Coalface Tech: a podcast produced by IT pros for IT pros

Posted on By Mark Wilson

Coalface Tech podcast graphicWay back in June, I wrote that James Bannan and I were thinking of launching a podcast – the theory being that we are both full-time IT guys who write about IT in our spare time, rather than professional journalists who write about IT but don’t need to worry about keeping the lights on.

Well, last month, we finally recorded the pilot episode for what has become known as “Coalface Tech”, and APC Mag has kindly given us a home on the web (multimedia downloads would blow my bandwidth allowance for this site very quickly!) – please do check it out and let us know what you think.

Please bear in mind that this is a pilot and we still have some work to do on the audio production (next time I will use a headset!) and the RSS feeds (for MP3 and AAC versions of the podcast) are not live yet so you can’t subscribe via iTunes (we’re working on it!). James and I are looking to schedule another recording soon but, in the meantime, check out the pilot episode – and please do leave a comment if you have any constructive feedback about podcast length, frequency, potential topics or anything else that seems relevant!

Issues experienced when uninstalling Virtual Server virtual machine additions after importing to Hyper-V

Posted on By Mark Wilson

A few days ago, I was migrating a couple of legacy virtual machines from Virtual Server to Hyper-V. I used Matthijs ten Seldam’s VMC to Hyper-V Import Tool to save some time on the import process, although it is an import tool (not a migration tool), so I did need to move the .VHDs manually.

I realised that I’d forgotten to remove the Virtual Machine Additions before I shut the machines down in Virtual Server but I figured I would be able to do that in Hyper-V, before installing the Hyper-V integration components. Unfortunately, that didn’t work for me and attempting to uninstall the Virtual Machine Additions from the Control Panel Add or Remove Programs applet resulted in the following error message:

Virtual Machine Additions

{\Tahoma8}You can install Virtual Machine Additions only on a virtual machine that is running a supported guest operating system.

followed by:

Add or Remove Programs

Fatal error during installation.

A little bit of googling turned up a TechNet Social thread, where Tim Cerling explained that:

“You can only install the Virtual Machine additions from within Hyper-V if the virtual machine is running Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP1, Windows Server 2003 SP2 or Windows Server 2008 and the additions are version 13.803, 13.813, or 13.820. If the operating system is different or the additions are different, they can only be removed from Virtual Server or Virtual PC.”

Clicking on the support information in Control Panel’s Add or Remove Programs applet told me that my Virtual Machine Additions were still at 13.552.0.0, so I had to load the VHD under Virtual Server to remove them, before copying the .VHDs back to Hyper-V (I could use the same virtual machine configuration that I had created earlier but had to remove the disks and add them again in order to assign the appropriate permissions).

After starting the VMs, I cancelled the Found New Hardware Wizard and installed the Hyper-V integration services (including an automatic HAL update and a couple of reboots). Because I’d used legacy (emulated) network adapters and allocated static MAC addressing (carrying forward the MAC addresses from Virtual Server), the guest operating systems didn’t notice that the underlying NIC had changed and so it wasn’t necessary to reconfigure TCP/IP settings.

Bluetooth communications between Apple iPhone 3G and an Audi mobile telephone preparation system

Posted on By Mark Wilson

A few weeks back I had the use of a 2008 Ford Mondeo for a week and I wrote about my experiences of pairing my Apple iPhone 3G with the Ford Audio system. This morning, I got to play with a new Audi A4 Avant (2.0 TDI 170PS) for a few hours (it was fun – I will be ordering one soon) and I repeated the experiment with the iPhone 3G.

I didn’t have time to collect screenshots/photos but this is a quick summary of what I was told by the dealer/verified to be true (this car was an S line model and was fitted with the Audi Mobile Telephone Preparation Low and Audi Music Interface options):

  • The iPhone 3G will happily pair with the Audi’s audio system via the Mobile Telephone Preparation Low option but it is useful to know that: the pairing needs to occur within 30 seconds of opening the car and inserting the key (i.e. activating the car’s systems); the car identifies itself with a device name of handsfree; and the PIN for pairing is 1234.
  • Once paired, calls will ring the iPhone and the car simultaneously. The Bluetooth logo and signal strength are displayed on the Audi Multi Media Interface (MMI) display.
  • The car can access the iPhone 3G’s list for recently dialled numbers, missed calls, etc. but full directory integration does not appear to be available. Numbers can be dialled from the car’s systems (and the call placed on the iPhone). I did not have access to a vehicle with voice control system so this was not tested.
  • To use the iPhone as an iPod with the Audi Music Interface (AMI), a special cable is required (which I did not have access to).

Remote Desktop Services – more than just a terminal

Posted on By Mark Wilson

In last week’s post looking some of the new features to expect in Windows Server 2008 R2 I didn’t mention terminal services at all. There’s a reason for that – Terminal Services is being replaced by what Microsoft is calling Remote Desktop Services (RDS) and all the Terminal Services applications will change names accordingly.

Why the change of name? Well, RDS is no longer limited to presentation virtualisation as it includes a new session broker capability to extend its role to support a virtual desktop infrastructure – further strengthening the ties between Microsoft’s virtualisation platform and the Windows Server operating system. By combining RDS with Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V or Microsoft Hyper-V Server, System Center Virtual Machine Manager, App-V within MDOP, and VECD licensing, Microsoft now provides an end-to-end VDI solution.

With Remote Desktop Services, centralised desktop environments can be created and managed, allowing remote connections from managed and unmanaged clients whilst keeping critical intellectual property secure and to radically simplifying regulatory compliance by removing applications and data from the desktop. Furthermore, unlike existing presentation virtualisation methods, RDS includes multiple application delivery methods.

Windows Server 2008 R2 provides the platform – with RemoteApp, Remote Desktop Web Access, Remote Desktop Gateway and the new Remote Desktop Connection Broker, which extends the session broker capabilities in Windows Server 2008 to create a unified administrative experience for session-based remote desktops and for virtual machine-based desktops, supporting bother persistent (permanent) and pooled virtual machines. As with VMware’s VDI offering, persistent VMs have a 1:1 mapping between users and the VM with any changes preserved, whereas the pooled VMs use a single, replicated, image with user state stores via profiles and folder redirection rather than in the VM. In either case, the images are stored on a Hyper-V host.

Meanwhile, the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is also enhanced to offer more of the functionality that is typically associated with a local desktop, including: multimedia redirection; multiple monitor support; audio input and recording; Aero glass support; DirectX redirection; improved audio/video synchronisation; and language redirection.

RDS also includes improved application publishing and streaming through a Remote Desktop and Application feed with full Windows 7 support whereby RemoteApp programs and desktops appear on the Start Menu with a system tray icon indicating connectivity status, but also with connectivity options for Windows XP and Vista.

There are also improvements around management, with a new Windows PowerShell provider for RDS, as well as features to: help improve application compatibility (MSI compatibility); profile improvements; group policy caching; IP address virtualisation; and to ensure system stability by protecting against runaway applications (kernel scheduling).

As has always been the case with Terminal Services, Windows Server’s Remote Desktop Services capability is targeted at low-complexity deployments and as a platform for partner solutions, which can extend scalability and manageability to address the needs of more demanding enterprise deployments, for example with policy, load-balancing, orchestration and placement extensions for the connection broker. Regardless of this, RDS represents a signifcant step forward – and the inclusion of a connection broker for virtual desktops is a long overdue addition to Microsoft’s virtualisation portfolio.