Configure Static Certificate Server Endpoint for DCOM CertSrv Request

To request certificates from Forefront TMG ports need to be opened to allow access from Forefront TMG to the Certificate Authority. This is a known situation and there is a blog post at ISA Server on how to accomplish this.

But if the CA is a Windows Server Core installation, it is a little more tricky to configure the CA to use a static port. It is not possible to remote manage the DCOM part of the CA using the MMC Component Services Add-in.

You can do this directly through the registry using regedit on the Server Core installation.

  1. Find the Application ID GUID of the Certificate Server Request component.
  2. Update the key to use a fixed port.
  3. Restart the Certificate Service.

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Disk Performance in Task Manager on Windows Server 2012

In Windows 8 the disk performance counters are visible by default in the Task Manager. On Windows Server 2012 they are disabled by default. To enable them, execute the command:

diskperf -Y

Configure Disk Performance Counters using diskperf.

Configure Disk Performance Counters using diskperf.

Although the help says that a restart of the system is required, it works directly after restarting the Task Manager application:

Disk Performance Counters Enabled on Server 2012R2

Disk Performance Counters Enabled on Server 2012R2

A handy shortcut to quickly start the Task Manager is CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.

More information on the source of the Disk Performance Counters can be found in the Microsoft Documentation.

Offline Installation .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 8.1

When running the installation of redistributable installer donetfx35.exe the message is shown that it requires the .NET Framework 3.5. Ehhh… FAIL?
To install the .NET 3.5 Framework without internet access, insert or mount the installation media and run the following command where E: refers to installation media:

Dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFX3 /All /Source:E:\sources\sxs

Write-Host “Hello World!”

In my scarce spare time I like to discover new Microsoft IT technologies and products. From Windows Server and Exchange, all the way down to resource kits and PowerShell scripts. You might wonder why on earth you would do this. Well… I once thought I wanted to be an IT manager, but without the quirks of users using the systems you maintain and design. Lucky for me I figured out that isn’t really possible and focused my study and career towards software development. However, the passion to use server products, build networks and run corporate scenario’s has remained and become a hobby.

Lucky for me it has become very accessible over the last 5 years, Virtualization with Microsoft Hyper-V, a beloved Technet Subscription (R.I.P) and some consumer hardware make it a breeze to play around endlessly. Oh, and of course Google for all the answers…

However, lately I’m starting to get the feeling that I can’t always find answers to the questions I have. I can’t find the information because it simply isn’t there or is sometimes even faulty. After years of consuming the knowledge of wise people, it is time to contribute back to the internet. So there you have it, the start of this blog.

As a developer, the title of your first everything would be nothing else than the famous words that have been written and displayed since binary ancient history: Hello World! And to put it in IT context, I though why not in terms of PowerShell:

Write-Host “Hello World!”