Microsoft will have two betas of Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. Beta 2 is scheduled for calendar Q4, with general availability in Q1 2007.

Beta 1 of Virtual Server 2005 R2 service pack 1 includes:

- Intel Virtualization Technology compatibility
- Host Clustering technical white paper and the VB script

Beta 2 is planned to include the features of Beta 1 plus:

- AMD Virtualization Technology compatibility
- Active Directory integration and management features
- Volume Shadow Service

The Beta 1 download is available via Microsoft Connect. Select the Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 Beta program from the list of available programs that appear here:
https://connect.microsoft.com/availableprograms.aspx.

The other side effect of this issue is that any member of a group that contained Alice's email address in the email attribute would have OWNER rights on the content, even if they had not been specifically assigned rights on the content.

The reason that this behaviour did not appear when using custom templates is that the templates used the special RMS group Anyone which obviously doesn't have an email attribute.

The customer in question is going to fix up the security groups that affect their pilot deployment, however, this behaviour may well prevent them from pursuing a broader deployment of RMS.

Hope this helps.

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP
• Microsoft Virtual Server 2005
• .NET Framework 1.1
• Internet Information Services (IIS), with ASP.NET (note that the VSDM installer will add ASP.NET and/or enable the ASP.NET extensions if necessary)
• Client side requires: Internet Explorer (6.0 or greater)

To get started with the install, run the file you downloaded.

Due to the fact that this entry contains a lot of screen shots, I'm using MT's Extended Entry capability so you'll need to click the link below to view the remainder of this entry. Please feel free to leave a comment with any questions you might have. If you've tried to leave comments before and were turned off by the fact that they required an email address, please try again as I've disabled that requirement.

1. On the Welcome to the Virtual Server Deployment Manager 1.3.0 (VSDM) Setup Wizard page, click Next.


2. On the License Agreement page, click I agree, and then click Next.


3. On the Select Installation Folder page, select an appropriate folder for VSDM, and then click Next.


4. On the Confirm Installation page, click Next.



The VSDM installation begins. When the installation is complete, the second of the three wizards, the VSDM IIS Configuration Wizard is launched.



5. In the VSDM IIS Configuration Wizard, on the Step 1: Please locate your Virtual Server Installation page, confirm that the information is correct, and then click Next.


6. On the Step 2: Enable ASP.NET Runtime Engine 1.1 page, click Next.



Note: There will not be anything for you to select on this page. If you don't have ASP.NET installed, the installer will add it and enable the ASP.NET extension automatically. If you have ASP.NET installed, but don't have the extension enabled, the installer will enable it. If you have ASP.NET installed and have the extension enabled, the installer will report this.



7. On the Step 3: Please select your IIS installation method page, select the appropriate option to either install VSDM as a new web site, or to install it as a virtual folder (or virtual directory) in an existing web site, and then click Next.



Note: The next page will present one of two options, depending on which option you chose in Step 3.



8. If you chose to install VSDM as a new web site, on the Step 4: Please select your configuration page, in the Name box, enter a name for your web site. In the Port box, enter an unused port for the new web site, and then click Next.


9. If you chose to install VSDM as a virtual directory in an existing web site, on the Step 4: Please select your configuration page, in the Host Web Site list, select an existing web site, in the Folder box, type the name for the new virtual directory, and then click Next.


10. On the Step 5: Choose authentication method page, click Next.




Note: There really is nothing to configure here. If you attempt to clear the Integrated Windows authentication check box, a message will appear informing you that you must select at least one authentication method. If you want to change the authentication methods for the VSDM web site, you'll need to do so after the installation is complete by using the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.



11. On the Step 6: Virtual Server Options page leave the Create reference to the Virtual Server Web Admin and Create Virtual Server folder in website root options enabled. This will create a link to the Virtual Server Administration Web site from within the VSDM web site. I've found a bug relating to this option which I'll describe later. For now, it is important that you leave these options enabled. You also have the option to create the VSDM security groups at this time.


12. On the Step 7: VSDM Client Support page, click Next. I'm not entirely sure what this option is for, but as the page says, it is under development and is not currently available.


13. On the Review your settings page, verify that all of the settings are correct, and then click Finish.

The VSDM IIS configuration is now complete and the VSDM Configuration Wizard is launched. This wizard builds the XML file that VSDM uses for its configuration information.

1. In the VSDM Configuration Wizard, on the Welcome page, click Next.


2. On the Introduction page, click Next.


3. On the Step 1: Installation Information page fill in the options as follows:
   

   
   
   • Title: This will appear in the top panel of the VSDM Web site.
   
   
   • Display: If this is enabled, the Title wil be displayed in the top panel of the VSDM web site.
   
   
   • Show Server: If this is enabled, the FQDN of the VSDM server will be displayed in the top panel of the VSDM web site.
   
   
   • URL: This is supposed to create a hyperlink for the Title value. Note: This is where I think I've identified the bug that I mentioned earlier. It would appear that the wizard actually writes this value to the wrong location in the XML file. Rather that doing what it is supposed and creating a hyperlink for the Title value, this value gets written to the XML file where the value for the Virtual Server Administration web site is supposed to be written. I've reported this to Nelson, but have not heard back from him as of yet. For now, I'd recommend that you either leave this value blank, or if you must fill it out, use the URL for your VS Administration web site, i.e. http://hostname:1024/VirtualServer. No matter what you do here, the Title value will not have a hyperlink behind it. To get a hyperlink you'll need to manually edit the XML file after the installation is complete.
   
   
   • Install Path: The location of the Virtual Server installation.
   
   
   • Images: I haven't been able to figure out what Images are as of yet. Any ideas?
   
   
   • Templates: Templates are existing VHD files that you make available to your users. They can use these VHD files to create their own virtual machines.
   
   
   • ISO: ISO files that your users can attach to their virtual machines.
   
   
   • Configs: Where the user created virtual machines are stored.
   
   
   • Runtime: Another option I haven't managed to figure out yet.
   
   



4. On the Step 2: Security/Administrators page, delete the 2 sample rows, and then add your VSDM Administrators using the following parameters:
   

   
   
   • Primary: This indicates the primary Administrator contact for the VSDM web site. Selecting this checkbox will cause (primary) to appear beside the administrator's link on the web site.
   
   
   • Contact: Selecting this option causes the administrator to be listed on the VSDM web site.
   
   
   • Display Name: The name of the administrator as it should appear on the VSDM web site.
   
   
   • Email: The email address of the administrator. This will appear beside the administrator's name on the web site and will create a mailto: hyperlink.
   
   
   • Domain: The domain containing the administrator's account.
   
   
   • User: The administrator's account name.
   
   

   
   



5. On the Step 3: Security/Users page, add any users and/groups that should be able to create new virtual machines or to manage existing machines that they own or have been granted permissions for, and then click Next.




Note: There seems to be another bug here that I hit consistently and that I've seen reported at least once in the public news groups. As soon as I click in the Display Name column below Users(Domain/Users) the installer throws an exception (see below). I can click Continue and, well, continue.





6. On the Step 4: Security/Guests page, add the users and/or groups that should be able to see or operate virtual machines for which they have been assigned permissions, and then click Next. Guests can only see and operate virtual machines. They cannot create or configure them.


7. On the Step 5: Security/Teams page, add the users and/or groups that should be able to create new virtual machines or to manage existing machines that they own or have been granted permissions for, and then click Next.


8. On the Step 6: Templates page, add the existing VHD files which you want to make available to your users as templates for new virtual machines. Use the following parameters, and then click Next:
   

   
   
   • Disabled: If selected prevents the template from being used to create new virtual machines.
   
   
   • ID: ID number assigned to the template.
   
   
   • Name: The name for the template as displayed on the VSDM web site.
   
   
   • Image Path: The absolute path to the folder containing the VHD.
   
   
   • Image Name: The file name, minus the .VHD extension of the VHD.
   
   
   • Description: A brief description of the template. This appears along with the Name on the VSDM web page.
   
   



9. On the Step 7: CD/DVD ISO Images page, add the existing ISO file which you want to make available to your users. ISO files listed here will be available to users to attach to the virtual machines they create. Use the following parameters, and then click Next:
   

   
   
   • Disabled: If selected prevents the ISO from being attached to virtual machines.
   
   
   • ID: ID number assigned to the ISO.
   
   
   • Name: The name for the ISO as displayed on the VSDM web site.
   
   
   • Image Path: The absolute path to the folder containing the ISO.
   
   
   • Image Name: The file name, minus the .ISO extension of the ISO.
   
   
   • Description: A brief description of the ISO. This appears along with the Name on the VSDM web page.
   
   



10. On the Save Changes page, click Finish.


11. On the Installation Complete page, click Close. The installation of VSDM is now complete.

Note: If you want to make any changes to either the VSDM IIS configuration, or to the VSDM XML configuration after the installation is complete, you can rerun either of the configuration wizards from the VSDM - Virtual Server Deployment Manager menu You can also edit the XML configuration file directly by using an XML editor (or even Notepad).

To start using VSDM, open a browser and then open either the VSDM web site, or the VSDM virtual directory, depending on which option you chose during the installation. Stay tuned for documentation on how to use VSDM.

Questions or comments? Please leave a comment!

• No longer requires an Internet connection for deployment; RMS SP1 runs in air-gap networks?in other words, networks with no Internet connection.


• Enables third parties to integrate RMS information protection into server-based applications?such as records and document management, e-mail gateways, and e-mail archival systems?for comprehensive information security platform.


• Smart card integration for an additional layer of security.


• Compliance with Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS).


• Eases deployment rollout with familiar Microsoft technologies?for example, Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS).


• Dynamic role-based security enables RMS policies to be applied based on dynamic groups and defined by queries of Microsoft Active Directory for certain attributes.


• Supports Virtual PC for cross-platform support.


• Streamlined authentication process for RPC over HTTP provides better end-user experience.


• Support for phased deployment of RMS SP1 in v1 environments.


• Enhanced tools and guidance with RMS SP1 Toolkit.

• Install and configure Virtual Server 2005.


• Configure virtual machines on Virtual Server 2005.


• Migrate applications and servers to virtual machines.

Visit https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=62154 for more information.

1. In the guest, you need to disable the Virtual Machines Additions Services Application service. This can be done through the Services console. Note that disabling this service does not impace the performance gains you receive when the additions are installed, nor does it affect the additional display capabilities provided by the additions. In all of my testing, the only impact this has is on the time synch. Of course, you should test this as YMMV.


2. Edit the .VMC file used by the guest

The .VMC files used by the guests are XML format files that contain configuration information specific to each guest. NOTE: I strongly suggest that you make a copy of your .VMC file before attempting to make any manual changes to it. Also, make sure that the guest is shutdown. You can use any text editor to make these changes.
You need to add some XML tags to this file, and it is important that they be added in the correct location. The new tabs need to be added to the integration/microsoft portion of the tree and it is important that you add the tags to the existing tree and that you do not create a new tree. Here are the steps to make this change:

1. Open the .VMC file in a text editor and search for <integration>.


2. The should be only one <integration> string in the file, and it should be immediately followed, on a new line, by <microsoft>.


3. Directly below the <microsoft> tag, add the following tags, each tag on a new line:


<components>
<host_time_synch>
<enabled type="boolean">false</enabled>
</host_time_synch>
</components>




4. Save the file and start your guest

Time synch between the guest and the host will now be disabled.
Note that this is obviously not the optimal solution. I'd like to see two things in future versions:

1. A GUI based method to disable time synch in VPC


2. Have the time synch process respect the time zone differences between the guests and the host. Ideally this would be a configurable option as I can anticipate some situations where this would be useful and some where it would not be desirable

One final caveat here. You may well find that disabling the time synch feature means that your guests loose time (after all, there is a reason that the time synch feature is in the products in the first place). You should thouroughly test the effect that disabling this feature has before deciding on whether or not it is the right way to go.
If you have any questions, please feel free to add a comment to this entry.

MIIS has a pretty big presence at TechEd this year as you can tell from the following list of sessions and hands-on labs that either cover MIIS directly, or at least mention MIIS in the abstract:

• CSI200 (Strategic Briefing Session) Connected Systems: Applications of the Future (session)


• CSI322 Identity Integration Using Host Integration Server and BizTalk Server (session)


• SEC04 Using Microsoft Identity Integration Server to Synchronize User Identity Information and Credentials (lab)


• SRV04 Microsoft's Identity Management Solution (session)


• SRV05 Developing Management Agents with the Identity Integration Server 2003 Management Agent Software Development Kit (lab)


• SVR210 Enforce Endpoint Health Policy with Network Access Protection (NAP) (session)


• SVR215 Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003: What's New in Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 SP1, Futures and Roadmap (session)


• SVR220 Microsoft's Identity Management Strategy and Roadmap (session)


• SVR304 Server Migration Chapter One: Novell Netware and NT 4 Migration Planning (session)


• SVR317 Microsoft IT: Managing Identity Lifecycle, Consistency and Self-Healing with MIIS (session)


• SVR318 Developing Solutions on the Microsoft Identity and Access Platform (Part 1) (session)


• SVR322 Providing Web SSO and Identity Federation Solutions Using Active Directory Federation Services Windows Server 2003 R2 (session)


• SVR323 Active Directory Federation Services Architecture Drilldown (session)


• SVR324 Deploying Web SSO and Identity Federation Solutions Using Active Directory Federation Services: Scenarios and Strategies (session)


• SVR325 Identity Lifecycle Management Using Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 (MIIS) (session)


• SVR326 How to Build a Self-Service Application Using Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 (MIIS) (session)


• SVR328 Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Deployment Best Practices (session)


• SVR400 Developing Solutions on the Microsoft Identity and Access Platform (Part 2) (session)