16 Jan 2014
By Yendis

Windows Server 2008 R2: KMS Error 0xC004F050 Invalid product key

Microsoft, ,
Whilst installing a server 2012 R2 KMS key on a Server 2008 R2 KMS host I ran into the following issue: Error: 0xC004F050 The Software Licensing Service reported that the product key is invalid. Even though I installed the KMS hotfix kb2757817 for Server 2012 support this was not enough to support Windows 2012 R2.  To be able to activate both Windows 2012 and Windows 2012 R2 you will also need to install KMS hotfix kb2885698. Server 2012 KMS - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2757817 Server 2012 R2 KMS - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2885698 Providing you install the correct hotfix you should be fine   
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01 Jan 2014
By Yendis

MCSE 2012 Certification

Microsoft,
Today I am pleased to announce that today I passed my last exam to achieve "Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert:Server Infrastructure", this was based on the Windows 2012 platform and as I was fortunate enough to hold the current "MCITP" accreditation so I only had to pass the following three exams: -  
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31 Aug 2013
By Yendis

SQL Server Performance

Microsoft, , ,
It is pretty important to make sure you set the Max Server memory setting for SQL Server 2005/2008 to something besides the default setting (which allows SQL Server to use as much memory as it wants, subject to signals from the operating system that it is under memory pressure). This is especially important with larger, busier systems that may be under memory pressure. This setting controls how much memory can be used by the SQL Server Buffer Pool.  If you don’t set an upper limit for this value, other parts of SQL Server, and the operating system can be starved…
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04 Jul 2013
By Yendis

Re-Installing ADFS 2

Microsoft,
During your install and testing of ADFS, you may decide to re-install ADFS (in order to start with a clean sheet after initial tests and proof-of-concepts are completed). I uninstalled ADFS and run the setup again. I added Federation Server as the server role and configured all certificates – all going smooth so far. I jumped to creating a new Federation Service. When it comes to applying my settings it came up with a warning “Existing Web site detected”. Therefore, the Web site was not reinstalled. If you are trying to redeploy the default AD FS 2.0 Web sites, see…
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15 Jun 2013
By Yendis

Configuring Windows Time for Active Directory

Microsoft, ,
Over recent years I have noticed that Windows time configuration is sometimes overlooked and misconfigured and at some point may cause you major hassles. For anyone not aware, all machines in an Active Directory environment automatically find a time server to sync time with. Workstations use their authenticating Domain Controller, and the DCs sync with the server holding the PDC Emulator FSMO role. In a multi-domain forest, the PDC Emulator in each child domain synchronises with a DC or the PDC Emulator in the forest root domain. To ensure the time remains reliable across the forest, only the PDC Emulator in the forest…
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14 Jun 2013
By Yendis

Taking the best out of Windows Azure Virtual Machines

Microsoft,
Now that Windows Azure IaaS offerings are out and made GA a lot of new workloads can be enabled with Windows Azure. Workloads like, SQL Server, SharePoint, System Center 2012, Server Roles like AD, ADFS DNS and so on, and even Team Foundation Server. More of the supported list of server software that is currently supported in Windows Azure Virtual Machines can be found here. But knowing what we can leverage in the Cloud isn’t enough, every features has its tricks in order to take the best out of it. In this case in order to take the best performance…
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08 May 2013
By Yendis

Transfer/Seize FSMO Roles to Windows Server 2012 Using Powershell

Microsoft,
Following information explains the Active Directory FSMO roles transfer process using powershell cmdlets. If FSMO role holder DC goes under upgradation process or down, we think about FSMO roles as its important and we know the traditional NTDSUTIL way of transferring and seizing FSMO roles which takes few minutes. However, using the power shell this is relatively easy and completes within few seconds. Powershell command :  Move-ADDirectoryServerOperationMasterRole Transfering all 5 FSMO roles syntax: Move-ADDirectoryServerOperationMasterRole -Identity “Target_DC_name” –OperationMasterRole PDCEmulator,RIDMaster,InfrastructureMaster,SchemaMaster,DomainNamingMaster If target DC name is ADC, use below command to transfer all FSMO roles: Move-ADDirectoryServerOperationMasterRole -Identity “ADC” –OperationMasterRole PDCEmulator,RIDMaster,InfrastructureMaster,SchemaMaster,DomainNamingMaster Role numbers can be used in command instead of role names. Transfer all 5 FSMO roles using numbers: Move-ADDirectoryServerOperationMasterRole -Identity…
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06 Apr 2013
By Yendis

Wyse Thin client Daylight Saving issue

Hardware, Microsoft, , , ,
I had an interesting problem that appeared shortly after the GMT Daylight saving time changed on Sunday evening (31st March) with Wyse Xenith/Xenith2 thin client devices which are used to access a Citrix VDI environment delivering a Windows 7 Professional desktop to around 800 users. So what was the issue? The problem was reported that even though the clock went forward 1 hour the Windows 7 clients where reporting that the time hadn’t changed (gone forward) since the change.  People were not turning up to meeting on time and it caused mayhem. Taking a look at the time zone set on the Windows 7…
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23 Mar 2013
By Yendis

Exchange 2010 SP2 upgrade error

Microsoft, ,
I was performing an SP2 upgrade on a clients Exchange 2010 Sp1 environment today and whilst upgrading the first "Mailbox Server Role" in the DAG the upgrade process came up with the following error:- Error:       The following error was generated when "$error.Clear();              if ($exsSid -eq $null -or $exsSid -eq "")             {             $exsSid = get-ExchangeServerGroupSID -DomainController $RoleDomainController             }            start-setupservice -ServiceName MSExchangeADTopology -ServiceParameters                  $exsSid,$RoleDomainController " was run: "Service 'MSExchangeADTopology' failed to reach status 'Running' on this server.".  Service 'MSExchangeADTopology' failed to reach status 'Running' on this server. Looking at the exchange setup logs it was discovered that the Exchange Trusted Subsystem was not a member of the Builtin Administrators…
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11 Nov 2012
By Yendis

Microsoft Windows 8 RT and Citrix remote access

Citrix, Microsoft, ,
Since the public release of Windows 8 RT people try to use Citrix remote access and fail.  The reason for that lies up on decisions made by Citrix.  Many companies have a Web Interface, Secure Gateway infrastructure and the reason why it doesn't work with Windows 8 RT. Requirements for Windows 8 RT Access Gateway Enterprise 10.x VPX (min) for remote access (Review the AG product simplification program for free upgrade http://bit.ly/VuhaAD) Citrix StoreFront 1.x StoreFront does NOT support Secure Gateway Receiver TechPreview from the store http://bit.ly/RsTKfm That means Web Interface and Secure Gateway needs to be replaced with StoreFront and…
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