Windows Server 2016 March 2017 Update: Full & Delta Available

We can download both the full March Cumulative Update or there is now a Delta available.

Delta Update Windows Server 2016

The update is quite critical for those of us that run clusters on Windows Server 2016.

• Addresses issue which could cause ReFS metadata corruption
• Several fixes for Enable-ClusterS2D cmdlet for setting up Storage Spaces Direct
• Addresses issue with Update-ClusterFunctionalLevel cmdlet during rolling upgrades if any of the default resource types are not registered
• Optimization to the ordering when draining a S2D node with Storage Maintenance Mode
• Addresses servicing issue where the Cluster Service may not start automatically on the first reboot after applying an update
• Improved the bandwidth of SSD/NVMe drives available to application workloads during S2D rebuild operations.
• Addresses issue with all flash S2D systems with cache devices where there was unnecessary read data from both tiers that would degrade performance

A full list is here: March 14, 2017—KB4013429 (OS Build 14393.953)

The Delta Update can be used to update our .WIM files for our Windows Server 2016 flash drive based installers (Blog post How-To).

Note that the last Cumulative Update took a good hour to run on our VMs and nodes. This one is sounding like it may take as long or longer depending on whether the Delta of full Cumulative Update gets installed.

Here’s a direct link to the Microsoft Update Page for KB4013429.

Happy Patching! ;)

Philip Elder
Microsoft High Availability MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
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Practice CS (Creative Solutions) To Discontinue Windows 2000 and SQL 2000 Support With Upcoming 2009.2.0 Release

In a User Bulletin, Thomson Reuters indicates that Practice CS will no longer support the Windows 2000 OS and SQL 2000 Server (All Editions).

From User Bulletin 4607:

NEW SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

With the next release of Practice CS version 2009.2.0, we will be discontinuing support for Microsoft^® Windows^® 2000 (all editions) and Microsoft SQL Server^™ 2000 (all editions). Practice CS will no longer function on these operating systems. Please see the System Requirements under the Support section of our website at CS.ThomsonReuters.com for additional information on supported operating systems.

While most firms may be fairly current with the desktop operating systems and their backend server setups, there are some that are still running on Windows 2000 era Microsoft products.

Apparently the next update cycle for Practice CS will be in this coming November.

The current version is 2009.1.3:

Also, among the fixes coming down the pipe in that update will be one for client contacts integrated into Exchange Public Folders that are not seemingly synchronizing properly. This was the reason we were calling support in the first place.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Hyper-V – Installing Windows 2000 Server

We have need for a temporary legacy setup here at the shop.

We used a Windows Server 2000 Standard SP2 CD ISO to install the base OS.

We have an ISO based DVD with every conceivable Microsoft service pack and needed critical update on it that we use to service our VMs. We needed to mount that ISO and update to Service Pack 4 before we could get the Hyper-V Integration Services installed.

Once we had the Integration Services installed, we were able to configure the new VM on our SBS network.

After a few minutes, we saw this:

Windows 2000 Server with 72 Updates Waiting

WSUS picked up on all of the needed updates and the downloads began!

One of the updates in that list was Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4 and known issues (KB891861). In the description for the Rollup, it was indicated that the update was a pre-package of previous Windows 2000 updates.

So, we ran the Rollup first to see what was left over. It turns out that there were still 68 updates waiting for us after what was an extended reboot and subsequent logon procedure.

Note that the logon procedure took quite a bit of time after the Rollup was applied so there will be a need to be patient.

When the new Win2K VM was connected to the domain and its needed services and LoB (Line of Business) applications were installed, the VM ran flawlessly.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac!

Windows Live Writer