afokkema Microsoft, Virtualization, VMware, Windows

VMware: Windows 2008 Guest Customization


Helaas werkt de Guest Customization van een Windows 2008 VM / Template nog steeds niet out of the box in VirtualCenter 2.5.u2.

GuestCustomization20081

Gelukkig heeft Jasemccarty de oplossing in de VMware Communities geplaatst:

If you have a Windows 2008 guest that you wish to customize, it is fairly easy to do in VirtualCenter.

The sysprep.xml file is automatically generated by VirtualCenter, and does not require any additional tools from Microsoft, as they got smart, and included it in the base build of Windows Vista/2008.

Unfortunately, VC won’t customize a Windows 2008 guest… But it will customize a Windows Vista guest. Because they are a similar architecture (if not almost identical), changing the guest type to Vista, will allow you to customize a Windows 2008 guest.

All you have to do, is change the guest you wish to clone, or the template, to be configured as a Windows Vista guest.

You can then customize the guest (2008) the same way you would Windows Vista. When you are done deploying the guest, before you power it on, change it to be configured as a Windows 2008 guest.

 

Converteer je Windows 2008 template weer terug naar een VM en stel de VM daarna in op Microsoft Windows Vista als Guest Operation System Version.

GuestCustomization2008

Daarna converteer je de VM weer terug naar een templat. Vanaf nu kun je de Windows 2008 template ook customizen.

Screenshot - 5-8-2008 , 18_15_55

afokkema Microsoft, Virtualization, VMware

VMware: Create script for VC & VUM Databases


Voor het installeren van VirtualCenter 2.5 heb je een twee tal databases nodig. Een voor VC en een voor VUM. Ik werd gek van dat geklik binnen de SQL Server Management Studio. Voor dit proces heb ik nu een SQL script gemaakt. Dit script heb ik getest in SQL 2005.

Het onderstaande script maakt het volgende aan:

  • Database met de naam VC
  • Database met de naam VUM
  • User met de naam VCUSER, wachtwoord vmware
  • User met de naam VUMUSER, wachtwoord vmware
  • De beide Users krijgen de db_owner role en de sysadmin role.

CREATE DATABASE VC;
GO
CREATE LOGIN [VCUSER] WITH PASSWORD=’vmware’, DEFAULT_DATABASE=[VC], CHECK_EXPIRATION=OFF, CHECK_POLICY=OFF
GO

USE VC
GO
EXEC sp_grantdbaccess ‘VCUSER’
GO
EXEC sp_addrolemember ‘db_owner’, ‘VCUSER’
GO
EXEC sp_addsrvrolemember ‘VCUSER’, ‘sysadmin’
GO

CREATE DATABASE VUM;
GO
CREATE LOGIN [VUMUSER] WITH PASSWORD=’vmware’, DEFAULT_DATABASE=[VUM], CHECK_EXPIRATION=OFF, CHECK_POLICY=OFF
GO

USE VUM
GO
EXEC sp_grantdbaccess ‘VUMUSER’
GO
EXEC sp_addrolemember ‘db_owner’, ‘VUMUSER’
GO
EXEC sp_addsrvrolemember ‘VUMUSER’, ‘sysadmin’
GO

[/code]

Dit script kun je binnen de SQL Server Management Studio uitvoeren en na een F5 voor een refresh zie je de nieuwe databases en de nieuwe users.

afokkema Citrix, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Virtualization, VMware

Virtual Infrastructure products: features comparison


Ik was al een tijdje aan het zoeken naar een goede features comparison sheet. Ik zat er zelfs al aan te denken om er zelf een te maken tot dat Aleks (virtualistic.nl) me de volgende site liet zien: http://www.it20.info/

Disclosures:

  • I have limited the scope to x86 virtualization solutions
  • Virtualization is such a broad topic that I have decided to limit this table to hardware virtualization only solutions. The only exceptions as of today are “SW Virtuozzo” and “Solaris Containers” which do not implement hw virtualization but rather OS virtualization. For a description of these various virtualization tehcnologies check this article.
  • I have limited the solutions and the ISV to what I personally believe to be those that currently matter for the commercial/enterprise customers.
  • To shape/structure and fill this table I have collected feedbacks from various communities and other tables I came across in the last few months (thanks to Andreas Groth for his inputs). I am trying to maintain this page for the sake of the community … not to get credit for a work that others have been doing and I am only integrating here.
  • It’s proving to be very difficult to rate thorugh a simple yes/no table the value of a solution over the other. This is becoming even more challanging since most ISV’s are pushing into the value-add features rather than the pure hypervisor …
  • …. but since so many people are looking for such a table I decided to try ….
  • If you are one one the ISV’s mentioned below feel free to send me feedbacks and suggestions to the e-mail address above.
  • Some of the info in the tables are facts. Other info are opinion of the author and as such should be treated.

Structure of the Comparison:

  • High-level info and general market scenario (this will position the offering in the market)
  • Host/Hypervisor specific information/characteristics (this will high-light the hypervisor features)
  • Virtual Machines specific information/characteristics (this will high-light the potential virtual environments characteristics)
  • Infrastructure Management specific information/characteristics (this will enlarge the scope to the out-of-the box infrastruxture management features)

De comparison sheet kun je hier bekijken: http://www.it20.info/misc/virtualizationscomparison.htm

Thanks Aleks voor de link!

afokkema Microsoft, Windows

Microsoft: GPMC and other MMC’s on Windows Vista SP1


Na de installatie van Windows Vista SP1 worden er een aantal MMC’s gedeïnstalleerd. Deed je op je Vista machine zonder SP1 nog Start – Run – GPMC.msc en je kun je GPO’s beheren. Na de installatie van SP1 gaat dit niet meer.

image 

Speciaal voor windows Vista zijn toen de Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) ontworpen.

Download de RSAT versie voor jouw OS.

 

Voordat je de Remote Server Administration Tools gaat installeren lees eerst de onderstaande quote van http://blogs.technet.com/grouppolicy/

RSAT should not be installed on a computer that is running the Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools Pack or Windows 2000 Server® Administration Tools Pack. Please remove all versions of Administration Tools Pack from the computer before installing RSAT.

Only one copy of RSAT can be installed on a computer at one time. Before installing a new package, remove any existing versions of RSAT, including any copies that are in different languages.

 

Mocht je geen adminpack van Windows Server 2003 hebben geïnstalleerd, dan kun je de RSAT tools installeren. Vervolgens merk je nog geen verbeteringen omdat je Tools nog aangezet moeten worden. Dit doe je via:

Control Panel – Programs and Features  – Turn Windows Features On or Off – Remote Server Administration Tools

In de Windows Features wizard kun je de verschillende tools inschakelen. Je kunt ook Remote Server Administration Tools in zijn geheel inschakelen.

image

Nadat de wizard even bezig is geweest, zie je in de map Control Panel – Administrative Tools de nieuwe MMC’s.

image

Vanaf nu kun je ook weer via Start – Run – GPMC.msc  weer het management console starten.

image

Meer informatie over RSAT vind je in: KB941314

afokkema Microsoft, Windows

Performance Tuning Guidelines for Windows Server 2008


This information applies for the Windows Server 2008 operating system.

What’s New:

• Added “Power Guidelines” under Server Hardware section and added “Performance Tuning for Virtualization Servers” section.

Included in this paper:

• Performance Tuning for Server Hardware

• Performance Tuning for Networking Subsystem

• Performance Tuning for Storage Subsystem

• Performance Tuning for Web Servers

• Performance Tuning for File Servers

• Performance Tuning for Active Directory Servers

• Performance Tuning for Terminal Server

• Performance Tuning for Terminal Server Gateway

• Performance Tuning for Virtualization Servers

• Performance Tuning for File Server Workload (NetBench)

• Performance Tuning for Network Workload (NTttcp)

• Performance Tuning for Terminal Server Knowledge Worker Workload

• Performance Tuning for SAP Sales and Distribution Two-Tier Workload

Je kunt de whitepaper hier downloaden: Perf_tun_srv

afokkema Microsoft, Windows

Microsoft: IIS 7.0 Manager (Vista / XP)


Download de software hier:  inetmgr

Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1; Windows Vista Service Pack 1; Windows XP Service Pack 2

  • You must have the Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0 or greater installed.
  • If you are installing on Windows Vista:
    You must have Windows Vista Service Pack 1 beta installed
    You must have the Internet Information Services 7.0 Management Console installed.
  • If you are installing on Windows XP:
    You must have Windows XP Service Pack 2 installed
    If you are installing on Windows Server 2003:
    You must have Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 installed

Zodra je de software hebt gedownload en je PC voldoet aan de bovenstaande voorwaarden, kun je de IIS 7.0 manager installeren.

image

Daarna hoef je alleen nog maar verbinding te maken met de iis server, site of application.

image

afokkema Microsoft, Random, Windows

Microsoft: FTP Service for IIS 7.0


 iis-logo-thumb

Microsoft has created a new FTP service that has been completely rewritten for Windows Server 2008. This new FTP service incorporates many new features that enable web authors to publish content better than before, and offers web administrators more security and deployment options. This new FTP service supports a wide range of features and improvements, and the following list contains several of the improvements in this version:

  • Integration with IIS 7.0: IIS 7.0 has a brand-new administration interface and configuration store, and the new FTP service is tightly integrated with this new design. The old IIS 6 metabase is gone, and a new configuration store that is based on the .NET XML-based *.config format has taken its place. In addition, IIS 7.0 has a new administration tool, and the new FTP server plugs seamlessly into that paradigm.
  • Support for new Internet standards: One of the most significant features in the new FTP server is support for FTP over SSL. The new FTP server also supports other Internet improvements such as UTF8, IPv6, and adaptive networking bandwidth usage.
  • Shared hosting improvements: By fully integrating into IIS 7.0, the new FTP server makes it possible to host FTP and Web content from the same site by simply adding an FTP binding to an existing Web site. In addition, the FTP server now has virtual host name support, making it possible to host multiple FTP sites on the same IP address. The new FTP server also has improved user isolation, now making it possible to isolate users through per-user virtual directories.
  • Extensibility and custom authentication: The new FTP server supports developer extensibility, making it possible for software vendors to write custom providers for FTP authentication. Microsoft is using this extensibility feature to implement two new methods for using non-Windows accounts for FTP authentication for IIS Managers and .NET Membership.
  • Improved logging support: FTP logging has been enhanced to include all FTP-related traffic, unique tracking for FTP sessions, FTP sub-statuses, additional detail fields in FTP logs, and much more.
  • New supportability features: IIS 7.0 has a new option to display detailed error messages for local users, and the FTP server supports this by providing detailed error responses when logging on locally to an FTP server. The FTP server also logs detailed information using Event Tracing for Windows (ETW), which provides additional detailed information for troubleshooting.

Download hier de FTP Service for IIS 7.0:

Zodra de software binnen is, kan er worden begonnen met de installatie. Dit is gewoon recht toe recht aan “next, next en finish”.

image

Hier kun je nog wat features kiezen.

image

Mocht je de “oude” FTP server al geïnstalleerd hebben staan dan moet je deze verwijderen. Wat ik wel jammer vind is dat hij dit pas aan het einde van de wizard aangeeft.

image

Open de ServerManager en klik op Roles. Scroll naar de IIS role en klik op Remove Role Services.

image

Haal het vinkje weg bij FTP Publishing Service.

image

Even opnieuw opstarten en je kunt de installatie wizard opnieuw starten.

image

Nadat de wizard klaar is kun je deze sluiten.

image

Als je vervolgens de Servermanager start en naar de IIS tab gaat, zie je dat er een aantal nieuwe mogelijkheden zijn.

image

Jammer dat de FTP Service voor IIS 7.0 niet in de final release van Windows Server 2008 is verwerkt.

afokkema Microsoft, Virtualization, VMware, Windows

Building a OVF Repository with IIS 7.0


open de IIS management Console via Start – Run – inetmgr daarna voeg je een nieuwe Virtual Directory toe.

OVF_IIS7_1

In mijn geval heb ik deze OVF genoemd en geeft het pad op naar de directory.

OVF_IIS7_2

Daarna moet je Directory Browsing inschakelen, anders gaat het helaas niet werken.

OVF_IIS7_3

Je kunt nog wat logging inschakelen.

OVF_IIS7_4

Als laatste moeten er nog een drietal MIME types worden toegevoegd:

  • .mf application/vmware
  • .ovf application/vmware
  • .vmdk application/vmware

OVF_IIS7_5

Vanaf nu kun je via de import wizard van VMware Workstation 6.5 beta 2 en VI 3.5 de appliances direct importeren d.m.v. een url die naar je OVF repository. Bijvoorbeeld http://iisserver/ovf/appliance.ovf

afokkema Microsoft, Virtualization, VMware

Application virtualization comparison


Sven Huisman en Matthijs Haverink hebben een pdf samengesteld met daarin een overzicht van de functionaliteiten van de verschillende application virtualization producten.

OK, let’s google for an Application virtualization comparison chart… mmm, not there. Why not make one? So we did. My colleague Matthijs Haverink and I have written a comparison chart with the following products:

* This is Softgrid 4.2. From version 4.5 it’s called App-V. When App-V is released, this chart will be updated.

Download de pdf hier: http://virtualfuture.info/2008/06/virtualfuture-appchart/