Windows Server

Managing Windows Update with PowerShell has until recently only been possible using a third-party module. But starting in Windows Server 2019, Microsoft's WindowsUpdateProvider PowerShell module is included out-of-the-box and it allows you to perform simple Windows Update management tasks, like starting a scan and installing updates. In this article, I will show you how to… Read More

Azure AD Connect is a free tool from Microsoft that's used for synchronizing objects between on-premises Windows Server Active Directory (AD) and Azure Active Directory. Microsoft announced in August the availability of Azure AD Connect V2.0. And in this article, I'm going to discuss the major changes in this new release. Here are the major… Read More

Microsoft patches 103 security vulnerabilities this month, including PrintNightmare, a Windows DNS Server bug, 3 elevation of privilege vulnerabilities in the Windows kernel, and much more. Windows and Windows Server Let's start with the bug that surfaced earlier in July month called PrintNightmare. PrintNightmare Microsoft issued an out-of-band cumulative update (CU) for a remote execution… Read More

Hyper-V is the built-in hypervisor that comes free in Windows and Windows Server. It is used to run virtual machines (VM) on Windows. Virtualization is also used for other features, like Virtualization-Based Security (VBS), Windows Sandbox, and Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG). Developers sometimes use virtualization with Visual Studio to run device emulators. Microsoft introduced… Read More

Windows Server 2019 is almost as easy to install as Windows 10. And in this article, I'm going to take you step-by-step through the process of installing Windows Server 2019. Windows Server 2019 installation media If you don't have access to the Windows Server 2019 .iso directly from Microsoft or a partner, you can download… Read More

Managing Windows Update with PowerShell has until recently only been possible using a third-party module. But starting in Windows Server 2019, Microsoft's WindowsUpdateProvider PowerShell module is included out-of-the-box and it allows you to perform simple Windows Update management tasks, like starting a scan and installing updates. In this article, I will look at both Microsoft's… Read More

The technology that underpins Known Issue Rollback first appeared in Windows 10 version 2004. Known Issue Rollback, or KIR for short, lets Microsoft and IT administrators quickly roll back non-security fixes that are causing functionality issues in Windows. Known Issue Rollback is designed to help Microsoft and organizations keep Windows devices secure but make sure… Read More

This month Microsoft patches 7 zero-day flaws in Windows, 6 of which are being exploited in the wild. And there are also important updates for SharePoint Server, Microsoft Office, and Adobe Acrobat and Reader. Windows and Windows Server If you haven't already started testing and deploying June's updates for Windows and Windows Server, then it's… Read More

Satya Nadella announces there will be significant changes coming to Windows, Microsoft starts rolling out the Windows 10 May 2021 Update, and Edge 91 makes it to the Stable channel. And there's a whole load more this month, so let's get started. Windows 10 May 2021 Update (21H1) is now generally available Microsoft made the… Read More

As you make the move from Microsoft on-premises infrastructure to the cloud, you'll move from Group Policy management of your endpoints to MDM management.  This move isn't always a "lift and shift" process because there isn't always a 1-to-1 relationship between the settings available in Group Policy and those in Intune.  Additionally, you need to… Read More

The Event Viewer tool in Windows and Windows Server first appeared in 1993. So, Microsoft has decided that it's time for an update. And as might be expected, rather than update the built-in Windows management console snap-in, Microsoft has opted to bring the new Events tool to Windows Admin Center (WAC). And it is now… Read More

This month Microsoft releases critical patches for on-premises Exchange Server, a fix for the AD Kerberos KDC flaw, and plugs a zero-day elevation of privilege bug in Windows 10. Windows and Windows Server This month Microsoft patched an elevation of privilege bug (CVE-2021-28310) in Windows that is already been exploited in the wild. The patch… Read More

One of the best ways to secure your systems is to make sure that Active Directory (AD) domain controllers (DCs) are running an up-to-date version of Windows Server. DCs are critical infrastructure because they manage the security and access to all your IT resources. If a DC is compromised, then you should consider your entire… Read More

As part of the Automatic VM Guest Patching for Azure VMs preview announced at Ignite in March, Microsoft introduced Windows Server hotpatching. Hotpatching lets organizations apply security patches to Windows Server without rebooting. A feature that's been part of other server platforms for years, hotpatching finally comes to Windows Server. But there are some caveats.… Read More

Microsoft announced at its recent Ignite conference that WAC in the Azure Portal in now available in public preview. Prior to this update, it was only possible to manage VMs at the infrastructure level in the Azure Portal. But WAC in the Azure Portal lets administrators manage Windows Server VM guests at a more granular… Read More