Tag: Windows Server 2012

3 node Cluster in Azure contains “weak event was created” in FCM after install of KB2750149 #azure #templates #winserv #SQL

Just created a 3 node SQL cluster in windows Azure and used Templates with windows 2012 with SQL and find a nasty bug. All fixed with a update but still annoying.  I was hoping to get a full patched system. With atleast all the hoxfixes in them. But even in Azure keep your patching up to date!

Building Windows 2012 Clusters in Azure needs patching !

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Build my Azure Cluster with AV Set on a 3 node cluster with a fileshare witness.  But even in Azure keep your patching up to date!

As you can see little bugs are still there and if you don’t know about this you could run into trouble.

Below is all the hoxfix information you need.

When installing this update to a Windows 2012 Cluster Server, you will receive the below error when you select Roles or Nodes from within Failover Cluster Manager.

A weak event was created and it lives on the wrong object, there is a very high chance this will fail, please review and make changes on your code to prevent this issue

You can still manage your Cluster from a node that does not have this fix or through Powershell.  The recommendation at this time is to remove and not install this fix.

This issue has been resolved.  After installing the KB2750149 patch for .NET Framework, please also install the below patch.

KB2803748
Failover Cluster Management snap-in crashes after you install update 2750149 on a Windows Server 2012-based failover cluster
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2803748

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But how cool is that SQL availability groups in azure and even a Cluster in Azure ! And the deployment was really fast.

More about this later My Azure credit is gone ;-(

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The Cloud OS: It’s Time! Today is the date that Windows Server 2012 R2 is GA (General Availability) #winserv #hyperv

You could already download windows server 2012 R2 from teched or msdn but now the R2 product is general availability

At the heart of the Microsoft Cloud OS vision, Windows Server 2012 R2 brings Microsoft’s experience delivering global-scale cloud services into your infrastructure. Windows Server 2012 R2 offers exciting new features and enhancements across virtualization, storage, networking, virtual desktop infrastructure, access and information protection, and more.

These are new Posters for Windows Server 2012 R2 including Hyper-v 3.0

 

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Component Architecture Poster and Hyper-V Mini-Posters

 

  • Generation 2 Virtual Machines GA
  • Hyper-V and Failover Clustering GA
  • Session Modes GA
  • Upgrading Your Private Cloud GA
  • Live Migration GA
  • Hyper-V Storage GA
  • Hyper-V Virtual Hard Disk Sharing GA
  • Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Component Architecture GA

 

Hyper-V Server is a dedicated stand-alone product that contains the hypervisor, Windows Server driver model, virtualization capabilities, and supporting components such as failover clustering, but does not contain the robust set of features and roles as the Windows Server operating system. As a result, Hyper-V Server produces a small footprint and requires minimal overhead. Organizations consolidating servers where no new Windows Server licenses are required or where the servers being consolidated are running an alternative OS may want to consider Hyper-V Server.

 

What’s New in Windows Server 2012 R2

This content focuses on changes that will potentially have the greatest impact on your use of this release.

Windows Server 2012 R2 update thoughts hyper-v virtual Ethernet adapter network cable unplugged

If you update a windows server 2012 to the R2 version and you have teamed the Network card you could end in trouble. Especially if you run hyper-v.

You could find this in your device manager. No way to uninstall the network adapter and even with show hidden devices. you will see the Vnics but are unable to uninstall them.

hyper-v virtual Ethernet adapter network cable unplugged

Cleaning the register is also no option you don’t have the rights to do this only the trusted installer has rights. yes you could change this but is this the best decision ? I don’t thinks so

hyper-v virtual Ethernet adapter network cable unplugged

So here you are with several vnic’s and stuck in your system, uninstalling hyper-v is the best option but you will need to import all the virtual machines. yes you can us PowerShell and scripts to do this but if you have this situation the wmi objects are also stuck and most scripts won’t work.

Create a new switch and new networks next to the old stuff and leaf the old nics disabled is an option but not the best method. ( IMHO )

Fix it and see if the networks are gone and working well to avoid feature problems is the best approach.

there is one line to fix this :

netcfg –u vms_pp 

Remember after running this all the Virtual Machines on this machine are lost their network card. you will need to add the new network card to the VM and assign it to the new switch. this can be done by PowerShell quick and easy.

after this you have one healthy Hyper-v Server or Cluster

Windows Azure new memory-intensive VM size (two CPU cores with 14 GB of RAM)

There are new Virtual Machines available in Windows Azure.

Windows Azure

The following versions of Windows Server are offered in the Windows Azure image gallery: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2. Prices as shown in the table below apply to all versions except Windows Server 2012 R2, which is currently in preview and is being offered for customers to test and experience at Linux rates (see pricing details under the "Linux" tab).

Memory-intensive VMs in Windows Azure provide larger amounts of memory and are optimal for running high-throughput applications such as databases. For more information, visit the Virtual Machines webpage.


Standard Instances

Provide optimal set of compute, memory and IO resources for running a vast array of applications. Detailed configuration of the instances is available azurehere.

Compute Instance Name Virtual Cores RAM Price Per Hour

Extra Small (A0) Shared 768 MB $0.02
(~$15/month)
Small (A1) 1 1.75 GB $0.09
(~$67/month)
Medium (A2) 2 3.5 GB $0.18
(~$134/month)
Large (A3) 4 7 GB $0.36
(~$268/month)
Extra Large (A4) 8 14 GB $0.72
(~$536/month)

* Based on 744 hours per month

More is Better ;-)

Memory Intensive Instances

Provide larger amounts of memory optimal for running high-throughput applications, such as databases or SharePoint server farms. Detailed configurations of these instances are available here.

COMPUTE INSTANCE NAME VIRTUAL CORES RAM PRICE PER HOUR
A5 2 14 GB $0.51
(~$380/month)
A6 4 28 GB $1.02
(~$759/month)
A7 8 56 GB $2.04
(~$1,518/month)

* Based on 744 hours per month

 

Windows Azure Pack #tee13 #azure #pack

The Windows Azure Pack delivers Windows Azure technologies for you to run inside your datacenter, enabling you to offer rich, self-service, multi-tenant services that are consistent with Windows Azure.

The Microsoft Cloud OS: One Consistent Platform

The Cloud OS is Microsoft’s vision of a consistent, modern platform for the world’s apps running across multiple clouds; enterprise datacenters, hosting service provider datacenters and Windows Azure. The Windows Azure Pack helps to deliver on this vision by bringing consistent Windows Azure experiences and services to enterprise and hosting service provider datacenters with existing investments in System Center and Windows Server.

Web Sites

Consistent with Windows Azure Web Sites, this service helps provide a high-density, scalable shared web hosting platform for ASP.NET, PHP and Node.js web applications. It includes a customizable web application gallery of popular open source web applications and integration with source control systems for custom-developed web sites and applications.

Virtual Machines

Consistent with Windows Azure Virtual Machines, this service helps provide Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) capabilities for Windows and Linux virtual machines (VMs). It includes a VM template gallery, scaling options and virtual networking capabilities.

Service Bus

Consistent with Windows Azure Service Bus, this service helps provide reliable messaging services between distributed applications. It includes queued and topic-based publish/subscribe capabilities.

Automation and extensibility

The Windows Azure Pack also includes capabilities for automation and integrating additional custom services into the services framework, including a runbook editor and execution environment.

 

Get started with Windows Azure Pack

Windows Server 2012 Configure / Deploy Hyper-v Replica Broker How To #TEE13 #MSteched

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Role introduces a new capability, Hyper-V Replica, as a built-in replication mechanism at a virtual machine (VM) level. Hyper-V Replica can asynchronously replicate a selected VM running at a primary site to a designated replica site across LAN/WAN

there is a great guide for you LAB on this site http://blogs.technet.com/b/yungchou/archive/2013/03/24/hyper-v-replica-broker-explained.aspx

Hyper-V Replica Cluster

To Deploy a Hyper-v failover cluster as a replica site, must use Failover Cluster Manager to perform all Hyper-V Replica configurations and management. And first create a Hyper-V Replica Broker role.

In this case I have two clusters left and right. first go to the FCM and add a role

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A Hyper-V Replica Broker is the focal point in this case. It queries the associated cluster database to realize which node is the correct one to redirect VM specific events such as Live Migration requests in a replica cluster.

Windows Active Directory domain is not a requirement for Hyper-V Replica which can also be implemented between workgroups and untrusted domains with a certificate-based authentication. Active Directory is however a requirement if involving a Hyper-v host which is part of a failover cluster, and in such case all Hyper-V hosts of a failover cluster must be in the same Active Directory domain with security enforced at the cluster level. I see sometimes that the broker creations is failing. The resource will not come online.

imageimage So During the creation of the cluster resource you will need a Name ( netbios ) and a IP. that is all.  But remember as all cluster resources the cluster will create the items and not you Mister Admin. Just make sure Your DNS and cluster resource can create Items.

If you are not sure about this check my old blog post https://robertsmit.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/cluster-network-name-resource-failed-to-create-its-associated-computer-object-in-domain/

Now that my Resource is created and it is in my cluster In both Cluster I want to do Cross Replication Winking smile

If you know Hyper-v then you would do the settings in the hyper-v settings but as you can see all the options are grayed out.

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Go to the Cluster manager and right click on the broker select replication settings.

image Same menu and configurable.

First enable the replica server in the first case I use Kerberos ( the easy one )

So don’t check the certificate based box.

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here you can do give any server access to this replica easy to do and quick just fill in the path where the VM files need to be stored.

the other option is give only server that I want access. Well in my case I also used a * not that smart well now Only server in my domain can replicate and not every server. If you want to do a point to point connection just fill in the FQDN of the server.

once you have filled in the entry you can’t change the name only the storage path. Well that is fine for now.

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Again we add the Resource this time a Virtual machine. Just make sure there is a VM in the Hyper-v

What we do here is make the VM high available and yes you could also replicate the VM right from the Hyper-v console.

image but that does not make the VM High Available.

 

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Selecting the VM image Now we can start the machine and the VM is HA

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We have the broker in place and a VM it is time to replicate.

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Don’t use the broker on the current cluster you can’t replicate to your own cluster Smile

image All you have to know is the name of your cluster where the VM is placed

So I use the name of the cluster and see if it works, The wizard does see that there is a other broker in the left01 cluster and ask me to change that YES click on update

imageimage again Here can I choose Kerberos or certificate Rememeber I checked both boxes on the broker cluster resource If I made a choice there I could no choose here.

I go for……Kerberos

image Check what VM disk are needed to replicate If you have a disk that holds stuff that si not needed for replications then unselect the disk here.

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You can create multiple recovery points or just one and change the time currently you can set this from 1 hour to 12 hours.  It is a wish to get this sooner.

and how to copy the stuff , over the network or with media. and the time to start.

I take the right now option

 

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and If you want to change the settings just go to the settings of the VM and change it

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In the Cluster or in the Hyper-v console you can see the status easy quick and fast replication.

In my next blog post I will do the same with a Certificate and you need extra steps for this.

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How to Configuring and Installing High Availability of #DHCP using Windows Server 2012 #ws2012

How to Configuring and Installing High Availability of DHCP using Windows Server 2012

DHCP is often the one thing a IT Pro just runs as next, next, I agree,

But there is this big question Did you Know ?

DHCP failover in Windows Server 2012 enables administrators to deploy a highly resilient DHCP service to support a large enterprise without the challenges of the options discussed earlier. The main goals of the feature are the following:

  • Provide DHCP service availability at all times on the enterprise network.
  • If a DHCP server is no longer reachable, the DHCP client is able to extend the lease on its current IP address by contacting another DHCP server on the enterprise network.

The DHCP server failover feature provides the ability to have two DHCP servers provide IP addresses and option configuration to the same subnet or scope, providing for continuous availability of DHCP service to clients. The two DHCP servers replicate lease information between them, allowing one server to assume responsibility for servicing of clients for the entire subnet when the other server is unavailable. It is also possible to configure failover in a load-balancing configuration with client requests distributed between the two servers in a failover relationship.

DHCP failover in Windows Server 2012 provides support for a maximum of two DHCP servers, and the failover relationship is limited to IPv4 scopes and subnets. Network nodes using Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) typically determine their own IPv6 address using stateless IP auto configuration. In this mode, the DHCP server delivers only the DHCP option configuration, and the server does not maintain any lease state information. A high availability deployment for stateless DHCPv6 is possible by simply setting up two servers with identical option configuration. Even in a stateful DHCPv6 deployment, the scopes do not run under high address utilization, which makes split scope a viable solution for high availability.

So how do we start go to the add roles and add DHCP

 

clip_image002 The DCHP Role is now installed.

clip_image003[1] But Sure you can setup this with powershell easy and fast.

Add-WindowsFeature dhcp,rsat-dhcp

For the command line users, DHCP PowerShell provides the following PowerShell cmdlets for setting up and monitoring failover:

  • Add–DhcpServerv4Failover  – Creates a new IPv4 failover relationship to a DHCP server
  • Add–DhcpServerv4FailoverScope   – Adds the specified scope(s) to an existing failover relationship
  • Get–DhcpServerv4Failover   – Gets the failover relationships configured on the server
  • Remove–DhcpServerv4Failover   – Deletes the specified failover relationship(s)
  • Remove–DhcpServerv4FailoverScope – Removes the specified scopes from the failover relationship
  • Set–DhcpServerv4Failover   – Modifies the properties of an existing failover relationship
  • Invoke-DhcpServerv4FailoverReplication – Replicates scope configuration between failover partner servers

In powershell the installation of the two options is easy

powershell Add-WindowsFeature RSAT-DHCP

powershell Add-WindowsFeature DHCP

or both options at the same time.

powershell Add-WindowsFeature dhcp,rsat-dhcp

clip_image005 now that the roles are installed we can start.

Remember I use two servers in this demo and on both you should install the roles !

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The first two things I would do is change the database backup path to your location or just leave it to the designed location.

The Second part is change the binding of the DHCP server if you have multiple IP’s on the machine you should use only the IP address that the DHCP should use.

 

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Configuring the Failover

the following example, two DHCP servers simultaneously provide IP addressing to clients on a single subnet.

Load sharing single subnet

 

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If this step fails you need to install the dhcp role on the partner server

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You can select the mode that you want to use load balance or hot standby

and you can adjust the scope as you desire

clip_image023 I do enable the authentication and use a shared secret

 

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The wizzard does the configuration and you are done. the config is done on both servers.

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in the failover properties you can see what partner there is and made some adjustments

press edit all the options are here in one screen to adjust the dhcp server

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You can easy change from load balance mode to hot standby

clip_image035 If you want to make use of dynamic updates you need to configure a service/user account that can register items in the DNS server.

Most forgotten item !

in the advanced pane you can change this.

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If you change the configuration it needs to replicate the config

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Now we are all set ready to configure the scope and yes you need to authorize the server and activate the scope

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The scopes on both servers

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Go to the replication relationship and you can see the configuration.

 

But is is just two dhcp servers and how does the cluster fit in ?

still there are two servers to manage and it can be in two data centers but what if you already have a fine datacenter and you can use clustering.

 

Clustered DHCP servers

 

In this case I will not show you how to create a cluster. you can see this in my other blog posts.

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Start up the failover manager and add roles and select the dhcp server and the wizard installs the dhcp role n the cluster.

you will need a dhcp server name and IP and a disk that holds the DHCP database.

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Easy setup and easy to manage. there are multiple configurations for this and can be just the way you want this

Ensuring High Availability of DHCP using Windows Server 2012 DHCP Failover

http://blogs.technet.com/b/teamdhcp/archive/2012/06/28/ensuring-high-availability-of-dhcp-using-windows-server-2012-dhcp-failover.aspx?ocid=aff-n-we-loc–ITPRO40922&WT.mc_id=aff-n-we-loc–ITPRO40922

Step-by-Step: Configure DHCP for Failover

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831385.aspx?ocid=aff-n-we-loc–ITPRO40922&WT.mc_id=aff-n-we-loc–ITPRO40922

Happy giving IP’s

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Cluster With NIC Teaming #WS2012 #vswitch

In my previous post “ https://robertsmit.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/team-in-windows-2012-dos-and-donts/ “ I showed how to create a Windows server 2012 nic team. But what can you do with it ?

suppose you have multiple servers running windows server 2012 and they all have 4 10gb Nic’s this is a nice playground.

In my demo I have only 2 1gb nic’s but the samples are the same for any server.

Sample copy with nic teaming

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What do we need to setup a Windows server 2012 with a hyper-v cluster ( I used the GUI version ) datacenter edition.

We can do the installation with a GUI or by PowerShell. I do a Mix GUI/posh

first we need to have the hyper-v and the Failover cluster feature installed

If you don’t know how to start

go to PowerShell ISE if you want.

or just the plain PowerShell

get-windowsfeature

This will show you a list of all the components you can install or have been installed

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I do not know the name of the feature so I looked it up.

Install-WindowsFeature -Name Failover-Clustering

Install-WindowsFeature –Name Hyper-V -IncludeManagementTools –Restart

I have already done this so no reboot is needed.

Well the TEAM you could do this by GUI or with Posh

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One fine tip If you use PowerShell keep your nic names simple no “ local area connection “ 1,2,3,4 etc.  in the GUI you can click but is PowerShell you have to type and I know we are lazy.

Create the Team in PowerShell

New-NetLbfoTeam Team1 NIC1SW1,NIC2SW2 -TeamingMode SwitchIndependent -LoadBalancingAlgorithm HyperVPort -a

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the –a is Accept else you get a yes or no .

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Now that the team is there We can create a virtual switch that can hold our network adapters

New-VMSwitch “VirtualSwitch” -MinimumBandwidthMode Weight -NetAdapterName “Team01” -AllowManagementOS 0

-AllowManagementOS 0 means no lan connection

Edit 18-12-2013 So If you do want a network connection use 1

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Now We create a virtual nic that connect us to the LAN or management

Add-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name “LAN” -SwitchName “VirtualSwitch”

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As You can see the Vnic is added to the adapter list

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As we compare both adapters you can see that the Team holds only the Virtual switch protocol and the LAN hold an IP Winking smile

But what about QoS yes you will see a lot of different points on the web and all different yes you can set this.

Here is a nice link Microsoft also published some best practices for QoS.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj735303.aspx

Keep in mind that the Weight off all your nic’s should be 100

Don’t do DCB and Minimum Bandwidth rules on the same NICs, You can set this on every VM if you like or on the adapter. But ask your self do you need this  ?

Live migration network needs the most power.

This is how you set this :  these are just samples test before you set this is IMHO

Set-VMSwitch “VirtualSwitch -DefaultFlowMinimumBandwidthWeight 50

Set-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name “LiveMigration” -MinimumBandwidthWeight 20

Set-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name “CSV” -MinimumBandwidthWeight 50

Set-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name “Management” -MinimumBandwidthWeight 30

I do not set this It is up to you

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To create more Adapters it goes like this :

Add-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name “Management” -SwitchName “VirtualSwitch”

Add-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name “LiveMigration” -SwitchName “VirtualSwitch”

Add-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name “CSV” -SwitchName “VirtualSwitch”

And if you want to use a VLAN on these adapter yes you can :

 

Set-VMNetworkAdapterVlan -ManagementOS -VMNetworkAdapterName “Management” -Access -VlanId 111

Set-VMNetworkAdapterVlan -ManagementOS -VMNetworkAdapterName “LiveMigration” -Access -VlanId 15

Set-VMNetworkAdapterVlan -ManagementOS -VMNetworkAdapterName “CSV” -Access -VlanId 11

 

The default value for the -ManagementOS is True. This means that these three interfaces now show up in you

GUI with the names vEthernet (Management), vEthernet (Live Migration) and vEthernet (Cluster).

To separate the traffic between the interfaces we assign each vNIC its own VLAN.

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Now that we have set and created the Vswitch and the Vnic’s we can get some info about this config

 

Get-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name * | ft Name, VMName, MinimumBandwidthWeight, BandwidthPercentage, IsManagementOS

Get-Help Set-VMNetworkAdapter -Full

Get-Help Set-VMNetworkAdapterVlan -Full

Get-Help New-VMSwitch -Full

Get-Help Set-VMSwitch –Full

these command should give you a lot of info about these commands

or update-help get all the latest versions.

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Get-NetAdapterVmq

Get-NetLbfoTeam

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Get-VMSwitch |fl *

Now you will get a full list of all the settings

Get-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS

Get-VMNetworkAdapterVlan

Set the IP adress

get-NetIPAddress

Yes but how to set this easy but there are multiple ways. and by gui if you like.

New-NetIPAddress -PrefixLength 8 -InterfaceIndex 68 -IPAddress 12.12.12.12 image

With the above settings you can list all the adapters and find the InterfaceIndex to set the IP adress

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Get-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS |where name -eq “csv” |fl *

Or just list one adapter

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New-NetIPAddress -PrefixLength 8 -InterfaceIndex 68 -IPAddress 12.12.12.12 can set the IP but also this

New-NetIPAddress -InterfaceAlias “vEthernet (nlb01)” -IPAddress 1.1.1.100 -PrefixLength “24” -DefaultGateway 1.1.1.254

So there are multiple ways to set the IP based on InterfaceAlias or InterfaceIndex

And DNS settings  :  Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias “vEthernet (nlb01)” -ServerAddresses 8.8.8.8, 4.4.4.4

and if you don’t want a gateway

New-NetIPAddress -InterfaceAlias “iSCSI01” -IPAddress 192.168.100.11 -PrefixLength “24”

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Cluster Creation Using all the Virtual nics

Now that all the network adapters are in place and all the nics have an IP address nicely named we can create our cluster I will do this quickly I created so many post on how to create a windows server 2012 cluster.

https://robertsmit.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/how-to-create-a-new-windows-server-2012-failover-cluster-setup/

Open the FCM I do the Validation a few warnings and yes I know.

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Verifying that a node does not have multiple adapters connected to the same subnet.

Adapters vEthernet (LAN) and vEthernet (Management) on node I5NODE02.mvp.local have IP addresses on the same subnet.

Adapters vEthernet (ISCSI02) and vEthernet (ISCSI01) on node I5NODE02.mvp.local have IP addresses on the same subnet.

Adapters vEthernet (NLB02) and vEthernet (NLB01) on node I5NODE02.mvp.local have IP addresses on the same subnet.

I ignore the Warnings for now.

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Now that my cluster is ready and I see all the NICs but they are named cluster network 1 to 5 yes you can rename this. And I advice this to do just to find the Nic easily  don’t mesh up the wrong network.

 

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just go to the properties of the nic and rename it

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One thing left configure your live migration settings.

If you look at the VM network adapter here you can set the Bandwidth.

 

Greetings.

https://robertsmit.wordpress.com

@clustermvp

#Debug #Eventlog #WS2012 Hard ? now way Use the hidden options. Windows 2012 Tips

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

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You opened and all you see is the admin log. well go to the menu <> View and check #show analytic and Debug Logs

 

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Well there is an extra log entry.

You need to turn this on !

 

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with this setting you have more info and need less time to troubleshoot.

How to: Create a Failover Cluster (Setup) Windows Server 2012 Failover Cluster (Setup)

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.

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clip_image008 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.

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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

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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

clip_image028 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

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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.

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7 clicks further your cluster is ready. now we are adding disk to the cluster and configure the witness disk

clip_image044 First in powershell.

My cluster name is : cluster8

the Get-ClusterAvailableDisk -Cluster cluster8

List all available disk

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Get-ClusterAvailableDisk -Cluster cluster8

Get-ClusterAvailableDisk -Cluster cluster8 |Add-ClusterDisk

this adds all the disks to the cluster

or in the Gui

clip_image046  Now that the disk are ready we configure the Quorum disk

on top of the cluster right click and configure quorum.

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We have a two node cluster , use the recommended settings.

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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.

image 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

How to: Import Export (Setup) Windows Server 2012 configuration windows features

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.

 clip_image016  clip_image018 

clip_image020 clip_image022

 

Did you also see the little export line ? in the Roles installation field save it for later.

image 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.

Recommended hotfixes and updates for Windows Server 2012-based Failover Clusters #WS2012

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

Windows Server 2012

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.

How to convert a PC from BIOS mode to UEFI mode

Upgrading your Windows 7 PC to Windows 8 and considering the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) mode? If your PC supports it, this is a great time to change to UEFI. Why? UEFI mode can help your PC start faster, lets you use hard drives larger than 2 terabytes (TB), and can help you set up features like Secure Boot. Many Windows 7 PCs support UEFI but were set to boot to BIOS mode.

To switch to UEFI mode, you’ll need to do a few things: find the setting in the boot menus that enables UEFI booting, convert the entire drive to the GUID Partition Table (GPT) format, and install Windows again.

Step 1: Find the setting in the boot menus that enables UEFI booting

  • This differs from PC to PC. But typically, you press a key to enter the boot menus, look for an option like "UEFI Boot Mode", and enable it.

Step 2: Boot the Windows Setup disk in UEFI mode

  1. Load the Windows 7 or Windows 8 DVD. (If you’re setting up a dual-boot PC, install Windows 7 first.)
  2. Start the PC to boot the DVD in UEFI mode. Again, this is going to depend on your hardware, but often you can press a key during the boot sequence, and select an option like "EFI DVD/CD".

Step 3: Convert the drive to the GPT format

  1. When the Windows Setup program gets to the first set of installation screens, press Shift+F10 to open the command prompt.
  2. Figure out which disk is your primary hard drive, and select it. Typically it’s Drive 0, but it doesn’t hurt to check:
    diskpart
    list disk    review the list of drives, and make sure you’ve got the right one.)
    select disk 0
  3. Erase the hard drive, and convert it to the GPT format:
    clean
    convert gpt
    exit
  4. At this point, you can switch back to the installation program, and continue the Windows installation. Windows automatically sets up the partitions for the UEFI/GPT format.

See also: Dual-booting your PC (Windows Hardware Newsletter, November 7, 2012)

latest content for Windows Server And System Center Products

Below are the latest Links to the KB or Blog post about System Center Products and Windows Server

KB Articles  
Product Title
Application Virtualization Deleting a package in Microsoft Application Virtualization fails with Error code 0000B005 (2760974)
Configuration Manager Editing reports in Configuration Manager may fail when Internet Explorer is not the default browser (2788371)
Data Protection Manager You receive "Unknown error (0x80040e37)" in System Center Data Protection Manager 2012 when you try to create recovery points…
Endpoint Protection Forefront Client Security Malware Summary reports "There is no relevant information" (2787508)
Service Manager Configuring antivirus exclusions in a System Center Service Manager environment (2787044)
Virtual Machine Manager Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter fails with error: Heads values must be between 0 and 254 (2785521)
Virtual Machine Manager Performing an operation in Virtual Machine Manager fails with error 801 (2756886)
Windows 7 and Windows 8 Realtek network card device has #2 or #3… at end of the device name on Windows 7 or Windows 8
Windows 8 Problems printing from .NET 4.5 application to XPS-based printer.
Windows Server 2003 Default IPSec session key regeneration interval in Windows 2003 Based System
   
Windows Server 2012 Win32 Service Files are not reported by the System Writer as part of the System Component for Windows Server 2012
   
   
Windows XP Stop error 0x8E occurs on Windows XP when you print with an XPS printer driver
   
Application Virtualization App-V 5.0 Client PowerShell Deep Dive
Application Virtualization KB: Deleting a package in Microsoft Application Virtualization fails with Error code 0000B005
Configuration Manager Support Tip: The ConfigMgr 2012 Out Of Band management console fails to connect to a machine on an 802.1X network
Configuration Manager KB: Editing reports in Configuration Manager may fail when Internet Explorer is not the default browser
Configuration Manager ConfigMgr Support Tip: Client push to a thin-client OS fails with error 0x8004100e
Configuration Manager/Intune TechNet Radio: Managing Mobile Devices with System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 and Windows Intune
Data Protection Manager KB: You receive "Unknown error (0x80040e37)" in DPM 2012 when you creating recovery points for SQL Server or SharePoint databases
Endpoint Protection KB: Forefront Client Security Malware Summary reports "There is no relevant information"
Identity Manager FIM-TROUBLESHOOTING: Installation Error: 25009: Cannot create more than one clustered index on table ‘dbo.mms_connectorspace’
Operations Manager Now available: Windows Server 2012 Essentials Management Pack for OpsMgr 2012
Orchestrator Cloud Resource Management – Orchestrator and Service Provider Foundation
Orchestrator Using Orchestrator and Service Manager to Create a New User in Office 365
Orchestrator Integration Guide for Orchestrator
Orchestrator PowerShell Script to Create Incident from Service Request
Service Manager How to Slice Incidents by Days, Months, Quarters
Service Manager Create a Cloud-Based Pricing Chargeback Process
Service Manager KB: Configuring antivirus exclusions in a System Center Service Manager environment
Service Manager HOTFIX SCSM Update Rollup 3 (UR3) Update Now Available
System Center Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) 2013 Registration Now Open
Virtual Machine Manager KB: Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter fails with error: Heads values must be between 0 and 254
Virtual Machine Manager KB: Performing an operation in Virtual Machine Manager fails with error 801
Windows Server 2012 Cluster-Aware Updating (CAU) interaction with Proxy Servers
Windows Server 2012 Determining the source of Bug Check 0x133 (DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION) errors on Windows Server 2012
Windows Small Business Server How to connect to SBS 2008 domain clients using RWA from a remote Windows 8 computer
WSUS/Security Advance Notification Service for December 2012 Security Bulletin Release
   
TechNet Wiki Articles
Product Title
Forefront Identity Manager FIM-TROUBLESHOOTING: Error 25009.The Forefront Identity Manager Synchronization Service setup wizard cannot configure…
   
Solution Documents
Product Title
   

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/