Category: Windows 8/Server 2012

Windows Deployment Services Role in Windows Server 2012 Video Demos

Microsoft Security Compliance Manager 3.0 beta is available

SCM 3.0 beta is available for download at MS Connect site. New baselines for Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10 are introduced:

Windows Server 2012 Security Baselines:

  • Domain Controller Security Compliance
  • Domain Security Compliance
  • Hyper-V Security Compliance
  • Member Server Security Compliance
  • Web Server Security Compliance

    • Windows 8 Security Baselines:

  • BitLocker Security
  • Computer Security Compliance
  • Domain Security Compliance
  • User Security Compliance:

    • Internet Explorer 10 Security Baselines:

  • Computer Security Compliance
  • User Security Compliance

    • In a later stage of the Beta programs more baselines will be introduced for server roles in Windows Serer 2012:

  • Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS)
  • DNS Server
  • DHCP Server
  • File Services
  • Network Policy and Access Servers
  • Print Services
  • Remote Access
  • Remote Desktop Services

System Center 2012 Monitoring Pack for Power Management

This MP is an updated version of Windows Server 2008 R2 Power Management Library and targets specifically Windows Server 2012:

The System Center 2012 Monitoring Pack for Power Management enables you to monitor and manage the power consumption of computers running Windows Server 2012.
Feature Summary
This management pack provides:

  • Visibility into power consumption
  • Visibility and control of power policy
  • Ability to lower power consumption during non-business hours to reduce overall power consumption
  • Ability to limit power consumption
  • Ability to detect excessive power consumption

 

Download 7.0.8560.0 of the MP here. Remember to read the documentation first it is only 7 pages long.

Upgrade Assessment Tool (UAT) 2012 beta for SCCM 2012 formerly known as Configuration Manager 2007 Application Compatibility Toolkit Connector

Taken directly from MS Connect site:

Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Upgrade Assessment Tool is a feature pack download that provides administrative users with information that they can use to determine if the operating system on computers that are managed by System Center 2012 Configuration Manager can be upgraded to Windows 7 or Windows 8. The previous version of this tool was the Configuration Manager 2007 Application Compatibility Toolkit Connector (ACT Connector).

Features:

· Retrieves device driver compatibility for installed peripheral devices and creates reports that you can use to determine which device drivers need to be upgraded to support the Windows operating system.

· Allows you to see which computers meet the recommended system requirements for Windows operating systems and to customize these requirements for your environments.

· Creates summary reports that you can use to see an enterprise wide view of operating system upgrade readiness.

· Allows you to create dynamic collections for an operating system deployment. The collection query rules can be based on system requirements, application compatibility status, and device driver status.

Pre-requisites:

Please note that the Beta version of the Upgrade Assessment Tool requires the ConfigMgr SP1 Beta and the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 6.0 which is available in the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) for Windows 8.

 

More information and download link for the tool can be find on Connect site.

How to batch create virtual machines in Windows Server 2012(PowerShell)

Here is a very useful script provided by Microsoft. With this PowerShell script you can create virtual machines by defining them in csv file. Script can be download from here.