SRM 5.1 not supported

SRM 5.1.0 is not supported in Server 2012 , ensure that you download 5.1u1  as pervious versions are not compatible.

Useful Group Policies for RDS 2012

I found a useful website which is great for reading up on group policies, please see the following link:

http://gpsearch.azurewebsites.net/# Group Policy Website

I have listed some recommended group polices that would be useful when configuring RDS.

RD Gateway

•  connection through RD Gateway
•  RD Gateway server address

RD Connection Broker

• Use RD Connection Broker load balancing

Session Time Limits

• Set time limit for active but idle Remote Desktop Services sessions

RemoteApp and Desktop Connections

• Specify default connection URL

Configuring RDS 2012 on Windows Azure

This post shows you how to setup RDS 2012 on Windows Azure: please see previous posts for guides on configuring RDS.

Deploy RDS VM

Ensure  you setup the Virtual Network and Domain controller before deploying the RDS VM. You can ether create a site to site VPN to a on-premise Domain Controller or create a new domain on Azure.

To create the RDS Virtual machine, navigate to the Virtual Machines tab and select New at the bottom left of the screen.

Create a VM from the from gallery and follow the instructions.

Once the VM is provisioned, you will need to remote to the server, configure basic settings, join the domain and deploy the services.

Configuring Endpoints for Web Access

To enable web services on the public domain you would need to create a endpoint allowing TCP 443.

Select the Virtual Machines tab and then select the RDS server. You will then be presented with a Dashboard screen, select Endpoints.

Add the port TCP 443 for web access.

Once configured you will be able to access the RDS Web page and access resources using https://Servername.cloudapp.net/rdweb . You can configure DNS servers with a CNAME to point the server to a domain of your choice. 

Connect to Office 365 Exchange Online from PowerShell

Just a quick post on how to connect to Office365 Microsoft Exchange online:

Download and install PowerShell for office 365

Windows Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell (64-bit version)

Windows Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell (32-bit version) 

Open Azure PowerShell:

$Cred = Get-Credential

Import-Module MSOnline
Set-ExecutionPolicy remotesigned
Connect-MsolService -Credential $cred
$Session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri https://ps.outlook.com/powershell/ -Credential $Cred -Authentication Basic -AllowRedirection

Import-PSSession $Session

Once finished with the session you can disconnect using the following:

Remove-PSSession $Session

 

Configuring vSphere HA Isolation Responces 5.1

When carrying out maintenance on Vcenter it is important to disable Enable Host Monitoring.

You can also configure advanced isolation response address’s.  for more information, please see VMware’s support document :

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/documentLinkInt.do?micrositeID=&popup=true&languageId=&externalID=2033250

PowerShell Script for SQL Firewall rules

As Netsh Firewall commands are now depreciated , I have written a PowerShell script for use with deploying SQL or accessing remote instances.

 

Set-ExecutionPolicy
-ExecutionPolicyRemoteSigned  
#Enabling SQL Server Ports
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName “SQL Server” -Direction Inbound –Protocol TCP –LocalPort 1433 -Action allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName “SQL Admin Connection” -Direction Inbound –Protocol TCP –LocalPort 1434 -Action allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName “SQL Service Broker” -Direction Inbound –Protocol TCP –LocalPort 4022 -Action allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName “SQL Debugger/RPC” -Direction Inbound –Protocol TCP –LocalPort 135 -Action allow
#Enabling SQL Analysis Ports
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName “SQL Analysis Services” -Direction Inbound –Protocol TCP –LocalPort 2383 -Action allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName “SQL Browser” -Direction Inbound –Protocol TCP –LocalPort 2382 -Action allow
#Enabling Misc. Applications
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName “HTTP” -Direction Inbound –Protocol TCP –LocalPort 80 -Action allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName “SSL” -Direction Inbound –Protocol TCP –LocalPort 443 -Action allow
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName “SQL Server Browse Button Service” -Direction Inbound –Protocol UDP –LocalPort 1433 -Action allow
#Enable Windows Firewall
Set-NetFirewallProfile -DefaultInboundAction Block -DefaultOutboundAction Allow -NotifyOnListen True -AllowUnicastResponseToMulticast True

Exchange 2013 Deployment Assistant

Finally Microsoft have released the full Exchange 2013 Deployment Guide.

Exchange 2013 Deployment Assistant

LoadGen for MS Exchange 2010

LoadGen is a simulation tool used to simulate user activity to test the performance of an exchange environment. This is great for testing client performance.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20322 

Microsoft Exchange Server – Jetstress 2010

Jetstress is a great tool for testing and validating MS Exchange 2010 storage performace when using virtualisation.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=4167

Vcenter 5.1 not starting on server 2012

After installing Vcenter on a server 2012 I received the following message:

To fix this you will need to edit the registry:

\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\vpxd and the Open the DependOnService key and remove ProtectedStorage from the list

Remove the ProtectedStorage from the list , click ok and exit out of the registry.

Reboot the server and Vcenter should start.