What's new CheckPoints options on the Hyper-V of Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext)

Microsoft added some CheckPoints options on the Hyper-V of Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext). Let's have a look on the options of CheckPoints.

Disable checkpoints

In Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext), administrators can un-check "Enable checkpoints" option on virtual machines. After un-checking this option, We cannot take a checkpoint on a virtual machine.

There is no CheckPoints option on the menu.

This virtual machines isn't allow taking a checkpoint.

Production checkpoints

Production checkpoints is a new option on the Hyper-V of Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext).

Production checkpoints is achieved by using backup technology inside the guest to create the checkpoint, instead of using saved state technology. For production checkpoints, the Volume Snapshot Service (VSS) is used inside Windows virtual machines. Linux virtual machines flush their file system buffers to create a file system consistent checkpoint. 

Quote from Production checkpoints of What's New in Hyper-V in Technical Preview

Using Production checkpoints, it doesn't capture the memory state when virtual machines are running. When we restore a checkpoint which is captured by Production checkpoints, it's like restoring the virtual machine from backup.

If Production Checkpoints cannot be taken, it takes a checkpoint as Standard. This is a default option.

More information:
Sneak Peek into the Next Release of Windows Server Hyper-V

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3 ways to get remote computers MAC address on Windows Servers or Workstations

There are many ways to get remote computers MAC address on Windows. In this post, I'd like to show 3 ways to get MAC addresses. To get remote computers MAC address, you need to have administrative credential on remote computers and make sure firewalls of computers or network don't block the connection between both computers.

Getmac

Getmac is a built-in command started from Windows XP to get mac addresses from a local computer or remote computer.

On "Command Prompt", perform "getmac /v /s <Remote Computer Name> /U <Remote or Domain User Account with administrative privilege> /FO <List, Table or CSV>" to get MAC addresses from a remote computer.

Enter the password of the account to get the result.

Remark: Both computers communicate with TCP port 135.

Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC)

Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) is a command to work with WMI to get or modify the settings of a computer. In this case, I'm going to use wmic to get a remote computer MAC address.

On "Command Prompt", perform "wmic /user:<Remote or Domain User Account with administrative privilege> /node:<Remote computer name> nic list brief".

Enter the password of the account to get the result.

PowerShell

PowerShell is a good way to get information from computers. It's easy for administrators to learn and use. By the way, we can perform the following cmdlet to get MAC address from remote computers.

On "PowerShell" console, perform "Invoke-Command -ComputerName <Remote Computer Names> -Credential (Get-Credential) -ScriptBlock {Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_NetworkAdapter | FT Name,MacAddress -AutoSize}" on Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2.

Enter the user name and password with administrative privilege of the remote computer.

Remark: Get-CimInstance is a built-in cmdlet on PowerShell 3.0 or later. For Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2, we can perform "Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapter -ComputerName <Remote Computer Name> -Credential (Get-Credential)".

Enter the user name and password with administrative privilege of the remote computer.

Eventually, we got MAC addresses from above methods.

More information:

Getmac

WMIC - Take Command-line Control over WMI

Get-CimInstance

Get-WmiObject

This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights!

Hot add or remove virtual NICs for generation 2 virtual machines on Hyper-V of Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext)

As previous versions of Hyper-V, we need to shut down to add or remove virtual NICs on virtual machines. In Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext), we can hot add or remove virtual NICs on generation 2 virtual machines.

The generation 2 virtual machines support Windows (Windows 8 x64, Windows 8.1 x64, Windows 10 x64, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext)) and Linux (CentOS, Red Hat Enterprise, Debian, Oracle, SUSE, Ubuntu and FreeBSD) operating systems.

Remark: Please check the Linux versions which are supported to install on generation 2.

To hot add or remove virtual NICs on virtual machines, we can use Hyper-V manager or perform PowerShell cmdlet.

Lab environment

• 1 server is installed Windows Server Technical Preview with Hyper-V role

On Hyper-V Manager of Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext), we can select an option of virtual machine settings to add Network Adapter on a virtual machine which is running.

Add and apply the network adapter to the virtual machine.

The virtual NIC was added to the running virtual machine immediately.

Click "Remove" to remove the virtual NIC of this virtual machine.

Click "Yes".

The virtual nic of this virtual machine was removed.

Perform "Add-VMNetworkAdapter -VMName <VM Name> -SwitchName <Virtual Switch Name>" to add a virtual NIC for the virtual machine.

Perform "Remove-VMNetworkAdapter -VMName <VM Name>  -Name "Virtual NIC name"".

Eventually, Microsoft added this feature on Hyper-V of Windows Server Technical Preview. Let wait and see the final version of the next version of Windows Server.

This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights!

Hot add or remove memory for virtual machines on Hyper-V of Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext)

There is one of new features of Hyper-V of Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext). It allows administrator to hot add or remove static memory on virtual machines. Virtual machines aren't needed to shut down to add or remove memory. Hot add or remove memory feature supports generation 1 or 2 virtual machines which are installed Windows 10 (x86 or x64) or Windows Server Technical Preview only. To perform add or remove static memory of virtual machines, administrators can use Hyper-V Manager or PowerShell.

Lab environment

• 1 Windows Server Technical Preview with Hyper-V role

At this moment, I assigned 1GB memory for a virtual machine which is installed Windows 10 x86.

Then, I used Hyper-V Manager to modify the "Startup RAM" to 2048.

Back to Task Manager of Windows 10.

The memory status of Windows 10 has been updated to 2.0GB.

Then I try to perform PowerShell "Set-VMMemory" to modify the memory to 512MB.

Set-VMMemory -VMName <VMName> -StartupBytes 512MB

Back to Task Manager of Windows 10.

The memory status of Windows 10 has been updated to 512MB.

Remark: If you modify the memory size which is lower than the in use memory, you get the following error message.

However, Set-VMMemory cmdlet will try to modify the static memory of the virtual machine as minimum as possible.

This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights!

Storage Spaces Shared Nothing on the next version of Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext)

In Design Scale-Out File Server Clusters in the Next Release of Windows Server of a TechEd session, Claus Joergensen, Principal Program Manager, mentioned a new feature of Windows Cluster on the next version of Windows Server which is Storage Spaces Shared Nothing. This feature isn't available on the current version of Windows Server Technical Preview. Microsoft will add this feature on the other build version of Windows Server Technical Preview. We can use Storage Spaces Shared Nothing to build Storage Spaces without Shared Storage that means we can use Direct-Attached Storage (DAS) of all servers which are in a cluster to create Storage Spaces. At this moment, Microsoft doesn't release any hardware requirement of this solution. To manage Storage Spaces Shared Nothing, we can use System Center and PowerShell.

Image captured from the PowerPoint of Design Scale-Out File Server Clusters in the Next Release of Windows Server

This solution is similar to VMware Virtual SAN (VSAN) concept. To use VMware VSAN, there are at least 3 nodes in a VMware cluster and then with some hardware requirements. For an example, each server need to install 1 SSD and 1 HDD and must have a minimum of 6GB of RAM. Administrators format these disks as VMFS-L and then create a disk group. There are total 3 SSDs and HDDs on 3 servers. The fourth node can join and use this VSAN without providing additional SSD and HDD. For more information of VMware Virtual SAN hardware requirement, please read vSphere 5.5 Virtual SAN requirements and VMware Virtual SAN Design and Sizing Guide.

Let's wait and see the update of this feature from Microsoft and what's the different between both products.

This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights!

What's new features of Failover Clustering on Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext)

Are you looking for information of failover clustering on Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext)?

On Edge Show 125 - Failover Clustering in the next version of Windows Server, Symon Perriman, Senior Technical Evangelist, and Elden Christensen, Principal Program Manager Lead for Failover Clustering, talked about what's new features of Failover Clustering on next version of Windows Server.

Cloud Witness
Recently, there's a blog post to talk about Cloud Witness which is a new feature on next version of Windows Server on Clustering and High-Availability blog. Next version of Windows Server supports to create a quorum witness to store on Microsoft Azure. To use Cloud Witness, we need a Microsoft Azure Storage Account. On "Introducing Cloud Witness", it provided the steps to configure Cloud Witness on Windows Server Technical Preview.

Cluster Operating System (OS) Rolling Upgrade for Hyper-V and Scale-Out File Server
Cluster Operating System Rolling Upgrade is a new feature on Windows Server Technical Preview. Administrators can configure mixed cluster environment when performing upgrade Hyper-V and Scale-Out File Server cluster.

Cluster OS Rolling Upgrade provides the following benefits:

• Hyper-V virtual machine and Scale-out File Server workloads can be upgraded from Windows Server 2012 R2 to Windows Server Technical Preview without downtime. Other Cluster workloads will be unavailable during the time it takes to failover to Windows Server Technical Preview.
• It does not require any additional hardware.
• The cluster does not need to be stopped or restarted.
• A new cluster is not required. In addition, existing cluster objects stored in Active Directory are used.
• The upgrade process is reversible until the customer crosses the "point-of-no-return", when all cluster nodes are running Windows Server Technical Preview, and when the Update-ClusterFunctionalLevel PowerShell cmdlet is run.
• The cluster can support patching and maintenance operations while running in the mixed-OS mode.
• It supports automation via PowerShell and WMI.
• The ClusterFunctionalLevel property indicates the state of the cluster on Windows Server Technical Preview cluster nodes.

Quote from Cluster Operating System Rolling Upgrade in Windows Server Technical Preview.

Basically, administrators need to use the Failover Cluster Manager of Windows Server Technical Preview to configure the cluster upgrade.

In the session, Advantages of Upgrading Your Private Cloud Infrastructure in the Next Release of Windows Server, of TechEd Europe 2014, Taylor Brown and Rob Hindman gave demonstration to upgrade Hyper-V and Scale-Out File Server cluster from Windows Server 2012 R2 to Windows Server Technical Preview.

I hope the above information can help you understand new features of Failover Clustering on Windows Server Technical Preview.

This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights!

Remote Desktop Connection Manager 2.7

I think a lot of people have been waiting for a new version of Remote Desktop Connection Manager. On 18-Nov-2014, Microsoft released a new version of Remote Desktop Connection Manager which is version 2.7.1406.0. In this version of Remote Desktop Connection Manager, it supports the following Operating System: Windows 10 Technical Preview, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server Technical Preview.

Remark: Users need to install version 6 or later of the Remote Desktop Client before installing Remote Desktop Connection Manager 2.7 on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

If you are interested in Remote Desktop Connection Manager 2.7, please go to the following link to download and use it.

Download link

Remote Desktop Connection Manager 2.7

This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights!

Using PowerShell to zip and unzip package on Windows 10 and Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext)

There are build-in cmdlets in the PowerShell 5.0 of Windows 10 and Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext) to compress and extract zip files. Using these cmdlets, it's easy for us to write script files with compress and extract zip files function. "Compress-Archive" and "Expand-Archive" are new cmdlets to compress and extract zip files on PowerShell. These 2 cmdlets are under "Microsoft.PowerShell.Archive" module.

Now, the "Get-Command" displayed the version of PowerShell cmdlets.

First, I will perform "Expand-Archive" to extract zip files.

On a PowerShell console, perform "Expand-Archive -Path <The zip file location> -DestinationPath <Destination path for extraction> -Verbose".

Make sure there is a folder on destination path. if not, you get the following error message.

Then, I will perform "Compress-Archive" to create a zip package.

On the PowerShell console, perform "Compress-Archive -Path <Files or Directory path> -DestinationPath <Destination Path\"name".zip> -Verbose".

Remark: "Path" parameter supports more than 1 value.

With "Update" parameter, we can add a new file into an existing zip package.

By default, the compression level of "Compress-Archive" is "Optimal". We can also insert "CompressionLevel" to change it. There are 3 CompressionLevel" which are "Optimal",  "Fastest" and "NoCompression". For more information about "CompressionLevel", please read CompressionLevel Enumeration.

To zip a folder, perform "Compress-Archive -Path <Files or Directory path> -DestinationPath <Destination Path\"name".zip> -Verbose".

Remark: "Compress-Archive" and "Expand-Archive" only support zip package.

This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights!

Domain Controller demotion on Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext)

A previous post, I promoted a server a domain controller. Basically, the steps are same as Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 to promote a server to the first domain controller. How about demotion steps of Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext)? Basically, it's the same. Anyway, I will demote the last domain controller, DC10, on my lab.

Lab environment

1 and the last domain controller in tls1.lab environment.

Prerequisites

Create a checkpoint for DC10 to perform domain controller demotion by GUI and PowerShell.

Lab

Demote a domain control though GUI.

1. On DC10, log in as Domain Administrator.

2. Launch "Server Manager".

3. On "Server Manager", click "Manage > Remove Roles and Features".

4. On "Before you Begin" window, click "Next".

5. On "Server Selection" window, click "Next".



6. On "Server Roles" window, un-check "Active Directory Domain Services".

7. Then, click "Remove Features".

8. On "Validation Results" window, click "Demote this domain controller".

9. On "Credentials" window, check "Last domain controller in the domain".

Because there is only 1 domain controller in my lab environment, I checked "Last domain controller in the domain" option. If there is more than 1 domain controller in your environment, you don't need to check this option. "Force the removal of this domain controller" is same as "Force removal" option of previous Windows versions.

10. Click "Next".

11. On "Warnings" window, check "Proceed with removal".

12. Click "Next".

13. On "Removal Options" window, check "Remove this DNS zone (this is the last DNS server that hosts the zone)" and "Remove application partitions" options.

"Remove this DNS zone (this is the last DNS server that hosts the zone)" option is applied to the last domain controller. If not, we don't need to check it.

14. Click "Next".

15. On "New Administrator Password" window, enter a new local administrator password for this server.

16. Click "Next".

17. On "Review Options" window, click "Demote".

After demotion, the server will restart automatically.

Then, we can remove "Active Directory Domain Services" though "Server Manager".

Demote a domain control though PowerShell.

1. On DC10, log in as Domain Administrator.

2. Launch "PowerShell" as administrator.

3. Perform "Uninstall-ADDSDomainController -LastDomainControllerInDomain -DemoteOperationMasterRole:$True -RemoveApplicationParitions" to demote the last domain controller.

4. Enter a new local administrator password.

5. Enter "Y" to demote the domain controller.

Then, we can perform "Uninstall-WindowsFeature AD-Domain-Services" to uninstall the Active Directory Domain Services feature on the server.

This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights!

Windows Defender on Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext)

By default, Windows Defender is installed on Windows Server Technical Preview (vNext). As before, Windows Defender was included in the client side operating system like Windows 7 and later. It's the first time to include antimalware software on the server side operating system.

Is Windows Defender suitable for enterprise?
For enterprise, they have their criteria to select an antimalware software for their environment. They may not consider Windows Defender and they may modify the installation image to uninstall Windows Defender for their Standard Operating Environment (SOE). One of the reason to uninstall the Windows Defender in enterprise environment is central management of the antimalware software. At this moment, there is no central management software to manage and monitor Windows Defender so enterprise companies may not consider it  

Is Windows Defender suitable for SMB?
For SMB, it may be a good choice. They may not need central management software to manage the antimalware software and then they don't need to pay additional cost to buy an additional antimalware software so SMB companies may consider using  it.

Anyway, let's have a look of Windows Defender on Windows Server Technical Preview.

On a Windows Server Technical Preview, we can add the GUI console on the Windows Server.

Even if we don't install "GUI for Windows Defender", we can perform PowerShell cmdlets to configure Windows Defender on a Windows Server.

Perform "Get-MpComputerStatus", we can check the current status of Windows Defender.

Even it's a technical preview version of Windows, we can perform "Update-MpSignature" to update the latest virus definition.

Remark: The virus definition can be updated through Windows Update.

To check the Windows Defender status, we can perform PowerShell or check it from "Services" console.

On TechNet Library, Microsoft listed the default exclusion paths of Windows Defender on Windows Server Technical Preview. The path is the following.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Exclusions\Paths

To add or remove a new exclusion path, we can perform "Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath" and "Remove-MpPreference -ExclusionPath" PowerShell cmdlets.

Remark: We can also perform "Add-MpPreference" and "Remove-MpPreference" to exclude process and extension.

For more information, please read Windows Defender Overview.



This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights!