Categories
Windows 10X

Windows 10X: more reliable but may slow certain things down.

As you may know, Windows Core OS is the core operating system for many future variants of Windows.
One of those is Windows 10X, the operating system that would become the primary operating system of Dual Screen devices initially.

Microsoft has recently announced that because of the Novel Coronavirus outbreak, plans to release Windows 10X for the Surface Neo and other dual-screen devices will be postponed and they will now focus on building the operating system for existing single-screen devices.

One of the mayor advantages of Windows 10X is also its Achilles heel.
It will run Win32 applications in containers, where only Modern apps will run native in the operating system.
This reduces the attack surface of the operating system since every application is sandboxed.

They also will be able to service the operating system faster and more reliably.
Some even say that a simple reboot will suffice for Windows 10X, since the operating system can fully install the update in the background (like it does on Chrome OS devices).

This would be the best of both worlds: better battery life, a more secure operating system, fast servicing, more reliability (a win32 app will in the worst case crash the container it is running in), and still support for Win32 apps.
Let’s be honest, only Win32 apps will be able to crash the entire operating system.

However, the big issue here is that it will be emulating an operating system for those containers, as we all know this reduces performance in some way.
This really shows that Microsoft is still working towards a future where Win32 apps are history.

Categories
Scripts

A script to list all members and owners per Team

This script will list all members and owners per team.
When you add -savedcred:$true it will save a credential file locally, which will give you automated access using that same account to your tenant.
It won’t save your credential plane text, it will use credential vault, which should be perfectly secure.
When using MFA on that service-account, make sure you use an app password.

It also list the object ID’s of both the users and the teams, which means you can use the exported CSV for other scripts (like removing a user from all teams).

The following columns are shown:

You can download it from: https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/A-script-to-list-all-413530c6

Categories
News

Edge stable goes live before official announcement

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When you Google ‘Edge Stable’ today, you’ll get the official download link for the stable version of the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge.
I downloaded it and saw it had the same Chromium version-number als the beta-channel, which most likely means it will be released soon.

Here’s a screenshot for when it gets pulled (hopefully it won’t):

After a year of testing Microsoft finally seems to finalize testing, while they are preparing for launch.
The official downloadlink can be found here:
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2069324&Channel=Stable&language=en

Fun fact, it uninstalls the Edge version that comes with Windows, which likely means that next versions of Windows will get this version of Edge by default.

The Chrome import functionality works like a charm, so I would absolutely give it a shot.



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Categories
Scripts

Automatically clean folders in batch (Powershell Scripts)

Introduction

This script is made for automatically cleaning folders.

Getting Started

You can create a scheduled task to automatically clean a folder.

If you create a scheduled task using Auto_cleanup.ps1, you can clean a single folder (recursively). You can use the Path argument to define a path, and use the daystokeep argument to define the amount of days that files and folders should be kept. Example: Auto_cleanup.ps1 -path D:\folder -daystokeep 7

If you create a scheduled task using Master_Cleanup.ps1, you can define multiple paths and the amount of days files and folders should be kept within the path. Paths, amount of days and the name of the blockfile can be defined in folders.csv. Warning: contains example.

What it does

It deletes all filders and folders within a single (auto_cleanup.ps1) or multiple (Master_Cleanup.ps1 with folders.csv). It also creates a placeholder which says that all files and folders will be removed within the defined timeframe. it also gives the possibility to create a file to block the script from running (like for troubleshooting purposes).

Arguments

Blockfile: define the name of the file that can be used to block the script from running
Path(mandatory): Define the path where the script needs to clean
Daytstokeep(mandatory): The amount of days that it will keep info

All arguments are mandatory when using Master_Cleanup.ps1

Download for TechNet

Categories
Windows 10

Why I really like the Windows 10 April Update

After working for a week with a preview of Windows 10 1803 (which will be called the April update), yesterday I had to swap my Surface Pro and I went back to the stable build.

The first thing I miss after going back:

I used Timeline a lot: Every time I used Windows-Tab to switch, I started a PowerPoint presentation that I have been preparing for a while.
Not even realizing that I did not search for the file itself, but that I left this entirely to the Timeline functionality.
In addition, I also used it a lot to quickly restore a session: You could already easily restore a number of tabs if you for example shut down your PC.
But now you can easily do this with tabs from a few days back, really the most ideal function to resume the activities of last Friday after a fun weekend.

Furthermore, the Focus functionality is really a huge advantage if you give presentations, although it is unfortunate that this is limited to applications that use the notification functionality of Windows.
The Focus functionality does not work in Chrome for example, because they use their own notification-engine.
What is noticeable however is that a lot of application developers already made use of this, I have not come across anything except Google Chrome.

It was so incredibly natural to use, that I really began to appreciate the functionalities when I went back to 1709.
By the way, the April update will be released tomorrow, so I can upgrade again.
I can not wait!

Categories
Scripts

Read all services and scheduled tasks in your server environment (including Server 2003)

At one point we found out that many system administrators had used their own administrator account for Windows Services and scheduled tasks.
This became a problem only when a few colleagues decided to leave for another company. 

Accounts were turned off and all kinds of services fell out.
Among other things, an SQL server that turned out to run under one of these administrator accounts. 

To know for certain where these accounts were running, I wrote a script that can help with identifying these accounts.
Because scheduled tasks can not be read out with the powershell variant on server 2003, I used a legacy command and changed the layout of the output.
The script asks a number of questions (such as the domain, among other things) on the basis of which two files are generated with all scheduled tasks and services. 

I hope this helps you clean up these scheduled tasks and services. 

Here you can download the script:
https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Read-and-Scheduled-tasks-f0621080 

 

 

 

Categories
WSUS

Troubleshooting Guide to WSUS

I have had an issue with WSUS on Windows Server 2016 which resulted into computers not reporting correctly to WSUS.

Thinking that I have configured everything correctly because computers where connecting to WSUS (they targeted the right WSUS groups from the Group Policy in the WSUS Console), they where not reporting their status to WSUS.

Actions Required To Troubleshoot These Issues In WSUS

However many don’t realize this, the most effective way to resolve issues is to understand the problem.

  • Don’t just start to search the web blindly, get to know the (basic) inner workings of an application
  • Locate all the logging, many applications have documented default logging locations
  • If necessary, increase logging. Many applications have options to add information to logging.
  • Check if requirements are met

What is WSUS

WSUS is largely built on IIS (Microsoft Internet Information Services), .NET Framework and MMC (Microsoft Management Console).
It uses WID (Windows Internal Database) or Microsoft SQL Server as its database engine.

It acts the same way as the publicly available Windows Update, but with WSUS you are able to deploy updates to your systems at your own pace and compliance requirements .
Off course you are able to offload your internet connection by downloading your updates locally, but that never was my primary concern.

You can even create an Internet-facing downstream server, so that your systems download your own approved updates even outside your office(s).
This way you keep your systems up-to-date and/or secure (which off course is largely recommended), without your systems being incompliant to your own requirements.

Inner-workings


Figure: Overview of the WSUS process
Source: Microsoft Corporation – https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc539281.aspx

This figure made by Microsoft shows how WSUS works.

Requirements

In the official Deployment Guide made by Microsoft, the first step it says is to ‘plan’ your deployment.
Immediately followed by requirements.
First check if requirements are met (Reference 1).

In many cases the requirements are never checked when implementing a solution.
Even when you deployed it yourself, dare to second-guess yourself!

Depending on IIS, .NET Framework and SQL/WID, WSUS can actually get issues from configuration problems of these services.
Make sure you don’t just check WSUS, check all the parts that make WSUS.
For this the requirements are important, because these services are a requirement for a reason: they are important to WSUS its architecture.

Best-Practices

Best practices are never a requirement.
It can make sure an application/service runs at its best, but only requirements are needed for an application/service to run normally.

Logging

Logging you can find in the following locations:
Reporting to Windows Server Update Services on Client: C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\reportingevents.txt (this file is always there – even when using public Windows Update)
Log of retrieving updates on Client: Get-WindowsUpdateLog (generates a log file on your desktop from Event Tracing for Windows)
IIS on Server: c:\inetpub\logfiles (or check the inetpub location in IIS)

In the example I’ve set I said that computers had issues reporting.
I knew they connected to WSUS (otherwise group-targeting wouldn’t have worked), however they where not reporting status to WSUS.
This has led for me to check the reportingevents.txt on the client, since Windows Update was connecting to WSUS, just not reporting to it.

This is an example how you can use logging to support your first theories about the problem itself.

Coming to a conclusion

Coming to a conclusion with major WSUS issues can be a bit of a struggle.
WSUS is a complex product, reliant on many technologies.

A conclusion can’t be made before you know where the issues lie:
On the client or the server
In IIS or maybe SQL.

Make sure you know the issue, there always has to be a place where some error is reported in logging.

Example

However targeting worked (computers where placed in the right Computer folders in WSUS), computers wouldn’t report.

When I looked into the ReportingEvents log in C:\windows\SoftwareDistribution folder, it showed a error “Windows Update Client failed to detect with error 0x8024401c”.
However this error wasn’t consistent (sometimes it did succeed, but it mostly didn’t)
It looked rather odd.

Browsing the web more people are talking about issues in IIS.
So I compared the Advanced configuration of the WSUS app pool in IIS (server 2016) to an old environment I have built (2012R2), I saw it had an Private Memory Limit of 1.8GB.
Changing this to 0 (unlimited), computers immediately started reporting.

References

Reference 1: Requirements by Microsoft for WSUS (Chapter 1.1 Plan your WSUS Deployment – Review considerations and requirements) – https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-server-update-services/plan/plan-your-wsus-deployment#BKMK_1.1
Reference 2: Troubleshooting IIS issues https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/943891/the-http-status-code-in-iis-7-0-iis-7-5-and-iis-8-0
Reference 3: How to read the Windows Update Log File https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/902093/how-to-read-the-windowsupdate-log-file
Reference 4: Changing the inetpub location https://blogs.iis.net/thomad/moving-the-iis7-inetpub-directory-to-a-different-drive

Categories
Scripts

Sync AD Groups with Microsoft Teams (BETA)

Microsoft Teams doesn’t allow you to define a group for membership (dynamically).
When you add an Azure AD group to a Team, all users will be added once.
Once someone is added to that group, it won’t be added to the team automatically.

For this I created this script.
You define an Active Directory group and a Microsoft Team to manage.
All users that are in the AD group, but aren’t in the Team will be added (as a member).
All users that aren’t in the AD group, but are in the Team will be removed from the Team.
Offcourse except owners.
If an owner is in the Team, but isn’t in the AD Group it will generate a warning and continue.

You can find it on Technet Gallery:
https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Sync-AD-Group-with-Teams-74598786

—

Step 1:
Create an Service Account in your Active Directory domain.
This service account needs an UPN suffix with a verified Office 365 domain.

For example: It can be user1@contoso.com, but cannot be user1@contoso.local.
Where contoso.com is added as a verified domain in Office 365.

Sync your Active Directory domain with Azure AD (it normally does every 30 minutes automatically).
Also make sure the Service Account has read-rights in your Active Directory.

Step 2:
Go to Office 365 and add an Office 365 license to the Service Account (with the Teams subscription).

Step 3:
Go to teams.microsoft.com and add the service account as an owner of the Teams you want to manage from AD.

Step 4:
Add the users of the Teams you want to manage to the AD groups you want to sync.

Step 5:
Add AD Groupname and Team name you want to sync to Teams.csv (example csv is in the zip-file), with a comma as a delimiter.
Every line is an Active Directory group and Team that needs to be synced.

WARNING: MAKE SURE YOU ADD ALL MEMBER USERS THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN THE TEAM TO THE RESPECTIVE AD GROUP, ALL MEMBERS THAT ARE IN THE TEAM BUT AREN’T THE AD GROUP ARE REMOVED FROM THE TEAM.
WITH AN EXCEPTION OF OWNERS OFFCOURSE.

Step 6:
Run Powershell as the service user and browse to the location.
run Set-SecureTeamUserInfo.ps1 and type in the credentials of the service account (UserPrincipalName, not SamAccountName).
Credentials are now securely saved in the folder so the script can sign in to Office 365.

Posted in Scripts, Teams

 

 

Categories
WSUS

Problems with WSUS on Server 2016

Yesterday I have had an issue with computers not reporting to a newly installed WSUS server.
However targeting worked (computers where placed in the right Computer folders in WSUS), computers wouldn’t report. 

When I looked into the ReportingEvents log in C:\windows\SoftwareDistribution folder, it showed a error “Windows Update Client failed to detect with error 0x8024401c”.
However this error wasn’t consistent (sometimes it did succeed, but it mostly didn’t)
It looked rather odd. 

Browsing the web more people are talking about issues in IIS.
So this was the issue: 

On Windows Server 2016, the “Private Memory Limit (KB)” was set to 1.8GB.  

You should reset it to 0, so that WSUS can decide the memory usage of the WSUS Application Pool.
Once set, all issues with WSUS were gone.
Computers started reporting in immediately (off course this depends on the reporting configuration in your Group Policies). 

Categories
Remote Desktop Services

Deploying an RDS farm in an Server Core environment

Note: The RD Web Access role requires Desktop Experience; In Server 2016 you can’t change between core and desktop anymore. 

First of all, I have made a script that will install and configure all roles and tools.
It installs the management tools on the server which the script runs on (from this server you can manage the core RDS environment).
Then it will ask on what servers which roles needs to be installed.
Find it on Technet 

After everything is installed, add the servers to server manager on the management server.
However already installed and configured, you need to add the license server and RD Gateway to the farm.
It is already connected to the Connection Broken, but are not automatically detected by Server Manager. 

Afterwards you should use Server Manager to add certificates to the RD Access Roles.
I would use a Wildcard certificate for RD Gateway and RD Web Access, since they are accessed over the internet.
Certificates for the broker role can be issues by your own CA, or if you use a public domain name in your internal domain (example corp.contoso.com), I would request an additional wildcard certificate for your internal domain. 

The first part of the installation can be accomplished by following the steps in the RDS Farm setup script, the second part you’ll need to do using Server Manager.