How to upgrade/switch from Windows 2012 Standard to Datacenter?
So you installed Windows Server 2012 Standard by mistake and want to upgrade to Windows Server 2012 Datacenter? Easy! Use powershell: DISM /Online /Set-Edition:ServerDatacenter /AcceptEula /ProductKey:AAAAA-BBBBB-CCCCC-DDDDD-EEEEE Use the following to get your current...
Delegate (RBAC) Exchange 2010 based on OU and/or Database
See my other post if you want a basic introduction to RBAC. In this post you will learn how to scope UK admins so they can manage only users in "their" OU and "their" Exchange database. Sure, you could just scope on OU, but then an admin would be able to create...
How to set IP configuration and join serer to domain using PowerShell
Every time I set up a new VM in my lab, I usually set static IP configuration and join it to the domain. Mostly, MDT does that for me but sometimes I need to do it "manually"... But in real-life, this is how to set IP configuration and join server to domain using...
Exchange 2010 SP2+RU3 cause “User setting ‘PreferredSite’ is not available”
Just ran into this when upgrading Exchange 2010 CAS-servers to SP2 + RU3 (yeah, SP3 is available and it might be fixed there...) and couldn't find many other posts regarding it and thought I'd let you know. After the upgrade (and reboot), my CAS servers in my lab...
How to enable RDP using Powershell including Firewall rules
I do this all the time, so why even bother doing it via GUI when you can PowerShell it. Enable RDP using Powershell and ff you have the Windows Firewall enabled, you also need to allow RDP through Windows Firewall: Set-ItemProperty...
How to go from Google Reader to The Old Reader (Review and Import)
So Google decided to shutdown Google Reader which I've been using for years and I'm very happy with it. Since my personal domain is on Google Apps, I find it useful to get Single Sign On, I always keep it as a pinned item in Chrome and I like the fact that when I mark...
Format and Partition Disk on WinPE Boot
Sometimes you don't care that the sequence has failed in MDT. It can be several scenarios for this. Either, a user aborted the installation or maybe you are testing different installations and just don't care about the old stuff. However, something that can be really...
Truths about Boot files in MDT 2010/2012
When do you need to Update Deployment Share? 1. When you add/remove network or mass storage-drivers which you want injected into your Windows PE boot image. 2. When you modify Bootstrap.ini 3. When you modify the boot image settings, e.g. scratch space size, custom...
Activate OEM computer without key
How do the OEM vendors activate their Windows machines? They receive a certificate from Microsoft which they apply to the computer in the installation process (often done by you) and when the computer is activated, the certificate is deleted. However, it's possible to...
A script to disable power save on NIC
Here's a small script the disable the power save "feature" on the network adapter. The script disables the power save on all physical interfaces, both LAN and WLAN adapters. After the script has been run, you have to restart the computer. The script has been written...
My top 10 tools as an effective Sysadmin
I try hard to be an effective Sysadmin both by using processes and techniques such as GTD, Getting Things Done to manage my everyday work, try to follow Inbox Zero to always keep my Inbox empty and I'm always interested in ways to get me more efficient. Some of you...
Get Schema Version from command line or PowerShell
Here's how to get Schema Version of Active Directory from command line or using PowerShell: Using dsquery: dsquery * "CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC=lab,DC=local" -scope base -attr objectversion Using PowerShell: Get-ADObject (Get-ADRootDSE).schemaNamingContext...
Mailbox move on E2010 SP2 RU3 with “Warning: Failed to clean up the source mailbox after the move”
I started getting the following problem when moving mailboxes, even within the same server but between databases: Warning: Failed to clean up the source mailbox after the move. Error details: MapiExceptionUnexpectedMailboxState: Unable to delete mailbox....
Gadget time – I got a brand new NAS – QNAP 269 Pro. And a car.
I spent this weekend updating the home network NAS in my home entertainment network. I've been using the QNAP TS-209P for a few years now and it have never caused any problems whatsoever. So I was lucky enough to win (!) a brand ned QNAP TS-269 Pro. Biggest difference...
Installing MDT 2012 on Windows Server 2012
With the release of Windows Server 2012, I decided to rebuild my lab from scratch on new fresh VM:s. The first server I installed was a deployment server running MDT 2012 on Windows Server 2012. In this article I will end up with a standalone MDT server (Yes - it no...
Deploying Windows Server 2012 using MDT 2012
With Windows Server 2012 released to manufacturing and if you've followed my article on how to install MDT 2012 on Windows Server 2012, you probably want to start deploying Windows Server 2012 using MDT 2012. Well, that's super easy! MDT 2012 Update 1 adds support for...
How to upgrade from MDT 2010 to MDT 2012
With the release of MDT 2012 Update 1 you might consider upgrading your MDT 2010 installation to MDT 2012. I would really stress that you read the Release Notes that contains a lot of valuable information. If you want to upgrade your current MDT 2010 installation to...
Configuring NTP on Windows Server 2012
This article explains how to configure NTP on Windows Server 2012. If you're looking for Windows Server 2008 R2, see my article here. Remember, that in a domain environment, time synchronization is taken care of but you should configure the PDC Emulator of a domain to...