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Some Third-Party Gems since Active Directory is based on LDAP standards, you can query and modify it using any tool that can speak LDAP. Many third-party vendors have released fee-based tools to assist you in administering Active Directory, but sometimes you find a treasure that has been made available to the community at no charge. Such is the case with a collection created by Directory Services MVP Joe Richards, available for download from joeware.net/freetools. There you’ll find numerous tools to serve many different functions. Three that I turn to again and again are adfind, admod, and oldcmp.

Adfind and Admod

Adfind and admod are similar to dsquery and dsmod; adfind is a command-line query tool for Active Directory, and admod can create, delete, or modify one or more Active Directory objects.

Unlike the ds* tools that have multiple submenus and different switches depending on the type of object, adfind and admod have a consistent syntax regardless of the type of query or modification you’re trying to perform. The basic syntax for adfind is:

adfind –b <Search Base> -s <Search Scope> -f <Search Filter>
    attributesDesired

So a query for the DN and description of all computer objects within your domain would be:

adfind –b dc=contoso,dc=com –s subtree –f (objectclass=computer) dn
    description

A query for all user objects would look like this:

adfind –b dc=contoso,dc=com –s subtree –f "(&(objectcategory=person)
    (objectclass=user))" dn description

Notice that except for the contents of the LDAP query, the syntax has not changed.

As you work with adfind, you’ll find a number of shortcut operators that can save you a lot of typing. For example, the -default switch can replace -b dc=contoso,dc=com in the previous example and search your entire domain; -gc searches against a global catalog (GC) and returns all users in your Active Directory forest. You can also use the -rb switch to set a relative base for your search; if you want to search the Training OU in the phl.east.us.contoso.com domain, you can save yourself quite a bit of effort by simply specifying –default –rb ou=Training rather than –b ou=Training, dc=phl,dc=east,dc=us,dc=contoso,dc=com.

Adfind can also perform a number of advanced search functions that can’t be easily managed at the command line otherwise, including those shown in Figure 4.

An example using the –asq switch would be "Show me the group memberships of the members of the HelpDesk," like this:

adfind –default –rb cn=HelpDesk,ou=IT –asq member memberOf 

Admod, as its name suggests, is used to modify objects within Active Directory. As with adfind, there are no specialized submenus with particular syntaxes to remember; admod uses the same syntax regardless of the type of object you’re working with. You can also use admod to add, move, rename, delete, and even undelete objects simply by adding the appropriate switch, such as -add, -rm, -move, -undel. And just as with dsquery and dsmod, you can also use the | character to pipe the results of an adfind query into admod.

Note that performing an undelete with admod simply performs a tombstone reanimation operation, in which most of the objects attributes have been removed. To fully restore an object and all of its attributes, you’ll still need to perform an authoritative restore of the object.

Oldcmp

There’s one additional joeware tool I consider an indispensable part of my automation toolkit: oldcmp, which scans your Active Directory database for computer accounts that have not been used in a specified number of weeks and can do the following:

• Create a report of accounts without taking any action against them
• Disable the unused computer accounts
• Move the computer accounts to a different OU that you designate
• Delete the computer accounts outright

Note that because oldcmp has the potential to wreak serious havoc on your directory, it has a number of built-in safety features. It will not delete any account that has not already been disabled (and without manually specifying a "No really, I mean it!" command-line switch). It will not modify more than 10 objects at a time without a similar "No really, I mean it!" switch, and it absolutely will not do anything to the computer account for a domain controller.

Despite the now-misleading name of the tool, Joe has updated oldcmp so that it will perform similar functions for user accounts that have not been used for a certain amount of time as well.

For a small Active Directory environment or one where you’re only working with one or two additions or changes at a time, the GUI tools such as Active Directory Users and Computers might be sufficient for day-to-day administration. But if you’re adding and modifying large numbers of objects on a daily basis or simply want a more streamlined solution for your administrative tasks, moving to the command line can greatly speed up the process of creating, modifying, and deleting objects within Active Directory. As you’ve seen, there are a number of flexible and powerful tools available free of charge, both built right into Windows and downloadable from members of the Active Directory community. Any of these tools has the ability to greatly enhance your productivity as an Active Directory administrator, and together they become even more essential to your daily work life.

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Dsget and Dsquery

The ds* command-line toolset also includes two tools used to query Active Directory for information rather than for creating or modifying objects.

Dsget takes an object’s DN as input and provides you with the value of the attribute or attributes you specify. Dsget uses the same submenus as dsadd and dsmod—user, computer, contact, group, ou, and quota.

To obtain the SAM Account Name and Security Identifier (SID) of a user account, enter the following command (note that the following is all on one line):

dsget user cn=afuller,ou=IT,dc=contoso,dc=com
    –samAccountName –sid

You’ll get output such as that in Figure 3.

Figure 3 Running dsget (Click the image for a smaller view)

Figure 3 Running dsget (Click the image for a larger view)

Dsquery returns a list of Active Directory objects that meet criteria you specify. You can specify the following parameters no matter which submenu you’re using:

dsquery <ObjectType> <StartNode> -s <Search Scope> -o <OutputFormat>

For ObjectType, dsquery can use the following submenus, each of which has its own syntax: computer, contact, subnet, group, ou, site, server (note that the server submenu retrieves information about domain controllers, not any member servers in your environment), user, quota, and partition. And if one of these query types doesn’t fit the bill, you can use the * submenu, which lets you enter a free-form LDAP query.

StartNode specifies the location in the Active Directory tree where the search will start. You can use a specific DN such as ou=IT,dc=contoso,dc=com, or one of the following shortcut specifiers: domainroot, which begins at the root of a particular domain, or forestroot, which begins at the root of the forest root domain using a Global Catalog server to perform the search.

Finally, the Search Scope option specifies how dsquery should search the Active Directory tree. Subtree (the default) queries the specified StartNode and all of its child objects, onelevel queries only the immediate children of the StartNode, and base queries the StartNode object only.

To better understand search scopes, consider an OU that contains both user objects and a child OU that itself contains additional objects. Using the subtree scope will query the OU, all of the user objects contained within it, and the child OU and its contents. The onelevel scope will query only the users contained within the OU and will not query the child OU or its contents. A base query will search only the OU itself without querying any of the objects contained within it.

Finally, you can use Output Format to control how the results of dsquery are formatted. By default, dsquery returns the distinguished names of any objects that match the query, like this:

"cn=afuller,ou=Training,dc=contoso,dc=com"
"cn=rking,ou=ITTraining,ou=Training,dc=contoso,dc=com"

To query for all user objects contained within the IT OU and any child OUs, use the following:

dsquery user ou=IT,dc=contoso,dc=com 

You can further refine this query by adding additional switches such as -disabled, which returns only disabled user accounts; -inactive x, which returns only users who haven’t logged on in the past x weeks or more; or -stalepwd x, which will return only users who have not changed their passwords in x days or more.

Depending on the number of objects in your directory, you may need to specify the -limit x switch when running your query. By default, dsquery will return up to 100 objects that match the specifics of your query; you can specify a larger number such as -limit 500, or use -limit 0 to instruct dsquery to return all matching objects.

You can use the other submenus to perform useful queries for other object types as well. Consider the following query, which returns every subnet defined in Active Directory Sites and Services that’s in the 10.1.x.x address space:

dsquery subnet –name 10.1.*

Or use the following to return every subnet located in the Corp site:

dsquery subnet –site Corp

With another submenu, you can quickly determine how many domain controllers in your forest are configured as Global Catalog servers:

dsquery server –forest –isgc

You can also use this syntax to help you determine which domain controller in your domain hosts the Primary Domain Controller (PDC) Emulator Flexible Single Master Operations (FSMO) role:

dsquery server –hasfsmo pdc

As with the other ds* commands that include submenus, you can view all of the switches available within a particular dsquery submenu by going to the command prompt and typing dsquery user /?, dsquery computer /?, dsquery subnet /?, and so forth.

An additional slick trick is to pipe the output of dsquery into another tool such as dsmod using the | character (shift-backslash on U.S. keyboards). For example, let’s say your company has renamed a department from Training to Internal Development and now you have to update the description field of each relevant user from the old department name to the new. On a single command line, you can query for user objects that have a description field of Training and then modify that description field in bulk, as follows:

dsquery user –description "Training" | dsmod
    -description "Internal Development"

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Dsadd

Dsadd is used to create an instance of an Active Directory object class on a particular directory partition. These classes include users, computers, contacts, groups, organizational units, and quotas. Dsadd has a generic syntax that consists of the following:

dsadd <ObjectType> <ObjectDistinguishedName> attributes

Note that each object type you create takes a specific set of switches corresponding to the attributes available for that type. This command creates a single user object with various attributes populated (note that the following is all on one line):

dsadd user cn=afuller,ou=IT,dc=contoso,dc=com
–samID afuller –fn Andrew –ln Fuller –pwd *
-memberOf cn=IT,ou=Groups,dc=contoso,dc=com "cn=Help Desk,ou=Groups,
dc=contoso,dc=com"
–desc "Marketing Director"

The –memberOf switch requires the full distinguished name (DN) of each group the user should be added to; if you want to add the user to multiple groups you can add multiple DNs separated by spaces.

If any element contains a space, such as the DN of the Help Desk group, it needs to be enclosed in double quotes. If an element contains a backslash, like an OU called IT\EMEA, the backslash must be entered twice: IT\\EMEA. (These requirements apply to all of the ds* tools.)

When you use the -pwd * switch, you’ll be prompted to enter a password for the user at the command line. You can specify the password within the command itself (-pwd P@ssword1), but this will display the password in plain text on the screen or in any text or script file that you’ve embedded the command into.

Similarly, you can create a group object and an OU using the following two commands:

dsadd computer cn=WKS1,ou=Workstations,dc=contoso,dc=com
dsadd ou "ou=Training OU,dc=contoso,dc=com"

Dsmod

Dsmod is used to modify an existing object, and you work with it much as with dsadd, using different submenus and syntax depending on the type of object you’re modifying. The following dsmod statement changes a user’s password and modifies his account so he will be prompted to change to a new password on next logon:

dsmod user "cn=afuller,ou=IT,dc=contoso,dc=com" –pwd P@ssw0rd1
    –mustchpwd yes

To see how similar these switches are, look at the dsadd syntax you would use to create this user with the same attributes configured:

dsadd user "cn=afuller,ou=IT,dc=contoso,dc=com" –pwd P@ssw0rd1
    –mustchpwd yes

As you can clearly see, if you know the switches to create objects in dsadd, you can use those same switches to modify users with dsmod.

Dsrm

The converse of dsadd is dsrm; as you might imagine, this tool lets you delete an object from the command line. The basic dsrm syntax is pretty straightforward: simply enter dsrm followed by the distinguished name of the object you want to delete, like so:

dsrm cn=WKS1,ou=Workstations,dc=contoso,dc=com

By default, dsrm will prompt "Are you sure you want to delete this object?" Type Y, then press Enter. You can suppress this prompt using the –noprompt switch, but, obviously, you then get no chance to confirm that you’ve selected the correct object before deleting it. Two additional switches can be helpful if you are deleting a container object, that is, an organizational unit that could potentially contain other objects within it. The following command deletes the TrainingOU organizational unit and all objects contained within it:

dsrm ou=TrainingOU,dc=contoso,dc=com –subtree 

This one deletes all child objects contained within TrainingOU but leaves the organizational unit object itself in place:

dsrm ou=TrainingOU,dc=contoso,dc=com –subtree
    –exclude 

Dsmove

To move or rename an object in Active Directory, you use the dsmove tool, but note that you should use it to move an object only within a single domain. To migrate objects between domains or forests, use the Active Directory Migration Tool (ADMT), a free download from the Microsoft Web site. Dsmove relies on two switches that can be used separately or in combination. This command gives Steve Conn’s account a new last name:

dsmove "cn=Conn, Steve,ou=IT,dc=contoso,dc=com"
    –newname "Steve Conn" 

This command moves Steve’s account from the IT OU to the Training OU:

dsmove "cn=Conn, Steve,ou=IT,dc=contoso,dc=com" –newparent
    ou=Training,dc=contoso,dc=com 

You can combine a rename and a move into a single operation by specifying both switches at once, like this:

dsmove "cn=Conn, Steve,ou=IT,dc=contoso,dc=com" –newname
    "Steve Conn" –newparent ou=Training,dc=contoso,dc=com

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CSVDE

The Comma-Separated Values Data Exchange tool, known as CSVDE, allows you to import new objects into Active Directory using a CSV source file; it also provides you with the ability to export existing objects to a CSV file. CSVDE can’t be used to modify existing objects; when you are using this tool in import mode you can only create brand-new objects.

Exporting a list of existing objects with CSVDE is fairly simple. Here’s how you’d export your Active Directory objects to a file called ad.csv:

csvde –f ad.csv

The –f switch indicates that the name of the output file follows. But you must be aware of the fact that, depending on your environment, this basic syntax could result in a huge and unwieldy output file. To restrict the tool to export objects only within a particular organizational unit (OU), you could modify the statement as follows:

csvde –f UsersOU.csv –d ou=Users,dc=contoso,dc=com

Let’s further say that you’re only interested in exporting user objects into your CSV file. In that case, you can add the –r switch, which allows you to specify a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) filter for the search, and the –l switch, which restricts the number of attributes that are exported (note that the following is all on one line):

csvde –f UsersOnly.csv –d ou=Users,dc=contoso,dc=com –r
    "(&(objectcategory=person)(objectclass=user))" –l
    DN,objectClass,description

The –i switch allows you to import objects into Active Directory from a source CSV file. However, creating user objects with CSVDE has one critical limitation: you can’t set user passwords with it. Because of this, I’d avoid using CSVDE to create user objects.

LDIFDE

Active Directory provides a second built-in tool for bulk user operations, called LDIFDE, and it is more powerful and flexible than CSVDE. In addition to creating new objects, LDIFDE can also modify and delete existing objects and even extend the Active Directory schema. The trade-off for LDIFDE’s flexibility is that the necessary input file, which is referred to as an LDIF file with the extension .ldf, uses a more complex format than the simple CSV file. (With a little work you can also configure user passwords, but I’ll get to that in a moment.)

Let’s start with a simple example, exporting users in an OU to an LDF file (note that the following is all on one line):

ldifde -f users.ldf -s DC1.contoso.com -d "ou=UsersOU,dc=contoso,dc=com"
       –r "(&(objectcategory=person)(objectclass=user))"

As with most command-line tools, you can find a full explanation of the LDIFDE switches by running the LDIFDE /? command. (Note that the switches are actually the same for both the CSVDE and LDIFDE commands.)

The real power of LDIFDE is in creating and manipulating objects. Before doing this, however, you first need to create an input file. The following creates two new user accounts called afuller and rking; to create the input file, enter the text in Notepad (or your favorite plain-text editor) and save it as NewUsers.ldf:

dn: CN=afuller, OU=UsersOU, DC=contoso, DC=com
changetype: add
cn: afuller
objectClass: user
samAccountName: afuller 

dn: CN=rking, OU=UsersOU, DC=contoso, DC=com
changetype: add
cn: rking
objectClass: user
samAccountName: rking 

Once you’ve finished creating the file, run the following command:

ldifde –i –f NewUsers.ldf –s DC1.contoso.com

The only new switch here is -i, which, you can probably guess for yourself, denotes that this is an import operation instead of an export.

When modifying or deleting existing objects, the syntax for the LDIFDE command doesn’t change; instead, you modify the contents of the LDF file. To change the description field of the user accounts, create a text file called ModifyUsers.ldf, such as the one shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 The ModifyUsers LDF file (Click the image for a smaller view)

Figure 2 The ModifyUsers LDF file (Click the image for a larger view)

You import the changes by running the same LDIFDE command syntax as before, specifying the new LDF file name after the -f switch. The LDF format for deleting objects is even simpler; to delete the users you’ve been working with, create a file called DeleteUsers.ldf and enter the following:

dn: CN=afuller OU=UsersOU, DC=contoso, DC=com
changetype: delete

dn: CN=rking, OU=UsersOU, DC=contoso, DC=com
changetype: delete

Note that unlike CSVDE, LDIFDE is capable of configuring user passwords. Before you can configure the unicodePWD attribute for a user account, however, you must configure secure sockets layer/transport layer security (SSL/TLS) encryption on your domain controllers.

Moreover, LDIFDE can create and modify any type of Active Directory object, not just user accounts. The following LDF file, for example, will create a custom schema extension called EmployeeID-example in the schema of the contoso.com forest:

dn: cn=EmployeeID-example,cn=Schema,
cn=Configuration,dc=contoso,dc=com
changetype: add
adminDisplayName: EmployeeID-Example
attributeID: 1.2.3.4.5.6.6.6.7
attributeSyntax: 2.5.5.6
cn: Employee-ID
instanceType: 4
isSingleValued: True
lDAPDisplayName: employeeID-example

Because LDIFDE files use the industry-standard LDAP file format, third-party applications that need to modify the Active Directory schema will often supply LDF files you can use to examine and approve the changes before applying them to your production environment.

In addition to tools for bulk import and export operations, Windows Server 2003 also includes a built-in toolset that lets you create, delete, and modify various Active Directory objects as well as perform queries for objects that meet certain criteria. (Note that these tools, dsadd, dsrm, dsget, and dsquery, are not supported under Windows 2000 Active Directory.)

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Source

The Windows Home Server web site was updated today to a new look and feel, and over the next few weeks/months additional content, links and other great stuff will be added to the site.  The new look and feel and site map is close to being finalized.  The home page, now has pages for:

• Home Users
• Enthusiasts
• Partners
• Developers
• Press

…to help different people quickly find what they are looking for.  I would love to have people comment to this blog post - how can we make it better?  What additional information / stuff would you like to see ?  The home server team is listening.

Source

Continuing on Windows Server 2008, here are the latest downloads for Windows Server 2008.

1. Windows Server® 2008 Beta 3 Standard
   Windows Server® 2008 Beta 3 helps IT professionals to increase the flexibility of their server infrastructure while offering developers a more robust web and applications platform for building connected applications and services.
2. Windows Server® 2008 Beta 3 for Itanium-based Systems
   Windows Server® 2008 Beta 3 helps IT professionals to increase the flexibility of their server infrastructure while offering developers a more robust web and applications platform for building connected applications and services.
3. Windows Server® 2008 Beta 3 Datacenter
   Windows Server® 2008 Beta 3 helps IT professionals to increase the flexibility of their server infrastructure while offering developers a more robust web and applications platform for building connected applications and services.
4. Windows Server® 2008 Beta 3 Enterprise.
   Windows Server® 2008 Beta 3 helps IT professionals to increase the flexibility of their server infrastructure while offering developers a more robust web and applications platform for building connected applications and services.
5. Windows® Web Server 2008 Beta 3.
   Windows Server® 2008 Beta 3 helps IT professionals to increase the flexibility of their server infrastructure while offering developers a more robust web and applications platform for building connected applications and services.

Are you ready for Windows Server 2008? In last couple of days, I have pointed you to some good learning resources for Windows Server 2008 and now the countdown has begun for it’s launch.

Global launch in 180+ days. Got Vista? Get yourself Vista Sidebar Gadget.

Download | More Info on Windows Server 2008

This is what it will look like

Source

E-Learning

Official Microsoft E-Learning Courses for Windows Server 2008 provide a simple and effective way to learn at your own pace and on your own schedule. Check back for additional Windows Server 2008 e-learning courses to be released over the following months.

?Learn more about the Official Microsoft E-Learning Courses for Windows Server 2008

?Collection 5934: Introducing Windows Server 2008?Free for a limited time!
This online learning collection of four clinics introduces the new features and functionality in Windows Server 2008. The clinics cover server virtualization, security and policy management, branch office management, centralized application access, and server management. You can take the entire collection of clinics, or just the clinics that interest you.

?Clinic 5936: Introducing Security and Policy Management in Windows Server 2008

?Clinic 5937: Introducing Branch Office Management in Windows Server 2008

?Clinic 5938: Introducing Centralized Application Access in Windows Server 2008

?Clinic 5939: Introducing Server Management in Windows Server 2008

?Collection 6041: Upgrading Your Windows Server 2003 MCSE Technical Skills to Windows Server 2008

Get a head start on Windows Server 2008! Now is the time to upgrade your technical skills on Windows Server 2008 with Microsoft E-Learning Collection 6041, including access to virtual labs. Use promotion code 1W815 at checkout for 15 percent savings through November 15, 2007.
Special limited time offer! Sign up for this collection now and get FREE registration for three upgrade collections on Networking, Active Directory, and Application Platform Services as they become available.

?Course 6042: Installing and Managing Windows Server 2008 (Beta)

?Course 6043: Implementing Active Directory Domain Services in Windows Server 2008 (Beta)

?Course 6044: Implementing Active Directory Identities and Access in Windows Server 2008 (Beta)

?Course 6045: Managing Internet Information Services 7.0 and Windows Media Server in Windows Server 2008 (Beta)

?Course 6046: Implementing Network Infrastructure Services in Windows Server 2008 (Beta)

?Course 6047: Implementing Network Access Protection in Windows Server 2008 (Beta)

?Course 6048: Implementing Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 (Beta)

?Course 6049: Implementing a Storage Infrastructure in Windows Server 2008 (Beta)

?Course 6050: Implementing Security in Windows Server 2008 (Beta)

?Course 6051: Implementing High Availability and Virtualization in Windows Server 2008 (Beta)

?Find more e-learning courses

Classroom training

Classroom training by Microsoft Certified Partners for Learning Solutions
Classroom training is designed to help you transition your skills and build expertise on Windows Server 2008 with world-class learning content. Check back for additional Windows Server 2008 courses to be released over the following months.

First-look courses and hands-on labs

These 90-minute clinics and accompanying hands-on labs target specific Windows Server 2008 scenarios to help you prepare for Windows Server 2008 certification.

?Course 6400: First Look: Getting Started with Centralized Application Access in Windows Server 2008

?Course 6401: First Look: Getting Started with Centralized Application Access in Windows Server 2008 Hands-On Lab

?Course 6402: First Look: Getting Started with Branch Office Management in Windows Server 2008

?Course 6403: First Look: Getting Started with Branch Office Management in Windows Server 2008 Hands-On Lab

?Course 6404: First Look: Getting Started with High Availability in Windows Server 2008

?Course 6405: First Look: Getting Started with High Availability in Windows Server 2008 Hands-On Lab

?Course 6406: First Look: Getting Started with Security and Policy Control in Windows Server 2008

?Course 6407: First Look: Getting Started with Security and Policy Control in Windows Server 2008 Hands-On Lab

?Course 6408: First Look: Getting Started with Server Management in Windows Server 2008

?Course 6409: First Look: Getting Started with Server Management in Windows Server 2008 Hands-On Lab

?Course 6410: First Look: Getting Started with Server Virtualization in Windows Server 2008

?Course 6411: First Look: Getting Started with Server Virtualization in Windows Server 2008 Hands-On Lab

?Course 6412: First Look: Getting Started with Web and Applications Platform Technologies in Windows Server 2008

?Course 6413: First Look: Getting Started with Web and Applications Platform Technologies in Windows Server 2008 Hands-On Lab

Skills transitioning courses

These three-day classroom sessions are designed to help Microsoft Certified Systems Administrators (MCSAs) and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers (MCSEs) transition their skills from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008.

?Course 6415: Updating your Network Infrastructure Technology Skills to Windows Server 2008 (available July 2007)

?Course 6416: Updating your Active Directory Technology Skills to Windows Server 2008 (available July 2007)

?Course 6417: Updating your Application Platform Technology Skills to Windows Server 2008 (available July 2007)

Let Microsoft Learning resources give you the head start you need to transition your skills and credentials to the latest Windows Server technologies–or get started with a new certification.

Find what?s new

?Download the FREE Windows Server 2008 e-book offer
Or take advantage of discount offers on Microsoft Press titles.

?Sign up for FREE e-learning clinics
Take any or all of the four e-learning clinics included in Collection 5934: Introducing Windows Server 2008?FREE!

?Find classroom training
Choose from a broad spectrum of first-look clinics and hands-on labs.

Transition your skills

?Upgrade your skills with a special e-learning offer
Purchase e-learning Collection 6041: Upgrading Your Windows Server 2003 MCSE Technical Skills to Windows Server 2008 at 15 percent off now and get three additional upgrade collections FREE.

?Get classroom training to update your qualifications to Windows Server 2008
Update your skills from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 with special three-day sessions (Courses 6415, 6416, and 6417).

?Get certified
Transition from MCSA or MCSE to the MCTS or MCITP Windows Server 2008 certification

Find additional resources

?View the Live Meeting recording on Windows Server 2008 certification paths
This Live Meeting was recorded in June 2007.

?Explore Windows Server 2008 features and functionality
Download the most current beta version of Windows Server 2008, and participate in events and webcasts.

Books from Microsoft Press

?Free Windows Server 2008 e-book and Microsoft Press newsletter

This e-book includes excerpts from two recent publications from Microsoft Press:

?Introducing Windows Server 2008 by Mitch Tulloch with the Microsoft Windows Server Team (ISBN: 9780735624214)
Usage scenarios, Windows Server virtualization, Managing Windows Server 2008, Managing server roles, Windows Server core, Additional resources

?Microsoft Windows PowerShell Step by Step by Ed Wilson (ISBN: 9780735623958)
Overview of Windows PowerShell, Using Windows PowerShell cmdlets, Leveraging PowerShell providers.

Additional chapters from Introducing Windows Server 2008 will be added to the site periodically, so be sure to come back and read more from expert Mitch Tulloch and the Microsoft Windows Server Team.

?Register to receive the free e-book offer

Register to get the free e-book, and sign up for the Microsoft Press Book Connection, a monthly newsletter that provides news about upcoming and recent releases, special offers, and additional information from those who know our books best.

?Discount offer: Get 30 percent off selected Microsoft Press print titles

Titles include Introducing Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Windows PowerShell Step by Step, and others. This is a limited time offer.

Windows Server 2008 Beta Is Now Available for Download

The next generation of the Windows Server operating system gives you more control, greater flexibility, and increased protection for your server infrastructure while reducing time and costs. And when you download or order the beta software, you’re automatically registered to access valuable beta resources assembled in one convenient Beta Central location.

Windows Server 2008 Virtual Labs

Come experience the next major release of Windows Server. Test-drive new and improved features and functionality in the Windows Server 2008 release, including management, network protection, and improvements to Terminal Services. New labs will continue to be added and updated to the series so check back frequently.

Product Links

?Virtual Server Technical Resources

Webcasts and Videos

?Architectural Best Practices for Virtual Server

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To back up System State data using a command line:

1. Open Command Prompt.

2. To backup the System State data, type: ntbackup backup systemstate

Value Description
systemstate specifies that you want to back up the System State data.

When you select this option, the backup type will be forced to copy.

For information about additional backup options, see the ntbackup command-line utility.

For example, to create a backup job named “Backup Job 1″ that backs up the System State data to the file C:backup.bkf, type:

ntbackup backup systemstate /J “Backup Job 1″ /F “C:backup.bkf”

All other options will default to those specified in the Backup program.

Notes:
To open command prompt, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.

To view the complete syntax for this command, at a command prompt, type:

ntbackup /

If you do not specify the other backup options, ntbackup will use the backup program’s default values for the backup type, verification setting, logging level, hardware compression and any other settings.

Windows Backup, Windows Server, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar

Windows Backup, Windows Server, MSTalkOnline, Alpesh Nakar