Brian W. McCann

Upcoming Trip to Israel

BrianM — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:12:04 GMT

You know I haven’t had a personal post about me and my life in quite some time. Just thought I’d share that next week I’ll be traveling to Israel for the first time. I’ll be staying in Tel Aviv and am really excited about being there for two...(read more)

Windows Server 2008 Command Lines for Administrative Consoles

BrianM — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:41:29 GMT

I’m always of fan of shortcuts and the Windows Server 2008 Administrator's Companion from Microsoft Press has a complete list of the command line shortcuts for starting Administrative Consoles for Server 2008. There are plenty of other goodies...(read more)

Process Explorer on Server Core

BrianM — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:10:28 GMT

While I’ve always been a fan of Task Manager but lets face the facts…its has its limitations. Mark Russinovich has rolled up his wonderful Sysinternal Troubleshooting Utilities into a single download that can be found here . In there you will find...(read more)

RODC Compatibility Issues with Down-Level Clients

BrianM — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:15:01 GMT

I just read over at Jane Lewis's blog that if you plan on deploying Server 2008 Read Only Domain Controllers (RODC) and have down-level clients (XP and 2003 clients) then you will want to check out the RODC Compatibility Pack. I know a lot of people...(read more)

Administrator's Guide to Server Core Commands

BrianM — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:25:00 GMT

Server Core has been a popular topic for me over the last year as it is something completly different from what i'm used to working on. I love the GUI but I know there are times when I have to do things via the command line. Well if you are going...(read more)

Active Directory Health Checks for Domain Controllers

BrianM — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:35:00 GMT

I've just written a small article on the common steps that I perform when doing health checks on domain controllers. Head on over to AdminPrep to check it out. I would love for you to come back here and let me know what else you do when you do health...(read more)

Installing Active Directory on Server Core with an Answer File

BrianM — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:11:23 GMT

Last week I spent some time at my former employer taking a Server 2008 upgrade course . Shame on you if you haven't checked them out for training because their Hard Hat courses are hands down the best out there. I spent a lot of time in that course...(read more)

Server Core CoreConfigurator

BrianM — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 01:54:40 GMT

I know i'm late on this but I've got to blog about it. Fellow Directory Services MVP Guy Teverovsky has created the coolest tool yet for Server 2008 Server Core. It is the Server Core CoreConfigurator . After you copy the four files to your Server...(read more)

RSAT Missing Tabs in Active Directory Users and Computers

BrianM — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:26:13 GMT

Some of you may have noticed there were some missing tabs in Active Directory Users and Computers after you installed RSAT on Windows Vista. Specifically the Terminal Services Profile, Remote Control, Environment, and Sessions tabs are not there. The...(read more)

MVP Again 2008

BrianM — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:14:00 GMT

Wow...I can't believe i've been awarded my MVP in Directory Services again!!! This is my third year in a row and i'm honored again. It really does go to show that karma is alive and well. Brian...(read more)

DNSCMD Reference

BrianM — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:09:00 GMT

Fellow Directory Services MVP Mark Minasi has a great table that shows a ton DNS commands using dnscmd. For those of you getting ready to use Server Core here is yet another list of commands that will come in handy. All I can say is WOW!!! Function DNSCMD...(read more)

Server Core Commands

BrianM — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:58:32 GMT

It's been quite awhile since my last Server Core blog so I feel obligated to share some of the other findings that I have. I've been asked several times how to configure TCP/IP settings on a Server Core server. To configure the IP address we will...(read more)

Windows Vista Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) Finally Released

BrianM — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:24:00 GMT

It looks like Microsoft finally released RSAT for Windows Vista. What a relief. We can finally effectively manage our environment with Vista. It can be downloaded in two versions, 32bit or 64bit . What Is Included in RSAT? This is the list of Windows...(read more)

Will the Real FTP Service Please Stand Up?

BrianM — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:34:00 GMT

I'm confused...really confused. One of Windows Server 2008's new touted upgrades is IIS7. Maybe it's just me but I've always thought FTP was part IIS...and it is in Windows Server 2008. So why am I so confused. Well apparently Microsoft...(read more)

Group Policy Spreadsheet for Server 2008 and Vista SP1

BrianM — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:15:41 GMT

I've always loved these spreadsheets as they allow a quick and easy way to search for Group Policies. With Server 2008 live and Vista SP1 out Microsoft has updated their reference sheet to add all the new Group Policy settings. There are now over...(read more)

Windows Server 2008 Reviewers Guide - Reviewed

BrianM — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:04:33 GMT

After spending a bit of time on Amazon I noticed that books, movies, and other random things you can buy all had customer reviews. I started to think, why don't white papers and technical documents have the same? Today I've decided to take action...(read more)

Windows Server 2008 Sysprep.xml help

BrianM — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:41:00 GMT

My friend Norm asked if I could post this sample Sysprep.xml file as he couldn't find anything online yet to really help him with Server 2008 and Sysprep. If you have any questions or feedback just leave it in the comments and I'll be sure to...(read more)

Free Windows Server 2008 Labs Available Online

BrianM — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:40:00 GMT

Since today is the official launch day of Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 I thought it would be a good idea to check out the Heroes Happen {here} site . Not sure how I stumbled upon it but I found a real gem. I found 10 labs...(read more)

Hyper-V Terminology Explained

BrianM — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:22:24 GMT

The Virtual PC Guy blog has a great post defining some of the components and features of Hyper-V . For those that want to learn more about Hyper-V this is the blog you should be reading....(read more)

Active Directory – Meet the Marketing Group

BrianM — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 19:50:40 GMT

I wanted to share some details on Active Directory now that Server 2008 is about to launch. Microsoft has decided to put an emphasis on Active Directory by potentially confusing its customers. In the past if someone mentioned Active Directory someone...(read more)