To list the updates that have been installed on a Windows 8.1 or Windows 2012 Server simply issue the following command in a command prompt window
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wmic qfe get hotfixid |
That’s it
Tech Short: Use Windows Management Instrumentation Command to List Windows Updates
Disable Windows Firewall On Windows Server 2012 R2 Server Core
After my install of Windows Server 2012 R2 Server Core, I wanted to manage the system via RSAT and Remote Desktop. However the firewall was preventing me from completing such tasks. That said, this is how we can disable the firewall
From the command prompt type the following command:
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netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state off |
HowTo Install VMware Tools On Windows Server 2102 R2 Server Core
After installing Windows Server 2012 R2 Server Core as a guest in my VMware Lab I wanted install the VMware software tools that enhances the performance of the guest operating system and improves management of the virtual machine.
To do this I logged into the console via the vCenter Client were I could access the server core console
From the vCenter Console to the following:
- Go to VM->Guest->Install/Upgrade VMware Tools
- Change to the D: drive at the command prompt
- Enter the following command: setup64.exe /S /v “/qn REBOOT=Y”
Here is some additional switches you can attempt
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Usage: /? : Show this dialog. /a : Perform an administrative install. /a <full path to existing administrative install> : Patch an existing administrative install. /s : Hide initialization dialog. For silent mode use /s /v/qn. /v : Parameters to pass to installer /c : Clean out installation registration information /l : Perform a detailed logging. /l <fullpath to log file> : Perform a detailed logging. |
NTttcp Version 5.28 Now Available
NTttcp is used to profile and measure Windows networking performance. This tool was for ‘internal-only’ use for the last five years at Microsoft until now.
You can download it here: http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/NTttcp-Version-528-Now-f8b12769
Description
- Optimizations added for 10GigE interfaces
- Increased platform support: x86, x64 and ARM
- Simplified usage (e.g. sender and receiver functionality determined with a simple parameter switch)
- Dynamic allocation of threads across all system cores (using ‘*’ for the processor ID mapping value)
- Startup order dependency removed (i.e. server/receiver will wait for the other rather than time out)
- Custom warm-up and cool down options available
- Results can be outputted to XML
- Ability to bind sender traffic to a specific IP address
- Synchronization of data ports, useful when running multiple instances
- An option to set the WAIT_ALL flag when using recv or WSARecv functions
For more info and the source of this post head over to the TechNet for more details.
Server 2008 R2 KMS Server support for Windows 8 and Server 2012 activation
The time has come, it has arrived. Windows 8 and Server 2012. And now you need to activate some clients activate you a serve. If you are running a KMS Server using Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2, it may be time to upgrade; well not necessarily. You see when you attempt to activate your Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2 server with your new KMS Keys with your existing KMS host you receive the following error message:
Error: 0xC004F050 The Software Licensing Service reported that the product key is invalid.
This is not 100% true, but does mean the KMS host isn’t supported. Thankfully Microsoft has released an update that will upgrade WIndows 7 or Server 2008 R2 KMS Host to support Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 activation’s. All you need to do is request a hotfix from the the following KB: (KB2691586)
Seeing how this KB hotfix would require me to reboot my server, I took this opportunity to patch up my server to the latest Windows updates.
Once the server is up and running again you will need to replace the KMS host key with the one for the 1012 or Windows 8. To do this, you just open the command prompt as administrator (elevate yourself) and enter in slmgr.vbs /upk which will show us Uninstalled product key successfully when complete. Now that this is done you will install the new key with slmgr.vbs /ipk SOMEW-HEREO-VERTH-ERAINB-OW123
You should now be presented with a product activated successfully window. You can also run
slmgr.vbs /dlv and under description you should see VOLUME_KMS_2012. Now you can start to activate your new Windows 8 and Server 2012 clients.
The question left is, does this now prevent my Windows 7, Server 2008, 2008R2 systems from activating at this point. Based on all that I have read if using the VLKey it will activate down level clients. This would cover Server 2008R2, Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Vista, along with Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012
Now I wait for the VL / Enterprise stuff to start showing up in the licensing portal
Regards, Jermal
