Cannot add Server 2012 to existing 2003R2 DFS namespace

When trying to add a new server 2012 standard server to our domains DFS namespace which was created on a 2003R2 server (so is a 2000 based DFS) we get the following error

\\domain.local\dfs: The namespace server \\2012SERVER\DFS cannot be added. The server already hosts a namespace. You can host multiple namespaces only on Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition or Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition.

This was somewhat confusing since the server did not host any other namespaces and I had just added the same namespace to a 2008R2 server a month ago. The resolution ended up being to just go to one of my 2008R2 machines and add it from there and I was then able to manage everything else from the 2003R2 machine.

SharePoint 2013 logging in with wrong user name

There is (as of release) a bug with SharePoint 2013 that will log users into SharePoint using an incorrect account if you map a drive as a user name other than yours through the SharePoint design manager interface. This issue will persist even after disconnecting the mapped drive. It will also continue to be a problem even if you re-enable the log in as another user ability in SharePoint. It will show you are logged in as the correct user but will actually use the mapped credentials. To fix the issue you need to remap the drive with the correct username and password.

SCVMM the domain account specified for the service account could not be verified

Recently when installing system center virtual machine manager I decided to use a domain account for it so I could do HA and got the error "the domain account specified for the service account could not be verified" when trying to click next. I had just created this account while I was installing SCVMM. To fix it I ended up rebooting the machine and logging in as the service account I had created then logging back out and completing the install with my normal admin account. Make sure your service account is an admin on the machine as well though.

Pinning Outlook 2013 icon to Windows 7 taskbar shows a 2nd icon when opened

There appears to be a bug with Outlook 2013 that will cause Windows 7 to show a 2nd icon if you pin it to the taskbar "too soon".  From testing if you pin the icon to the taskbar before first running it or even during the first run it will start showing 2 icons in the taskbar. I have managed to resolve this by unpinning all the Outlook icons on my taskbar, closing out Outlook, opening and reclosing Outlook (just to be sure) then pinning Outlook again from the start menu. Now when I open Outlook I am only getting the 1 icon in the taskbar and multiple Outlook 2013 windows stack correctly.

Update: The above was back during beta. If you have problems today I suggest unpinning your icons then run Outlook and right click and pin from the running icon instead of from the start menu.

Connecting via VPN to authenticate to a domain in Windows 7

In XP there used to be an option to connect via dial-up to log in to a computer. This is no longer obviously available in Window 7. The good news is it still exists and works really well. This is how to configure it.

1. Login as a user with local admin rights 
2. Create the VPN connection by going to “Network and Sharing Center”, then click “Setup up a connection or network” - “Connect to a workplace”.
3. Fill out the details to connect to your work VPN and choose the option to allow other people to use this connection. This is what will make the option appear on the log in screen. 
4. Complete the wizard and save the connection.

You can now use this connection to log in directly to the domain and/or to join the PC to the domain if needed.

1. After rebooting, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to log on if prompted. 
2. Click Switch User to view other logon options. 
3. Will now see a blue button in the lower left for each connection shared with all users. 
4. Click the blue button.
5. Type the username and password for the connection and click the blue arrow to connect. 
6. After the connection is established, Windows will use the same credentials to try to log into Windows. If that fails, (for example you use a different password for your VPN) the connection remains active and you will be taken back to the Windows log in screen to submit Windows credentials.

HP RAID 50 NPG raid info

Lately when buying HP servers I have started seeing what looks like a new type of RAID listed when choosing RAID 50. Depending on the number of disks you have you may see the following options available as part of RAID 50.

RAID 50 NPG:2
RAID 50 NPG:3
RAID 50 NPG:4

When I asked around what these were no one seemed to know so I started creating them on a D2700 and seeing what the result was. Below is a listing of what you end up with when you create each of these. It appears all the NPG means is Number of Parity Groups. I’ve seen a lot of confusion about this both inside and outside of HP support. One advantage to this is the ability to lose more than 1 disk as long as they are different parity groups. A disadvantage is to increase storage you would need to add the number of disks you have of parity groups.

RAID 50 NPG:2

Drives Assigned to Parity Group 1	146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 1 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 2 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 3 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 4 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 5 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 6
Drives Assigned to Parity Group 2	146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 7 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 8 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 9 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 10 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 11 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 12

RAID 50 NPG:3

Drives Assigned to Parity Group 1	146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 1 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 2 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 3 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 4
Drives Assigned to Parity Group 2	146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 5 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 6 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 7 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 8
Drives Assigned to Parity Group 3	146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 9 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 10 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 11 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 12

RAID 50 NPG:4

Drives Assigned to Parity Group 1	146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 1 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 2 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 3
Drives Assigned to Parity Group 2	146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 4 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 5 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 6
Drives Assigned to Parity Group 3	146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 7 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 8 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 9
Drives Assigned to Parity Group 4	146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 10 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 11 146 GB 2-Port SAS Drive at Port 2E : Box 1 : Bay 12

Connect PowerShell to Office 365 cloud

We do quite a few Office 365 migrations and recently found out you can connect PowerShell to the Office 365 cloud and do quite a lot of tasks that way instead of using their web interface. This is going to make our jobs much easier. I will show you how to connect to 365 and some examples of things you can do. Some of the more powerful scripts such as user control require you to install the Office 365 sign in tool and the Microsoft Online PowerShell snap-in.

To be able to run commands that affect user accounts you must install the Microsoft Online Services Module for PowerShell which can be found here which also requires the single sign on tool located here.

To connect to Office 365 with PowerShell run the following 4 commands. You will be prompted for your account credentials.

set-executionpolicy remotesigned
$LiveCred = Get-Credential
$Session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri https://ps.outlook.com/powershell/ -Credential $LiveCred -Authentication Basic -AllowRedirection
Import-PSSession $Session

To connect to the user management service issue the following

connect-msolservice

To set a users password to something you know and set them to not have to change it

Set-MsolUserPassword -UserPrincipalName CHANGETO@USERNAME -NewPassword SETTHISTOTHENEWPW -ForceChangePassword $false

To set all users to not have to change password every 90 days

Get-MsolUser | Set-MsolUser –PasswordNeverExpires $True