Wednesday 31 October 2012

Oracle VM VirtualBox

Oracle VM VirtualBox

VirtualBox is a general-purpose full virtualizer for x86 hardware, targeted at server, desktop and embedded use.

TechNet Video

One of the problems I have is remembering where all the Microsoft resources are, here is a useful one the TechNet Video site.

TechNet Video: Deploying Windows 7 with WDS

Deploying Windows 7 with Windows Deployment Services

Windows Deployment Services (WDS) enables you to deploy Windows operating systems over the network, instead of installing each operating system directly from a CD or DVD. In this Microsoft video, you'll learn how to:

  • Set up  and Configure WDS
  • Add installation and boot images to the deployment share
  • Configuring the client for PXE booting off the network
  • Using PXE Boot Services to install Windows 7 on a bare-metal system
  • You'll also gain an understanding of the differences between using WDS and the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT).

This web page has many useful links to similar subject matter including videos and virtual labs.

Free idera PowerShell Plus 4.6

PowerShell Plus 4.6 the latest release of idera’s integrated development environment (IDE) is available as a free download from their website.

Download: PowerShell Plus 4.6

Free eBook: Introducing Windows Server 2012 (RTM Edition)

Microsoft Press release free eBook:

Introducing Windows Server 2012 (RTM Edition)

Some Useful Windows Server 2012 links

Windows Server 2012- First Look - Microsoft Virtual Academy

Windows 2012 - TechNet Blogs

Download Windows Server 2012

Windows 7 SP1 Automated Installation Kit

The Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) Supplement for Windows 7 SP1 is an optional update to AIK for Windows 7 that helps you to install, customize, and deploy the Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 family of operating systems.

Be aware this is a big download 1.3Gb

Download- The Windows® Automated Installation Kit

Download: Windows Automated Installation Kit Documentation

 

Windows Automated Installation  Kit for Windows 7

TechNet: Desktop Deployment

What is Windows PE-

Deploying Windows 7 with Windows Deployment Services

Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE)  bootable live windows CD

Windows 7 Run as Administrator Tip

Run as Administrator Tip

For example you may want to open a command prompt with elevated Admin privileges.

  • Type cmd in the search box
  • Hold down Ctrl & Shift Press Enter
  • Answer Yes to the User Account Control

Note Administrator: before the program name in the title bar.

image

Without elevation the title bar would just contain the program name.

image

Monday 29 October 2012

Free Training Courses

pm_logo_317x182

http://www.professormesser.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/professormesser?feature=sub_widget_1

http://www.facebook.com/professormesser

CompTIA

Windows 7 Certification

Linux Training

Citrix: What is XenDesktop?

Desktop virtualisation, a short video from Citrix TV giving an overview of XenDesktop benefits.

Citrix: What is XenDesktop?

Single image gives single instance management only having to update patches on one desktop rather than thousands.

User’s desktop available to them globally on a variety of devices.

SharePoint Designer 2013 Preview

sharepoint-smallSharePoint Designer 2013 Preview

SharePoint Designer 20103 Download

Saturday 27 October 2012

Build Your Own Book Of TechNet Articles

The build-a-book process is a new TechNet feature and is currently in a beta release.

Pick and choose up to 100 topics from anywhere in the Microsoft TechNet library

Build your own book of TechNet articles

 

The IT Office Pro Blog

Office IT Pro Blog

TechNet "How do I" videos Exchange 2010

I have included this link as Microsoft is in “Exchange Server 2013 Sales Mode” and all a lot of useful Exchange server 2010 links send you to, guess where, Exchange Server 2013.

Most of these “How do I” videos are less than 10 minutes long.

"How do I" video center Exchange 2010

For example here as some migration videos:

Coexisting Exchange 2010 with Exchange 2007
Duration: 9:04; WMV, MP4

Transitioning From Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2010 Part 1
Duration: 5:16; WMV, MP4

Transitioning From Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2010 Part 2
Duration: 8:28; WMV, MP4

Transitioning From Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2010 Part 3
Duration: 4:56; WMV, MP4

White Papers: Exchange 2010 Tested Solutions

White Papers: Exchange 2010 Tested Solutions

Microsoft and participating server and storage partners examine common customer scenarios and reveal key design decision points.

Exchange 2010 Tested Solutions: 500 Mailboxes in a Single Site Running Hyper-V on Dell Servers

Exchange 2010 Tested Solutions: 9000 Mailboxes in Two Sites Running Hyper-V on Dell M610 Servers, Dell EqualLogic Storage, and F5 Load Balancing Solutions

Exchange 2010 Tested Solutions: 15000 Mailboxes in Two Sites Running Hyper-V on Unisys ES7000 Servers and Hitachi Adaptable Modular Storage 2000 Family

Exchange 2010 Tested Solutions: 16000 Mailboxes in a Single Site Deployed on IBM and Brocade Hardware

Exchange 2010 Tested Solutions: 20000 Mailboxes in Two Sites Running Hyper-V on Dell R910 Servers, EMC CLARiiON Storage, and Brocade Network Solutions

Everything You Need to Know About Exchange Backups

A nice useful three part article from The Exchange Team Blog.

Everything You Need to Know About Exchange Backups- - Part 1

Everything You Need to Know About Exchange Backups- - Part 2

Everything You Need to Know About Exchange Backups- - Part 3

Exchange Server 2010 TechCenter

Just posted the Exchange 2013 Preview so though I may as well put a link to the Exchange 2010 TechCenter

Exchange Server 2010 TechCenter

Download Exchange Server 2010 SP2

 

From the bimonthly TechNet Magazine column by Henrik Walther.

Exchange Queue &A- Workable Work-Arounds

 

The Exchange Team Blog

The Exchange Team Blog

Exchange Server 2013 Preview

Some quick links to Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 pre-release stuff.

The New Exchange Reaches RTM!

Exchange Server 2013 for IT Pros

Download the Exchange Server 2013 Preview

What's new in Exchange 2013

 

From the bimonthly TechNet Magazine column by Henrik Walther.

Exchange Queue &A- Workable Work-Arounds

The Exchange Team Blog

The Exchange Team Blog

Exchange Server 2010 - Understanding Federation

Federation refers to the underlying trust infrastructure that supports federated delegation, an easy method for users to share calendar and contact information with recipients in other external federated organizations.

TechNet: Understanding Federation

Understanding Federated Delegation

Active Directory Rights Management Services AD RMS Resources

Active Directory RMS Rights Management Services Resources

TechNet Webcasts & Events: AD RMS

AD RMS Overview

Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS) Step-by-Step

Active Directory Rights Management Services Overview

AD RMS and Active Directory Objects

SharePoint 2007 and Exchange 2007 Integration with Active Directory Rights Management Services

We have these wonderful collaboration systems in SharePoint and Exchange but how do you secure content to prevent inappropriate dissemination or theft?

You may want “eyes only” for someone to view and possibly comment but not be able to print or cut and paste contents. I want to do this in SharePoint Libraries and Exchange emails.

I have found this interesting webcast and some links explaining AD RMS.

TechNet Webcast- SharePoint Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 Integration with Active Directory (Level 400)

Presenter: Cristian Mora

TechNet Magazine: Inside SharePoint Security and Compliance with AD RMS

 

Active Directory RMS Rights Management Services

AD RMS Overview

Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS) Step-by-Step

Active Directory Rights Management Services Overview

AD RMS and Active Directory Objects

Thursday 25 October 2012

Access-Based Enumeration in Windows Server 2003 R2

Implementing Access-Based Enumeration in Windows Server 2003 R2
Windows Server 2003 Access-based Enumeration

Locked Down Workstations and User Accounts

Create a Password Setting Object (PSO), assign users to the global security group associated with the PSO.

For complexity set
"msDS-PasswordComplexityEnable" to false
"msDS-MaximumPasswordAge" to the maximum password age period required.

Restrict accounts to logon to locked down workstations.

Exchange 2007 Messaging Records Management

Exchange 2007 Messaging Records Management

Speedy Shutdown of Exchange 2007

Working in a development environment I tend to reboot my servers more frequently than normal. Shutting down services manually or with a script substantially speeds server shutdown.

Paste the following into a command file:

net stop msexchangeadtopology /y
net stop msftesql-exchange /y
net stop msexchangeis /y
net stop msexchangesa /y
net stop iisadmin /y

I find this greatly speeds the shutdown of a Small Business Server 2008 environment.

Cautionary note:

Watch when deleting drafts in blogger you may accidentally delete a useful post like this.

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012

This link contains the download

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Microsoft Virtual Academy

Microsoft Virtual Academy – MVA is a fully cloud-based learning experience focusing on Microsoft Cloud Technologies.

Microsoft Virtual Academy

Windows 7 Lite-Touch, High-Volume Deployment

Lite-Touch, High-Volume Deployment

Organizations that use this strategy have 200–500 client computers and at least one location with more than 25 users. They usually have managed networks in distributed locations that are running Windows Server.

Lite-Touch, High-Volume Deployment

Microsoft Windows 8 Resources

TechNet Windows 8 Resources

TechNet: Windows 8 Resources Page

TechNet: Download Windows 8 Enterprise - 90 Day Evaluation

Convert VMware virtual machines to Hyper-V®.

Convert VMware-based virtual machines and disks to Hyper-V®-based virtual machines and disks.

Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter (MVMC) Solution Accelerator

PowerShell on Windows 2008 Server Core

Windows Server 2008 R2 has native support for PowerShell. To install on Windows 2008 server core R1?

PowerShell on Server Core

This is a third party blog entry that I have not checked or whether PowerShell on Windows 2008 R1 Core was resolved with later patch.

Follow up:

I cannot test this as my core is R2

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ff476070.aspx

Server Core tool Oclist.exe replaced with Dism.exe in R2

This tool obtained a list of roles and features on Server Core and installation state. Windows Server 2008 R2 Dism.exe was introduced for adding/removing roles and features.

slmgr.vbs Windows Software Licensing Management Tool

Run slmgr.vbs from command prompt

image

If you are evaluating a product and you wish to know how long you have left before you have to activate it or what is the current state of machine.

TechNet Slmgr.vbs Options

Windows Server 2008 Core Installation Step-by-Step Getting Started Guide

Server Core Installation Option Getting Started Guide

Microsoft step-by-step guide on installation, initial configuration, and managing a server that is running a Server Core installation.

Hyper-V getting the command console back.

Did you just click X and blow away the command line console leaving you with just a very unfriendly blue background!!!

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del

Select Task Manager

Select New Task

Enter CMD

You should now have a fresh instance of command console running.

Windows 2008 Active Directory Interoperability with Linux and Apple OS X

Series of webcasts interoperability with Linux and Apple OS X

http://technetevents.com/interop/index.htm

Windows 7 and Small Business Server Webcasts

Windows 7 and Small Business Server Demo Series (Parts 01 to 07)

Windows Server 2008 Webcasts

Warning:

Some of the links mentioned in these webcasts no longer exist as Microsoft is in Server 2012 mode.

Those of you who have been through previous Microsoft product releases will be aware that they go into sales mode and that previous version don’t seem to exist anymore.

I will try to include any useful remaining links such as contributors blogs.

24 Hours of Windows Server 2008

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Windows Server 2008 (parts 01 to 24)

(level 200)

Blogs of contributors to this series

Keith Combs' Blahg

Kevin Remde's IT Pro Weblog

Chris Avis Blog

Prepare Yourself for Windows 2008

TechNet Webcast: Prepare Yourself for Windows Server 2008 (Parts 01 to 08)

MOSS SharePoint 2007 Webcasts & Events

TechNet Webcasts & Events: SharePoint 2007

MOSS Microsoft Office SharePoint Server

TechNet Webcasts & Events: MOSS

24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007

Useful series of webcasts covering Exchange Server 2007.

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Parts 01 to 24)

There are further series of webcast, the “In Depth” and “Deep Dive”:

TechNet Webcast:  Exchange Server 2007 in Depth (parts 01 to 08) (level 200 – 300)

TechNet Webcast: Exchange Server 2007 Deep Dive Series (level 300)

I include these series as a reminder to myself as I have attended Deep Dive events in the past and found them to be useful.

If I find time to review these series I will post a separate blog entry for them.

Transitioning from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2010

Once you have installed an Exchange 2010 serve into an existing Exchange 2007 forest how do you remove the Exchange 2007 server?

This series of short webcast (less than 10 minutes each) deals with:

Migrating the client mailboxes.

Replicating then moving the public folders.

Moving the offline address book

Uninstalling the Exchange 2007 server

MS Webcast: Transitioning From Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2010 (parts 1 to 3)

Microsoft Exchange On-Demand Webcast Links

The Microsoft Events site is one I use to find useful in the past. The most important element for me is search past webcasts.

Exchange 5.5 Webcasts

Exchange 2003 Webcasts

Exchange 2007 Webcasts

Exchange 2010 Webcasts

Although I have included Exchange Server 5.5, mainly because I use to work with it, the webcast in this series tend to only cover migrating away from it.