Rantings of an IT Pirate

OWSUG and Microsoft sponsored IT Virtualization Boot Camp in Ottawa

Brad Bird — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:49:59 GMT

These events are live and they’re HOT. 40 seats per event but they’re not free. The event cost is $25/person and registration is NOT optional.

40 seats is a HARD limit because that is the number of computers. Payments are collected via Paypal. Please register below. I hope to see you there!

http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/2892520607

Regards,

Brad Bird

President OWSUG

STEP Event from January OWSUG meeting Deploying Windows 7 for Enterprises of ANY size–Still waiting?

Brad Bird — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:18:00 GMT

This presentation was popular and very well received. Members asked me to post the slides so here they are!

Right Click link and Choose Save As to download Windows 7 for Enterprises of ANY size–Still waiting?

Weird Bug/Limitation in the SCOM 2007 R2 Maintenance Mode Scheduler from the Administration Toolkit

Brad Bird — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:34:39 GMT

I have been fighting with the maintenance mode scheduler for a fair bit of time at this customer of mine. They have a significant challenge. They have pods of web and DB servers with F5 load balancers which they rotate on a schedule to synchronize their content. There are 6 of these pods.

Here is an example of the scheduler:

The limitation/bug I have discovered is when you attempt to add more than 6 objects…

The scheduler will actually let you complete the form by picking a category, selecting a schedule and saving it.

However when you attempt to modify the schedule to add/remove objects, here is the prompt:

What happens next is odd… you can actually go into the schedule you’ve created but here are the symptoms of this issue…

In the Select Schedule field, no schedule appears and the only possibility is to create a New schedule or to cancel this window because you cannot Save again…

This is quite a limitation because my customer literally has dozens of objects to be selected for each “pod”. I confirmed that this issue has nothing to do with selecting objects of different classes. The issue is explicitly the number of objects added and that is limited to 6!

Now, the jobs you create can share a schedule, at least that works…

New SCOM AD MP guide references the wrong MP version

Brad Bird — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:46:58 GMT

The Active Directory Management Pack was just updated to version 6.0.7670 in September 2011. The last time this MP was updated was October 2009.

I am very glad to see that the MP has been re-released and that it comes with guidance as to the monitoring operations, what the MP contains like deprecated monitors, etc.

It also corrected several issues that were reported with the previous MP.

The previous MP was version 6.0.7065 which you will see if you have the Windows Server 2000 monitoring MP imported. The Windows 2000 monitoring MP did not get updated and there are no plans to update it as this is no longer a supported product.

My annoyance, is with the document version section of the management pack guide. Here it is:

Really?

Do these guides receive an editing cycle before getting released?

Ottawa IT Community speakers Idol Nov. 2nd at DevTeach Ottawa

Brad Bird — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:31:29 GMT

Do you like to share your IT knowledge with others? Do you know a tip, trick or a feature that can save time for others and you would like to share it?

Well, Ottawa Speaker Idol is your solution and there is still time to submit your session proposal. The dead line is Wednesday Oct. 26th.

The Ottawa IT Community is organizing a contest where you can win a free registration to DevTeach Nov. 3-4 (value of $649). On November 2nd, at the venue for DevTeach Ottawa (Ottawa Conference Center), you will be invited to present your tip, trick or a feature for 10 minutes. After all presentations have completed, the attendees will vote for the winners. Prizes will be distributed to the best presenters. This is a free event and everyone is welcome to attend.

Date: Wednesday November 2nd , at 18:30

Location: Ottawa Conference Center (room 103)

55 Colonel By Drive

Ottawa , ON, K1N 9J2 Canada

Rules:

• You must not be a regular speaker in the IT Community. This contest is to encourage new speakers.

• It must be the first time you participate to the Ottawa IT Speaker Idol

• No need to be register to DevTeach to participate in the contest.

• You must submit the description of your presentation (no more than 200 words) by October 26th to jrroy@DevTeach.com

• We will accept 10 presenters

• If more than 10 submissions, a committee will select 10 presentations

• The list of presentations will be announced on October 31st

• A laptop will be available for your presentation or you can use your own laptop

• You will need to bring your PowerPoint and code on a USB key. All presentations will be posted on our web site after the contest.

Attending and vote for the winners can register with this link:

http://www.devteach.com/wconnect/wc.dll?FournierTransformation~1,26,1,29

Winners Prizes:

First place: Registration to the main conference DevTeach Nov. 3-4 (value of $649) from DevTeach Inc.

Second place: Win 7 Phone (Value of $549) from LIKE 10 Inc.

Third place: T/A from Microsoft

CODE magazine : Everyone get a Code Magazine

I truly value the help that Microsoft gives to Partners to help them succeed

Brad Bird — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:01:21 GMT

I work mainly with Microsoft technologies and I find that as an organization, they truly help to empower us to find the information and get the help we need. Now I know online resources have been done to death, actually I recently watched a really interesting TV show on “Customer Disservice” which showcases how we as a society are actually hurting ourselves from the point of view of customer satisfaction. Now I agree to some degree but online resources are always there for us and are not held back by working day schedules so for that reason, I rely on them heavily.

My work schedule is not 9 to 5. I often find myself needing access to information which I can’t rely that someone will be at the other end of the phone…

I took some time over the last week, to come up with a list of elements where I believe Microsoft deserves at least a Kudos for their efforts. For instance, even Microsoft employees joke about how complicated licensing is but many of them don’t even know that there is training and help to understand that. I won’t focus on the licensing too much because I believe that there is room for improvement in that area specifically but I do appreciate efforts which have been made!

Now, this is somewhat of a long winded post but I hope that it helps people and I know there is value in it, enjoy.

1) Help and Support from Microsoft

Have you ever wondered where to go to get help with your common, everyday IT challenges?

Based on feedback and constructive criticism, Microsoft Canada identifies key areas where they can improve and help you by providing better resources to answer your questions, solve your real world problems and help you achieve your business goals. Maybe it’s just ensuring you know you have a voice – or just making your life a little easier at the end of the day – whatever it takes, Microsoft is listening.

One of the areas Microsoft has received feedback on is Help and Support. Let's face it, you may not have a direct contact person from Microsoft that you can call up when you have a problem and with the pace of technology today, you just can't wait for things to sort themselves out. So you either commit you or your teams' time and energy to fixing that issue, or you hire someone to come in and fix it. But what if I told you there were some great Microsoft Resources available for support that you could use? I've put together a list below. This is by no means exhaustive, but it should give you a great start when you need to tackle your next IT challenge.

Help and Resources

· Microsoft Product Solution Center – Get product support information for the majority of Microsoft products.

· Microsoft Answers – Ask questions and get answers from real people, or search for answers others have received.

· Microsoft Fix it Solution Center – Find automated solutions for your issues.

· @MicrosoftHelps – Follow Microsoft Customer Service and Support on Twitter. Experienced customer service agents respond to your questions in real-time tweets.

· Enterprise Business Center – Access resources for enterprise customers.

· Microsoft Small Business Center – Find resources for small and medium-sized businesses.

Other Resources You May Find Useful

Microsoft Virtual Academy - For Free Training To Help Improve Your IT Skill Set.
TechNet Evaluation Center - Try some of the latest Microsoft products like Office 365, Windows Intune or System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 for free, before you buy.
TechNet Newsletter - Sign Up To Receive The Latest IT News and Developments, Product Releases, Expert Insights and Support Services with Microsoft's complimentary biweekly newsletter for industry professionals.

2) Security – How to Help Keep Your PC Protected

Have you ever wondered how you can help keep your PC protected?

One of the areas Microsoft has received feedback on is Security, specifically how to help keep your PC protected. Whether it's at work or at home, I've been told that it can be hard to make sense of what's important, which updates should be installed and how best to protect your PC. Microsoft has a resource center for their Monthly updates listed below – it's something you should check out every second Tuesday of the month. If you prefer to listen to a podcast – they've created one that's easy to listen to and not too technical called Security Bulletins for the Regular IT Guy.
Recently there have been a growing number of Phone Scams from individuals claiming to be from Microsoft asking you about the security of your PC. You should be suspicious of unsolicited calls about security of your systems. Don't give out financial details, visit websites, allow anyone to remote control your system or install software from unsolicited callers. If you feel your system has been compromised or has a computer virus – you can call Microsoft's Security and Virus FREE support line at 1-866-727-2338.

Security Resources

· Microsoft Security Essentials – Free Anti-Malware software from Microsoft, great for Small Businesses and Home PCs alike.

· Security Bulletins by the Regular IT Guy – A monthly podcast to help simplify details about the monthly Security patch releases.

· Security TechCenter – Find top tasks, get the latest news, find a wiki article or download a featured tool.

· Windows Update Services – Businesses of all sizes can help manage and control the rollout of updates in their organizations.

Other Resources You May Find Useful

· Springboard Series - Your destination for technical resources, free tools and expert guidance to ease the deployment and management of your Windows-based client infrastructure.

· AlignIT Manager Tech Talk Series - A monthly streamed video series with a range of topics for both infrastructure and development managers. Ask questions and participate real-time or watch the on-demand recording.

· Microsoft Virtual Academy - For Free Training To Help Improve Your IT Skill Set.

· TechNet Evaluation Center - Try some of the latest Microsoft products like Office 365, Windows Intune or System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 for free, before you buy.

3) Licensing Simplified – at Home and at Work

Have you ever wondered if there’s an easier way to understand licensing, for both home and business use?

One of the areas Microsoft has received feedback on is Licensing. Whether you need to buy one license from a traditional retail store or explore options for a more flexible volume licensing program, it can be confusing and sometimes downright intimidating to figure out what you need. After doing a little digging - I’ve highlighted some resources you can use to help figure out exactly what you need when you talk with your software reseller.

Speaking of licensing – I often get asked if I can back up our claims at a more cost effective Virtualization solution for your server rooms. I dug up a great – no nonsense breakdown on recent licensing changes in the industry and how our offering stacks up.

Licensing Resources

· Licensing FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions About Product Licensing

· The SMB How to Buy Portal: receive clear purchasing and licensing information that is easy to understand in order to help facilitate quick decision making.

· Microsoft License Advisor (MLA): Use MLA to research Microsoft Volume Licensing products, programs and pricing.

· Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) – Already have a volume License? Use the VLSC to get you easy access to all your licensing information in one location.

· Windows 7 Comparison: Compare versions of Windows and find out which one is right for you

· Office 2010 Comparison: Find out which Office suite is right for you.

Other Resources You May Find Useful

· TechNet Cloud Hub - Get the latest news and find great resources to help you jump into the Cloud.

· TechNet Evaluation Center - Try some of the latest Microsoft products like Office 365, Windows Intune or System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 for free, before you buy.

· Microsoft Virtual Academy - For free training to help improve your IT skill set.

4) Free Online Training and Resources from Microsoft

Have you ever wondered how you can help build your IT skill set?

Microsoft has a number of great resources to help you in areas of professional development and access to software. The Microsoft Virtual Academy contains some fantastic FREE online training on hot topics for IT Professionals. Once you’ve stopped by and tried out a course or two — head on over to the Microsoft Eval Center to download copies of their server products to try out in your lab environment. And while you’re at it, check out this free Microsoft Office 365 ebook by Katherine Murray, it shows you how you can use cloud computing to help get more done and help improve ease of collaboration.

Drastic Changes to the F5 Management Pack for SCOM 2007 R2

Brad Bird — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 17:55:27 GMT

I just received this alert from the SCOM MP Group on DevCentral that I am following:

Subject: F5 Management Pack is ready to be ordered

We are pleased to announce that we have converted the F5 Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 from a community supported DevCentral download to an orderable offering in the F5 Networks product portfolio. As part of this transition, the product will be fully supported by our world class services organization. Customers can now purchase the management pack just like any other product in the F5 portfolio through our sales or partner organization.

Please contact your local F5 or F5 partner representative for more information. The price of the Management Pack will be $10,000 US plus support and is shipping now.

No Images Display in Scheduled Reports Once Deployed

Brad Bird — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 18:59:13 GMT

Using SCOM 2007 R2 once a SQL Reporting Services report is deployed using Scheduled Reports when a report is deployed, there are no images:

If this report is run manually, all data shows up just fine:

The error is reported in the SQL ReportServer Application log:

The solution is here:

Solution
===========
To resolve this problem, add the following information to the ReportingServicesService.exe.config file in the ReportServer\bin directory:

I found this code mod snippet in a blog post from the CSS Platform team in Taiwan…

I linked it below.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/csstwplatform/archive/2010/11/22/scom-2007-the-scheduled-sql-reports-don-t-contain-the-graph-in-the-pdf-file.aspx

I only found out my change worked because an admin who receives these reports by E-Mail sent me a thank you message…

My initial test did show that the change worked initially when delivered to a file share. The errors were no longer present in the event logs, etc.…

My issue now had to do with the file format and the type of delivery:

I had selected HTML 4.0 as the render format which does not deliver the report in a single file. Suitable file formats for file share delivery are: Web archive, PDF, TIFF, and Excel.

Note: Avoid HTML4.0. If your report includes images, the HTML 4.0 formats will not include them in the file.

See this link below for the explanation.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms159264.aspx

Some nice Globe and Mail press coverage for User Groups

Brad Bird — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:51:58 GMT

I was interviewed a couple of weeks ago by the Globe and Mail in Ottawa. Here is the published article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/business-categories/biz-categories-technology/get-plugged-in-with-an-it-user-group/article2128023/

The Annual Ottawa IT Community Social Night

Brad Bird — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 13:20:40 GMT

Register to attend!

The Annual Ottawa IT Community Social Night

Mon June 27th 2011 on Elgin Street (new location!)

Free food • Prizes • Celebration

Registration from 5:30pm – Event starts at 6:00pm

Hosted by

With summer almost officially upon us, our organisations are teaming up to host the annual Ottawa IT Community Social Night, honouring the partners and members that helped to make 2010/2011 another great season for developers, IT pros and DBAs. Again, we have a new format, and the celebrations will include free food, competition and prizes.

Space is limited so check your calendar now and register early for a great lead into summer.

Follow this link to registration and event details - you must register to qualify for prizes:

http://oitc2011social.eventbrite.com/

Funding and/or prizes provided specifically for this event in part by the following generous event sponsors

Event Sponsor

Community Sponsors

OWSUG Event June 16, 2011 - Virtual Reality: The truth about Microsoft’s Interoperable Virtualization Stack

Brad Bird — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:04:52 GMT

There are lots of players out there in the Virtualization Market. All of them have options to help you build a highly available solution to virtualize and protect your servers all with varying costs associated with them.

Did you know Microsoft has a solution that you can cut your teeth into even if you are just learning the ropes and don’t have access to high end SAN hardware?

Join us for a demo intensive 90 minute session that builds a solution from scratch and gives you the skills to bring this technology into your organization or customer environments for a fraction of the cost of the competitors offerings (you know who we’re talking about). This session will cover the story of an organization looking to enhance their current infrastructure and virtualization solutions. It will start with the requirements, proceed into the build process and demonstrate all of its capabilities including post deployment management.

Do you have questions to ask? Are you more familiar with “the other guys” offerings and need to have some clarity on what is actually capable with the Microsoft Virtualization offerings?

Registration site: https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032488211&Culture=en-CA

This session is for you - we’re leaving plenty of time for questions along the way.

Senior Technology Evangelist

Richard Claus engages with the Technical Community on behalf of Microsoft Canada. Based in Ottawa, Ontario, Rick's role is to support platform awareness and skills development through special events targeting the broad community. Unofficially, Rick is focused on spreading his enthusiasm, passion and excitement on all things technical to anyone who has the time for a coffee (or pint) and a chat (in English or français - naturellement).Richard Claus s'engage avec la communauté technique au nom de Microsoft Canada. Basé à Ottawa, en Ontario, le rôle de Rick est de supporter la sensibilisation au plate-forme Microsoft et le développement des compétences au travers des événements ciblant la communauté. Officieusement, Rick répand son enthousiasme et sa passion pour tout sujet technique à quiconque a le temps pour un café (ou une pinte) et pour une discussion (en anglais ou en français, naturellement).

Richard Claus s'engage avec la communauté technique au nom de Microsoft Canada. Basé à Ottawa, en Ontario, le rôle de Rick est de supporter la sensibilisation au plate-forme Microsoft et le développement des compétences au travers des événements ciblant la communauté. Officieusement, Rick répand son enthousiasme et sa passion pour tout sujet technique à quiconque a le temps pour un café (ou une pinte) et pour une discussion (en anglais ou en français, naturellement).

ITPRO Toronto User Group Presents: Windows STEP Event – Virtualize the Barriers!

Brad Bird — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:06:17 GMT

The ITPro Toronto User Group is proud to sponsor a special event to be held Thursday night May 26th, 2011 at 7PM (doors open 6:30PM). Due to the late notice of the event we appreciate you sharing the invitation with as many friends and associates as possible.

Social time with many Microsoft MVP's in town for the night - a great opportunity to meet and ask questions of many Canadian MVP product experts!

Location:

Four Points by Sheraton Mississauga Meadowvale

2501 Argentia Rd * Mississauga L5N 4G8

(905) 858-2424

Britannia room

Presentation description:

Windows 7: Haven't Migrated yet? Virtualize the Barriers!

So Windows 7 has been around for some time. You know you want to migrate.

There are still some stubborn applications that are not compatible with Windows 7 and MUST remain in Windows XP for the time being...

In this session, we'll demonstrate a technique called P2V which is a free tool with Software Assurance. We'll also show how to deliver a managed virtual WinXP desktop with MED-V.

Now what's stopping you?

Presentation by Bradley Bird:

Brad is a lead technical consultant and MCT certified trainer based in Ottawa, ON. He works with Cistel, a Microsoft GOLD partner based in Ottawa as a System Center and Virtualization architect. 3-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for

2010 and 2011 in the Virtual Machine domain and Management Infrastructure in 2009. He is also a member of the Windows Springboard Technical Expert Panel (STEP) for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 having delivered STEP presentations as an evangelist in Quebec City, QC, Fredericton and Moncton NB, Halifax NS, and St-Johns, Newfoundland.

Cal

Ask the Microsoft Experts

Brad Bird — Thu, 12 May 2011 17:41:23 GMT

There is nothing soft about these Microsofties!

On May 25th, we are going to have an informal User Group session. This will include Microsoft ITPRO evangelist Rick Claus, and Technical Account Manager Pierre Roman. We may also see guest appearances by others (not yet confirmed).

OWSUG executive committee will come up with a list of topics in the next week to get the ball rolling but please bring your questions.

Senior Technology Evangelist

Pierre is a Senior Technical Account manager for the Federal sector of Microsoft Canada. As such he connects and engages with his customer to ensure they are operating they’re environment in the most efficient problem free manner.

As a Senior Technical Account Manager he uses his several years of Large Corporations Service Delivery Management experience within large complex technical environments to effectively own the operational Health of his customer's deployed Microsoft technologies.

With over 20 years of experience in the IT industry Pierre brings a well rounded view of all facets or the IT lifecycle. He has been with Microsoft since 2005, prior to that he was a Senior System Engineer for a Microsoft Gold partner where he used his extensive experience in delivering successful, cost-effective information solutions in the areas of Identify management, network and system management and deployment services.

Double Bill for the April OWSUG Meeting

Brad Bird — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:34:58 GMT

Sharepoint 2010 publication using UAG SP1

In the first session we will be reviewing the Publishing options in UAG (Unified Access Gateway) sp1 and how one can leverage UAG for sharepoint portal application publishing. We will review the basic setup on portal publishing and how you can leverage the inbound access controls native in UAG to give a more granular level of control and what it is you publish out to the YAG portal for your remote work force.

Derek Kerr is the Director of IT at non~linear creations, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with offices across Canada & US. Derek brings over 15 years of expertise in helping organizations align their business goals using Microsoft technology. His passion for IT innovation has made him a leader and driving force in deploying the latest Microsoft 2010 technologies for enterprise organizations across North America. He has deep expertise in SharePoint, Office Communications Server, CRM & FAST ESP, and is well versed in all .NET Framework technologies. Derek currently holds several Microsoft technical designations, and is an active member of the .NET community.

DirectAccess and UAG SP1

In the second session we will cover using Unified Access Gateway to leverage DirectAccess. DirectAccess is a great solution for remote workers, but implementing it can be difficult and complicated. Unified Access Gateway makes it easier and simpler for IT pro's choosing to deploy DirectAccess in their environment. It does this by providing some built in tools, providing a hardened edge solution and allows remote connections to connect to IPV4 resources and applications by using NAT64 capabilities. In this session we will show you how to setup DirectAccess using UAG.

Todd is a Systems Administrator for the County of Lennox & Addington, Information Services Department. Supporting the Information Technology needs of the Libraries and Museum throughout their 12 points of service, he is responsible for managing and maintaining the entire IT infrastructure from server to desktops. Aside from the IT duties, Todd is also responsible for helping manage on-going projects which fall under the leadership of the Director of Information Services. Todd has been working in the IT field since 1995 when he first started doing tech support for an internet service provider.

Todd holds a Bachelor of Arts specializing in Computer Science and Economics from Laurentian University. Professional accomplishments include being awarded Microsoft MVP – Desktop Experience. Todd has also have achieved his Microsoft Certified Trainer credential, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, Microsoft Certified IT Professional and Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist. Todd is an avid learner and never hesitates to share his knowledge with others. Todd has presented at various venues, most notably, TechDays Canada. He is a founding member of the Kingston and Thousand Islands Windows Server User Group and also sits on the exec of the Ottawa Windows Server User Group, the OttawaSQL.net User Group and Napanee Rotary Club.

Aside from his IT career, Todd lives in Kingston with his partner Tracey and their son. He enjoys gardening, reading and cooking local food.

Please Register:
Registration site: http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=155127
Event Code: 155127

Sponsors

Come out to Ottawa IT Days and see the Sex, Lies and VDI session!

Brad Bird — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 18:16:34 GMT

Did you know that Ottawa IT Days is going on at Algonquin College this Saturday?

Registration is free. Come out with your friends and peers and take in some sessions and learn about current technologies.

I am presenting a session with my colleague at Cistel, Colin Smith. The session is called: Sex, Lies and VDI: The truth about VDI.

The link is below for more information:

http://www.ottawacodecamp.ca/Pages2011/Default.aspx