SBS 2011 RTM

Blogs are buzzing about the release of SBS 2011 (Formerly SBS 7) to manufacturing.

Official SBS Blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2010/12/13/windows-small-business-server-2011-standard-releases-to-manufacturing.asp

Philip Elder has gone and completed a Answerfile based installation : here

Adding a trusted certificate to SBS 2003

Microsoft TechNet Article - Creating, Obtaining, and Installing Trusted Certificates in a Windows SBS 2003 Network Environment

Blackberry Enterprise Server Express 5 on SBS 2008

Migrating from BPS4.x to BESx5 does not have a 'migration path'. However, you can install the two servers side by side on the same site.

However, ensure you create a new BESAdmin account for the new server, which will mitigate any issues you might have.

Another usefull addition is the Blackberry Enterprise Transporter. While not specifically listed for this scenario, it appears to work wonderfully.

The upshot is the users moved from the old to the new and never noticed.

The Transporter can be found here: http://na.blackberry.com/eng/support/server_resourcekit.jsp

The reference post I found this on:
http://www.send4help.net/using-the-blackberry-enterprise-transporter-for-bes-migration-248

Trend Micro MSA Disk Consumption

http://esupport.trendmicro.com/Pages/What-are-the-ScanMail-for-Exchange-SMEX-70-FONT-CLASSmonospaceSharedRe.aspx

How to reset the password on Cisco 800 series routers

In another post aimmed mainly at recording something I need, below is the link to the Offical Cisco documentation on resetting passwords for 800 series devices.

Password Reset Procedure

Abreviated:

1, Connect a console cable and reset the router
2, BREAK the boot sequence
3, show version and record the configuration register
4, confreg 0x2142
5, reset
6, Answer no to the setup questions once the router reboots
7, enable
8, copy startup-config running-config
9, configure terminal
10, enable secret yourpassword
11, Enable interfaces no shutdown
12, end
13, copy running-config startup-config
14, configure terminal
15, confreg and enter the register from step 3

Done

Two interesting links

http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/guyt/archive/2007/12/15/adrestore-net-rewrite.aspx

http://sbs.codeplex.com/

Deploying Outlook Signatures

http://blog.powershell.no/2010/01/09/outlook-signature-based-on-user-information-from-active-directory/

http://www.outlookcode.com/codedetail.aspx?id=821

Repair SBS Articles TechNet

Link here
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/sbs-2008-repair-guide(WS.10).aspx

SharePoint and Office Documents

Issues relating to Office prompting for credentials when opening documents from a SharePoint library.

Interesting
http://blogs.technet.com/b/steve_chen/archive/2010/06/25/multiple-logon-while-open-office-document-from-sharepoint.aspx

Workaround
http://www.quantumofgeek.com/2010/02/windows-7-prompting-for-authentication-when-accessing-sharepoint-documents/

SharePoint Blogpost
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sharepoint/archive/2007/10/19/known-issue-office-2007-on-windows-vista-prompts-for-user-credentials-when-opening-documents-in-a-sharepoint-2007-site.aspx

MSKB Article
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2019105/en-us?wa=wsignin1.0

Hotfix
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=943280

Reinstalling Exchange roles on SBS 2008

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd728006(WS.10).aspx

http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2009/05/21/repair-microsoft-exchange-server-roles-on-windows-small-business-server-2008.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd767439(WS.10).aspx

CA eTrust Updates fail

Blog post here http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproappcompat/thread/a2b11a70-7e04-4b67-964c-8d7ba7279929

Unable to scan to email

Todays issue appeared during a migration from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008. The Xerox copier was configured to send incomming faxes to a shared mailbox. However, it was no longer performing this, offering only 'transmit failed'.

After not being able to get anything further from the copier as to what this issue was, I installed Network Montior and reviewed traffic from the copier.

Trawling through the SMTP traffic highlighted that Exchange 2007 was rejecting mail with a 530 5.7.1 Client was not authenticated.

I rechecked the Exchange hub transport to ensure that relaying was permitted, which it was. Digging deeper, the Default connector did not have anonymous authentication ticked, which is why this was failing.

Installation issue on Proliant ML350 G6 Server

Installing SBS 2008 on a new Proliant ML 350 G6 I found the installation hung on the "completing installation" phase. After some digging and obscure forum post pointed toward the second SAS controller for the tape drive.

Removing the SAS controller for the first stage of the installation alieviated the issue.

Leasons Learned

Ignored a SBS BPA error, which almost caused my migration to fail.

Blog post

Understanding the WinSXS folder

What is it? http://blogs.technet.com/b/askcore/archive/2008/09/17/what-is-the-winsxs-directory-in-windows-2008-and-windows-vista-and-why-is-it-so-large.aspx

More detailed what is it? http://www.winvistaclub.com/f16.html

Why is it so big (or not)?http://www.davidlenihan.com/2008/11/winsxs_disk_space_usage_its_no.html

How to reduce the space for SP1
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc709618(WS.10).aspx
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc709655(WS.10).aspx

How to reduce the space for SP2
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd335036(WS.10).aspx

SBS 2003 and SBS 2008 Best Practise Analysers updated

I strongly recommend the BPA, from the SBS BPA's through to Exchange and ISA BPA's.

The MS teams have updated the BPA checks from both SBS 2003 and SBS 2008.

Read the post here.

How to install Exchange Server 2007 SP3 on a computer that is running Windows SBS 2008

Article here

Windows 7 Mobile - Development links

http://channel9.msdn.com/learn/courses/WP7TrainingKit/

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff431744(VS.92).aspx

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff402529(VS.92).aspx

http://developer.windowsphone.com/

How to upgrade your Windows SharePoint Services websites on Windows SBS 2008 to Windows SharePoint Foundation 2010

Useful blog post on upgrading SharePoint to the current SharePoint 2010 Foundation on an SBS server.

Blog Post Here

Trend Micro WFBS Service Pack fails to install on SBS 2008

Just encountered an issue installing SP2 for Worry Free Business Security 6. The installer errors at the "Stop World Wide Web Publishing Service".

The dialog reads "The World Wide Web Publishing Service needs to finish a task now in progress. Please wait a few minutes before trying to install SP2".

This is caused by ther Terminal Services Gateway service, which depends on the WWW Publishing service.

Stopping the Terminal Services Gateway service prior to starting the installation will allow the service pack to install. You will need to restart the service manually after the installation.

Of course, it does mean you will need to find another way onto the server to install this remotely (Thanks HP for iLO).

EDIT: Subsequently found this post on the Trend forum relating to the issue.

Windows 7 Updates failing

Uncovered an strange issue with certain windows updates failing. Also problems installing applications and the Visual C runtimes.

Turns out to be an issue described here

HyperV issues with SnapShots

We use snapshots regularly prior to patches or changes to virtual machines. Usually this process works very well.

Today I encountered issues after trying to delete a snapshot to a virtual machine. The Hyper-V manager reported that the merge failed, then all subsequent attempts to merge or remove the snapshot also failed. This appears to related to the core configuraton, as all of the VM's I was working on exhibited the same issues.

In the end I worked around the problem by creating new VM's, manually merging the snapshots and attaching the VHD's to the newly created replacement VM's.

Unfortunately this means the NIC's are no longer the same, so static IP's etc need to be reassigned.

This blogpost has a comprehensive how to for merging single and multiple snapshots manually.

With the VM's now running, I can begin to investigate the root cause of the issue.

The following technet articles detail some of the underlying configuration for a Hyper-V host.

Backing up and restoring Virtual Server

Virtual Server folders and files

First steps on Aurora

The Aurora preview has just been released, and I have patiently waited most of the day for the download to complete. My current prefered Virtualisation solution is Oracle VirtualBox. My first attempt at installation failed, with an error 0xc0000225.

This is apparently caused by missing BIOS APIC functionality, so enabling IO APIC for the VM fixed this. Second was the installation wouldn't continue without a NIC, which wasn't discovered. Changing from the default to the Intel PRO/1000 MT Server NIC fixed that issue.

The box seems to run pretty slick VM'd and the dashboard is great. I'll be playing more over the next couple of days.

Trend Micro Worry Free Business disk space cleaner

Out of the Box, Worry Free Business Security can use quite a bit of disk space. I've often wondered if any of this can be purged. Turns out Trend have a tool to do just that. This article even discribes running it as a scheduled task.

Folder permissions monitoring

A client has a situation where they have a small internal IT team that manages the day to day administration of the site. The client manages a large amount of highly sensitive data, which the admins do not require access to.

This data is stored in folders and the appropriate NTFS folder permissions applied. However, the client was not comfortable with the knowledge that the internal team could still give themselves access to these folders.

In the end we settled on a simple solution. We enabled auditing on those folders for the change permissions and take ownership. We then uses EventSentry light to email the manager should a change be made.

Certainly not failsafe, but a sufficient solution for the client.

Blackberry Enterprise Server - IEMSTEST "Failed to create a folder in mailbox"

Recently installed a Blackberry Enterprise Server Express v5. The installation went smoothly, very similar steps to previous versions. A big change compared to Blackberry Professional Server v4x is that there is no longer a CAL requirement for additional Blackberry devices.

However, I wasn't able to activate any users. I checked and rechecked the permissions and everything was showing correctly. I eventually resolved the issue by specifically assigning permissions to he Exchange Mailbox Store.

Assigning permissions for a BlackBerry Enterprise Server service account

How to use the IEMSTest.exe tool to verify that the BlackBerry Enterprise Server service account can access user mailboxes

Permissions set at the Administrative Group or Microsoft Exchange Server level are not inherited by the mailbox of the BlackBerry smartphone user

SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 Migrations

Having managed a number of successful migrations, I've pieced together a number of resources I find invaluable. Starting from the top is MPECS Blog Post.

http://blog.mpecsinc.ca/2009/06/sbs-2003-to-sbs-2008-migration-guide.html

This is the official post, which is very comprehensive.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2009/02/19/sbs-2008-migrations-from-sbs-2003-keys-to-success.aspx

However, here are a couple of pointers to get you started:

· Your existing server needs to be as clean as possible and fully patched.
· Smarthosts will break the Exchange replication. The SBS BPA will flag this.
· Run the SBS BPA 2003 and ensure there are *no* issues.
· Run the Exchange BPA for a 2007 migration and ensure there are *no* issues.
· Ensure you have a backup *before* running the migration prep. You need this, if the migration fails, there is no rollback other than a restore.
· SBS 2008 is x64 only. You will have printer driver issues.
· Don’t create autodiscover DNS records, the migration will create a split DNS to handle this internally. Externally you need a SRV record, http://www.thirdtier.net/2009/02/setting-up-an-external-autodiscover-record-for-sbs-2008/
· A real certificate will save you pain. It doesn’t need to be a UC or SAN, just a real third party cert for remote.yourdomain.tld.
· You still have to manually move the data, applications.
· You only have *21 days* from when you start to complete the migration. After this the original box will reboot every hour.
· The old server must be completely removed, you can’t leave it to serve up apps once it’s dcpromo’d.

Wow! Somebody's actually out there!

Incredible, someone actually reads (or has at least looked at) my blog. I hope it's been useful.

New Zealand 28
United States 9
Russia 2
Hungary 2
Netherlands 1
United Kingdom 1
Canada 1

ML150 G6 Redundant Power Supply Option Kit - Issues with not redundant

It's all about the little green cable. After another member of our engineering team installed the ML150 RPS Kit, the PSU's were not showing as redundant. In the end, it turned out to be a single cable:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&objectID=c02010464&prodTypeId=12169&prodSeriesId=3319912

MS Support Case resolved.

In the end, the resolution was a simple as bypassing the proxy server (WebMarshal), and everything sprung to life! MS Support were fantastic.

Problem Description:
You are unable to active Out of Office in Outlook 2007 for mailboxes that are resident on an SBS 2008 server.

Resolution:

Change the group policy by allowing internal network traffic towards your SBS server to bypass the proxy server.

Reference:

Overview of the Autodiscover Service
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124251(EXCHG.80).aspx

Troubleshooting Autodiscover Connectivity for Outlook 2007
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb397225(EXCHG.80).aspx

Using WinHTTP Tools
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384084(v=VS.85).aspx

All you wanted to know about SBS Backup and Restore

Here is a great series of posts from the Offical SBS Blog regarding backup and restore of an SBS 2008 Server with SBS Backup.

Introducing SBS 2008 Backup
System State Backups and SBS 2008
Proper Backup/Restore Methods for a Small Business Server 2008 Running as a Virtual Machine
How to Perform a Bare Metal Restore on Small Business Server 2008

Backup Exec - E00084F4

I am having a frustrating problem with BackupExec 12.5 and Server 2008 x64 on HP Hardware. The Firmware, Drivers, OS and Backup Exec are all patched. I have the issue occurring on both HP Proliant ML350 G5 and G6 servers. Drive is an external HP Ultrium LTO3.

Backup- C:
Storage device "HP 1" reported an error on a request to write data to media. Error reported: A device attached to the system is not functioning. V-79-57344-34036 - An unknown error has occurred.

E00084F4 is the error code

Adamm Mover Error: MoverDeviceIo::Write - m_wrapper.WriteData failed!
Error = ERROR_GEN_FAILURE
Drive = "HP 1"
{EB49ECC5-2EC6-4C93-953F-827B4F63D574}
Media = "LTO000002"
{D217388A-A8AC-4474-A487-3A74E385D10C}
Read Mode: SingleBlock(0), ScsiPass(0)
Write Mode: SingleBlock(1), ScsiPass(1)

The backup will run for between 5 and 10 minutes before failing. The error code is generic, suggesting a driver issue. I’m using the Symantec driver and have installed the latest Symantec drivers.

HP LTT’s tests run fine.

http://www.symantec.com/connect/forums/jobs-failing-error-code-e00084f4-using-hp-ultrium-4-lto-external-scsi-tape-drive

The solution? Disable the HP Agents, specifically the HP Insight storage agent.

EDIT - This issue is now documented with Symantec. http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH61192&actp=search&viewlocale=en_US&searchid=1304024734667

More Autodiscover links

http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2008/12/18/autodiscover-and-dns.aspx

http://sbs.seandaniel.com/2008/10/autodiscover-and-outlook-anywhere.html

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb232838(EXCHG.80).aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb201695(EXCHG.80).aspx">

http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2010/01/05/troubleshooting-certificate-mismatch-warnings-in-outlook-2007-clients-on-small-business-server-2008.aspx">

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/pt-BR/winsbspt/thread/5408f9aa-e769-4572-8a2d-92f3a385cf78

http://www.exchange-genie.com/2007/07/exchange-2007-autodiscover-service-part-1/

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940726/en-us

Backup SBS 2008 to a Network Share

By default, SBS won't allow you to backup to anything other than a local disk. This is fine in many smaller cases, however in some of our virtualised deployments, with tape offload, this wasn't suitable.

Windows Backup, the solution behind the SBS wizards, can and will backup to shared. The key to this is utilising the WBADMIN command line tool.

Autodiscover issue links

Reinstall the Client Access Role in Windows Small Business Server 2008
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd767439(WS.10).aspx

How do I recreat autodiscover website
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/exchangesvradmin/thread/1f0b859f-b5a1-40a7-b0ff-5f328cb87090/

How to Delete the Default Autodiscover Service Virtual Directory
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa995958(EXCHG.80).aspx

Autodiscover problem
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/exchangesvrclients/thread/e240c025-c11c-4555-933b-4f0adcce5dd8

Autodiscover and OAB does not work internally - from the internet it works fine!!
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/exchangesvrgeneral/thread/49a9f467-7916-4b2d-933b-99469b217946

Configure Exchange Services for the Autodiscover Service
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb201695.aspx

Service Principal Name Missing
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa996905%28EXCHG.80%29.aspx

Autodiscover and Exchange 2007
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb232838(EXCHG.80).aspx

How to Configure Exchange Services for the Autodiscover Service
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb201695(EXCHG.80).aspx

Change Control redux

After more issues with inherited sites, I've reinforced one of my peronal SBS rules. Don't change the SBS default objects. Create new ones. If the new can't co-exist with the old, disable the old.

My first MS Support Call

I've had a strange issue with a SBS 2008 environment banging around for a while now which has had me stumped. We upgraded the client from SBS 2003 to 2008. It was a straight forward migration without any real issues. However, some months later users began complaining about not being able to set Out of Office.

Long story short, we've exausted our ideas. So time to log my first support call. Two hours on the phone and I have a case number. Can't wait to post updates to how this goes.

Cisco 800 series router - Password reset

How to reset the password and configuration on a Cisco 800 series router here.

SBS Licence Issues

Use the Transfer Wizard.

SBS Licence file location - Copied below to keep.

Small Business Server 2003 - The Dreaded 5 CAL Reset Issue

A runaway process on SBS2003 decided to fill up all the disk space on C: in the early hours of the morning. The fallout from this was the System log was corrupt and the SBS license data was reset to the default 5 CALs.
The System log was easy to fix - reboot the server.
The SBS license data was an absolute pain. I'd never run the "Back up licenses" utility in the Licensing section of Server Management. Microsoft have KB article 888818 discussing this, which is either re-enter the licenses, restore the C:\WINDOWS folder or restore a backup of the licenses.
The first wasn't an option as I was offsite and the person with the key to the safe wasn't in. The second was just not viable - why Microsoft couldn't specify which file/folder needed restoring I don't know. The third would have been OK if ever I had run it.
After much stuffing about I found that the SBS2003 licenses are kept in the licstr.cpa file in the WINDOWS\system32 folder. Thankfully, Microsoft actually keep an automatic backup of this in autolicstr.cpa. The simple process was to stop the License Logging Service, rename licstr.cpa to licstr.cpa.old, then copy autolicstr.cpa to licstr.cpa. After this I started License Logging Service and used Server Management to confirm that the licenses had been restored.

Issue was after a HIR with Storage Craft Shadow Protect, blog post here

Are you certifiable?

Great gameshow game to test your MS knowledge. Play it here.

Links - SBS 2003 -> SBS 2008 Migration Guide

MPECS Inc Blog - 2003 to 2008 Migration Guide