TechAgility

So the other day I realised that there was something very unusual happening to my HP 2540p – it has been blindingly fast, but just recently it seemed that it was on strike – I also found that it would effectively hang when trying to suspend.

So it seemed that this was around the Power Management side of things and I couldn’t find anything in the Event Viewer to isolate what was causing it – in the past I have found that this sort of issue can be sometimes caused by BIOS related issues – and while this does not explain why the symptom suddenly appeared, I can report that my original BIOS was F.02 and upgrading this to the latest version does seem to have resolved this.

This is certainly good news – as I was starting to think that I might need to rebuild to clear this (mind you that was going to be a good excuse to rebuild with the new SP1 )

HP Notebook System BIOS Update (ROM Family 68CSU)

written by dcaddick

The communications to and from the VMware vCenter are encrypted via port 443 and as such use certificates to ensure their security.

There is the ability to add the keystore from a VMware vCenter during the initial install of vWorkspace 7.x – however it is not possible (at the moment ) to go back and rerun this wizard if you decide to add vCenter after the initial installation.

So to do this after the fact we need to carry out these 6 actions:

• Download a copy of the certificate from the vCenter Server
• Place it in the correct vWorkspaceVMware-Certs folder
• Copy the KeyTool.exe from the Java Folder to the VMware-Certs folder
• Use the KeyTool.exe from the Java install to convert the *.cer to a vmware.keystore file
• Restart the Quest Connection Broker Service
• Try again to add the vCenter as a resource in the Management console

Download a copy of the certificate from the vCenter Server

Open a browser to the vCenter using the HTTPS heading, and after bypassing the warning , you should be able to click on the “Certificate Error” and call up the message box below.

Click on “View Certificates” and this will allow you to call up the actual certificate.

Click on the “Details” Tab and this will allow you to save a copy of the certificate to file

Save this to the “C:Program FilesQuest SoftwarevWorkspaceVMware-Certs” folder

Copy the KeyTool.exe from the Java Folder to the VMware-Certs folder

Copy the KeyTool.exe from the Java folder – “C:Program FilesJavajre1.5.0_11bin”:

(The folder name may vary depending on the Java versions installed)

Place it in the vWorkspaceVMware-Certs folder:

Use the Keytool.exe from Java to convert the *.cer to a vmware.keystore file

So now it’s best to open a CMD Prompt and navigate to the “C:Program FilesQuest SoftwarevWorkspaceVMware-Certs” Folder where we now want to run the following command:

keytool -import -file vcenter.quest.local.cer -alias vcenter.quest.local –keystore vmware.keystore

Now in the above example my test vCenter is called “vcenter.quest.local” so I have chosen to use that as the name for the resultant Cert (*.cer) as well as the Alias name – but you can use whatever name you want – so long as the last part stays as vmware.keystore and it is in the correct folder.

Restart the Quest Connection Broker Service

So now is also probably a good time to go and delete the vCenter you still have in the system?

Once you have cleaned it out then go ahead and restart the Quest Connection Broker service:

Try again to add the vCenter as a resource in the Management console

So now you should have no problems with adding the vCenter in to the vWorkspace Management Console as a valid VirtualCenter Server

written by dcaddick

After doing some serious digging it appears that there was well over 400 sessions at MS TechEd 2010 – to be honest I ended up giving up as I figured I’d found way more material than I will be able to get through in quite a long time.

MS are to be commended for being quite open about sharing the content? It would also seem that most of the sessions have been captured on Video as well and are available in HD and MP4.

Here’s my pick of what might be topical and somewhat related to Client and/or Desktop Virtualization?

• ARC307 – Top 10 Hidden IT Costs and How to Avoid Them
• COS306 – The Economics of Cloud Computing
• VIR204 – Understanding How Microsoft Virtualization Compares to VMware
• VIR206 – Virtualization 360: Microsoft Virtualization Strategy, Products, and Solutions for the New Economy
• VIR209 – Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 and Microsoft Office 2010
• VIR304 – Hyper-V and Dynamic Memory in Depth
• VIR305 – Microsoft RemoteFX: Rich Windows Desktop Experience for VDI and Session Virtualization
• VIR310 – Networking and Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V: Deployment Considerations
• VIR311 – Planning and Deploying Microsoft VDI with Management Technologies
• VIR313 – VDI from Microsoft and Citrix: What is it? How do I manage it? What benefits does it provide?
• VIR315 – Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Performance Analysis: How You Can Get the Most out of Hyper-V
• VIR316 – Remote Desktop Session Host vs. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Smackdown
• VIR317 – Desktop Virtualization: You Have a Choice
• VIR320 – Sequencing Deep Dive: Efficiently Making Your Applications Virtual
• VIR321 – Effectively Debugging Complex Application Sequencings
• VIR304 – Hyper-V and Dynamic Memory in Depth
• VIR403 – Virtualization FAQ, Tips, and Tricks
• WCL314 – Windows Sysinternals Primer: Process Explorer, Process Monitor, and More
• WCL318 – Using Windows Preinstallation Environment (PE) 3.0 to Troubleshoot and Fix Problems, and to Capture and Deploy WIM Images
• WCL402 – Pushing the Limits of Windows with Mark Russinovich
• WEM301 – Deploying Windows Embedded Standard 7 with Style
• WEM302 – Explore the Multimedia Potential of Windows Embedded Standard 7
• WSV205 – Remote Desktop Services: Virtual and Session-Based Desktops and Applications Architecture with Partners
• WSV301 – Administrators’ Idol: Windows and Active Directory Best Practices
• WSV303 – Death of a Network: Identify the Hidden Causes of Lousy Network Performance
• WEM305 – How to Choose a Windows Embedded Operating System
• WEM308 – Windows Embedded Overview: Demos of the Latest and Upcoming Releases
• WSV309 – Microsoft RemoteFX: USB and Device Support
• WSV316 – Hyper-V and Storage: Maximizing Performance and Deployment Best Practices in Windows Server 2008 R2
• SIA333 – Useful Hacker Techniques: Which Part of Hackers’ Knowledge Will Help You in Efficient IT Administration?
• SIA334 – The Secrets of Effective Technical Talks: How to Explain Tech without Tucking Them In!
• SIA335 – Death of Security: Breached Hosts/Stolen Data/IP Espionage

written by dcaddick

I was recently looking for info regarding how to manage or integrate Windows Thin Clients (XPe/WES) with SCCM.

To the best of my knowledge the formal stance has always been “we supply the Macro components to support SCCM Agents in the build – the rest is up to the Customer” and my understanding is that this was mainly around the concern that this solution was never able to support “bare metal imaging” to be able to reimage the devices?

Please be aware that I have not attempted to get this working myself, this is merely the research that I have done just in case I was asked to implement it, and although some may see it as hugely beneficial to have both Thin Clients and PC’s being managed from a single console – the flip side to this is that the SCCM console and management structure does NOT know how to handle or treat devices that have a Write Filter

• Or if it was possible to image but this was still in a grey area of being un-supported?
• It seems that it might actually be possible to image with WES 2009 onwards as indicated in this article?
• Embedded OS Deployment with System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)
  One of the new features in Windows Embedded Standard 2009 is the support of SCCM operating system deployment. This means, any Standard image can be deployed the same way images for desktop or server machines are deployed within an SCCM infrastructure. Previously, it was not possible to deploy XP embedded images, because XPe did not support the Sysprep utility.
  • More at source ….

Looking a bit further ahead towards the end of the year with WES 7 however it looks like this imaging issue will be overcome as MS will then support imaging? BUT only to WES 7 devices as it will then be able to be imaged using the ImageX based process?

Other than that I have collated some details below that seems to pretty much map it out that it shouldn’t be too difficult to accomplish – but it would appear that it would be a better idea to go with FBWF to have more flexibility with coping with the SCCM Agent side of things

Creating SCCM software update packages

There is no fundamental difference between creating software deployment packages for a normal Windows XP Professional or a Windows Embedded Standard system. If you are new to this, Microsoft Technet, with its documentation and whitepapers, is a very valuable resource to get things started. However, especially when Embedded Enabling Features (EEF’s) or the limitations of embedded devices come into play, deployment packages for embedded devices need to be created with a slightly different mind set than those for enterprise scenarios.

More at source….

Advanced System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) Software Deployment Scenarios
Change management scenarios of embedded devices are sometimes much harder to handle than those of corporate desktops. This is especially true when you consider the way users interact with devices. System Center offers a control panel applet users and administrators can use for local interaction with the Configuration Manager infrastructure. This works fine for Windows Embedded Standard Devices as long as they run explorer shell the same way corporate desktops do. If embedded devices run their own shell these options are gone, because no access to the applets can be provided.

More at source….

Write Filters Support for Mass Deployment in Windows Embedded Standard 7

Mass deployment is the process of creating a master Windows Embedded Standard 7 runtime image on a reference system and then deploying this image to multiple target systems. The deployment process typically uses specific tools such as System Preparation tool (sysprep.exe) and Imagex.exe as well as Windows PE Environment to perform the following tasks:

• Generalize the master system by removing machine specific information
• Capture the system into a Windows image (wim) file
• Apply the image (wim) to the target system
• Specialize the image to the target machine.

Write Filters (EWF and FBWF) in WES7 are delivering sysprep providers to enable seamless settings transfer during mass deployment scenarios. These providers are part of the regular write filter (EWF or FBWF) packages. They are also invoked automatically when users run sysprep command, i.e. they do not require any user interaction. So, if a user is deploying a master image with FBWF protecting the system volume (C:) and having a folder (Documents) in the exclusion list, all target systems will end up protecting the system volume (C:) and having (Documents) folder in the exclusion list. Similarly, if EWF is protecting the system volume (Disk 0, Partition 1) of the master image, all target systems will end up protecting the system volume (Disk 0, Partition 1).
More at source…

Beta SCCM R2 – How to get a Quick Test Lab for SCCM R2
This is not going to be a depth post… but just a post to say how to get yourself rapidly into a good place with SCCM R2. I have been asked a number of times how to gain access to or even build an SCCM R2 environment. As much fun as it is….. and it is fun! It does take a considerable amount of time!
I was chatting to Marco Cibis (PFE Germany) when we were on a training course together in Prague…. Marco is one of our SCCM guru/jedi knights …..

Anyway he sent me a great link for downloading a pre-configured VHD for SCCM
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=469af3b8-849d-4400-bded-9024c3db759f&DisplayLang=en
So that was stage one!!! download SCCM RTM for an eval….. saved me 10 hours

Some additional references:

=========

How to Manage Windows XP Embedded Write Filters Using Configuration Manager 2007

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb932175.aspx

Known Limitations in Configuration Manager Support for Windows XP Embedded

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb932123.aspx

I have also discovered this regarding getting T5720’s working with SCCM – but again the main issue will be no ability to image:

SCCM General – Generate a new GUID for the SCCM Client

It was not until I started working on getting our HP Thin Clients to work with SCCM imaging that I had to worry about generating a new GUID for the SCCM client without doing a repair or reinstallation.  You see the HP t5720 is really the thorn in my side.  The HP t5720 devices we have are 80% of our thin client population and only have 512MB of flash disk and 512MB of RAM.  In order to get the SCCM client to really work well with Windows XP Embedded 2002 it is ideal to have Service Pack 3 (SP3) for the OS.  What really hurts with that is there is not much free space left – even after removing the HP preload utilities that we do not use.  In fact there is not enough space to install the SCCM client.

Keep in mind that we are not joining these devices to the domain, patching them, or doing much more than a few configuration changes and enabling reporting and remote tools.  We use the HP Enhanced Write Filter (EWF) to lock the devices down and purge unwanted changes.

More at source…

written by dcaddick

So a little while back I had noticed that the Netgear DG834N that I had been using was getting quite hot at times with regards to the 240V Brick power supply – it even needed to be turned off at times to let it cool. So I hunted around and then decided to replace it with a fairly simple and effective Billion 5200N – nothing fancy – just a simple and cheap ADSL2+ capable Wireless Router/Modem combo.

So before removing the Netgear I had copied down all the specific settings information, powered up the Billion in isolation and applied all the settings OK, then tested and then finally swapped it out. And it ran very well – so well in fact that the lass who was working next door who was “borrowing” some Internet for her MacBook didn’t even realise there was a swap out.

So I thought I’d done pretty well with that – UNTIL – I came home to find a bill from Telstra (the incumbent Telco) for $73 for the month? WTF!!! We normally just pay the min. amount just to be connected to the copper and I have an account with PennyTel to redirect all phone comms on to the VoIP courtesy of a neat little Sipura SPA-3000 unit. Sipura has since been bought out by LinkSys and then Cisco – but that’s another story?

So I’m looking at this bill and then it occurs to me that I didn’t double-check the VoIP after the switch – DAMN!! So I check the Web Admin page, and sure enough I can see that it’s failing to register with the service… so I then started to try and configure a SIP service on the device for port 5060, and find that it’s not simple and not easy, and what the heck – why should it be so hard? So then I start looking around and consulting lot’s of forums, etc…  So I spent about 4 – 5 hours plus that night trying to get the bottom of it – no joy. Major bummer.

So when I came home the next day I was chatting to my brother and we go through all the obvious things…  then we decide that I really should try a SoftPhone from my PC, bloody hell, it works – so the Router *IS* passing VoIP and SIP anyway? I confirmed this with Wireshark – 5060 and SIP traffic is passing through no problems. So what is the cause of this problem? Why won’t my little box access and deliver VoIP traffic?

So I step through the settings from the top one more time – and then it hits me that I had set up the little SPA-3000 unit with a static IP – NOT DHCP!!!!
The older Netgear was set with 192.168.0.1 as the Gateway – the Billion came default with 192.168.1.254 – so I arbitrarily chose to make it 192.168.0.254 as the new gateway

AND – I had not updated the SPA-3000 to point to the .254 – it was still pointing the DNS and Gateway to the old .1 address
Problem solved, VoIP registration complete and Phone now working as it should.

written by dcaddick

So this should certainly fire up peoples plans about adopting Thin Clients and I guess MS will be more than happy that folks will be queuing up to try new devices on their RDS via Windows Server 2008?

And more here:  Microsoft launches Windows 7-based embedded OS

So why will this be a big deal? If you want more details I’d strongly suggest reviewing this post regarding the Capabilities, Connectivity and Experience Features that vary with RDS depending on the OS and Patch level of the Client device : Remote Desktop Connection 7 for Windows 7, Windows XP & Windows Vista

And don’t underestimate the selling power of eye candy? Thin Clients with a nice new clean Windows 7 look and feel will definitely help sell more Thin Clients

Windows Embedded Standard 7 RTM has Shipped!

After several years of development by 70 of the best software engineers at Microsoft, and buckets upon buckets of sweat and tears, I’m so happy to announce that Windows Embedded Standard 7 has finally shipped!

The launch of the product officially occurred at the Embedded Systems Conference today when our General Manager, Kevin Dallas, announced the product in the conference keynote address. This product demonstrates Microsoft’s further commitment to the embedded business and Windows 7 technologies in specialized consumer and enterprise devices.

Focusing on consumer related devices is something new to the team that delivers Windows Embedded Standard because we’ve historically focused mostly on enterprise scenarios. But with Standard 7 we’re finally making available to you the Media Center component. With the Media Center feature we’re anticipating a new focus on consumer related devices in the household based on this embedded operating system such as Set Top Boxes and Televisions.

If you’ve never installed the Standard 7 product before during the many months it was available as a public download, you may be interested in checking out the Standard 7 FAQ.

For a deeper dive into what this release means for the embedded community, I encourage you to read the press release.

Before I head off to uncork the champagne, here’s a video showcasing some close partners and their devices running Windows Embedded Standard 7.

-Andy

Windows Embedded Standard (WES7, WES2009, XPe, NT4e) : Windows Embedded Standard 7 RTM has Shipped!

written by dcaddick

I came across this very interesting post today as something that both validates the “Client Virtualization” approach (I think VDI is a bit too narrow as a definition?) and yet at the same time tells a cautionary tale about how it’s not as easy as it’s sometimes made out to be? and it is way harder than simply Virtualizing Servers

However I think the point can be made that if it is approached in a structured manner, and you do take the time to run through the various steps of PoC, Pilot and then phased deployment while validating each step to check for issues then you should be on-track.

My experience so far is that it’s not really fair to blame “Client Virtualization” or VDI if the IT Dept. has brought in all the old baggage with “this is always the way we have done it”?

Justifying VDI – Part One

April 26, 2010 — David Freund

As Chris Murphy explained in his video blog post, EMC IT began last year to implement a virtual desktop infrastructure based on VMware View. The VDI concept is pretty straightforward, and sounds compelling: reduce desktop management complexity, more cost-effectively update aging desktops (and their operating systems), and give users greater platform choice—and “anywhere, anytime” universal access.

Can VDI really deliver its user experience promise? How much it would really benefit our company in cost savings and in increased flexibility? EMC IT came up with answers to those questions—and got a “green light” for deploying a production VDI environment during the second half of this year.

……

The latency “pain threshold” ended up being around 100 milliseconds. For local users, where network latencies are typically much shorter, virtual desktop performance was similar to a physical PC. For remote users with latencies exceeding 100ms, remote desktop performance was consistently slower than a local PC.

……

In my next post, we’ll finally look at TCO/ROI numbers that helped gain approval for next phase of EMC IT’s VDI project: a production rollout for 5,000 of EMC’s 40,000 desktop users.

Justifying VDI – Part One « EMC IT’s Journey to the Private Cloud

written by dcaddick

Some while back I was really wishing it was possible to boot to a USB Stick from within a VM – and now it is possible – great news because it just adds that little bit extra in the way of functionality

Great tip how-to boot from USB stick inside of VMware Workstation

A tip pointed by Ivo Beerens. By using my RSS Reader to stay updated on blogs in the Virtualization Sphere I checked this post from Ivo. It’s a great tip. What’s about?

Basically when you want to test ESXi 4 installation to the USB Stick (or this Video post too…) you’ll want to follow my post, which I’ve done in the past and that’s it.

But if you want to test unattended installation of ESXi 4 on USB stick then you would want to boot your VM which is executed in your VMware Workstation, from an USB stick too.Well you can’t. Even the version 7 of VMware Workstation does not support that.

Here comes the help tip from Ivo. Basically what do you have to do is a work around.

01. Download boot manager from PLoP
02. Use the Iso in the boot manager as a boot device to boot your VM
03. Add an USB adapter to your VM (if not already done).

03. Insert your USB stick with ESXi 4 installed in it.
03. When your VM boots from that ISO, just select USB from the menu.

Well not all the credit goes to IVO, because the original help provided was from Ulli Hankeln from sanbarrow.com. -:)

Great tip how-to boot from USB stick inside of VMware Workstation

written by dcaddick

This is just some ramblings from me over the xmas/new year break and some general thoughts about the global economy and some technical thoughts

Economy

Option ARM’s – could this be the harbinger of the Second Wave of Foreclosures in the US? 

• Subprime Loans Caused the Initial Illness, Option ARMs will Cause the Relapse
• OptionARM Homebuyers See Monthly Payments Go From $95 To $3,500
• 2010:Foreseeable and unforeseeable risks, the room for policy error is enormous
  Domestic Risks and Uncertainties:
  The Bulk of the Option Arm resets trigger in 2010-2011 – “The reality is that these loans were never meant to survive the reset. Unless an alternative is created, the human pain and loss will be massive.” Institutional Risk Analyst Chris Whalen
• I would certainly like to think that all the Bankers ( <– substitute rhyming slang here ) have actually done their job correctly and with due diligence and actually “priced” in the risk that some of the “Assets” they may be holding could be exposed to any potential risk associated with the Option ARM’s? But that’s probably hoping for a bit too much?

The US economy appears to have somewhat recovered it’s confidence – However most of the “Stimulus Package” has not actually filtered down to the point where it’s spent?

• Presumably it still sits somewhere between the Senate and the States where the money is to be spent?
• One Year After Near Financial Collapse, Americans Wonder: Where’s MY Bailout?

I would imagine that the UK economy will continue to lack confidence until the upcoming Election (mid-year?) is resolved?

• Until then you will still have the “Dead man walking” ex-Chancellor Gordon Brown in charge?
• Who knows, it may still end up being something of a contest, or it may be the Tories are back in charge?
• CBI Raises U.K. Growth Forecast for 2010, Predicts BOE ‘Pause’
• Engineering a Strong UK Economic Recovery into a May 2010 General Election?

Is the European Union starting to flex its economic muscles?

• I have heard that the EU is considering a Flat Tax rate for business?
• I have also been told that there the EU is now considering/implementing a Pan-European Legislature?
• What will the repercussions of this be?
• Will this allow the EU to implement laws quicker than the member states?
• Would we have a situation where the UK prefers to implement legislative motions through the EU process because of convenience or speed?
• Will traditional US based HQ’s start considering moving HQ’s to EU in order to potentially take advantage of these proposed changes?

Technical

MS should be releasing the latest edition of Windows Embedded (WES) 2011 in mid-year – this could be very interesting for a number of reasons

• This is essentially Windows 7 “super lite” and appears to be pretty much compatible with everything
• So easy to build a new runtime it no longer needs a developer to create bespoke instances
• Comes with the choice of enabling either Enhanced Write Filter (EWF) or File Based Write Filter (FBWF) to protect the base image
• A “Thin Client” install is only 1.5G in size – well down for the standard Windows 7 with Office reaching more like 20Gb
• Sure – the terms of the EULA specifically prohibit the *install* of Full MS Office Products
• But that doesn’t preclude any Application Streaming or Virtualization efforts?
• At only USD$90 a runtime version – will this be *THE* VDI base OS of choice? 
• It’s small, light, cheap AND it is non-persistent straight out of the box – it’s certainly worthy of some consideration?

The “Cloud” will continue to gain traction – Amazons Web Services (AWS) has had its 5^th anniversary and MS’s Azure (pricing here) makes its debut.

written by dcaddick

Just a brief update as to some of the changes that I have discovered in WES 2011 CTP2 (as opposed to the original CTP) – this was simply built on a default VM Template based on Windows 7.

Also some useful reference links:

• Windows Embedded Standard 2011 CTP2 New Features and Changes
• Discovering Windows Embedded Standard 2011 – What is different to WES 2009? – Part 1
• Choose the Right Windows Embedded Operating System
• HORM in Windows Embedded Standard 2011 CTP

Please review the screenshots below (sorry about the quality, I’ll redo them this week)

• There are additional Templates (including Thin Client) that seem to have most of what people would need to get themselves started
• The Summary page then indicates anything that’s not there – in this case the VMware Drivers were missing – I just ignored this and moved on, once completed it appears to have managed to find it and installed it
• Disk Footprint
  • This is a huge improvement on the first CTP – Minimal install used to be 650Mb, and just adding Explorer ONLY saw it jump to 2.6Gb
  • Estimated OS footprint was listed as 1946Mb for the Thin Client template
  • After installation it appeared (at least in the VM as only 1.57Gb)
  • To be fair – there does not appear to be too much installed by default though?
• It looks just like Windows 7 – seriously
• So without even telling it what HW I have just check out the listing from Device Manager – only two items were not sorted!!
• No drivers were installed or referenced by me – I just let the wizard do its thing and here it is with the Internet working
• One curious thing I noted was that there is no RUN command, or Search function in the Start Menu, not that this is a bad thing on an intended Thin Client?
• I was able to check that both FBWF and EWF is installed by default
• As things stand I’d say this is a huge leap forward by Microsoft from the disk space point of view as it now looks quite likely that with some judicious pruning then a relatively useful Image can be created to simply act as the dedicated Client Device for Citrix, VMware VDI instances
• If you’d like to get your own copy of the Image Builder Wizard (IBW) then log on to connect.microsoft.com to download

So after thinking on this some more I had the following thoughts?

• This is essentially Windows 7 “super lite” and appears to be pretty much compatible with everything
• It’s so easy to build a new runtime it no longer needs a developer to create bespoke instances?
• Comes with the choice of enabling either Enhanced Write Filter (EWF) or File Based Write Filter (FBWF) to protect the base image
• A “Thin Client” install is only 1.5G in size – well down from the standard Windows 7 with Office reaching more like 20Gb
• Sure – the terms of the EULA specifically prohibit the *install* of Full MS Office Products
• But that doesn’t preclude any Application Streaming or Virtualization efforts?
• At only USD$90 a runtime version, and only 1.5Gb – will this be *THE* VDI base OS of choice?  
• It’s small, light, cheap AND it is non-persistent straight out of the box – it’s certainly worthy of some consideration?

written by dcaddick