new rule.

Enjoy!

First day at Microsoft...

2006-12-01T06:40:00Z

This is my first blog entry ever! It's fitting my first entry should be on my first day with Microsoft Consulting Services. Too bad I blinked and 18 months have flown by! It's been an amazing blur, full of incredible people, cool technology and endless possibility. ...exactly the reasons I came to Microsoft.

Officially I'm an infrastructure consultant. I've spent a lot of time dedicated to directory services and messaging & collaboration. The geek in me always wants to learn something new and different, so I've picked up quite a mixed bag of technologies and disciplines. That said, this blog could go anywhere and everywhere... AD, Exchange, LCS, MOM, scripting, SQL, Windows Mobile, ~~Klingon~~ or anything else that catches my interest.

Stay tuned...