KEMP LoadMaster v7.0-4 firmware is now available with Edge Security Pack

Kemp announced  Firmware release LoadMaster 7.0-4. Now Microsoft has announced that the support for Microsoft TMG will stop, we have to look further for an reverse proxy solution. Ofcource  there is Microsoft UAG, but with the new Edge Security Pack for KEMP Load Master, it is now possible to configure reverse proxy within the load balancers! Here you can view the new announcement from KEMP Technologies!

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New Features and Feature Enhancements:
•Edge Security Pack – A range of new security features has been added to the LoadMaster.
•Sub-VS Support – The LoadMaster now supports the creation and management of sub-VSs.
•Graphical Metrics – There is a new dashboard home screen with the capability to display graphical performance information.
•New License format – A new license format has been introduced
•Oracle VirtualBox VLM – A new VLM package, to support VLM installation within an Oracle VirtualBox environment is available
•MIBS files have been updated
•SID and revision information included in IPS logging
•VLAN Separation per Interface •Support for larger TCP window sizes
•‘Kill switch’ is now supported on all LoadMaster versions
•LM-R320 has its serial number visible on the WUI
•The Netconsole Host interface is configurable via the WUI

Issues Resolved:
•Issue with SMTP STARTTLS when a client sends an EHLO is resolved
•Issue with ACL whitelist allowing other IPs is resolved
•Issue with switching VS types under load is resolved
•Some reboot issues have been resolved
•An issue with caching on Firefox has been resolved
•The “-“ character is now allowed in the DNS Search Domain field
•Issues with the MIBS have been resolved
•A circular routing problem has been resolved
•SNMP trap Source IP has been changed to pre 5.1-48 behaviour
•SSL renegotiation can be toggled on/off
•SSLv2 is no longer used for LoadMaster initiated SSL connections
•An issue with Not Available Redirection XSS has been resolved
•The Default IP is now displayed on the WUI when DHCP fails
•An issue with VS Specific insert X-Clientside header being overwritten by system default has been resolved
•The “-“ character is now allowed in the User Login field
•An issue with the Fail on Match functionality has been resolved
•An issue with Maximum Cache Size has been resolved

Known Issues:
• Quick setup Help appears automatically if no IP address is configured on the LM if a VLAN is configured on eth0 and no IP address is assigned to the underlying interface (eth0)

LoadMaster version v7.0-4 supports the following hardware:
•LM-2000
•LM-2200
•LM-2500
•LM-2600
•LM-3500
•LM-3600
•LM-5300
•LM-5500
•LM-Exchange
•LM-R320
•VLM-100
•VLM-1000
•VLM-Exchange

NOTE – ESP is supported on select LoadMaster models and new VLM installations.

Learn more about LoadMaster 7.0:

Manual
Full Release Notes
Full Documentation

Z-Hire Active Directory, Exchange, Lync User Creation Tool

Z-Hire automates the IT account creation process for Exchange mailbox, Active Directory, Lync accounts, Office 365 cloud and SalesForce cloud deployments. With just a click of the button, your Exchange mailbox, and Active directory user and Lync accounts will be created simultaneousy. This tool can also create and set custom settings for Office 365 accounts using templates. Z-Hire serves as the platform for new hire accounts by allowing auto-creation of major IT user accounts with the option for custom scripts. Z-hire will increase your new hire user account deployment time by 600%, without the need for complicated and expensive identity management solutions. This tool makes creating Active Directory users a breeze. Some of the features include:

– Environment Auto detection (AD/Exchange/Lync/Office 365/SalesForce)
– Copy existing Active Directory User to Z-Hire Template (new in version 4.8.1)
– Support for Active Directory user, Exchange Mailbox, Lync 2010, Office 365 user and SalesForce user accounts
– Template based deployment (allows consistency for all user accounts)
– Office 365 account creation with major attributes
– Active Directory user account creation with major attributes
– Active Directory group selection
– Active Directory user duplicate SamAccountName verification
– Lync 2010 account creation supporting all policies
– SalesForce user creation support all major attributes
– Faster performance (compared to previous version)
– Best of all, this AD User Creation Tool is free!

System Requirements
– Windows 7 X64 w/ .NET 3.5 (Domain Joined)
– Windows Server 2008 X64  w/ .NET 3.5 (Domain Joined)
– Windows Server 2008 R2 X64  w/ .NET 3.5 (Domain Joined)

Permission Requirements
– Ability to create Active Directory user
– Ability to create Exchange Mailbox
– Ability to create / enable Lync user

Supported Environments
– Active Directory (all versions)
– Exchange 2007 (all versions)
– Exchange 2010 (all versions)
– Lync 2010 (both Standard and Enterprise versions)
– Office 365 Cloud
– SalesForce CRM Cloud

Download Z-Hire tool on Microsoft Gallery

Windows Management Framework 3.0 Compatibility Update

Windows Management Framework (WMF) 3.0, (currently distributed as KB2506146 for Windows Server 2008 SP2 and KB2506143, for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1) has been temporarily removed from Windows Update to protect from accidental installations on unsupported systems. Those who want to install WMF 3.0 to take advantage of all the great features this update provides can do so by installing the update from the Microsoft Download Center, after reading the known compatibility issues detailed below.

Background:

Windows Management Framework (WMF 3.0) was released to the Download Center on September 17, 2012. On December 11, 2012,this package was released through Windows Update. Although it was released as an optional update, many customers chose to deploy the package automatically.  Because there are compatibility issues between some released server applications and WMF 3.0, we have temporarily removed WMF 3.0 from Windows Update. This should prevent customers from inadvertently installing the package on unsupported systems.

Known Compatibility Issues:

Windows Management Framework 3.0 (WMF 3.0) is not currently compatible with the following applications.

–         System Center 2012 Configuration Manager

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2796086  (Configuration Manager Management Points collocated with clients fail after installing Windows Management Framework 3.0 and running Client Health Evaluation)

–         System Center Virtual Machine Manager

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2795043 (Managing Hyper-V hosts using Virtual Machine Manager fails with Error: 0x8033803b after installing WMF 3.0)

–         Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2012/12/14/windows-management-framework-3-0-on-exchange-2007-and-exchange-2010.aspx (Windows Management Framework 3.0 on Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010)

–         Microsoft SharePoint 2010

http://connect.microsoft.com/PowerShell/feedback/details/746908/powershell-3-0-and-sharepoint-2010  (Windows PowerShell 3.0 and SharePoint 2010)

–         Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Small Business Server 2011

http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2012/12/15/windows-management-framework-3-0-applicability-on-windows-small-business-server-2008-2011-standard.aspx  (Windows Management Framework 3.0 applicability on Windows Small Business Server 2008/2011 Standard)

Systems that are running the above server applications should not run Windows Management Framework 3.0 at this time. WMF 3.0 is otherwise supported on Windows 7 SP1, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, and Windows Server 2008 SP2.

Server Posterpedia v2 available in the Windows Store!

Yesterday, Microsoft has released the new version of the Posterpedia App. This is very nice app, available in the Windows store. Server Posterpedia is an interactive app that uses technical posters as a reference for  understanding Microsoft technologies.

There are posters available for Microsoft Hyper-V, Exchange, Server 2008, SharePoint, Windows Azure, SQL, etc.

You can download the app using the following URL: http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/archive/2012/11/20/server-posterpedia-v2-available-in-the-windows-store.aspx or in the App Store!

       

How to upgrade an Microsoft Exchange 2007 CCR cluster from Service Pack 2 to Service Pack 3

When you’re going to upgrade your Micrososft Exchange 2007 CCR cluster environment to an Service Pack (in my example it is an Microsoft Exchange 2007 CCR cluster with Service Pack 2), but all these steps are the same in that case.

1.) First upgrade the CAS server(s)
2.) Then upgrade the HUB Transport server(s)
3.) Logon to the passive node
4.) Upgrade the passive node to Service Pack 3
 setup.com /mode:Upgrade
6.) Restart the server after the setup is completed succesfully
7.) Stop the CMS (Clustered Mailbox Server) on the active node (DOWNTIME!!)
 Stop-ClusteredMailboxServer MAILCLUSTER01 –StopReason “SP3 Upgrade”
8.) Move the CMS (Clustered Mailbox Server) to the passive node (DOWNTIME!!)
 Move-ClusteredMailboxServer MAILCLUSTER01 –TargetMachine CCR2 –MoveComment “SP3 Upgrade”
9.) On the passive node upgrade the CMS (Clustered Mailbox Server)
 setup.com /UpgradeCMS
10.) Bring the CCR cluster back online
 Start-ClusteredMailboxServer MAILCLUSTER01
11.) Upgrade the initial active node to Service Pack 3
 setup.com /mode:Upgrade
12.) Restart the server after the setup is completed succesfully
13.) Now you have an Exchange 2007 CCR cluster with Serivce Pack 3

Password Reset Feature Available In Microsoft Exchange 2007 SP3 OWA…

Exchange admins who have been in the field for a while will have come across the end user difficulties of not being able to change their passwords using OWA when either the password has expired or the admin has forced for a password reset at login. Though there were workarounds in previous versions of Exchange, no work was done by the product group to make it an Exchange feature which can be turned on or off.

Exchange 2007 SP3 brings this feature to the table. The option is disabled by default and can be turned on with a registry edit on the CAS server.

To enable the password reset feature,

1.) Log on to the CAS server with an admin account.
2.) In registry editor, navigate to HLKM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchange OWA
3.) Create the following DWORD value if it does not already exist. DWORD Name – ChangeExpiredPasswordEnabled, type – REG_DWORD and data set to 1.
4.) If the DWORD already exists, change the value from zero to one.
5.) Reset IIS from command prompt with the command iisreset /noforce