Another good article from the App-V blog, this one dealing with Prescriptive Guidance for Sequencing Office 2010 in App-V 4.6 SP1 PLUS a whole lot of other good advice.
Read the article here but the Guidance on how to Sequence Office 2010 is found at
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/983462
But you best be aware of some limitations, but luckily Microsoft have them listed and they can be found at:
If you have ever used SCCM you will know how slow the process of adding a Secondary site can be!
Try out the following, but be warned, have a backup before testing.
Log on your Secondary SCCM Site server, copy the file \inboxes\sitectrl.box\SiteCtrl.ct0 file to a temp location, rename it to 00000000.ct2 and copy the renamed file to Primary SCCM Site Server \inboxes\hman.box\
In few seconds on SCCM Console you can see the Second SCCM Site Server.
Thanks to Steve on my SCCM course this week for showing me this! Made my day!!
See the orginal entry here
this is a totally awesome tool by Tim Murgent and allows you to explore the xml syntax of the OSD file in an interactive way.
Very very Cool…
See it here
I saw this a few years ago, but found it again tonight! So as a reminder to myself and for anyone else that cares, here is the:
Aaron Parker http://blog.stealthpuppy.com/
Tim Murgent http://tmurgent.com/
Big Hat Group http://bighatgroup.com/
Wannabe Sequencer http://www.mitoonline.net/appv/?page_id=470
There are some recipes on the above site
More recipes
http://joshuasmueller.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/app-v-recipe-sccm-2007-console/
Softgrid blog http://www.softgridblog.com/
I found the following article about Infrastructure and Network Monitoring with System Center Operations Manager 2012 Release Candidate really interesting on the Microsoft Server and Cloud Platform Blog and thought it would be worth reading.
With the removal of the RMS role there is quite a fundamental change in the setup of Ops Manager topology. to find out more about the topology changes have a look at the following article:
I was looking for some App-V stuff and found this list of blogs. So I thought I would plagiarise them 
App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
AVIcode Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/avicode
ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
OOB Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/oob/
Opalis Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/opalis
Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
OpsMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/operationsmgr/
SCMDM Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/mdm/
SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv
Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center Essentials Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenteressentials
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/
Source:The Microsoft Application Virtualization Blog
One of my delegates showed me this site for install software easily.
Its called ninite.com and it worth having a look at .
This is something that it interesting for SCCM admins. Should you want to get an inventory of a specific registry key using SCCM hinv, then try out this utility.
As usual its on the MyITForum site as well..
http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/skissinger/archive/2011/02/18/mark-cochrane-s-regkeytomof-v2-6.aspx
This is a really useful blog if you are taking the 70-665 Admin exam.
You can find it here:
http://designinglync.blogspot.com/p/study-guide-for-70-665-exam.html
The supplement give a list of all the PowerShell cmdlets referred to in the guide.
Clicking on the title of each section gives the PowerShell cmdlet/s. Very Cool!! and also VERY useful.
You can find it here:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/csps/archive/2011/07/13/adminguidepssupplement.aspx
Its funny how sometimes in life things pass you by. for example, there are a whole swathe of Amazon services that I had never come across, some useful, some not..Anyway here is a list:
Amazon web services http://aws.amazon.com/
Amazon Prime a one off payment lets you get your your purchases quicker, all year!!
My favourite is the Shelfari website and as the blurb on the website says:
“Shelfari is a community-powered encyclopaedia for book lovers.
Create a virtual bookshelf, discover new books, connect with friends and learn more about your favourite books – all for free.”
So you can find that here: http://www.shelfari.com/
And lastly, the Chrome webstore, which only runs on Chrome. (Wonder how long that will last?)
Its very useful and has a lot of content, more that I can describe here..
Anyway it can be found here:
I love Asian food and found this website with awesome recipes on it. Made me so hungry reading through some the options..
Thomas Lee has written a book about PowerShell which is definitely worth a read. Find out more at
http://tfl09.blogspot.com/2011/09/windows-powershell-bible-to-be.html
I am hoping for a signed copy of course 
but most likely will be buying my own copy.
Thomas Lee, MVP on PowerShell, is holding a PowerCamp on November 5/6th
Details here.
More details below from Thomas’s blog.
What is it?
This fast paced weekend event covers all the key aspects of Windows PowerShell - from the command line and writing production-oriented scripts. We start with the basics including installation and configuration, formatting and providers and remoting. We then look at scripting, managing script libraries using modules, using objects, and finishing with the PowerShell features added into Windows. We finish with a look at PowerShell in the cloud and what’s coming with PowerShell 3.
The event will be all lecture, with the opportunity to type along with the tutor.
What is the Agenda?
Day 1 – The Basics
• PowerShell Fundamentals – starting with the key elements of PowerShell (Cmdlets, Objects and the Pipeline) plus installation, setup, and profiles
• Discovery – finding your way and learning how to discover more
• Formatting – how to format output nicely – both by default and using hash tables and display XML
• Remoting – working with remote systems using PowerShell’s remoting capabilities
• Providers – getting into OS data stores via PSProviders
Day 2 – Diving Deeper
• Scripting Concepts – automating everyday tasks including PowerShell’s language constructs, error handling and debugging (both from the command line and using an IDE)
• Modules – managing PowerShell script libraries in the enterprise
• .NET/WMI/COM Objects – working with native objects
• PowerShell and Windows Client/Server – how you can use built in PowerShell cmdlets
• PowerShell in Key Microsoft Servers - a look at PowerShell today in SQL, SCVMM plus a look forward to the future with SharePoint 2010
• PowerShell and the cloud – this module looks at PowerShell in the cloud and how you can use PowerShell to manage cloud computing.
• PowerShell 3 – this final module will show you what’s new in PowerShell V3, based on the the latest Beta of Windows 8.
What will it cost?
The cost is £200 (+VAT at the prevailing rate) for the weekend. Meals and accommodation are not covered.
Where is the event going to take place?
The PowerShell PowerCamp will be held at Microsoft Cardinal Place, 100 Victoria Street in Victoria on the weekend of November 5/6 2011.
Who is the tutor?
The PowerShell Weekend PowerCamp will be delivered by Thomas Lee. Thomas is a veteran PowerShell MVP who has been involved in the PowerShell community since the very beginning. He provides training and consultancy around a range of Microsoft products, with a recent focus on PowerShell and Lync Server. Thomas runs PowerShell training courses around the world, and has been a speaker at conferences across the world for the past decade. In his spare time, he lives with his wife, daughter, and wine cellar in a small cottage in the UK. His Twitter handle is DoctorDNS and he maintains two blogs (Under the Stairs at http://tfl09.blogspot.com and PowerShell Scripts Blog at http://pshscripts.blogspot.com)
What do I need to bring
You need to bring a laptop with at least two VMs pre-configured. The first should be a Server 2008 R2 domain controller and the other one a member server. And if you have access to the Windows 8 beta, bring along a Win8 VM for the look at PowerShell V3. The virtualisation software is not of concern – but you need 64-bit guest OS support. Thus you can use Hyper-V, VMware Workstation or Oracle’s Virtual Box.
How do I book?
Contact DoctorDNS@Gmail.com to book a place and to arrange for the invoice to be paid. Payment will need to be cash, cheque or bank transfer – I don’t take credit cards.
More Details
Watch Thomas’s blog for any hot breaking news on the event.
A colleague was having problems deploying and image and his resolution lead to him find the following “How-to” on resolving PXE Service point problems..
Found this tool for those bloggers who want to blog and have a hosting provider already.
From their website:
“BlogEngine.NET is an open source .NET blogging project that was born out of desire for a better blog platform. A blog platform with less complexity, easy customization, and one that takes advantage of the latest .NET features.
BlogEngine.NET was designed using the current .NET framework and focused on simplicity, ease of extendibility, and innovative features. With BlogEngine.NET, we hope to create the natural blog of choice for all .NET developers world wide. “
You can find it here:
Found this as a result of a discussion I had with one of the delegates on my SC OM course this week. We were talking about generating test events and having used the MOM 2005 version for a long time I was interested in this PowerShell version.
You can find it here :
Came across this today. Thought it would be really useful to share, particularly as PowerShell is becoming more widely accepted by the Microsoft Admin’s.
Here it is: http://poshcode.org/
Like most people using Lync I have always assumed that we could not use the Lync client to talk to an OCS R2 pool. Appears that I was wrong! Not only is it possible but very easy. Have a look at the following blog and if you can, test it out!
My colleague Matt has made the change and he reports that he is able indeed to use a Lync client to access our OCSR2 pool. But he reports that he is not getting any address book synchronisation, as of when we were discussing this! Might be that today he is getting an ABS sync but as he is on holiday!!
So have a look at the blog. Here it is:
One of the really cool things about SCOM is the ability to create your own Management Packs.
You can do it with in the OM console or you can use the MP Authoring tool, but that's a bit complicated and takes time to learn. What you need is some help. Jonathan Almquist has compiled a list of links which show you how to author management packs.
Here it is: http://blogs.technet.com/b/jonathanalmquist/archive/2011/04/07/management-pack-authoring-links.aspx
I came across the two blogs today! One was recommended by a friend at Microsoft, and I was told to read “everything” on it! With a recommendation like that how could I refuse?
The blog is Kevin Holman's System Center Blog and you can find it here:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/kevinholman/
The other blog is Jonathan Almquist on Operations Manager
and can be found here: http://blogs.technet.com/b/jonathanalmquist/
This is a cool set of resources to help roll out Lync in your enterprise.These resources, consist of guidance, examples, templates, and user education and training resources, and are designed to help organizations successfully roll out Lync. They are also very useful as a reference after you have started or completed your rollout. Inevitably you will want to make changes and where better to get some help..
You can see them here at http://lync.microsoft.com/Adoption-and-Training-Kit/rollout-and-adoption/Pages/Resources/Intro-to-Resources.aspx
I get asked fairly often about the differences between the on premise version of Lync and the Lync online offering. I also get asked whether its worth using the online version of Lync. Having been on the beta for a while i would recommend Office 365 as its really useful to be able to get to email, SharePoint and Lync. The whole experience does rely on your link to the internet though but by and large I could not fault the service.
I hadn't got around as yet to doing a comparative analysis of the differences, just as well as I found a really good one here. There is a really neat table that summarizes the differences well, making the answer to Which offering should I use based on features” a really easy answer.
I was looking for something else but found this environment. The MSDN guys have made some online labs available so that you can do some programming experimentation using the UCMA.
Very Cool!! I ran and I mean ran through one of the labs and one it very good but you will need to have a look yourself and make your own minds up!
You can find it here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/gg288977
This is something I first heard about a couple of years ago but had forgotten about it. What it is is the Unified Communications Experience “in a box”, provided by BoxedUC. Essentially a rack mount solution that contains everything you need to run a Lync deployment, but it gets better than that… You can add Exchange 2010 and Sharepoint 2010 and have the whole gambit at your finger tips.
In their words
Have a look here or the full url is http://www.boxeduc.com/
I was sent this website via the monthly TechNet Flash news letter. its worth checking out if you are interested in System Centre. You can find it http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/hh286395
I found this tool which uses a PowerShell script to automate the configuration of Lync for integrating Polycom DMA/RMX.
Have a look at it here
One of the Microsoft products that I really like teaching, and also think is very cool, is Configuration Manager. Any information about the new version is exciting and when you add to the mix a bit of OSD then you cant go wrong!
Have a look at what the team is doing with offline servicing of operating system deployments here
Here is a nice summary of Lync related blogs. Makes it easy to find the one you want.
CU2
| Product | Update | KB | Download |
| Lync 2010 (64bit) | Lync_2010_CU2 | 2496325 | MS download |
| Lync 2010 (32bit) | Lync_2010_CU2 | 2496325 | MS download |
| Lync 2010 Phone Edition (Tanjay) | LPET_2010_CU2 | 2529974 | MS download |
| Lync 2010 Phone Edition (Aries-Aastra) | LPEAA_2010_CU2 | 2529978 | MS download |
| Lync 2010 Phone Edition (Aries-Polycom) | LPEAP_2010_CU2 | 2529977 | MS download |
| Lync 2010 Attendee (Admin Install) | LAA_2010_CU2 | 2500438 | MS download |
| Lync 2010 Attendee (User mode install) | LAU_2010_CU2 | 2500440 | MS download |
| Lync 2010 Attendant (32 & 64 bit are a combined patch) | LA_2010_CU2 | 2496326 | MS download |
| Lync 2010 Group Chat Client | LGCC_2010_CU2 | 2500446 | MS download |
| Lync 2010 Group Chat Server | LGCS_2010_CU2 | 2500447 | MS download |
| Lync 2010 Group Chat Admin | LGCA_2010_CU2 | 2500445 | MS download |
There are some really cool scripts here that are available for download.
The scripts cover most Microsoft products.
The repository can be found here
Just downloaded and extracted this! What a fantastic tool.
This is nirvana for Lync consultants who should get it from the following url without delay. Full link below.
The number of options is really good, plus there is even an Erlang page for advanced users.
I was told about this application today and it is worth a look.Free network management software & IT community is the slogan on the home page.
Nice short cut for System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Product Documentation and can be found here
So, for the first time this year I am teaching something other than Lync 2010. Am not sure if its a relief or not. I really like Lync and teaching it, but for the next week I will be teaching Operations Manager 2007 R2.
I found these virtual labs with I thought would be useful as they cover the whole gambit of Operations Manager. they can be found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/en/us/operations-manager/om-try-it.aspx#virtual-labs
Below are the shortcut keys that can be used irrespective of which window has focus.
Table 1: Global Hotkeys
| Shortcut key | Description |
| Windows Key + Q | Brings Lync main window to foreground |
| Windows Key + A | Accept an incoming toast invitation |
| Windows Key + X | Declines toast invitation and change your status to ‘Do not disturb’ |
| Windows Key + Esc | Decline toast invitation |
| Ctrl + Shift + Space | Sets focus on the application sharing toolbar |
| Ctrl + Alt + Space | Take back control when sharing your screen |
| Ctrl + Shift + S | Stop sharing your screen |
Below are the shortcut keys that can be used on the main window when it is in foreground.
Table 2: Main Window Shortcuts
| Shortcut key | Description |
| Ctrl + 1 | Go to the contact list tab |
| Ctrl + 2 | Go to the activity feeds tab |
| Ctrl + 3 | Go to the conversation list tab |
| Ctrl + 4 | Go to the phone tab |
| Alt + A | View all conversations when in conversation list tab |
| Alt + D | View missed conversations when in conversation list tab |
| Alt + C | View missed calls when in conversation list tab |
Below are the shortcut keys that can be used on a conversation window when it is in foreground.
Table 3: Conversation Window Shortcuts
| Shortcut key | Description |
| Ctrl + W | Show/Hide IM area |
| Ctrl + R | Show/Hide participant list |
| Ctrl + Shift + Y | Show/Hide left region when sharing stage is visible |
| Alt + I | Invite a contact to an existing conversation |
| Ctrl + F | Send a file |
| Alt + P | Open a file received |
| Alt + C, Alt + D | Accept or decline an invitation to share, audio or video modalities |
| Ctrl + Shift + Enter | Start or end phone call |
| Ctrl + Shift + H | Hold/Resume an ongoing audio conversation |
| Ctrl + M | Pause/Resume video (only if already in progress) |
| Alt + R | Rejoin audio in a conference |
| Escape | Exits fullscreen view if present. Else, will close the conversation window only if it has no audio, video or sharing. |
| Ctrl + Shift + <, Ctrl + Shift + > | Increase/Decrease selected text font size in IM input |
| Ctrl + ], Ctrl + [ | Zoom in/Zoom out the text in IM input and history |
I was looking for some reference material about configuring HLB for Edge servers in Lync server. I still haven't found what I was looking for as I got side-tracked by this website.
I think this is a really useful site which provides in one place links to many Lync resources on blogs, Microsoft and so on. you can see it here: Lync Lab
Something that has become a recurrent theme in the last few weeks has been the question of how is Lync Server licenced.
Microsoft have changed the model used for licensing Lync in comparison to OCS R2. The following table shows the options available. (From the Lync website)
Lync Server 2010 Client Access Licenses
Standard CAL
Enterprise CAL
Plus CAL
1 The Lync Server 2010 Standard CAL offers instant messaging and rich presence (IM/P) features. It provides users with real-time presence and enhanced IM along with PC-to-PC audio and video communications. Additionally it provides users with authenticated attendee experience for internally hosted conferences.
2 The Lync Server 2010 Enterprise CAL offers the audio, video, and Web conferencing features. It provides users the ability to create, moderate, and join conferences for collaboration with both internal and external users.
3 The Lync Server 2010 Plus CAL offers enterprise voice telephony features. It provides high-quality voice and other related features to users anywhere with an Internet connection across IP phones, PCs, and desktop applications.
You can find the relevant licensing information here.
Microsoft have thoughtfully provided the ability to download the information as a pdf.
Hello again, I was talking to a colleague of mine and he was saying how much cool stuff there is in PowerShell! So he had done a web search and he found and downloaded a cheat sheet to get him and us started. This is stored on the Powergui website and you can get the cheat sheet here. I would recommend that you have a look at the rest of the site as it gives some really cool software away in addition to lots of other cool stuff.
Cheers
Polycom and Microsoft have been in joint collaboration for a while now. We have seen this in the Lync Phone edition client that appears on the CX 500/600/700 phones and the CX 3000 conferencing phone.
I have been delivering some training to Polycom on their HDX 4000 and RMX 1500 MCU’s and they are great pieces of hardware. To see how this works have a look at the following blog which gives a detailed explanation of the integration.
In essence the HDX and RMX provide a hardware based solution for hosting video conferences.
Import-CsDeviceUpdate -Identity "service:WebServer:atl-cs-001.litwareinc.com" -FileName C:\Updates\UCUpdates.cab Substitute the variables for your values and away you go.For more Powershell command information see:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg398861.aspx
