David Overton's Blog : Support and Tools, SBS 2003

SBS 2008 Migrations from SBS 2003 – Keys to Success from the Official SBS Blog

David Overton — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:05:00 GMT

I started to write about this at SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 migration thoughts and issues and Active Directory Health Checks, but after some discussion with the SBS team at Microsoft we now have much more:

The Official SBS Blog : SBS 2008 Migrations from SBS 2003 – Keys to Success

The purpose of this post is to help you complete your SBS 2003 migrations to SBS 2008 successfully on the first attempt.

……………… much, much more

Use this information if you have a non-standard implementation or are concerned about the success of a migration.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,SBS 2003,SBS 2008,Migration,SBSC,Small Business Server 2008

Active Directory Health Check - Make sure your AD is healthy before you migrate SBS 2003 to SBS 2008

David Overton — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:30:00 GMT

[updated 29/9/12 with new link]

Given the recent comments about AD validation I thought I would share this excellent document on verifying your AD before you begin a migration (or at any other time)

Active Directory Health Check - Active Directory

This document outlines a basic procedure for validating the health of your domain and is a good practice for iterative maintenance and an excellent pre-check before doing any potentially dangerous domain operations

I would add a couple of extra tests to the list in this document, which would be placed after the 1st DCDIAG test, also perform:

DCDIAG /test:DNS /DNSALL /e /v

DCDIAG /test:DcPromo /e /v

DCDIAG /test:RegisterInDNS

If you system passes these tests then it is a good indication of health.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003,Windows Server 2008,Active Directory,migration,Microsoft,SBSC,Partners

SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 migration thoughts and issues

David Overton — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:03:00 GMT

I've been part of a lively debate on the Yahoo UK SBS Group about how to migrate from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 and what the issues are. The information I have so far is good, but I need much more to take it to the product teams.

For sure, the issues so far are:

Concerns around the "state" of AD before a migration is started - how do you check it - look at this blog post
Concerns around the Exchange migration in terms of time taken and failure scenarios - how to remove the chances of this?
Concerns around "on-site" versus "off-site" strategies
Concerns around recovery options in the event of failures (restore from backup not being ideal if you want it diagnosed)

My problem is that I have no data to take to the Microsoft product teams, which means I can't ask them to fix things so this is a two fold open invitation.

If you have had an issue, share it via comments below, but also PLEASE e-mail (doverton@microsoft.com) as well so I can get in touch with you and potentially the product teams too. If you put your mail in the blog then others can see it. You are also welcome to just e-mail me, but then there will not be discussion in public, which might be a shame.
Share other concerns so I can get them documented and addressed, but also use the Microsoft support - you can always send me the SR numbers if you want me to tie them together.

That is it - may the knowledge sharing continue!

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003,SBS 2008,migration,Microsoft,Small Business Server,SBSC,Community,Partners

How to upgrade (migrate) from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 on the same system without using a swing migration

David Overton — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:33:00 GMT

Someone posted this question on a discussion group at work and it got me thinking. If you bought a nice new system over the last 2 or so years in preparation for SBS 2008 (Cougar as was or even SBS v.Next) and had it installed with SBS 2003 you've probably heard that SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 is a 2 box migration and needs the Swing technique to do an on box migration.

I've come up with a much simpler solution, but your hardware might need some additions to make it work. So here is what you need:

Box with 6GB of RAM minimum (4GB for SBS 2008, 1GB for SBS 2003 and 1GB for Hyper-V server).
1 new disk for SBS 2008 system disk and 1 disk to hold Hyper-V (which could be small if desired or temporary)
System that meets the minimum system requirements of Hyper-V (http://www.microsoft.com/servers/hyper-v-server/system-requirements.mspx)
You need to ensure your hardware is really up to spec and is fit enough that you want your new SBS 2008 system to run on it for the next 2+ years, otherwise this may well be a false economy.

The process in outline is below. If you need more detailed information, let me know and I'll knock something up (as well as this may possibly end up in the book)

Take a full system backup before starting
Take existing system and add RAM and 2 disks
Install Hyper-V Server onto 1 disk
Install Hyper-V manager onto a client PC (see here for details)
Configure the network to all nodes can connect to a real physical network that has your internet router and firewall on it
Configure a virtual machine with pass-through disks that point to each of your SBS 2003 disks. To make a disk visible in Hyper-V console as a pass-through see here. Only configure approx 1GB of memory as you only need it to run well enough to perform a migration.
Start and boot the SBS 2003 VM. Check that all services start (or can be started if there is a timing issue) and that all data is available.
Install the integration Services Setup disk, run the setup and reboot when asked
Create another virtual machine with 4GB of RAM that points to the other new disk, again as a pass-through volume. This will be the SBS 2008 boot disk and can be booted with or without Hyper-V later
Perform the Migration as per my book (not yet published) or Whitepaper
Start migration process, including creating the answer file.
Create a VFD with the answer file on it and boot SBS 2008 to start the migration
Finish the migration to the point where the SBS 2003 box is downgraded
Turn off SBS 2003 VM and store, recycle or dispose of disks
Choose to either make the machine book natively boot to the SBS 2008 partition (in the bios) or continue to use Hyper-V

That is it. Much simpler than a swing if your box is good enough to run Hyper-V server. If you intend on keeping SBS 2008 running under Hyper-V, have a look at this Technet article.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003,SBS 2008,Microsoft,Migration,SBSC,David Overton

Can't find the WSS (Windows SharePoint Services) sales and marketing toolkit for SBS 2003 - here it was

David Overton — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:18:58 GMT

I've had someone ask me about the WSS toolkit that was referenced at How to Sell, Deploy, and Build Business with Microsoft Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 and SBS 2003 R2. The download location has moved to http://www.partnersalesresources.com/Pages/sbskit.aspx#.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Windows SharePoint Services, WSS v3, SBS, SBS 2003 R2, Microsoft, Partners

How to migrate from SBS 2003 to Small Business Server 2008 (SBS 2008)

David Overton — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:06:00 GMT

I’ve spoken about migration several times now for SBS 2008. The short answer is that migration from one box to another is vital. If a customer wants to do migration on the same box, then this is either expensive (and a very long process) or something that requires moving the server temporarily to another system, or as I prefer, virtualising it. Of course, SBS 2003 is not necessarily supported in a virtual environment, but since all we want to do is migrate from it, not “run it”, this should help you get over this.

The details of the process can be found in the Windows Small Business Server 2008 technical library. One of the MOST IMPORTANT things to understand is to create the answer file. This is covered in the migration help below:

Windows Small Business Server 2008 Migration Help (Download)

Provides step-by-step instructions for migrating from Windows SBS 2003 or 2008 to Windows SBS 2008. Last Updated on June 30, 2008

Windows Small Business Server 2008 Product Help (Download)

Provides step-by-step instructions for using the Windows SBS 2008 server software. Last Updated on June 30, 2008

Downloadable documentation for Windows Small Business Server 2008

Before you start – what you need to remember

SBS 2008 is a 64-bit solution requiring x64 capable hardware
There is NO 32-bit to 64-bit “in-place” upgrade solution
SBS 2008 Standard is a single server solution, while SBS 2008 Premium includes the license and software for a 2nd Windows Server system (as part of the domain)
SBS 2008 Premium edition does NOT have ISA as part of the solution.

SBS 2003 Premium customers with Software Assurance will be able to “make good” their ISA licenses for a limited amount of time after SBS 2008 is released.

SBS 2008 Premium edition has the option to use SQL 2008 Standard edition on either server.
SQL 2008 can be downgraded

Migration options at high level

Add a new server to existing SBS 2003 domain and either

Remove old SBS 2003 server
Purchase SBS 2008 Premium edition and make old server 2nd server using the license as part of SBS 2008 Premium edition

Using the rights of Software Assurance / Full Packaged Product, move physical SBS 2003 to an virtual machine and migrate from it to the existing x64 capable hardware

Note that SBS 2003 running in a Virtual Machine is not supported!

Load onto existing server, reloading all data and rejoining all PCs to the domain

Option 1 - Process to add new server

Backup up SBS 2003 server

Tidy up the SBS 2003 system

Remove unwanted software, files, users etc

Install the new SBS 2008 system

Create the answer file and install the new hardware with SBS 2008

The answer file tool looks like this:

Complete the setup

Set up web site information, security and so on
Be aware that the migration process is an interactive process, not a click and go process

Turn off old server

Confirm all client applications, printers, shares etc work

If you have SBS 2008 Premium edition, rebuild old server

Windows Server 2008 Standard or downgrade to Windows Server 2003 Standard for application compatibility reasons (x86 or x64 server)

Finally, share how to use SBS 2008

Option 2 – Move from physical to virtual to do 1 box migration

You need to do this part before you go to the steps above, starting at step 3

Purchase P2V (Physical to Virtual) software, such as SCVMM or PlateSpin solution
Backup SBS 2003 server
Tidy up SBS 2003 server as before and remove all unnecessary files
Run P2V software
Turn off SBS 2003 system and re-start SBS 2003 virtual machine
Continue migration process as if installing a new server

Option 3 – Blow away existing server and rebuild all PCs

Just don’t do this unless you really need to pretend you or your customer never had a network before!

I hope this makes sense.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008, Microsoft, Partners, Community, SBSC, Small Business, Small Business Server 2008

Moving SBS 2003 to new hardware or performing a migration – Update (QFE) to give you longer to do it (21 days up from the 7 days)

David Overton — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:46:41 GMT

From The Official SBS Blog : Small Business Server 2003 Migration Update 943494 Released, a slightly old post, but something work highlighting – how to have 2 SBS boxes on the same network for 21 days.

Small Business Server 2003 Migration Update 943494 Released

[Today's post comes to us courtesy of Justin Crosby]
The software license terms for Windows SBS enforce a limitation that permits the presence of only one Windows SBS server in the domain. However, there is a grace period where you can have a second SBS server in “join domain” type migration scenarios. This grace period is 7 days. In some situations, this grace period may not be long enough to properly complete the migration.
This software update extends the allowable grace period for the supported scenarios from 7 days to 21 days. Please plan accordingly, aim to complete your migration within 7 days and only use this update for situations where it is needed. Remember, if you hit the 21 day limit there is nothing that can be done to extend the limit any further.
Important: We strongly recommend that you complete all migration tasks before you demote the Windows SBS domain controller to a member server. Once you demote the Windows SBS domain controller to a member server, the grace period is reset back to 7 days or whatever is left from the 21 days (whichever is less).
The update is available at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=64903D3C-3264-418D-9199-2963A599E268
The KB is available at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;943494
For more information on migrating Windows Small Business Server 2003 to new hardware please see: http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServerSolutions/SBS/en/library/62e2094e-ad4e-4227-b20e-97a716ed7c861033.mspx

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003, SBS 2008, Small Business, Microsoft, SBSC, Updates, Tips

Upgrade Windows Search to Version 4.0 and improve your PC (for Windows Vista, XP, Server 2003 and 2008)

David Overton — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 12:41:52 GMT

If you have have Office 2007 or a Windows Vista or Windows Desktop Search (WDS) then you probably have V2.6 or V3 of this fantastic search product. Version 4 has a wealth of updates, but most importantly, is more stable and faster. One of the things I love about this is that if you put this on a client and server, and then search a network share, if the contents are indexed on the server then WDS uses the remote index to search, making it super fast. It can even be used with SBS 2003 / 2008 to speed up access to the shares there too.

Description of Windows Search 4.0 and the Multilingual User Interface Pack for Windows Search 4.0

Windows Search 4.0
Windows Search 4.0 lets you perform an instant search of your computer. Windows Search 4.0 helps you find and preview documents, e-mail messages, music files, photos, and other items on the computer.
The search engine in Windows Search 4.0 is a Microsoft Windows service that is also used by programs such as Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 and Microsoft Office OneNote 2007. You can use this search engine to index a program's content and to obtain instant results when you search in a particular program.
Windows Search 4.0 includes the following improvements:

Support for indexing encrypted documents of local file systems
Reduced affect on Microsoft Exchange when you index e-mail in online mode, and there is no local cache (.ost)
Support for indexing online delegate mailboxes
Support for client-to-client remote query to shared indexed locations
Improved indexing performance
Faster previewer updates for Windows XP
Per-user Group Policy settings
Windows software updates for Watson errors
Support for the following new enterprise Group Policy objects:

Computer policies

Prevent adding Universal Naming Convention (UNC) locations to index from Control Panel
Prevent customizing indexed locations in Control Panel
Prevent automatically adding shared folders to the index
Allow for indexing of encrypted files
Disable indexer back-off
Prevent clients from querying the index remotely
Allow for indexing of online delegate mailboxes
Prevent adding user
Specified locations to the All Locations menu
Enable throttling for online mail indexing

Per-user policies

Prevent adding UNC locations to the index from Control Panel
Prevent customizing indexed locations in Control Panel
Prevent indexing certain paths
Default indexed paths
Default excluded paths

Windows Search 4.0 Administrator's Guide
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/f98696ed-6e3e-47b7-ab38-511439bce7ae1033.mspx?mfr=true
Windows Search 4.0 Troubleshooting Guide
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/84c1c305-baaa-4352-b55a-45daaebf18df1033.mspx?mfr=true
The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download the 32-bit Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 package now.

Download the 64-bit Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 package now.

Download the 32-bit Windows XP package now.

Download the x64-based Windows XP package now.

Download the 32-bit Windows Server 2003 and Windows Home Server package now.

Download the x64-based Windows Server 2003 package now.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Windows Vista, Windows Client, Windows XP, Windows, Windows Server, Windows Home Server, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Desktop Search, Search, Windows Desktop Search, Support and Tools, Microsoft

EBS 2208 and SBS 2008 Upgrades & Migrations from SBS 2003 and SBS / EBS 2008

David Overton — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:07:00 GMT

I saw over on Nicholas's blog post - Nicholas King : EBS/SBS Upgrades & Migrations that he has started to answer some of the questions around system upgrades and migrations. Below are some snippets of key information he has shared. Read his blog post for more. However, key thoughts for me are:

1) no in box SBS 2003 -> SBS 2008 upgrades. This is a box to box migration process. If you have SA or FPP copies of SBS 2003 then you can potentially do a P2V and then migrate from the virtual image. If not, I would consider running a VM of Windows Server to enable you to move the domain at least

2) Moving from one box to another (eg hardware upgrades in the future) are now supported. This can potentially be used to go from a RC0 build to RTM, but it is not tested or supported, however that does not mean it will not work!!

3) There is a GREAT document linked below that describes a migration in glorious detail

EBS/SBS Upgrades & Migrations

Recently I had several people ask me whether it is possible or supported to do a build to build migration or upgrade from the RC0 of either SBS or EBS to RC1 or even RTM.
Migration and Upgrade are two words often used interchangeably. Technically as you know they have some very specific meanings. Upgrade means to take the existing code base and then lay binaries over the top of, or underneath of (believe it or not this is how Vista does it!) the existing installation effectively taking the old installation and making it the new, whilst maintaining the existing configuration. Migration means setting up a completely new environment and then transferring the settings, user data and environment functionality to the new setup.
Upgrades are not something we design, test or develop for either SBS or EBS. For RTM our research points to the fact that most installations have new hardware on site, and added to that the SBS architecture change from 32-bit to 64-bit prohibits us from doing in place upgrades. EBS is V1 so no upgrade requirement there.
This leaves migrations, I need to be very clear that it IS NOT SUPPORTED from any build to build. Code can and does change from each of these milestones and we focus our resources on shipping a quality product for RTM. Now that that's out of the way, let's cover if it's possible..
Yes it is possible to do such a migration. We do this for our TAP customers using the same migration document that is on TechNET (we add some more details to it to cover the changes we make, but for the most part it is the same doc). Both products have focused heavily on migration scenarios. I'll break this into two sections to make it read easier.
Small Business Server 2008 Migration
Migration is one of the killer workloads for SBS 2008. We've built so much from SBS 2003. An SBS 2008 migration is based off of a domain join side-by-side configuration where you migrate the user accounts and settings from the old machine to the new using a 21 day trust we create. It is also answer file based so you'll need to kick off the tool found in the SBS 2008 binaries. You can read more by following the migration guide found here
<snipped>

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003 R2, SBS 2008, EBS 2008, Microsoft, SBSC, Partners, Small Business

If you are a Microsoft partner who sells SBS, then please fill in the Windows Small Business Server 2008 Community Survey

David Overton — Sat, 31 May 2008 23:18:06 GMT

Kevin asked a couple of weeks ago if I could share this – so I’m sharing :-)

The Windows Small Business Server 2008 WW Community Survey is live

This is the third year we have published an SBS WW Community Survey to the SBS Community.
Because of the previous surveys, we have made some adjustments in our community engagement. To name a few; we really worked on putting more focus on the Official SBS Blog. Our Sustaining Engineering team runs mini betas with our MVPs before KB's and Bug Fixes are released via Windows Update. We try to get more involvement in our techbetas from our User Groups. The list does go on.
To the survey, the SBS Product Team would like to hear from the Windows SBS Community again. This survey is completely anonymous. In fact, some of you may have to sign out from Live in order to take the survey. So, if you get a PAGE NOT FOUND error message, please log out of Live and click on the link to the survey again.
We want to know how valuable your experience is with the community resources and information that is available to you today as a member of the Windows SBS Community. We also want to know what you think could be done to improve your Windows SBS Community Experience. Please take a couple of minutes to provide us your candid feedback via this survey and let us know what you think.
SBS WW Community Survey 2008
Thanks in advance for your feedback.
Kevin Beares
Community Lead - WSSG

The WSSG Community Lead Blog : The Windows Small Business Server 2008 WW Community Survey is live

Please fill it in

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008, SBS 2003, Small Business, SBSC, Partner, Microsoft, Community

How to get DNS and DHCP working on a Windows Server from behind the Windows Firewall

David Overton — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:55:00 GMT

I have a Windows Home Server at home and I decided I wanted it to be responsible for handing out DHCP and DNS addresses in the house. All very good, but when I set up the services none of it worked because of the built in Windows Firewall. While I could have just turned off the Firewall I decided to learn how to put the holes into the firewall to make it work with the firewall, thus maintaining better security.

A quick search of the web showed me many settings, but it did not seem to cover the whole picture – then I came across the MS site Windows Firewall Settings which has things broken down into these four handy sections that shall for ever more be my guides to ports and firewalls in the Microsoft world. What is more, as you will see later, the tips in here as to how to get things working, getting over common hurdles is quite stunning too:

Windows Firewall Settings: Optional Components
Windows Firewall Settings: Remote Administration Tools
Windows Firewall Settings: Server Roles
Windows Firewall Settings: Services

The two key entries for me are below – DHCP and DNS. Note that the DHCP entry has a wonderful tip saying that you will need to ensure 0.0.0.0 is included in the scope of the acceptable ports – i.e. you can not just set the scope to local network only. This was my 1st mistake

Windows Firewall: DHCP server

Add UDP ports 67 and 2535 to the Windows Firewall exceptions list on the DHCP server.
Important:

When you create a Windows Firewall exception for the DHCP protocol on a DHCP server, you must set the scope for the exception to Any computer including those on the Internet. If you leave it set to My network (subnet) only, all inbound DHCP Discover packets from client computers are dropped because the IP address of the packet is 0.0.0.0, which is not recognized by the computer as being part of the local subnet. This causes the DHCP process to fail and clients do not receive IP addresses.
Windows Firewall: DHCP server

On the DNS entry the thing which grabbed me was the ports other than 53 that were needed:

Windows Firewall: DNS server

Add UDP port 53 and TCP ports 53, 139, and 445 to the Windows Firewall exceptions list.
Windows Firewall: DNS server

Invaluable information!

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: DNS, DHCP, Windows Server, Firewall, Windows Firewall, Ports, Port, Microsoft, Windows Server 2003

More ways to engage with customers using the Microsoft advertising campaigns

David Overton — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:00:00 GMT

[updated 4th March]

Many people congratulated Microsoft after the Mr Busy campaigns allowed partners to drive their customers back to them using a MS campaign. Well, this is now being repeated for a number of campaigns. Today I found the click and go site to get them all (http://www.campaigns.arvato-services.com/). You can get 200 post cards or 1,000 e-mails for free and then a low price for additional cards/ e-mails if required. The campaigns covered include:

Business Productivity
Customer Acquisition and Retention
Security and Reliability
Small Business PC
Mr Busy

This method of engaging is not new to the Small Business team and others have covered this before (eg Susanne here), but it is worth re-highlighting this now as some of the campaigns have been renewed, so go back and visit the site!!

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Marketing, Campaigns, Business Productivity, Customer Acquisition and Retention, Security and Reliability, Small Business PC, Mr Busy, Partner, SME, Small Business Server 2008, Mid-Market

Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices Analyzer Updated - from the Official SBS Blog

David Overton — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:39:00 GMT

Yesterday we announce SBS 2008 and now there is the updated best practice analyzer for SBS 2003 - The Official SBS Blog : Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices Analyzer Updated - the updates are below

Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices Analyzer Updated

The SBS 2003 Best Practices Analyzer configuration file has been updated with new rules. There are approximately 100 new rules and many pre-existing rules have been improved based on your feedback.
To check to see if you have the latest configuration file go to Start>All Programs>SBS Best Practices Analyzer, then click on the About the Best Practices Analyzer link. The updated configuration file version is 2.1.18.0.
If you still have the old version (2.1.4.0), click on the Updates and Customer Feedback link. Then click on the Check for Updates Now link.
Some of the new rules include:

Expanded checks for Blue Shield issues relating to WSUS
Checks for the .Net Framework version for Companyweb
Resolved some issues with the WSS and DST update checks
Checks the SQL Default instance for service pack level/version
Information messages regarding Forest/Domain Functional Levels and Exchange Functional level
Checks that KB 911829 is installed for OWA/Vista compatibility
DNS Forward lookup zones are set to allow secure dynamic updates
Verifies IIS keep-alives are enabled
Checks ISA 2004 service pack level, and if ISA 2000 is installed recommend that it be upgraded to ISA 2004 using SBS 2003 SP1 media
Verifies that no restrictions have been placed on the IWAM or IUSR accounts for workstation or logon hours
Checks to see if the LANNIC guid appears to be the internal interface
Checks for MSFW instance for service pack level/version
Warning if NIC drivers are over a year old
Verifies that the reverse lookup zone is configured for allowing secure dynamic updates
Verifies that WSUS is integrated with SBS R2
Informational message to show the AD schema version level
Attempts to ping other domain controllers to test connectivity to them
Verifies that SSL is not required on the /exchange-oma virtual directory
Checks that the server has been updated with KB 926505 for Outlook/Vista compatibility
Checks for Windows SharePoint Services v3.0 SP1
Checks for Windows Server Update Services v3.0 SP1

Note: Please remember if you see the error that Windows SBS 2003 Service Pack 1 not installed that SBS 2003 SP1 is made up of 5 parts (Windows, Exchange, Windows SharePoint Services service packs, XP SP2 update, and the SBS 2003 service pack itself). If you are getting this error then you may have Windows Service Pack 2 installed but would appear the SBS 2003 SP1 itself is still not installed. For more information see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=50694.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003, SBS 2003 R2, Best Practice, Microsoft

Where to go to study for SBSC exam 70-282 - help from the community by the community

David Overton — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:51:03 GMT

This comment was added to my blog the other day, but I think it deserves posting as a blog entry in it's own right:

Hi Dave,
We've worked up a 70-282 set of resources on a live.space. The effort is thorough and a good starting point for anyone looking at the 70-282 exam. Two particularly useful URL's are:
http://wigital.spaces.live.com AND
70-282examteam.events.live.com
You are welcome to contribute and/or comment if you have time.
Warm Regards,
Mark

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBSC, 70-282, Exam, SBS Server, Community

Windows Small Business Server 2003 at risk from critical flaw

David Overton — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:32:07 GMT

Hopefully everyone has seen this, but if not:

Windows Small Business Server at risk from critical flaw
Microsoft initially omitted Small Business Server from its list of critically affected OSes, but is now offering patches via its automatic update services
In an update to its MS08-001 security bulletin, Microsoft said that the latest release of Windows Small Business Server was also critically at risk from a bug in Windows' networking software.
The flaw is also considered critical for Windows XP and Vista users. Microsoft did not say why it had initially omitted Small Business Server from its list of critically affected operating systems, but it said that the product's users were being offered patches via Microsoft's various automatic update services. "Customers with Windows Small Business Server 2003 Service Pack 2 should apply the update to remain secure," Microsoft said in its updated bulletin.
The bug lies in the way Windows processes networking traffic that uses IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) and MLD (Multicast Listener Discovery) protocols, which are used to send data to many systems at the same time. Microsoft said that an attacker could send specially crafted packets to a victim's machine, which could then allow the attacker to run unauthorized code on a system.

Windows Small Business Server at risk from critical flaw | InfoWorld | News | 2008-01-24 | By Robert McMillan, IDG News Service

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003,SBS 2003 R2,SBS,Security,System Updates

Download the "How to Sell, Deploy, and Build Business with Microsoft Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 and SBS 2003 R2" now

David Overton — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 12:11:51 GMT

I have been asked about this loads of times, but for those of you who want to know more about using WSS v3 and SBS 2003, the guide is finally here at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=59acc518-023e-43c3-b8f3-378c5e387461.

How to Sell, Deploy, and Build Business with Microsoft Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 and SBS 2003 R2

Partner tool to create solutions using Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2.

File Name: Selling_WSS_and_SBS_Kit.zip
Date Published: 11/15/2007
Overview

A new partner enablement tool helps you create solutions using Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2. Access the toolkit’s resources—including a process cookbook, technical documentation and marketing materials—to learn how to build your business by selling and deploying customized solutions.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003 R2, SBSC, WSS v3, WSS, SharePoint, Windows SharePoint Services

Whitepaper on Migrating SBS 2003 to New Hardware

David Overton — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 21:18:07 GMT

It is funny how things happen. I was debating with my dad which was better - building a new server and re-joining the clients, migrating via AD in a VPC to give the server the same name or adding the server and dealing with the fact that the "server" has a name change. I then told my dad that I had blogged about this and he should have read the document, only to discover that I had not. I've seen it covered in a few places. I'm always open to feedback on this sort of information. I am pro-VM based migrations but people seem to think they are too hard, so more on that would be really good.

Microsoft has released a new whitepaper and set of worksheets entitled:

”Migrating Windows Small Business Server 2003 to New Hardware“
Sections include:

Migrating Windows Small Business Server 2003 to New Hardware
Worksheet 1 Source and Destination Computer Information
Worksheet 2 SMTP Connector Settings
Worksheet 3 Exchange Server 2003 Global Settings
Worksheet 4 Location of Data for Line-of-Business Applications and Location of General User Data
Worksheet 5 Windows Small Business Server 2003 Settings
Worksheet 6 Shared Folder Information

The whitepaper outlines the following steps for migrating from an existing computer running Windows SBS 2003 to new hardware:

Evaluate the current status of the source server.

continued at Whitepaper - Migrating SBS 2003 to New Hardware | NoGeekLeftBehind.com

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003 R2, Migration, Tips

From the Official SBS Blog - SBS now has a Best Practices Analyzer!

David Overton — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 06:17:34 GMT

You have seen the Exchange, SQL, Security and Windows best practice scanners, well now we have all that SBS expertise wrapped up into an SBS scanner - enjoy!!

SBS now has a Best Practices Analyzer!

The Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices Analyzer examines a server that is running Windows Small Business Server 2003 (Windows SBS) and presents a list of information and errors that administrators should review.
The Windows SBS Best Practices Analyzer examines the server and collects configuration information from many sources including:

Active Directory
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
Registry
Metabase

After collecting information about server configuration, the Windows SBS Best Practices Analyzer verifies that the information is correct and then presents administrators with a list of issues sorted by severity. The list describes each issue and provides a recommendation or possible solution.

System Requirements
Supported Operating Systems: Windows Small Business Server 2003 (Any version of Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003)
Links
KB article
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940439
Download
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3874527A-DE19-49BB-800F-352F3B6F2922&displaylang=en
So take a look and let us know what you think about it! (Feedback email address is in the KB article).

The Official SBS Blog : SBS now has a Best Practices Analyzer!

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003 R2, Best practices, If you only read one post today

Where to go to study for SBSC exam 70-282

David Overton — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 10:21:03 GMT

I have been asked a couple of times if there has been any updated info on the 70-282 exam and information on it. While looking through old blog entries I found this:

A free webcast series hosted throughout the month of May by David Fabritius is being offered at MSReadiness.com. More information is available here - http://msreadiness.com/study70-282r2.

The Official SBS Blog : Studying for 70-282?

This takes you to the MS Web site, where I found out that all the webcasts happened in the past, but the recording and blog are still there for you:

To access the Study Group blog, visit us at http://blogs.technet.com/BackRoom.
Using Self Test Software's great data bank of approved practice exam questions, we will review the material for the week on Fridays and help you check your preparedness for the actual exam. We will not only be looking at why an answer is correct, but also exploring why answers are wrong.
Syllabus for 70-282 Study Group
All of the sessions outlined below will be presented at 10 AM PDT on their respective days. The primary references for this webcast series are:
Small Business Specialist Primer & 70-282 Exam Preparation Guide
by Mulzer and Brelsford
Published by SMB Nation Press, ISBN-10: 0-9748-5803-X, ISBN-13: 978-0974858036
Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Administrator’s Companion
by Russel, Crawford, and Gerend
Published by MS Press, ISBN-10: 0-7356-2020-2, ISBN-13: 978-0735620209
Session 1, 5/7/2007
Analyzing the Existing Environment &
Designing a Business Technology Solution for a Small- to Medium-sized Company, Part 1
Primer, Chapter 3 & pp. 4-15 to 4-18; Companion, pp. 36-39
Session 2, 5/8/2007
Designing a Business Technology Solution for a Small- to Medium-sized Company, Part 2 &
Expanding the Windows Small Business Server 2003 Network
Primer, Chapters 4 and 9
Week 1 Practice, 5/11/2007
Sample questions and Q&A from sessions 1 and 2, Analysis & Design
Session 3, 5/14/2007
Installing Windows Small Business Server 2003
Primer, Chapter 5; Companion, Chapter 5
Session 4, 5/15/2007
Configuring SBS 2003 for Networking and Remote Connectivity
Primer, pp. 7-6 to 7-21; Companion, Chapters 6 and 15
Week 2 Practice, 5/18/2007
Sample questions and Q&A from sessions 3 and 4, Installation & Configuration
Session 5, 5/21/2007
Configuring SBS 2003 for Messaging and Collaboration
Primer, pp. 7-21 to 7-51; Companion, pp. 90-92, 178-199, 324-363, 444-489
Session 6, 5/22/2007
SBS 2003 Security
Primer, Chapter 6; Companion, pp. 150-197
Week 3 Practice, 5/25/2007
Sample questions and Q&A from sessions 5 and 6, Installation & Configuration
Session 7, 5/29/2007
Managing Small Business Server 2003
Managing SBS Clients / Troubleshooting SBS 2003
Primer, Chapter 8; Companion, pp. 200-231, Chapters 12 and 20
Session 8, 5/30/2007
Using Backup in SBS 2003
Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2003
Primer, pp. 8-32 to 8-38, Chapter 10; Companion, Chapters 13 and 21
Week 4 Practice, 6/1/2007
Sample questions and Q&A from sessions 7 and 8, Support & Maintenance

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBSC, 70-282, exam, study, webcasts

Transition Pack Pointers for SBS 2003 peeps

David Overton — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 22:09:44 GMT

Just to recap on these links since I still get questions about the Transition Pack.

These are some good starting points for understanding Transition Pack (pay special attention to the registry key portion if they have Backup Exec installed):
http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2006/01/12/417350.aspx
and
http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2006/02/24/420521.aspx

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003, Translation Pack

If you want to deploy Exchange 2007 with SBS 2003, how do you remove the Exchange component?

David Overton — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 14:37:46 GMT

I posted the other day on adding Exchange 2007 to an SBS 2003 environment, but for some, there is also the desire on how to remove the Exchange component on SBS 2003. Obviously there are the install / uninstall options from the SBS setup screens that can be accessed through add/remove programs, however because SBS has the 1st Exchange server in a group you need to go a bit further.

More information can be found on how to remove the first server via http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;822931 which discusses "How to remove the first Exchange Server 2003 computer from the administrative group". In this KB article it tells you how to:

Replicate all public folders to another server
Rehome the Offline Address Book folder
Change the server that is responsible for generating the Offline Address List
Rehome the Schedule+ Free Busy folder
Rehome the Organization Forms folder
Rehome the Recipient Update Service (RUS)
Designate another server to be the routing group master
Create another Site Replication Service (SRS) instance
Rehome connectors to another server
Move mailboxes to another server
Remove the first Exchange Server 2003 computer

I hope this helps - once again, I have not done this :-). As is often the case, this information came from two other people - Karan and Chris Puckett, who is often seen on the Official SBS Blog. Karan also tells me that he has helped a partner start to document this process at www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Installing-Exchange-2007-Small-Business-Server-2003-domain-Part1.html.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003, SBS 2003 R2, Exchange 2007

1st SBS webcast from series of 3 - SBS & the OEM Pre-installation Kit (OPK) by Sven

David Overton — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 23:12:24 GMT

I should have posted this information a few days ago, but I am making up for it now. Anyway, Sven's presentation can be found at http://uksbsguy.com/files/folders/events/entry4621.aspx and he has also gracefully provided a number of scripts to make the install even simpler which can be found at http://uksbsguy.com/files/folders/events/entry4622.aspx.

Enjoy

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003 R2, OPK

SBS Technet Chat Transcript published

David Overton — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 11:25:38 GMT

Hi folks, this is a really simple one - I had the pleasure of answering some questions at a TechNet chat a few weeks back - that chat has now had a polished transcript published on the web at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/trans/sbs/07_0713_tn_sbs.mspx.

thanks

David

Technorati Tags: SBS, SBS 2003, SBS 2003 R2, Technet, Chat

SBS 2003 Configuration Webcast - presentation and key links

David Overton — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 12:56:54 GMT

Part 2 or 3 for the Webcast series was how to configure SBS and discussed things like disk, memory, dual NICs, firewalls and the Pop3 connector. The presentation can be found here.

Useful links from the presentation:

WSUS upgrade documentation

http://uksbsguy.com/blogs/doverton/archive/2007/05/02/installing-wsus-3-0-on-sbs-white-paper-released-including-when-you-already-got-wsus-on-there-or-need-to-upgrade.aspx

Transition pack

http://uksbsguy.com/blogs/doverton/archive/2006/09/18/Transition-Pack-for-Windows-SBS-2003-R2.aspx

The questions from the event:

Is there anything different we need to do on the server with Win Mobile 6 devices? No, it works, but you still need to be aware of the need for a certificate by a trusted root authority on the SBS box for Smartphones (just the same as all previous versions)

On the install it showed Active sync 3.8 available to install, why not the latest version? I have not updated the box, but you can load a later version of ActiveSync onto SBS

What is the URL to access outlook web access? https://www.mydomain.com/exchange or via https://www.mydomain/remote

When you do http://SERVER/ConnectComputer does it setup the outlook profile? Yes

Is it possible to upgrade from SBS2003 to WIN2003? Yes, using the transition pack as discussed in the slides

When you set up a folder for users do you have to setup a share and permissions as well? No, this is done for you

When you set up a folder for users do you have to setup a share and permissions as well

Answered: This is all done automatically - each user has a folder created that only they can access - it is automatic - nothing for you to do, except for turning on Redirect My Documents in the SBS user manager

What about if you have a general folder on another drive that you want a group of users to access

Answered: then you can share and set up access as per any windows server

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003, SBS 2003 R2, Network Setup

Slides from todays Webcast on Windows SharePoint Services on SBS (WSS v2 & WSS v3)

David Overton — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 09:40:15 GMT

Today I did my last Webcast on SBS. It was the 3rd of a 3 parter on SBS. Part 1 was about how to use the OPK, part 2 was on Configuring SBS. I will post links to part 1 & 2 later today, but thought I would get the last one out 1st. If you watched the Webcast you will know that explorer crashed on my machine stopping the demos with word and excel working, which was not desired, but I did load 2 beta patches onto my system yesterday, so now the diagnosis as to wether that was the problem begins.

Anyway, if you want the slides set they can be found here. Some of the useful links from the deck are:

WSS v2

Office 2003 web parts (the last ones)

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=38be67a5-2056-46a1-84b1-337ffb549c5c&displaylang=en

Samples and information

http://www.sharepointcustomization.com/wss/articles.htm

Enable Office 2007 support

http://uksbsguy.com/blogs/doverton/archive/2007/03/13/how-to-get-companyweb-windows-sharepoint-services-v2-to-work-with-office-2007.aspx

Backup and restore of WSS using admin command line

http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/support/articles/backup_restore_sbs2003.mspx#EPDAE

Recycle bin support in WSS v2

http://mindsharpblogs.com/Todd/archive/2005/10/06/719.aspx

WSS v3

Comparison of v2 & v3 features

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsserver/sharepoint/techref/versions.mspx

External access to v3 site & renaming it to companyweb

http://msmvps.com/blogs/cgross/archive/2007/01/25/companyweb-sharepoint-v3-part-1.aspx -

Enable e-mail for WSS v3 site

http://www.mrict.co.uk/resources/incoming_email_for_wss_3_and_sbs.asp

Since the Office integration failed to fire due to the beta patches I will re-record these and post on the web.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: WSS v2, WSS v3, Windows SharePoint Services, SBS 2003, SBS 2003 R2, Office System

David Overton's Blog : Support and Tools, SBS 2003

SBS 2008 Migrations from SBS 2003 – Keys to Success from the Official SBS Blog

Active Directory Health Check - Make sure your AD is healthy before you migrate SBS 2003 to SBS 2008

SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 migration thoughts and issues

How to upgrade (migrate) from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 on the same system without using a swing migration

Can't find the WSS (Windows SharePoint Services) sales and marketing toolkit for SBS 2003 - here it was

How to migrate from SBS 2003 to Small Business Server 2008 (SBS 2008)

Before you start – what you need to remember

Migration options at high level

Option 1 - Process to add new server

Backup up SBS 2003 server

Tidy up the SBS 2003 system

Install the new SBS 2008 system

Complete the setup

Turn off old server

If you have SBS 2008 Premium edition, rebuild old server

Option 2 – Move from physical to virtual to do 1 box migration

Option 3 – Blow away existing server and rebuild all PCs

Moving SBS 2003 to new hardware or performing a migration – Update (QFE) to give you longer to do it (21 days up from the 7 days)

Small Business Server 2003 Migration Update 943494 Released

Upgrade Windows Search to Version 4.0 and improve your PC (for Windows Vista, XP, Server 2003 and 2008)

Windows Search 4.0

Computer policies

EBS 2208 and SBS 2008 Upgrades & Migrations from SBS 2003 and SBS / EBS 2008

EBS/SBS Upgrades & Migrations

If you are a Microsoft partner who sells SBS, then please fill in the Windows Small Business Server 2008 Community Survey

The Windows Small Business Server 2008 WW Community Survey is live

How to get DNS and DHCP working on a Windows Server from behind the Windows Firewall

Windows Firewall: DHCP server

Important:

Windows Firewall: DNS server

More ways to engage with customers using the Microsoft advertising campaigns

Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices Analyzer Updated - from the Official SBS Blog

Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices Analyzer Updated

Where to go to study for SBSC exam 70-282 - help from the community by the community

Windows Small Business Server 2003 at risk from critical flaw

Windows Small Business Server at risk from critical flaw

Download the "How to Sell, Deploy, and Build Business with Microsoft Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 and SBS 2003 R2" now

How to Sell, Deploy, and Build Business with Microsoft Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 and SBS 2003 R2

Partner tool to create solutions using Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2.

Overview

Whitepaper on Migrating SBS 2003 to New Hardware

The Official SBS Blog : Migrating Windows Small Business Server 2003 ...

Migrating Windows Small Business Server 2003 to New Hardware - E-Bitz ...

Microsoft has released a new whitepaper and set of worksheets entitled:

From the Official SBS Blog - SBS now has a Best Practices Analyzer!

SBS now has a Best Practices Analyzer!

Where to go to study for SBSC exam 70-282

Transition Pack Pointers for SBS 2003 peeps

If you want to deploy Exchange 2007 with SBS 2003, how do you remove the Exchange component?

1st SBS webcast from series of 3 - SBS & the OEM Pre-installation Kit (OPK) by Sven

SBS Technet Chat Transcript published

SBS 2003 Configuration Webcast - presentation and key links

Slides from todays Webcast on Windows SharePoint Services on SBS (WSS v2 & WSS v3)