Paul's Digital Lounge and Cigar Bar

April 28, 2006

Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1 Beta 1 Is Now Available!

A beta of Virtual Server 2005 R2 service pack 1 is available today for download. Virtual Server 2005 R2 service pack 1 will support the hardware virtualization capabilities developed by AMD and Intel. By supporting both AMD Virtualization and Intel Virtualization Technology, customers will be provided better interoperability, strengthened isolation to prevent corruption of one virtual machine from affecting others on the same system, and improved performance for non-Windows guest operating systems. The beta of Virtual Server 2005 R2 service pack 1 is available at www.microsoft.com/virtualserver.

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.

Posted by Paul Adare at 08:42 PM

April 19, 2006

Want the Performance Improvements in Virtual Server 2005 R2 But Still Want to Use Virtual PC 2004?

In addition to some new features (host based clustering using iSCSI, x64 support, etc.) VS 2005 R2 also includes some fairly significant performance improvements. What if you're running, and want to keep on using VPC 2004 but you'd still like to have the performance improvements that VS 2005 R2 provides? Now that VS 2005 R2 is free, there is a simple solution to this problem. If you install VS 2005 R2 on a system that already has VPC 2004 installed, a number of components that are shared between the two products will be installed and will then be available to VPC 2004. These shared components contain most of the performance improvements in VS 2005 R2 and as such will be available to VPC 2004 after installing VS 2005 R2. Note that if you don't plan on using VS 2005 R2 you don't need to have IIS installed before installing VS 2005 R2. Also note that you won't get any of the new features as these are all VS specific, however, you will get the benefit of the performance improvements.
This will also allow you to take advantage of the latest version of the Virtual Machine Additions which ship with VS 2005 R2. To use the new Additions you can either manually mount the ISO from Program Files\Microsoft Virtual Server\Virtual Machine Additions in a VPC guest or, if you want to be able to install the updated Additions using the Action menu item in VPC, copy the VMAdditions.iso file from that folder to the Program Files\Microsoft Virtual PC\Virtual Machine Additions folder, replacing the existing Additions ISO.

Posted by Paul Adare at 04:37 AM | Comments (2)

April 25, 2005

VSDM Installation Instructions

Sorry for the delay on getting this posted! Without any further ado, let's look at how to install VSDM.
The first step is to download and execute the installer. You can download VSDM by clicking here if you've not already done so. The requirements for VSDM are as follows:

• 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.

Running the downloaded installer for VSDM opens the first of three wizards that allow you to control the installation process.

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!

Posted by Paul Adare at 05:21 AM | Comments (3)

April 17, 2005

Virtual Server Deployment Manager 1.3.0 (VSDM)

Microsoft has released a new tool, the Virtual Server Deployment Manager (VSDM) that can help those of you who use Virtual Server 2005 in shared development and testing environments.
One of the really cool things about this tool is that it allows normal non-administrative users to manage their own virtual machines.
You should think of VSDM as a resource kit tool in that it is offered for use without any official support. However, I am working with the developer of the tool (install the tool and you'll see who the developer is ) and will be posting some unofficial documentation to my blog. I hope to have it all done today, however, that may not happen. At a minimum I'll be documenting the installation process today (though if the developer isn't working on a Sunday, there may well be a small gap or two).
VSDM can be downloaded by clicking here.

You can find the home page for VSDM by clicking here.

Finally, John Howard, an IT Evangelist with Microsoft UK, and Megan Davis, a technical writer on the Windows Server User Assistance team will more than likely be blogging about this tool as well. Even if they aren't their blogs are both definitely worth checking out.

Stay tuned for documentation.

Posted by Paul Adare at 05:27 AM

April 14, 2005

New Virtual Server e-Learning Course

Microsoft Learning has released an eLearning course on Virtual Server:
Title: Course 2288: Using Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005
Course Type: Self-paced Course
Available Offline: Yes
Estimated Time of Completion: 5 Hours
Description:
This course prepares students to migrate legacy applications and consolidate server functions by using Microsoft Virtual Server 2005.
Objectives:
At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• 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.

Posted by Paul Adare at 04:06 AM

April 13, 2005

Microsoft's Virtualization Support Policies Updated

Today Microsoft published three new Knowledgebase articles that are significant to those who are using, or are thinking about using virtualization technologies.
The first of these articles, Microsoft Virtual Server Support Policy (897613) lays out Microsoft's support policies for Windows Server System software running in Virtual server virtual machines. This article basically states that all Windows Server System software is supported in a Virtual Server environment with the exception of the software listed in the second of the three articles. In addition, this article points to several server consolidation Solution Accelerators (including the one that one of my TechEd sessions is based on).
The second article, Windows Server System software not supported within a Microsoft Virtual Server environment (897614) lists the Windows Server System software that is not currently supported in a Virtual Server environment. the list is surprisingly short, with only 5 items on the list, and one of those, Certificate Services, is actually supported given Windows Server SP1 .
The final article, Support policy for Microsoft software running in non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software (897615) supersedes articles 273508 and 320220 and updates and clarifies the support policy for virtual environments such as VMWare.

Posted by Paul Adare at 07:15 PM | Comments (1)

Virtual Server MOM Management Pack Released

The long anticipated MP for Virtual Server 2005 has finally been released and is available for download.
I'll be testing this MP over the next week or so and will share my results here when I get a chance.

Posted by Paul Adare at 06:53 PM

April 07, 2005

Time Synch Between Guests and Hosts

A very common request in the public news groups is, "How can I disable the time synch between guests and the hosts OS? <insert any number of varied reasons why this needs to be disabled>. One of the big problems with the way time synch is implemented in both Virtual PC 2004 and Virtual Server 2005 is that it doesn't respect time zone differences between the guest and the host. What exactly do this mean? Well, say for example the your host is set to Eastern Standard time (UTC -5) and one or more of your guests are set to Pacific Standard time (UTC -8) and that the current time on the host is 11:00 AM EST. This means that the time in PST should be 8:00 AM PST (3 hours earlier). When the time is synched between the guest and the host, VS and VPC don't take into account the fact that the time zones require a delta of 3 hours and the time in the guest will be set to 11:00 AM, which means that it will be off by 3 hours. This can cause all kinds of problems, for example Kerberos authentication issues if both your guests and your host are in the same Active Directory domain. As I mentioned above, there are a number of other reasons why you may want to disable the time synch, this is just one example.
Disabling the time synch in Virtual Server 2005 is very easy. Simply open the VS Administration web site, edit the configuration of the virtual machine in question, on the Status page, click the Virtual Machine Additions link, and then clear the Host time synchronization check box. Note that the virtual machine needs to be completely shut down in order to make this change. If the guest is running, or is in a saved state, the check box will be disabled.
In Virtual PC 2004 disabling the time synch is more involved as there is nothing in the GUI that allows this change to be made. It is important to understand that time synch occurs in two different ways; any time you boot a guest it synchs time with the host, and periodically while the guest is running (if you have the additions installed) it also synchs time with the host. Completely disabling time synch in the guest requires two changes in VPC:

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.

Posted by Paul Adare at 06:47 AM | Comments (3)

March 29, 2005

VS and VPC at TechEd

TechEd is rapidly approaching and over the last couple of days the session titles and abstracts on the TechEd web site have been updated. I am presenting a session at TechEd this year; MGT365: Consolidating and Migrating LOB Applications Using Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 and here is the abstract for this session:
This session provides guidance for consolidating and migrating LOB applications to Virtual Server 2005-based virtual machines. It provides technical information and recommendations, processes, build notes, job aids, test scripts, and documented test validation of the processes. This session is based on the Microsoft Solution Accelerator for Consolidating and Migrating LOB Applications.
I'm really excited to have been chosen to present a session this year as I know that the competition for sessions was pretty fierce. From what I hear, the TechEd team was swamped with session proposals as this was the first year (to the best of my knowledge) that an open call for session proposals had been made.
In addition to my session, there are a number of additional sessions and hands-on-labs that cover various VS and VPC topics:

• DSK03: Advanced Desktop Testing Scenarios with Virtual PC 2004 (lab)


• DSK320: Deploying Virtual Machines with Virtual PC (session)


• MGT370: Developing on Virtual Server 2005 (session)


• MGT375: Branch Office Infrastructure Solution Using Virtual Server 2005 (session)


• SRV16: Clustering with Virtual Server 2005 (lab)

There maybe some more VS/VPC sessions, kind of hard to tell for sure as I don't think the keyword search feature on the TechEd web site seems to be working all that well.
In addition to the session I'm presenting, I'll be at the cabana sessions as well, so if you want to talk about VS or VPC, look for me at the cabanas.

Posted by Paul Adare at 07:07 AM | Comments (1)