Month: September 2010

Introducing Microsoft #Lync, the next #OCS!

by ucinfo, posted in Flaphead, Lync, OCS

http://blogs.technet.com/b/uc/archive/2010/09/13/introducing-microsoft-lync-the-next-ocs.aspx

It’s a pretty big day for the Office Communications team here at Microsoft. I’m excited to share that we’ve met a major milestone and are making the release candidate of our ‘wave 14’ communications products available for anyone to download. In addition, there has been much speculation on what the new name for the release would be, so I get to officially announce that here too – the new name is Microsoft Lync.

…. we wanted a new name that reflected the major product transformation. In that sense, Lync – a combination of “link” and “sync” – is about connecting people in new ways, anytime, anywhere.

#Exchange 2010 on VMware

by ucinfo, posted in Exchange, Flaphead, MsExchange

#exchange2010

From NetApp .. Huumm .. http://communities.netapp.com/docs/DOC-7535?REF_SOURCE=tot-1009&h

When you think about running Microsoft® Exchange 2010 on VMware®, it’s easy to come up with good reasons for doing so:

  • Better utilize your processor cores. Large, multicore servers are becoming the norm, but most applications cannot take advantage of all the cores in a physical server.
  • Isolate roles without adding hardware expense. Exchange 2010 has evolved into a modular architecture with distinct server roles, including mailbox, edge transport, hub transport, and client access. Isolating these roles can make it much easier to troubleshoot Exchange problems, but that would require a lot of physical servers, especially in smaller environments.
  • Avoid overprovisioning. It’s always hard to know what the future is going to mean in terms of your Exchange requirements. Running Exchange on VMware means you can provide the right resources now and add them incrementally as you need them, avoiding expensive overprovisioning upfront.
  • More easily meet your business requirements. The way you design your Exchange deployment might depend on your specific requirements. Do you need to have a separate mailbox server for each department or business unit? Virtualization makes it simple to accomplish that without raising your hardware expenses and physical server count.
  • Provision a new Exchange server rapidly. Provisioning a physical server is time consuming, even when you already have the hardware. With VMware it’s easy to create a template for each type of Exchange server and save them to speed the deployment of servers of the same type in the future.
  • Maintain an Exchange lab. Need to maintain a lab to test and troubleshoot Exchange? VMware virtualization is a great foundation for your Exchange 2010 evaluation and testing processes.
  • Clone for testing and troubleshooting. Snapshot™ copies and clones give you the power to rapidly clone a particular Exchange VM for troubleshooting.

Despite these and other advantages, there are several questions that I hear almost every time I talk to people about running Exchange on VMware. In this article, I’m going to try and address the most common concerns and provide some best practices associated with running Exchange in joint VMware and NetApp® environments.

#Powershell to import AD OU Structure from a CSV

by ucinfo, posted in Uncategorized

So the next step to this post (#Powershell to export AD OU Structure) is to import the OUs.  This is quite simple and uses ADSI to create new OUs.  The CSV need to have atleast a column called Path, and that could be in this format:

“Administration”
“AdministrationContacts”
“AdministrationGroups”
“AdministrationGroupsDomain Local Groups”
“AdministrationGroupsGlobal Groups”,

The script will then reverse the path and convert it to a DN and create the OUs.  If the OU exists, the script will error and continue.  Enjoy

#
#import-organizationalUnitFromCSV.ps1
#

$CSVin = Import-Csv c:psOUs.csv
$OUs   = $CSVin | Sort Path

#CSV file need to have atleast a column called Path

$CurrentDomain = [System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.Domain]::getcurrentdomain()
$DC            = $CurrentDomain.FindDomainController().name + “:389″ #”localhost:389”
$Forest        = $CurrentDomain.Forest.ToString()
$Forest        = “dc=” + $Forest
$Forest        = $Forest.Replace(“.”,”,dc=”)
$domain        = [ADSI]”LDAP://$dc/$Forest”

ForEach($OU in $OUs){
  #Using the OU Path from the CSV File, split it down
  $tmpOU = $OU.Path.Split(“”)

  #Reverse the Path and make it AD happy
  $ActualOU=””;For($i=$tmpOU.Length;$i–;$i -eq 0){IF($tmpOU[$i] -ne “”){$ActualOU+= “OU=” + $tmpOU[$i] + “,”}}

  #Remove the trailing comma
  $ActualOU = $ActualOU.Substring(0, $ActualOU.Length-1)
  $ActualOU

  #Add the OU.  If it exists it will error but continue
  $NewOU = $Domain.Create(“organizationalunit”, $ActualOU); $NewOU.SetInfo()
}#ForEach

Next step is to import users and groups from a CSV .. coming soon.

#Powershell to export AD OU Structure

by ucinfo, posted in Flaphead, Powershell

So I am messing around with a testlab and wanted the OU structure I have in production.  So I wrote this :-D to export the OUs.  The result is a CSV file with two columns Path and OU.  Path is just the OU DN in reverse, and in a “nice” view, so you can sort the OUs.

The script uses .net objects to get domain, forest and DC information.  It uses this to perform a search for all objectcategory that is equal to organizationalUnit.

The script also removes any domain / forest information, so it becomes more generic and can be imported anywhere with out worrying about where it came from.

#
#export-organizationalUnit2CSV.ps1
#
$CurrentDomain       = [System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.Domain]::getcurrentdomain()
$DC                  = $CurrentDomain.FindDomainController().name + “:389″ #”localhost:389”
$Forest              = $CurrentDomain.Forest.ToString()
$Forest              = “dc=” + $Forest
$Forest              = $Forest.Replace(“.”,”,dc=”)
$domain              = [ADSI]”LDAP://$dc/$Forest”
$Dom                 = “LDAP://” + $Forest
$Root                = New-Object DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry $Dom
$searcher            = New-Object DirectoryServices.DirectorySearcher
$searcher.PageSize   = 1000
$searcher.filter     = “(objectcategory=organizationalUnit)”
$searcher.SearchRoot = $root
$objs= $searcher.findall()
$domainDN = $domain.distinguishedName

“Path, OU, Type” | Out-File c:psOUs.csv
ForEach($OU in $Objs){
  $tmpProps = $OU.Properties
  $tmpProps.name
  $tmpType = $tmpProps.objectcategory | Out-String
  $tmpType = $tmpType.Trim()
  $tmpType = $tmpType.Substring(0,$tmpType.IndexOf(“,CN=”))
  $tmpType = $tmpType.Replace(“CN=”,””)
  $tmpOU   = $OU.Path
  $tmpOU   = $tmpOU.Replace(“LDAP://”,””)
  $tmpOU   = $tmpOU.Replace(“,$domainDN”,””)
  $tmpPath = $tmpOU.Split(“,”)
  $x=””;For($i=$tmpPath.Length;$i–;$i -le 0){$x+= “” + $tmpPath[$i]}
  $x = $x.replace(“OU=”,””)

  $tmpCSV = [CHAR]34 + $x + [CHAR]34 + “,” + [CHAR]34 + $tmpOU + [CHAR]34 + “,” + $tmpType
  $tmpCSV | Out-File OUs.csv -append
}#ForEach

notepad c:psous.csv

Let me know what you think  … Next step is to import them

INFO-SEC: Alert – New Mass Mailer Worm Affecting Some Exchange Customers

by ucinfo, posted in Exchange, Flaphead, MsExchange

#Exchange #Exchange2010

Received this from a number of different people today (Thanks Mitch!)

Emerging Malware Issue: Visal.B: http://blogs.technet.com/b/mmpc/archive/2010/09/09/emerging-malware-issue-visal-b.aspx

Worm:Win32/Visal.B is a new worm, written in Visual Basic, that is currently propagating in part using social-engineering. We strongly encourage customers to be cautious about clicking suspicious or even simply unexpected links in email, even if it’s sent by someone you know. Getting infected by Visal.B is an example of what happens if you aren’t careful.

The threat has a timestamp of 9/3/2010 and spreads using two techniques: mass emailing, and copying itself to local drives (C: and H:) and network shares. The threat will copy itself to various drives on the local system along with an autorun.inf file, and will also send itself to all contacts that it can find on the compromised system via email.

Visal.B uses MAPI to perform a mass mailing to all contacts that it finds on the compromised system. In a corporate environment the “address book” may be extensive. As more machines on a corporate network are infected, more and more email is sent around on the local network, which can cause mail server performance degradation. The threat also sends back information about the compromised system, specifically IP addresses and system information via a built-in SMTP/ESMTP (mail-transfer) engine.

Microsoft Malware Protection Center Technical Summary: http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/Threat/Encyclopedia/Entry.aspx?Name=Worm%3aWin32%2fVisal.B

Microsoft Malware Protection Center Latest Definitions: http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/Definitions/ADL.aspx

Microsoft Malware Protection Center Blog Post: http://blogs.technet.com/b/mmpc/archive/2010/09/09/emerging-malware-issue-visal-b.aspx

Microsoft TechNet Wiki on Visal-b: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/worm-win32-visal-b.aspx

A Month in #Exchange and #OCS: September 2010: Part 4

by ucinfo, posted in Exchange, Flaphead, MsExchange

#Exchange2010

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* Technical White Papers for Exchange Server 2007
 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc164340.aspx

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* Technical White Papers for Exchange Server 2010
 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd795096(EXCHG.140).aspx

Did someone release a new service pack? ;-)

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* Exchange 2007 Documentation Updates
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc164372.aspx

OMG! a digit has been extracted?

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* Documentation Updates from the Exchange Team Blog http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/category/11153.aspx

Move along, as usual nothing to see here ;-)

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* Office Communication Server Documentation Updates
 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb676082.aspx

Hummm …

Communications Server 2010
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff770144.aspx

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* New KBs from Last Month
New means they appear in KB as Revision 1.0! 
Exchange 5.5:  http://kbalertz.com/Technology_55.aspx
Exchange 2000: http://kbalertz.com/Technology_53.aspx
Exchange 2003: http://kbalertz.com/Technology_313.aspx
Exchange 2007: http://kbalertz.com/Technology_515.aspx
Exchange 2010: http://kbalertz.com/Technology_1282.aspx
Exchange 2010 Coexistence: http://kbalertz.com/Technology_1281.aspx
Forefront For Exchange: http://kbalertz.com/Technology_523.aspx
Communications Server 2007: http://kbalertz.com/Technology_557.aspx
Communicator 2007: http://kbalertz.com/Technology_558.aspx
Outlook 2007: http://kbalertz.com/Technology_506.aspx
Outlook 2010: http://kbalertz.com/technology_1543.aspx

Found this too: http://blogs.technet.com/b/hot/archive/tags/Messaging+Server/

Not a lot really

August 26, 2010
2294243 WinRM times out and you receive an error message when you try to add a Mailbox server to an existing DAG

August 24, 2010
2387770 When using Autodiscover Outlook fails to connect to an Exchange 2010 SP1 mailbox with “Unable to open your default e-mail folders” if the user was moved cross forest

August 12, 2010
2352730 Outlook does not show Organization tab if Exchange is installed on a member server

A Month in #Exchange and #OCS: September 2010: Part 3

by ucinfo, posted in A Month in Exchange, Exchange, Flaphead, MMMUG, MsExchange

Exchange2010 #MMMUG

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* New On-Demand Web Content from August 2010

Nothing exciting :-|

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* Webcasts of interest showing at a desktop near you in September 2010

Wednesday, September 15, 2010: Business Insights Webcast: The New Unified Communications with OCS 2007 R2, Exchange 2010, and Office 2010 (Level 100)
 Technology has brought us a very long way in terms of how we communicate in the business world. E-mail, telephones, instant messaging, and conference calling make it possible for us to do things today that were unthinkable twenty years ago. But as these technologies have evolved, they have done so independently, creating communications silos. Attend this webcast to learn how Unified Communications (UC) technologies in Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007, Microsoft Exchange 2010, and Microsoft Office 2010 integrate all of the ways we contact each other in a single environment, using a single identity and presence that spans phones, workstations, and other devices. We showcase the Microsoft UC innovations you can take advantage of to provide more effective and streamlined communications for end users.
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032453435

Tuesday, September 15, 2010: TechNet Webcast: Information About Microsoft September Security Bulletins (Level 200)
Join us for a brief overview of the technical details of the September security bulletins. We intend to address your concerns in this webcast, therefore, most of the webcast is devoted to attendees asking questions about the bulletins and getting answers from Microsoft security experts.
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032454433

Wednesday, September 22, 2010: TechNet Webcast: Windows PowerShell Basics for IT Professionals (Level 200)
This one-hour webcast is geared towards IT professionals who do not have a strong coding or scripting background. We help you to understand the basics of Windows PowerShell, including parsing, piping, getting help, using variables and operators, and flow control. By the end of this session, you should understand enough to create simple commands and be comfortable enough to explore Windows PowerShell on your own.
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032458985

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* Microsoft Messaging & Mobility User Group UK (MMMUG)

Thursday September 30th 2010: Exchange virtualisation
The subject of the event is Exchange Virtualisation, it’ll be held on Thursday 30th September and EMC will be presenting for half of the session.
Since there wasn’t really time for a Q/A session in the last meeting – we’ll making up for it in this one with half of the time dedicated to a roundtable discussion.

The meeting will be held at one of EMC’s London offices (near Southwark tube station) – there are spaces for 30 people and food and drink will be provided.
http://www.mmmug.co.uk/5-September_30th_Meeting_E28093_Exchange_virtualisation

A Month in #Exchange and #OCS: September 2010: Part 2

by ucinfo, posted in A Month in Exchange, Exchange, Flaphead, MsExchange

#Exchange2010

##*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* New Exchange and OCS Downloads from August 2010

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and Outlook 2010 Standards Documentation
 The Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and Outlook 2010 Standards documentation is intended for use in conjunction with publicly available standard specifications and network programming art, and assumes that the reader either is familiar with the aforementioned material or has immediate access to it. A protocol specification does not require the use of Microsoft programming tools or programming environments in order for you to develop an implementation. If you have access to Microsoft programming tools and environments you are free to take advantage of them.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6fa94dc9-d4b6-402b-8c22-8a52acea2284&displayLang=en

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1 RTM Protocol Documentation
The Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1 RTM Protocol technical documentation set provides detailed technical specifications for Microsoft protocols and extensions to industry-standards or other published protocols that are implemented and used in Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1 RTM. This allows the user to interoperate or communicate natively with Microsoft Office client and other server products.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a9aae935-ad23-4117-a3d9-9ed6093d6d7f&displayLang=en

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 3 Help
 The Exchange Server 2007 SP3 Help can help you in the day-to-day administration of Exchange. Use this information to guide you through Exchange Server 2007 SP3 features, tasks, and administration procedures.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e10e7561-e480-46da-88a8-9e246f7bcdb8&displayLang=en

Exchange Server 2010 SP1 UM Language Packs
These downloads contain pre-recorded prompts, grammar files, text to speech data, Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) files, and Voice Mail Preview capabilities for a specific language that is supported by Exchange 2010 SP1 Unified Messaging (UM). Warning: This UM language pack must only be installed as an add-in to Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Unified Messaging.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ee7d3f0e-81bd-46ce-8f23-a38199e2c6ee&displayLang=en

Infrastructure Planning and Design
 The Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guides are the next version of Windows Server System Reference Architecture. The guides in this series help clarify and streamline design processes for Microsoft infrastructure technologies, with each guide addressing a unique infrastructure technology or scenario.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ad3921fb-8224-4681-9064-075fdf042b0c&displayLang=en

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 helps you achieve new levels of reliability and performance by delivering features that help to simplify your administration, protect your communications, and delight your customers by meeting their demands for greater business mobility.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=50b32685-4356-49cc-8b37-d9c9d4ea3f5b&displaylang=en

Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Help
Use Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Help content to help you plan, deploy and manage your Exchange 2010 SP1 organization.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=2685440c-8e55-463a-ab96-102eddf8a7c4

A Month in #Exchange and #OCS: September 2010: Part 1

by ucinfo, posted in A Month in Exchange, Exchange, Flaphead, MsExchange

#Exchange2010

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* Microsoft Exchange … In Blog Posts & News from last month
Microsoft Office Communications Server … In Blog Posts & News from last month Microsoft Communications Server … In Blog Posts & News from last month

Check out Google fast flip too .. for Exchange and OCS

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* Interesting Blogs and Tweets I read this last