leedesmond’s blog

Update - My popular series of video on the subject “Direct SIP with OCS 2007 R2″ is now featured in an updated TechNet Next Hop article. If are looking to connect and interoperate OCS 2007 R2 and Cisco Unified Communications Manager 6.1.x, Direct SIP (OCS 2007 R2) and SIP trunk (CUCM) is the way to setup the required connection. To learn how to do this from a Cisco perspective, check out “Direct SIP: Cisco Unified Communications Manager 6.1” today!

See also “Direct SIP: Cisco Unified Communications Manager 7.1“.

Technorati tags: LCS/OCS, OCS 2007 R2, VoIP, Cisco/CUCM

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This release of Exchange Server 2010 SP1 can be deployed to upgrade a production server running a licensed copy of Exchange Server 2010. You can use it to perform new installations as well. In this case, it will function as a 120-day evaluation version. Ascertain that you check out the Exchange 2010 prerequisites and system requirements as they can vary depending on the system configuration and specific features.

Supported 64-bit operating systems are Windows 7 Professional, Windows Server 2008 and R2 (Standard, Enterprise) and Vista SP1. Make sure that you have a full working backup copy of the Exchange servers and roles beforehand! Download Exchange 2010 SP1 here.

Technorati tags: Exchange Server

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All you want to know about Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server 2008 R2 in a visual component architecture poster highlighting:

• Remote Desktop Session Host
• Remote Desktop Virtualization Host
• Remote Desktop Connection Broker
• Remote Desktop Web Access
• Remote Desktop Gateway
• Remote Desktop Licensing
• RemoteFX

Use this in conjuction with the other visual references to complete the big picture around Windows Server 2008 R2.

• Windows Server 2008 and R2 Feature component posters (here and here)
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Component Architecture poster (here)

Technorati tags: Windows Server 2008 R2 , Remote Desktop Services/Terminal Services

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Am Dienstag 14. Sep 2010 wird die kostenlose Veranstaltung um Communications Server “14″ bei Microsoft Schweiz, Wallisellen/Zurich (1630 - 1930 Uhr) stattfinden. Die Synopse lautet folgendermaßen:

Erhalten Sie einen Überblick, was der neue Communications Server ‘14′ alles kann! Egal ob neues User Interface, Integration in SharePoint Search oder erweiterte Presence Informationen. Sie erhalten zudem einen Informationen über technische und architektonische Änderungen gegenüber seinem Vorgänger, dabei klären wir Fragen der Koexistenz und Upgrade Möglichkeiten. Ein kleiner Exkurs in die Netzwerktechnik darf auch nicht fehlen, denn dabei klären wir die Grundvoraussetzungen für ein erfolgreiches Deployment von CS ‘14′.

Mehr Informationen und Anmeldung hier.

Technorati tags: Event, Training, LCS/OCS/CS14, Community/User Groups, Communications Server 14

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The following error may appear if you restore a virtual hard disk (VHD) and attempt to attach it to a new guest virtual machine (or child partition) in Hyper-V R2:

[Window Title]
New Virtual Machine Wizard

[Main Instruction]
The server encountered an error while configuring hard disk on virtualMachineName.

[Content]
Failed to add device ‘Microsoft Virtual Hard Disk’.

User Account does not have permission to open attachment.

Cannot get information for attachment ‘C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\virtualMachineName\virtualMachineName_disk_1.vhd’

Account does not have permission to open attachment.

[Expanded Information]
‘virtualMachineName’ failed to add device ‘Microsoft Virtual Hard Disk’. (Virtual machine ID  - - - - )

‘virtualMachineName’: User account does not have permission required to open attachment ‘C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\virtualMachineName\virtualMachineName_disk_1.vhd’. Error: ‘General access denied error’ (0×80070005). (Virtual machine ID  - - - - )

‘virtualMachineName’: Cannot get information for attachment ‘C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\virtualMachineName\virtualMachineName_disk_1.vhd’. (Virtual machine ID  - - - - )

‘virtualMachineName:  account does not have permission required to open attachment ‘C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\virtualMachineName\virtualMachineName_disk_1.vhd’. Error: ‘General access denied error’ (0×80070005). (Virtual machine ID  - - - - )

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This error is caused by the file level NTFS permissions that were restored together with the VHD. The resolution is simple: navigate to the folder containing the affected VHDs, call out the VHD’s properties, go to the Security tab and change permissions to inherit from the parent folder.

Technorati tags: Hyper-V, Windows Server 2008 R2

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I am very pleased to be invited by the Macedonian Exchange User Group* to present a session at their upcoming user group meeting. This will take place on Wed 11 Aug 2010 at 1900 hrs (UTC+2) via Live Meeting. An abstract of the presentation cum demo is as follows:

The full feature set of Communications Server “14? was officially disclosed at the recent TechEd North America 2010 conference in New Orleans. Come hear about the exciting changes in areas of functionality, deployment, management, virtualization and PowerShell support, among others …

For more information, visit the Macedonian Exchange User Group today.

* by Vladimir Meloski, Exchange MVP

Technorati tags: PowerShell, LCS/OCS/CS14, Community/User Groups, Communications Server 14

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Windows PowerShell support officially debuts in Communications Server “14″. Through the CS Management Shell, you can perform all your CS infrastructure management tasks and carry out user administration at the command line or package them into scripts to automate common routines.

My latest Simple-Talk article entitled “An Administrator’s First Look at PowerShell in Communications Server 14” is designed to help you quickly get up to speed with this exciting technology. After a brief history of WMI and PowerShell, you will understand how to optimize search for help to learn (even) more about the various cmdlets and their applications. Subsequently, you will be looking at the new CS “14″ scopes, configuration settings and policies, and how to efficiently conduct administrative tasks by utilizing smart filtering techniques aim at your target objects, before ending with a look at some of the management essentials to better prepare yourself for deploying CS Management Shell in “14″. Have fun!

( this article was written based on the CS “14″ beta milestone bits )

Technorati tags: PowerShell, LCS/OCS/CS14, Communications Server 14

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• Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Hotfix (KB 968802)
• Office Communicator 2007 R2 Hotfix (KB 2028888)*
• Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Hotfix (KB 2032881)
• Office Communicator Phone Edition (2007 R2, KB 2267962)
• Office Communicator 2007 Hotfix (KB 2028885)
• Office Communicator Mobile 2007 R2 (KB 969816)

* update #8 for MOC R2

Keywords: patch, hotfix, update, rollup package, moc, ocs, 2007, r2, cumulative update 6 (CU6)

Technorati tags: LCS/OCS, OCS 2007 R2, Mobile

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Free for personal, non-commercial and educational use, PrimalPad is an advanced editor with built-in color-coding, multiple tab/window, auto row (line) numbering, bookmarking and multi-level undo/redo support, to name a few. This single, no-installation-required executable is available in 32- and 64- bit versions and supports authoring scripts in PowerShell, VBScript, JScript and plain old text files. Check it out yourself to see how it can make your life as an IT Administrator (or developer) easier and less error prone in writing that script!

Technorati tags: PowerShell, Community/User Groups

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Throughout DPM 2010 , there are many clickable links* that you can activate to understand the cause of a message or error condition. Unfortunately, almost all of them still end up redirecting you to land at a TechNet web site indicating the infamous “Page Not Found” error. When this will be fixed for a RTM product is still a big question though.

With Windows Server 2008 and above, the same kind of information is logged with corresponding Event ID, Source, OpCode, etc. under Diagnostics / Event Viewer / Applications and Services / DPM Alerts. Nevertheless, the provided link “Event Log Online Help” simply prompts you to approve the question “Event Viewer will send the following information across the internet. Is this OK?”. In the end, the result will not be any more reassuring: “Fehler- und Ereignismeldungszentrum”. You can always consult the %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft DPM\DPM\Temp\MSDPMCurr.errlog but the logged contents are more relevant for the support or product team to aid troubleshooting in tricky situations.

The entire experience makes searching for resources to mitigate the situation very tedious and time consuming. Unless you have Premier Support contract in place, you will be standing in line waiting for Microsoft Support to provide technical assistance. There may now be a sign of quick relieve with the release of the “Data Protection Manager 2010 Troubleshooting Guide“. Over 200 pages long, it documents a known list of protection/recovery issues of various system and application workloads as well as troubleshooting DPM issues plus listing common Event ID, the possible causes and recommended resolution.

Although not as convenient as the in-line product help, it would be helpful to deliver this guide** as separate Help download file for local consumption. Not all security policies enable Internet access especially from a server role as critical as backup and restore.

* “More information” link
** or for that matter any real documentation

Technorati tags: System Center, Data Protection Manager

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