Three Years of SMB Pain From a Single Phantom DNS Record
A customer's random application time-outs traced through SMB client logs to a stale _msdcs delegation pointing at a demoted DC, and the cleanup.
Blog / Category
Windows Server
Windows Server 2022 in practice, mostly from customer environments. Roles, upgrades, print, DFS, Group Policy and the things that break at 3 a.m.
52 posts
Self-Service AD Password Reset with Least Privilege
Let helpdesk staff reset AD passwords without admin rights: a delegated svc_passwordreset account, a Password Resetters group, LDAPS and a small Flask app.
Fix the Identity Management for UNIX Upgrade Block
Windows Server in-place upgrade blocked by Identity Management for UNIX: remove IDMU with DISM or comment out IDMUUpgradeComplianceCheck in compliance.ini.
Install and Configure Office on RDS / RemoteApp (Part 2)
Install Microsoft 365 Apps on an RDS host with the Office Deployment Tool and shared computer licensing, tune Office via ADMX policies, publish RemoteApps.
RDS on Server 2022 with FSLogix and SSO: Step-by-Step Guide
Full Remote Desktop Services build on Windows Server 2022: AD CS auto-enrollment, Broker, Web Access and Gateway, a Let's Encrypt certificate, FSLogix and SSO.
Reclaim Space on DFSR: Clean Up Conflict and Deleted Files
Reclaim disk space on a DFSR file server: lower the Conflict and Deleted quota and empty the ConflictAndDeleted folder with WMIC cleanupconflictdirectory.
CrowdStrike Falcon Update Crashes Windows PCs Worldwide
The July 2024 CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor update that blue-screened Windows PCs and servers worldwide, and the safe mode fix: delete C-00000291*.sys.
Hyper-V Backup and Recovery: Strategies and Best Practices
Chapter 6 of the Hyper-V guide: full, incremental and differential backups, Windows Server Backup vs DPM and Veeam, scheduling, and restoring a VM.
Advanced Hyper-V Features - Live Migration, Hyper-V Replica, and More
Chapter 5 of the Hyper-V guide: set up Live Migration between hosts, enable Hyper-V Replica for disaster recovery and turn on nested virtualization.
Storage in Hyper-V - Managing Virtual Hard Disks (VHDs)
Chapter 4 of the Hyper-V guide: VHD vs VHDX, fixed, dynamic and differencing disks, creating and attaching disks, expanding them and extending the volume.
Hyper-V Networking: Virtual Switches Explained (Ch. 3)
Chapter 3 of the Hyper-V guide: External, Internal and Private virtual switches, attaching VMs, setting guest IPs, VLAN IDs and bandwidth limits.
Setting Up Your First Virtual Machine in Hyper-V
Chapter 2 of the Hyper-V guide: create your first VM with the wizard, pick Generation 1 or 2, assign memory and a VHDX, install the OS, take checkpoints.
What Is Hyper-V and Why Use It (Hyper-V Guide Ch. 1)
Chapter 1 of the Hyper-V guide: what Hyper-V is, which Windows Server and Windows 10/11 editions include it, system requirements and enabling the role.
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Effortless File Management with Remote Desktop Virtual Drive
Transfer files through the Remote Desktop Web Client's virtual drive: enable File Transfer on connect, upload in one click, use Copy not Move to download.
Drivemapping with Registery key's
Map a network drive for the current user with a .reg file under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Network, plus a cmd loop to import several .reg files at once.
Remote Desktop - OneDrive Single Sign On
Install OneDrive per-machine on a Remote Desktop Session Host and enable Files On-Demand, Known Folder Move and silent sign-in through Group Policy.
Automatic Domain Join with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit!
Part 5 of the MDT series: automate domain join with a non-admin account by raising ms-DS-MachineAccountQuota and setting MachineObjectOU per device type.
Add Applications and Bundles in MDT (Part 4)
Part 4 of the MDT series: create applications and bundles in the Deployment Workbench, hide bundled apps and install bundles via CustomSettings.ini.
Adding Drivers to the Microsoft Deployment Server!
Part 3 of the MDT series: import drivers into LAPTOP and DESKTOP folders per model, keep WinPE drivers in a selection profile, use HP and Dell packs.
Customizing the Microsoft Deployment Server!
Part 2 of the MDT series: tune CustomSettings.ini with priorities, sections and subsections to skip wizard pages, auto-name computers and add apps.
Setting Up a Microsoft Deployment Server!
Part 1 of the MDT series: install the Windows 11 ADK, WinPE add-on, MDT 8456 and its hotfix, then script the deployment share and test PXE boot.
Set Up VDI on Windows Server 2022 (RDS Part 8)
What Virtual Desktop Infrastructure is, how it differs from session-based RDS, and how to build a VDI pool on Hyper-V from a Windows 10/11 template VM.
Setting Up a Hyper-V Cluster on Windows Server Core
Build a Hyper-V failover cluster on Windows Server Core with PowerShell: Failover Clustering, Test-Cluster, New-Cluster, shared storage, failover test.
RDS Email Discovery: Subscribe to Your RemoteApp Feed
Let users subscribe to your RDS web feed with just their email address: add a public _msradc TXT record that points to the RDWeb webfeed.aspx URL.
Remote Desktop Services, Securing it with Azure MFA!
Part 7 of the Server 2022 RDS series: install the Azure MFA NPS Extension on the RD Gateway, plus the REQUIRE_USER_MATCH and number-matching registry keys.
AD Connect - 2 AD Forests with 1 AD Connect server
Video on syncing two separate Active Directory forests to one Azure AD tenant with a single AD Connect server, including the DNS forwarding between them.
Server 2022 - Active Directory Domain - Setup an External Trust
Video on creating an external trust between two separate Active Directory domains on Server 2022 so users from each side can reach the other's resources.
Server 2022 - CodeTwo - Active Directory Photos
Video on using the free CodeTwo Active Directory Photos tool to manage user profile photos in Active Directory and sync them to Azure AD.
Upgrading A Server 2012 R2 Domain Controller To Server 2019!
In-place upgrade of a Server 2012 R2 domain controller to Server 2019: run adprep /forestprep and /domainprep first and check the supported upgrade paths.
Uninstall Azure AD Connect
Uninstall Azure AD Connect after a full cloud migration: disable the sync scheduler, turn off DirSync with Set-MsolDirSyncEnabled, then remove it.
Upgrade Domain Controllers to a Newer Windows Server
Run adprep /forestprep and adprep /domainprep /gpprep before an in-place domain controller upgrade, with the supported paths from Server 2008 to 2022.
Server 2022 - Remote Desktop Services - Part 6 Remote App
Part 6 of the Server 2022 RDS series: add a second Session Host and configure it as a RemoteApp server so users run applications without a local install.
FSLogix - Service group policy client prevents login
Fix the FSLogix 'Group Policy Client service failed the sign-in' error: find the user's SID and set RefCount to 0 under ProfileService\References.
Allow Users to Install Printer Drivers Without Admin Rights
Let standard users install printer drivers on Windows 10/11 with one Group Policy: allow device installation for the Printer and PNPPrinters class GUIDs.
Point and Print: Trusted Print Servers via Group Policy
Configure the Point and Print Restrictions GPO on Server 2022 to trust your internal print server so clients install its drivers without elevation prompts.
Install Print Management on Windows Server 2022
Add the Print and Document Services role on Windows Server 2022, open Print Management, and deploy a shared printer to users with a Group Policy connection.
Installing the Remote Desktop Web Client!
Part 5 of the Server 2022 RDS series: install the HTML5 Remote Desktop Web Client with the RDWebClientManagement module so users connect from a browser.
Find Your Hyper-V VM’s Host Name with PowerShell
One PowerShell command that reads the Hyper-V guest registry key to tell you which Hyper-V host a VM is running on, handy when you manage several hosts.
Installing Office 365 on a Remote Desktop Host!
Part 4 of the Server 2022 RDS series: install Office 365 on a Session Host with shared computer activation so users sign in with their own licenses.
Remote Desktop Services - FSLogix
Part 3 of the Server 2022 RDS series: install and configure FSLogix so user profiles live on a file share instead of the Remote Desktop Session Host.
Manage Local Admins with Group Policy on Workstations
Strip local admins with Group Policy and give admin rights only to the workstation's Managed By user, via item-level targeting and two LDAP queries.
Server 2022 - Remote Desktop Services - Part 2
Part 2 of the Server 2022 RDS series: create Group Policies for Remote Desktop Services that tune session performance and the user experience on the hosts.
Server 2022 - Azure AD Connect Sync
Install Azure AD Connect on Server 2022, start with a test group, add Seamless SSO via GPO and group-based licensing, then extend the sync to all OUs.
Server 2022 - Remote Desktop Services - Part 1
Part 1 of the Server 2022 RDS series: deploy Connection Broker, Session Host, Web Access and Gateway on two VMs with a Let's Encrypt certificate.
Import ADMX Templates and Install Apps with Group Policy
Import ADMX templates for Chrome, Edge, Foxit, OneDrive and Office into Active Directory and deploy third-party software with Group Policy on Server 2022.
Server 2022 - Create Organizational Units and Group Policies
Create Organizational Units in Active Directory on Server 2022 and build your first Group Policy Objects to manage users and computers from one place.
Server 2022 - Installing Active Directory and Setting up DNS
Install Active Directory Domain Services on Windows Server 2022, promote the server to a domain controller and set up the DNS role alongside it.
Server 2022 - Hyper-V - Install Windows 11
Create a Generation 2 VM on Server 2022 Hyper-V, enable the virtual TPM that Windows 11 requires and run through the Windows 11 installation.
Server 2022 - Hyper-V - Virtual Machine Templates
Build a sysprepped VM template in Hyper-V on Server 2022 and deploy VMs from it with the included PowerShell script: CPU, RAM, VLAN and disks.
Server 2022 - Hyper-V - Enable Deduplication
Enable Data Deduplication on a Server 2022 Hyper-V host and configure it to shrink the storage used by VM templates and VMs that share the same data.
Server 2022 - Installing Hyper-V Role
Install the Hyper-V role on Windows Server 2022 through Server Manager and PowerShell, then do the initial configuration before creating your first VM.