Tag: Windows

Nov122018November 12, 2018January 12, 20194Commentsby Thomas Maurer
WLinux WSL Setup Wizard for Windows 10

WLinux – The best WSL for Windows 10

Posted in Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, PowerShell, Virtualization, Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Windows, Windows 10, Work

A couple of Windows 10 releases back, Microsoft delivered the Windows Subsystem for Linux. The Windows Subsystem for Linux allows you to run Linux distros, like Ubuntu, Debian, Suse and others, on Windows 10. Around the Microsoft Ignite 2018 timeframe another distro was released to the Windows Store called WLinux. WLinux is a Linux environment for Windows 10 built on work by Microsoft Research and the Debian project. WLinux is a custom Linux distro built from Debian specifically for use on the WSL. While other distros are available for WSL, WLinux is the first optimized for use by users of WSL for WSL. It helps developer run Linux tooling on Windows and integrates into perfectly into Windows.

WLinux Setup

WLinux WSL Setup Wizard for Windows 10

WLinux comes with a custom setup, to prepare your environment in a very simple and easy wizard. It lets you setup some predefined software and settings and configure integration into Windows.

WLinux WSL Docker Bridge to Windows

WLinux Docker Bridge

If you want to run Docker in the Windows Subsystem for Linux, you can bring the Docker Client to the Windows Docker Engine. This allows you to run Docker directly from WSL and from PowerShell at the same time.

Microsoft Tooling

WLinux Installing Azure CLI

Of course WLinux brings the usual Linux development tools and easy setup for Ruby, NodeJS, Go, Java, Python, editors like emacs and even different shells. You can also easily add Microsoft tooling by adding Azure CLI, PowerShell Core and even Visual Studio Code.

Windows Explorer Integration and WSL Utilities (wslu)

It easily lets you to setup Windows Explorer integration and brings wslu, a collection of utilities for WSL, preinstalled. Wslu bringt the following features to the WSL

  • wslusc This is a WSL shortcut creator to create a shortcut on your Windows 10 Desktop.
  • wslsys This is a WSL system information printer to print out some basic system information.
  • wslfetch This is a WSL Screenshoot Information Tool to print information in an elegant way.
  • wslupath This is a WSL Windows path Converter that can convert Windows path to other styles of path.
  • wslview This is a fake WSL browser that can help you open link in default Windows browser.

WSLfetch

If you want to know more about WLinux, check out the website Whitewater Foundry.

Or download WLinux from the Microsoft Store.

You can also contribute on the project on GitHub.


Oct232018October 23, 2018February 1, 20190Commentby Thomas Maurer
Windows Insider MVP

Windows Insider – Insiders2Campus visit in Redmond

Posted in Events, Microsoft, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Server, Work

If you have been following on social media in the last couple of days, you might have seen that I had the chance to speak at different conferences and events like SCOM Day in Gothenburg and Cloud Camp in Dublin. I also had the possibility to visit the Microsoft Campus in Redmond, and meet with the Windows Insider team. I was one of the lucky winners of the Insiders2Campus contest this summer and as a price I had was able to meet with the Windows team.

I have been a Windows Insider for the first day, and I am always excited to try out new features and give feedback to the engineering teams. Having the chance to meet with the team behind the Windows Insider program, was a great opportunity. I was able to visit the Microsoft Campus a couple of times already, for example for the Microsoft MVP Summits. But the Windows Insider team organized some special visits on places I never really had access to before.

Microsoft Garage

We had the chance to visit the Microsoft Garage. The Garage is a resource to Microsoft employees that supports and encourages problem solving in new and innovative ways, ultimately empowering people to achieve more. It is also a great place for hackathons within Microsoft. This is the place where cool Microsoft products like Microsoft Launcher for Android and the Outlook plugin, FindTime were created.

Microsoft Treehouse

Another place which you need to visit if you are on the Microsoft Campus, is the Microsoft Treehouse office. The Treehouse is basically an outdoor meeting space in the trees.

Tom Microsoft HoloLens

As part of the Windows Insiders2Campus visit, we also had the chance to try out Microsoft HoloLens and other Microsoft products.

There was obviously a lot more to see, like the Microsoft Envisioning Center, the Surface Lab and much more. But the greatest thing really was to meet the team behind the products. Really big thanks to the Windows Insider team, which made this possible. I think this was an unforgettable experience and if you ever have the chance to visit the Microsoft Campus in Redmond, it is definitely worth a visit.

If you are interested becoming a Windows Insider for Windows 10, Windows Server or other products and services, check out the Windows Insider site.


Oct212018October 21, 2018October 21, 20180Commentby Thomas Maurer
netsh wireless password

Show Wireless Network Password on Windows 10

Posted in Microsoft, PowerShell, Windows, Windows 10, Work

Today I have a simple blog post, which is more less just a note for myself. If you are join your Windows 10 device to a Wireless Network and you can’t remember the Wireless Password or Key you can recover this using the netsh command. Simply run this command to show the network key of the wireless network:

To list the wireless networks you have access to, you can use the following command:


Oct062018October 6, 2018February 19, 20192Commentsby Thomas Maurer
Create new Azure Backup

Backup Windows 10 to Microsoft Azure Backup

Posted in Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Windows, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server, Work

This is not really a new feature, it exists already for a while, but it seems that still a lot of people don’t know about it. Azure Backup not only allows you to backup services in Azure or Windows Server and services on-premises, Azure Backup can also backup your Windows Client PC.

Azure Backup for your Windows 10 PC allows you to backup Files and Folders and store and backup them to the cloud. You can use this for small environments, VIP machines or for remote workers which are always on the road. Data is encrypted on the on-premises client machine using AES256 and the data is sent over a secure HTTPS link. Backups are stored encrypted in Azure with the customers own key.

I use Azure Backup for my own devices. I am often on the road and working on different documents and files. Obviously I also use OneDrive and OneDrive for Business, which also allows you to restore files after you delete them. However, the retention rate is way to short and it is not a backup. Azure Backup in that case is a great addition. You can backup your files where ever you are.

Setup Azure Backup for Windows Clients

Azure Backup and Site Recovery

First you will need to setup a Azure Recovery Services Vault in Microsoft Azure. This is the service which your backups will be stored.

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Aug202018August 20, 2018March 13, 20191Commentby Thomas Maurer
AzCopy Azure and Azure Stack

Sync Azure Blob Storage with Azure Stack Blob Storage

Posted in Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, PowerShell, Work

There are some scenarios where you want to sync Blob Storage on Azure with Blob Storage on Azure Stack. This easily be done using the AzCopy tool. AzCopy is a command-line utility designed to copy data to and from Microsoft Azure blob and table storage using simple commands with optimal performance. You can copy data from one object to another within your storage account, or between storage accounts in Azure as well as in Azure Stack.

You can get AzCopy on Windows and AzCopy on Linux. You should get at least AzCopy version 7.1.0. In my example I use the version 8.0.0 preview version, which also works fine. Make also sure that you have deployed a supported version of Azure Stack. Check out my blog about updating Azure Stack to get more information.

After the installation you will find the AzCopy.exe in the “C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\AzCopy”

How to Sync and copy files from Azure to Azure Stack

You can use AzCopy with Azure Stack as you would do in Microsoft Azure. To copy and Sync files you can use the following command. Be aware that synchronous data transfer between Azure storage and Azure Stack is not supported. There for you will need to specify the the /SyncCopy or –sync-copy parameter.

Of course this works in both directions and also between two different Azure Stack storage accounts.

You can find more about AzCopy on Azure Stack on the documentation page. If you have any questions feel free to comment on the blog post. There are other great storage tools which work great with the Microsoft Hybrid Cloud environment like Visual Studio or Azure Storage Explorer. These scenarios show perfectly how Microsoft built their hybrid cloud environment. Basically you can use the same tools, processes and knowhow in the Public Cloud as well as in your datacenter.


Aug192018August 19, 2018August 19, 20180Commentby Thomas Maurer
Set Windows 10 Wallpaper Background

Windows 10 – How to set different wallpapers for multiple monitors in the Settings app

Posted in Microsoft, Windows, Windows 10

A lot of people have multiple monitors in their workplace setup today and want to use different Windows 10 Wallpaper per screen. This blog post is about how you can set different wallpapers for multiple monitors in Windows 10. I know there are already many articles and blog post out there covering this. But Microsoft changed this in the latest or next Windows 10 release, called Windows 10 1809 or codename Redstone 5 (RS5). Microsoft moved the settings menu from the Control Panel complete to the Windows Settings app. You want be able to use the classic Control Panel to change your wallpapers, and most how-to blogs did refer to that method. So here is how you can do this in the Windows 10 Settings app.

Setting a different wallpaper per Windows 10 is pretty easy now. Just open up the Windows 10 settings app. You can do this using the start menu or by pressing “Win” + “I”, which will also open the Settings app.

Windows 10 Settings

Now you navigate to Personalization and if not automatically selected, to Background. Here is very you can change the Windows 10 Desktop Wallpaper. Of couse there are many other ways to get here as well. For exmaple by doing a right click on the Desktop and select Personalization or usingd the command line:

Press “WIN” + “R” and run the following command:

Set the Windows 10 Wallpaper of different Monitors

Set Windows 10 Wallpaper Background

You are now in the right place to change the desktop background. First browse and open the pictures you want to use as your desktop wallpaper. If you just click on the Windows 10 wallpaper now, it will change the wallpaper on call screens. To only change it on one of the, simply right click it and select the monitor on which you want to change it. Setting different Windows 10 backgrounds per screen, has never been easier.


Aug072018August 7, 2018August 13, 20180Commentby Thomas Maurer
Custom Hyper-V Quick Create VM Gallery

How to create a Custom Hyper-V Quick Create VM Gallery

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

You might have seen that Hyper-V in Windows 10 got a new Quick Create Feature, this will open up a virtual machine gallery, which allows you to download different virtual machine images. For example the default image is a Windows 10 dev environment, which allows developers to quickly spin up a development environment with Visual Studio inside a Hyper-V virtual machine. If you want to create your own items in the Hyper-V VM Gallery.

To do that you simple have to do three things:

  • Create a virtual machine image (a .iso or compatible .vhdx file)
  • Create a gallery source (.json file) and create a gallery item (configuration inside the .json file)
  • Add the gallery source to the VM Gallery UI
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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 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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