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Author: Liam

Deploy VMware Tools via Configuration Manager

Deploy VMware Tools via Configuration Manager

Personally, I find it really handy that ConfigMgr can manage software on server environments, this is always helpful when you have an application which needs to be installed or updated on all servers. Today, we are going to run through the process of updating VMware Tools on a bunch of virtual servers, in a way that will cause minimal disruption to the business. Obtain The Installer First things first, we need to obtain the latest installer for VMware Tools. I…

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ConfigMgr – Create Maintenance Windows

ConfigMgr – Create Maintenance Windows

Some people love them, some people hate them. Maintenance windows are just one tool which we can use to control when deployments are committed to endpoints. I use them for Windows Servers, as we are a traditional 9-5 business, I can set a maintenance window on our servers so that updates and applications (that require a restart) install out of hours, that way, the business impact is minimal and our uptime stays high. Here is a really quick blog post…

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Configuration Manager – Azure AD App Secrets

Configuration Manager – Azure AD App Secrets

One of the newer features of Configuration Manager is the ability to link it to cloud managed services. This allows for cloud configurations such as co-management and installing Apps from the Microsoft Online Store But, as with everything there is an element of maintenance and today I loaded Configuration Manager and was presented with the following message: One or more Azure AD app secrets used by Cloud Services will expire soon. Renew to avoid service disruptions. To avoid service disruptions,…

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Exchange Online – Setup Anti-Spoofing for Free

Exchange Online – Setup Anti-Spoofing for Free

I hear you, “Free, that doesn’t sound right!?!” Ok, I admit, sort of free. You need to have an Exchange online subscription for a start which is going to cost you. But the key point I am making here is more around not needing to pay for Enterprise Mobility and Security (EM+S) or E5 licensing to get the basic functionality of Anti-spoofing defences. Its going to take a lot of manual maintenance and setup, but, its costing you nothing more…

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Using FSRM to Protect Against Ransomware

Using FSRM to Protect Against Ransomware

This blog post will show you how to use a freely available feature of Windows Server to increase your protection against ransomware attacks. The solution here is not something that you rely on as being your ransomware protection, but, as its free and easy to setup, there is no reason why it can’t form part of a suite of measures you can introduce to protect your environment from both accidental and malicious threats. Before we begin, I need to give…

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Microsoft Excel Query could not be started because it isn’t installed

Microsoft Excel Query could not be started because it isn’t installed

I thought I would write this one up as it took a little bit of time to figure out the answer to this problem, and there are many perfectly valid solutions out there that resolve this error, except, if you are like me and make use of the Microsoft Security Baselines for Office, non of those answers would have helped…and here is why I am very much of the opinion that no matter how small your business or indeed how…

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Install Windows Capability with SCCM/WSUS deployed Windows Updates

Install Windows Capability with SCCM/WSUS deployed Windows Updates

I have worked in many environments where access out to external WSUS servers is limited (or not available). This makes sense if you are trying to tightly control the updates that your devices are receiving, but, it does make some of the modern Windows 10 tasks very difficult to manage. For example, if you wanted to install a feature on demand from Settings, you would normally select the Feature that you want to install and it would install. The problem…

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Increase OneDrive Retention for Deleted Users

Increase OneDrive Retention for Deleted Users

When a user is deleted from Office 365, their OneDrive data is not immediately deleted. It is, by default, retained for 30 days before its permanently deleted. For most companies that is more than enough time to sort through the old files and move anything that the business sees as important enough to keep. But, occasionally, this is not long enough (an not just because the managers are too busy!) for example in an education setting were the majority of…

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OneDrive Leavers – Automated Manager Access

OneDrive Leavers – Automated Manager Access

This has to be one of my favourite features from OneDrive, manager access to a leavers OneDrive storage. It makes managing leavers a lot easier and stops all those awkward conversations around why someone’s data was deleted who left 5 years ago and no one was told about it (all organisations should have an excellent backup solution but is it always possible to retain leavers data forever?!) The solution Step in My Site Cleanup, Delegated Access. This wonderful little tick…

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Open Command Prompt during OSD (WinPE)

Open Command Prompt during OSD (WinPE)

Typically a simple thing to do, but something that I have spoken to a few engineers who don’t know about this handy little trick. During OSD, pressing F8 will open up a command prompt window. From here you can run various diagnostics and, crucially, you can open CMTrace, from there you can interrogte the SMSTS.log in real time. Worth adding….with a command prompt window open in OSD will prevent reboots from taking place, which can be very helpful!