70-649: TS: Upgrading Your MCSE on Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008, Technology Specialist

8. March 2010
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I’m pleased to announce that I’ve passed the 70-649, which gives me the following MCTS certifications:

Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration

Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuration

Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration

Next I’ll be looking at the 70-647 to get the full MCITP: Enterprise Administrator (I already took the 70-620 exam for my MCSE).

Microsoft, Qualifications , ,

Creating a Windows Server 2008 Microsoft Cluster Service SQL Active/Passive Cluster on a single ESXi 4.0 Server

27. January 2010
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Configuring the Virtual Environment and Virtual Machines

 

Note – this configuration will work for ESXi 4 upwards due to the server 2008 MSCS requirement for persistent SCSI-3 reservations.

The first step is to create a new vSwitch for the host-only cluster heartbeat network, don’t assign any network adaptors to the switch as it’s going to be local only.

Create a new virtual machine with a single hard disk. For the purposes of this test, I’ve assigned 2 vProcessors, 1GB RAM, 30GB drive for the OS, 1 vNIC in the default vSwitch0.

Add a second vNIC and assign it to the cluster network vSwitch created in step 1.

Install Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise and all the Windows Updates, for the example I’ve named it SQLCluster01.

Clone the server and rename the new one to SQLCluster02. In ESXi you can’t clone, so shut down the first server, copy the files to a new folder and right click the VMX file to add it to the inventory. When you boot it the first time VMware will ask if it’s been moved or copied – select copied.

Create a disk for use as the Quorom, this needs to be shared and since I’m using ESXi with local storage only it must be “eagerzeroedthick”. To do this I have to use the unsupported mode in ESXi (Alt+F1, type unsupported and then your root password) and use the vmkfstools command to create it (vmkfstools –c <size> –d eagerzeroedthick –a lsilogic /vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/<folder>/<disk>.vmdk)

Add the new disk to SQLCluster01 using a new SCSI virtual controller (different from the current controller, e.g. my first HD is on SCSI 0:1, the Quorum is on SCSI 1:0)

Check that the new SCSI controller is set to LSILogic (it is for Server 2008 by default) and set the SCSI Bus Sharing to Virtual.

Add the Quorum disk to the second virtual machine, using the same settings.

Edit the .vmx file for both servers, adding in the following lines (edit for your SCSI controller):

scsi1:0.mode = "independent-persistent"
scsi1:0.shared = "TRUE"

Create a disk for some shared storage for the cluster too, it will be needed for the DTC application as well as the SQL server – in a production environment you may want to separate logs and data, but for my test, I’m just adding another two 10GB disks. Use the same process as for creating the Quorum disk.

More...

Windows Server 2008, Microsoft, SQL Server 2008, Microsoft Cluster Services , , , , , , , ,

Fixing "Outlook(R) Mobile Access is supported only on Microsoft(R) Exchange Server 2003. Currently your mailbox is stored on an older version of Exchange server." on Outlook Mobile Access under Server 2003

19. September 2008
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So I was testing the configuration on my Exchange 2003 server in preparation for the roll out of some Windows Mobile devices when I recieved the following error:

Outlook(R) Mobile Access is supported only on Microsoft(R) Exchange Server 2003. Currently your mailbox is stored on an older version of Exchange server. Please contact your system administrator for additional assistance.

"That's odd", I thought, "I only have Exchange Server 2003 in my organisation, how can I have an older version of Exchange?" It turns out that this has nothing to do with the version of Exchange you are using. I have set up my Exchange OWA to require SSL (see previous article on SSL and Integrated Authentication) and apparently this can cause issues for OMA.

The Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync and Outlook Mobile Access virtual directories cannot access the contents of the user's mailbox if the Exchange virtual directory is configured to require SSL. The Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync and Outlook Mobile Access virtual directories only try to connect with the Exchange virtual directory over TCP port 80 (HTTP), not over TCP Port 443 (HTTPS).

To resolve this, you need to follow these steps from MSKB 817379

1. Open Exchange Manager.
2. Expand Administrative Groups, expand the first administrative group, and then expand Servers.
3. Expand the server container for the Exchange Server 2003 server that you will be configuring, expand Protocols, and then expand HTTP.
4. Under the HTTP container, right-click the Exchange Virtual Server container, and then click Properties.
5. Click the Settings tab, clear the Enable Forms Based Authentication check box, and then click OK.
6. Close Exchange Manager.
7. Click Start, click Run, type IISRESET/NOFORCE, and then press ENTER to restart Internet Information Services (IIS).

 Additionally, you must use Internet IIS Manager to create this virtual directory for Exchange ActiveSync and Outlook Mobile Access to work. If you are using Windows Server 2003, follow these steps:

1. Start Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
2. Locate the Exchange virtual directory. The default location is as follows:
Web Sites\Default Web Site\Exchange
3. Right-click the Exchange virtual directory, click All Tasks, and then click Save Configuration to a File.
4. In the File name box, type a name. For example, type ExchangeVDir. Click OK.
5. Right-click the root of this Web site. Typically, this is Default Web Site. Click New, and then click Virtual Directory (from file).
6. In the Import Configuration dialog box, click Browse, locate the file that you created in step 4, click Open, and then click Read File.
7. Under Select a configuration to import , click Exchange, and then click OK.

A dialog box will appear that states that the "virtual directory already exists."
8. In the Alias box, type a name for the new virtual directory that you want Exchange ActiveSync and Outlook Mobile Access to use. For example, type exchange-oma. Click OK.
9. Right-click the new virtual directory. In this example, click exchange-oma. Click Properties.
10. Click the Directory Security tab.
11. Under Authentication and access control, click Edit.
12. Make sure that only the following authentication methods are enabled, and then click OK:
• Integrated Windows authentication
• Basic authentication
13. On the Directory Security tab, under IP address and domain name restrictions, click Edit.
14. Click the option for Denied access, click Add, click Single computer and type the IP address of the server that you are configuring, and then click OK.
15. Under Secure communications, click Edit. Make sure that Require secure channel (SSL) is not enabled, and then click OK.
16. Click OK, and then close the IIS Manager.
17. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
18. Locate the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MasSync\Parameters
19. Right-click Parameters, click to New, and then click String Value.
20. Type ExchangeVDir, and then press ENTER. Right-click ExchangeVDir, and then click Modify.

NoteExchangeVDir is case-sensitive. If you do not type ExchangeVDir exactly as it appears in this article, ActiveSync does not find the key when it locates the exchange-oma folder.
21. In the Value data box, type the name of the new virtual directory that you created in step 8. For example, type /exchange-oma. Click OK.
22. Quit Registry Editor.
23. Restart the IIS Admin service. To do this, follow these steps:
a. Click Start, click Run, type services.msc, and then click OK.
b. In the list of services, right-click IIS Admin service, and then click Restart.

Microsoft, Outlook Mobile Access, Exchange , , , , , ,

I've achieved my MCSE

10. September 2008
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Well, I've been away with my friends at Firebrand again and guess what...MCSE Windows Server 2003!

  • 70-293 Planning and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure
  • 70-294 Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Infrastructure
  • 70-298 Designing Security for a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network

Active Directory, Microsoft, Windows Server 2003