Import-Module -Name ActiveDirectory

Get-ADUser -Filter * -SearchBase "OU=YourOUName,DC=YourDomain,DC=COM" -properties ScriptPath | Export-Csv "c:\script\ADUser.csv"

Note: In order for this to work, you have to have the ActiveDirectory Module loaded. 

Long story short, these slide decks are chock full of internal thinking on Windows 8 — everything from customer target audiences to the Windows 8 developer market to the Windows 8 product cycle and much, much more.

While I agree with the author of the post, in that I feel bad for the person who leaked this, I do think it is pretty interesting to get a look at what Microsoft is thinking.  I always find it useful to know now where they think things are going to be in the future, in the hopes that I will make better decisions about how to position myself and the company I work for to take advantage of the “new stuff” when it gets here.

In late 2007, we bought our first IBM Blade Center (which I am very happy with) and with that move we also decided to do “boot from SAN” for all of our blades.  Just seemed to make sense that we wouldn’t put moving parts in a device that was designed to run so well without moving parts. 

At the time, we were implementing a new ERP system and several “hanger on” type applications, and Hyper-V (virtualization in general) wasn’t something that was supported by a lot of the software we were deploying.  So we have a lot of powerful blade servers, running a lot of low use applications.  I have managed to eradicate several of those wasteful installations, but there are a set that I am only now getting buy-in to virtualize. 

And today’s adventure begins with a Windows Server 2003 SP2 machine installed Boot from SAN on an IBM HS21-XM Blade server.

First attempt:

1.  Convert physical server

2.  Virtual machine name

3.  Scan System

Looks good..

4. Conversion options

we can try the defaults..

5.  Specify the processor and memory… 

6.  Select the host, path, network, start options, etc..

7.  The job starts, the machine gets copied over, and …

That try resulted in a blue screen loop.. 

Ok… time to try the Offline conversion:

1. Proceed as above but select the Offline conversion option at step 4.

2.  hmm..  conversion warnings… must correct to proceed..

Warning (13246)
No compatible drivers were identified for the device: Broadcom BCM5708S NetXtreme II GigE (NDIS VBD Client). The offline physical-to-virtual conversion requires a driver for this device.

Device Type: network adapter
Device Description: Broadcom BCM5708S NetXtreme II GigE (NDIS VBD Client)
Device Manufacturer: Broadcom Corporation
Hardware IDs (listed in order of preference):
B06BDRV\L2ND&PCI_16AC14E4&SUBSYS_03271014&REV_12

Compatible IDs (listed in order of preference):
B06BDRV\L2ND&PCI_16AC14E4&SUBSYS_03271014
B06BDRV\L2ND&PCI_16AC14E4
B06BDRV\L2ND

Recommended Action
Create a new folder under C:\Program Files\Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2\Driver Import on the Virtual Machine Manager server and then copy the necessary 32-bit Windows Vista driver package files for this device to the new folder. The driver package files include the driver (.sys) and installation (.inf and .cat) files. Check the device manufacturer’s website for the necessary drivers.

We don’t really need to do that right…

Had some trouble with that part…  finally figured out that the drivers that need to be placed in that folder are the “RIS” drivers. 

Try number 3 (or 30, I lost count)…

1. Proceed as try number 2, ignore warning because we did put the driver in there, and

Blue screen loop…

Hmm… maybe this is just not meant to be.  Did some more searching and found this article:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/robertvi/archive/2009/10/07/after-installing-hyper-v-integration-services-on-the-next-reboot-the-vm-displays-bsod-0x0000007b.aspx 

Basically, there are some people seeing the exact same blue screen that I was seeing, except this was after the install of updated integration components.  But I wasn’t installing integration components yet… or was I?

Ok so maybe it was getting that far and just “blowing up” after the install of the components.  Good thing about this being a P2V, I can go back to the source machine pretty easy and check the registry:

Looks like we may have an answer here.  Change the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Wdf01000\Group entry to be WdfLoadGroup instead of base. 

It is my guess, that this would have worked even with the online conversion option.

I created an answer file and when I run Sysprep I get a popup that says:  A fatal error occurred while trying to sysprep the machine.

Hmm..  so I look at the logs and here is what I find:

2010-06-03 10:42:33, Error      [0x0f0085] SYSPRP LaunchDll:Could not load DLL drmv2clt.dll[gle=0x0000007e]
2010-06-03 10:42:33, Error      [0x0f0070] SYSPRP RunExternalDlls:An error occurred while running registry sysprep DLLs, halting sysprep execution. dwRet = 126[gle=0x0000007e]
2010-06-03 10:42:33, Error      [0x0f00a8] SYSPRP WinMain:Hit failure while processing sysprep cleanup providers; hr = 0x8007007e[gle=0x0000007e]

I found lots of references to Windows Media Player, and that you can’t have sharing enabled.  Not a problem on this machine.  Not any help either. 

I did find this article helpful: http://myit4u.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/launchdll-could-not-load-dll-drmv2clt-dll/

Guess what?! Those aren’t shown in on a Windows Server 2008! Our workaround was to install the Desktop Experience feature on the server.

I added the “Desktop Experience” feature did the sysprep and then uninstalled it on each of the new machines.  Rather a pain, but I didn’t have a lot of time to work on figuring out a better answer.

The opportunity to have conversations with the people that work on creating these products and people that use them in various environments is also very refreshing and useful.  This gets better over the years, because I have begun to recognize the people that have the answers I am looking for or the ideas that I can use. 

Last year, when I was at MMS, I happened to be standing too close to an area where they were conducting interviews… 

Today, while I was walking through the Expo, I saw someone that looked familiar, and he started talking to me before I even figured out where I recognized him.  He started talking about a video and how it had been talked about, and I was thinking “he obviously has me confused with someone else”.  Then I recognized who he was, and started getting nervous…

He opened up his laptop and showed me the a video called “What’s on your mind”.  It was evidently the intro video to one of the keynotes at TechEd last year.  I show up in a few spots, but mostly, I think, because they like my swimming pool analogy… 

Find me at 25 seconds through 30 seconds…

http://nukeitmike.com/video/whats%20on%20your%20mind.wmv

Thanks to Stephen Rose from Microsoft for remembering me and allowing me to post the video on my blog.

One of the sets doesn’t have this error, but wouldn’t because they are physical servers.  They have been in production a long time, and we have plans to virtualize them. 

The second set doesn’t get the errors, but it is fewer servers and fewer users.

The third set:

• is virtual
• runs on 2008 R2 Hyper-V
• has more servers (6 as opposed to 4 or 5 for the other two)
• supports more users and more users per server (averages around 20 users per server during business hours)

Around November, we started upgrading our hosts from 2008 to 2008 R2.  The problems have been getting progressively worse peaking in the last 2 months.  Our last 2008 host was converted in March. 

After some event log review, we were able to correlate some of the issues to the following error in the event log:

Event Type:    Warning
Event Source:    netvsc
Event Category:    None
Event ID:    5
Date:        4/19/2010
Time:        3:49:53 PM
User:        N/A
Computer:    <ServerNameChangedToProtectTheGuilty>
Description:
The miniport ‘Microsoft Virtual Machine Bus Network Adapter #4′ hung.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 00 00 00 00 02 00 52 00   ……R.
0008: 00 00 00 00 05 00 00 80   …….€
0010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ……..
0018: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ……..
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ……..

and right behind that would be this message:

Event Type:    Information
Event Source:    netvsc
Event Category:    None
Event ID:    4
Date:        4/19/2010
Time:        3:49:53 PM
User:        N/A
Computer:    <ServerNameChangedToProtectTheGuilty>
Description:
The miniport ‘Microsoft Virtual Machine Bus Network Adapter #4′ reset.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 00 00 00 00 02 00 52 00   ……R.
0008: 00 00 00 00 04 00 00 40   …….@
0010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ……..
0018: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ……..
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ……..

After doing a bit of searching and getting a lot of nothing, and doing some on site troubleshooting without much luck, I finally broke down and called Microsoft.  I spent a day e-mailing back and forth with someone who was suggesting that I try all the things that I had already tried, so I contacted our TAM and had the case escalated. 

The technician then informed me that there was an internal hotfix that had not been fully tested yet, that related to my issue.  It seems that in 2008 R2 Hyper-V guests running Server 2003, the network adapter will hang and then reset under heavy load.  The hotfix has to be applied to the host and then the integration services on the guest have to be updated.  In my environment, when I updated, I had to remove the integration services from the guest before the updated NIC driver would install.  I reported this behavior to the technician I was working with, but he said that he couldn’t reproduce that particular problem and that he had no issues updating his test environment.

It is my understanding that the hotfix will be released under KB981836.  When you install this, it changes the integration services version from 6.1.7600.16385 to 6.1.7600.20683.  You can see this if you look at the driver version on the guest NIC.

$CheckForFile = "H:\custom.ini"
$FileToCopy = "c:\IT\custom.ini"
$CopyFileTo = "H:\"

$PathTest = Test-Path $CheckForFile
If ($PathTest -eq "false")
    {
    Copy-Item $FileToCopy $CopyFileTo
    }

#uses the Invoke-Item command to launch the application
Invoke-Item "C:\Program Files\executable to launch.exe"

This is for use in a Citrix/Terminal Server environment, so I want to be able to call this script like this: PowerShell copythenlaunch.ps1

When I tested that, I got this:

C:\IT>powershell copythenlaunch.ps1
The term ‘copythenlaunch.ps1′ is not recognized as a cmdlet, function, operable
program, or script file. Verify the term and try again.
At line:1 char:18
+ copythenlaunch.ps1 <<<<

I kept thinking there was some problem with the install of PowerShell (I am running this particular script on a Windows 2003 Server) or that I had some illegal character in the name (it had a number in it originally) or some other simple problem.  Finally I did a search and came across this little bit of conversation:

re: Power and Pith

I just started with PowerShell.

Wanted to run some test scripts from you download.

When I tpye in Beep.ps1 I get "The term ‘Beep.1′ is not recognized….."

What Am I doing wrong?

Friday, December 29, 2006 3:17 PM by MikeL

# re: Power and Pith

> When I tpye in Beep.ps1 I get "The term ‘Beep.1′ is not recognized….."

> What Am I doing wrong?

You are relying upon a traditional bad shell behaviour that has been a security nightmere for decades.

In PowerShell, you have to be explicit if you want to run a command in the current directory.  Type ".\beep.ps1"

Jeffrey Snover [MSFT]

Windows PowerShell/MMC Architect

Visit the Windows PowerShell Team blog at:    http://blogs.msdn.com/PowerShell

Visit the Windows PowerShell ScriptCenter at:  http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/hubs/msh.mspx

Friday, December 29, 2006 5:19 PM by PowerShellTeam

# re: Power and Pith

Thank You for supplying the ".\*" information.  I have been racking my brain for almost two days wondering what I was doing wrong.  And to think it was as simple as using the PROPER .\yourscripthere.ps1 format.

Thank you very very much

Ditto on the thanks…

Windows PowerShell Blog : Power and Pith

three big things we focus on for all TechNet scenarios are Content, Discoverability, and Participation. We really want to invite participation from everyone and what better way to combine that with discovery and content than to use Wiki technology?

Later this year TechNet and the Server & Cloud Division will partner to launch the new TechNet Wiki.
…
We believe a public wiki for technical content on TechNet has the potential to be a big step forward in all three areas:

• For content, while Microsoft teams write some great content, we cannot possibly author all the content customers need to be successful, and a wiki that offers content from the community will increase the breadth and depth of technical content available for IT Pros.
• For participation, the wiki is a great new way for any IT pro to create and share technical knowledge, engage with other technical people and with Microsoft, and build an identity and reputation within the TechNet community.

I used the word "potential" above because Microsoft cannot succeed with the TechNet Wiki on its own – success ultimately depends on the direct engagement, support, and ongoing feedback from the IT community.

I am not sure how I feel about this.  I like Wikipedia, and OFTEN reference it for information on non-work related topics.  We use a SharePoint wiki for a lot of our documentation where I work, but I don’t find it to be as useful as I would like, because for some reason, I don’t like the interface.  One of the big issues I have with it, is the inability to insert pictures directly in the article during the creation of the article.  You have to upload the picture (such as a screenshot) separately and then link to it.  That doesn’t seem very efficient to me.

With this blog, I use Windows Live Writer.  It allows me to take a snip like this:

and paste it right in the text.  When I publish, it is auto-magically uploaded and linked to my post.  I think the other issue that I have is that I am afraid I would take it personally if someone felt the need to correct something  I posted to a wiki.

I guess I am going to have to work on that.  Both for the wiki at work and (maybe) for the TechNet wiki.  There are those occasions when I actually have useful knowledge to share…

Blog Posts by System Center Influencers

Get the feed.

Below are the most recent posts from several of the members of the System Center Influencers Program. Note that Microsoft does not review the content or endorse it in any way; we present this content in a feed form for your information and convenience. (In the event that the feed refuses to render due to the flakiness of the third-party feed service, simply use the feed embedded in the RSS icon above.)

Nexus SC: The System Center Team Blog : Blog Posts by System Center Influencers

This is all simple.  Just drop the LUNs from the file server, give them to the cluster and assign them as pass through disk to the guest OS.  Simple…

Except, I kept getting the following errors when I try to do the import:

An online pack already exists.

The operation failed, because an online pack object already exists.

The provider encountered an error while merging two packs.

I mean really…  what does all that mean.  I couldn’t find anything pertinent in my searches, I tried working in Diskpart, and got some of the same errors.

After lots of searches, I couldn’t find anything to help.  So I opened a ticket with Microsoft.  I got a very helpful person who told me that it basically sounds like a driver issue, but he couldn’t say for certain.  He couldn’t find much on it either.

So on a whim, I moved my test LUN from my production file server to another 2003 server.  That worked just fine, so I then moved it from there to the 2008 R2 machine that I had been working with.  That worked just fine.  Weird…

So I checked the driver for the production file server:

and compared that to the other 2003 server:

As you can tell, the culprit seems to be an outdated driver on the current file server.  Seems I don’t keep things as up to date as I should.