Microsoft released today (May 13, 2014) a security update for the .Net Framework (KB2960358).
However, after applying this update, client backups on SBS 2011 Essentials, WHS 2011, Server Storage Essentials 2008, and 2012 Essentials will fail.
Microsoft has already released updates to fix this problem:
Whether you are working with any version of Microsoft’s Small Business Server (SBS 2003/2008/2011) or Windows Server Essentials (2011/2012/2012R2), a great resource is The Windows Server Essentials and Small Business Server Blog.
The official blog for Windows Server Essentials and Small Business Server support and product group communications. There are plenty of great hints and information on installing and maintaining these products.
For example, a recent post addressed the question: “What happens when you release your domain name from windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials?”.
Want to know the answer? Click here to find out the answer!
Over the past many years, I often get a request for a missing certugr.asp file when installing Certificate Services on SBS 2003 (yes 2003!).
In the past, I’ve handled these requests offline, but in the chance someone still needs the file in the future, I have provided instructions and a link to download the file from my site.
Good luck, and let me know if this helps you!
I have worked with the Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) product line since 2001. The product itself goes back to the Windows NT era when it was called Microsoft BackOffice Server.
In 2004 I was honored to be designated as a Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) for the SBS product. This past January, my MVP status was renewed for a 10th straight year. It’s amazing, given the fact that I am one of
But recently Microsoft decided to shake things up a bit, and we were informed that there would be a “technical expertise name change” to our SBS MVP group.
Effective July 17th, 2013, the technical expertise Small Business Server will be renamed to Windows Server for Small and Medium Business. Please note this is a MVP Program expertise change only and has no impact within the product team structure.
And you know what? That’s fine with me.
Many people have been very disappointed over the fact that the SBS product, as we have known it, will not be continued. I’m not one of those people. I see this as an indication that things never remain the same. New things to learn; new skills to develop; new opportunities to do what I like to do – help businesses be more productive.
So, I am officially a WSSMB MVP (at least until my next review period at the end of the year).
Chances are, if you have an SBS 2008 server, it is running very well. But this may lead you to become complacent in managing the server. For example, it is important that you run the SBS 2008 Best Practices Analyzer on your server on a regular basis. Whether that is monthly, or quarterly, run it!
On a recent SBS 2008 server that has been chugging along quite nicely, I discovered that BPA had not been run in quite awhile. When I did, I was greeted with this warning:
The SBSMonitoring database is nearing maximum size
The SBSMonitoring database is currently 3762487296 bytes in size
Wow, that’s nice … except for the fact that the warning message doesn’t tell you what to do to fix it or clean it up. It doesn’t even point you to a KB article.
The rest of this blog post identifies three different solutions to this problem.
If you do your due diligence in searching the web, you will come across Microsoft KB 981939. You can read through the KB article for the details, and you may want to give it a try.
When you run their PowerShell script, you may get an error about the execution of scripts. If so, simply type the following command at the PS> prompt:
Set-executionpolicy remotesigned and press Enter
But, wait — there’s a second solution!
If solution 1 fails, and you go back to search the Internet, you will discover a blog post from Third Tier titled: SBS 2008 Monitoring Database Fills to Capacity.
This solution has you replacing the current SBSMonitoring database with a new clean one. Only one problem: how many people keep a clean copy of their Monitoring database around???
No problem, there’s a third solution, which is the best!
Check out the SBS Blog site for How to Recreate the SBSMonitoring Database.
Simply download the provided zip file, extract the PowerShell script, start up an administrative PowerShell session, and run the script. Voila! It’s finished almost immediately.
All that is left is to rerun the BPA and verify that the warning message no longer appears!
Cheers!
For several years the SBS MVP’s have been maintaining several Wiki-type “build” documents for the SBS and Essential server platforms, including SBS 2008, SBS 2011 Standard/Essentials, Windows 2012 Essentials and Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials!
These documents contain a wealth of real-world and time-tested hints and recommendations, collected from MVPs around the world. They contain information you need to know before, during, and after installing SBS or Essentials.
This link below will take you to the main page with links to each individual build document.
Enjoy!
There are things that I do in managing my computer systems that I would classify under the category of “trusted habits”. For example, whenever I am updating a server, I always reboot it before installing updates. Or, I generally install any .Net updates separate from other Windows security patches.
Another trusted habit of mine is to install Exchange related rollups or service packs on their own, manually. That is, I don’t use WSUS or WU/MU to automatically install Exchange updates.
As an example, let’s take a quick look at applying Update Rollup 10 for Exchange 2007 SP3, which was released in February 2013 (see KB2788321).
Before proceeding, make sure you do my three essential pre-requisites:
Even though WSUS/MU properly informs me that Update Rollup 10 is available, I won’t use WSUS/MU to install it.
Instead, go to KB2788321 this link, and download and save the 64 bit version of RU10 to your desktop or Download folder.
Right click on the downloaded file, click Apply, then click Open, and wait a few minutes while it computes space requirements.
Please note: If you get an error message about insufficient permissions or privileges, DON’T PANIC.
Just open up an elevated command prompt, and locate/run the download file from there.
Click Next, when prompted, to begin the installation, and accept the License Terms. Wait while it generates the required .Net files, then click Next. The installation will proceed, and may take 30-40 minutes to complete.
Once the rollup has been installed, go ahead and reboot your server, and then check and verify that all of the appropriate Exchange services have started, and delete the rollup file you downloaded.
Working with Exchange 2010 and SBS 2011, you should expect to become familiar with PowerShell. Here’s a quick easy solution for displaying the version of Exchange 2010 installed on a server:
In my case (see screenshot above), I have Version 14.2 (Build 247.5) which indicates that I have Exchange 2010 SP2 installed.
When migrating from SBS 2003 to SBS 2011, I will often backup data folders on the old server with NT Backup. However, SBS 2011 does not provide the NT Backup utility natively on it. However, Microsoft does offer a “read only” version of NT Backup (KB 974674) that can be installed on SBS 2011 and used to restore .bkf backup files.
Once your migration is complete, it is critical that this NT Backup utility is uninstalled from your SBS 2011 server as it affects the regular daily backup that you will be doing with your SBS 2011 server. The issue would not become apparent until you attempt to do a bare metal restore of your SBS 2011 server. See Susan Bradley’s blog post on the subject.
What’s not addressed is how to uninstall this utility. You won’t find it in the regular Add/Remove programs section of the control panel. Nor will you find it anywhere from Start > All Programs.
Here’s how to uninstall it:
My good friend, and fellow MVP’er, Andy (Handy Andy) Goodman, nails the issue with SBS and Software Assurance (SA) in his blog post.
http://blog.sbs-rocks.com/2012/11/sbs-sa-make-good-is-not-microsoft-should-be-ashamed-of-itself/