The Life of Brian : Windows Server 2008

Windows Event log limitations

BrianM — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:50:00 GMT

Not sure how many people modify the size of the Windows Event Logs but it is something that I like to do simply because the default sizes of most them is just not enough. For example you may remember the default for your System and Application log...(read more)

New Server Core Guide

BrianM — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:16:00 GMT

Just saw over on the Server Core blog that Andrew posted some links to a couple excellent resources. The first one is what I consider to be the Server Core Bible . It has just about everything you can think of when it comes to configuring...(read more)

Windows Server 2008 Terminal Server Resources

BrianM — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:40:00 GMT

As I’ve done with Active Directory and Failover Clustering I'm going to share with you some links and resources for Server 2008’s Terminal Services. I for one really like some of the new features of Terminal Services. I also seen some...(read more)

Active Directory Domain Services Resources

BrianM — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:36:00 GMT

I pulled together a few links to help point people in the right direction on resources for AD in Windows Server 2008. You’ll find all kinds of goodies, from virtual labs to videos by some of your favorite public speakers and of course what I think...(read more)

How to Remove a Failed or Offline DC

BrianM — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:13:00 GMT

I’ve seen this issue come up time and time again. Some administrator decided to remove an old DC from the network but forgot to remove it from Active Directory or the DC has entered a failed state and cannot be recovered from. In a perfect...(read more)

Microsoft Clustering Resources

BrianM — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:45:00 GMT

This has to be the mother of all resource collections on Microsoft clustering and high availability. I’ve copied over the links directly from the MS Cluster blog so that I have quick access to them in the future. General Resources Cluster Team Site...(read more)

How to Search for an Email Address in Active Directory

BrianM — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:44:00 GMT

From time to time I’ve had to figure out which user account has a specific email address. Actually its more like finding who has the “reallycoolemailaccount@company.com ” so another “more senior” person can get it. Well if you work in a smaller...(read more)

Must Have Group Policy Setting!

BrianM — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:22:00 GMT

I recently blogged about time and how critical it is in a domain environment. Just this morning I read a post from the Directory Services Team that shows how to configure WMI Filtering through Group Policy to ensure that the PDC Emulator always has the...(read more)

Windows Server 2008 Server Core Default Services

BrianM — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:08:00 GMT

Quite a few people have asked recently about services in Server Core. They want to know what’s running and what’s not running. Below you will find a listing that intended to help those out that need to know the status of Services on Server...(read more)

Hyper-V Delegation

BrianM — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:13:00 GMT

I was playing around with Microsoft’s Hyper-V today and ran into some problems managing the service remotely. I set my server up and wanted to connect via RSAT from my Vista box but was not able to connect to my server because of permissions. ...(read more)

Restartable AD DS and DSRM Logon Behaviors

BrianM — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:18:00 GMT

Ever since Windows 2000's implementation of Active Directory (AD) we have had a method to restore AD objects that were removed. Although it hasn’t been as easy as hitting CTRL-Z to undo a mistakenly deleted object or to try to restore from the...(read more)

What W32tm is it anyway?

BrianM — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:49:00 GMT

My daughter Alyssa and I play a game…well she might not consider it a game but she is constantly asking me “What time is it without looking”. I’ve actually gotten pretty good at it and can usually get within a few minutes. Not sure why...(read more)

Admin's Guide to Server Core Commands

BrianM — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:50:00 GMT

Repost from AdminPrep.com…I will be moving several of the articles over to this blog. Before all this starts, credit must go where credit is due. I did not come up with all of the info within this article. A lot of people have felt my pain and...(read more)

Frustration with Server 2008

BrianM — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:12:00 GMT

Please don’t just read this post…participate by answering the questions I ask using the comments. Don’t worry you don’t have to register. :) One of the things that I’ve been waiting awhile for, was a Windows operating system that is smart...(read more)

How to Configure Conditional Forwarders in Windows Server 2008

BrianM — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:32:00 GMT

Conditional Forwarders was a new feature within the Microsoft DNS server for Windows Server 2003. It was a great addition that allowed you to specify a specific DNS server for clients trying to resolve hosts in a specific domain. This way you could tell...(read more)

Windows Server 2008 User Right Assignments - Defined

BrianM — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:15:00 GMT

If you haven’t noticed yet, Windows Server 2008 has several more User Right Assignments in the Local Policy settings. If you’re looking for a definition of one or all take a look below. These are the same settings that are found in Group Policy...(read more)

Easy Way to View Windows Server 2008 and Vista’s Network Card Properties

BrianM — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:07:00 GMT

That has to be the longest title I’ve ever had in any blog. In my opinion this has the ability to the best post I’ve ever created too. The reason being that I’m always looking for ways to make my life easier…and then share them...(read more)

Directory Services Core Infrastructure Presentation

BrianM — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:11:59 GMT

Just saw this on the “Ask the Directory Service Team” blog that they are going to have a webcast on Directory Service on the 21st of August. Here is the overview of what will be discussed: This session will look at core infrastructure services,...(read more)

What Version is Your Schema at?

BrianM — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:44:00 GMT

Have you ever had one of those jobs where you just weren’t sure what Schema update had been applied in an environment? The following command will let you know which of the Windows Server Schema updates have been applied. dsquery.exe * "CN=Schema...(read more)

Windows Server 2008 Command Lines for Administrative Consoles

BrianM — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:41:29 GMT

I’m always of fan of shortcuts and the Windows Server 2008 Administrator's Companion from Microsoft Press has a complete list of the command line shortcuts for starting Administrative Consoles for Server 2008. There are plenty of other goodies...(read more)