Author: Ward

Microsoft Office 365 Deployment Readiness Tool

The Office 365 Deployment Readiness Tool provides analysis of your on-premises environment in preparation for an Office 365 enterprise deployment. The readiness tool is integrated with the guidance provided in the web edition of the Microsoft Office 365 Beta Deployment Guide.

Download HERE

I run the tool in my test environment. See below the results

Microsoft Office 365 Deployment Readiness Tool

Beta

Office 365 Deployment Resource Kit build 01.00.00.00
modgClick here for the Microsoft Office 365 Beta Deployment Guide for Enterprises

Domains

modg Deployment Guide: Adding Your Domain(s) to Office 365
All email domains discovered in your environment:
Total: 3

All primary email domains discovered:
Total: 2

Primary email domain suffixes with greater than 50 users:
wardvissers.local
Total: 1


User Identity and Account Provisioning

Active Directory

Statistics

Total number of domains discovered in your forest: 1
Estimated total number of users: 59
Estimated total number of contacts: 0
Estimated total number of groups: 54
Estimated total number of mailboxes: 53
Estimated total number of objects for Directory Synchronization: 113
note
Note: Filters were applied to obtain the above object counts for an Office 365 deployment.

Forest and Domains

The following domains were discovered in your Active Directory forest:
wardvissers.local
Total: 1

Trusts

No forest trusts found
green
You may deploy AD FS 2.0 and Directory Synchronization without multi-forest constraints

Schema and Forest/Domain Functionality Levels

Active Directory forest schema level: Windows Server 2008 R2
Exchange schema level: Exchange Server 2010 SP1
Domain Functionality:Windows Server 2008 R2
Forest Functionality:Windows Server 2008 R2
Domain Controller Functionality:Windows Server 2008 R2
green
It appears that your Active Directory schema is prepared for Exchange Rich Coexistence
modg Deployment Guide: Exchange Rich Coexistence Requirements


Active Directory Cleanup

modg Deployment Guide: Active Directory Cleanup

samaccountname (user name) Attribute

green
Character length test passed
green
Unsupported character test passed

givenname (first name) Attribute

green
Character length test passed
green
Unsupported character test passed

sn (last name) Attribute

green
Character length test passed
green
Unsupported character test passed

displayname Attribute

green
Character length test passed
green
Unsupported character test passed

mail (email address) Attribute

green
Character length test passed
green
Unsupported character test passed
green
No duplicates found

mailnickname Attribute

green
Character length test passed
green
Unsupported character test passed

proxyaddresses (email addresses) Attribute

green
No duplicates found
green
Unsupported character test passed

Directory Synchronization

Object count assessment:
Estimated number of objects for Directory Synchronization (entire forest): 113
modg Deployment Guide: Object Count Considerations
Enterprise Admin rights:
green
It appears that you are an enterprise admin
Directory Synchronization admin requirement met!
modg Deployment Guide: Directory Synchronization Required Permissions
Active Directory recycle bin:
warning
Active Directory recycle bin is enabled in your forest this may impact your total object count quota for Directory Synchronization.


Office 365 Single Sign On and Identity

AD FS 2.0 Directory Cleanup Check:

UserPrincipalName (logon ID for Office 365) Attribute

fyi
Update values once you have verified your organization does not have any other application dependencies on the UserPrincipalName attribute.
modg Deployment Guide: Active Directory Cleanup
green
Unsupported characters test passed
green
Spaces in logon value test passed
green
Unicode character test passed
note
Note: All Unicode characters will be converted to underscores (_) in the UserPrincipalName field.
green
No UserPrincipalName duplicates found
warning
Discovered users without a user logon name (blank value) for UserPrincipalName
You will need to provide each user a UserPrincipalName in order for these users to sign into Office 365.
fyi
Below is a list of your UserPrincipalName domain suffixes in use:
wardvissers.local
Total: 1
note
Note: During the Office 365 Beta only one namespace (root and child domains) per AD FS 2.0 farm
Example contoso.com and root.contoso.com would require 1 AD FS 2.0 farm and fabrikam.com would require an additional AD FS 2.0 farm

fyi
Password length per domain:

wardvissers.local = 7

Exchange Online

Discovered Exchange Server(s) on-premises:
Estimated total number of Exchange Servers: 1

Statistics:
Estimated total number of users with default mailbox size (True): 53
Estimated total number of users with larger than default mailbox size (False): 0
Estimated total number of objects with Exchange organization level quota: 6


Lync Online

Lync user assessment:
Estimated total number of users leveraging Office Communications/Lync on-premises: 2
Sip domains:
fyi
The following sip domains were discovered:
wardvissers.local
Total: 1

SharePoint Online

User object count assessment:
green
The number of user objects in your forest is supported.
modg Deployment Guide: Object Count Considerations

Client and End User Experience

modg Deployment Guide: Rich Experience Client Requirements

Summary of client computer readiness (Office 365 single sign-on and rich client checks):

warning
Below is an estimate of computer operating systems NOT ready for Office 365 rich client experience:
Total: 0
green
Below is an estimate of computer operating systems ready for Office 365 rich client experience:
Windows XP Service Pack 3: 3
Windows 7 Service Pack 1: 3
Total: 6

Network


fyi
IP Configuration:
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.150.60
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.150.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.150.254

fyi
Trace route to your default gateway:
Tracing route to 192.168.150.254 over a maximum of 30 hops
1 1 ms 2 ms 2 ms 192.168.150.254

fyi
Trace Route test to Exchange Online:
Tracing route to outlook.com [65.55.94.40]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 3 ms 2 ms 1 ms 192.168.150.254
2 * 24 ms 25 ms 82.169.11.254
3 25 ms 26 ms 26 ms 195.69.145.20
4 145 ms 146 ms 144 ms 10.14.234.234
5 * * * Request timed out.
6 * * * Request timed out.
7 10.14.234.234 reports: Destination net unreachable.
Trace complete.
fyi

For additional tests utilize the Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer

Port Query Tests:

modg Deployment Guide: Ports and Protocols
green
portal.microsoft.com
Made a TCP 443 connection to portal.microsoftonline.com
green
Outlook.com
Made a TCP 443 connection to outlook.com
green
Outlook.com IMAP
Made a TCP 993 IMAP connection to outlook.com
green
Outlook.com POP
Made a TCP 995 POP connection to outlook.com
green
Outlook.com SMTP
Made a SMTP TCP 587 connection to outlook.com
green
Active Directory Federation Services End Point
Made a TCP 443 connection to nexus.microsoftonline.com
green
Directory Synchronization End Point
Made a TCP 443 connection to adminwebservice.microsoftonline.com
green
Office 365 PowerShell End Point
Made a TCP 443 connection to ps.microsoftonline.com
green
Outlook.com PowerShell End Point
Made a TCP 443 connection to ps.outlook.com
green
Office 365 Community End Point
Made a TCP 80 connection to community.office365.com
green
Lync Online SIP Connection
Made a TCP 443 connection to sipdir.online.lync.com
green
Lync Online Federation
Made a TCP 5061 connection to sipfed.online.lync.com
Domain Name System (DNS) name records checks:
fyi
Found the following MX DNS record(s):
Server: localhost
Address: 127.0.0.1
wardvissers.local
primary name server = ward-dc01.wardvissers.local
responsible mail addr = hostmaster.wardvissers.local
serial = 761
refresh = 900 (15 mins)
retry = 600 (10 mins)
expire = 86400 (1 day)
default TTL = 3600 (1 hour)
Information Gathered On:
WARD-DC01
Date: za 07-05-2011
Start Time: 18:19
End Time: 18:21

How to create a Windows 7 x86 or x64 WMI Filter

I want to deploy some applications to different OS versions. I created some WMI filters. I added the right Group Policy to the right WMI filter.

Target Win 7 32 bit machines:

select * from Win32_OperatingSystem WHERE Version like "6.1%" AND ProductType="1" AND NOT OSArchitecture = "64-bit"

Target Win 7 64Bit machines:

select * from Win32_OperatingSystem WHERE Version like "6.1%" AND ProductType="1" AND OSArchitecture = "64-bit"

Target any 32 bit OS;

SELECT AddressWidth FROM Win32_Processor WHERE AddressWidth =’32’

Target any 64Bit OS:

SELECT AddressWidth FROM Win32_Processor WHERE AddressWidth =’64

GAL Photos in Exchange 2010 and Outlook 2010

With Microsoft Exchange 2010 and Outlook 2010 & Lync & Sharepoint 2010 you can finally get photos into your global address list (GAL) and see just who’s who on your emails. You can do this on 2 way’s

1. Using Powershell Smile

    A minor schema change

    First stop, the AD Schema. A minor schema modification is required to flip the thumbnailPhoto attribute to make it replicate to the Global Catalog.

    1. If you haven’t registered the Schema MMC snap-in on the server you want to make this change on, go ahead and do so using the following command:

      Regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll

    2. Fire up a MMC console (Start -> Run -> MMC) and add the Schema snap-in

    3. In the Active Directory Schema snap-in, expand the Attributes node, and then locate the thumbnailPhoto attribute. (The Schema snap-in lists attributes by its ldapDisplayName).

    4. In the Properties page, select Replicate this attribute to the Global Catalog, and click OK.

      Figure 1: Modifying the thumbnailPhoto attribute to replicate it to Global Catalog

      Loading pictures into Active Directory

      Now you can start uploading pictures to Active Directory using the Import-RecipientDataProperty cmdlet, as shown in this example:

      Import-RecipientDataProperty -Identity "Ward VIssers" -Picture -FileData ([Byte[]]$(Get-Content -Path "C:\pictures\wardvissers.jpg" -Encoding Byte -ReadCount 0))

      To perform a bulk operation you can use the Get-Mailbox cmdlet with your choice of filter (or use the Get-DistributionGroupMember cmdlet if you want to do this for members of a distribution group), and pipe the mailboxes to a foreach loop. You can also retrieve the user name and path to the thumbnail picture from a CSV/TXT file.

      2. Using a Free tool like Outlook Photos from Exclaimer

      Download the Tool HERE

      The tool is easy to use Smile.

      Prerequisites

      User Preferences

        Domain user – The logged in user’ account is required to be an Active Directory account.

        Domain computer – The computer the user is logged into needs to be joined to an Active
        Directory domain.

        Active Directory permissions – The logged in user must have permission to upload photos to the required Active Directory accounts. (Alternate credentials can be supplied or control of the thumbnailPhoto field can be delegated to the logged in user.)

      Operating System

      • Windows Server 2003 x86 (including all service pack levels).
      • Windows Server 2003 R2 x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).
      • Windows Server 2008 x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).
      • Windows Server 2008 R2 x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).
      • Windows Small Business Server 2003 (including all service pack levels).
      • Windows Small Business Server 2008.
      • Windows Small Business Server 2011.
      • Windows XP x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).
      • Windows Vista x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).
      • Windows 7 x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).

      Other Software

      Microsoft Outlook 2010 x86 and x64

      Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

      Microsoft Exchange 2010 RTM and above

      Active Directory

      You must be logged into an Active Directory domain to run the application.

      Active Directory Forest
      Domain and Forest functional level of Windows Server 2008 and above.
      For Domain or Forest functional level of Windows Server 2003, the Windows Server 2008 Forest preparation must first be complete.

      Screenshots

        image image

      Add a MSN user to Lync Online & Office 365

      Today I have a relax day working from home . I have some time to play with Office 365 & Lync Online Open-mouthed smile

      I wonderd if there was a way to add a msn user to my Lync while using Lync Online.

      I added my own msn account on lync. On MSN Messenger I get the qwestion if I want to add a new contact. Yes off course… Smile

      Tada…. You can add all your MSN friends to Office 365 or Lync Online Open-mouthed smile

      image

      How Should Your Organization Deploy Microsoft® Exchange?

      image

      Microsoft released a white paper how to deploy Microsoft Exchange: as Exchange Server 2010 on-premises, Exchange Online with Microsoft Office 365 in the cloud, or using both in a temporary or permanent hybrid scenario.

      image

       

      Knowing the benefits and limitations of each deployment option can help you make the right decision for your organization. Whatever you decide, the deployment flexibility that Microsoft provides with Exchange makes it easier for you to get the right solution for your business.

      Download HERE the whitepaper

      Microsoft Virtualization for VMware Professionals Jump Start

      The “Microsoft Virtualization for VMware Professionals” Jump Start is specially tailored for VMware and Microsoft virtualization technology pros. This cutting-edge course features expert instruction and real-world demonstrations of Hyper-V, many components of the System Center Suite, including VMM 2012, and a myriad of VDI solutions. This course is designed for Data Center Managers, IT Professionals, IT Decision Makers, Network Administrators, Storage/Infrastructure Administrators & Architects. Expert IT infrastructure consultant, Corey Hynes, and Microsoft Technical Evangelist, Symon Perriman, leveraged an engaging "team teaching" approach which makes the class as entertaining as it is educational Smile

      Virtualization Jump Start (01): Virtualization Overview
      Virtualization Jump Start (02): Differentiating Microsoft & VMware
      Virtualization Jump Start (03a): Hyper-V Deployment Options & Architecture | Part 1
      Virtualization Jump Start (03b): Hyper-V Deployment Options & Architecture | Part 2
      Virtualization Jump Start (04): High-Availability & Clustering
      Virtualization Jump Start (05): System Center Suite Overview with focus on DPM
      Virtualization Jump Start (06): Automation with Opalis, Service Manager & PowerShell
      Virtualization Jump Start (07): System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012
      Virtualization Jump Start (08): Private Cloud Solutions, Architecture & VMM Self-Service Portal 2.0
      Virtualization Jump Start (09): Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Architecture | Part 1
      Virtualization Jump Start (10): Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Architecture | Part 2
      Virtualization Jump Start (11): v-Alliance Solution Overview
      Virtualization Jump Start (12): Application Delivery for VDI

      Download all the Video’s:
      Video: WMV | WMV (ZIP) | PSP
      Audio: WMA | MP3

      Now only finding some spare time to watch’s these video’s Winking smile

      Hotfix Rollup 3 for Forefront Protection for Exchange Server

      Microsoft released Hotfix Rollup 3 for Forefront Protection for Exchange Server (KB2538719).

      Forefront-Protection-2010

       

      Here’s the list of fixes included in this rollup:

      1. Mail queues and sluggish Exchange/Outlook performance
      2. Increased “Available Disk Space” Health Point threshold to 250MB
      3. Error: The DNS Blocklist lookup domain blocklist.messaging.microsoft.com could not be contacted
      4. The Exchange Information store crashes with Forefront Protection for Exchange installed
      5. An attempted upgrade of Forefront Protection for Exchange fails with a “Registration Service Failed” error
      6. You receive Forefront Protection Health Notifications indicating a status of “Green to Green”
      7. Forefront generates a MaxDisabledWait error within 15 minutes after starting
      8. A MaxDisabledWait error occurs and Forefront Protection does not recover
      9. Forefront Protection doesn’t apply keyword filtering within hyperlink strings
      10. Forefront Protection for Exchange crashes while scanning a TAR file
      11. An engine update fails in Forefront Protection for Exchange
      12. Emails that are 90 MB or larger are being sent to the Forefront archive folder
      13. The Microsoft Forefront Server Protection Eventing Service will not start following an upgrade from a beta version of Forefront Protection for Exchange
      14. Forefront Protection for Exchange detects files as “Engine Error” when no engines have been enabled for scanning
      15. Messages quarantined due to engine error can now be delivered as complete email
      16. High CPU conditions in EdgeTransort.exe process result in crash
      17. You receive Forefront generated email notification that the Cloudmark engine or Worm list could not update
      18. Exchange email queues at startup following an abnormal shutdown

      For more details on the fixes consult the related knowledge base article. You can request the hotfix rollup through the support center here.

      DPM 2010 Enabling/Disabling co-location of data on Tape

      With this feature, you can achieve better tape utilization by co-locating data from multiple protection groups with similar retention range. This feature is disabled by default. You can use following PowerShell commands to enable and disable tape co-location.

      Enable Tape co-location:

      Set-DPMGlobalProperty -DpmServer <DPM Server Name> -OptimizeTapeUsage $true

      After data co-location has been enabled, DPM will check for the following conditions before allocating a tape:

      1. The expiry date of the current dataset should fall in between the following dates:
        Upper bound: furthest expiry date among all the datasets on the tape – (furthest expiry date among all the datasets on the tape – current date) * TapeExpiryTolerance
        Lower Bound: furthest expiry date among all the datasets on the tape + (furthest expiry date among all the datasets on the tape – current date) * TapeExpiryTolerance.
      2. Current time should be less than first backup time of the dataset on the media + TapeWritePeriodRatio * RetentionRangeOfFirstDataset.

      A dataset will be collocated only if both the above conditions are true.

      When you add the value to the registry, set the DWORD to be the actual percentage in decimal. The Default is 17 percent if that value is not present. Most likely you need to increase that value to a higher percentage and in some cases you need to set it to 100 in order for tape co-location to work as desired.

      TapeWritePeriodRatio – Indicates the number of days for which data can be written on to a tape as a fraction between 0 and 1. The default value is 0.15 – meaning by default, we will write to the same tape for 15% of the retension range period specified for each PG.

      TapeWritePeriodRatio is not a registry. It is a global property for the DPM which needs to be set using DPM CLI command. Here is the command to set it:

      Set-DPMGlobalProperty –DPMServerName <dpm server name> -TapeWritePeriodRatio <fraction>

      EXAMPLE, to set the write period ratio to 50%, use the following command.

      Set-DPMGlobalProperty –DPMServerName MY-DPMSEREVR -TapeWritePeriodRatio .50

      http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff399230.aspx

      Issue with MDT 2010 Update 1 and Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1

      With the release of the Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement (see Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 Released for details), there is a new version 3.1 version of Windows PE available. If you plan to install this update, you need to be aware of an issue when using this with MDT 2010 Update 1.

      With MDT 2010, Deployment Workbench will look for a “boot.wim” file from one of the imported operating systems that has the same build number as Windows AIK (e.g. “boot.wim” from a Windows 7 RC, build 7100, operating system to go with the Windows AIK for Windows 7 RC). If it finds a match, it will use that WIM instead. Why do we do this? Because the “boot.wim” contains the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE), a component that isn’t available in Windows AIK.

      So let’s get a little more specific. First, some background details:

      • The build number for the RTM version of Windows 7 is 6.1.7600.16385.
      • The build number for Windows AIK for Windows 7, released with Windows 7 RTM, is also 6.1.7600.16385. This is stored in the registry.
      • The build number for Windows 7 SP1 is 6.1.7601.17514.
      • The build number for the files included in the Windows 7 AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement, including Windows PE 3.1 and all the Windows PE feature packs, is also 6.1.7601.17514. But since this supplement is installed by replacing files in the Windows AIK installation directory using XCOPY, the registry isn’t updated so MDT still thinks the Windows 7 RTM version (6.1.7600.16385) of Windows AIK is installed.

      Now, let’s assume that you have Windows 7 RTM x86 installation files present in your deployment share, and you haven’t installed the Windows 7 AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement. MDT’s processing when creating a boot image will look like this:

      • Is there a boot.wim available with the same version number as Windows AIK (6.1.7600.16385 = 6.1.7600.13685)? Yes, copy it to a temporary folder and mount it.
      • Inject the required Windows PE optional components from the Windows AIK installation directory into this mounted boot image.
      • Inject the needed MDT scripts.
      • Commit the changes to the WIM file and copy it to the deployment share.

      Now, install the Windows 7 AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement and update the deployment share:

      • Is there a boot.wim available with the same version number as Windows AIK (6.1.7600.16385 = 6.1.7600.13685)? Yes (because MDT doesn’t know that Windows AIK has been updated, the registry still says it is version 6.1.7600.16385), copy it to a temporary folder and mount it.
      • Try to Inject the required Windows PE feature packs from the Windows AIK installation directory into this mounted boot image. All fail, because they are for Windows PE 3.1 and won’t work with the Windows PE 3.0 boot image copied from the Windows 7 RTM files.
      • Stop.

      The actual error will look something like this (repeated for each Windows PE feature pack):

      Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
      Version: 6.1.7600.16385
      Image Version: 6.1.7600.16385
      Processing 1 of 1 – Adding package WinPE-HTA-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~x86~~6.1.7601.17514
      Error: 0x800f081e
      The specified package is not applicable to this image.
      The DISM log file can be found at C:\Windows\Logs\DISM\dism.log
      Exit code = –2146498530
      DISM /Add-Package failed for component C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\amd64\WinPE_FPs\winpe-hta.cab, rc = -2146498530.

      Solution:

      Modify the Settings.xml file in the deployment share’s “Control” folder to tell MDT to never use the boot.wim. The settings look like this:

      <Boot.x86.UseBootWim>True</Boot.x86.UseBootWim>
      <Boot.x64.UseBootWim>True</Boot.x64.UseBootWim>

      They should be changed to instead say:

      <Boot.x86.UseBootWim>False</Boot.x86.UseBootWim>
      <Boot.x64.UseBootWim>False</Boot.x64.UseBootWim>

      As a result of this change, MDT will no longer use the boot.wim from the Windows 7 RTM installation files. Instead, it will always use the winpe.wim from Windows AIK. And since the Windows PE feature packs in Windows AIK should always match the winpe.wim in Windows AIK, this will always work.

      Note that this will never be an issue with MDT-generated boot images used with ConfigMgr 2007, as MDT will always use the winpe.wim from Windows AIK when generating these. (ConfigMgr 2007 doesn’t yet support Windows PE 3.1, so don’t install the Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement yet if you are using ConfigMgr.)

      More info check: Issue with MDT 2010 Update 1 and Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 Supplement

      Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V SP1 Component Architecture Poster

      This poster provides a visual reference for understanding key Hyper-V technologies in Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1. It focuses on architecture, snapshots, live migration, virtual networking, storage, RemoteFX and Dynamic Memory.

      To download the poster click on the picture
      image

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