VMware 6.5 vCenter High Availability (VCHA) Limitations

As per VMware vSphere 6.5 testing (currently on 6.5 U1), there are currently 2 known limitations on automatic failover on vCenter High Availability (VCHA)

• Loss of Management or Public Network
• If your VC Nodes can still communicate within heartbeat network, automatic failover will not occur. 
• vSphere Web Client Service Failure. 
• Service failure of web client does not trigger automatic failover due to several factors that could cause service failure. And even though web client service is not running, key APIs could still be functional. 

SCCM MSI: Could not access network location %APPDATA%\

A very frustrating error when installing the agent. All when you thought that the setup was running fine and easy (for~4000+ clients) some of them just don't get installed! 

So looking at the ccmsetup log, I found out this:

MSI: Could not access network location %APPDATA%\

Resolution, check the registry of each *sob* clients that we're left out. Here's the registry:  

HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-18\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

Look for "AppData" and change the value to " %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming"

That's it! Wait for the setup to reinitialize which is about 2 hours. 

Add Multiple Discovered/Managed Computer to a Collection - SCCM 2007/2012/2012 R2

After doing some research, here's the script I've used to add a list of computers to a certain collection using a batch file. Basically there are three parts of the script:

1. comp.txt - contains the list of computers to be added

2. addcompresid.vbs - contains the script that adds computers to the collection.

3. batch.bat - contains the script to add computers from comp.txt using addcompresid.vbs script.

Instructions:

1. Copy and create (probably from notepad) the batch.bat and addcompresid.vbs

2. Edit Set objSWbemServices= objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer on addcompressid.vbs to specify which MP you are going to connect.

3. Edit Set _COLID on Batch.bat  to specify the collection ID. This can be found on the properties of the collection. 

4. On the same folder, create comp.txt and paste all the computers to be added.

So here's the script and enjoy! 

_________________________________________________________________

Batch.bat

@echo off

Set _COLID=COLLECTION

Set _log=AddToCollection.log

echo Starting log file > %_log%

for /f %%a in (comp.txt) do call :AddComp %%a

goto :eof 

:AddComp

cscript //nologo AddCompResID.vbs %1 %_COLID%

Echo. Adding Computer %1 to SCCM CollectionID %_COLID%

Echo. Adding Computer %1 to SCCM CollectionID %_COLID% >> %_log%

goto :eof

_________________________________________________________________

addcompresid.vbs

strCompName = Wscript.Arguments.Item(0)

strCollID = Wscript.Arguments.Item(1)

Set objSWbemLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")

Set objSWbemServices= objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer("MPSERVER","root\sms")

Set ProviderLoc = objSWbemServices.InstancesOf("SMS_ProviderLocation")

For Each Location In ProviderLoc

    If Location.ProviderForLocalSite = True Then

        Set objSWbemServices = objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer _

            (Location.Machine, "root\sms\site_" + Location.SiteCode)

    End If

Next

Set colCompResourceID = objSWbemServices.ExecQuery("SELECT ResourceID FROM SMS_R_System WHERE " & _

                                              "NetbiosName='" & strCompName & "'")

For each insCompResource in colCompResourceID

 strNewResourceID = insCompResource.ResourceID

Next

Set instColl = objSWbemServices.Get("SMS_Collection.CollectionID=""" & strCollID & """")

Set instDirectRule = objSWbemServices.Get("SMS_CollectionRuleDirect").SpawnInstance_()

instDirectRule.ResourceClassName = "SMS_R_System"

instDirectRule.ResourceID = strNewResourceID

instDirectRule.RuleName = strComputerName

instColl.AddMembershipRule instDirectRule

_________________________________________________________________

Bypass HTTPS or SSL Requirement for Citrix Receiver

For those of you doing POCs or Testing Lab, here's how to disable SSL or HTTPS requirement for Citrix Receiver.

To bypass SSL, open regedit.exe on the client workstation and go to:

For 64-bit 

     HKLM\software\wow64\citrix\authmanager

For 32-bit

     HKLM\software\citrix\authmanager

Create string with value: 

     ConnectionSecurtiyMode = Any

And also, go to:

For 64-bit

       HKLM\software\wow64\citrix\dazzle\AllowAddStore

For 32-bit

     HKLM\software\citrix\dazzle\AllowAddStore

And set the value to "A" and restart the receiver. 

This is also useful for those troubleshooting connection between Citrix Receiver and Xenapp Server. But take note though that this is not recommended for production environment since you are exposing the user's credentials in the network. 

Preview of Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2 and SQL 2012 R2 are now available for download

I've recently received the email from MSFT that these products are now available for download:

Windows Server Evaluations

• Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview for IT Professionals
• Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview on Windows Azure
• Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview for Developers
• Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials Preview

System Center and Windows Intune Evaluations

• System Center 2012 R2 Preview Datacenter/Private Cloud
• System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager & Endpoint Protection Preview
• Windows Intune 30 Day Free Trial

SQL Server Evaluations

• SQL Server 2014 Community Technology Preview 1
• SQL Server 2014 Community Technology Preview 1 on Windows Azure

Can't wait to check them out especially on Hyper-V!

You may check the whole list here at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/dn205292

The installed version of SQL Server is not supported. Verify that the computer and installed version of SQL Server meet the minimum requirements for installation. Please see the Supported Configurations document for further information.

I got a very interesting error today while working with multiple SCOM 2012 Server across different data centers and here's what I got:

The installed version of SQL Server is not supported. Verify that the computer and installed version of SQL Server meet the minimum requirements for installation.  Please see the Supported Configurations document for further information.

Here's the scenario when I encountered the error:

1. Installed the first SCOM 2012 Server located on Data Center 1.
2. Installed second SCOM 2012 Server also on Data Center 1.
3. Installed third SCOM 2012 Server on Data Center 2 and enocuntered the error.

Here's the solutions that resolved the issue:

1. Make sure that the credentials used in installing SCOM 2012 have rights on the remote SQL Server.
2. Verify connectivity between Server and Remote SQL Server.
3. Check firewall ports on Remote SQL Server.
4. *this resolved my issue* Do a WBemTest from the Server to the Remote SQL Server. If you get "RPC Server Unavailable", it means that RPC Ports are blocked, either at the Remote SQL Server or your network firewall. Make sure to open RPC ports 135, 137, 139 and 445 to resolve this issue.

This error may be due to SCOM Setup unable to determine the version of SQL on the Remote Server and thus displaying the error message.

Wireless on Windows Server 2012

I've recently installed Windows Server 2012 on my laptop for testing and lab purposes and what do I get, I cannot connect to the wireless router!

So here's how to enable wireless networking on Windows Server 2012 (not recommended for production servers)

1. Go the Server Manager
2. Click Add Roles and Features
3. Go to Features List
4. Enable Wireless LAN Service
5. Add the Feature and restart