As a Consultant

Finally found some time to play around with DSC on 2012 R2 and with the release of Windows Management Framework 4 , I can finally play with 2008 R2, Windows 7 and Windows 8 clients (if you upgrade to 8.1). As always with new releases of the Management Framework, some server configurations/applications do not play nicely with the new framework: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager ( not including SP1) System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 (including SP1) Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 , Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Microsoft SharePoint 2013 and M icrosoft SharePoint 2010 Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard Please also note that .Net 4.5 is required before you install the Framework, otherwise the Framework installation will actually silently fail. As I previously wrote, if you were hoping for support for Windows Server 2008 support, you are not getting it. You will have to fall back to Windows Management Fram...

Lately I have been working in SCOM with SNMP devices. Needless to say I have learned some new tricks I would like to share with you. Firstly you may have run into the dreaded "No response SNMP" message in Network Devices Pending Management in the SCOM console. First thing that jumps out is network connectivity, however I have seen cases that that is not the issue. Based upon my experience the message is very generic and could have several causes: 1. Network connectivity Firewall (on the SCOM server or one of the SCOM servers that is a member of the resourcepool specified in the discovery rule) or between the SCOM-server and the SNMP device. 2. SNMP-device configuration The target SNMP device needs to enable the whole system MIB/OID-tree to be discoverable in SCOM. If any of the following OIDs are missing, you will not be able to discover the device: 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.1.0 --> system.sysDescr 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.2.0 --> system.sysObjectID 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.4.0 --...

Finally System Center 2012 R2 is available for preview download. You may download it here: download  Highlights Enabling hybrid cloud Windows Azure Pack Software networking (VPN-gateways) Improved storage features (VHDX, resize/shrink) Increasing  employee productivity Scaling and increased performance Windows Server 2012 R2 is also available for download here .

At TechEd North America 2013 Microsoft has shed some light on the upcoming release of Powershell Version 4. The big news is the DSC or Desired State Configuration feature. Though I should just make a few comments about it. What is it? With DSC you can apply a configuration to your servers/datacenter i matter of minutes from powershell. DSC does not have any dependencies of the underlying infrastructure, however it is a tool to configure it. The scope of the DSC can be a server, a collection of servers or other infrastructure items. How is it delivered? DSC support both PUSH and PULL configurations. You can apply an configuration with a script that targets specific objects (PUSH) or you can provide an URI to the configuration and the scoped selection and the targets will download the configuration from there (PULL) at scheduled intervals which also can be configured. If you use a PULL model, you must configure your target nodes with an URI and an UU...

In Firstpoint we have been using Azure virtual instances for a while now. If you just started using Azure, you probably will not have the issue that we have been facing, however if you have sized your disk properly. Big disclaimer: use the procedure on your own risk! I’m not responsible if something breaks! The provided solution is as-is without warranty! Be warned. Background When we deployed VMs in Azure, the default OS-disk was deployed as a 30GB disk. Now with Windows Server 2012, that does not leave much for other things. The Azure console (read: web GUI) does not provide any way to expand or shrink beyond the boundaries of your initial sized VHD file. People have then been forced to download the VHD file after having deleted the VM and the "disk". After the file have been downloaded, you have to use a VHD tool to increase the size of the VHD. Then you have to upload the file to Azure again, create a new VHD file based on the newly uploaded file and finally crea...

It has been to long since my last post. As everyone else I have had trouble with finding time to blog.  Recently I have been playing with the new Visual Studio Lightswitch (you can get update 2 here:  http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=38188 ). Why is it so cool, because it is pure HTML5 and will run in any modern browser being Mac, PC, tablet, IPAD, Iphone, Androd etc.  There are some nice posts out there to get you started, however I was looking for a way to on-the-fly created dropdown lists boxes (what we call ChoiceList in Lightswitch). I found this blogpost about someone else wondering about the same thing: http://www.datazx.cn/Fv7p5a/6x-DE/y10q2an129q/2q7xs6/6mdggtxi-id9i-f4ij-s8ms-i94bt9tfcjg423rsdfd.html That guy Huy is pretty awesome (he as an answer to almost every question), and I felt all hope was lost when he stated that it was not possible. Reading further down, I noticed this guy pointing me ...

Yes, SP1 has reached RTM You may download it from t he Microsoft Volume Licensing site. There is no separate SP1 download, it is integrated in the suites. Here is a nice overview whats new:  http://myitforum.com/myitforumwp/2013/01/03/the-whats-new-tour-system-center-2012-sp1/

Powershell 3.0 - Kerberos and SPN Just a quick post about Powershell and SPN. I have "used" powershell for several years now. I mean used as in having created some very, very small scripts and cmdlets starting back in 2007 when Microsoft launched their powershell cmdlets for Exchange 2007. Any way, the last months I have been playing heavily with Powershell and have learned the beauty of it quite recently.  I am kind of excited about the new Powershell 3.0 released with Win8 and Microsoft Server 2012. If you have not tried it, I recommend you download it and give it a go. The new built-in editor from Microsoft has actually become very good with intellisense   and other goodies. Quick-tip: When you install the Powershell ISE editor, you get a new cmdlet that gives you the ability to output the results to a sortable gridview. You may also copy and paste to Excel or other applications! Recently I was tasked with creating a script to be able to set SPN...