So, you’ve installed a new server with Server 2008 R2 Core – what next? Logging on, you’re presented with a shiny command prompt, you can run notepad or regedit…but aside from that, where do you go from there? In the next few series of posts I’ll hopefully point out the basics, and some not so basics!

Using the Server Configuration Tool

The server configuration tool (sconfig.cmd) is provided in R2 for some of the basic setup tasks, so you can run that by issuing the “sconfig” command. Out of the box, it looks something like this:

I’m pleased to say that yesterday I took and passed two Microsoft Certified IT Professional exams, the Server Administrator (70-646) and the Enterprise Administrator (70-647). Hopefully I can take a bit of a break from study and write a few more technical posts here now!

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve passed the 70-649, which gives me the following MCTS certifications:

Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration

Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuration

Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration

Next I’ll be looking at the 70-647 to get the full MCITP: Enterprise Administrator (I already took the 70-620 exam for my MCSE).

No matter how good your network diagrams are, sometimes you need to verify the port your server/desktop is in. Cisco Discovery Protocol is a great tool for network admins when you need to quickly map routers and switches, and if you’ve got an ESX server connected you’ll see that it picks up CDP info too – but the vast majority of my managed systems are Windows.

Here’s how to use TCPDUMP by Micro Olap to extend that functionality to your Windows boxes.

So you’ve upgraded your ESX 3.x servers to 4.0 and you’ve upgraded your vCenter server, now you want to access the shiny new hot-add feature to upgrade some running server’s memory. Except you can’t, the feature is no-where to be seen. Something to bear in mind though, your OS needs to support hot-add, so you’ll need a Windows Enterprise or Datacenter edition.

Here’s how to enable it:

Upgrade the VM’s tools, if you haven’t already. This requires a re-boot, but don’t reboot, shut the server down down, otherwise you’ll require another reboot to add the feature. The tools can be upgraded from the system tray icon.

If you read the Microsoft blurb for R2, the first thing you notice is that Server 2008 R2 is 64-bit only(!). It seems Microsoft are forcibly removing 32-bit server hardware from the data centre. I’ve not seen a decent upgrade guide online so far, so here’s my process.

I’m going to be upgrading a Server 2008 R2 x64 SP2 Standard Edition virtual server to R2. To see what editions can and can’t be upgraded, check out this Technet Article, but it’s safe to say that you can’t upgrade across architectures (32-bit to 64-bit) and you can’t downgrade SKUs (Enterprise to Standard).

After some pretty heavy investment in terms of time and money, I’ve passed my ICND2 exam and am now qualified as a Cisco Certified Network Associate (anyone else find it odd that you’re not even considered a professional by Cisco at this level?!)

I do consider the Cisco qualifications as significantly more valuable than the others that I hold, simply because of the difficulty of the exams. I do find them “honest” in that they’re not trick questions, and you don’t need a technique to pass – just in depth knowledge.

I’ve just upgraded to BE.Net 1.6, and I thought I’d migrate to GoDaddy’s IIS 7 servers at the same time. The theory is that this would be a an easy migration and I’d have the weekend to iron out any bugs. Not so.

After testing on my local IIS 7 and working perfectly, I uploaded the updates to my live blog and hit the “Migrate to IIS 7” button, which promises it will be completed in 24h. I received the “update your DNS” email, and duly updated my A records to the new server, and the transfer seems to be ok – aside from the fact that viewing any specific post causes an error – I’m guessing with the permissions of the App_Data folder. The catch being that I can’t access my IIS settings until GoDaddy have completed their 24h migration process.

Configuring the Virtual Environment and Virtual Machines

Note – this configuration will work for ESXi 4 upwards due to the server 2008 MSCS requirement for persistent SCSI-3 reservations.

The first step is to create a new vSwitch for the host-only cluster heartbeat network, don’t assign any network adaptors to the switch as it’s going to be local only.

Create a new virtual machine with a single hard disk. For the purposes of this test, I’ve assigned 2 vProcessors, 1GB RAM, 30GB drive for the OS, 1 vNIC in the default vSwitch0.

In the past, I would often say to my wife, “if it’s not in Outlook, it isn’t going to happen”. Increasingly it’s “if it’s not on my iPhone, it’s not going to happen”. The fact is that I can’t actually remember all the things that I need to do each day, I need reminding!

I spend perhaps 8 hours a day at my work PC, maybe 2 hours a day on my home laptop and my iPhone is with me pretty much 24/7 – all of which are both data sources, and data endpoints. They all remind me to do things. To add a bit more complication to the mix, some things are personal, some things are work related.