If there is an error on your system and opened the Event viewer and You wish there was more info. you debug lever 4 or more.
Well Did you know you can turn-on some extra options in the event log ?
Open the Event log
You opened and all you see is the admin log. well go to the menu <> View and check #show analytic and Debug Logs
Well there is an extra log entry.
You need to turn this on !
with this setting you have more info and need less time to troubleshoot.
To create a Windows server 2012 failover cluster you need just a few steps.
First we use the group creation to manage the servers easily. I name the Group as it would be my new SQL Cluster. I show you all the screens just so that you can find the options. Not every body find it easy to find the things that he has to do.
So we created the groups and we are adding the Failover cluster Roles to the nodes just right click and add roles and the wizard pops up choose the failover cluster tools do this for both nodes.
On top of the screen you can see on what node you install the Roles. Remember you don’t have to go to the node to install the roles you can do this in the server groups.
Or you can use Posh. there are a lot new powershell commands to find them it is easy you can use the * The above Gui things can be done with one line Posh.
Now there are a few steps you can do to deploy roles
Get-WindowsFeature *
Get-WindowsFeature Failover-Clustering
As you can see this is on the remote cluster node ! I’m logged on on node 1 and it runs also on node 2
install-WindowsFeature Failover-Clustering
Or do it in
When We want to create a new cluster we can do this also in Posh just one line
New-Cluster -Name "myfirstcluster" -Node mvpwin8-n1 -NoStorage -StaticAddress "10.255.255.73"
Or gui again I show you all the screens just to see how fast posh is
Remember the validation reports are important to have if you setup fails or you cluster is in trouble run validation and see where to problem is.
7 clicks further your cluster is ready. now we are adding disk to the cluster and configure the witness disk
First in powershell.
My cluster name is : cluster8
the Get-ClusterAvailableDisk -Cluster cluster8
List all available disk
Get-ClusterAvailableDisk -Cluster cluster8
Get-ClusterAvailableDisk -Cluster cluster8 |Add-ClusterDisk
this adds all the disks to the cluster
or in the Gui
Now that the disk are ready we configure the Quorum disk
on top of the cluster right click and configure quorum.
We have a two node cluster , use the recommended settings.
So all this in 3 lines powershell
install-WindowsFeature Failover-Clustering
Get-ClusterAvailableDisk -Cluster cluster8
New-Cluster -Name "myfirstcluster" -Node mvpwin8-n1 -NoStorage -StaticAddress "10.255.255.73"
Did you also see the little export line ? in the Roles installation field save it for later.
it looks like this.
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Objs xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/powershell/2004/04" Version="1.1.0.1"><Obj RefId="0"><TN RefId="0"><T>System.Collections.ObjectModel.Collection`1[[System.Management.Automation.PSObject, System.Management.Automation, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35]]</T><T>System.Object</T></TN><LST><Obj RefId="1"><TN RefId="1"><T>Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimInstance#root/Microsoft/Windows/ServerManager/ServerComponent_NET_Framework_Features</T><T>Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimInstance#root/Microsoft/Windows/ServerManager/MSFT_ServerManagerServerComponentDescriptor</T><T>Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimInstance#ServerComponent_NET_Framework_Features</T><T>Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimInstance#MSFT_ServerManagerServerComponentDescriptor</T><T>Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimInstance</T><T>System.Object</T></TN><ToString>ServerComponent_NET_Framework_Features</ToString><Props><Nil N="PSComputerName"/></Props>
So if you want to reuse / import this file on a fresh new server it can.
Import Configuration settings in windows 2012 based on exported Configuration settings in windows 2012
Go to powershell
install-WindowsFeature –configurationfilepath \\server\configfiles\savedconfig.xml
And your done
If you want to build quick servers and add features to it and you don’t use #SCVMM then the export import is maybe the thing you can use.
Below is a sample on how to use this.
So we created the groups and we are adding the Failover cluster Roles to the nodes just right click and add roles and the wizard pops up choose the failover cluster tools do this for both nodes.
Did you also see the little export line ? in the Roles installation field save it for later.
it looks like this.
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Objs xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/powershell/2004/04" Version="1.1.0.1"><Obj RefId="0"><TN RefId="0"><T>System.Collections.ObjectModel.Collection`1[[System.Management.Automation.PSObject, System.Management.Automation, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35]]</T><T>System.Object</T></TN><LST><Obj RefId="1"><TN RefId="1"><T>Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimInstance#root/Microsoft/Windows/ServerManager/ServerComponent_NET_Framework_Features</T><T>Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimInstance#root/Microsoft/Windows/ServerManager/MSFT_ServerManagerServerComponentDescriptor</T><T>Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimInstance#ServerComponent_NET_Framework_Features</T><T>Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimInstance#MSFT_ServerManagerServerComponentDescriptor</T><T>Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimInstance</T><T>System.Object</T></TN><ToString>ServerComponent_NET_Framework_Features</ToString><Props><Nil N="PSComputerName"/></Props>
So if you want to reuse / import this file on a fresh new server it can.
Import Configuration settings in windows 2012 based on exported Configuration settings in windows 2012
Go to powershell
install-WindowsFeature –configurationfilepath \\server\configfiles\savedconfig.xml
And your done
Happy Building.
This article documents the hotfixes that are currently available for Windows Server 2012-based Failover Clusters. Failover Clustering allows multiple servers to provide high availability of server roles. Failover Clustering is often used for File Services, Virtual Machines, Database Applications, and Mail Applications.
Note We recommend that you evaluate each fix to determine whether it applies to your environment. If you determine that Failover Clusters in your environment may be affected by the problem(s) that a fix addresses, install the fix on each cluster node by using the procedures that are described in Knowledge Base article 174799: Patching Windows Server Failover Clusters
Collapse this tableExpand this table
Date added
Knowledge Base Article
Title
Component
Why we recommend this hotfix KB2770917
( http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2770917 / )
Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 cumulative update: November 2012
Multiple
Improves clustered server performance and reliability in Hyper-V and Scale-Out File Server scenarios. Improves SMB service and client reliability under certain stress conditions. Install update 2770917 by using Windows Update in order to receive the cumulative update as described in KB 2770917. KB976424
( http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976424 )
Error code when the kpasswd protocol fails after you perform an authoritative restore: "KDC_ERROR_S_PRINCIPAL_UNKNOWN" KDCSVC
Install on every domain controller running Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 or Windows Server 2008 R2 in order to add a Windows Server 2012 failover cluster. Otherwise Create Cluster may fail when attempting to set the password for the cluster computer object with error message: CreateClusterNameCOIfNotExists (6783): Unable to set password on <ClusterName$> This hotfix is included in Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1.
Below are the latest Links to the KB or Blog post about System Center Products and Windows Server
System Center All Up: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenter/
System Center – Configuration Manager Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
System Center – Data Protection Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
System Center – Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
System Center – Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
System Center – Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center – Virtual Machine Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm
Windows Intune: http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsintune/
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/
The AD RMS blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/rmssupp/
App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv
The Forefront Endpoint Protection blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/
Below are the latest Links to the KB or Blog post about System Center Products and Windows Server
System Center All Up: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenter/
System Center – Configuration Manager Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
System Center – Data Protection Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
System Center – Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
System Center – Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
System Center – Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center – Virtual Machine Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm
Windows Intune: http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsintune/
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/
The AD RMS blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/rmssupp/
App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv
The Forefront Endpoint Protection blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/
Provides a visual reference for understanding key Hyper-V technologies in Windows Server 2012 and focuses on Hyper-V Replica, networking, virtual machine mobility (live migration), storage, failover clustering, and scalability.
The links in this section correspond to files available for this download. Download the files appropriate for you.
Poster Companion Reference – Hyper-V and Failover Clustering.pdf
Download
Poster Companion Reference – Hyper-V Replica.pdf
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Component Architecture Poster For Printing.pdf
This poster and and the companion references provide an understanding about key Hyper-V technologies in Windows Server 2012. The Hyper-V poster focuses on Hyper-V Replica, networking, virtual machine mobility (live migration), storage, failover clustering, and scalability. For posters related to earlier operating systems, see:
![image_thumb[1]](http://scom.aca-computers.nl/image/70b834debeb6_8A60/image_thumb1_3.png "image_thumb[1]")
The latest release from the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) team provides organizations with tools to assess readiness for Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8.
Download MAP 7.0 on the Microsoft Download Center: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?&id=7826
Thanks for your ongoing interest and participation in the MAP beta review program. We are pleased to announce that Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 7.0 is now available for download.
Get ready for Windows Server 2012 with the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 7.0. The latest version of the MAP Toolkit adds several new planning scenarios that help you build for the future with agility and focus while lowering the cost of delivering IT. Download MAP 7.0 and begin planning your server deployments today!
New capabilities allow you to:
Learn more
Visit the MAP home page: www.microsoft.com/map
Get the latest news straight from the MAP team: http://blogs.technet.com/mapblog
MAP works with the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and Security Compliance Manager to help you plan, securely deploy, and manage new Microsoft technologies—easier, faster, and at less cost. Learn more at www.microsoft.com/solutionaccelerators.
With the release of Windows Server 2012, Microsoft brings its experience in building and operating public clouds to the server platform for private clouds. It offers customers scalable, dynamic and multitenant-aware cloud infrastructure that helps users connect across-premises. As a result, IT can respond to business needs with greater agility and efficiency, and the mobile workforce is able to access personalized work environments from virtually anywhere.
The Windows Server 2012 product line-up has been streamlined and simplified, making it easier for customers to choose the edition that is right for their needs.
Datacenter edition for highly-virtualized private cloud environments.
Standard edition for non-virtualized or lightly virtualized environments.
Essentials edition for small businesses with up to 25 users running on servers with up to two processors.
Foundation edition for small businesses with up to 15 users running on single processor servers
Running instances can exist either in a physical operating system environment (POSE) or a virtual operating system environment (VOSE). Edition Running instances in POSE Running instances in VOSE
*When a customer is running all allowed virtual instances, the physical instance may only be used to manage and service the virtual instances. For information about licensing in virtual environments, see the Microsoft Volume Licensing Brief: Licensing Microsoft Server Products in Virtual Environments white paper.
**Essentials can be run in either a physical or virtual operating system environment “1 or 1.”
Here is a summary of key server roles by edition.
Edition comparison by feature
Here is a summary of key server features.
So basically Windows Server 2012 Licensing Changes big time and much easier. Hyper-v is there only in datacenter and standard edition.
Microsoft Tech Ed 2012: Continuous Availability Documentation
These documents supplement the Microsoft TechEd 2012 sessions related to continuous availability. They cover topics such as Scale-Out File Server, Cluster-Aware Updating, SMB 3.0, and NIC Teaming.
| File name | Size | |
|---|---|---|
| Continuously Available File Server – Under the Hood.docx | 60 KB | Download |
| How to Increase SQL Availability and Performance by Using Window Server 2012 SMB 3.0 Solutions.docx | 3.0 MB | Download |
| Hyper-V Over SMB Remote File Storage Support in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V.docx | 3.0 MB | Download |
| Update Management in Windows Server 2012 Revealing Cluster-Aware Updating and the New Generation of WSUS.docx | 3.0 MB | Download |
| Windows Server 2012 Cluster-in-a-Box, RDMA, and More.docx | 3.0 MB | Download |
| Windows Server 2012 File and Storage Services Management.docx | 3.0 MB | Download |
| Windows Server 2012 High-Performance, Highly-Available Storage Using SMB.docx | 3.0 MB | Download |
| Windows Server 2012 NIC Teaming and Multichannel Solutions.docx | 3.0 MB | Download |
Windows Server 2012 contains a set of continuously available storage solutions that provide a cost effective alternative to an expensive storage area network (SAN) without sacrificing availability and performance. These solutions are targeted towards traditional information worker workloads and application workloads, and they span the scalability and price point needs for different market segments. Systems go from entry-level solutions to scale-out solutions with up to 400 drives. These solutions are based on software that is developed by several teams at Microsoft, hardware that is already in the market, and hardware that is being developed in cooperation with industry partners. These documents supplement the Microsoft TechEd 2012 sessions related to continuous availability. They introduce the new and enhanced features of Windows Server 2012 and cover topics such as Scale-Out File Server, Cluster-Aware Updating, SMB 3.0, and NIC Teaming.
Windows 2012 Clustering is just as easy as in windows 2008R2
In a few samples step by step I show you how to do clustering.
Now I cluster a DHCP server.
In the cluster you can create a resource , this resource option must be installed on all your cluster nodes !
So I choose DHCP and want to create a cluster a wizard pop’s up and follow…
Fill in a NetBIOS name this name will be created in the AD.
I select a disk that will hold the Database.
and a nice warning this I have only one node. I need to add the second node.
In the cluster manager you can see the just created resources and as you can see the DHCP resource is not online. Why ? well in the error screen you can see
Cluster network name resource ‘MVPDHCP79’ failed to create its associated computer object in domain ‘mvp.local’ during: Resource online.
The text for the associated error code is: A constraint violation occurred.
Please work with your domain administrator to ensure that:
– The cluster identity ‘CLUSTER12$’ has Create Computer Objects permissions. By default all computer objects are created in the same container as the cluster identity ‘CLUSTER12$’.
– The quota for computer objects has not been reached.
– If there is an existing computer object, verify the Cluster Identity ‘CLUSTER12$’ has ‘Full Control’ permission to that computer object using the Active Directory Users and Computers tool.
Cluster resource ‘MVPDHCP79’ of type ‘Network Name’ in clustered role ‘MVPDHCP79’ failed.
The cluster identity ‘CLUSTER12$’ has Create Computer Objects permissions. By default all computer objects are created in the same container as the cluster identity ‘CLUSTER12$’.
Ok seams clear to me the Cluster computer object has no access to create a object in the AD.
Easy to fix just give the account god mode and your done… Well yes but I do it different.
In the AD I created a OU where I placed My Cluster resources.
In my OU I do delegation of Control
I pick my cluster netbiosname and choose what to do with it. custom rule
and create object is this folder this way I have control over who and what is creating objects in my AD , all I need is that the cluster computer account can create objects in the AD.
And in my cluster I bring the DHCP online and yes is is online and in the AD there is my DCHP object
And it is creating the objects in the cluster OU
Windows Server | DirectAccess | Remote Access | VPN
DirectAccess is a feature in the Windows 7 , Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 operating systems that gives users the experience of being seamlessly connected to their corporate network any time they have Internet access.
With DirectAccess, users are able to access corporate resources (such as e-mail servers, shared folders, or intranet web sites) following common security standards, anytime they have an internet connection.
The new thing here is that in windows 2012 you can use a single nic.
In my previous blog I showed the configuration but now I want to NLB the DirectAccess Server.
again my basic setup is here just on one server configured and the second node is stand by. Keep in mind Remote access must be installed on both machines and the NLB option must be installed.
In the configuration menu you can choose enable load balancing.
The wizard shows me that I can choose Windows NLB or a hardware NLB solution.
Yes Ill take the WNLB. and as you can see you don’t need to setup UAG and NLB this and then direct access no go strait to the Remote access console and do your thing.
In this case I use an Edge directaccess option.
Fill in the IPv4 address that will be used as the external VIP by the Network Load Balancing feature. this address must be on the same IP subnet that dedicated external address of Windows 2012 servers.
The Internal IP is just as you do a internal NLB option.
now that the NLB is ready just on one node
We can add a second node to the NLB farm and have our DirectAccess highly available
To add the Second node just do add or remove node.
On firewalls or other products that has multiple NIC’s I make sure that the naming is correct nic name = internet has internet access . or red or green but don’t leave this default now I can easy see what nic I need.
Just to remember If you use a self signed certificate you can’t use NLB so a root CA must be in place.
after the commit my NLB is in place an overview is there with the NLB servers in it.
there are more PowerShell options that you can use.
Get-RemoteAccessHealth –cluster
Get-DAserver
more on Direct Access
Or on powershell
For Creating a ISCSI target on a cluster you get a high available iscsi target.
Sure you can run this on a single server (VM ) and move this between the hyper-v nodes.
for doing this in a cluster you need to do the following steps.
Add cluster Resource ISCSI target , fill in the netbios name that you want for the iscsi target
give the target a disk that will hold the VHD files
Now that the cluster resource is created the iscsi target is ready to use.
There is no option in the cluster to start the iscsi target you have to start this in the server manager
As here you can create a new VHD file and use this for targeting , I have no groups so this needs to be created first. I use a small disk just for testing.
for creating the disk you can choose mb , gb , TB disk size.
I Create a new iscsi target and a name
the target can be on computer name but this is only for windows 2012 or windows 8
just as in windows 2008r2 these options are the same , targeting on ip , name etc.
this is the IP of the server that will use the ISCSI target
Ready to us the ISCSI targets
Mount it to the server and the target is high available
Clustering with file server is easy but I see a lot of problems that are basically configuration errors or misconfiguration. and this is all in windows 2012.
Adding the fileserver in as an resource simple steps.
I use a simple file server for general usage.
File server netbios name and IP
the cluster resource is ready to go and online.
Now we are ready to create a file share on the new file server.
choose Add file share and a new wizard opens to create a new share
and here the window shows you new items
Give the share name and the folder will be created if the folder is not present.
access based enumeration is here in the menu this is a great feature
more info you can find here :http://technet.microsoft.com/nl-nl/library/dd772681(v=ws.10).aspx
see the access rights on the share
The share creation is completed
In the Cluster you can see the resources but also the shares just change the tap at the bottom for viewing.
Open the shared folder local or by UNC path.
that’s all folks. and see what windows 2012 can bring to you .
Windows Server | DirectAccess | Remote Access | VPN
#DirectAccess is a feature in the Windows 7 , Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 operating systems that gives users the experience of being seamlessly connected to their corporate network any time they have Internet access.
Direct Access feature in Windows Server 2008 R2 had following goals for organizations;
The new thing here is that in windows 2012 you can use a single nic.
In this sample I use a single nic just the easy steps to install the features
If you look for the feature direct access you can’t find it , it is in the remote access option.
The installation is very easy even in windows 2012 you can find the option and install the feature
Now that the installation is ready we can begin with the configuration, just right click on the server and choose the RA management.
The screen pops up with two choices :
I use the getting started wizard and the deploy directAccess only, My VPN is already covered by my TMG server.
Now the installation wizard ask you how you want to configure this edge,two or single nic.
I us a single nic. and I put in the url that is needed for external access.
The first part is now ready in a brief overview we can customize things that we need.
the GPO settings if you want different names or computer groups , you can change it .
again this is my test lab so I can use names that I want to use , in real pick a name that is right for this solution.
I have a CA but in this case I use a self signed certificate just to show that this can be used. If you want to use your CA make sure that your server has a Certificate
Finished
a nice overview of the configuration is showing and all the options are on the left.
to show you the GPO’s that are created. I have to sets one for this demo and one for real. so two gpo’s are created the client settings and the server settings.
what is in this gpo
this is all default.
Now we start with the client setup I choose the top
The second one limit DirectAccess usage to Remote management capabilities and does not offer users access to internal resources.
Now that this is ready I want reporting but therefore I need accounting , I set this up and ready to go.
I can see in the monitoring I have some errors.
You can see that this is my SCCM servers. these are not responding , I know this so I can ignore this error.
You can create more logging in detail just start the tracing and you are good to go.
Now that the setup is complete You can connect with your new Windows 8 Client or 7 to connect to this server.
In my next part id do some more configuration.
Robert Smit MVP Blog 