Tech IN Tech OUT: 2010

The Remote Computer Requires Network Level Authentication.

The "The remote computer requires Network Level Authentication, which your computer does not support." error is what you get when you try to connect to computer running Windows Vista,7 or 2008 with using recently updated Remote Desktop Client.

It looks like Windows XP doesn't support Network Level Authentication even with the new Remote Desktop Client so you will have to turn NLA off in Vista, 7 or 2008.
Got to System Properties and select "Allow connections from computer running any version of Remote Desktop (less secure). It's less secure, but it works.

If the above screen is gray, use the following procedure to modify the registry automaticlly:

1. On windows XP install Service Pack 3 then reboot.
2. Download this file: http://cid-ac9f3fda92291acc.office.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/Tech%20IN/LSASEC.reg
3. Restart your PC and try again to access the server remotly.

OR you can manually modify the registry:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then press ENTER.
2. In the navigation pane, locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
3. In the details pane, right-click Security Packages, and then click Modify.
4. In the Value data box, type tspkg. Leave any data that is specific to other SSPs, and then click OK.
5. In the navigation pane, locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders
6. In the details pane, right-click SecurityProviders, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type credssp.dll. Leave any data that is specific to other SSPs, and then click OK.
8. Exit Registry Editor.
9. Restart the computer.

Install Windows 2008 R2 Step by Step

Installing Windows Server 2008 is pretty straightforward and is very much like installing other Windows, but I thought I'd list the necessary steps here for additional information. For those of you who have never installed OS before, the entire installation process is different than it used to be in previous Microsoft operating systems, and notably much easier to perform.

Follow this procedure to install Windows Server 2008:

Before installing windows we should configure the RAID based on the needs, the recommended is RAID 5 but it depend on the server type.

1. Insert the appropriate Windows Server 2008 installation media into your DVD drive. If you don't have an installation DVD for Windows Server 2008, you can download one for free

2. Reboot the computer.

3. When prompted for an installation language and other regional options, make your selection and press Next.

4. Next, press Install Now to begin the installation process.

5. Product activation is now also identical with that found in Windows Vista. Enter your Product ID in the next window, and if you want to automatically activate Windows the moment the installation finishes, click Next.

If you do not have the Product ID available right now, you can leave the box empty, and click Next. You will need to provide the Product ID later, after the server installation is over. Press No.

6. Because you did not provide the correct ID, the installation process cannot determine what kind of Windows Server 2008 license you own, and therefore you will be prompted to select your correct version in the next screen, assuming you are telling the truth and will provide the correct ID to prove your selection later on.

7. If you did provide the right Product ID, select the Full version of the right Windows version you're prompted, and click Next.

8. Read and accept the license terms by clicking to select the checkbox and pressing Next.

9. In the "Which type of installation do you want?" window, click the only available option – Custom (Advanced).

10. In the "Where do you want to install Windows?", if you're installing the server on a regular IDE hard disk, click to select the first disk, usually Disk 0, and click Next.

If you're installing on a hard disk that's connected to a SCSI controller, click Load Driver and insert the media provided by the controller's manufacturer.

If you must, you can also click Drive Options and manually create a partition on the destination hard disk.

11. The installation now begins, and you can go and have lunch. Copying the setup files from the DVD to the hard drive only takes about one minute. However, extracting and uncompressing the files takes a good deal longer. After 20 minutes, the operating system is installed. The exact time it takes to install server core depends upon your hardware specifications. Faster disks will perform much faster installs… Windows Server 2008 takes up approximately 10 GB of hard drive space.

The installation process will reboot your computer, so, if in step #10 you inserted a floppy disk (either real or virtual), make sure you remove it before going to lunch, as you'll find the server hanged without the ability to boot (you can bypass this by configuring the server to boot from a CD/DVD and then from the hard disk in the booting order on the server's BIOS)

12. Then the server reboots you'll be prompted with the new Windows Server 2008 type of login screen. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to log in.

13. Click on Other User.

14. The default Administrator is blank, so just type Administrator and press Enter.

15. You will be prompted to change the user's password. You have no choice but to press Ok

16. In the password changing dialog box, leave the default password blank (duh, read step #15…), and enter a new, complex, at-least-7-characters-long new password twice. A password like "topsecret" is not valid (it's not complex), but one like "T0pSecreT!" sure is. Make sure you remember it.

17. Someone thought it would be cool to nag you once more, so now you'll be prompted to accept the fact that the password had been changed. Press Ok.

18. Finally, the desktop appears and that's it, you're logged on and can begin working. You will be greeted by an assistant for the initial server configuration, and after performing some initial configuration tasks, you will be able to start working.

SCOM 2007 R2: Security Permissions:

Tech IN Tech OUT: SCOM R2: Security Permissions:: "a. Operations Manager Administrators: The Administrator profile includes full privileges to Operations Manager. No scoping of the Administra..."

SCOM 07 R2: Configure Notifications

1. Create Channel

a. Run operators console

b. Right click channels then new channel then Email (SMTP)

c. Leave Default options then click Next

d. In email notification channel click Add then in the STMP server write the following:

i. SMTP Server: exchangeserver

ii. Port: 25

iii. Authentication Mode: Windows Integration

iv. Failover: Primary

v. Return Address: admin@email.com

vi. Retry Interval: 5

e. For the next page leave the default options and click Finish

2. Subscribers:

a. Right click and select new subscriber. c. Select Always Send Notifications

b. Write the user name

d. In subscriber address click on Add:

e. Write the Subscriber Name e.g. Admin

f. Select SMTP As a Channel Type then write the Email address xxx@email.com then click next then finish.

g. Click on finish

3. Subscriptions:

a. Right click on the White Space and select New Subscriptions

b. You can select the criteria you want to use, for example in our case we select everything (all the servers – all warning and errors)

c. In subscriber screen click on Add then click on search to list all subscribers.

d. In the channels screen click on Add and select the SMTP Channel we have created before and other options as default then click finish.

SCOM R2: Security Permissions:

a. Operations Manager Administrators: The Administrator profile includes full privileges to Operations Manager. No scoping of the Administrator profile is supported.

b. Operations Manager Advanced Operators: The Advanced Operator profile includes a set of privileges designed for users that need access to limited tweaking of monitoring configuration in addition to the Operators privileges. A role based on the Advanced Operators profile grants members the ability to override the configuration of rules and monitors for specific targets or groups of targets within the configured scope.

c. Operations Manager Authors: The Author profile includes a set of privileges designed for authoring of monitoring configuration. A role based on the Authors profile grants members the ability to create, edit and delete monitoring configuration (tasks, rules, monitors and views) within the configured scope. For convenience, Authors can also be configured to have Advanced Operator privileges scoped by group.

d. Operations Manager Operators: The Operator profile includes a set of privileges designed for users that need access to Alerts, Views and Tasks. A role based on the Operators profile grants members the ability to interact with Alerts, execute Tasks and access Views according to their configured scope.

e. Operations Manager Read-Only Operators: The Read-Only Operator profile includes a set of privileges designed for users that need read-only access to Alerts and Views. A role based on the Read-Only Operators profile grants members the ability to view Alerts, and access Views according to their configured scope.

f. Operation Manager Report Operators: The Report Operator profile includes a set of privileges designed for users that need access to Reports. A role based on the Report Operators profile grants members the ability to view reports according to their configured scope.

g. Operations Manager Report Security Administrators: The Report Security Administrator profile includes a set of privileges designed to enable the integration of SQL Server Reporting Services security with Operations Manager.

SCOM 07 R2: Install Management Pack

A management pack is a definition file (either with an .xml or .mp extension) that contains predefined monitoring settings that enable an agent to monitor a specific service or application in Operations Manager 2007 or Essentials 2007. These predefined settings include discovery information that allows Operations Manager and Essentials to automatically detect and begin monitoring services and applications, and a knowledge base that contains error and troubleshooting information, alerts, and reports to help you correct the problems detected in your environment. You import a new or updated management pack into Essentials using the Management Pack Import Wizard (found in the Administration space in the Essentials console).

One management pack that you might want to import into Essentials straight away is the updated Essentials 2007 management pack that resolves an issue that was preventing the Remote Assistance task from running on Windows Vista and Server 2008

Almost all of the management packs developed for Operations Manager 2007 can also be used in Essentials 2007. You can download this management pack from this location:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8F74CC26-5E0E-42F1-96CC-7AE064099190&displaylang=en&displaylang=en

To install Management Pack

a. Download the Management pack from the below site.

http://pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-US/systemcenter/managementpackcatalog

b. Install the Management Pack

c. Go to “C:\Program Files (x86)\System Center Management Packs” then open the management pack folder.

d. Copy the Path and then Start Operator console.

e. In administration go to Management pack the right click then select Import Management Pack

f. From the Select Management Packs Screen click on ADD then Add from Disk.

g. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\System Center Management Packs then select the required Management Pack

h. Select All .MP files then click open.

i. Click Install

Discover Servers and Agent Installation

1. Go to Start >> All Programs >> System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 >> Operations Console
2. Right click Administration on the left Pain then Discovery Wizard

3. Select Windows Computers then click next

4. Select Advanced Discovery:

a. In Computers and Device Classes Select Servers

b. Select Management Server

5. In discovery Method Select Browse for , or type in Computers Name:

a. Click Browse then type whatever your servers names begin with then Check Names.

b. All servers will appear

c. Select the entire computers object and click OK.

6. In Administrator Account Page select >> Use Selected Management Server Action Account then click Discover.

7. Computers Discovery will start using active directory (Based on the Query in section 5 a)

8. The result will appear >> Click Select All >> in the Management Mode Select Agent then click Next.

9. In the Summary Page Select Other and enter the Domain Admin Password then Click Finish.

10. It will install in all the servers except Servers without Windows 2003 SP1 is not installed.
Note: Pre-request for SCOM agent is Windows 2003 SP1 and Admin right on the Server for SCOM account.

SCOM 2007 R2 Installation Step by step with Reporting Services

System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 uniquely enables customers to reduce the cost of data center management across server operating systems and hypervisors through a single, familiar and easy to use interface. Through numerous views that show state, health and performance information (such as shown in Figure 1) as well as alerts generated according to some availability, performance, configuration or security situation being identified, operators can gain rapid insight into the state of the IT environment, and the IT services running across different systems and workloads.

By extending the value that existing Operations Manager customers already see in managing their Windows Server deployed applications to UNIX and Linux, customers are also able to better meet their service level agreements for applications in the data center.

With Operations Manager 2007 R2 customers are also able to improve their availability and performance metrics through enhanced service level monitoring, while their IT operations staff will be able to have improved access the key functionality they need to maintain and enhance the service they deliver to their end users. The product delivers capabilities across 3 core areas:

Introducing System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 3

 End-to-End Datacenter Service Management. System Center Operations Manager helps improve datacenter service performance by improving resolution time through best practice driven alerting, service level monitoring, and reporting. With out-of-the box capabilities for monitoring Windows, UNIX and Linux servers and workloads; support for Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP); and extensive partner solutions, Operations Manager 2007 delivers comprehensive monitoring and management for your datacenter.

 Best of Breed Monitoring for Windows and Beyond. System Center Operations Manager extends low cost Windows management to the complete datacenter environment, providing a single pane of glass across operating systems, hypervisors, networks, storage, and Microsoft and non-Microsoft applications. Including expertise from the Microsoft server, client, and application teams; UNIX and Linux knowledge from both our cross platform teams and partners; and subject matter expertise from our partners and community, Operations Manager provides you with knowledge and capabilities to drive greater operational efficiency.

 Increased Efficiency and Control. System Center Operations Manager automates routine, redundant tasks. It provides intelligent monitoring and the ability to automate action to help increase efficiency and enable greater control of your IT environment. Role-based security, Active Directory integration, and powerful infrastructure elements make it easier to monitor, configure and deploy in complex environments. Support for high-availability features such as clustering and failover ensure the IT environment is always monitored.

To install SCOM 2007 R2 follow the below steps:

1. Install SCOM 2007 R2:

a. Start SCOM Setup and then Run prerequisites checker. Be sure that everything working fine.

b. If there is no failure then close the checker and start SCOM installation

c. Accept the license agreement and select the default options. Change the installation path to D:\Program Files\System Center Operations Manager 2007 or any drive with enough space.

d. Change the Management Group to SCOM_MG or any other name belonge to your company then click Next.

e. Leave the default option and click next.

f. Leave the default option but change the SQL DB Size to 5000 MB then click next.

g. Enter Domain admin credentional then click next.

h. Use local account for running services.

i. Choose the default options and click next until you start the installation process then reboot the server.

2. Install SCOM Reporting Services

a. Run Start Page form the installation CD and choose install Operation Manager 2007 R2 Reporting.

b. Choose the default options then click Next

c. Enter the server name “SCOMSRV” or any other name belonge to your company then click next.

d. Choose the default Options and click Next

e. Keep the default options but change the DB Size to 5000 MB

f. Again keep the default options and click next.

g. Enter the Domain Admin Credintional.

h. Again enter domain admin credientional

i. Wait until the installation process to finish then reboot the server.

Install SQL Server 2008 R2:Step by Step

1. Pre-requisite:

a. .net framework 3.5 with latest SP

2. SQL Server Standard Edition Installation

a. Select New SQL Server Stand Alone Installation

b. In Specify a free edition select Enterprise Evaluation OR if you have enerprise key you enter it.

c. Accept the License Agreement >> Click Next >> Then Install

d. Once it complete verify the result then click Next:

e, Select all Features and change the installation path to D drives (Applications Drive) or you can specify you own path.

f. Change Name Instance to to whatever and Instance Root Directory to D drive (Applications Drive) or spcifify your own path.

g. Change the Account to Techin\administrator and set SQL Server Browser to Automatic then Click Next.

h. Add youdomain\administrator as SQL Server administrators the verify that all Data Directories on D Drive. Also you can specify other accounts as SQL admin.