Tag: Windows Server 2019

Oct102019October 10, 2019October 9, 20190Commentby Thomas Maurer
Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI MVPDays

Speaking at the Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI MVPDays

Posted in Azure Stack HCI, Cloud, Cloud Advocate, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Microsoft MVP, Speaking, Thomas Maurer, Virtualization, Windows Server, Windows Server 2019

I am happy to let you know that I will be speaking online at the Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI Day. The Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI is an online event, organized and presented by Microsoft MVPs as part of the MVPDays. MVPDays was founded by Cristal and Dave Kawula back in 2013. It started as a simple idea; “There’s got to be a good way for Microsoft MVPs to reach the IT community and share their vast knowledge and experience in a fun and engaging way”.

The Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI MVPDays is a full-day online event on October 23. you can find out more here. In my session, I will be speaking about Azure hybrid management services and how you can connect your Windows Server and Azure Stack HCI environment with Microsoft Azure.

MVPDays

Hybrid Management Technologies using Azure Stack HCI

Windows Server, Azure Stack HCI and Windows Admin Center not only provide you with great hyper-converged solutions but also enable you to connect to Azure Hybrid Cloud services. In this session, Thomas Maurer will show you how you can connect Azure services like Azure Site Recovery, Azure Backup, Azure File Sync, Azure Monitor and many more to your on-prem Windows Server and Azure Stack HCI environment.

If you want to know more about it check you the following blog posts:

I hope you will join us at the Azure Stack and Azure Stack HCI MVPDays. Let me know if you have any questions.


Sep112019September 11, 2019September 11, 20191Commentby Thomas Maurer
Run Windows Admin Center on Windows Server Core

Run Windows Admin Center on Windows Server Core

Posted in Cloud, Microsoft, PowerShell, Server Core, Virtualization, Windows, Windows Admin Center, Windows Server, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019

Windows Admin Center is a locally deployed, browser-based app for managing servers, clusters, hyper-converged infrastructure, and Windows 10 PCs. If you ever asked yourself if Windows Admin Center (WAC) runs on Windows Server Core, the answer is yes. Run and install Windows Admin Center on Windows Server Core, simply copy the MSI installer to the Windows Server, or download it directly. If you are running Windows Server in a Hyper-V virtual machine, PowerShell Direct and be very handy to copy files using the VMBus from the Hyper-V host to the virtual machine.

Copy Windows Admin Center MSI to Windows Server Core VM PowerShell Direct

Copy Windows Admin Center MSI to Windows Server Core VM PowerShell Direct

Download Windows Admin Center (WAC) from here. You can simply use the following commands on your Hyper-V host to copy a file using PowerShell Direct.

$cred = Get-Credential
$s = New-PSSession -VMName WindowsServerInsider -Credential $cred
Copy-Item -Path .\WindowsAdminCenterPreview1908.msi -ToSession $s -Destination "C:\Users\Administrator"

Now you can run the MSI installer for Windows Admin Center. There is also an unattended option for WAC on Windows Server Core. You can find more about installing WAC here.

Install Windows Admin Center on Windows Server Core

Install Windows Admin Center on Windows Server Core

After the installation has finished you can now remotely access the Windows Admin Center web portal form your workstation. However, if you install the new Microsoft Edge Insider Preview, which runs on Windows Server Core as well. You can access the console form your local machine. Don’t do that in production, but it is great if you are running demos or you need to troubleshoot the installation.

Install Microsoft Edge on Windows Server Core

Install Microsoft Edge on Windows Server Core

You can download the Microsoft Edge Insider from here. Thanks to Jeff Woolsey for the tip.

If you want to know more about Windows Admin Center check out my blog post and the Microsoft Docs. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments. By the way, also make sure that you check out the Windows Admin Center Hybrid features, which allows you to easily connect Azure services.


Aug272019August 27, 2019September 17, 20190Commentby Thomas Maurer
Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 WSL2 on Windows Server

How to Install WSL 2 on Windows Server

Posted in Hyper-V, Microsoft, Virtualization, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Server

A couple of months ago Microsoft announced the Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL 2), which is a successor of the Windows Subsystem for Linux shipped a couple of years ago. WSL 2 is currently available for Windows Insiders running Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18917 or higher and with the Docker Tech Preview, you can now even run Docker Linux Container directly on WSL 2. With the latest Windows Server Insider Preview build 18945, you are also able to run WSL 2 on Windows Server. In this blog post, I am going to show you how you can install the Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL 2) on Windows Server. The Windows Subsystem for Linux was already available in earlier versions of Windows Server; however, WSL 2 brings a lot of new advantages.

The Windows Subsystem for Linux was in Windows 10 for a while now and allowed you to use different versions of Linux on your Windows 10 machine. With WSL 2, the architecture will change drastically and will bring increased file system performance and full system call compatibility. WSL 2 is now using virtualization technology (based on Hyper-V) and uses a lightweight utility VM on a real Linux kernel. You can find out more about WSL 2 in the release blog or on the Microsoft Docs Page for WSL 2.

Install Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL 2) on Windows Server

Here is how you can install WSL 2 on Windows Server.

Prerequisites:

After you have installed a new Windows Server with the Windows Server Preview build, you will need to add the following features:

  • Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux
  • VirtualMachinePlatform

To enable these features, run the following command:

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux
 
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform

These commands will need a restart to complete.

Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 WSL2 on Windows Server

Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2) on Windows Server

Now you can install your Linux distribution which is available in WSL. You can also find the links to the Linux distro packages here: WSL distro packages. In my case, I am going to use Ubuntu 18.04, which is currently working with WSL 2.

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://aka.ms/wsl-ubuntu-1804 -OutFile ~/Ubuntu1804.zip -UseBasicParsing
md C:\Distros\Ubuntu1804
Expand-Archive ~/Ubuntu1804.zip C:\Distros\Ubuntu1894

Before you start and configure your WSL distro, I recommend that you set the WSL default version to 2. This will make the setup of your distro much faster.

wsl --set-default-version 2

Now you can start ubuntu.exe to run WSL.

C:\Distros\Ubuntu1894\ubuntu1804.exe

I hope this gives you a step-by-step guide on how you can install WSL 2 on Windows Server. Remember this is currently in preview, and not for production use. If you want to install the Windows Subsystem for Linux on Windows Server 2019, check out this blog post: Install Windows Subsystem for Linux on Windows Server.


Jul242019July 24, 2019October 9, 20190Commentby Thomas Maurer
Thomas Maurer Speaking at Experts Live Europe

Speaking at Experts Live Europe 2019 in Prague

Posted in Azure Stack HCI, Cloud, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Office365, PowerShell, Speaking, System Center, Virtualization, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Admin Center, Windows Server, Windows Server 2019, Work

Today, I am proud to announce that I will be speaking at Experts Live Europe 2019 in Prague on November 20 – 22, 2019. This is a great honor, and it will be my 7th Experts Live Europe event I am speaking at, all the way back to the first event, when it still was called System Center Universe Europe. I have presented several sessions at each event previously hosted in Bern, Basel, Berlin, and Prague. This will be the second time Experts Live Europe will be hosted in the beautiful city of Prague, Czech Republic. I am looking forward to speaking at this Microsoft community event again. The conference has a strong focus on Microsoft Cloud, Datacenter, Security, and Modern Workplace topics and brings together the community from all over the world.

This year the conference will be three days again, with a pre-conference day including a couple of different pre-conference deep dives, as well as two main conference days with over 70 breakout sessions in 6 parallel tracks. This year the conference will have not only over 40 top expert speakers but also a vast Microsoft presence. You will not just find Microsoft Cloud Advocates and Program Managers, but people from all across the organization. Guess what, this is a perfect time to connect and network with us, but also with other members of the Microsoft community.

Another big highlight for me this year is the track specifically focusing on Windows Server and System Center, presented by Cloud Advocates, Program Managers, and Microsoft MVPs.

My sessions at Experts Live Europe 2019

I am happy that I will be speaking at Experts Live Europe 2019:

Experts Live Europe 2019

Windows Server 2019 - The Next Generation of Software-Defined Datacenter

Join this session for the best of Windows Server 2019, about the new innovation and improvements of Windows Server and Windows Admin Center. Learn how Microsoft enhances the SDDC feature like Hyper-V, Storage, and Networking and get the most out of the new Azure Hybrid Cloud Integration and Container features. You’ll get an overview of the new, exciting improvements that are in Windows Server and how they’ll improve your day-to-day job. In this presentation Thomas Maurer (Microsoft MVP) will guide you through the highly anticipated innovations in Windows Server 2019 and the Semi-Annual Channel including: ○ Windows Server Containers ○ Azure Integration ○ Hyper-V features ○ Storage ○ Networking ○ Security ○ Windows Admin Center And more!

Experts Live Europe 2019

How to become Azure Certified!

With Cloud Computing becoming more and more important, proofing your skills and becoming certified will not only boost your career but will also make you more successful in your job! In this session, you will learn why you should become Microsoft Azure Certified, what different Azure exam certification paths there are available, how you prepare, take, and pass an exam. This session will focus on the overall available Microsoft Azure Certifications.

Experts Live Europe 2019

Azure Stack Experts Panel

Join this global list of Azure Stack Experts for an open question and answer session as we discuss real world scenarios.

If you want to know more about the event and register, check out the Experts Live Europe website. I hope to see you in Prague!


Jul172019July 17, 2019July 17, 20197Commentsby Thomas Maurer
Hyper-V Server 2019 Install now

How to Install Hyper-V Server 2019

Posted in Hyper-V, Microsoft, PowerShell, Virtualization, Windows, Windows Server, Windows Server 2019

A couple of weeks ago Microsoft released the installation media, and you can download Hyper-V Server 2019 right now. In this blog post, I am going to show you how to install and configure Hyper-V Server 2019 step by step. This should especially help beginners with Hyper-V Server 2019. Hyper-V Server 2019 ships only a core option, so there won’t be desktop experience version of Hyper-V Server like you would have with Windows Server 2019.

Hyper-V Server 2019 Requirements

Hyper-V has specific hardware requirements to run virtualization in a secure and performant way.

  • 64-bit processor with second-level address translation (SLAT)
  • Minimum of 4GB of RAM. You will need more RAM for virtual machines on the Hyper-V Server.
  • Virtualization features and support needs to be enabled in BIOS or UEFI
    • Hardware-assisted virtualization – Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT) or AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) technology.
    • Hardware-enforced Data Execution Prevention (DEP)  Intel XD bit (execute disable bit) or AMD NX bit (no execute bit).

Specific features, like Discrete device assignment (DDA) or Shielded Virtual Machines, will also have other hardware requirements. You can find more about the Hyper-V Server 2019 requirements on Microsoft Docs.

Download ISO

You can download Hyper-V Server directly from the Microsoft evaluation center. This SKU does not require a license key, and it also doesn’t expire. It is a fully supported version of Hyper-V for free. However, if you run workloads like Windows Server, Windows 10, or other operating systems on top of it, they need to be correctly licensed.

Install Hyper-V Server 2019

After you have download the ISO file, you will need to install this on your machine. There are multiple options to do this:

You can also follow this guide to add drivers to a Windows Server Image; this also works for Hyper-V Server.

Now you can boot your server with the Hyper-V installation media. This will start the step by step installation. Select the language and region settings you want to use for your Hyper-V Server.

Install Hyper-V Server 2019

Install Hyper-V Server 2019

Read More

Jul082019July 8, 2019July 8, 20198Commentsby Thomas Maurer
PowerShell Get-WindowsImage Windows Server 2019 Editions

Add Drivers to a Windows Server 2019 ISO Image

Posted in Hyper-V, Microsoft, PowerShell, Server Core, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Server, Windows Server 2019

In this blog article, I am going to show you how you can add drivers to a Windows Server 2019 ISO Image or WIM file using PowerShell and the DISM module. This will allow you to already have the latest drivers within the Windows Server installation image when you install Windows Server 2019. We will add drivers to a Windows Server 2019 WIM file (WIM stands for Windows Imaging Format), which then can be used to create a new ISO image or for example in Windows Deployment Services.

Preparation

Folder for adding drivers to Windows Server 2019

Folder for adding drivers to Windows Server 2019

First, you will need to create three new folders called Drivers, ISO, and Mount. In my example, I created these in C:\Images.

  • Drivers – This is the folder where you put all your extracted drivers, which you want to add to your Windows Server 2019 Image.
  • ISO – This is where you can extract the Windows Server 2019 ISO Image. Basically all the files on the ISO file.
  • Mount – This is an empty folder, which will be used to mount the WIM files.

You can now mount the ISO using Windows Explorer or the following PowerShell commands and copy the files to the ISO folder.

Mount ISO PowerShell

Mount ISO PowerShell

Mount-DiskImage -ImagePath C:\Temp\17763.379.190312-0539.rs5_release_svc_refresh_SERVER_EVAL_x64FRE_en-us.iso
Copy-Item D:\* C:\Image\ISO\ -Recurse

In your case, the ISO may be mounted on a different drive letter instead of my D: drive.

Add drivers to the Windows Server 2019 Image

First, you can check in which Windows editions you want to add the drivers. To check that you can use the following PowerShell command:

Get-WindowsImage -ImagePath C:\Image\ISO\sources\install.wim
PowerShell Get-WindowsImage Windows Server 2019 Editions

PowerShell Get-WindowsImage Windows Server 2019 Editions

The Get-WindowsImage cmdlet will show you the different editions included in the WIM file.

After we have seen the Index numbers, we can now mount the Windows Image our Mount folder. In my example, I use Image Index 3, which is the Windows Server 2019 Datacenter Core Edition. If you want to check which editions of Windows Server 2019 you should use, check out the Microsoft Docs.

Mount-WindowsImage -Path C:\Image\Mount -ImagePath C:\Image\ISO\sources\install.wim -Index 3
Mount-WindowsImage

Mount-WindowsImage

After the image is mounted you can now add the drivers to the Windows Server 2019 Image using the following command:

Add-WindowsDriver -Path C:\Image\Mount -Driver C:\Image\Drivers -Recurse
Add Drivers to Windows Server 2019 ISO Image

Add Drivers to Windows Server 2019 ISO Image

After you have added all the drivers to the image, you need to dismount the image and save it.

Dismount-WindowsImage -Path C:\Image\Mount -Save

We have now added the drivers to the Install image, and you should also add the drivers to your boot image if it is, for example, a network or storage controller driver you might need to install the server. To do this do the same steps to the C:\Image\ISO\sources\boot.wim.

Now you can use these WIM files with Windows Deployment services or create a USB drive to install Windows Server 2019. If you want to create an ISO file, you can use the oscdimg command-line tool. The oscdimg tool comes with the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK), which you can get here.

oscdimg -n -m -bc:\temp\ISO\boot\etfsboot.com C:\temp\ISO C:\temp\mynew.iso

I hope this post helps you to add drivers to your Windows Server image. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.


May312019May 31, 2019May 31, 20190Commentby Thomas Maurer
Experts Live Netherlands 2019 - Tech panel

Speaking at Experts Live Netherlands 2019 Breakout and Tech Panel!

Posted in Cloud, Events, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Speaking, Work

I am happy to let you know that I will be speaking again at Experts Live Netherlands 2019! Experts Live Netherlands 2019 will take place on 6 June 2019 in Den Bosch. I have excellent professional and personal memories from the latest Experts Live Netherlands conference, and it is always a tremendous honor to speak at a such a great event. This year again, I will be talking about Windows Server 2019 and how it is will enable your hybrid datacenter.

Besides my Windows Server 2019 breakout session, I am proud to also be part of the keynote tech panel with Mary-Jo Foley, Paul Thurrott, and Marc van Eijk.

Experts Live Netherlands 2019

Windows Server 2019 - The Next big thing for Hybrid Cloud

Join this session for the best of Windows Server 2019, about the innovation and improvements of Windows Server. Learn how Microsoft enhances the SDDC feature like Hyper-V, Storage, and Networking and get the most out of the new Azure Hybrid Integration and Container features. You’ll get an overview of the new, exciting improvements that are in Windows Server and how they’ll improve your day-to-day job. In this presentation Thomas Maurer (Microsoft MVP) will guide you through the highly anticipated innovations in Windows Server 2019 and the Semi-Annual Channel including • Windows Server Containers • Azure Integration • Hyper-V features • Storage • Networking • Security • Windows Server Containers • And more!

There are still a couple of tickets left, so make sure you reserve yours soon! Our Microsoft Azure Cloud Advocates team with Anthony Bartolo, Orin Thomas and I, are hoping to see you there!



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    Thomas Maurer

    My name is Thomas Maurer. I am a Senior Cloud Advocate at Microsoft. I am part of the Azure engineering team (Cloud + AI) and engage with the community and customers around the world. I am located in Switzerland. I am focusing on Microsoft technologies, especially cloud and datacenter solutions based on Microsoft Azure, Azure Stack and Windows Server. Opinions are my own.

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