Find The Azure AD Join Type
KB ID 0001597 Problem I recently did a post about Joining Azure AD. while working on that I found out there were three different Azure AD ‘States’ (see below). But how do you pingd out your Azure AD Join Type? Azure AD Joined: Aimed at Corporate owned machines joined to Azure AD, (or CYOD devices). Azure AD Registered (Was called Workplace Joined, and still is if you work in PowerShell). Aimed at BYOD devices. Azure Hybrid...
Windows: Join Azure AD (AAD)
KB ID 0001596 Problem With more people looking at Microsoft 365 (as opposed to Office 365), then the amount of people who want to Join Azure AD with their Windows machines is only going to go up. This is how to join your Windows and BYOD client devices to Azure AD. There are essentially 3 WAYS to Join Azure AD. Azure AD Join: Used for corporate assets. Windows Only! (Can be managed by Intune) Users log in with their Azure AD account...
In Place Upgrade Windows 2016 to Windows 2019
KB ID 0001761 Problem Note: Also See In Place Upgrade of Window Server For the last twenty years or so I’ve said “In place upgrades are a bad idea”, my rationale has been that if something is broken we are simply migrating that problem, and we are relying on a lot of factors, (some of which may be unknown.) That we will just have to ‘trust that it will work’. Most modern servers are virtual so we can...
Use Azure MFA With Microsoft NPS (RADIUS) Server
KB ID 0001759 Problem I was in a forum last week and someone asked, “Can I enable Azure MFA, on my RADIUS server, to secure access to my switches and routers etc”. It turns out if you want to enable Azure MFA with Microsoft NPS it’s actually quite simple. So, I’m using RADIUS auth (above) on my NPS server, and it’s simply checking the authenticating user is a member of a domain security group....
A Reboot From a Previous Installation is Pending
KB ID 0001755 Problem You may see the “A Reboot From a Previous Installation is Pending” error when either attempting to install Microsoft Exchange or apply a cumulative update, (which is basically a reinstall anyway!) You may also see this if you are only installing the management tools. At command line; A reboot from a previous installation is pending. Please restart the system and then rerun Setup. Or if you are running...
macOS: Microsoft Outlook Search Broken
KB ID 0001754 Problem I’ve had to contend with Outlook Search Broken on Windows clients many times, but not being able to search my ‘sent’ and ‘deleted’ items has a detrimental effect on my productivity. Outlook Search Broken Fix This can happen if the folder/drive that your Outlook profile is in is Blocked/Prevented access by ‘Spotlight’ but in my case that wasn’t the problem. Close...
Remote Desktop Services: RDS Sizing Calculations
KB ID 0001753 Problem This is a horrible subject to find any decent information on. Microsoft are typically ‘vague’ and most people are stuck with using trial and error, or massively overestimating hardware to be on the safe side. I get asked this occasionally and, just like Microsoft, it’s a question I don’t like to answer! People are reticent to tell you that you need ‘x’ amount of CPU and...
Exchange Stopped Working?
KB ID 0001749 Problem I see various posts in online forums, and the process is held up because a lot of techs can’t do basic troubleshooting on their Exchange deployments. So I thought I’d put together some basic ‘first steps’ for you to do when your ‘Exchange Stopped Working’ This way you can at least get an error code to search for or a better idea of what’s going on. Exchange Stopped...
How Many Users in AD? (User Count)
KB ID 0001748 Problem I had to get some stats from a number of customers earlier today, one of the stats I needed was the user count from within their respective Active Directories. If you have a tedious job to do, there’s usually a PowerShell command to help! Getting Object Numbers From Active Directory User Count (Get-ADUser -Filter *).Count Computer Count (Get-ADComputer -Filter *).Count Group Count (Get-ADGroup -Filter...
Enable Remote Desktop (Remotely)
KB ID 0001747 Problem Let’s say you want to RDP to a remote server (imagine such a thing!) But some doofus didn’t enable RDP? Well you can enable Remote Desktop via group policy and wait a while. I used to connect to the registry remotely and change the key that enabled RDP, but now you can do it with a simple PowerShell command. Not only will it enable Remote Desktop, it will also allow RDP on the Windows firewall (if...