Microsoft Outlook 2010 RTM / SP1 Hotfix Package Released! | Outlook 2010 Bug Fixes
Author: Zahir Hussain Shah | MVP Exchange, CISSP
Microsoft Outlook 2010 Hotfix Package
Recently I came across a new Microsoft KB regarding the availability of Microsoft Outlook 2010 Hotfix Package, which will contain all the hotfixes for fixing the reported bugs and issues in Microsoft Outlook 2010 RTM / SP1.
I suggest that before going-ahead and deploy the same package on all your end-user workstation, make sure that you thoroughly test these provided hotfixes in this package, and then only deploy it as one package for all the workstation in your AD domain.
Cheers!
Microsoft Private Cloud Training Labs | System Center 2012 Trainnig Labs | Private Cloud Guided Labs
Author: Zahir Hussain Shah, MVP, CISSP
Microsoft Private Cloud Training Labs for System Center 2012
In the month of March, 2012, I published a blog post for the Microsoft System Center 2012 Private Cloud Training videos from the Microsoft Private Cloud Jump-Start camp, which provided video series for the recorded session from the Microsoft Private Cloud Jump-Start boot-camp, and covered SC 2012 product suite.
And today I would like to share with some of the coolest discovery I made recently, where I had a chance to evaluate the Microsoft Private Cloud Training Labs for Microsoft System Center 2012 suite, these training labs provide you fast and enhanced method of experiencing the Microsoft System Center 2012 suite of products, and let you to quickly evaluate the products based on the activities and interactions for building and running Private Cloud as per the standard needs.
These labs open inside the browser, and guides you the steps which you have to take for finishing up each lab with the desired set of goals.
So lets go and sign up for Microsoft Private Cloud Guided Labs, and get all the knowledge you need to have to build your own Private Cloud with Microsoft System Center 2012 suite.
Resources:
- Download the System Center 2012 Evaluation
- Open the Microsoft Private Cloud Guided Labs
Cheers!
Schedule FREE System Center 2012 Beta Exams for Microsoft Private Cloud Solutions Certification | System Center 2012 Beta Exams Promotion Code
Author: Zahir Hussain Shah, MVP, CISSP
Test your Skills for System Center 2010 & Private Cloud!
Recently I got to know about the availability of System Center 2012 beta exams for Configuring, Deploying, Operating and Monitoring Private Cloud with Microsoft System Center 2012 Suite, so I thought that it would be nice to share the same with all you.
You can schedule these beta exams for yourself at Prometric for “FREE OF COST” using the below promotion code for each respective exam:
Exam: (71-246) Monitoring and Operating a Private Cloud with System Center 2012
Promo code:PC46
Exam (71-247) Configuring and Deploying a Private Cloud with System Center 2012
Promo code:PC47
Note: These beta exams are only available until 4/27, and are also not available for India, Pakistan, and China region, and will only be taken in English.
Cheers
Download Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP2 Rollup 2 | Issues fixed in Exchange 2010 SP2 Roll up 2 | Exchange 2010 SP2 Rollup 2
Author: Zahir Hussain Shah, MVP Exchange, CISSP
Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP2 Rollup 2 Released
With the release of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP 2 RU2, there are following listed issues / bugs fixed, which were reported in the earlier release of the product.
- KB2696913 You cannot log on to Outlook Web App when a proxy is set up in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
- KB2688667 High CPU in W3WP when processing recurrence items who fall on DST cutover
- KB2592398 PR_INTERNET_MESSAGE_ID is the same on messages resent by Outlook
- KB2630808 EwsAllowMacOutlook Setting Not Honored
- KB2661277 Android/Iphones stuck with 451 during Cross forest proxy in datacenter
- KB2678414 Contact name doesn’t display company if name fields are left blank
You can find more information about the issues / bugs fixed in the RU2 for Exchange 2010 Server SP2 on MSExchangeTeamBlog page.
You can download Exchange Server 2010 SP 2 RU2 from here.
Cheers!
How to convert VMWare (VMKD) Virtual Machine into Hyper-V (VHD) Virtual Machine | VHD Converter | Convert VMWare VM into Hyper-V VM
Author: Zahir Hussain Shah, MVP, CISSP
Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter
The Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter (MVMC) provides a Microsoft-supported, freely available, standalone solution for converting VMware virtual machines (VMs) and VMware virtual disks (VMDKs) to Hyper-V virtual machines and Hyper-V virtual hard disks (VHDs). MVMC supports converting virtual machines using the following guest operating systems:
Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2
Windows Server 2003 R2 with Service Pack 2
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows 7
System Requirements
The Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter converts VMware virtual machines created with:
VMware vSphere 4.1
VMware vSphere 5.0
To virtual machines for:
Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Hyper-V
Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 SP1
Download Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter.
For more details see Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter Solution Accelerator Beta Program page.
Cheers!
Securely Publishing iPhone with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010: Business Integration and Deployment
Book Review: Securely publishing iPhone with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010: Business Integration and Deployment
By Steve Goodman
Recently, I was requested to write a blog review for a book iPhone with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010: Business Integration and Deployment. This book is written by Steve Goodman, and published by Packt Publisher. Being an Exchange geek, after you read the title of this book, it really influences you, and pushes forward towards seeing the contents of the book, where this book doesnt have only the impressive title, but also have great contents for its readers, Steve laid out the content of the book in a pretty nifty way, where he is first explaining the architecture of the solution, and then he goes step by step to and covers all the areas, which are essential to build a secure enterprise level messaging environment for the corporate business users, and its integration with iOS devices (aka smart-phones) for Microsoft ActiveSync protocol.
Reading Steves write ups have always been interesting for me, as you can also find his blog in my blog-rolls area. You can get to know more about Steves community contribution on his blog.
Have you been tasked with getting iPhones into the hands of your business executives, and need to ensure they can reliably and securely access corporate e-mail? This book will teach you what you need to know about getting Exchange 2010 set up and then help you deploy iPhones in a secure and manageable way. Starting with the basics, you’ll learn about what Apple mobile devices have to offer and how they have evolved into devices suitable for business use. If you’re new to Exchange Server 2010, you’ll learn the basics of Microsoft’s world leading messaging suite, before learning how to plan, install, and configure a highly available Exchange
environment. You will also understand how to configure Office 365 and learn how both can be configured to apply policies to iPhone, iPad, and the iPod Touch. You’ll also learn how to configure advanced features, such as certificate authentication, how to create and deploy configuration profiles for devices, and how to manage your devices once they are in the hands of your users.
After reading this book, you will be confident about introducing Apple mobile devices into your organization.
Now lets go back to the book review, and let me break it in pieces:
Who this book is for:
This book is aimed at system administrators who don’t necessarily know about Exchange Server 2010 or ActiveSync-based mobile devices. A basic level of knowledge around Windows Servers is expected, and knowledge of smartphones and email systems in general will make some topics a little easier. Experienced Exchange Server 2010 administrators will gain most value from chapter five onwards, as these chapters build upon a working Exchange 2010 organization.
This book will walk you through from the basic of the technology towards the building an Exchange Server 2010 Messaging Infrastructure, and then will slowly move ahead with provisioning, integrating and deploying iOS based client devices (smart-phones) and their business collaboration feature management.
I thought it would be nice, if I can provide some information about the contents of the book, below is the list of the core domains, which will be discussed in his book.
Chapter 1, Introduction to iPhone with Exchange Server 2010 introduces the Apple mobile device range and Exchange Server 2010 starting with the fundamentals and explaining the concepts used in later chapters.
Chapter 2, Architecture and Implementation Planning covers planning the architecture that you will need in place for Exchange Server. You’ll learn about the individual Exchange Server roles and how to plan your underlying infrastructure so it not only allows Apple mobile devices to connect, but meets the needs of your company.
Chapter 3, Exchange Server Configuration for iOS Connectivity follows on from the planning in the previous chapter to walk through the process of installing and configuring a highly available Exchange infrastructure that Apple mobile devices, amongst others, can connect to.
Chapter 4, Office 365 Configuration for iOS Connectivity looks at an alternative approach to configuring and running Exchange Server, by using Microsoft’s Office 365. We’ll see how this simplifies the implementation process and still allows us to connect and manage Apple mobile devices.
Chapter 5, Creating and Enforcing Policies explores how Exchange Server allows us to control end-user devices, from restricting the features that can be used on Apple mobile devices to ensuring only allowed devices can connect to your Exchange infrastructure.
Chapter 6, Configuring Certificate Based Authentication in Exchange Server 2010 walks through how to configure and manage a small public key infrastructure aimed at improving the security of your Exchange environment through the use of user
certificates on Apple mobile devices.
Chapter 7, Provisioning iOS Client Devices introduces the iPhone Configuration Utility, the Apple tool specifically aimed at controlling Apple mobile device features and configuration, along with exploring the methods available to deploy profiles to mobile devices.
Chapter 8, Sharing Mailboxes and Calendars covers a variety of methods that allow you to overcome Exchange limitations for access to shared mailboxes from clients other than Outlook and how to configure advanced features in Exchange Server 2010 allowing users to share individual calendars in a way compatible Apple mobile devices.
Chapter 9, iOS Client Device Management the final chapter, explores the ongoing management tasks associated with a mobile device estate along with how to perform common troubleshooting and auditing tasks.
Few links:
Buy your copy of this book at Packt Publishing website.
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, and will find this book interesting.
Cheers!
Symmpi.sys is failing on Windows Server 2008 Upgrade | Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 fails | Convert Physical Windows Server into Hyper-V VM | P2V Physical to Virtual Machine | Windows Server 2008 Upgrade Problem
Author: Zahir Hussain Shah | MVP Exchange Server, CISSP
Before some time ago, I authored an article describing the process of Converting a Physical Windows Machine into VM for Microsoft Hyper-V, this solution works greatly for any verion of Windows, and today while we were trying to converting a Windows Server 2003 phyiscal box into VM for Hyper-V, we succeeded in converting into the VM, and then after brining the VM up first time, and after installing the Microsoft Hyper-V Integration Services, we ran the Windows Server 2008 In-place upgrade, which also got 75% completed, but then later we encourtered a problem when the server restarted during upgrade process as follows:
Problem:
Windows failed to load because a critical system driver is missing or currupt”
File:windowssystem32DRIVERS/symmpi.sys
status:0xc0000359
In addition to the above error, before hitting the installation button on the upgrade page of the installation, we also saw some of the compatibility errors, while upgrading the Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 as follows:
Cause:
During the upgarde process of sysmmpi.sys, the installation process could not upgrade the symmpi.sys, thus Windows Server 2008 installater got stuck on this point.
To finx this problem, follow the steps mentioned below in the solution section here.
Resolution: (Source: Tim Quan MSFT on the Microsoft TechNet Forum)
1. Put the Windows Server 2008 installation disc into the disc drive, and then start the computer.
2. Press a key when the message indicating “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD “. appears.
3. Select a language, a time, a currency, and a keyboard or another input method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
7. Use DOS commands to rename symmpi.sys in C:windowssystem32DRIVERS to symmpi.old.
Restart the computer and test the result.
Cheers!
Troubleshooting Exchange Database Log truncation problem | Microsoft Exchange Search Indexing Service which was not allowing the Replication Service to truncate logs | Netbackup (VSS) Ful Backup is not clearing Exchange Database Logs | Exchange DB Logs
Author: Zahir Hussain Shah | MVP Exchange Server, CISSP
Step by Step Guide for Troubleshooting Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Mailbox Database Transaction Logs Truncation Problem, where a VSS backup tool (Symantec Veritas Netbackup) is failed to truncate the Exchange Mailbox Database Logs after the successful Backup
Recently, I gone through a troubleshooting session, where Exchange Server 2010 Mailbox Databases Transaction Logs were not able truncated after the successful VSS Full Backup, in this scenario, we were seeing Symantec Veritas NetBackup 7.x was not able to purged the logs after the successful backup, or you can say that with the scheduled backup policy, NetBackup client agent APIs were not able to communicate properly with MSExchange for purging the logs, and which resulted in increase of Exchange Mailbox Database LUN sizes.
Problem:
Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Mailbox Transaction Logs truncated issue due to NetBackup Full Mailbox Database backup failed to purged the logs / Microsoft Exchange Search Indexing Service which was not allowing the Replication Service to truncate logs.
Cause:
NetBackup client agent APIs were not able to communicate properly with MSExchange for purging the logs, and which resulted in increase of Exchange Mailbox Database LUN sizes.
Solutions:
In the solution area of this blog post, I will guide you the various options available to you for fixing this problem, but we will hit first those, which contains less administrative over-head from the MSExchange Admin side, and we will try to get the issue resolved from the NetBackup side, because as it sounds from the title of the blog, which says that NetBackup is failed to purge the Exchange Mailbox Transaction Logs. Poor you Exchange Server 
1) Re-installing Symantec Veritas NetBackup Client Agent software on all the Microsoft Exchange Server Nodes, including CAS and Mailbox Nodes.
Note: Why I mentioned this option first, is because in my case, we tried this option, and it fixed the problem and automatically purged the logs.
2) Make sure that your NetBackup services on both Exchange CAS and Mailbox Servers are running with a proper Domain Account, which has appropriate rights on your Exchange Mailbox Store (database), and try to see that the Services can restart with this domain user account.
Note: In our case, I saw that after we reinstalled the NetBackup agent all the nodes, Netbackup services were not able to start up, because of the problem with Log on failure error, so you setup it correct, and make sure everything looks like hunky-dorry.
Note: After you performed the both options, try to execute the full backup of any of the smallest Exchange Mailbox Database, and see whether Netbackup is able to purge the logs or not, if it fails again to purge the logs, and you dont have enough space available in the Mailbox Database LUNs, so you can perform the below step to make the necessary disk space available in the LUN to mount the database again, and fix the log purging issue for Netbackup.
3) If your NetBackup administrator informed you that NetBackup is not able to purge the logs, due to the Microsoft Exchange Search Indexing Service which was not allowing the Replication Service to truncate logs, so in this case, you can perform the step 3, which will clear this point, and if this fixes your problem, then you are all good, if it doesnt then, we will move forward on the road to fix this problem.
Okay, so in this step 3, we will perform the below steps:
Dismount the Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Database, which is failed to be purged for logs by NetBackup.
Stop Microsoft Information Store Service on this passive Mailbox Database Node first.
Go to the Mailbox Database folder, and then delete the CatalogData folder.
Start the Microsoft Information Store Service.
Mount the Database.
Note: Catalog data building will take time depends on the size of the database.
Mailbox Database Catalog Folder:
Upon the completion of the Mailbox Catalog building, then once again you can take the Full backup of the Database, and we will see whether it is able to purge the logs or not, if it is still failing to purge the logs, and you dont have much time left for NetBackup to purge the logs, and database is in dismounted state due to the free disk space availability, you can perform the 4th step here:
4) This time in the 4th step of this solution, where we saw that all the above steps were not able to fix the problem, and sometimes due to the courted and missing Exchange Mailbox logs, NetBackup or any VSS backup tool fails to purge the logs, so in this case, we will perform this step as follows:
Dismount the Exchange Mailbox Database.
Move the Exchange Mailbox Database Transaction logs to a different directory.
Mount the Exchange Mailbox Database.
With the above step performed, when you will mount the database again, Exchange Server will start creating logs in the sequence, and then there will be no problem for the disk free space availability, because then moment you will mount the database again, Exchange will automatically purge all the logs, and then there will be only new logs.
Okay so now we have free space in the disk to mount the database, and let the user to connect with Exchange Server, and ask your Netbackup admin to take the full backup of the Exchange Database, and now this time it should work, if your NetBackup admin and the tool both are happy, if there is still problem for purging the logs automatically with full NetBackup backup, then you better create a support session with Symantec Support, and tell them that you have done everything from the Exchange side, and nothing is there to be blamed on Exchange. :$
I hope with this step by step guide to fix your Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Database Transaction Logs purging problem, you enjoyed reading the article, and gained knowledge to keep your Exchange logs truncated wherever is needed.
Cheers!
