Archive for January 2nd, 2012

The case of Hyper-V VMs crashing when using Virtual Box and how it got fixed

Had a VM configured from another environment, created the virtual machine config file on Virtual Box, everything seemed ok.

Fired it up, and it was  s   l   o   w, it took close to 10 minutes for it to load, and about 5 more to see Windows was in the process of loading before the BSOD.  Thought, maybe, just maybe it will not happen again … oh was I wrong.

Frustration had already hit an all time high with this configuration and the number of issues I’ve had.

How I did the troubleshooting …

The best thing to do (IMO) is to step back, and gather your tools to debug this situation.

Tools:  Virtual Box command line tools, Windows Debug.

Virtual Box comes with a pretty good set of tools to examine, migrate and overall tasks to deal with VMs.

The firs step:  use VBoxManage to prevent the VM from rebooting after the error to get enough time to really dig into the BSOD issue.

Command used:  

VBoxManage setextradata VMNAME “VBoxInternal/PDM/HaltOnReset” 1

Once this was done, the error reported was an “Inaccessible boot device” coming from a “Stop – 7B” type of error on the BSOD.

The issue I had with this, my VM was configured to use a virtual SATA controller, and thought Windows 2008 R2 would handle this fine … again wrong!  Because the integration tools from the other product where wanting to take effect that was throwing everything off.

The fix

The fix was almost handed to me, edited the configuration for the VM, removed the SATA controller from it, added the virtual hard drive under an IDE controller, boot up and voilà … it works!

I was then able to install the Virtual Box guest tools and such, but have decided to favor “keep on working” over “let’s try SATA again”

2012
01/02
CATEGORY
Virtualization
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Connecting an Expression Blend Project to Team Foundation Server

I have heard of people wanting and needing to add projects created in Expression Blend to Team Foundation Server.

Here is the recipe:

1) Create your project in Expression Blend … click OK

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2) Select the option to open your recently created project in Visual Studio.

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Once that option is selected, your solution will open up in Visual Studio, close Expression Blend at this point.

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Now, I want to add this project to Source Control …

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Next, I connect to my TFS environment, and pick the location to save my project

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Once the project is added, I will get a status window of pending changes for my project, all that we are left to do is to check in those changes.

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Since we have checked in our project, we can now close Visual Studio, and we will proceed to open Expression Blend again. And select our project we will!

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We notice some differences from before, just by opening it

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What differences you say?!?

Notice the lock to the right of the item name …

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And we also get this when we right click …

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And there we have it, it is a combination of tools to achieve this, but it is well worth it.

2012
01/02
CATEGORY
Expression Blend
TFS
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SharePoint 2010: Architecture and Planning information

Recently I have been delivering Design and Planning Sessions at client sites, and as of recent SharePoint 2010 has been part of that mix.

After the activity that goes on during those sessions getting towards the end of them is always a cross roads for clients.  Why?  Because it is time to kick the wheels.  Remind them, and remember, this is not a 1 or 4 weeks ordeal.  This has to be very well planned.

If I am looking for information that is worth while and a great conversation starter, my landing point is the TechNet Library.  Here is focus on the Planning and Architecture documentation.  There are some great pieces of info, and a great set of planning worksheets.

Here is the link to this section …
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc261834.aspx

2012
01/02
CATEGORY
SharePoint
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TFS 2010 and SSL Configuration:The sequence list

Now, we have discussed about bringing in a certificate into our web server.  One thing I noticed that was a requirement, is the assignment of a certificate throughout the App Tier and the Build Server.  I understand they are not necessarily cheap, but wildcard certs are a good option here.

On to the list we go:

SharePoint:

Modify the mappings SharePoint has so it points to https, the path to do this is from the Operations section, in Global Configuration, look into Alternate Access Mappings.  The changes you make here in the default zone will need to be consistent with the changes you will make for those web sites (SharePoint Site and also the Central Admin Site) in IIS Manager by modifying the bindings.

Reporting Services:

You will need to make sure both the Reports Web Service site and the Report Manager site are configured for https and using the certificate you added to the server.

Team Foundation Server:

In TFS Admin Console, you will be able to configure the server to point to the new URLs you have created and associated through IIS Manager in the modification of the bindings.

2012
01/02
CATEGORY
TFS
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Site Directory in SharePoint 2010

Sometimes there are so many changes to the environment in which we work and live in that something will escape our attention.

In discussing functionality with a client today, the topic of Site Directory came up and the comment of “well, we use it but it is too bad it is not available in 2010” was made … and huge sense of huh?!? came to me.

Well, the item that escaped me came to light (and I know there are others).  So researching about it was not only an option it was/is my duty.

Found an excellent post by Bill Baer on the subject.  And not only that but there is a reference to a potential and possible solution.  This is something that is being worked on through codeplex, here is the link ..
http://spsitedirectory2010.codeplex.com/

2012
01/02
CATEGORY
SharePoint
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