KB: WritePrinter() with RAW data fails to print with TS Easy Print (kb2827141)

A new KB was released today (2827141 ) related to calls to the WritePrinter() API to write RAW data directly to a printer that fail with Terminal Services Easy Print.

“…This is because the TS Easy Print feature creates an XPS document which is sent to the client, and the client must add data to this document.  But XPS does not support RAW data, so the call will fail.  This behavior is a by design limitation in the Terminal Services Easy Print feature. Terminal Services Easy Print cannot be used to write RAW data to a printer.

Disabling Terminal Services Easy Print with the following group policy option will avoid this limitation:
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Printer Redirection\Use Terminal Services Easy Print printer driver first…”

Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2827141/en-us?sd=rss&spid=14134
Article ID: 2827141

TechNet: RemoteFX vGPU Setup and Configuration Guide for Windows Server 2012

A new TechNet Wiki was started by Jeroen van Eesteren (MSFT) recently related to setting up and configuring RemoteFX vGPU in Windows Server 2012. A very detailed wiki worthwhile checking out: RemoteFX vGPU Setup and Configuration Guide for Windows Server 2012

The contents of the Wiki:

1. What is RemoteFX?

2. Requirements for RemoteFX vGPU

3. Checking the requirements

4. Installation and configuration of RemoteFX vGPU

5. Frequently Asked Questions.

5.1 What are the requirements to use RemoteFX graphics acceleration by using the vGPU?.

5.2 How can I determine if my system has a SLAT supported processor?.

5.3 What types of vGPU are supported with RemoteFX?.

5.4 Can I use multiple types of GPUs?.

5.5 What versions of Windows are supported inside a virtual machine to use the vGPU?.

5.6 How can I determine the RemoteFX vGPU is utilized in a RemoteFX/RDP session?.

5.7 Are there any performance tests I can run to show the benefit of vGPU?.

5.8 I don’t see a difference between the vGPU and non-vGPU virtual machine?.

5.9 What performance counters are available to determine RemoteFX performance issues?.

5.10 I am seeing a blank screen when connecting to a Windows 8 Enterprise virtual machine with vGPU enabled?

5.11 What monitor configurations are supported when connecting to a Windows 8 Enterprise virtual machine with vGPU enabled?

Technet: Microsoft Volume Licensing Mail Bag: Three Questions on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Licensing

A new blog post on TechNet was released on TechNet that answers three important questions on Microsoft VDI licensing.

“…A Microsoft Volume Licensing Expert Answers your Burning Questions on Licensing the Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).

Microsoft VDI offers the ability to rapidly and securely deploy desktops from a data center to users. IT support teams can manage desktops centrally, and VDI can help improve security by centralizing users’ data. VDI also gives end users the flexibility they need to access their work desktops from almost any device that has a reliable network connection.

Louise Ulrick, a UK-based licensing consultant and trainer, has relished taking the opportunity to answer some of your thornier questions on the licensing of VDI. She first began running licensing training courses all the way back in 1995.  Today, Louise continues to love licensing and works all over the world on behalf of Microsoft…”

Read more: http://blogs.technet.com/b/volume-licensing/archive/2013/03/21/microsoft-volume-licensing-mail-bag-three-questions-on-virtual-desktop-infrastructure-vdi-licensing.aspx

Session-Based Desktop Deployment on Windows Server 2012, experiences so far (Part 1)

My new article on VirtualizationAdmin.com has just been published.

“…Now that Windows Server 2012 has been generally available for some time, it’s high time to take a look back at the past few months to see what Windows Server 2012, and particularly Session-Based Desktop Deployment, Powered by RDS has brought us. In this article I’ll share some of my experiences while putting Session-Based Desktop Deployment in production based on Windows Server 2012. We’ll discuss how the overall installation process and the new way of managing your Session-Based Desktop Deployment environment performs and works out. This is part 1 of a series of (at least) 2 parts.…”

http://www.virtualizationadmin.com/articles-tutorials/vdi-articles/general/session-based-desktop-deployment-windows-server-2012-experiences-so-far-part1.html

RDV Team: What’s new in Windows Server 2012 Remote Desktop Gateway

Venkat Bodapati, a software development engineer on the Remote Desktop Virtualization (RDV) team wrote a blog post to highlight new features of RD Gateway in Windows Server 2012.

In the blog post he discusses:

• Transport changes to enable the WAN improvements in Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) 8.0
• Management console changes to facilitate using these new protocols
• IIS configuration changes
• Load balancing changes to complement the new protocols

Source and full blog post: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/rds/archive/2013/03/14/what-s-new-in-windows-server-2012-remote-desktop-gateway.aspx

KB: fixing several bugs in the RTM versions of Lync 2013 Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) clients

A new KB article (2760556) has been released that contains several fixes RTM versions of Lync 2013 Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) clients

“….Microsoft has released an update for Microsoft Lync 2013. This update provides the latest fixes for Lync 2013.

This update fixes several bugs in the RTM versions of Lync 2013 Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) clients. Additionally, after you apply this update, you do not have to re-enter a username and password when you pair a Lync 2013 VDI plugin with a Lync 2013 Desktop client.
You can apply this hotfix on both Lync 2013 VDI clients and Lync 2013 Desktop clients…”

Source and download: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2760556

KB: You cannot log on to a virtual machine that is running Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 in a VDI environment

A new KB article (2795531) has been released to fix an issue related to unsuccessful connections to VM’s running on a RD Virtualization Host.

“…Consider the following scenario:

• You deploy a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environment in a network.
• You enable the Remote Desktop Virtualization Host (RD Virtualization Host) role service on the Windows Server 2012-based computers.
• You try to log on to a virtual machine that is running Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 in the VDI environment.

In this scenario, you cannot log on to the virtual machine. The logon screen appears but the logon process cannot be completed.
Notes

• The previous corresponding remote session to the RD Virtualization Host does not log off.
• You may receive the following error message when you try to manually logoff the session in the Server Manager console:
• RD Connection Broker failed to process the connection request for user <domain>\<userid>.
  Failed while checking for disconnected session.
  Error: User is trying to connect to the same Pool more than once simultaneously…”

“…This issue occurs because the host computer does not receive a notification that the previous session has ended during the logoff operation. Therefore, the previous session does not log off successfully…”

Source and download: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2795531/en-us?sd=rss&spid=16526&wa=wsignin1.0

 

 

KB: Generic error message when you change your password on a RD Web Access website in Windows Server 2012 or in Windows Server 2008 R2 (2793072)

A new KB has been released (2793072) regarding the generic error message you receive when using the change password option in RD Web Access.

“…Assume that you install the Remote Desktop (RD) Web Access role service on a computer that is running Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2008 R2. You try to change an expired password on the RD Web Access website by using a new password that does not meet the length, complexity, or history requirements. In this situation, you receive a generic error message that resembles the following:  

Your password cannot be changed. Please contact your administrator for assistance…”

“…This issue occurs because Windows does not retrieve the extended error code from the native Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) API. Instead, Windows tries to map a generic error code and returns an error message based on the generic code…”

Source and download: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2793072/en-us?sd=rss&spid=14134

KB: The "New" option in the shortcut menu is missing for the root folder of a redirected drive in Windows Server 2008 R2 (2796764)

A new hotfix has been released (2796764) to fix the issue where the “new” option is missing in the context menu on a redirected drive using a Remote Desktop Session. Have been running into this issue too, glad that it’s fixed.

Root of a redirected drive:

Subfolder:

“…Consider the following scenario:

• On a client computer, you open Remote Desktop Connection and enable drive redirection.
• You create a Remote Desktop session to a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.
• You browse to the root folder of the redirected drive in the Remote Desktop session.
• You right-click an active region to display the shortcut menu.

In this scenario, the New option is missing on the shortcut menu…”

Source and download: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2796764/en-us?sd=rss&spid=14134

An enterprise hotfix rollup is available for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (2775511)

A new KB article has been released today (2775511) that contains 90 hotfixes releases after Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, The Enterprise hotfix rollup!

“…This article describes a hotfix rollup for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1)-based and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1-based computers. This hotfix rollup contains 90 hotfixes that were released after the release of SP1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. These hotfixes improve the overall performance and system reliability of Windows 7 SP1-based and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1-based computers. We recommend that you apply this hotfix rollup as part of your regular maintenance routine and build processes for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 computers.
This hotfix rollup includes the following improvements:

• Improves the Windows Client Remote File System components. These components include the following:
• Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV)
• DFSN client
• Folder Redirection
• Offline Files and Folders (CSC)
• SMB client
• Redirected Drive Buffering Subsystem (RDB)
• Multiple UNC Provider (MUP)
• Improves the SMB Service and TCP protocol components. These improvements work together with other improvements to help improve the overall networking performance on Windows 7 SP1-based and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1-based computers.
• Improves the processing of Group Policies and Group Policy preferences. The performance of computers is improved after you install this rollup update on Windows 7-based computers that have several Group Policy preferences configured. Additionally, the network load and the domain controller usage may be reduced. We recommend that you install this hotfix rollup on every Windows 7 computer that has Group Policy preferences configured.
• Improves the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) components to reduce the CPU usage and to improve the repository verification performance…”

Source and download: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2775511/en-us?sd=rss&spid=14134

KB: Compatibility update is available for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012

A new KB article (790907 ) has been releases regarding application compatibility on Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8.

“…A compatibility update is a software update that improves the compatibility experience in Windows 8 and in Windows Server 2012. Microsoft regularly releases Windows compatibility updates to improve the overall user experience. This compatibility update is dated March 2013.…”

Source and download: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2790907/en-us?sd=rss&spid=16526

KB: Application compatibility update for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2: March 2013

A new KB article (2791765) has been releases regarding application compatibility on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7.

“…The Windows application compatibility update is a software update that improves the compatibility experience in Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2. Microsoft regularly releases Windows compatibility updates to improve the overall user experience.
For more information, refer to the "Applications or devices that experience a change in behavior after you install this update" section and the "Applications and devices that are included in this update" section…”

Source and download: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2791765/en-us?sd=rss&spid=14134

Retrieve usernames for files in a User Profile Disks (UPD) share in VDI environments

User Profile Disks (UPD) is a new technique introduced in Windows Server 2012 to deal with profiles on VDI deployments for Session-Based deployments as well as Virtual Machine-Based deployments.  For more information on setting up UPD also see this TechNet Wiki:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/15304.installing-and-configuring-user-profile-disks-upd.aspx

If you have read through the wiki or have already been working with UPD you'll now that the files share that contains the UPD files (.vhdx files) are made up of the users Active Directory SID. To make it easier to identify what UPD file belong to what user, I created a simple PowerShell script that could help out.

Run the script from a PowerShell prompt and specify the parameter where the UPD files are stored.

NAME
    ShowUPDFolderDetails.ps1

SYNTAX
    ShowUPDFolderDetails.ps1 upd-path

EXAMPLE
    ShowUPDFolderDetails.ps1 \\sql01\upd

The output will look something like below and a export.csv file is also created containing the results.

You can find the file on Microsoft TechNet Gallery:
http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Retrieve-usernames-for-a-94780a9e

RDV Team: Microsoft VDI vs. VMware View: Freedom of Choice

Adam Carter, the technical product manager for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) wrote a great blog post on the overall value that session-based and virtual machine-based desktop deployment provides in response to a datasheet by VMware.

“…Our approach to VDI is fundamentally different from VMware’s, primarily because we believe in providing choices to our customers. Unlike VMware, Microsoft can deliver VDI functionality in 3 different ways:

• Session-based desktop deployment (Remote Desktop Session Host, formerly known as Terminal Server)
• Virtual machine-based desktop deployment using pooled virtual desktops
• Virtual machine-based desktop deployment using personal virtual desktops

As each solution has its pros and cons, a single console management experience for all three means that you can choose to mix and match experiences for your users depending on their needs…”

source: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/rds/archive/2013/03/06/microsoft-vdi-vs-vmware-view-freedom-of-choice.aspx

Microsoft TechNet Magazine article series on VDI in Windows Server 2012, now online!

As announced earlier on this blog I’m co-authoring a series of articles on VDI in Windows Server 2012 together with Kristin Griffin (also RDS MVP).

The series will start by covering an introduction to VDI, how to set up the basic deployment and will later on go into great detail on many post-deployment configurations to make the VDI deployment enterprise ready.

The articles will be published monthly on TechNet Magazine, and the first edition, called “Virtualization, VDI made easy” is now online at: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/jj992579.aspx