After creating a nice Hyper-V R2 cluster with 4 nodes and installing Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 I was ready to deploy a Windows 2008 R2 Server. Adding the virtual machine, and configuring it for fault-tolerance, I was excited to start installation. I mounted an ISO file with Windows Server 2008 R2, and started the virtual machine.

Booting the virtual machine from the ISO file, I passed the localization information, and got the following error message:

"A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing.  If you have a driver floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB flash drive, please insert it now.
Note: If the Windows installation media is in the CD/DVD drive, you can safely remove is for this step."

We also tried burning the ISO file to a physical DVD , and booted directly from the DVD (inside the virtual machine). That worked out.

Interestingly the ISO file does not work when mounted in the virtual machine, but it works when burned to DVD. Other ISO files with Windows Server 2008 R2 worked, also when mounted.

Seems like the ISO file was corrupt, even though it worked somehow when burned to DVD.

MAK (Multiple Activation Key) er aktivering av lisens direkte mot Microsoft, mens KMS (Key Management Service) er aktivering av lisens internt i bedriften.

MAK: Brukeren legger inn nøkkel enten manuellt, eller via unattended-fil, likt volum aktivering i Windows XP . MAK er tenkt brukt for brukere som sjelden er innom nettverket, står i sikre soner etc.

KMS: Aktivering skjer en gang fra KMS-maskin mot Microsoft. Maskinene vil bli automatisk aktivert av en service som kjører på nettet. Kjør KMS-tjenesten på en Windows 2008 Server.

Maskiner finner KMS tjenere gjennom DNS oppslag av service records, og du skal ikke angi lisensnøkkel ved installasjon av klienten.

For å sette opp en KMS-host benyttes et lite og enkelt skript som finnes i %systemroot%\system32.  Selve skriptet heter slmgr.vbs og lar deg skru av/på tjenesten, legge til nøkkel, aktivere den, se på "countere", sette tidsfrister for reaktivering og lignende for klientene som bruker den KMS tjenesten. Slmgr.vbs er også tilgjenglig uten KMS aktivert på maskinen.

Installere KMS Host for KMS aktivering

- Åpne et command-prompt (med elevated privilegies) på server som skal kjøre KMS

- Kjør kommandoen ”cscript C:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs -ipk <Volume License Key>”

- Aktiver KMS mot Microsoft, enten ved online-aktivering eller ved bruk av telefon om maskinen ikke har tilgang til Internet.

• For online, kjør “cscript C:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs –ato”
• For telefon, kjør ”slui.exe 4” og følg instruksjonene.

- KMS host skal nå være klar for å aktivere klienter. Sørg for at firewall på KMS host er åpnet for forespørsler mot Key Management Service.

Vise lisensinfo på KMS host

Telleren på KMS host må passere 25 klienter for Vista/Windows 7, og 5 for W2k8 Server før maskiner begynner å bli aktivert. Dette er noe de færreste er klar over og en av hovedgrunnene til spørsmål om manglende aktivering. For å få en oversikt over hvor mange maskiner som har forsøkt å aktivere seg, kjør kommandoen: ”cscript \windows\system32\slmgr.vbs –dlv” Det vil da bli vist detaljert info om gjeldende lisens. Maskin nr 26 og utover vil bli aktivert.

Windows Server 2008R2 og Windows 7

For å få installert lisens for Windows 2008R2 og Windows 7 på KMS host, må man først oppdatere KMS tjenesten.

Bruk helst en Windows 2008 64-bit server til dette, og last ned oppdatering av KMS her: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=d284f030-642f-443b-85ce-74ef449d5ab4

Aktiver deretter lisens som beskrevet over. Bruk KMS lisens for Windows Server 2008 R2, denne dekker både 2008 serverversjoner og Vista/Windows 7 (Trenger altså ikke egen KMS lisens for Windows 7 på KMS host)

Yesterday this round of Technet Live was finished. Last place to visit was Oslo – and as always a lot of people showing up.
I had a great time this time as well, and I hope my attendes enjoyed my sessions :)

Presentations and webcasts will be available shortly from Microsoft Technet – I will update with link when available.

See you around!

You will find the files from the training here:

http://cid-e37deb594bd9f4ba.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Windows%207%20Partner%20Training?authkey=sk0GCl9vMnA%24

Have fun!

Recently I had to create a script to work with Libraries in Windows 7. Searching thru the Windows SDK, I found that this functionality was given in shell32.dll. I started to think p/invoke, but luckily someone had already created a .NET library to do this. So, using those .NET libraries made it all simpler.

This time I will try to manage the script through codeplex, and I have created a project and uploaded the script to http://windowslibrariespsh.codeplex.com

Release Notes

Short install guide:
(Extract to one of your folders given in $ENV:PSModulePath to simplify usage.)
Steps to install to your Modules folder:
Extract content from zip file to
~/documents/windowspowershell/modules/Windows7Library
If you don`t have the Modules folder in your WindowsPowershell folder, just create it.
From inside your Powershell session type the following command:
Import-Module Windows7Library

---

PLEASE NOTE
If this fails, please check that you allow scripts to run. If you demand Signed scripts, this script is not signed.
Also note that you might have to Unblock the file (as the file is downloaded from the Internet).
This should be done on the file Windows7Library.psm1 that you just extracted. (Right-Click the file, Properties and Unblock)

---

The commands inside the module is:
*Get-Library
*Add-Library
*Get-LibraryFolder
*Set-LibraryFolder
*Add-LibraryFolder
*Remove-LibraryFolder
*Get-KnownFolder

How to use?

Get-KnownFolder

To see all the knownfolders:
Get-KnownFolder -list
To get the path to the Documents Library
(Get-KnownFolder "DocumentsLibrary").Path

Get-Library

To read the Documents Library object:
$library=Get-Library (Get-KnownFolder "DocumentsLibrary").Path
Your could now play with the Library object:
$library | get-member

Get-LibraryFolder

Returns a list of the defined library folders
Get-LibraryFolder (Get-KnownFolder "DocumentsLibrary").Path

Add-LibraryFolder

Adds an path to the library
Add-LibraryFolder -LibraryPath(Get-KnownFolder "DocumentsLibrary").Path "\\server\share\folder"

Remove-LibraryFolder

Removes an defined library folder
Remove-LibraryFolder -LibraryPath (Get-KnownFolder "DocumentsLibrary").Path "\\server\share\folder"

Set-LibraryFolder

Set-LibraryFolder lets you define the default save folder for the library (note that the folder must be included in the library)
Set-LibraryFolder -LibraryPath (Get-KnownFolder "DocumentsLibrary").Path -DefaultSaveFolder "c:\docs"

Add-Library

With Add-Library you could create your own Libraries
Add-Library -Name "My Own Library" -Path "c:\users\user\Documents\"
(note that path here is where to store the library file (library-ms)

Have fun with this, and please, let me know of any improvments :)

På neste runde av TechNet Live skal jeg også prate om virtualisering, med fokus på nyheter i Hyper-V R2 versjonen. Skal du benytte virtualisering på Microsoft plattformen, så kommer du heller ikke unna System Center produktene – så jeg tenkte vi skulle bli litt kjent med de også.

Mitt planlagte fokus er :

• Nyheter i Hyper-V R2
• System Center og hjelp til virtualisering
• Hva gir System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 deg?

Som i min tidligere post etterspør jeg innspill fra dere om konkrete ting jeg bør ta med! Kom igjen – gi meg innspill!!

Start gjerne en debatt på twitter eller send meg en epost!

Tradisjon tro nærmer høstens TechNet Live runde seg. Denne gangen med en spennende agenda fokusert på Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 og Exchange 2010.
Selv skal jeg holde sesjoner på Exchange 2010 nyheter, virtualisering og en spennende sesjon på tips og triks iforbindelse med effektiv administrasjon.(Enklere administrasjon av dine miljøer)  Jeg har tenkt å blogge idagene fremover om de ulike sesjonene jeg skal holde. Jeg oppfordrer alle som har innspill til tema jeg bør ta opp om å komme med disse, enten per epost eller på twitter.

Hva er mine planer for sesjonen Enklere administrasjon av dine miljøer?

“I denne sesjonen ser vi nærmere på erfaringer vi har gjort oss iløpet av nesten 10 år med Active Directory. Det vil bli en gjennomgang av Active Directory infrastruktur og hvordan denne fungerer. Her vi du kunne lære om SPN(Service Principal Names), autentisering,  read-only domain controllers og andre tips rundt Active Directory. Sesjonen er demotung, og vil også gi en innføring i PowerShell. Scriptingspråket som hjelper deg å atumatisere arbeidsoppgaver på din infrastruktur.”

Her er de punktene jeg har tenkt å fokusere på:

• Active Directory
• Autentisering
• Service Principal Names (SPN)
• Read-only domain controllers
• Roller og deres funksjon i AD (FSMO)
• Ulike Active Directory Modi – når velge hva?
• Powershell støtte i Active Directory i Windows Server 2008 R2

MEN! Denne gangen ønsker jeg også innspill fra dere – er det problemstillinger dere mener jeg bør ta opp? Fortell meg!

Du finner fullstendig agenda og datoer for de ulike byene – samt påmelding – her : http://www.microsoft.com/norge/msdn_technet_live/agenda.aspx

Now we just have to wait :) Today they have been released to manufacturing. Whoooohooo! Even though I´m not surprised, it´s always nice to get this messages :)

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/07/22/windows-7-has-been-released-to-manufacturing.aspx

Some of you may know I love to read. I read about 5-7 books each month, and because I travel quite a bit, it becomes heavy to take multiple books with me.
I´ve tried to read ebooks on my computer and on my iPhone – but I could not manage to read books on this screens. My eyes got tired after a while.

I´ve been thinking about the Amazon Kindle for the last year, and when they released the Kindle DX I found that it had all the necessary capabilities to me.

How much have I used the Kindle DX during my first 30 days? I´ve read five books, and my wife read one. And I have to say I´m quite impressed with it. The screen is absolute fabolous for reading. It´s not backlit so you need another source of light – just as an ordinary book. This actually makes it very comfortable to read on. Another thing I love is the battery – I have not recharged the battery during this period. Handling feels like a book (I bought a leather cover for it as well), and I have no problem taking this device with me as well.

What are the downside? The wireless is only in the US – so I have to download books and magazines to my computer, and transfer them to the Kindle. There is no WLAN support, and the Kindle store does not offer any norwegian books. But what the heck – most of what I read is in english anyway.

A feature with the DX I do like is the ability to read PDF documents native. Because of this I could take with me a lot of resource kits, training materials and other pdf documents. I even found a norwegian website that sold some norwegian books in pdf format so I could read those on the Kindle. ( www.digitalbok.no )

To wrap up I think the Kindle DX is a wonderful device that is used on a daily basis.

At Crayon we have been using Windows 7 for the last months. Microsoft has made an Case study of this that you can find here https://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?CaseStudyID=4000004875

I´ve been travelling for the two last weeks, and when I came back home I was surprised to see that I had become a Powershell MVP. I´m proud to be a part of this extraordinary community – and I´m looking forward to learn more about the other Powershell MVP´s.

There has been a lot of attention in the norwegian media about how the norwegian military has monitored network traffic on their own networks.

Connected to this network is also the royal family and the prime minister (as well as the other ministers)

Now, what is becoming the “breaking news” is that they monitor which websites is being visited. All this become known when they  issued a warning to one user – for visiting some porn site. Here it becomes interesting, because they are now under investigation – it seems they might not have the permission to do this. In my opinion they only do their job – as I also understand it the reason they use this network is that it is considered secure. But it does seem like this could have been communicated better.

It is a lot of discussion if they read confidential email , and if they read the royal email or mail adressed to the prime minister(or others..). If they do spam and virus filtering as well, it would not be very difficult to have access to the raw email.

But – confidential email or information should never be exposed unprotected over any network (in my humble opinion). Confidential information should always be encrypted and protected. One really good way to do this is to use AD RMS – because it gives you control over how the information could be used as well as encryption.

You can read more about the news here (norwegian) : http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article3119612.ece

You can read more about AD RMS here: http://blog.crayon.no/blogs/ragnar/archive/2009/04/07/hvorfor-ad-rights-management-services.aspx

This week Microsoft announced the date for when Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 is to be available!

And the date is … October 22th!!!

You can read more here : http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/060309-windows-server-2008-r2-to.html

All I can say is that I´m impressed!

Today Microsoft announced the new “search” named Bing. As Microsoft names this a decision engine, it should give us a new experience. What I found interesting is that even Woz (yes, that is Steve Wozniak – the Apple co-founder) was amazed and blown away of what he saw. Can´t wait to test it out – should be public next week.
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/255750/Woz-Bing!-Apple-Co-Founder-a-%22Big-Fan%22-of-Microsofts-New-Search-Engine

And here is the Bing homepage www.bing.com

PS. Could it be Bing is an acronym for “Bing is not Google?”  :D