Canadian IT Professionals

Get Ready for Windows 8 & Windows Server 2012 with MAP 7.0 Beta

DamirB — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:30:00 GMT

Last week we released a beta version of Microsoft Assessment & Planning (MAP) Toolkit 7.0. The MAP Toolkit, a free download, is an agentless, automated, multi-product planning and assessment tool for quicker and easier desktop, server and cloud migrations. MAP provides detailed readiness assessment reports and executive proposals with extensive hardware and software information, and actionable recommendations to help organizations accelerate their IT infrastructure planning process, and gather more detail on assets that reside within their current environment. MAP also provides server utilization data for Hyper-V server virtualization planning; identifying server placements, and performing virtualization candidate assessments, including ROI analysis for server consolidation with Hyper-V.

MAP 7.0 Beta adds eight new scenarios that help you build the fabric of the future while supporting your business needs of today. Included are hardware and infrastructure readiness assessments to plan your deployment of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 Beta, size your desktop virtualization environment, ready your information platform for the cloud with SQL Server 2012, and virtualize your existing Linux servers onto Hyper-V. The VMware migration assessment helps you identify opportunities to lower your virtualization costs with Hyper-V, and the licensing assessments now cover Lync 2010 Standard and reporting for active users.

Determine Windows desktop readiness

MAP 7.0 Beta assesses the readiness of your IT environment for your Windows desktop deployment. This feature evaluates your existing hardware against the recommended system requirements for Windows. It provides recommendations detailing which machines meet the requirements and which machines may require hardware upgrades.

Key benefits include:

Assessment report and summary proposal to help you to understand the scope and benefits of a Windows desktop deployment.
Inventory of desktop computers, deployed operating systems, and applications.

Assess Windows Server 2012 Beta readiness

MAP 7.0 Beta assesses the readiness of your IT infrastructure for a Windows Server 2012 Beta deployment. This feature includes detailed and actionable recommendations indicating the machines that meet Windows Server 2012 Beta system requirements and which may require hardware updates. A comprehensive inventory of servers, operating systems, workloads, devices, and server roles is included to help in your planning efforts.

Virtualize your Linux servers on Hyper-V

MAP 7.0 Beta extends its server virtualization scenario to include Linux operating systems. Now, MAP enables you to gather performance data for Linux-based physical and virtual machines and use that information to perform virtualization and private cloud planning analysis for both Windows and Linux-based machines within the Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track scenario.

Key features allow you to:

Incorporate non-Windows machines into your virtualization planning.
View consolidation guidance and validated configurations with preconfigured Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track infrastructures, including computing power, network, and storage architectures.
Get a quick analysis of server consolidation on Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track infrastructures to help accelerate your planning of physical to virtual (P2V) migration to Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track.
Review recommended guidance and next steps using Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track.

Start assessing your environment for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 today! Join the MAP 7.0 Beta today (Windows Live ID required).

Help Protect Your Friends And Family From Phone Scams

Chris Di Lullo — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:42:00 GMT

A few weeks ago, I was surprised to get a call from Microsoft offering to help “fix my window”. This was surprising because:

My window wasn’t broken and having worked at Microsoft for a while, I’m pretty sure we don’t do home repairs.
Microsoft doesn’t call people out of the blue to offer technical support (I knew what he was really talking about).

When I replied that I didn’t realize that Microsoft had anything to do with the windows on my house and there wasn’t anything wrong with them, the caller quickly set me straight. This was about my computer and he was going to help me, all I had to do was give him some information and then install a program on my PC.

While I was mildly amused by the exchange, I ended the call there without handing out any of my information or installing any programs. I knew this was a scam and that it’s been making the rounds since the late summer of last year. The company changes, but the theme is always the same. All of you reading this know it’s a scam too.

We’re fortunate to work in technology and know that this doesn’t pass the sniff test and something stinks about it. Our friends and family aren’t quite as lucky. I’m sure I’m not the only one that can attest to someone I know falling for this scam. And when they do, they’re embarrassed, they don’t want to talk about it, but they do want help to fix it. After all, if you work in IT, you’ve become the default tech support for your friends and family.

The best way to help those friends and family members that rely on you for tech support is to arm them with information. Not only are you helping them, you’re helping yourself, if they avoid the scam, you avoid having to clean it up.

There’s a great infographic that some of the folks here at Microsoft Canada have put together about how to avoid phone scams that you can use to educate yourself, so you can educate others. I’ve included it below.

Do you have any other helpful tips for others to avoid these types of scams?

The “SQL Guy” Post # 29: Using SEQUENCE in SQL Server 2012

DamirB — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:30:00 GMT

Before joining Microsoft I spent many years working as an Oracle DBA, SQL Server DBA, consultant, trainer, and so on. I got to see the differences in features and functionality between a wide variety of products. I also saw that there was a different approach that Oracle and SQL Server used for incremental numbers in databases.

There are many applications that require incremental numbers for maintaining unique rows in a table. For several years, we’ve been using IDENTITY() column as our primary option to generate incremental numbers for unique records or for Primary key values and it has been the first choice for developers. You’ve tried IDENTITY() and now try the new feature added in SQL Server 2012 and experience the difference.

SQL Server 2012 introduces a brand new schema bound object called SEQUENCE. Sequence generates numeric values based on the specification of a SEQUENCE object. You can generate numeric values in either ascending or descending order and they can be independent of tables unlike IDENTITY columns.

Here’s the syntax on how you can create a SEQUENCE using various options.

CREATE SEQUENCE SYNTAX

CREATE SEQUENCE [schema_name . ] sequence_name

[ AS [ built_in_integer_type | user-defined_integer_type ] ]

[ START WITH <constant> ]

[ INCREMENT BY <constant> ]

[ { MINVALUE [ <constant> ] } | { NO MINVALUE } ]

[ { MAXVALUE [ <constant> ] } | { NO MAXVALUE } ]

[ CYCLE | { NO CYCLE } ]

[ { CACHE [ <constant> ] } | { NO CACHE } ]

[ ; ]

Let’s now take a look at an example on how to use SEQUENCE in SQL Server 2012.

In the below example, we will look at:

§ Creating a sequence

§ Create a sample Item table

§ Use SEQUENCE when inserting data in a table

§ Query Item table

§ Alter or delete SEQUENCE from SQL Server

In this step, we will create a new object called MYSEQUENCE1 that will start with a value of 1 and increment it’s value by 1.

STEP 1 - CREATING A SEQUENCE CALLED MYSEQUENCE1

CREATE SEQUENCE ITEMIDSEQUENCE

START WITH 1

INCREMENT BY 1;

In this step, we will create a sample ITEM table with just two columns.

STEP 2 - CREATING ITEM TABLE

CREATE TABLE ITEM

(

ITEMNO INT,

ITEMNAME VARCHAR(50)

);

In this step, we will insert data in the ITEM table by leveraging the newly create MYSEQUENCE1 which will automatically insert and increment the values of MYSEQUENCE1 by 1.

STEP 3 – USING SEQUENCE FOR INSERTING DATA IN A TABLE

INSERT INTO ITEM VALUES (NEXT VALUE FOR ITEMIDSEQUENCE, 'MANGO');

INSERT INTO ITEM VALUES (NEXT VALUE FOR ITEMIDSEQUENCE, 'APPLE');

INSERT INTO ITEM VALUES (NEXT VALUE FOR ITEMIDSEQUENCE, 'BANANA');

INSERT INTO ITEM VALUES (NEXT VALUE FOR ITEMIDSEQUENCE, 'ORANGE');

INSERT INTO ITEM VALUES (NEXT VALUE FOR ITEMIDSEQUENCE, 'GRAPES');

In this step, we will query the ITEM table to review the data in the ITEM table. Notice that the ITEMNO column in the ITEM table has sequential numbers that were auto-inserted using ITEMIDSEQUENCE sequence.

STEP 4 – QUERYING DATA FROM A TABLE USING SEQUENCE

SELECT * FROM ITEM

YOU’LL SEEE THE FOLLOWING RESULT SET.

ITEMNO	ITEMNAME
1	MANGO
2	APPLE
3	BANANA
4	ORANGE
5	GRAPES

In this step, we will look at Altering, Deleting & Querying Sequences:

ALTER, DELETE, AND QUERY SEQUENCES

To delete a sequence:

DROP SEQUENCE ITEMIDSEQUENCE

To alter a sequence:

ALTER SEQUENCE ITEMIDSEQUENCE

RESTART WITH 900

INCREMENT BY 1

To query the next value of Sequence for a particular SEQUENCE object:

SELECT NEXT VALUE FOR ITEMIDSEQUENCE

To query all sequences available in a database, you can use the below query:

SELECT * FROM SYS.SEQUENCES

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND:

§ Sequence values are not automatically protected after insertion in to a table. You should use Update Trigger on the table to prevent sequence values from being changed.

§ Sequences does not automatically enforce uniqueness for sequence values. You should create unique index on the Sequence column to enforce uniqueness.

§ If you have created a sequence for example assigns values 1 through 100, and if the rows in the table grows beyond 100 rows, then Sequence would start assigning values 1 through 100 again.

§ By default, if you do not specify data type for a sequence, BIGINT data type is used. Keep in mind that you can create sequence that are of any integer data type.

The “SQL Guy” Post # 28: Introducing the New IIF() Function in SQL Server 2012

DamirB — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:30:00 GMT

In SQL Server 2012 we have added the IIF() function to the SQL Server family of functions. It is a brand new logical function being introduced with SQL Server 2012 that allows you to perform IF..THEN..ELSE condition within a single function. This helps in simplified code and easy to read conditions.

In earlier versions of SQL Server, we have used IF..ELSE and CASE..ENDCASE to perform logical conditional operations. However, IIF() can be used as a shorthand way of writing conditional CASE statements in a single function. It evaluates the expression passed in the first parameter with the second parameter depending upon the evaluation of the condition and returns either TRUE or FALSE.

In this example, we will evaluate the values of two variables and return the result of a variable which is bigger in value.

DECLARE @A INT=40

DECLARE @B INT=30

SELECT IIF(@A > @B, 'A IS GREATER THAN B', 'B IS GREATER THAN A')

GO;

Executing the above T-SQL will return the following result:

-------------------

A IS GREATER THAN B

(1 row(s) affected)

In this example, we will evaluate the age of John and Julie and identify who is older between them. Please observe the use of sub functions within IIF.

DECLARE @JOHN_AGE INT=35

DECLARE @JULIE_AGE INT=29

SELECT IIF(@JOHN_AGE > @JULIE_AGE, 'JOHN IS OLDER THAN JULIE BY '+LTRIM(STR(@JOHN_AGE-@JULIE_AGE))+' YEARS', 'JULIE IS OLDER THAN JOHN BY '+LTRIM(STR(@JULIE_AGE-@JOHN_AGE))+' YEARS')

GO;

Executing the above statement will return the following result:

--------------------------------------------

JOHN IS OLDER THAN JULIE BY 6 YEARS

(1 row(s) affected)

Note: Like CASE statements which can be nested up to 10 levels, IIF() function can also nest up to 10 levels.

Gérer les drivers dans MDT 2010, Partie 3 – Bien choisir sa méthode pour les fichiers INF

DamirB — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:30:00 GMT

Continuing with our theme of how to make use of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010, here we have the third and final post of a 3-part series for our French-speaking readers on how to manage drivers using MDT 2010 to help ensure your deployment of Windows 7 on your new PCs works well. The series is written by Yannick Plavonil, a Microsoft MVP based in Quebec. You can find this and more on his own blog – Revue du Geek.

Let me know what other topics you would like covered in the future. Leave a comment or send an email by clicking on the link to the right of this post.

Pour faire suite à la stratégie des drivers à adopter, il y a 2 types de drivers à prendre en compte lors du déploiement Windows. Il y a les drivers WinPE pour l’image de boot et ceux pour le système Windows qu’on déploie.

Pour WinPE, c’est simple. Mais c’est plus complexe lorsqu’il s’agit du système d’exploitation. Alors j’écris juste mes recommandations en fonction de mon expérience et de ce que j’ai pu voir avec d’autres architectes en déploiement.

Les drivers pour WinPE (Boot/LiteTouch)

Dans MDT 2010, l’image de boot utilisé pour le déploiement est basée sur Windows PE 3.0 qui est en fait un sous ensemble de Windows 7. Pour l’image, il faut les drivers “NIC” et les drivers “Mass Storage” (sata,raid,controller intel…) au minimum, mais parfois il est nécessaire d’en ajouter d’autres au besoin (drivers souris pour les cartes ILO, RAC..). L’image de boot permet de se connecter au serveur de déploiement.

Ce qui est bien dans WinPE 3 c’est qu’il supporte les mêmes composants que Windows 7 de base (installation fraiche de Windows 7 avec tous les périphériques reconnus). Alors dans certains cas il n’y a rien à ajouter. Aussi dans la configuration WinPE, il faut modifier l’option “scratchspace” pour augmenter l’espace temporaire de stockage qui est utilisé quand l’installeur injecte les drivers dans Windows.

Pour une image de boot optimisée dans MDT 2010 je recommande les étapes suivantes:

Créer 2 dossiers dans la section “Out-Of-Box drivers”, les nommer WinPE x86 et WinPE x64
Importer les drivers x86 dans le dossier WinPE x86 et les drivers x64 dans le dossier WinPE x64. Noter que vous devez seulement utiliser les drivers Windows 7 pour l’image de boot même si vous prévoyez de déployer Windows XP avec MDT.
Créer 2 profils de sélections, un nommé WinPE x86 (ou vous choisissez le dossier WinPE x86 dans Out-Of-Box Drivers), et l’autre nommé WinPE x64 (ou vous choisissez le dossier WinPE x64 dans Out-Of-Box Drivers).
Configurer le dossier de distribution (Deployment Share) pour utiliser les profils de sélection. Dans l’onglet “Windows PE x86 Components” sur le champ “Driver Injection” sélectionner le profil WinPE x86. Faire la meme chose pour l’onglet “Windows PE x64 Components” avec le profil WinPE x64.
Toujours dans les propriétés du dossier de distribution, sur l’onglet Windows PE x86 Settings, mettre “Scratch Space size” à 128, faire la meme chose pour Windows PE x64 Settings.
Mettre à jour votre dossier de distribution.

Surtout n’importez pas les drivers don’t vous n’avez pas besoin.
Exemple: l’image WinPE 3.0 (avec WAIK 2.0) a déja le driver intelSATA (iastor.inf)

Les drivers pour les systèmes Windows

Pour les parties suivantes, il y a plusieurs méthodes. Mais à vous de déterminer celle qui correspond le mieux à votre besoin. En général, on se base sur la taille de l'entreprise, le nombre de systèmes d'exploitation à déployer, le niveau de contrôle souhaité et le nombre de modèles de machines dans votre parc informatique.

Méthode 1 : Sans contrôle — Conditions : 1 système d’exploitation à déployer, 1 marque, quelques modèles de machines.

C’est la méthode de base lorsqu’on commence avec Microsoft Deployment Toolkit. L’élément clé ici c’est qu'on déploie une seule famille de système d'exploitation et que le matériel est du même vendeur. La plupart des grandes marques font des tests de compatibilité entre leurs propres modèles par famille de systèmes d'exploitation, ainsi il est rare qu’un driver d’un modèle interfère avec un autre modèle.

Il n’y a pas vraiment grand-chose à faire à part télécharger, extraire les drivers de chaque modèle dans un dossier puis les importer dans Deployment Workbench.

Méthode 2 : Profil de sélection – Conditions : Plusieurs systèmes d’exploitation, 1 marque, quelques modèles de machines

Cette méthode est généralement utilisée dans les entreprises à taille moyenne. La différence majeure avec la méthode 1 est le déploiement de plusieurs systèmes d’exploitation. Comme dans ces deux méthodes la détection se fait par le PNP ID, on doit les filtrer pour que les drivers de Windows XP soient pris en compte pendant le déploiement de Windows XP et que les drivers pour Windows 7 soient pris en compte pendant le déploiement de Windows 7. C’est une fonctionnalité de MDT 2010 appelé “Selection Profiles” qui permet de faire le filtrage.

Dans cette partie, je crée d’abord les dossiers nécessaires Windows XP x86 et Windows 7 x64 dans la section “Out-Of-Box Drivers”. Ensuite, j’importe les drivers et je lie un profil de sélection pour chaque système. La dernière étape est de configurer la section “Inject Drivers” dans la Task Sequence.

Configurer la section “Inject Drivers” dans la Task Sequence.

Méthode 3 : %Make% and %Model% – Condition : Plusieurs systèmes d’exploitation, plusieurs marques, quelques modèles de machines.

Maintenant, la différence avec les méthodes précédentes est qu’il y a plusieurs marques de machines. Cela ne garantit pas non plus la compatibilité des drivers entre les marques. Je m’explique, 2 marques différentes de PC ont une la même carte graphique nvidia et pourtant ça ne garantit pas que le driver provenant du site de nvidia s’installe, car parfois les constructeurs modifient le driver en fonction dans leur machine.

Donc non seulement il faut être en mesure de filtrer le système d’exploitation, mais aussi le type de machine. On pourrait utiliser comme dans la méthode 2 le profil de sélection, mais il n’a pas été conçu pour cela. En plus de la détection par PNP ID, on va utiliser la fonction “DriverGroup” permet de faire un filtrage plus avancé.

Pendant la phase de déploiement MDT utilise des requêtes WMI pour récupérer la marque et le modèle de la machine et seulement les drivers correspondants seront installés. On doit récupérer le nom exact du modèle pour faire la structure des dossiers.

Dans cette partie, je crée d’abord les dossiers nécessaires Windows XP x86 et Windows 7 x64 dans la section “Out-Of-Box Drivers” puis les sous-dossiers pour chaque modèle. Ensuite, j’importe les drivers de chaque modèle dans son dossier respectif et par système d’exploitation. dans Deployment Workbench.

Ajouter une étape “Set Task Sequence Variable” avec DriverGroup001 et sur Windows 7 x64\%Model%

Configurer “Inject Drivers” sur “Nothing” dans le champ “Selection Profile”

Voila, vous savez tout maintenant!

Get Hands-On with System Center 2012 and Windows Server 2012

DamirB — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:35:00 GMT

After 20 IT Camp events across Canada, if there is one thing that we have heard loud and clear from many of you out there, it is that you like to get hands-on with our technology. This just means that we need to do more of them, and we are. Over the next 6 weeks we will be coming to a city near you with a series of two events – Private Cloud Boot Camps and Windows Server 2012 Install Camps.

Private Cloud Boot Camps

Do you keep hearing the term Private Cloud wherever you go? Are you curious to understand how you can enable Private Cloud in your organization? Curious to understand how System Center 2012 can be used to enable self-service for you organization while allowing you to maintain control of the environment? Want to understand how to manage all of your virtualization hosts from a single toolset? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you need to be at the Private Cloud Boot Camp.

The Private Cloud Boot Camp provides a full-day, hands-on experience where you will learn about these topics and more in a fun and collaborative environment:

Understand the System Center 2012 offering and Microsoft’s vision for Private Cloud
Configure System Center 2012 to manage a Private Cloud infrastructure
Create virtual machine and service templates to support the Private Cloud environment
Enable self-service allowing users to provision their infrastructure within established policies and service offerings
Monitor your Private Cloud infrastructure using System Center Operations Manager 2012
Automatically respond to critical incidents and remediate issues without human intervention
See how new functionality in Windows Server 2012 will provide additional capabilities to help take your Private Cloud to the next level

Private Cloud Boot Camps are currently scheduled in the cities listed below. Click on the city or date to register for the event nearest you.

Mississauga –May 9 or May 10
Vancouver – May 16 or May 17
Calgary – June 5
Edmonton – June 8
Winnipeg – June 12
Ottawa – June 19
Montreal – June 21

Windows Server 2012 Install Camps

Here’s your opportunity to install Windows Server 2012 on your own notebook computer and learn how to take advantage of many of the new features of Windows Server 2012 from Microsoft evangelists, MVPs and experts in your region. We’ll even provide you with a USB key to help make the install an easy and quick experience!

A Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Install Camp event will show you how to

build your private cloud, offer private cloud services, or securely connect to public cloud services.
increase your efficiency, availability, and manageability.
leverage an open application and web platform for the datacenter and the cloud.

If you are an IT Professional or partner excited about the upcoming release of the Windows Server 2012 technology you need to register and learn about Windows Server 2012 first-hand!

Register now for the Windows Server 2012 Install Camps near you by clicking on the city name and date. These are evening events in all cities starting at 7pm and going until 9pm. Arrive starting at 6:30pm to get a good seat and setup your notebook!

So, what are you waiting for? Register for one or both events coming to the city near you NOW!

The “SQL Guy” Post # 27: Increasing Developer Productivity with Snippets

DamirB — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:30:00 GMT

This week we have something for you to share with the SQL Server developers, as well as use in your DBA T-SQL scripts to make life easier when you re-use common code. Saleem Hakani provides some guidance on new functionality in SQL Server 2012 to help make you more productive when creating T-SQL code.

SQL Server 2012 introduces a new feature called T-SQL Snippets. T-SQL Snippets allow you to quickly build T-SQL statements without having to remember the commands or its syntax. This feature can potentially help with reduced development time and in increased productivity for developers and DBA’s. Snippet templates in SQL Server 2012 are based on XML with predefined fields and values. When you use T-SQL snippet, these fields are highlighted and the user can tab through each fields and change the values as required.

Imagine a series of commands that you always use when creating a Trigger or a Table or a Stored Procedure or even a SELECT statement. You can now reduce the amount of time and code you would write by implementing T-SQL Snippets in SQL Server 2012.

Snippets are categorized for ease of use so that the user can see and use various snippets based on the category.

SQL Server 2012 introduces three types of snippets:

DEFAULT SNIPPETS

(aka: Expansion Snippets)

SURROUND SNIPPETS

CUSTOM SNPPETS

These are code templates for various T-SQL commands that you can quickly insert into your T-SQL code when creating tables, stored procedures, triggers, etc.

These are code templates that allow you to implement code construct like Begin End, If, While, etc.

Custom Snippets allow you to create your own Snippet that can appear with the Snippet menu when invoked.

INVOKING OR INSERTING T-SQL SNIPPET:

There are multiple ways with which you can invoke T-SQL Snippets in SQL Server 2012. The easiest way to invoke T-SQL Snippet is to right click on context menu in the query editor and you will be presented with the Snippet options.

Another quick way of inserting a snippet when writing T-SQL code is to use “CTRL + K X” shortcut key combination by placing the cursor where you would like to insert the snippet.

CREATING A CUSTOM SNIPPET

Let’s now look at how to create a custom Snippet and add it to the Snippet menu. Creating and using a Snippet is a 3 steps process:

1. Create a Snippet using XML

2. Register the Snippet in SSMS

3. Invoke the Snippet when using Query Editor

NOTE: By default, all T-SQL Snippets are stored under the following folder and are saved as .snippet files:

“C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Tools\Binn\ManagementStudio\SQL\Snippets\1033”

STEP1: CREATE A T-SQL SNIPPET FILE USING XML:

In the example below, we will create a snippet that can be used to write Select statement for any table and would allow the use of CASE statement for an equality check on a column.

CASE_END.SNIPPET File

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

<Description> Insert Case...End Construct. </Description>

<Author> Saleem Hakani (Microsoft Corporation) </Author>

<SnippetType>Expansion</SnippetType>

</SnippetTypes>

</Header>

<![CDATA[

Select <Column_Name1>, <Column_Name2>, <Column_Name3>, <Column_Name4>=

CASE <Column_Name4>

WHEN '<value>' THEN '<Result>'

ELSE 'Value not found'

END,

<Column_Name5>, <Column_Name6>

From <Table_Name>

]]>

</Code>

</Snippet>

</CodeSnippet>

</CodeSnippets>

STEP2: REGISTER THE SNPPET WTH SQL SERVER MANAGEMENT STUDIO

Once the above file is created, you can now use the Code Snippets Manager to register the snippet with SQL Server Management Studio. You can either add a new folder based on the snippet category or import individual snippets to the My Code Snippets folder.

To Add a Snippet Folder:

1. Launch SQL Server Management Studio

2. Select “Tools” from the menu items and Click on “Code Snippets Manager” (This will launch the Snippet Manager)

3. Click on the “Add” button

4. Browse to the folder containing CASE_END.Snippet file, and click on the Select Folder button.

Next step is to import the Snippet in to SQL Server Management Studio:

To Import a Snippet:

1. Launch SQL Server Management Studio

2. Select “Tools” from the menu items and click on “Code Snippets Manager”

3. Click on the “Import” button at the bottom

4. Browse to the folder containing CASE_END.snippet file and select CASE_End.snippet file by clicking on it and then click on “Open” button.

STEP3: INVOKE THE SNIPPET FROM QUERY EDITOR

You now have a snippet created called CASE_END that can be invoked by using the shortcut key from the query editor by pressing “CTRL + K X” and then by selecting the category folder in which you created the snippet.

Alternatively, you can right click on the context menu in query editor and select “Insert Snippet…”

Using the above steps, you can create T-SQL code snippet and register it with SQL Server Management Studio. You can also create complex snippets of various regular tasks and make your SQL Server life easy.

On the Next TechDays TV Episode: Windows Server 2012 Getting Started–What’s New in Hyper-V (Part 2)

DamirB — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:19:51 GMT

You don’t want to miss tomorrow’s TechDays TV episode. A couple of weeks ago, we presented part 1 of Windows Server “8” Beta Getting Started: What’s New in Hyper-V. Since then the product name has been finalized – Windows Server 2012 – but all of the great features are still there. If you missed Part 1, you can watch it on-demand at the TechDays TV web site. That’s true for all the TechDays TV episodes.

Join us at 12 noon tomorrow (May 1) for the next episode of TechDays TV for IT Professionals on Windows Server 2012 Getting Started: What’s New in Hyper-V (Part2). In this session Damir Bersinic (that’s me) takes you through more of the great functionality for Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012. Here’s the abstract:

Windows Server 2012 (formerly Windows Server "8" beta) brings many enhancements to Hyper-V. This session will look at some of the new features in Windows Server 2012 that make it the definitive platform for Cloud computing including new networking, VM mobility, and redundancy capabilities, and more. We will also look at how these enhancements compare to offerings from VMware and show how the built-in functionality in Windows Server 2012 is a better alternative. In fact, there is so much in Windows Server 2012 that we can't fit it into one session so this is the second of two parts on the topic.

We look forward to seeing you online tomorrow. Don’t forget to stay connected with us through various social media channels.

Connect with TechDays Online

Join the Canadian IT Folks LinkedIn group
Follow @techdays_ca
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Topic Suggestions, Feedback, Etc.

If you have any suggestions for topics that you’d like to see on TechDays TV or want to share feedback, please let us know!

If you have any suggestions for topics that you’d like to see on TechDays TV, start a new conversation on LinkedIn and see if others are interested as well!
If you have feedback on the show, by all means, please let us know! We want to hear it! Start a new conversation on LinkedIn or send us an email at td_can@microsoft.com.
If you’re interested in presenting a session on TechDays TV, please send the topic you’d like to present with a short abstract to td_can@microsoft.com. We’re always looking for experts to feature on TechDays TV.

Gérer les drivers dans MDT 2010, Partie 2 – Quelle stratégie à adopter ?

DamirB — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:30:00 GMT

Continuing with our theme of how to make use of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010, here we have the second post of a 3-part series for our French-speaking readers on how to manage drivers using MDT 2010 to help ensure your deployment of Windows 7 on your new PCs works well. The series is written by Yannick Plavonil, a Microsoft MVP based in Quebec. You can find this and more on his own blog – Revue du Geek.

Let me know what other topics you would like covered in the future. Leave a comment or send an email by clicking on the link to the right of this post.

Deuxieme partie sur la gestion des drivers. Je vous invite à voir la partie 1 qui concerne les drivers fournis sous forme d’application.

La gestion des drivers est un élément essentiel dans le déploiement des systèmes d'exploitation. Les drivers des périphériques doivent être disponibles pour WinPE et le systeme d’exploitation cible pour que le déploiement se fasse sans probleme.

En bref, ici je parle de 2 types de drivers. WinPE est le plus simple des deux mais pour le systeme d’exploitation il y a vraiment une stratégie derriere tout ca.

Quelle stratégie adoptée pour gérer les drivers ?

Inclure tous les drivers. C'est le comportement par défaut pour les déploiements dans MDT et meme SCCM. Dans cette stratégie, tous les drivers sont déployés à l'ordinateur cible. Ensuite, Windows PE et le système d'exploitation cible utilise la fonctionnalité Plug-and-Play pour identifier les drivers nécessaires pour le modele de machine.

Identifier les drivers par modele de machine. Dans cette stratégie, seul les drivers spécifiques à l'ordinateur cible sont déployés. Cela nécessite une configuration et une gestion plus poussée pour contrôler les drivers.

Avantages et inconvénients par rapport à la stratégie adoptée

Stratégie

Avantages

Inconvénient

Inclure tous les drivers

Pratique avec peu de périphériques
Necessite moins de temps et d’effort pour identifier le bon driver
Tous les drivers “Mass Storage” sont inclus pour les systemes Windows

L’image est plus grosse
Ne fonctionne pas correctement avec un grand nombre de périphériques à gérer
On doit mettre à jour l’image plus souvent
La gestion continue demande plus d’effort

Drivers par modele de machines

Les images sont plus petites
Moins de mise à jour d’image à faire
Fonctionne correctement avec une grande quantité de drivers à gérer
La gestion des drivers demande moins d’effort parce qu’il y a moins de drivers dans l’image

Necessite plus d’effort pour identifier le bon driver
Pas pratique pour une petite quantité de périphériques
Il faut inclure les drivers “Mass Storage” pour chaque versions de Windows

Chacune de ces stratégies peut causer des problèmes si elles sont prises à l'extrême. Inclure tous les drivers pourrait causer des problèmes lorsque vous essayez de gérer des dizaines de milliers de drivers en raison de la taille plus grande du téléchargement et une plus grande probabilité de mal détecter le driver pour les périphériques. Une structure de gestion avec les drivers par modele de machines pourrait être trop complexe pour la gestion des environnements de petite taille avec seulement deux ou trois différents types d'ordinateurs. C’est vous faire perdre beaucoup de temps inutile.

Dans la plupart des cas, choisir une stratégie en fesant un mix des deux est mieux adapté à l’organisation.

There Has Never Been a Better Time to Learn About Microsoft’s Private Cloud Technologies

DamirB — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:30:00 GMT

[UPDATE: The final set of cities and dates for the Private Cloud Boot Camps has been announced. Learn more and register for the event in the city near you in this blog post. You will also find information on Windows Server 2012 Install Camps there as well. --- Damir]

Last week in Las Vegas at the Microsoft Management Summit 2012 (MMS2012) we launched our Private Cloud technologies, including System Center 2012. We know that many of you could not make it to Las Vegas for MMS2012, so we are bringing some of the best content from MMS to you at the Canadian Microsoft Private Cloud Launch Tour happening in 6 cities across the country – Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City.

During the Microsoft Private Cloud Launch Tour you will learn how the Microsoft® Private Cloud can help you become a leader of tomorrow, today! The launch promises a day of in-depth technical training sessions, keynote speakers, industry expert panels, and product demos— including a preview of Windows Server® 2012. You’ll gain a solid understanding of how the Microsoft Private Cloud can help you reduce day-to-day infrastructure upkeep so you can focus on achieving your strategic objectives—and career goals. Don’t miss the Canadian Microsoft Private Cloud Launch. Space is extremely limited, so hurry and reserve your spot today. Register now!

Now we’re not done yet. We also understand that many of you want to get hands-on with Microsoft’s Private Cloud technologies. For that reason we are also coming to a city near you with Microsoft Private Cloud Boot Camp. The Private Cloud Boot Camp provides a full-day, hands-on experience where you will learn about these topics and more in a fun and collaborative environment:

Understand the System Center 2012 offering and Microsoft’s vision for Private Cloud
Configure System Center 2012 to manage a Private Cloud infrastructure
Create virtual machine and service templates to support the Private Cloud environment
Enable self-service allowing users to provision their infrastructure within established policies and service offerings
Monitor your Private Cloud infrastructure using System Center Operations Manager 2012
Automatically respond to critical incidents and remediate issues without human intervention
See how new functionality in Windows Server 2012 will provide additional capabilities to help take your Private Cloud to the next level

You can register now for the Private Cloud Boot Camp events in Mississauga (May 9 & May 10) and Vancouver (May 16 & May 17) events. Check back on this blog over the next few days for other dates and registration links for other cities.

May is a great month to learn about Microsoft’s Private Cloud technologies. So, you registered yet?

The “SQL Guy” Post #26: New OFFSET and FETCH Query Options in SQL Server 2012

DamirB — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:30:00 GMT

SQL Server 2012 introduces brand new query hints that allow you to implement query paging solution. In the past, we have used TOP operator to return the top number of rows from a table. However, OFFSET & FETCH options of the ORDER BY clause can give you more benefits than just the TOP operator.

Assume you have 50,000 records in a table and you want to query 1200 rows starting from 25000. Traditionally you would use a cursor to implement this solution however with the introduction of OFFSET and FETCH, you can now prevent using cursors for such queries and it’s also much easier to write as well.

So let’s take a look at what OFFSET and FETCH means:

OFFSET: Allows you to offset the record pointer to a specific row in a table

FETCH: Allows you to fetch/return number of rows you request in Fetch.

OFFSET and FETCH when used together can return the exact/precise set of data you are looking for.

Let’s take an example of querying 5 rows from a table that has 10 records. To make this an interesting example, lets query 5 records from a 10 records table starting from the 4^TH record:

In a real-life scenario, you’ll have millions of records and you may want to query rows from a specific offset. So back to the above example:

Please pay attention to the OFFSET and FETCH clauses below to understand how and where to place them in a query.

LETS CREATE AN ITEMS TABLE

CREATE TABLE ITEMS

(

ITEM_ID INT IDENTITY(1,1),

ITEM_NAME VARCHAR(50)

);

GO;

INSERT ROWS IN ITEMS TABLE

INSERT INTO ITEMS VALUES ('MANGO');

INSERT INTO ITEMS VALUES ('APPLE');

INSERT INTO ITEMS VALUES ('BANANA');

INSERT INTO ITEMS VALUES ('KIWI');

INSERT INTO ITEMS VALUES ('PLUMS');

INSERT INTO ITEMS VALUES ('GRAPES');

INSERT INTO ITEMS VALUES ('WATERMELON');

INSERT INTO ITEMS VALUES ('HONEYDEW');

INSERT INTO ITEMS VALUES ('CHERRY');

INSERT INTO ITEMS VALUES ('STRAWBERRY');

GO;

QUERYING THE TABLE USING OFFSET AND FETCH

--IN THIS QUERY, WE ARE OFFSETTING/SKIPPING THE ROWS BY 3 RECORDS (starting at 4^th record) AND RETURNING THE NEXT 5 ROWS.

SELECT * FROM ITEMS

ORDER BY ITEM_ID

OFFSET 3 ROWS

FETCH NEXT 5 ROWS ONLY

GO;

EXECUTING THE ABOVE STATEMENT WILL RETURN THE BELOW RESULT SET AS REQUESTED: (Note: ITEM_ID values are being generated thru Identity column)

ITEM_ID	ITEM_NAME
4	KIWI
5	PLUMS
6	GRAPES
7	WATERMELON
8	HONEYDEW

(5 row(s) affected)

NOTE: YOU CAN ALSO USE VARIABLES WITH OFFSET AND FETCH CLAUSES.

HERE’S AN EXAMPLE:

DECLARE @OFFSET INT=3, @FETCH INT=5

SELECT * FROM ITEMS

ORDER BY ITEM_ID

OFFSET @OFFSET ROWS

FETCH NEXT @FETCH ROWS ONLY

GO;

EXECUTING THE ABOVE COMMAND WILL RETURN THE SAME RESULTS AS USING CONSTANT VALUE WITH OFFSET AND FETCH.

ITEM_ID	ITEM_NAME
4	KIWI
5	PLUMS
6	GRAPES
7	WATERMELON
8	HONEYDEW

(5 row(s) affected)

Exam Prep for 70-659 Parts 11 & 12: Configure Authorization Rights and Manage VMware Hosts

Ruth Morton — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:39:00 GMT

As I wrote in an earlier post, there is no better time to write your exam for 70-659 Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization, than now and particularly before May 31, 2012. So to aid in that endeavour, Joseph Yedid, an IT specialist with Enhansoft in Ottawa, has put together a series of posts focused on getting IT folk ready to pass this exam. Joseph writes his blog at www.josephyedid.com but has allowed me to repost this series here.

Create roles and configure authorization rights

This section revolves around Authorization Manager. Authorization Manager (AzMan) is the best way to control user rights when it comes to Hyper-V. AzMan is accessed through the AzMan.msc management console. Hyper-V relies on XML files to store the user rights. The default AzMan store is called InitialStore.xml. Azman allows the admin to assign role-based access to users and then assign delegations and rights. AzMan allows you to create a scope which targets VMs and then roles which target users or groups. AzMan allows for greater control of delegating right to users and groups. With this kind of control, you can delegate rights with finer control.

Manage non-Hyper-V aware virtualization hosts

If you have a VMware environment and want to manage it along with your Windows environment then VMM is the answer. VMM has the capability to manage VMware hosts. In order for VMM to manage VMware hosts, VMM must first manage vCenter. Only through vCenter can VMM see the hosts that vCenter is controlling. Adding an ESX host is done the same way as adding a Hyper-V host. vCenter and ESX have a secure mode, so additional information will be needed; the certificate from the ESX host and the public key. You can also enable full management of an ESX host. To achieve this, you will need to provide the local host credentials for each ESX host you intend to manage.

There are some instances when VMM will not be able to manage a host. For example, a host may not be able to run Hyper-V, or when dealing with Server 2003. In these cases, VMM will install Virtual Server 2005 in order to manage the host. Once the host has Virtual Server 2005 on it, VMM will also deploy an agent to it.

Read the full series >>

Joseph Yedid is an IT specialist working at Enhansoft a company based in Ottawa, Canada, that develops products and services to extend the value of System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (SCCM) and System Center Configuration Manager 2012. He is an avid user of technology and is certified in many areas of Microsoft infrastructure technologies. He is MCTS and MCITP certifed - Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft Vista/Windows 7. Other interests revolve around virtualization technologies, System Center and Private Cloud. Joseph is a member and on the executive of the Ottawa Windows Server User Group.

Microsoft Private Cloud Guided Labs Now Available

DamirB — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:30:00 GMT

The cavalcade of virtual hands-on labs just keeps on going! Not only can you try out the features and capabilities of Windows Server “8” beta (now Windows Server 2012) as I blogged about this morning, we have also just released a series of 14 guided labs to allow you to get you familiar with Microsoft’s Private Cloud platform, including System Center 2012 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.

Core Capabilities Addressed in the Guided Labs allow you to perform the following tasks:

Provide resources through self-service requests
Drive consistent Service Delivery
Provision additional cloud infrastructure
Delegate cloud resources
Create consistency through service templates
Perform a standardized application deployment to test
Stage application resources
Self-service deployment of an application to a production environment
Gain insight and visibility through reporting
Monitor infrastructure
Taking corrective actions in the infrastructure
Reduce time to resolution with application performance monitoring
Deploy an update to service instance
Explore creating dashboards

Register and learn about the Microsoft Private Cloud Platform by taking the Private Cloud Guided Labs today! All you need is a Windows Live ID to register. Check them out now!

Try Your Hands On Windows Server 2012–New Virtual Labs Released

DamirB — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:30:00 GMT

Last week at the Microsoft Management Summit 2012 (MMS 2012) in Las Vegas, we announced the official product name and editions for Windows 8 client as well as the official name of the server counterpart - Windows Server 2012 (formerly Windows Server “8”). Now, we have not yet updated all of the web pages that say Windows Server “8” Beta to Windows Server 2012 but that is happening slowly but surely. However, we know that many of you want to try your hands at the new server operating system but can’t always commit to a machine to install and get familiar with it. Well, you’re in luck!

We have just released a whole series of Windows Server “8” Beta/Windows Server 2012 virtual hands-on labs that allow you to try out various capabilities of Windows Server 2012 without leaving your desk. All you need is an internet connection, a supported browser, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, or even Windows 8 Consumer preview, and administrator permissions on your computer to install the hands-on lab client the first time. Full system requirements for the virtual labs can be found here.

Once you have confirmed your computer meets the lab requirements, you can launch any of the labs available, including:

Active Directory Deployment and Management Enhancements
In this lab, you will learn how to deploy Active Directory Domain Controllers with Windows Server "8". You will deploy domain controllers using the new Server Manager, as well as deploying remote domain controllers using Windows PowerShell. You will be able to explore the new Active Directory Management tool and use its PowerShell History Viewer.
Configuring a Highly Available iSCSI Target
In this lab, you will learn how Windows Server "8" can provide storage remotely to any machine. You will build clusters using shared storage and build iSCSI high-availability instances--observing highly available application communication during cluster failover.
Configuring Hyper-V over Highly Available SMB Storage
In this lab, you will learn how to configure a file server cluster to support running Hyper-V virtual machines from SMB file shares. You will create the file share, configure delegation, and then create a new VM on SMB storage.
Implementing Storage Pools and Storage Spaces
In this lab, you will work with the new storage spaces technology in Windows Server "8". You will first create new storage pools and virtual disks, and then you will work with those virtual disks in both Server Manager and Control Panel.
Introduction to Windows PowerShell Fundamentals
Windows PowerShell is a command-line shell and scripting language that helps you achieve greater control and productivity. Using a new admin-focused scripting language, more than 230 standard command-line tools, and consistent syntax and utilities, Windows PowerShell enables you to more easily control system administration and accelerate automation.
What’s New in Windows PowerShell 3.0
In this lab, you will explore some of the new features and functionality in Windows PowerShell 3.0 to enable you to more easily control system administration and accelerate automation.
Managing Branch Offices
In this lab, you will learn how the branch office scenario has been improved in Windows Server "8" including new branch cache enhancements.
Managing Network Infrastructure
In this lab, you will explore new network management capabilities in Windows Server "8". You will learn how to implement Network Teaming as well as how to implement DHCP failover. Finally, explore new Windows PowerShell cmdlets for network management.
Managing Your Network Infrastructure with IP Address Management
Network management is core to running a business, yet the tools that IT professionals need can be too costly or not available from Microsoft. With Windows Server "8", we change that with the introduction of IP Address Management (IPAM).
Managing Windows Server "8" with Server Manager and Windows PowerShell 3.0
In this lab, you will learn how the Server Manager and Windows PowerShell framework in Windows Server "8" delivers an enhanced, multi-server management experience. You will learn to perform tasks such as multi-server management. You will also explore new Windows PowerShell capabilities including new cmdlets and the Windows PowerShell gateway.
Online Backup Service
In this lab, you will use Windows Server Backup to back up your critical data to Windows Azure. This lab will teach you the entire set of workflows around backing up and recovering your data to Windows Azure.
Using Dynamic Access Control to Automatically and Centrally Secure Data
In this lab, you will explore Dynamic Access Control in Windows Server "8". You will learn how to create Central Access Policies, explore the new Access Denied Remediation features, as well as learn how to use the audit capabilities built into Dynamic Access Control.

We will be adding more labs as well, so keep going back to the Windows Server “8” Beta/Windows Server 2012 virtual hands-on labs page for the latest updates.

Gérer les drivers dans MDT 2010, Partie 1 – Les drivers fournis sous forme d’application

DamirB — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:30:00 GMT

Continuing with our theme of how to make use of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010, here we have the first of a 3-part series for our French-speaking readers on how to manage drivers using MDT 2010 to help ensure your deployment of Windows 7 on your new PCs works well. The series is written by Yannick Plavonil, a Microsoft MVP based in Quebec. You can find this and more on his own blog – Revue du Geek.

Let me know what other topics you would like covered in the future. Leave a comment or send an email by clicking on the link to the right of this post.

Dernierement j’ai recu les nouvelles séries de PC portable Dell E6510 et sans surprise une fois que j’ai installé Windows 7, la plupart des nouveaux matériels étaient sans drivers. J’ai donc récupéré chez Dell tous les drivers necessaires pour les inclure dans mon serveur MDT. Certains drivers sont fournis comme des applications (.exe) et il est impossible de les décompresser pour récuperer les fichiers .inf.

Dans ce cas, il faut simplement ajouter le driver comme une application. Faire un bundle si necessaire. Il ne faut pas oublier ensuite de mettre les applications en mode Hide in the deployment wizard.

Il y a ensuite 3 méthodes pour faire correspondre le driver à installer pour le type de machine:

Indiquer l’application dans une task sequence avec une requete WMI “Make and Model”.
Indiquer le driver dans le fichier CustomSettings.ini.
Indiquer le driver comme application dans la BD MDT.

Pour identifier les variables Make et Model, voici les outils:

L’outil Information Systeme, < System Manufacturer (make) et System Model (model) >
Windows PowerShell. Utiliser la commande Get-WMIObject –class Win32_ComputerSystem.
CMD > WMIC, utiliser la commande CSProduct Get Name, Vendor pour avoir les valeurs (model) et (make).

Requete WMI – Make, Model dans la Task Sequence

Creer un groupe dans la Task Sequence pour chaque types de modeles, et ajouter une requete pour chaque modeles.

Pour creer un groupe pour chaques types de matériels.

1. Deployment Workbench > Deployment Shares > MDT Build Prod > Task Sequences .

2. Aller dans les propriétés de la Task Sequence sur laquelle on va ajouter les commandes

3. Aller dans la partie State Restore > Windows Update (Pre-Application Installation).

4. Sur l’onglet Task Sequence > Add > New Group. (nommer le Device Drivers Applications)

La, on vient de creer le groupe qui va nous permettre de préciser les étapes pour l’installation des drivers lié au matériel.

5. Sur Device Driver Applications >choisir New Group.

6. Sur l’onglet Properties, donner un nom au groupe (exemple, Drivers Applications – Dell Inc).

7. Sur l’onglet Options > Add > Query WMI.

8. Sur la fenetre WMI Condition, entrez les infos suivantes:

· Dans le champ WMI, entrez root\cimv2.
· Dans le champ WQL query, entrez une requete WMI (WQL) en utilisant la classe Win32_ComputerSystem. comme plus bas.

Exemple:

Select * FROM Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE Manufacturer LIKE "%Dell%" AND Model LIKE "%E6510%"

Le symbole % permet de faire une recherche sur les caracteres suivant et précedent.

Si vous etes dans une machine virtuelle avec VMware, pour faire votre test.
Select * FROM Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE Manufacturer LIKE "%VMware%" AND Model LIKE "%VMware%"

9. Puis validez la requete.

Il faut faire cela pour chaque modele de machine si necessaire. Ensuite une fois que la requete spécifique à la machine est prete, il faut choisir l’application à installer

10. Se placer sur le groupe qu’on vient de creer

11. Sur l’onglet Task Sequence > Add > General > Install Application.

12. Et choisir l’application à installer (ou le bundle) pour le type de machine

Définir les drivers dans le fichier CustomSettings.ini

Quand le déploiement LTI ou ZTI commence, une des premieres actions est d’analyser le fichier BootStrap.ini et CustomSettings.ini. Ces 2 fichiers peuvent etre utiliser pour personaliser le déploiement.

Les applications sont référencées avec leur GUID. On peut les retrouver dans le fichier Applications.xml dans D:\MDTBuildProd\Control

1. Ouvrir le fichier Applications.xml et repérer l’application.

2. Sur le tag GUID, recuperez le numero <application guid={6d3dc678-a4fb-440f-9546-c8ad82b52168}>

Au démarrage du déploiment, des requetes WMI Make and Model sont effectués sur la machine. Les valeurs peuvent donc etre utilisé dans le fichier CustomSettings.ini file to dynamically read sections of the file depending on the make and model detected. Listing 28 shows an example of the CustomSettings.ini file.

Voici un example du fichier CustomSettings.ini configuré pour installer des applications en fonction du modele.

[Settings]

Priority=Make, Default

[Dell Inc.]

Subsection=Dell-%Model%

[Dell-Latitude E6510]

MandatoryApplications001={6d3dc678-a4fb-440f-9546-c8ad82b52168}

[Dell-Latitude E6500]

MandatoryApplications001={6d3dc678-a4fb-440f-9546-c8ad82b52168}

Définir le driver dans la base de donnée MDT

La BD MDT est utilisée durant la phase de déploiement pour récuperer les informations à utiliser sur une machine. Ensuite il identifie la machine cible avec 3 méthodes.

Recherche de machine défini par la Mac adresse, Asset tag..
Recherche l’ordinateur en fonction de la passerelle par défaut.
Recherche du modele et de la marque avec une requete WMI.

Pour creer une entrée dans la BD afin d’autoriser l’installation des drivers pôur une machine

1. Sur la console Deployment Workbench > MDT Build Prod > Advanced Configuration > Database > Make and Model.

2. Faire nouveau.

3. Sur l’onglet Identity tab, tapez dans Name la valeur Latitude E6510. (name correspond au champ Name avec la requete WMI).

4. Sur Model, tapez le modele.

5. Sur l’onglet Applications, ajouter toutes les applications pour ce type de modele.

Talking to MVPs & Customers at MMS 2012– Brad Bird on System Center 2012 for all Hypervisors

DamirB — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:00:00 GMT

This year I get the opportunity to connect with the sizeable contingent of customers, Partners and Microsoft Valued Professionals (MVPs) attending the Microsoft Management Summit 2012 (MMS 2012) in Las Vegas April 16-20. Each of the individuals I spoke to were very excited about what they will see and hear about Microsoft’s Private Cloud Platform, System Center 2012, as well as upcoming technologies like Windows Server 2012.

As MMS 2012 wound down I got a chance to touch base with Brad Bird, a Private Cloud and Data Center MVP from Cistel Technology and get his perspective on how System Center 2012 will enable his customers to take advantage of Private Cloud technologies, no matter what hypervisor is being used – Hyper-V, VMware or Xen Server. We talk about how Virtual Machine Manager and Operations Manager can help to deploy and monitor your Private Cloud, how Orchestrator can help automate tasks and allow you to sleep at night, and how Service Manager can help enable self-service provisioning and end-user capabilities. Take a look at what he had to say.

Brad Bird talks about using System Center 2012 to enable Private Cloud no matter the hypervisor

Don’t forget that you can download the full System Center 2012 suite for evaluation from the TechNet Eval center. Grab it now and try it out in your test environment, and then roll it out in your organization.

Exam Prep for 70-659 Part 10: Configuring Delegation of Rights

Ruth Morton — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:31:00 GMT

Configuring delegation of rights

User policies for Self-Service Portal (SSP) are a set of rules that define what a user or group can do within SSP. For instance quotas can be assigned as to how many VM can be created, what permissions or restrictions there are for the user or group. There are three types of user policies that can be used:

Single self-service policy use a domain group with the required users in the group.
Multiple self-service policies, each that have their own domain group but smaller number of users in each group.
One self-service policy per self-service user

When dealing with templates, there are three types you can create in VMM:

from a virtual disk in the library
from an existing VM
from an existing template

To create a template from a virtual disk in the library, open the library view, choose New Template in the Library Actions menu. Follow the wizard that opens. You will configure Template Identity, Hardware settings, and Gust Operating System settings. Additional properties can be set after the template is created: Cost center, Tag, ten custom properties and a quota for self-service users.

To create a template from an existing VM, right click a stopped VM, and select New Template. You will get a warning message. Creating a template in this manner will destroy the source VM. A wizard will follow. You will configure Template Identity, Hardware settings, Gust Operating System settings, Select Library Server, and Select Path (which is the path on the library where you will the place template).

To create a template from an existing template, you will right click a template in the library. Follow the wizard that opens. You will configure Template Identity, Hardware settings, and Gust Operating System settings.

Templates are managed through the library.

Libraries are an integral part of VMM. Libraries are file shares that reside preferably on a file server. If you find that you need to replicate them you can use DFSR and DFSN. Although there are some things that you will need to take into consideration, namely VMM is not DFS aware and there are other known issues. Backing up the library shares on a regular basis is also good practice. Another way of dealing with libraries is to make library file shares highly available through clustering. You can also create custom library groups for easier management. So what can you store in the library? Just about anything from VMs that are not being used to templates, scripts, and ISOs.

Read the full series >>

Talking to MVPs & Customers at MMS 2012– Manulife’s Journey to Private Cloud

DamirB — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:30:00 GMT

I had the opportunity to spend some time with Manjeet Sembhi, Martin Kelly, and Devon Groen from Manulife Financial on their implementation of Microsoft's Private Cloud technologies including System Center 2012 through their participation in the TAP program - Microsoft's program for early adopters. We talked about why they decided to implement a Private Cloud solution to solve specific business requirements, their choice of System, Center components and Hyper-V for their Private Cloud infrastructure, what worked, challenges faced, and where they plan to take their Private Cloud capabilities next. This one you have to see!

Talking to Manulife Financial about their Private Cloud implementation with System Center & Hyper-V

The “SQL Guy” Post #25: String Concatenation Using CONCAT() in SQL Server 2012

DamirB — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:30:00 GMT

SQL Server 2012 introduces a brand new string function called CONCAT(). CONCAT() string function allows you to concatenate up to 255 string or variable values in to one single string. It requires a minimum of two input values when calling the function and takes care of implicitly converting the data values to a string by following the data type conversion rules of SQL Server 2012. This function would help eliminate the need of explicit data conversions when concatenating two values.

Note: NULL values are implicitly converted to an empty string. If all the variables passed as parameters in CONCAT function are NULL, an empty string of type VARCHAR(1) is returned.

SYNTAX:

SELECT CONCAT (String_Value1, String_Value2, String_Value3 [, String_ValueN]) -- Between 2 and 254 values can be passed.

TEST 1 - CONCATENATION WITH CONCAT()

TEST 2 - CONCATENATION WITHOUT CONCAT()

Declare @a Varchar(100)='Microsoft SQL Server is now '

Declare @b int=22

Declare @c varchar(200)=' years old'

Select CONCAT (@a, @b, @c)

Returns:

Microsoft SQL Server is now 22 Years old

Declare @a Varchar(100)='Microsoft SQL Server is now '

Declare @b int=22

Declare @c varchar(200)=' years old'

Select @a+Convert(varchar,(@b))+@c

Go;

Returns:

Microsoft SQL Server is now 22 Years old

In the above example, observe the use of CONCAT() function. There’s no data conversion being performed if you are using CONCAT function. However, in the second test, we are having to use data conversion function to convert Integer value to a string.

The data returned by CONCAT function depends on the type of values passed. The below table shows the mapping of input and output types:

Input Value / Type	Output Value / Type
SQL-CLR (TYPES & UDT)	NVARCHAR(MAX)
NVARCHAR(MAX)	NVARCHAR(MAX)
NVARCHAR(<=4000)	NVARCHAR(<=4000)
VARBINARY(MAX)	NVARCHAR(MAX)
ALL OTHER INPUT TYPES	VARCHAR(<=8000) *Unless one of the parameters is an NVARCHAR of any length and in that case, the output value would be in NVARCHAR(MAX)

NOTE: CONCAT function only works with SQL Server 2012 and above versions. However, to make this work in older versions of SQL Server, you will need to create your own custom function that can take care of concatenating values and appropriately converting their data types.

Zoom, zoom, zoom, we’re going to the moon…with Microsoft Private Cloud

Ruth Morton — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:24:00 GMT

These days around the Microsoft Canada office and particularly in my little corner of the world, everyone is laser focused on getting IT folks downloading, learning and certified on Microsoft technologies…specifically private cloud technologies.

And just to give you a bit of incentive, we’ve come up with The Skyrocket Sweepstakes. Y’know…for anyone in IT who wants their career to “take off”.

What could you win? Up to $10,000 just for trying the very latest in Microsoft Private Cloud Solutions.

How do you enter? Go here and sign up.

How do you get increase your chances of winning? Get up to 11 entries by downloading evaluation software. Get 10 more by showing proof of having passed your 70-659 exam between March 28, 2012, and June 30, 2012.

How do you increase the prize? Every entry boosts the final prize to be won, so tell all your friends!

***

A side note to all the folks out there busy studying for the 70-659 exam: A little while ago I wrote this post about writing your 70-659 exam – what special offers are available, what study resources are out there and how to get $75 for passing your exam. I’m continuing to update that post with new information so check back! Note that all the free vouchers have been given out, but there is a new 2 for 1 exam voucher deal that you can sign up for. Plus the last 2 online study groups start up this coming Sunday and Monday nights, so be sure to sign up soon if you’re interested.

Talking to MVPs & Customers at MMS 2012– Kathleen Wilson

DamirB — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:45:00 GMT

Kathleen Wilson is a colleague at Microsoft Canada who has worked with customers that have taken part in the early adoption programs for System Center 2012 and our Private Cloud technologies. She is attending MMS 2012 and delivering sessions with customers on their experience being some of the first in the country to implement System Center 2012 in their organizations. Here is what she had to say about how her customers’ have benefitted by adopting the latest technologies.

Kathleen Wilson talks about Early Adopters of System Center 2012

Later on this week, I will get a chance to talk to one of those early adopter customers–Manulife Financial–and share their story with you. Stay tuned for that on Thursday or Friday.

Talking to MVPs & Customers at MMS 2012– Kath McBride from Microsoft Canada

DamirB — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Kath McBride is a colleague at Microsoft Canada who is attending MMS 2012 along with a number of her customers. She is also the content lead for one of the tracks at the upcoming Canadian Private Cloud Launch taking place in 6 cities across the country in May. Here she shares her thoughts on what she and her customers are looking to get out of MMS 2012, as well as what you can expect at the Canadian Private Cloud Launch in May.

Conversation with Kath McBride about MMS2012 and the Canadian Private Cloud Launch

Talking to MVPs & Customers at MMS 2012– Rory McCaw & Efim Idelman from InFront Consulting

DamirB — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:29:06 GMT

InFront Consulting Group is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner based in Toronto with operations world-wide. Their primary product focus is the System Center Suite and they have a large contingent of individuals well versed in the product, starting with Rory McCaw, the man behind InFront and a long-standing MVP in Operations Manager and currently an MVP in System Center Cloud & Data Center Management. I had the opportunity to chat with Rory and one of the newest members of the InFront team – Efim Idelman, a former Microsoft Canada colleague who recently joined their team.

Let’s start with Rory and his thoughts on what to expect at MMS 2012 as well as some information on product announcements from InFront at MMS2012, and details on the session he is presenting at MMS and that we may see on a future TechDays TV episode.

Conversation with Rory McCaw before MMS2012

Efim also had some ideas on what to expect at MMS2012.

Conversation with Efim Idelman before MMS2012

Talking to MVPs & Customers at MMS 2012–Dave Kawula from Tricon Consulting.

DamirB — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:30:00 GMT

Dave Kawula is a Principal at Tricon Technical Services in Calgary. He is also a Virtual Technical Specialist with Microsoft Canada, and a sought-out expert by many other Partners in Canada including Navantis, not to mention a newly-awarded MVP in Hyper-V. I am surprised he has time to sleep!! Dave shares his thoughts on what to expect at MMS 2012 as well as his participation in the Canadian Private Cloud Launch taking place in 6 cities across Canada in May.

Talking to Dave Kawula at MMS 2012–Pre-Show Conversation

Talking to MVPs & Customers at MMS 2012– Brad Bird & Colin Smith from Cistel Technology

DamirB — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:30:00 GMT

In this first video, I had the opportunity to talk to Brad Bird and Colin Smith from Cistel Technology in Ottawa. Brad is an MVP on System Center Virtual Machine Manager and Hyper-V. Colin is an MVP on System Center Configuration Manager. In this video they share their thoughts on what they are excited to see at MMS 2012.

Conversation with Brad Bird & Colin Smith from Cistel before MMS 2012