PowerShell Scriptomatic Goodness

Posted by dugie on June 2nd, 2008

Powershell Scriptomatic in action Powershell is here to stay.  And rightfully so, all the cool kids are using powershell these days =)

Anyway, If you’re cutting your teeth with Powershell scripts you should check out the PowerShell Scriptomatic.

I’ve taken it for a quick spin, and it’s pretty cool!

Go check out the PowerShell Scriptomatic now.

Extend the Windows Server 2008 evaluation period (KB 948 472)

Posted by dugie on April 30th, 2008

I was asked this at the Brisbane VMware usergroup tonight, and in hindsight, I should have blogged it earlier :)

Anyway, by default Windows 2008 gives you ~60 days grace if you install it without a key.  Using slmgr.vbs –rearm you can extend the evaluation up to 240 days.

Check out all the goodness in Microsoft KB 948472 "How to extend the Windows Server 2008 evaluation period", and a snippet is below:

When the initial 60-day evaluation period nears its end, you can run the Slmgr.vbs script to reset the evaluation period. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, and then click Command Prompt. 
  2. Type slmgr.vbs -dli, and then press ENTER to check the current status of your evaluation period. 
  3. To reset the evaluation period, type slmgr.vbs –rearm, and then press ENTER. 
  4. Restart the computer.
    This resets the evaluation period to 60 days.

Hyper-V beta is up, and now with Server Core support

Posted by dugie on December 13th, 2007

Windows Core support Yup, The beta of Hyper-V is out, and it works with Server Core!  Now just remember, Hyper-V is in now in beta, and Windows 2008 is in Release Candidate.  This means no more MSU’s — It’s a native role!!

Head on over to Microsoft Downloads and download the ISO.

What more can be said?!  Oh wait there is something:  start /w ocsetup "Microsoft -Hyper-V"

Wait, you still want more - well head on over to: Ben Armstrong for more "Hyper-V Tech Stuff!";  Jeff Woolsey for more "Viridian Video action".

Q: Can Windows 2008 install from USB Key?

Posted by dugie on December 13th, 2007

A:  You bet it does, and it works very well — ideal for those servers that don’t or won’t have a DVD Drive.

I loved my 1Gb sony, so much I bought the 4Gb as well :) You’ll need a 4Gb USB Key, a high speed USB key is preferred.  Plug it into your workstation and format it using diskpart:

  • diskpart.exe
  • select disk 99  (run a list disk if you don’t know the number)
  • clean
  • create partition primary
  • select partition 1
  • active
  • format fs=fat32
  • assign
  • exit
  •  

    When the format is finished, robocopy your Windows 2008 CD across (robocopy E:/s F:), and then TADA that’s it.  Plug in your USB key and boot from it - most server boards support it these days.

    You can even get excited and use WAIK for the unattended installation  - read Waik.chm for more info.

    PDC08 dates Announced; October 27–30

    Posted by dugie on December 7th, 2007

    PDC is one of the big premier events where all the cool stuff happens.  If you’ve been following Virtualization for the past couple of years, there is always a big ticket feature/item announced at this time.

    …and PDC has lots of excellent content.

    The next PDC will be in 2008 from October 27–30.  Check out the MSDN Events and Webcasts PDC08 page.

    Windows Server 2008 RC1 - go get some!

    Posted by dugie on December 6th, 2007

    Windows Server 2008 RC1 is available for download.

    Download Now for 30-Day Trial

    The 64 bit Enterprise edition isn’t available just yet, once it’s up I’ll download it and confirm that Hyper-V is in the public release and give everyone an update.

    Until then, grab a copy of the Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Started with Windows Server Virtualization and check and see if your hardware is on the list.

    UPDATE:  If you are using SUN hardware you will need to read the Sun Windows 2008 BluePrint.  Hyper-V does not run on the Sunfire as of yet.  I’m chatting with Sun about this at the moment.

    Post back soon when I know more.

    VHD for Server and Domain Isolation

    Posted by dugie on December 3rd, 2007

    Phwaaar!, fellow MVP and all round really good guy, Ronald Beekelaar has created a lab walkthrough for Server and Domain Isolation in a VHD.  Nice work Ron!

    Download the Server and Domain Isolation Demo

    The walktrough is a 22 page paper, supplied with VMs, scripts and a very sleek HTA interface.  You get to choose between two different demonstration scenarios, Basic and Advanced.

    The Basic demo shows just Domain Isolation and Server Isolation — and the Advanced demo includes No Fallback Group Isolation, Boundary Group Isolation and Encryption Group Isolation.

    Anyway download the Server and Domain Isolation Demo and check it out.

    SunFire X4100 and *** STOP: 0×0000005C error

    Posted by dugie on December 3rd, 2007

    If you’re trying to install Windows 2008 (or in my case 2008 w/ Hyper-V) you are probably going to get the following error:

    *** STOP:  0×0000005C (0×000000000000010B, 0×0000000000000003, 0×0000000000000000, 0×0000000000000000)

    The solution is to go into the BIOS (F2 at boot) and go to:  Advanced | ACPI Configuration | Advanced ACPI Configuration | IRQ0 Legacy Routing for HPET = [enabled]

    Thanks to Chris Midgley for the heads up!

    OFFICIAL: Viridian is now called Hyper-V

    Posted by dugie on November 12th, 2007

    Yup, the announcement was made today at TechEd IT Forum 2007.  Hyper-V will be available in 64 bit versions of:

    • Windows 2008 Standard - $999 USD / 1,082 AUD
    • Windows 2008 Enterprise - $3,999 USD / 4,335 AUD
    • Windows 2008 DataCenter - $2,999 USD (per processor) / 3,250 AUD

    Strangely enough you can also purchase editions of Windows without Hyper-V, which will be ~$28 cheaper.  I have my thoughts on why they did this, but I’ll do some digging first before posting a commentary.

    So what happens now?  Well I imagine every man and his dog will start writing reports on TCO/ROI that look like this =)

    Name aaa bbb ccc eee
       ESX 3 X X    
       ESX 3i   X    
       ESX w/ Virtual Center X X X X
       Hyper-Vs   X    
       Hyper-Ve X X    
       Hyper-V w/ SCVMM X X X  
       Hyper-V w/System Center X X X X
             

    Why is "http://www.msftncsi.com/ncsi.txt" in my proxy logs?

    Posted by dugie on November 8th, 2007

    Q:  What is http://www.msftncsi.com/ncsi.txt and why is it in my proxy logs?!

    A: Windows Vista includes a feature called Network Connectivity Status Indicator (NCSI).  For more information see, "Appendix K Network Connectivity Status Indicator and Resulting Internet Communication in Windows" and a snippet is below:

    NCSI might communicate with a Web site to determine whether a network has Internet connectivity.  A page called ncsi.txt (http://www.msftncsi.com/ncsi.txt) containing the following line of text with no terminating new line or other non-printing characters: "Microsoft NCSI".  NCSI can be disabled by changing a registry setting.


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