Are you also experiencing (lots of) feedback around the Distributed Application designer and specifically the Create component group dialog? Well, most of my clients ask me how to find the class that they want to use as objects in their Distributed Application designer . Because of the specialization model, and the knowledge they are missing to discover how "their" class specializes, they often ask me where - for instance - the DB objects are (are any other, for that matter):
Because of my experience I can point them in the right direction,
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Microsoft
announced today the acquisition of Parlano. But what is "persistent chat" and Parlano anyway?
James does a good job explaining:
So.. (very briefly) most people understand Mail and Instant messaging. IM is usually 1:1, but we can have multiple users in a a chat. One of the major grumbles about LCS 2005 and Communicator 2005 was that when you escalated to Voice or Video chat it couldn't do more than 1:1. This has changed in OCS 2007 with the new communicator client: we have a "hub" component (called an MCU) which brings together the voice and video streams. Although it wasn't strictly necessary when 2007 users go from 1:1 to n-way IM conversation we also use an MCU.
Most people know about Internet Chat rooms; a hub of some kind has virtual "places" - so the room can be "persistent" i.e. it's always there even if no-one is on-line chatting in it. But the conversations are transient. If you're not in the room when someone says it you don't see it.
Persistent chat combines the idea of "Rooms" with the idea the chat itself being persistent - so you can look at what was said before you joined. The screen shot gives you some idea, the "rooms" or "Channels" as the Mind--Align product calls them are on the left, the participants on the right and the chat is in the middle. It's easier to manage and search than a Distribution List or Public folder / Newsgroup where each comment is a separate item. But it's not ad-hoc like an IM chat or chat room.
Anders Bengtsson - a fresh MVP, just like me - has done a great job at summarizing all things Operations Manager during August:
New KB, The discovery process does not find computers that are present in your domain in Operations Manager 2007, link
New KB, The SQL Server 2000 database engine health is not monitored in System Center Operations Manager 2007, here
New KB, The appropriate tables and stored procedures are not created successfully when you install the Windows Key Management Service Management Pack for Microsoft Operations Manager 2005, here
New MP, Microsoft SMS 2003 Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007, here
New KB, “Loading Reporting Hierarchy Failed” error after the new Root Management Server Promotion, here
New KB, The Reporting DTS task does not run and reports do not work when Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 fails over to the secondary node of a server cluster, here
Microsoft Forefront and System Center Demonstration Toolkit, download here
New MP, Microsoft Forefront Server Security for Exchange 10.0 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007, link
New MP, Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007, link
New MP, Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007, link
New MP, Microsoft Server Network Load Balancing Management Pack for Operations Manager 200, link
MOM 2005 Summary Reporting Pack Guide, download here
New KB, Error message when you try to access a Web page view in the System Center Operations Manager 2007 Web Console: “Requested value ‘UrlViewType’ was not found”, here
New KB, The System Center Operations Manager 2007 agent is unable to restart the health service after its monitored thresholds are breached, here
Systems Center Operations Manager 2007 Documentation has been updated, download here
MP Update, System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack Update, here
New MP, Operations Manager 2007 Data Warehouse Library Management Pack, here
New MP, Systems Management: Dell Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager, link
New KB, A notification subscription’s Alert Criteria options do not work as expected in System Center Operations Manager 2007, link
Be sure to visit
Anders' blog regularly for Operations Manager 2007 news.
Jakub Olesky writes: It seems like this question gets asked a lot on the newsgroups and oftentimes results in an incorrect answer being posted, so I thought I would clarify here. The underlying problem is that you want your rule to run on computers in a particular group.
The simple answer that is often given (but is wrong) is to target your rule to the group (i.e. the class that is defined for that group, since a new class gets created for every group). This will simply not work the way the answer implies; what this will do is run the rule only against the single group instance of that group class (there is only one instance of this class because it is a singleton). This rule will then run on the root management server and only for one instance.
The correct way to do this is to first target your rule to whatever makes sense; if it is a rule that is meant to run for SQL, it should be targeted to the appropriate SQL class, and so on. Next, you probably want to have your rule be disabled (i.e. Enabled="false") to start, otherwise it will immediately run on all agents where an instance of your targeted class is discovered.
Finally, you will want to override your rule and set Enabled="true" with the context being your group instance (type should work also, but group instance is a much more precise definition of the override). You can also invert the process to disable a rule for a particular group, while having it run by default.
Interested in how Office Communications Server 2007 licensing will be, then look at the following snippet from a presentation that was shown at the Partner Conference in Boston (Click the picture for a larger version).
Basically there are two Client licenses that are additative. You always need a Standard CAL and can on top of that buy an Enterprise CAL that deliveres all of the Conferencing (Web, Audio/Video, Application Sharing) and the VoIP & Remote Call Control features.
For the servers there's the Standard and Enterprise Edition (Scalability and Availability) and you should note that Communicator Web Access, Speech Server 2007 and Office Communicator Mobile 2007 are included in the server license.
For pricing information according to Michael Dunn's
posting regarding Speech Server 2007 pricing it will be:
Standard Server - $699.00
Enterprise Edition Server - $3,999
Standard Client Access Licence - $31
Enterprise Client Access License - $139
The Microsoft System Center Operations Manager Management Pack update is an update to the previously released System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007. This update addresses few enhancements, updated content for rules and monitors and bug fixes.
Overview
The Microsoft System Center Operations Manager Management Pack update is an update to the previously released System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack with System Center Operations Manager 2007 RTM. The updated file list includes:
• Microsoft.SystemCenter.2007.mp (6.0.5000.28)
• Microsoft.SystemCenter.Internal.mp (6.0.5000.28)
• Microsoft.SystemCenter.Library.mp (6.0.5000.28)
• Microsoft.SystemCenter.OperationsManager.200.mp (6.0.5000.28)
• Microsoft.SystemCenter.ServiceDesigner.Library.mp (6.0.5000.28)
• Microsoft.SystemCenter.WebApplication.Library.mp (6.0.5000.28)
• System.Health.Library.mp (6.0.5000.28)
Update to address fixes and enhancements:
• OnDemandDetection for threshold monitors.
• Ability to override Priority / Severity settings.
• Alert rules/monitors added for Batch response.
• Added Knowledge for rules and monitors.
• Fixed Distributed Application health rollup state.
• Top customer impacting bugs found post-RTM
Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 MP.msi (6.0.5000.28)
Josh writes: Microsoft shed a lot of light on Windows Vista SP1 today and what really caught my eye was that stand alone install, which many companies will use to deploy, tips the scales at a whopping 1GB for x86 and 1.5GB for x64. The reason for the large size it that the service pack includes all the languages.
No matter how you slice it that is a serious amount of data to have to deliver over your network and could take some serious logistics for distribution. You are basically talking about an update that is over 40 percent the size of the original install. Not only that, installing SP1 will require at least 7GB of free space on x86 and 12GB on an x64 machine. It wasn't clear if that was a hard-coded requirement or if that was a recommendation.
When you look at the footprint that is delivered via Windows Update or WSUS the service pack has a much better story to tell, at only 50Mb:
You probably already heard the update on
WS2008 release to manufacturing (RTM), now scheduled for 1st quarter of 2008 instead of end of year 2007. As a result...
The transition exams 70-648 and 70-649 will be available on October 29, 2007, now. They were scheduled for September 20, but the changes/slip in technology mean some items on our exams are affected, too.
If you took the beta for either of these exams (71-648 or 71-649), your result should be available no later than October 29 (or a few weeks before).
The MCTS exams are still scheduled for RTM +30 days; the MCITP exams are still scheduled for RTM +60. Don't know what I'm talking about? Read about the WS2008 certification family.
The goal of Windows Vista SP1 is to address key feedback Microsoft has received from its customers without regressing application compatibility. Windows Vista SP1 will deliver improvements and enhancements to existing features that significantly impact customers, but it does not deliver substantial new operating system features. For example, the service pack improves the performance of the desktop shell, but it does not provide a new search user interface or a new version of Windows® Media Center.
The updates in Windows Vista SP1 fall into three categories, which the following sections describe in detail:
Quality improvements, including all previously released updates, which address reliability, security, and performance.
Improvements to the administration experience, including BitLockerTM Drive Encryption (BDE).
Support for emerging hardware and standards, such as an Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) and an Extended File Allocation Table (exFAT).
Quality Improvements
Quality improvements have the broadest impact on all customers. It is the foundation of Windows Vista SP1 and is about improving the overall Windows Vista experience.
First, Windows Vista SP1 will include all previously released updates for Windows Vista. It also will include security, reliability, and performance improvements. These improvements target some of the issues Microsoft has identified as the most common causes of operating system crashes and hangs, giving customers a more reliable experience. These updates also improve performance in key scenarios-for example, when copying files or shutting down the computer.
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REDMOND, Wash. — Aug. 30, 2007 — Today Microsoft Corp. announced it has agreed to acquire Chicago-based Parlano, maker of MindAlign, a leading application for enterprise group chat. Microsoft expects to add Parlano’s group chat functionality as a new feature of Microsoft® Office Communications Server and Microsoft Office Communicator, Microsoft’s server and client software for presence, instant messaging, conferencing and VoIP.
“Parlano has been successful in meeting the rigorous communications needs of companies in financial services and other vertical markets,” said Gurdeep Singh Pall, corporate vice president of the Unified Communications Group at Microsoft. “Parlano’s expertise and technology, added to Microsoft’s unified communications offering, will deliver customers the most complete presence, instant messaging and group chat solution on the market.”
Founded in 2000, Parlano offers group chat technology that enables people to carry on topic-specific, multiparty instant messaging discussions that persist over time. Parlano’s software is used by companies in a variety of industries, including financial services, call centers and technology, to conduct ongoing business-critical conversations.
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If you follow Jeff Gilberts blog then you probably saw his post about the importance of reading release notes any time you're installing something new, but I want to bring your attention to one specific issue addressed in the release notes for System Center Configuration Manager 2007.
The Configuration Manager Setup Wizard has a page in the RTM version which did not previously exist. Since we were so close to shipping, the Docs were locked and only a relnote was possible. What is happening is SCCM is going to download client bits at the time of the Primary Site Servers installation. These client bits can be downloaded live or downloaded prior to installation and made available on the local network or server, such as when the site server has no Internet Connection, however this is not totally clear when you're doing the actual install itself. Should there be proxy issues or anything else that may interfere with Internet connectivity then you may run into problems.
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Everyone can make a mistake and build a virtual machine on a Windows Virtual Server 2005 R2. Soon you will discover that you made the wrong choice and want to convert this virtual machine to the VMware VMDK virtual disk format. Arne Fokkema the Dutch ICT-Freak created
a little how to and I translated his document. With the latest version of Winimage (8.10) you can convert the VDH virtual disk format to a VMDK virtual disk file. In this case we are going to convert a Longhorn Beta 3 (Windows Virtual Server 2005 R2) virtual machine to a VMware virtual machine.
Download Winimage 8.10 here
http://www.winimage.com/
My sources within Microsoft tell me that System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), formerly SMSv4 and the successor to SMS 2003, has been Released to Manufacturing (RTM).
"With major investments in simplicity, configuration, deployment and security, Configuration Manager 2007 dramatically simplifies system deployment, task automation, compliance management, and policy based security management allowing for increased business agility."
Well then you need to head on over to the
DPM Team blog or
Jason Buffington's blog and start learning about
Data Protection Manager 2007 and the other magic he has up his sleeve. In fact, Jason just posted a nice screencast at
http://blogs.technet.com/jbuff/archive/2007/08/20/how-dpm-filter-technology-really-works.aspx on the VSS writers that are used to backup the workloads they expect to be important to you. Check it out!
The System Center Operations Manager 2007 Migration Guide has now released to the Web and is available from the documentation link here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d826b836-59e5-4628-939e-2b852ed79859&DisplayLang=en
Alternatively from the TechNet TechCenter documentation page here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/opsmgr/bb498235.aspx
I just re-checked the SP1 KB article mentioned earlier in the posting
Exchange 2007 SP1 Beta 2 information and noticed this in the last part of the KB article:
... Traditionally, beta support has been limited to public forums. Beta products have never been supported in a production environment. However, for this beta version, limited support is available through Microsoft Customer Service and Support for customers who want to integrate Communications Server 2007 and Exchange UM features until the release of Exchange 2007 SP1. To receive support through the Microsoft Customer Service and Support organization, you must strictly meet the following criteria:
Exchange 2007 UM SP1 Beta 2 role deployed to a dedicated server.
No additional roles deployed with SP1 Beta 2 within the environment.Warning Additional Exchange roles will start an Active Directory Schema update to the production environment when SP1 Beta 2 is installed.
Only 64-bit code will be supported.
You must be trying to integrate with Communications Server 2007.
These are similar to the requirements that are imposed on OCS TAP customers - but new is of course actual public support for SP1 Beta 2 on the UM role.
If there’s one computing server product every enthusiast and home-user should be excited about, that would not be Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition for Itanium-Based Systems, instead it should be
Windows Home Server -
codename “Q”. Last month, WHS was released to manufacturing aiming for distribution “in the next couple of months” and retail availability “this fall”. The official availability date is now most likely Monday, August 27th 2007.
On the
Microsoft Support Lifecycle website, a listing for Windows Home Server states the general availability date as 8/27/2007, and mainstream support retirement date as 10/9/2012. This however does not suggest OEM products such as those from
HP will ship then - still expected to come “fall” (September).
In this case, general availability most likely refers to the DVD package for system builders and other OEM channels. If you’re one of those people who want to build your own Home Server, then you should consider bugging your local computer shop for a copy from August 27. Alternatively start your own
OEM business.
WVHA is a scalable agent-less assessment tool that integrates information from multiple network sources and assists customers and partners to determine the readiness of their workstations and laptops for Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office. WVHA provides in-depth analysis of hardware, installed software and device compatibility and delivers specific and actionable upgrade recommendations for each PC discovered on the network for migration to Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office. This tool does not require any “agent” software to be installed or deployed on machines inventoried and thus simplifies setup and usage.
What’s New in WVHA 2.1?
This new release incorporates feedback from many Microsoft partners, customers and field employees and includes new capabilities including:
Faster discovery of large enterprises up to 25,000 workstations and servers
Localized versions available in French, German, Japanese, Korean, LATAM Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese
Inventory by network subnet (IP range scanning)
SNMP discovery that gives customers and partners the ability discover non-Windows machines and network devices
The Microsoft BizTalk 2006 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 has now released to the Web and is available from
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=389FCB89-F4CF-46D7-BC6E-57830D234F91&displaylang=en
This MP has a dependency upon the recent released backward compatibility MP update 6.0.5000.1 (or higher, latest available being 6.0.5000.12 available here
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=655cdd06-861e-4342-99b2-8a81e09f6546&DisplayLang=en).
The purpose of override explorer is to simplify understanding what overrides exist in a management group. It provides two views:
Type Based - This view shows types for that have rules/monitors/discoveries for which overrides were created.
Computer Based - This is in essence a resultant set of overrides that apply to a computer. You can also drill in and see what overrides are applied to various computer components such as OS, Databases, Websites.
Download Override Explorer v3.3
A download is available on Microsoft.com containing a
stencil and template for Exchange Server 2007. If you do Exchange deployment or management this is worth grabbing. It works with
Visio 2003 or 2007.
The
Operation Manager blog are posting some Operations Manager-related items that review the steps performed to install, configure and tune management packs in real-world environments.
This specific post focuses on the SQL Management Pack (
continue at source)
Microsoft
PowerShell is a new admin-focused command line and scripting language developed by Microsoft to let administrators work more efficiently with applications running on the Windows Platform. PowerShell is rapidly gaining attention because of its extensive use in Microsoft Exchange 2007 and because of its simple to use syntax and command line automation features that are easy for day-to-day administrators to use.
What is the link between PowerShell and ActiveRoles Server?
Microsoft PowerShell was originally developed as the underlying command shell for Microsoft Exchange 2007 and provides no support for Active Directory. ActiveRoles Server on the other hand provided excellent support for Active Directory but lacked the command line interface that many administrators preferred.
Free PowerShell Commands for Active Directory
The ActiveRoles Management Shell for Active Directory is a set of PowerShell commands (CMDLETs) that can be downloaded and used for free to perform administrative tasks within
Active Directory.
Management Shell for Active Directory
Management Shell for Active Directory - Administrator's Guide
This includes CMDLETs for creating granular password settings in Windows Server 2008!
This morning i notices 2 posts, one from
Alessandro Perilli concerning the
upcoming VMware Infrastructure 3.1. and the other one from
Winbeta concerning the fact that
Dell will stuff hypervisors in flash memory.
VMWare Infrastructure 3.1 will have the ability to boot from a solid state drive, Alessandro already mentions that this will allow creation of ESX Server hardware appliances for easy jumpstart, granting smaller form-factors and improved reliability. Together with the announcement from Dell this will probably mean that Dell (and others) will embed the core virtualization code of VMWare in flash memory.
In previous versions of
Active Directory (AD) we had only one password and account lockout policy for the entire domain. Some companies had to use multiple domains to place different password policies on different users; others had to develop their own password filters or buy third party solutions. With
Windows Server 2008 we have the option to specify different password policies for different users and groups “out-of-the-box”.
Configuring Granular Password Settings in Windows Server 2008, Part 1
Configuring Granular Password Settings in Windows Server 2008, Part 2
The
Operation Manager blog are posting some Operations Manager-related items that review the steps performed to install, configure and tune management packs in real-world environments.
This specific post focuses on the Exchange Management Pack (
continue at source)
Thinking about deploying Windows
Vista® in your organization? Some of the benefits of upgrading include better security, a desktop search feature that makes it easier for users to locate the information that they need, better support for mobile users, and lower management and deployment costs.
As tempting as it sounds to start deploying Windows Vista immediately across your organization, you should follow standard information technology (IT) best practices to conduct pilots to specific groups first. This guide is intended to give you an overview of how to successfully manage a pilot program that provides the best experience for pilot users and helps to provide positive project justification to business decision makers in your organization.(
continue at source)
The August 2007 issue of TechNet Magazine is now available online at
www.technetmagazine.com/issues/2007/08/.
This month, our experts tackle a number of exciting new solutions available in the System Center family of management products. We begin with an overview of the forthcoming
System Center Configuration Manager 2007, which builds on the legacy of Systems Management Server (SMS). We also take a deeper dive into the
Branch Distribution Point feature of Configuration Manager 2007.
We continue with a great article from David Mills about getting started with the new
System Center Essentials, as well as an overview of the
new Operations Manager 2007, and a walk through of the
Operations Manager migration process. Last but not least, a look at the new
SoftGrid application virtualization platform.
In addition, you'll find all of our regular columns including
Security Watch,
Windows PowerShell,
Hey, Scripting Guy!,
The Cable Guy,
The Desktop Files,
Windows Confidential with Raymond Chen, and more - all available at
www.technetmagazine.com.
You might have noticed that we had some problems today; Techlog was unavailable for several hours. The cause was faulty hardware in our servers, which had to be replaced. Unfortunately, we had to restore the monday backup -- the main reason why some content from the past 2 days is lost. Sorry for the inconvience!
Kenneth & Maarten
