Server 2012 R2 BitLocker Post Install Error: Unspecified Error

The following error happened on a DC we recently set up and were going to encrypt via BitLocker:

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Packages\windows.immersivecont...
C:\Users\USERNAME\Classic_{GUID}.settingcontent-ms
Unspecified error

A quick search turned up a simple fix: Reboot the server a second time.

Sure enough, good to go:

As a rule, we deploy a TPM in all of our physical DCs that are deployed with our clusters. They are then encrypted using BitLocker. This greatly reduces the exposure to compromise if someone has physical access to that DC. For virtual DCs, we now have the ability to pass a vTPM through to the guests in Server 2016. We're still in the testing phase, but our plan is to have _all_ domain controllers on networks we manage encrypted!

Philip Elder
Microsoft High Availability MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
Our Cloud Service

A 2 Node Hyper-V Cluster with Clustered Storage Spaces

We are in the process of finishing up a client’s migration from clustered SBS 2011 Standard to our SBS (Small Business Solution) stack solution and the following cluster configuration: The above setup is as follows in order of appearance top to bottom:

• 1U Intel Xeon E3 series server running as PDCe, ISO storage, and other non-essential roles
• 1U single socket Intel Xeon E5 series Hyper-V node
• On-Board i350T4 plus add-in i350T4
• Dual 6Gbps Intel/LSI SAS HBAs
• 1U single socket Intel Xeon E5 series Hyper-V node
• On-Board i350T4 plus add-in i350T4
• Dual 6Gbps Intel /LSI SAS HBAs
• 2U DataON DNS-1640d JBOD
• Connected via dual 6Gbps SAS cables per node

Operating systems across the board for all physical and virtual servers is Windows Server 2012 R2.
Storage sharing and arbitration is handled by clustered Storage Spaces. The above setup has 1.2TB 10K HGST SAS drives (DataON HCL approved) set up in a Storage Spaces 3-way mirror with the standard Space having 2 columns.
The client we deployed this cluster into had a cluster already in place based on Windows Server 2008 R2. They are all of 15-18 seats and value the uptime insurance a cluster gives them as downtime for them is expensive.
Note that the cost of this particular setup based on Intel Server Systems and the DataON JBOD is very reasonable.
Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Our SBS (Small Business Solution) Options with Standalone and Cluster Hardware Considerations

We’ve received a number of questions about the “How” we present our SBS to prospective and existing clients.

Our primary focus is on what we have provided with Small Business Server starting with SBS 2003 Standard.

• Active Directory permissions based security
• Remote Web Access (RWA/RWW) Portal
• Remote Desktop access via RD Gateway (since SBS 2008 Standard)
• RemoteApp access via RD Gateway for LoBs (since SBS 2008 Standard)
• E-mail services access via Outlook, Outlook Anywhere, Exchange ActiveSync, and Outlook Web Access
• Remote Folders and Files access
• SharePoint based document management system
• SQL backend for LoB, SharePoint, and other needs

We focus on the services the prospect would require while our existing clients are already used to them.

Once we have an understanding of the prospect’s needs, since we already know our client’s business really well, we move forward with a proposal that would be geared towards their business size and sensitivity to downtime.

On the services front where we are installing into a standalone host we would have two options:

1. Base
1. Requires two Windows Server OS Licenses
2. DC, Exchange, RDS, and LoB (WSUS and LoBs)
2. Premium Add-On
1. Requires one Windows Server OS License
2. SQL and SharePoint

Obviously the server and CALs would also be needed for the various components that will be installed into the guest OS.

If we are setting up a cluster then one needs to consider the number of VMs running on one or more of the nodes in the event of a node failure.

On the hardware side we would have a number of options:

1. Entry-Level Single
1. E3-1270v3, 32GB ECC, Hardware RAID, 8x 2.5” 10K SAS
2. Mid-Level Single
1. Single Socket 1U R1208JP4OC, E5-2600 series, 128GB ECC, Hardware RAID, 8x 2.5” 10K SAS
3. High-Level Single
1. Dual Socket 2U R2208GZ4GC, E5-2600 pair, 128GB-256GB ECC, Hardware RAID, 8x 2.5” 10K SAS or 16x 2.5” 10K SAS
4. Entry-Level Asymmetric Cluster
1. Pair of 1U R1208JP4OC or 2U R2208GZ4GC and an Intel JBOD2224S2DP
5. Mid-Level Cluster
1. Four 2U R2208GZ4GC and an Intel JBOD2224S2DP
• Two Scale-Out File Server cluster nodes
• Two Hyper-V cluster nodes
6. High-End Cluster
1. Six 2U R2208GZ4GC and three Intel JBOD2224S2DP units
• Three Scale-Out File server cluster nodes
• Three Intel JBODS with Two-Way or Three-Way Mirror and Enclosure Resilience
• Three Hyper-V server cluster nodes

Within the above hardware configurations we would have a lot of flexibility that allows us to customize to the specific needs of the prospective client or our clients.

We work with a number of different firms that are prime candidates for at least an asymmetric cluster setup to minimize the possibility of downtime. The cost associated with these entry-level clusters versus a single larger server for the host platform makes them very attractive.

The basic VM configuration would involve fixed VHDX files unless the files are installed on dedicated partitions/LUNs. Note that we would use a shared set of partitions/LUNs if there are around 10 or more VMs as things get to be a bit of a bear to manage otherwise.

Our base VM configurations would be as follows:

• DC: 4GB, 95GB OS VHDX, and 1TB Data VHDX
• Exchange: 8GB, 95GB OS VHDX, and 250GB + 20GB/Mailbox Data VHDX
• RDS: 4GB+, 95GB OS VHDX, and 100GB + 20GB/User Profile Disk
• LoB: 8GB, 95GB OS VHDX, and 1TB Data VHDX Minimum
• SQL: 16GB, 95GB OS VHDX, and 250GB+ Data VHDX
• SharePoint: 16GB, 95GB OS VHDX, 200GB Data VHDX

We have a set of PowerShell steps and scripts that we use to configure these environments. PowerShell helps to greatly reduce the amount of time required to set things up. It also gives us consistency across all of our client deployments which is vital to troubleshooting if the need arises.

Shameless Plug: We’ve spent some time on the above in our SMBKitchen ASP Author Chats. If you are looking for more information the Author Chat is one of the best ways to do so.

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen ASP Project
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

CRITICAL: Seagate 1200 SSD Firmware Update Required for 2012 R2 Storage Spaces

We got hit with this today:

• Get-PhysicalDisk

Since this was our second run at standing up this Scale-Out File Server cluster with things not working as expected we began to dig in.

During a Space creation process the symptom of the Volume Format phase hitting an error happened. We jumped into PowerShell to poll the disks right then and saw the above.

The Disks:

• Get-PhysicalDisk | where MediaType -eq SSD | ft Model,FirmwareVersion -AutoSize

The PowerShell to get the above information along with the serial numbers:

• Get-PhysicalDisk | where MediaType -eq SSD | ft Model,FirmwareVersion,SerialNumber -AutoSize

Go to Seagate's Support site and choose the Download Finder.

Enter the serial number, just the first set of digits before the four 0000 pattern as the number was repeated twice for us, your country, and then under Certificate click on the Click here link and _not_ the Email Me link.

The highlighted link downloads the actual firmware ZIP file.

A copy of Seagate's SeaTools is required to update the drive's firmware.

If the SSDs are in a cluster setting, as they are here, make sure to properly drain the nodes and shut down the cluster (TechNet). Then shut down all nodes but one.

Run the firmware update and reboot that node. Bring the Cluster back online and fire up the other nodes one by one.

NOTE: We have _not_ tested this firmware yet.

A Microsoft Forum post brought us into the right direction: Clustered Storage space degraded and SSD disks "starting".

Remember how it has been mentioned ad nauseam on this blog about how we are very careful about testing our deployments? Well, in this case we were a part of the planning phases for this cluster but did not have access to these particular SSDs prior to deploying in a Michigan Data Centre.

This situation sure brings home the point that we _always_ need to test our setups before deploying them at client sites or on behalf of our clients.

EDIT: Brain was five steps ahead of fingers so the "Firmware Update" in the title never made it into the original post! :)

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen ASP Project
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

Cluster Starter Labs: Hyper-V, Storage Spaces, and Scale-Out File Server

The following are a few ways to go about setting up a lab environment to test out various Hyper-V and Scale-Out File Server Clusters that utilize Storage Spaces to tie in the storage.

Asymmetric Hyper-V Cluster

• (2) Hyper-V Nodes with single SAS HBA
• (1) Dual Port SAS JBOD (must support SES-3)

In the above configuration we set up the node OS Roles and then enable Cluster. Once cluster is enabled we can import our not initialized shared storage into Cluster Disks and them move them over to Cluster Shared Volumes.
In this scenario one should split the storage up three ways.

1. 1GB-2GB for Witness Disk
2. 49.9% CSV 0
3. 49.9% CSV 1

Once the virtual disks have been set up in Storage Spaces we run the quorum configuration wizard to set the witness disk up.
We use two CSVs in this setup so as to assign 50% of the available storage to each node. This shares the I/O load. Keep this in mind when looking to deploy this type of cluster into a client setting as well as the need to make sure all paths between the nodes and the disks are redundant (dual SAS HBAs and a dual expander/controller JBOD).

Symmetric Hyper-V Cluster with Scale-Out File Services

• (2) Scale-Out File Server Nodes with single SAS HBA
• (1) Dual Port SAS JBOD
• (2) Hyper-V Nodes

For this particular set up we configure our two storage nodes in a SOFS cluster and utilize Storage Spaces to deliver our shares for Hyper-V to access. We will have a witness share for the Hyper-V cluster and then at least one file share for our VHDX files depending on how our storage is set up.

Lab Hardware

The HP MicroServer would be one option for server nodes. Dell C1100 1U off-lease servers can be found on eBay for a song. Intel RS25GB008 or LSI 6Gb SAS Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) are also easily found.
For the JBOD one needs to make sure the unit supports the full compliment of SAS commands being passed through to the disks. To run with cluster two SAS ports that access all of the storage installed in the drive bays is mandatory.
The Intel JBOD2224S2DP (WSC SS Site) is an excellent unit to work with that compares feature wise with DataON, Quanta, and the Dell JBODs now on the Windows Server Catalogue Storage Spaces List.
Some HGST UltraStar 100GB and 200GB SAS SSDs (SSD400 A and B Series) can be had via eBay every once in a while for SSD Tier and SSD Cache testing in Storage Spaces. We are running with the HGST product because it is a collaborative effort between Intel and HGST.

Storage Testing

For storage in the lab it is preferred to have at least 6 of the drives one would be using in production. With six drives we can run the following tests:

• Single Drive IOPS and Throughput tests
• Storage Spaces Simple
• Dual Drive IOPS and Throughput tests
• Storage Spaces Simple and Two-Way Mirror
• Three Drive IOPS and Throughput tests
• Storage Spaces Simple, Two-Way Mirror, and Three-Way Mirror
• ETC to 6 drives+

There are a number of factors involved in storage testing. The main thing is to establish a baseline performance metric based on a single drive of each type.
A really good, and in-depth, read on Storage Spaces performance:

• TechNet: Storage Spaces - Designing for Performance

And, the Microsoft Word document outlining the setup and the Iometer settings Microsoft used to achieve their impressive 1M IOPS Storage Spaces performance:

• Microsoft Downloads: Achieving Over 1-Million IOPS from Hyper-V VMs in a Scale-Out File Server Cluster Using Windows Server 2012 R2

Our previous blog post on a lab setup with a few suggested hardware pieces:

• A Storage Spaces and Hyper-V Cluster Lab Guide

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen ASP Project
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 Update 1 Caveats

Whenever we hear about updates for any device firmware, application software, or operating system software it is _always_ a good idea to read the Release Notes (we probably all know the acronym that comes to mind here ;) ), README.TXT, _and_ do a search for the update to see if anyone is complaining about it. Unfortunately, this major update for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 has its issues some of which are full-stop problems. The first place to start for this update is here:

• Gladiator@MSFT BLog: Information Regarding the Latest Update for Windows 8.1

There is a lot of information there.

1. Update 1 is the new baseline for all updates going forward.
• Meaning, no more updates to that OS if the bits are earlier than 8.1 U1 or 2012 R2 U1.
2. Update 1 breaks SSL communications between endpoints and WSUS

This last one is a deal breaker for many enterprises, medium enterprises, and especially in our own SMB/SME environments where WSUS is virtually everywhere for patch management.
We just stood up a new cluster on 2012 R2. After our Cluster-Aware Update run:

Our cluster nodes now have the update. Since this cluster setup is Greenfield with WSUS ultimately ending up _on_ the cluster the nodes were updated via Microsoft Update.

• WSUS Product Team Blog: Windows 8.1 Update (KB 2919355) prevents interaction with WSUS 3.2 over SSL

The workaround for this situation is to enable TLS 1.2 as instructed in the above blog post. Since we are deploying Windows Server 2012 R2 into client sites we will have no choice but to make this change.
Then, when Microsoft releases an update to the update to hopefully fix the problem we will need to test that update extensively _especially_ in a cluster setting!
Yo Microsoft! There is a huge pool of folks willing to test and break this stuff for you! Please get us involved in the early bits for operating systems, applications, and updates again. This ongoing situation of releasing patches and updates to the public without testing them on disparate systems is a _bad_ thing. :(
EDIT: Updated the Gladiator link since between Live Writer and Blogger it got mangled.
Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen ASP Project
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

A Small Chunk of Bandwidth for Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 Pro/Enterprise with Update 1

Okay, so here we go updating our ISO library:

And:

And finally:

Note that all Windows 8.1/Server 2012 R2 operating systems in the field _must_ be updated to Update 1 or they will not receive any further starting with Patch Tuesday this coming May!

That does not give us a lot of time to test the patch setup. But test we must! :(

By the way, is there any need to download the 32-bit version of a desktop OS anymore? We've not had to use one in ages!

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen ASP Project
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

Scale-Out File Server Cluster: Where Is the Witness Disk?

We were in a bit of a quandary as far as the how/what/where for a Witness Disk (quorum disk) for Scale-Out File Server (SOFS) cluster.

Our setup:

• (2) Intel Server Systems R2208GZ4GC
• Dual SAS HBAs, Dual Intel X540T2 10GbE
• Scale-Out File Server Nodes
• (2) Intel Storage Systems JBOD2224S2DP JBOD
• Mix of 10K SAS, 15K SAS, and SSD SAS drives mirrored in each JBOD
• (2) Intel Server Systems R2208GZ4GC
• Dual Intel X540T2 10GbE
• Hyper-V Nodes

In the case where we had a Hyper-V Failover Cluster using Direct Attached Storage via Promise VTrak E610sD dual SAS, Dell MD3220 dual SAS, or HP P2000 dual SAS we would set up a 1.5GB shared LUN for the quorum disk.

Well, in this case we don't have the logic in the storage to do that.

So, where do we put our Witness Disk for a SOFS based Storage Spaces cluster?

The only real clue we had was in Jose Barreto's blog post:

• Jose Barreto's Blog: Windows Server 2012 R2 Storage: Step-by-step with Storage Spaces, SMB Scale-Out and Shared VHDX (Physical)

Specifically this line in the Storage Spaces setup:

New-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName Space1 -StoragePoolFriendlyName Pool1 -ResiliencySettingName Mirror –Size 1GB

An e-mail to Jose asking about that command, and also an e-mail to my fellow Cluster MVPs, came back with Jose confirming that the 1GB Virtual Disk (Storage Space) would be used for the Witness Disk.

We have two options when it comes to configuring the disk. Either we set it up as per Jose's blog post and verify in Failover Cluster Management (FCM) that the Witness Disk is the allocated 1GB or we stand up the cluster, configure the 1GB Storage Space, and then designate the Witness Disk in FCM.

Further reading:

• Cluster and High-Availability Blog: Understanding Quorum in a Failover Cluster
• Ask Premier Field Engineering (PFE) Platforms Blog: Clustering: What exactly is a File Share Witness and when should I use one?

Thanks to Jose Barreto and my fellow Cluster MVPs that answered the N00b questions! :)

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen ASP Project
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

A Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Cluster Is Born

We are just in the process of finishing up a newly configured domain with one physical DC and a four node Hyper-V cluster built on Windows Server 2012 R2 Core:

As you can see we build out a custom MMC on an RSAT enabled Windows 8.1 x64 Enterprise VM with the above snap-ins that allow us to fully manage that cluster. A copy of the MMC will reside on the physical DC for management from that point if required.

An Intel RMM (Remote Management Module) that is Internet facing is configured on the physical DC. This gives us console access to the DC that is especially important for managing the cluster for anything from updating through to full power-down situations.

Failover Cluster Manager has the best logging facilities bar-none. Sorry, but VMM (Virtual Machine Manager) does not have anything near what FCM has especially when it comes to live logging the cluster and the nodes. All one needs to do is build a custom query that includes all Cluster and Hyper-V Event streams. We can also build custom queries that are focused on cluster, storage, and Hyper-V streams.

While we have added the Windows Firewall snap-in for each node to date we have not had a need to tweak anything at the node level since we set the basic port exemptions at the Group Policy level as well as permitting local exceptions. This allows the Cluster Service setup routine to configure the firewall as appropriate.

Note that it is a good idea to set up the Cluster Service _after_ the nodes have been joined to the domain, teams created if being used, and the Network Awareness service is set to Automatic (Delayed) if Windows Native teaming is being used. This allows the port exemptions to be placed in the correct firewall profile.

This particular cluster will end up hosting a number of different workloads including DCs, File services, Exchange, SQL, SharePoint, and a few LoB specific ones.

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

One Post SBS Configuration

We are doing the following and are quite successful with the setup:

• 2x Windows Server STD
• Windows CALs
• Exchange STD
• Exchange CALs
• RDS CALs

With that we set up one host with Hyper-V (2012 R2 preferred).

• VM 1: DC
• VM 2: Exchange 2013 CU3
• VM 3: RDS
• VM 4: LoB, WSUS

We just finished migrating our last SBS 2003 out to this setup (though with two servers and a few extra licenses).

For larger firms we can set up two identical servers and have licensing in place to allow for the following:

• Server 1 & 2: DC VM with DHCP Failover enabled (new 2012 R2 feature)
• Server 1: LoB VM with Replica to Server 2
• Server 1: Exchange
• Server 1: RDS VM with Replica to Server 2

Because Exchange and SQL have their own built-in redundancy features we have the option to configure in-guest clustering to build out the required redundancy for them.

Or, we can go with two servers with dual SAS HBAs and a dual controller SAS direct attached storage (MD3220, VTrak E610sD, DS3524) and set up an actual Hyper-V Failover Cluster. This option works very well for the very downtime conscious client.

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

RDWeb in Windows Server 2012 R2

If you have not seen RDWeb in Windows Server 2012 R2 yet, then a look at the feature along with the full Remote Desktop Services suite of abilities in Windows Server 2012 R2 is a must.

Our "Collaborate Anywhere" solution (sound familiar eh? ;) ) is based upon RDWeb and the AuthAnvil Secure Access Portal that we are investing heavily in.

We believe that Cloud has it's place however on-premises still provides the _same_ feature set and location flexibility to our clients that Cloud vendors extol to Cloud alone with the added benefit of data ownership and security.

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

Hyper-V: Set Up A Permanent Host OS Flash Drive

All of our Hyper-V hosts whether standalone or clustered 1U/2U nodes have a permanent flash drive plugged into the server.

They also have an Intel RMM, Dell iDRAC Enterprise, or HP iLO Advanced set up for full remote KVM over IP access.

We can then flatten and restore that host to production worthy status in about 30-45 minutes. PowerShell has a lot to do with the ability to make this happen as far as post OS configuration.

Here's how we do it:

1. DiskPart
1. List Disk
2. Select Disk x (flash)
3. Clean
4. Create Partition Primary
5. Select Partition 1
6. Format FS=NTFS Quick Label=”HV_Node-01”
7. Active
8. Assign
2. Have the host OS ISO mounted and copy its ENTIRE contents to the root of the flash drive.
3. We then create the following folders in the root of the flash drive:
1. _Drivers
2. _Utilities
3. _Software

What goes into those folders:

• Drivers = obvious
• Utilities = things like HVRemote, the bind tools, ETC
• Software = Server Management software

We _never_ back up the host. Period.

Once the host OS has been set up please make sure that having that USB flash drive permanently plugged in does not interfere with the host's boot process by verifying the boot order and USB boot settings in the BIOS.

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

Windows Server 2012 R2 and Two Smaller Servers Over One Big One

Having some thoughts on designing client's IT solutions to provide a relatively simple setup that allows for business to continue on in the event of a hardware failure.

Windows Server 2012 R2 gives us a few more options to facilitate business continuity.

Two smaller servers running their workloads allows for a number of different scenarios for recoverability:

• Hyper-V Replica
• For obvious reasons
• DHCP Failover (built-in, run the wizard after installing the DHCP Role on two systems)
• Very easy to do and gives clients full DHCP if one box goes down (no need to flip a switch somewhere else to enable DHCP)
• Shares all Scope Options and Reservations between the two

Some of the benefits of this setup are:

• AD is covered in the event of a full-stop
• Hiccups can be taken care of by Burflags and/or AD Recycle Bin
• AD continues despite one server going full-stop
• File services and LoBs come back online when replica failover kicks in
• A good backup regimen with restore tests allow flexibility (ShadowProtect)

Our preference has grown into having two key resources duplicated:
•    AD/DNS/DHCP across two separate VMs (2x servers)
•    Hyper-V Replica for VM hosting files and key LoBs

That folks is a poor man’s/woman’s "Cluster" setup.

Yes, there is a bit of extra cost involved for the licensing side of things. And, there may be a price difference on the hardware side of things.

But, when we look at the lifetime of the solution and take that extra cost we can then draw up a dollar amount per user per month using a 36 or 48 month amortization table (or even 60 month if five year warranty) and justify it as the cost of insurance relative to business stoppage costs. This works for us pretty much every time! :)

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

Some Hyper-V PowerShell Commands for You

Here is the command set to create a vSwitch that does _not_ share the connection with the host OS:

• New-VMSwitch -Name vSwitch -NetAdapterName vSwitch -AllowManagementOS 0

Note the zero to indicate no sharing with the host OS.

The -NetAdapterName value is the name of the team we created for the VMs.

Installing features and forcing the local source files is an important thing to do otherwise one may wait a long time while the node or nodes, or a standalone host, try and pull from Microsoft's download servers only to fail much later in the game.

In this case we are installing the RSAT-Clustering feature (in our snip the -IncludeAllSubFeature is missing as we later discovered).

• Install-WindowsFeature RSAT-Clustering -Source wim:d:\sources\install.wim:2 -IncludeAllSubFeature -Restart

Even with the installer pulling the needed files from the locally attached storage (flash drive) this one takes a while. We know we are successful when the node reboots.

Note that we are indicating INDEX 2 for the installer to pull from. That index is for the GUI version of the the OS. If we try and pull the source files from CORE INDEX 1 we will eventually end up with a failed result. And, given how long this process takes it is rather painful to discover just what the installer was looking for in the first place. :(

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

Date Stamp on Windows Server 2012 R2 Open License Media

We keep getting caught with dropping the early bits on a flash drive to load an OS. It's not hard to figure out as soon as the server boots from the USB flash drive as it requests an Activation Key.

Note the date stamp above is August September 30, 2013. That is the Open bits that will not prompt for a key.
The DVD media name:

• IR1_SSS_X64FREV_EN-US_DV5

UPDATE: Changed the month noted. :)

Philip Elder
Microsoft MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business