New Downloads: Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter 2.0 (MVMC 2.0), IaaS PLA - Consolidated Set

 MVMC 2.0

Date Published: 04/08/2014

Download Link:   Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter 2.0 


MVMC is a Microsoft - supported, stand - alone solution for the IT Pro who wants to convert VMs and disks from VMware hosts to Hyper -V hosts and Windows Azure

From the Download Center:

MVMC can be deployed with minimal dependencies. Because MVMC provides native support for Windows PowerShell®, it enables scripting and integration with data center automation workflows such as those authored and run within Microsoft System Center Orchestrator 2012 R2. It can also be invoked through the Windows PowerShell® command-line interface. The solution is simple to download, install, and use. In addition to the Windows PowerShell capability, MVMC provides a wizard-driven GUI to facilitate virtual machine conversion.

New Features in MVMC 2.0
MVMC 2.0 release of MVMC includes the following new features:
• Converts virtual disks that are attached to a VMware virtual machine to virtual hard disks (VHDs) that can be uploaded to Windows Azure.
• Provides native Windows PowerShell capability that enables scripting and integration into IT automation workflows.
  Note The command-line interface (CLI) in MVMC 1.0 has been replaced by Windows PowerShell in MVMC 2.0.
• Supports conversion and provisioning of Linux-based guest operating systems from VMware hosts to Hyper-V hosts.
• Supports conversion of offline virtual machines.
• Supports the new virtual hard disk format (VHDX) when converting and provisioning in Hyper-V in Windows Server® 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012.
• Supports conversion of virtual machines from VMware vSphere 5.5, VMware vSphere 5.1, and VMware vSphere 4.1 hosts Hyper-V virtual machines.
• Supports Windows Server® 2012 R2, Windows Server® 2012, and Windows® 8 as guest operating systems that you can select for conversion.
Standard MVMC Features

In addition to the new features previously identified, MVMC provides the following functionality:
• Converts and deploys virtual machines from VMware hosts to Hyper-V hosts on any of the following operating systems:
• Windows Server® 2012 R2
• Windows Server® 2012
• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
• Converts VMware virtual machines, virtual disks, and configurations for memory, virtual processor, and other virtual computing resources from the source to Hyper-V.
• Adds virtual network interface cards (NICs) to the converted virtual machine on Hyper-V.
• Supports conversion of virtual machines from VMware vSphere 5.5, VMware vSphere 5.0, and VMware vSphere 4.1 hosts to Hyper-V.
• Has a wizard-driven GUI, which simplifies performing virtual machine conversions.
• Uninstalls VMware Tools before online conversion (online only) to provide a clean way to migrate VMware-based virtual machines to Hyper-V.
  Important MVMC takes a snapshot of the virtual machine that you are converting before you uninstall VMware Tools, and then shuts down the source machine to preserve state during conversion. The virtual machine is restored to its previous state after the source disks that are attached to the virtual machine are successfully copied to the machine where the conversion process is run. At that point, the source machine in VMware can be turned on, if required.
  Important MVMC does not uninstall VMware Tools in an offline conversion. Instead, it disables VMware services, drivers, and programs only for Windows Server guest operating systems. For file conversions with Linux guest operating systems, VMware Tools are not disabled or uninstalled. We highly recommend that you manually uninstall VMware Tools when you convert an offline virtual machine.
• Supports Windows Server and Linux guest operating system conversion. For more details, see the section “Supported Configurations for Virtual Machine Conversion” in this guide.
• Includes Windows PowerShell capability for offline conversions of VMware-based virtual hard disks (VMDK) to a Hyper-V–based virtual hard disk file format (.vhd file).
  Note The offline disk conversion does not include driver fixes.

Additional Information:

Using MVMC 2.0 to migrate a VMware VM to Azure IaaS  vNiklas

Are you thinking of evaluating or migrating from VMWare to Microsoft Hyper-V?  MSDN

Microsoft delivers MVMC 2.0 conversion tool  TechTarget

Microsoft builds teleporter weapon to send VMware into Azure  TheRegister

Microsoft Releases Virtual Machine Converter 2.0  Petri

Convert all your VMWare VMs to Hyper-V – FREE  Blogg(ed )

IaaS PLA - Consolidated Set

Updated: 04/18/2014

Download Link: IaaS PLA

This download contains the consolidated set of PLA guides, which includes:

• The IaaS PLA Fabric Architecture Guide
• The IaaS PLA Fabric Management Architecture Guide
• The IaaS PLA Fabric Management Deployment Guide 

Windows Server 2012 R2 Update

Microsoft released Windows Server 2012 R2 Update at BUILD conference.
Windows Server 2012 R2 Update doesn't have any new features, but includes cumulative roll-up, bug fixes and a range of enhancements,such as EMIE, AD fix for Office 365 and UI enhancements.

"After the update is installed, the following features are present:

• Internet Explorer 11 now includes an “Enterprise Mode.” This mode is available if you disable Enhanced Security Configuration and provides better compatibility for sites designed for Internet Explorer 8, along with tools to manage which web apps use it. You can specify a list of web apps to render dynamically in Enterprise Mode, avoiding compatibility problems with web apps written for older versions of Internet Explorer. For more information, see the Internet Explorer 11 FAQ for IT Pros or TechNet documentation.
• The user interface includes buttons for Search and Power on the Start page. If you install the Desktop Experience feature, other changes introduced with Windows 8.1 Update will also be visible. For details, see What's new in Windows 8.1 Update and Windows RT 8.1 Update. The specific Windows 8.1 features installed when you install Desktop Experience have not changed from those in Windows Server 2012 R2 (seeDesktop Experience Overview).
• Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) has added the capability for an administrator to enable signing in with an alternate login ID that is an attribute of the user object in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). This enables customers to adopt Azure Active Directory without modifying on-premises User Principal Names (UPNs). It also allows users to log in to the computer using an Office 365 email address instead of a UPN. This change does not affect the Active Directory schema. For more information, see Configuring Alternate Login ID.
• The update includes all other updates released since Windows Server 2012 R2 was released."

Release notes, system requirements, deprecated features, and related release documentation for Windows Server 2012 R2 also apply to Windows Server 2012 R2 Update. See Install and Deploy Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012 for those topics.

Microsoft suggests running Msinfo32.exe to confirm the update's installation. It should report a hardware abstraction layer of "6.3.9600.17031," if successful.

Updates included in cumulative roll-up:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2919442 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2919355
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2932046
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2937592
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2938439
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2949621

Related Information:

Microsoft's Windows 8.1 updates also tweak Windows Server 2012  The Register
Windows Server 2012 R2 Update - Notes from the lab  Deployment Research
Security baselines for Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Internet Explorer 11  TechNet
Hyper-V: Update List for Windows Server 2012 R2  Wiki
What's in Windows Server 2012 R2 Update 1?  WindowsITPro
Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 Users Face New Upgrade Pressures  RedmondMagazin
Notes on the Windows 8.1 Update for Windows Server 2012 R2  The Expta Blog
Windows RT, Windows 8, and Windows Server 2012 update rollup: April 2014  MSFT Support

Edge Show 97 - Generation 2 Virtual Machines in Windows Server 2012 R2:
In this episode Symon interviews John Howard, a Senior Program Manager on the Hyper-V Team, to discuss the features and benefits of Generation 2 Virtual Machines in Windows Server 2012 R2.  Generation 2 Virtual Machines offer a variety of security and configuration benefits, taking advantage of the latest advances in hardware and driver virtualization.

Edge Show 97 - Generation 2 Virtual Machines in Windows Server 2012 R2:

BUILD 2014: Windows 8.1 Update, Windows Server 2012 R2 Update

On Wednesday, 04/02/2014 Microsoft announced major updates to Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows Phone. Windows 8.1 Update and Windows Server 2012 R2 Update are available for download  on MSDN and TechNet today (with automatic updates beginning April 8).

The List of all sessions for the Build 2014

Windows 8.1 updates:

• Power and search buttons on start.
• Smart mouse tweaks.
• Boot to desktop.
• Modern Apps on the taskbar.
• Desktop clicks don't open modern Apps.
• Title bar for Store Apps.
• Newly installed Apps are more obvious

 Downloads:

• Windows 8.1 Product Guide
• Windows 8.1 Update User Readiness Toolkit
• Windows 8.1 Update how-to videos for business users 
• Windows 8.1 Update Power User Guide for Business (Raw files for printing)
• Windows 8.1 Update Quick Guide for Business_Raw files for printing 
• Windows 8.1 Update Power User Guide for Business_raw files for printing
• Windows 8.1 Update Quick Guide for Business
• Windows and Windows Server compatibility cookbook: Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows Server 2012
• Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) for Windows 8.1 Update

Windows Server 2012 R2 updates:

Quote:
Here is what is included in Windows Server 2012 R2 Update:

• Cumulative roll-up – Windows Server 2012 R2 Update includes all of the previously-released monthly roll-ups, individual updates, and security updates released since RTM.
• Bug fixes – In response to customer and partner feedback, this update includes a range of performance and reliability improvements.  
• Enhancements – A range of enhancements are also included in the update including:
• Enterprise Mode for Internet Explorer (EMIE).  This is focused on delivering better compatibility for server line of business applications.  
• Active Directory fix for Office 365, to enable sign-on using an Office 365 email address. This would also make the RDS end user experience the same as on Windows 8.1 Update.
• User interface.  On a typical server installation, end users will see a Search and a Power button on the modern Start page.

Windows Server 2012 R2 Update:

Quote:

After the update is installed, the following features are present:

• Internet Explorer 11 now includes an “Enterprise Mode.” This mode is available if you disable Enhanced Security Configuration and provides better compatibility for sites designed for Internet Explorer 8, along with tools to manage which web apps use it. You can specify a list of web apps to render dynamically in Enterprise Mode, avoiding compatibility problems with web apps written for older versions of Internet Explorer. For more information, see the Internet Explorer 11 FAQ for IT Pros or TechNet documentation.
• The user interface includes buttons for Search and Power on the Start page. If you install the Desktop Experience feature, other changes introduced with Windows 8.1 Update will also be visible. For details, see What's new in Windows 8.1 Update and Windows RT 8.1 Update. The specific Windows 8.1 features installed when you install Desktop Experience have not changed from those in Windows Server 2012 R2 (see Desktop Experience Overview).
• Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) has added the capability for an administrator to enable signing in with an alternate login ID that is an attribute of the user object in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). This enables customers to adopt Azure Active Directory without modifying on-premises User Principal Names (UPNs). It also allows users to log in to the computer using an Office 365 email address instead of a UPN. This change does not affect the Active Directory schema. For more information, see Configuring Alternate Login ID.
• The update includes all other updates released since Windows Server 2012 R2 was released.

Additional Information:

Day 1 Keynote Ch 9

Day 2 Keynote Ch 9

BUILD: Day 1 Keynote Summary  MSDN
BUILD Day 2: Keynote Summary  MSDN

Windows 8.1 Update – important refinements to the Windows experience  TechNet
Windows 8.1 Update: Sideloading Enhancements  TechNet
A run down of the Build 2014 keynote announcements  MSDN
Summary of Microsoft Azure Build Announcement  MSDN

New Lumia smartphones, including flagship Nokia Lumia 930 with 5-inch screen, unveiled  The Fire Hose
Windows Phone 8.1: Cortana introduced to take your questions   The Fire Hose
Bing at Build 2014: Don’t just search more. Do more.  The Fire Hose
Introducing Skype, new and improved, for Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 8.1  The Fire Hose
Microsoft’s Terry Myerson: We’re taking steps ‘to be more transparent in signaling what’s ahead’
Microsoft makes Windows Library for JavaScript cross-platform and open source  TFH
Microsoft Azure Preview Portal delivers ‘our promise of the cloud without complexity’  TFH

Windows Server 2012 R2 Update is now available to subscribers Windows Server blog

One Windows, all devices: The new Microsoft app strategy unveiled  InfoWorld
Microsoft gives Windows 8.1 Update a semi-new Start menu and drops licensing fees for smaller devices C|Net
Hands-on: Windows 8.1 Update helps solve mouse and keyboard woes  PCWorld
Everything That's New in the Windows 8.1 Update  Mashable
Microsoft's Windows 8.1 Update: What Windows 8 should have been from the start  ZDNet
The Best New Windows 8.1 Features in 8 GIFs  Gizmodo
Windows 8.1 Update Hands On: Terrific Tweaks For the Mouse Faithful  Gizmodo
Windows to be free on 9” and smaller tablets, also on IoT devices  arstechnica
Windows 8.1 Update 1 Review  Paul Thurrott
How To Install Windows 8.1 Update 1  IntoWindows

image via msdn.com