Windows Server (2019) vNext LTSC build 17623 released

Today the preview version of vNext LTSC (Windows Server 2019) build has been released on Windows Server Insider and now you can download and test the features and system.

Some info from the tech community site:

Extending your Clusters with Cluster Sets

“Cluster Sets” is the new cloud scale-out technology in this Preview release that increases cluster node count in a single SDDC (Software-Defined Data Center) cloud by orders of magnitude. A Cluster Set is a loosely-coupled grouping of multiple Failover Clusters: compute, storage or hyper-converged. Cluster Sets technology enables virtual machine fluidity across member clusters within a Cluster Set and a unified storage namespace across the “set” in support of virtual machine fluidity. While preserving existing Failover Cluster management experiences on member clusters, a Cluster Set instance additionally offers key use cases around lifecycle management of a Cluster Set at the aggregate.

Failover Cluster removing use of NTLM authentication

Windows Server Failover Clusters no longer use NTLM authentication by exclusively using Kerberos and certificate based authentication. There are no changes required by the user, or deployment tools, to take advantage of this security enhancement. It also allows failover clusters to be deployed in environments where NTLM has been disabled

Encrypted Network in SDN 

Network traffic going out from a VM host can be snooped on and/or manipulated by anyone with access to the physical fabric. While shielded VMs protect VM data from theft and manipulation, similar protection is required for network traffic to and from a VM. While the tenant can setup protection such as IPSEC, this is difficult due to configuration complexity and heterogeneous environments. 

Encrypted Networks is a feature which provides simple to configure DTLS-based encryption using the Network Controller to manage the end-to-end encryption and protect data as it travels through the wires and network devices between the hosts It is configured by the Administrator on a per-subnet basis.  This enables the VM to VM traffic within the VM subnet to be automatically encrypted as it leaves the host and prevents snooping and manipulation of traffic on the wire. This is done without requiring any configuration changes in the VMs themselves.

Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection

Windows Defender ATP Exploit Guard

If you have not signed up for the insiders do so now and start playing with this new release, I am in the works of upgrading my lab!

New openedx Azure Stack course released :INF240x

There is a new (re-released) course on the openedx.microsoft.com site where you can sign up and start learn about Azure Stack and also from the 30th of March do labs to enhance the learning experience! This lab environment is an awesome opportunity if you do not have access to a multinode or devkit setup and want hands on experience!

Extract from the site:

You will work your way through the online labs to become familiar with:

  • The components and architecture of Microsoft Azure Stack
  • Deploying Microsoft Azure Stack
  • DevOps using Microsoft Azure Stack
  • Resources in Microsoft Azure Stack
  • Managing IaaS in Microsoft Azure Stack
  • Managing PaaS in Microsoft Azure Stack
  • Managing updates in Microsoft Azure Stack
  • Performing monitoring and troubleshooting in Microsoft Azure Stack
  • Understanding how licensing and billing works in Microsoft Azure Stack

Labs included are (online labs will be available on 3/30/18)

  • Connecting to Microsoft Azure Stack using Azure PowerShell
  • Configuring Delegation Using the Azure Stack Administrator Portal
  • Registering Azure Stack with an Azure Subscription using Azure PowerShell
  • Add a Windows Server 2016 Image to Azure Stack using Azure PowerShell (Disconnected Scenario)
  • Add a Windows Server 2016 Image to Azure Stack (Connected Scenario)
  • Add a Linux Image to Azure Stack using Azure PowerShell (Disconnected Scenario)
  • Validating ARM Templates with Azure Stack

Each lab includes the following:

  • Detailed procedures for individual lab tasks
  • Access to a Windows Server 2016 Domain Controller for performing hands-on lab exercises hosted on Microsoft Labs Online (MLO)
  • Access to Azure Stack Admin and Tenant portals
  • Short “how-to” videos for viewing each task should you get stuck and need to see how it’s done

You can find the course here and read more about it: https://openedx.microsoft.com/courses/course-v1:Microsoft+INF240x+2018_T2/about

 

My experience with AzureStack in a multinode setup part 6: IaaS VM and AVMA

As I described earlier I had an eval image in my marketplace that I used to provision servers and I wanted some of them to be converted so they could be correctly activated and reconfigured away from eval.

The AzureStack uses the function within Hyper-V for the VM´s that is called Automatic Virtual Machine Activation and as you can see in the device manager the device Microsoft Hyper-V Activation Component and the VM´s should have the appropriate AVMA key on them and if the host is licensed with the right key the VM will activate automatically.

On this page you can find the keys you need for the different guest-OS that it can be used with!  A Windows Server 2016 AVMA host can activate guests that run the Datacenter, Standard or Essentials editions of Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2012 R2.

Utilizing the DISM command I can check what license I had and then use DISM /online /Set-Edition:ServerDatacenter /ProductKey:xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxx-xxxx /AcceptEula

If you just want to change a key and not versions you can utilize the slmgr /ipk <AVMA_key> instead of the DISM!