Former Employer Abuse
My former employer, Albert Williams, president of American Security Force Inc., keeps adding my outlook accounts, computers and mobile devices to the company's azure cloud even though I left the company more than a year ago. What can I do to remove myself from his grip? Does Microsoft have a solution against abusive employers?
AD Connect Filter not working
We're testing the AD Connect filtering before using it in production environment. The goal is simple, filtering by user's attribute setting, so we followed this article https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/54333.azure-ad-connect-customize-sync-options.aspx Using CASE3 So we created a Catch all rule that blocks all users to be synced and a rule with higher priority that should sync only users with specific attribute set. However it simply doesn't work, the rule that gets applied is the catch all I double checked the rule that should enable the sync of some user and looks correct but cannot find why is not working thanks Nobody from MS eager to help ?
Parallel VM restore in PowerShell
Deal All, When I try to run Parallel VM restore in PowerShell, I receive the following error message. We have functions for restoring, but the Parallel one does not work, could someone please assist me with this? # Function to run the restore process for VMs in parallel using PowerShell runspaces function Restore-VMsInParallel { param ( [array]$VMsInfo ) $runspacePool = [RunspaceFactory]::CreateRunspacePool(1, [System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.Runspace]::DefaultRunspace) $runspacePool.Open() $jobs = @() foreach ($vmInfo in $VMsInfo) { $job = [PowerShell]::Create().AddScript({ param ($info) Restore-VMAndSnapshots -SubscriptionId $info.SubscriptionId -ResourceGroupName $info.ResourceGroupName -VMName $info.VMName }).AddArgument($vmInfo) $job.RunspacePool = $runspacePool $jobs += $job } $results = $jobs | ForEach-Object { $_.BeginInvoke() } $jobs | ForEach-Object { $_.EndInvoke($_) } $runspacePool.Close() $runspacePool.Dispose() } # Read VM details with snapshot information from the CSV file $csvFilePath = "C:\CSV\file.csv" $vms = Import-Csv -Path $csvFilePath # Create an array to store VM information $vmInfoArray = @() # Convert CSV data to VM information array foreach ($vm in $vms) { $vmInfo = @{ ResourceGroupName = $vm.ResourceGroupName VMName = $vm.VMName SubscriptionId = $vm.SubscriptionId } $vmInfoArray += New-Object PSObject -Property $vmInfo } # Restore all VMs in parallel Restore-VMsInParallel -VMsInfo $vmInfoArrayMy learning path to the Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate!
Dear Microsoft Azure Friends, When I read from Microsoft Learn that there was again a Windows Server exam along with Microsoft Azure, I was excited. The new certification is called: Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate! This certification consists of two exams: AZ-800 and AZ-801. If you successfully pass both exams you will receive the certification. This article is all about the AZ-801 exam. I have described my learning path to the AZ-800 in this article! https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/azure/my-preparations-for-the-exam-az-800-administering-windows-server/m-p/3262042 After I had passed the AZ-800, I quickly asked myself, will the AZ-801 be even more difficult? For me, it is always best to read the skills measured first. This gives me a first impression of the exam. Now let me show you how my preparation for the exam was: 1. First of all, I looked at the Exam Topics to get a first impression of the scope of topics. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/az-801 Please take a close look at the skills assessed: https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RWKPgH 2. So that I can prepare for an exam I need an Azure test environment (this is indispensable for me). You can sign up for a free trial here. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free/ I have also set up a small local test environment with a couple of Windows Server 2022. You can get the operating systems directly from Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-windows-server-2022 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-windows-11-enterprise https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-windows-admin-center 3. Now it goes to the Microsoft Learning paths content. Work through the learning paths at your leisure. They are really super helpful to prepare for the exam. At this point, many thanks to Microsoft Learn ( SandraMarin ) for the great learning content: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/secure-windows-server-premises-hybrid-infrastructures/ https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/implement-windows-server-high-availability/ https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/implement-disaster-recovery-windows-server-premises/ https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/migrate-servers-workloads-premises-hybrid-environments/ https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/monitor-troubleshoot-windows-server-environments/ 4. Register for the exam early. This creates some pressure and you stay motivated. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/az-801 5. Please also have a look at thomasmaurer 's website this is also very helpful! https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2022/03/az-801-exam-study-guide-configuring-windows-server-hybrid-advanced-services/ 6. I have created a repository on GitHub for the two exams AZ-800 and AZ-801. There are links, scripts and a lot of content in it, please have a look: https://github.com/tomwechsler/Microsoft_Certified_Windows_Server_Hybrid_Administrator_Associate 7. I started (in german) with a YouTube playlist (it's still early days) to become a Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi0MTIjZai_xLvMSMgOxnk-0QFSxjSEe5 8. More helpful information directly from Microsoft, divided into the functional groups (Skills measured)! Secure Windows Server On-premises and Hybrid Infrastructures: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender-endpoint/enable-exploit-protection https://docs.microsoft.com/de-de/mem/configmgr/protect/deploy-use/use-device-guard-with-configuration-manager https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/configmgr/protect/deploy-use/defender-advanced-threat-protection https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/identity-protection/credential-guard/credential-guard-manage https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/microsoft-defender-smartscreen/microsoft-defender-smartscreen-overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-security-configuration-framework/windows-security-baselines https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/ad-ds/plan/security-best-practices/best-practices-for-securing-active-directory https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/authentication/tutorial-configure-custom-password-protection https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/ad-ds/plan/security-best-practices/appendix-c--protected-accounts-and-groups-in-active-directory https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/ad-ds/plan/security-best-practices/securing-domain-controllers-against-attack https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/ad-ds/manage/how-to-configure-protected-accounts https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/ad-ds/plan/security-best-practices/best-practices-for-securing-active-directory https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/ad-ds/plan/security-best-practices/appendix-h--securing-local-administrator-accounts-and-groups https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/ad-ds/plan/security-best-practices/appendix-b--privileged-accounts-and-groups-in-active-directory https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-for-identity/what-is https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/sentinel/data-connectors-reference?tabs=LAA#windows-security-events-via-ama https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/defender-for-cloud/defender-for-servers-introduction https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-firewall/best-practices-configuring https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-firewall/restrict-server-access-to-members-of-a-group-only https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-firewall/create-an-authentication-request-rule https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/security/fundamentals/encryption-models https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/information-protection/bitlocker/bitlocker-overview Implement and manage Windows Server high availability: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disks-shared https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/tutorial-availability-sets https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/failover-clustering/create-failover-cluster https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/storage-replica/stretch-cluster-replication-using-shared-storage https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/storage-replica/cluster-to-cluster-azure-cross-region https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/failover-clustering/clustering-requirements https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/storage-replica/cluster-to-cluster-azure-cross-region https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/failover-clustering/clustering-requirements https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/failover-clustering/manage-cluster-quorum https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/failover-clustering/failover-clustering-overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure-stack/hci/deploy/cluster-set https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/failover-clustering/sofs-overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/failover-clustering/deploy-cloud-witness https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/high-availability/cluster-information-ip-address-failover https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/failover-clustering/cluster-aware-updating https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure-stack/hci/concepts/storage-spaces-direct-overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/storage-spaces/deploy-storage-spaces-direct Implement disaster recovery: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-windows-with-mars-agent https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-azure-restore-windows-server https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-mabs-whats-new-mabs https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-azure-microsoft-azure-backup https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-instant-restore-capability https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-azure-arm-userestapi-createorupdatepolicy https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-client-automation https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/backup-and-disaster-recovery-for-azure-iaas-disks https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/backup/backup-azure-arm-restore-vms https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/site-recovery/site-recovery-manage-network-interfaces-on-premises-to-azure https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/site-recovery/site-recovery-create-recovery-plans https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/site-recovery/azure-to-azure-about-networking https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/site-recovery/azure-to-azure-about-networking https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/manage/set-up-hyper-v-replica Migrate servers and workloads: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/storage-migration-service/cutover https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/storage-migration-service/overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/files/storage-files-migration-overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/migrate/deploy-appliance-script https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/migrate/how-to-set-up-appliance-physical https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/migrate/how-to-migrate https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/iis/publish/using-web-deploy/migrate-a-web-site-from-iis-60-to-iis-7-or-above https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/windowscontainers/quick-start/building-sample-app https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/upgrade-migrate-roles-features Monitor and troubleshoot Windows Server environments: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/performance/performance-overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/manage/system-insights/overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/manage/windows-admin-center/azure/azure-monitor https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/manage/system-insights/overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/agent-windows https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/agent-windows https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/agents/diagnostics-extension-overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/networking/networking-overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/boot-error-troubleshoot https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/performance-diagnostics https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/support-agent-extensions https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/disk-encryption-overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/identity/reset-directory-services-restore-mode-admin-pwd https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/hybrid/tshoot-connect-pass-through-authentication https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/ad-ds/deploy/troubleshooting-domain-controller-deployment More helpful links: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/failover-clustering/bitlocker-on-csv-in-ws-2022 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender-endpoint/customize-controlled-folders?view=o365-worldwide https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/defender-for-cloud/managing-and-responding-alerts https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/defender-for-cloud/deploy-vulnerability-assessment-vm https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-for-identity/technical-faq https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/microsoft-defender-smartscreen/microsoft-defender-smartscreen-overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/failover-clustering/deploy-cloud-witness https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/failover-clustering/sofs-overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/site-recovery/recovery-plan-overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/storage-migration-service/migrate-data https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/storage-migration-service/overview https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/app-service/app-service-hybrid-connections https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/migrate/tutorial-discover-physical https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/iis/publish/using-web-deploy/synchronize-iis I want to emphasize it again in this article, read the questions very carefully. The difference is very often in the details. If it says you have to back up the server and all data to Azure, then that is something different than if it would only say all data. This small difference has a big impact on the subsequent solution! One final tip: When you have learned something new, try to explain what you have learned to another person (whether or not they know your subject). If you can explain it in your own words, you understand the subject. That is exactly how I do it, except that I do not explain it to another person, but record a video for YouTube! I hope this information helps you and that you successfully pass the exam. I wish you success! Best regards, Tom Wechsler P.S. All scripts (#PowerShell, Azure CLI, #Terraform, #ARM) that I use can be found on github! https://github.com/tomwechslerWhy should I care about an Azure Virtual Machine Backup and how to set it up!
Dear Azure Friends, In this article, I am concerned with gaining attention when it comes to responsibilities and misunderstandings. The following customer statements: "The virtual machine is hosted in Azure, so the responsibility lies with Azure". "I pay for the virtual machine in Azure so Azure has to take care of the backup". Honestly this is absolute nonsense (sorry for this expression). There is only one answer to these customer statements: Shared responsibility in the cloud!! Let's take a look together at shared responsibility in the cloud. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/security/fundamentals/shared-responsibility Now let's take a closer look. A virtual machine in Azure is infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS). Please take a look at the intersection, we can see exactly where the responsibilities lie. Everything that has to do with physical infrastructure lies with Microsoft. The rest is clearly up to the customer. Let's take a close look => from the operating system!!! Now the following customer scenario: The customer runs a virtual machine in Azure. First, some applications from third-party providers are installed and a few operating system adjustments are made. Everything is fine, after a few weeks operating system updates (including security patches) are installed. After the reboot, the system in Azure no longer appears as "Running" but "unknown". So what now? Call Microsoft? Open a ticket? We have seen that the responsibility does not lie with Microsoft but with the customer! This is exactly what is regularly and often underestimated. In order to prevent this scenario from happening, it is imperative to have a backup. So that in case of emergency a recovery can be made. Of course it needs more than just a backup, that has to be handled company wide with different processes. But let's keep it simple in this example and start with setting up a backup for a virtual machine. When it comes to backup, there is no way around a Recovery Service Vault. Now we can customize the proposed backup policy for our needs. We assign a new name and set up the schedule. If you wish you can select different retention options, from weekly, monthly to yearly. You can optionally name the Azure Backup Resource Group below. Click "OK" and then click "Enable Backup". The deployment is made then click on "Go to resource". Now we are in the Recovery Service Vault. Here we can find the details of our backup job. For some time now, the Backup Center has been available in Azure and will be the first point of contact for setting up backups in the future. Here we immediately see info about our backup in the overview. In the meantime I started the backup manually (outside the schedule) so that we can look at the backup together. The backup result in the virtual machine details. The Backup Center shows us that the transfer to the Vault still needs to be processed. Important: The backup is the first step in the right direction, don't forget to perform a test restore regularly to make sure that your virtual machine will work exactly as you expect it to after a restore! If the customer had created at least one backup, this "ugly" situation would never have occurred. For this reason it is super important to know where the RESPONSIBILITIES lie! I hope this article was useful. Thank you for taking the time to read the article. Best regards, Tom Wechsler P.S. All scripts (#PowerShell, Azure CLI, #Terraform, #ARM) that I use can be found on github! https://github.com/tomwechsler
