Windows Server 8 - Active Directory DCPROMO error

UPDATE:  THIS HAS BEEN FIXED WITH THE RELEASE OF WINDOWS SERVER 8 BETA

In my previous post I went over installing my first Windows Server 8 box.

Since one of my skill sets is Active Directory my next step was to promote this box to become a domain controller.

As noted in the previous post this is an early pre-Beta release so there are going to be features that are not fully developed.

During dcpromo you can select your domain and forest functional levels.



Initially I was ready to go straight to Windows Server 8 levels and why not, it is a lab and we are all learning at this point.


Windows Server 8 Functional Levels selected

Before dcpromo completes a prerequisite check is conducted. As you can see I receive an error



The error is

The specified value '5' is not valid for the argument 'Domain level'

I then went back and changed the functional levels to 2008 R2

Once that is done the promotion did complete and I now have my first Windows Server 8 Domain Controller.



This is a known bug so no reason to report it up the Microsoft chain. Again...this is an early pre-Beta release.

Enjoy and have fun with your new Windows Server 8 Domain Controller :)

Installing Windows Server 8 Developer Preview

The Microsoft BUILD Conference is happening this week out in California.

Microsoft is using this conference to mainly talk about the next version of Windows which is Windows 8. There have been some leaked copies of Windows 8 but this week Microsoft released the first official release.

The release is a pre-beta released called the Developers Preview and it is not feature complete and still has some things that need to be fixed but it does give us an image to download and start testing and having fun with.

You can download the image from Microsoft.

I don't have a dedicated hyper-v box at home so I'm using VirtualBox I did try and install it using VMWare Workstation 7.1 but had errors. I may write another blog just on that experience. Again important to note again this is an early version.

If you are running Windows 7 you can also boot into Windows 8 and Scott Hanselman has a great blog entry on setting that up.

Guide to Installing and Booting Windows 8 Developer Preview off a VHD

I personally prefer virtual machines so that is the method I used.


So off we go for the screenshots of the install










Three Options to select from; for this initial install I'm going with the full install. Future posts will focus on the Server Core and Features On Demand versions.


Obligatory EULA which I fully read :)


Choose Custom (advanced installation)




I usually use around 40 GB for my virtual machines but you technically only need 32 GB of disk space. Additional information on the system requirements can be found here:

Windows Server 8 Developer Preview - System Requirements


The familiar installing Windows dialogue box. Glad some things don't change.




Getting close to being finished.



Enter a password





Moment of truth has arrived, initial screen for Windows Server 8. It gets me excited as I know I'll be spending years of my life using this OS but this is my first install.



There are two screens you will see when initially working with Windows 8. The first is the MetroUI that a lot of people have seen in previews on the Windows 8 blog and other sources. This is the tile interface


MetroUI GUI in Windows Server 8 Developers Preview

You can use the Windows Key to get to the more familiar desktop



It is a new OS with a lot of graphical changes that are going to take time to get used to it. For old timers over 35 like me the transition from NT to Windows 2000 was also dramatic. Remember going from server manager and user manager to AD Users and Computers.

I'm guessing there is a Group Policy to disable MetroUI and that will be a future posts but for now I'm leaving it on and getting used to it.

Group Policy for Beginners

I previously blogged about resources to learn more about Group Policy.

Microsoft released a 26 page document today titled

Group Policy for Beginners

Looks really good, and a great way for those new to group policy to start learning. I still recommend the books and links that I previously outlined.

I know not everyone that works with AD also does Group Policy work but a large majority do.

Thanks

Mike

Microsoft Premier Field Engineering Platform Reporting Tool

Microsoft has released an updated MPS Reports Tool.

Microsoft Premier Field Engineering Platform Reporting Tool

If you open a call with Microsoft you will often be told to upload the MPS reports. The reports can take a while to run to I always recommend running them before hand or as you are calling.

Password Hotfix from Microsoft site not working

Just wanted to post this for those that are not on the AD/TechNet Forums daily

This is just a repost from the moderators; I'll update the blog posting when the issue is fixed

Password for hotfix downloaded from Microsoft website is not working

When you try to download a hotfix from Microsoft web site, the hotfix may not be able to be extracted properly with the password included in the email from hotfix@microsoft.com.

We apologize for the inconvenience that this issue may have brought to you. Microsoft is aware of this problem and is trying our best to fix it as soon as possible. You may wait for a while and then try to download hotfix again. If it’s urgent, please contact us by calling:

ITPro 800-936-4900
Consumer 800-936-5700

Or visit http://support.microsoft.com for regional support phone numbers. Hotfix request is free of charge.

When this issue is resolved, we will also update it in the forum.

THANK YOU AGAIN - MVP Award

I found out yesterday that I was awarded the MVP for Active Directory/Directory Services again.

I thanked the world last year so I won't do that again but just read that post and I'll say "ditto".

The first year of being and MVP was really great with the highlight definitely being the MVP summit and I'm looking forward to that again in early 2011.

Thanks to everyone on the TechNet Forums and the Experts Exchange forums that helps and contributes to this great community. I try my best to help but I also learn a ton which is great for me.

Also again thanks to all the smart people within Microsoft and the MVP community that inspire me. People like joe, Laura, Brian D., Jorge, Sander, Mark P, Paul, Marcin, Chris D, Meinolf, Brandon, Dean, Florian, Darren, Eric J, Crandall brothers, Mark H, Rick S, etc....the list goes on and on and on.

Thanks to everyone again and see you all here on the blog or on one of the forums.

ADMT 3.2 Released!!

Those that are on the various message boards or are thinking about an upcoming migration then this post is for you.

ADMT 3.2 has been released

Active Directory Migration Tool version 3.2

The key thing from that page is this:

Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2008 R2

So you can now run ADMT on a 2008 R2 box. Now time to migrate :)