Gongalong

Hi folks, I had a devil of a job getting Lync (the client app) to work with our Smoothwall, and then spotted that a version of it appears under the category of IM in Office 365. I'm guessing that having IM for students is going to be a problem, and I can't block it, like I can with the Lync client. I also can't spot any way of turning it off in Office 365 Admin. Is it possible to disable it? TIA

I had lots of problems with Java and GPO deployment before, which broke Java and caused machines to hang for an hour before logging on (!). It had to be manually updated in that situation. Curiously this is updating Java on the tested machines at least (over 30 machines tested). I was at the point of rolling out to the school. Not sure if it's version specific issues?

Curiously Flash has been the biggest pain so far, out of Java, Flash, and Reader. With Java (7u67) I extracted the MSI, and it just worked. With Reader I've followed this guide Deploy Adobe Reader 11.0.3 with ConfigMgr 2012 | Bit tedious to go from 11.0.0 to 11.0.7 and then to 11.0.8. I've only just tried to deploy it though, so will wait and see if it works! Perhaps it would just be easier to deploy it as an EXE package? Simpler seems better to me for CM. I've failed to get to Flash to deploy. Of course it failed on Win 8, which I hadn't realised. On one test machine it failed because it can't seem to uninstall the previous version, even though when I install it from the web it works fine. I've just about given up with Flash on Win 7, although doesn't it update itself now?

Now struggling with Adobe Flash and Reader. Mixed success with Flash, confused by IE on Win 8 not needing it. Reader seems to be very complex, on the assumption that it needs to be slipstreamed for every version, as per this guide Deploy Adobe Reader 11.0.3 with ConfigMgr 2012 | Problem is the latest MSP won't update the base version, at least according to these instructions. I hope other software packages are easier...

I've expanded the test group to five machines, and they've all got the client installed and the test deployment without any issues. Further yippees!

I went back to the boundary group, and it didn't have a site system server associated with it. I added that, and it seemed to kick things into life. Presumably the client had no idea what site server was associated with the boundary group, so didn't know where to get the software from. Now both clients have installed their first app. Yippee!

Distribution Status > Content Status shows the app with 100% compliance. (I did just deploy the app without distributing, but from memory it does distribute it as part of the deployment wizard if it isn't already) Deployments shows me that for both machines the app is distributed, and deployment is "In Progress", although clearly it's stuck at the client end on this 0% downloading. DP was not enabled for prestaged content, so I have enabled that. In the DP properties it shows both the CM client and the Java app.

Container permissions fixed, and that has kicked the CM client into life on the two test machines. I have followed this guide to setup Java (7u67) as a deployed applications: Deploy Java Runtime Environment 7 Update X with ConfigMgr 2012 | The problem now is that although the deployment appears under Installation Status in Software Center, it's stuck at 0% on both test machines.

I still have to correct the AD container permissions, on the assumption that the schema extension had worked. I found another reference here, but I'm in the middle of updating servers. Will get there eventually :-) SCCM 2012 R2 Step by Step Installation Guide – Update | SCCMentor - SCCM Tips and Fixes

Hi folks, We just had an issue with our Hyper-V cluster where it got its clocks in-a-twist (one DC had a different clock to the other). Partly my fault as we've extracted from our council Internet connection and had been using their NTP server, which is no longer available on our new Internet connection. I spotted the NTP server uk.pool.ntp.org on another thread, which the servers seem to like on the basis of using the "w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:"uk.pool.ntp.org" /syncfromflags:manual /reliable:yes /update" command to set it. Is it still best practice to set this on the PDC, and let the rest update from it? TIA

I ran the schema extension (using the bundled EXE) and that seemed to have worked, based on the log it produced, but I wasn't sure about the AD permission prerequisite :-/

There's both a boundary and boundary group in place. I've set an IP boundary, for 10.121.244.0/255.255.252.0. CM has resolved that with a subnet ID of 10.121.244.0 (which I assume is correct!). I thought back to the training, and remembered to look at Monitoring > System Status > Component Status. SMS_SITE_COMPONENT_MANAGER is saying it cannot create objects in the Active Directory. I remember there being a pre-requisite for rights to the AD, and it talks about the site server's machine account needing full control rights for the "System Management" container in Active Directory. I'll have to do some digging to figure out which of these it is.

Hi All, I have setup SCCM2012 R2 for the first time (following the completion of the 10747D course a few weeks ago). I have deployed the CM agent to a couple of machines, and am testing deployments with an application created from the Java 7u67 update. And this is where the problems start. I've spotted that for both CM clients that they only show 6 tabs, rather than the full set. If I click on the site tab and try to find the site it doesn't find it. Equally I have deployed the Java update, but have 0% compliance for both machines. Where do I start trying to troubleshoot this? TIA

My two concerns are (1) the H&S aspect of drilling/smashing platters, in case it produces nasty bits and (2) inadvertently giving them away to some cowboy who doesn't wipe them and sticks them on eBay. I much prefer to destroy them here, but it's tedious with the wiping.

Hi All, What approach do you take to destroying hard disk drives? We’ve been using DBAN with SATA drives, but also have tens of IDE and SCSI that will be more complex to harness. One of the technicians here has suggested drilling through the case and platters, and I have a friend at a school up north that does just that. Is there such a thing as regulatory guidance (sans BECTA)? I haven’t checked with our local council to see if they mandate anything in particular. We also have a number of tapes that I’d like to dispose of. Can anyone recommend a company that will do this? As opposed to a cowboy, where they'll end up on eBay. TIA

Turned out we had to change the domain on the O365 user accounts to the built-in onmicrosoft.com. We had one account which refused to switch so we deleted it, and then after some minutes it allowed the domain removal.

Was just about to post re. speakers. We have the Sahara type here, but I was unable to tell what they were short of removing them from the wall. Seem to be cheapest at Dabs.

Hi folks, We're trying to move Office 365 tenancies, in conjunction with a consultant. During the last few days all the mailboxes have been migrated, and we're now at the point where we want to remove the domain from the old tenancy to add to the new. When we try and remove the domain it gives an error that users or groups are still using it, then prompts me to go to the active users list (the specific error is: One or more user accounts are using schooldomain.sch.uk. Go to users and groups to edit users to switch to another domain. Then try again to remove schooldomain.sch.uk. Learn how to edit user accounts). I cannot use the active users list to edit multiple accounts because it says the accounts are federated, but our consultant has used powershell to change both the primary SMTP address and account to onmicrosoft.com. I have also edited all groups so they use onmicrosoft.com. I still get the error when I try to remove the domain. Any ideas? This is time critical as we need to get this domain moved ASAP, as it's the final step in the migration. TIA

Hi All, Currently running through the pre-requisites for Config Manager 2012 R2 installation. One of these is to extend the AD schema. It's described in various places e.g. here Extending the Schema in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager - The Configuration Manager Support Team Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs I'm happy to run the program, but it prompts two questions: 1. The 2012 server doesn't have NTBACKUP, but we use DPM to backup the system state. Is that enough to reverse any problems caused by the schema extension? I'm guessing "yes", but just to double check. 2. We have a forest, as is typically for a large school, of a root domain and two child domains. Does the schema extension tool need to be run on the master DC in each domain? TIA

One of the programmes (BBC sourced) is on YouTube already. I'm guessing that playing that in the school environment would be illegal because the programme is on YouTube illegally?

It's the potential educational exemptions that might be interesting. Perhaps they apply more to retaining recorded TV.

JJonas: The Sky box isn't connected to the service, although having checked one of the two required programmes is repeated tonight, and the other is on YouTube. It still bodes the questions though of: 1. Is playing this programme off YouTube in a school environment legal? 2. How long can we retain a recorded programme? (3. And I'm still curious as to whether a torrent would be legal)

Hi All, We've got a teacher who wants to show programmes on iPlayer, but wants to show them in several months time after they expire. Ordinarily we would record them from Sky, but they have already been broadcast. What's the legality of downloading these iPlayer programmes (if there's a mechanism to do it) or using a torrent of these programmes (if one is available)? TIA

(On second thoughts lots of bad reviews for the Touch :-/ )

Hope it's not a problem to revive an old post, but my second 885 is almost dead with lots of broken buttons. It looks like the Harmony Touch has replaced the One. Worth getting, or is there something better?