Tidbits for admins for the 2k8 release...
Just some random stuff as you get ready for 2k8...
Getting the Classic cluster logs:
Clustering in Win2k8 has undergone some major changes (for the better). One of those changes is that the cluster events are now part of the event stream so sifting through the cluster logs is a thing of the past. You might find it easier sometimes though to have the cluster logs in which case you can generate them:
C:\>cluster log /G /Copy:"c:\debuggers"
Generating the cluster log(s) ...
The cluster log has been successfully generated on node 'server-10'...
The cluster log has been successfully generated on node 'server-11'...
The cluster log has been successfully copied from node 'server-11'...
The cluster log has been successfully copied from node 'server-10'...
The cluster log has been successfully generated on node 'server-15'...
The cluster log has been successfully copied from node 'server-15'...
The cluster log has been successfully generated on node 'server-16'...
The cluster log has been successfully copied from node 'server-16'...
The cluster log(s) have been copied to 'c:\debuggers'...
Multiple TS connections to the same server with the same account:
You may notice that in Win2k8 that if you are already logged on via TS to a server and use the same account from a different machine to connect to the server it will take over the session you already have connected instead of creating a new one. This is by default in 2k8. If you/your team use a test account to logon to your servers this could be quite annoying and you might want to set it back to what it was like in 2k3. You can do this by unchecking "Restrict each user to a single session" in tsconfg.msc, which just toggles the fSingleSessionPerUser value to zero under "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" if you want to do it remotely.
Also, I already mentioned it but you need to use the /admin switch to connect to the console session with 2k8 and Vista SP1. More info from Terminal Services Team Blog.
Getting the system info for investigations:
Have a customer who is having issues? Stop asking questions and have them run msinfo32.exe /nfo c:\test.nfo and send you the test.nfo file. What's in there? Everything of your dreams. No really, it has a plethora of information on the system where its taken, and is quite helpful. If you just want to grab the basics from a server locally/remotely use systeminfo.exe which is under system32.
Setup failed and I do not know why:
For general troubleshooting, check the Setupact.log and Setuperr.log files. Depending on when the installation failed, these files will be located in the $WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Panther folder or the Windows\Panther folder. In most cases, these folders are located on the partition that Windows Server 2008 is being installed on or the partition that contains the old operating system. However, if Setup failed on an Itanium-based computer, this folder might be located on another drive that has available hard disk space. From here.
I'd also add if you dont find any info in the panther log locations check the cbs.log file under %windir%\Logs\CBS. This has good information for any setup/install failures.
Installing Win2k8 and using it as your desktop:
For the uber-nerds cough *not me* cough: https://blogs.msdn.com/vijaysk/archive/2008/02/11/using-windows-server-2008-as-a-super-desktop-os.aspx
Windows 2008 is fast as hell, and if you got the horses you might think this is a good idea. IF you can live without sidebar! Oh wait, does anyone use that?
Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) released yesterday:
Finally for those of you who want to scan your hardware inventory with zero-touch, the Solution Accelerator for 2k8 went out the door yesterday. If anything you should take the link and check it out.
The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator performs three key functions - including hardware and device inventory, compatibility analysis, and readiness reporting.
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