Archive for 2009

Can I install KMS on Server Core ?

Server Core seems to be the perfect candidate for installing KMS. Key Management Service mediates your Volume Licensing with Microsoft Activation Services and acts as the man-in-the-middle for the activation for all your KMS clients that comprise of Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and R2. With Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, what [...]

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posted in Server Core, Windows Server 2008 R2 by Rick

    • Time Synchronization for Virtualized DCs

    As usual a good conversation spurred on ActiveDir on a much discussed scenario of virtualizing your DCs while be varied of the known pitfalls. While virtualized DCs are fully supported on either competing virtualization solution by Microsoft, one known subject I would like to highlight here is the proper time synchronization. You must make sure [...]

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    posted in Active Directory, Group Policy, VMware by Rick

    • What is DNS Cache Locking in Windows Server 2008 R2 ?

    One of the DNS improvements in Windows Server 2008 R2 is DNS Cache Locking in which if configured the cache entries are not allowed to be modified for the percentage of TTL. Cache locking is a new security feature available with Windows Server® 2008 R2 that allows you to control whether or not information in [...]

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    posted in Active Directory, Windows Server 2008 R2 by Rick

    • PowerShell : How many users were created in an office since x number of days ?

    A request came in from the Access Control team requesting that they be provided with the users that have been created in a particular office since last 90 days. As usual, PowerShell (with QAD cmdlets) has very simple one liners you can retrieve this information with. You may also use this to export this data [...]

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    posted in Active Directory, PowerShell, Windows by Rick

    • Windows Server 2008 R2 Features Poster

    Previously I had posted the 2003 AD and 2008 Features jigsaw posters, Mike Kline informed me that there is now a 2008 R2 Features poster. You can download the 44x24in poster from here

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    posted in Active Directory, General, Windows Server 2008 R2 by Rick

    • Windows 7 Wallpapers

    An off topic post here as I err to sharing uniquely designed Windows 7 wallpapers. View Full Album

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    posted in General by Rick

  • PowerShell : How do I find old Trusts ?

    As usual Joe shared a great insight that trusts well-doing can in one way be verified by checking the trust accounts for their last password resets. When trusts are created the accounts for them are by default created under ‘Users’ container, and are named as TrustedDomain$ and just like computer accounts, trusts reset their password [...]

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    posted in Active Directory, PowerShell by Rick

  • PowerShell : Set-ADAccountPassword cmdlet in Windows Server 2008 R2

    Here is quick snippet of password set/reset ‘Set-ADaccountPassword’ cmdlet in 08 R2 via ADWS (native AD cmdlets) and a test screencast from me. I highly recommend to use the built in cmdlet help to learn the syntax and available parameters. Whether you are using the cmdlet as an one-off task or trying to incorporate it [...]

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    posted in Active Directory, PowerShell, Windows Server 2008 R2 by Rick

  • Another look at Active Directory Administrative Center (ADAC)

    Previously I had briefly written about ADAC and today we take a look at some of the things you can accomplish by this new interface of Active Directory. We start out by launching the ADAC, by running DSAC.exe from the run window ADAC offers two views, the list view and the tree view There are [...]

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    posted in Active Directory, Windows Server 2008 R2 by Rick

  • PowerShell : Add-Computer cmdlet works in Windows 7 RTM but Rename-Computer is gone

    I had earlier posted about the Add-Computer cmdlet bug in Windows 7 RC builds which didn’t allow the computer to be added to the domain via PowerShell. With Windows 7 RTM, it is fixed and turns out to be pretty handy should you need to script the domain joins for your new builds. The command [...]

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    posted in Active Directory, PowerShell, Windows Server 2008 R2 by Rick

  • Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange Server 2010 Launch Event

    I was reached out by Keith Powell from Microsoft about the Windows Server 2008 R2 Launch Event dubbed as “the efficiency launch event” on Sep 29th, 2009 at Hyatt Regency Downtown Chicago. It is going to be a virtual event live from San Francisco, with Steve Ballmer as the keynote speaker. Similar events are going [...]

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    posted in General by Rick

  • Active Directory Management Gateway Service is RTW

    ADMGS aka AD Web Services aka Powershell Native AD cmdlets which is originally a Windows Server 2008 R2 feature is out of beta and can be downloaded from here for DCs running down level OSs. The Active Directory Management Gateway Service enables administrators to use the Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell and the Active [...]

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    posted in Active Directory, Windows Server 2008 R2 by Rick

  • WindowsITPro publishes my note

    My first technical blurb was published in the renowned WindowsITPro magazine today. It will also be in November’s print version. http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/102795/dnscmd-versions-discrepancy.html

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    posted in General by Rick

  • Group Nesting Reference Chart

    The Active Directory Groups Nesting restrictions is an often-discussed topic among my peers especially in a multi-domain forest and often a question raised in forums and mailing lists. Although there have been some great blogs written that dive deep into the technical restrictions, I personally needed a simple reference chart that I could refer to [...]

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    posted in Active Directory, Windows by Rick

  • Is there an Active Directory Visual Illustration/Diagram ?

    A question was raised on ActiveDir, and I learned about an old TechNet Jigsaw on AD’s interworking.                                                 Along with that, there was a new Windows Server 2008 AD Feature Components which [...]

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    posted in Active Directory, General, Group Policy, Hyper-V, IIS, RODC, Server Core, Windows Server 2008 by Rick

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