Archive
Bringing Legacy Blog Back to Cover Legacy Products
Just about a year ago, I moved all new posts over to Technet.com. In spite of that, this blog still continues to get much attention due to a lot of the existing content proving to be very useful for users. For that I am extremely happy to help and it recently gave me an idea. I have been mulling over how I should focus my current blog over at Technet with regards to information, guidance, and support tips. While I have a lot of great information coming (a lot of new products/product versions in the pipeline) I also have a wealth of information I’ve been needing to post tat was related to existing products and legacy products (Softgrid/App-V 4.x/MED-V V1, etc.) I also realize there is a strong user community and install base still present who may not be moving off until the products get closer to end of life.
– Steve Thomas
With this said, I decided that I would use this blog on WordPress in the future for legacy product information (App-V 4.x/Softgrid/MED-V V1/VMM 2008/VPC) while keeping my blog over at Technet more related to current and forward technologies (App-V 5.0/UE-V/Hyper-V 2012/Win8/Win2012.)
SCVMM: Checkpoints are great for Reversion but not for Serious Backup
Checkpoints in SCVMM are managed Hyper-V Snapshots. Hyper-V snapshots are block-level at the VHD layer and serve great for development environments that need reversion capabilities but are not recommended in production.
For a good how-to guide for creating and managing checkpoints, you can look at the Technet documentation here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc956044.aspx
As I said earlier, this is great for scenarios of testing patches, testing upgrades, or working with App-V/Softgrid sequencers. It does not work if you are trying to attain file-level backup/restoration capabilities.
Checkpoints/Snapshots will not give you file-level restoration capabilities, however. This must come through a solution from the guest operating system. Windows Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2 have built-in VSS-based backup features.
You should use the built-in backup features of the operating system within the guest operating system to do individual file-based backups.
Backup and Recovery Overview for Windows Server 2008
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770593(WS.10).aspx
Backup and Recovery Overview for Windows Server 2008 R2
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd979562(WS.10).aspx
NOTE: If you plan to use checkpoints for virtual machines with SCVMM, you will want to ensure that you have merged or deleted all checkpoints before moving the virtual machines or else you will experience delays when migrating virtual machines over the network (using BITS) or during QSM (Quick Storage Migration.)
Even worse, you could have errors from these timeouts that could also result in potential corruption of the checkpoints\snapshots.
Steve Thomas
SCVMM: Service Principal Names (SPNs) Required for Proper SCVMM 2008 Functionality
SCVMM 2008, 2008 R2, as well as future versions of SCVMM rely on kerberos and kerberos delegation functionality for its security and authentication model. You may encounter various problems with SCVMM related to authentication and authorization if the underlying platform service principal names (SPNs) are not properly set.
For Virtual Console Support for Hyper-V Hosts (VMCONNECT.EXE) – This will be required on Hyper-V Hosts. Use the following command to set and verify SPNs.
setspn -s "Microsoft Virtual Console Service/HOSTNAME" computername setspn -s "Microsoft Virtual Console Service/hostname.fqdn.etc" computername
For P2V Support.
Use the following command to set and verify SPNs.
setspn -s "Microsoft Virtual System Migration Service/hostname.fqdn.etc" computername setspn -s "Microsoft Virtual System Migration Service/hostname" computername
For VS2005 Hosts and the VMRC utility
– This will be required on Virtual Server 2005 Hosts. Use the following command to set and verify SPNs.
setspn -s vmrc/hostname.fqdn.etc:5900 computername setspn -s vmrc/hostname:5900 computername setspn -s vssrvc/hostname.fqdn.etc computername setspn -s vssrvc/hostname computername
For RDP Support.
Use the following command to set and verify SPNs.
setspn -s TERMSRV/hostname.fqdn.etc computername setspn -s TERMSRV/hostname computername
For all Hosts.
Use the following command to set and verify SPNs.
setspn -s HOST/hostname computername setspn -s HOST/hostname.fqdn.etc computername
HTTP (may needed for authentication on SSP if VMM server is using Remote SQL.)
Use the following command to set and verify SPNs.
setspn -s HTTP/hostname.fqdn.etc computername setspn -s HTTP/hostname computername
SQL VMM Database
Depends on port and instance type:
Named Instance.
Use the following command to set and verify SPNs.
setspn -s MSSQLSvc/hostname.fqdn.etc:Port computername
setspn -s MSSQLSvc/hostname.fqdn.etc:InstanceName computername
Default Instance.
Use the following command to set and verify SPNs.
setspn -s MSSQLSvc/hostname:1433 computername setspn -s MSSQLSvc/hostname.fqdn.etc:1433 computername
Here are some links to some excellent articles:
Microsoft Virtualization Engine and Management Updates
Here are a listing of significant Microsoft management and Virtualization engine downloads and updates at all levels of the stack:
Storage Virtualization:
Microsoft iSCSI Target Software:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=45105d7f-8c6c-4666-a305-c8189062a0d0
iSCSI Software Target is an optional Windows Server component that provides centralized, software-based and hardware-independent iSCSI disk subsystems in storage area networks (SANs).
App-V
Microsoft App-V 4.6 Service Pack 1
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=3b48dbfe-612d-4806-b737-9254bd9b2445
Hyper-V
Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=c3202ce6-4056-4059-8a1b-3a9b77cdfdda
Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 SP1:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyId=92E2C4BA-6965-4F8E-ABBE-CBB40556B680
Updated Hyper-V Management Tools for Windows 7 SP1 now available
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=7d2f6ad7-656b-4313-a005-4e344e43997d
Update to the Hyper Best Practices Analyzer:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2485986
SCVMM:
SCVMM 2008 R2 SP1:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=9189bbce-d970-4c6c-9dd3-9e65798ecd70
Updated Configuration Analyzer for SCVMM to include 2008, 2008 R2, and 2008 R2 SP1
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=02d83950-c03d-454e-803b-96d1c1d5be24
Remote Desktop Services Connector for System Center Virtual Machine Manager
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=db795773-2f9f-4439-9df7-0bf162576e57
SCVMM 2008: Reports generated from OpsMgr 2007 SP1 in Japanese change back to English after a few days
You have an environment where SCVMM 2008 is installed with Operations Manager integration. When you run a report using the Japanese version of Operations Manager, the initial reports show up properly in Japanese. After about two days, when you go to run the report again, you will find the language is changed back to English.
This has confirmed to be a problem on the SC Operations Manager 2007 side. It has been a confirmed to be a bug in 2007 SP1.
There is no workaround although the issue has been fixed for System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2.
There will be no hotfix for SP1.
The best resolution is to upgrade the Operations Manager environment to 2007 R2.
SCVMM 2008 and 2008 R2: Error When Trying to Update Virtual Server Host: 432
After you add a Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1 host into SCVMM 2008 or SCVMM 2008 R2, it may show a status of “Needs Attention.” Upon further investigation, the host reveals that the virtualization software needs to be updated. When you attempt to update the Virtual Server software, you may get the following error:
Error (432)
Virtual Server installation was not successful on <ServerName>.
- (Unknown error (0x8007066a))
- Recommended Action
Verify that an incompatible version of Virtual Server is not already installed. If the error persists, restart <ServerName>, and then try the operation again.
Refresh may also fail following the update:
- Error (12710)
- VMM does not have appropriate permissions to access the WSMan resources on the <ServerName> server.
- (Unknown error (0x80338105))
The Windows application event log can also show the following:
- Log Name: Application
Source: MsiInstaller
Date: <date> - Event ID: 1023
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: SYSTEM
Computer: <ServerName>
Description:
Product: Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 – Update ‘{D1FEE6C6-CECF-4928-B356-19592A319C0A}’ could not be installed. Error code 1642. Additional information is available in the log file C:\ProgramData\VMMLogs\vmmvssetup_1-7-2010_18-10-51.log.
Further investigation of the VMM setup log shows the following:
MSI (s) (F0:74) [18:10:51:594]: Windows Installer installed an update. Product Name: Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. Product Version: 1.1.623.0. Product Language: 1033. Update Name: {D1FEE6C6-CECF-4928-B356-19592A319C0A}. Installation success or error status: 1642.
MSI (s) (F0:74) [18:10:51:594]: Note: 1: 1708
MSI (s) (F0:74) [18:10:51:594]: Product: Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 -- Installation failed.
MSI (s) (F0:74) [18:10:51:595]: Windows Installer installed the product. Product Name: Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. Product Version: 1.1.623.0. Product Language: 1033. Installation success or error status: 1642.
MSI (s) (F0:74) [18:10:51:596]: Attempting to delete file C:\Windows\Installer\935a257c.msp
MSI (s) (F0:74) [18:10:51:600]: MainEngineThread is returning 1642
MSI (s) (F0:40) [18:10:51:600]: No System Restore sequence number for this installation.
The upgrade cannot be installed by the Windows Installer service because the program to be upgraded may be missing, or the upgrade may update a different version of the program. Verify that the program to be upgraded exists on your computer and that you have the correct upgrade.
C:\Windows\Installer\8582296.msi
MSI (c) (94:64) [18:10:51:604]: Decrementing counter to disable shutdown. If counter >= 0, shutdown will be denied. Counter after decrement: -1
MSI (c) (94:64) [18:10:51:605]: MainEngineThread is returning 1642
This is caused by the installer not able to update the specific build of Virtual Server. In this particular case, the build/version of Virtual Server installed was 1.1.623.
Even a manual installation of the Virtual Server update will fail if the existing build is not one of the following:
- R2 SP1 General Release: 1.1.603
- Update for R2 SP1 released 5/15/2008: 1.1.629
The minimum update for SCVMM 2008 and SCVMM 2008 R2 needed to avoid the “Needs Attention” state for outdated virtualization software on Virtual Server 2005 hosts is:
KB 956124 Update released 9/24/2008: 1.1.653
You can resolve this issue in one of two ways:
1.) If the operating system on the host is running Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2003 R2, you can remove the host from SCVMM, and then uninstall the Virtual Server software manually from the host. When you go to add the host back into SCVMM, it will deploy and update the virtualization software automatically.
2.) If the operating system on the host is running Windows Server 2008 and you are using Virtual Server 2005 as your virtualization software, you will need to remove the existing version of Virtual Server 2005 and install the Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 software manually. You can choose to update the version manually to 1.1.653 using the MSP file from KB 956124 or have the SCVMM console update the virtualization software from SCVMM after adding the host.
SCVMM 2008 and 2008 R2: Error when Connecting through VMConnect or RDP: 0x8009030e
You may notice that you may run into problems with credentials going stale when trying to connect to a Virtual Machine from the SCVMM 2008 or SCVMM 2008 R2 console. When this happens, you get the following error when launching VMConnect.exe to connect to the VM:
An authentication error has occured (Code: 0x8009030e)
Remote computer: computername.domain.com
You will also get this error when trying to RDP or connecting through the Hyper-V Management console as well.
The result code 0x8009030e refers to SEC_E_NO_CREDENTIALS in this context or:
“No credentials are available in the security package.”
The security credentials stored by the Hyper-V Host are stale and need to be reset for this particular virtual machines. Other virtual machines may be affected as well but this setting is actually stored on a per-VM basis.
There is no equivalent way to delete existing stale or missing credentials for Hyper-V hosts in SCVMM. This needs to be corrected on the Hyper-V host.
On the Hyper-V Host, open up the Hyper-V Management Console. Select the host, the select “Hyper-V settings”
In the Hyper-V Settings option, under User Credentials, uncheck “Use default credentials automatically”
Connect to the Virtual Machine again, it will prompt to enter username and password.
Enter credentials, check the box “Remember my credentials”.
VMCONNECT and RDP should be successful. Once verified, return to the Hyper-V Settings option, under User Credentials, check “Use default credentials automatically”
madvirtualizer
The Mad Virtualizer at Microsoft 