Greg's Cool [Insert Clever Name] of the Day: 09/28/2014

Friday, October 03, 2014

Microsoft MVP Award Unboxing

Sorry guys, I hate to do this to you, but since this is the first time I've gotten this award, I just have to share the unboxing...

Yeah, yeah, I know those of you who already MVP's will roll your eyes and say "Newbies' are so cute...", the former will say "puft, been there, done that...," the aspiring, "One day, that will be me" and the grumpy/bitter (aka the Former Greg's... :| ) will say "grrr..."

Anyway...

BTW, here's my official MS MVP URL, https://mvp.microsoft.com/en-us/mvp/Greg%20Duncan-5001015

Related Past Post XRef:
Guess who's a newly minted Microsoft MVP?

Thursday, October 02, 2014

Problems installing .NET 3.5 on Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 R2? Like error: 0x800F0906? Check for an already in-place 3.5 Update...

I thought it interesting and kind of telling that these two different (through very similar, same base, etc) platforms have this same issue...

Also these two posts are nice guides if you run into other related kinds of problems like this...

Ask Premier Field Engineering (PFE) Platforms - Attempting to Install .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 Fails with Error Code 0x800F0906 or “the source files could not be downloaded”, even when supplying source

In one of my prior posts, I mentioned a step required when installing .Net Framework 3.5 on Windows Server 2012 or later operating systems. Specifically, I mentioned the need to supply the source for the .Net files because this is one of the few components we do not stage to the component store on Windows Server 2012 and later. One of the bullets in the things to keep in mind section at the bottom of this blog reads:

If you are attempting to install .Net Framework 3.5 on Windows Server 2012, instead of specifying the install.wim, you need to specify the Sources\SxS directory on the DVD or if providing the source, the files in the SXS directory copied from the DVD are just for .Net Framework 3.5. You can host them on a share and supply them through the GUI or through Group Policy just like any other feature.

Recently one of my customers ran into an issue when attempting to install .Net Framework 3.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 using the following command:

Install-WindowsFeature –name NET-Framework-Core –source F:\sources\sxs

F:\ is the mounted Windows Server 2012 R2 ISO.

Yet it still failed with the following error:

The request to add or remove features on the specified server failed. The source files could not be downloaded. Use the "source" option to specify the location of the files that are required to restore the feature. Error: 0x800F0906

...

So why are we getting these errors despite supplying the source?

We released a security update in August 2014 that updates .Net components. The security updates are as follows:

KB2966828: MS14-046: Description of the security update for the .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2: August 12, 2014

KB2966827: MS14-046: MS14-046: Description of the security update for the .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012: August 12, 2014

If either of these updates are installed, you will run into the above issue if your server does not have access to the Internet to pull the updated components.

How do we resolve this?

Since this customer’s servers do not have internet access, in their case, they did the following:

1) Uninstalled the security update

2) Installed .Net Framework 3.5 (which installed without error)

3) Reinstalled the update

Take a look at the following TechNet article for .Net Framework 3.5 deployment considerations:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn482066.aspx

Here’s a link to the official Knowledge Base article on this issue:

https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3002547

How do you keep from running into this in the future?

I personally recommend that you proactively enable .Net Framework 3.5 on the server images and templates in your environment to prevent having to troubleshoot or take additional steps such as this going forward.

MSMQ from the plumber's mate - Windows 8–can’t install .Net Framework 3.5 (0x800F0906, 0x800F081F)

"I’d recently put Windows 8 on a test machine at work and started installing what software I needed. Pretty quickly I found I needed to install .Net Framework 3.5 which is now a ‘Feature’ instead of a separate download.

...

Error code 0x800F0906 leads you to troubleshooting articles such as:

.NET Framework 3.5 installation error: 0x800F0906, 0x800F081F, 0x800F0907

http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/2734782

...

Looking in the list of installed updates, I found I had KB2966827 present:

MS14-046: Description of the security update for the .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012: August 12, 2014

http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/2966827

Now why do I have a .NET Framework 3.5 hotfix installed on a machine that hasn’t yet had .NET Framework 3.5 installed?!

The presence of the hotfix meant the installation was always expecting to find newer files than came with the Windows 8 source files.

As soon as I uninstalled the hotfix, I could add the .NET Framework 3.5 feature and start using my applications.

..."

Getting started with the free (for 1000 calls) Text Analysis API from AYLIEN

Text Analysis blog | Aylien - How to Get Started with AYLIEN Text Analysis API

Introduction

Getting up and running with AYLIEN’s Text Analysis APIs couldn’t be easier. It’s a simple 3 part process from signing up to calling the API. This blog will take you through the complete process of creating an account, retrieving your API Key and Application ID, and making your first call to the API.

Part 1: Signing up for a free account

Navigate to http://aylien.com/getting-started/ and click on the “Subscribe For free” button. This will bring you to a sign up form which will ask for your details in order to setup your account and generate your credentials.

By signing up, you will get access to our basic plan which will allow you to make 1,000 API calls per day for free. Note: There is no credit card needed to get access to our basic plan. ;)

...

Part 3: Creating your first application
Our getting started guide is designed to get you up and running with the API and making calls as quickly and as easily as possible. Here you will find information on the API Documentation, Features, Links to a demo and some code snippets.

We have included sample code snippets for you to use in the following languages.

Java

Node.js

Python

Go

PHP

C#

Ruby

To start making calls, while you’re on the getting started page, scroll down to the “Calling the API” section. Choose which language you wish to use and take a copy of the code snippet. In this example, we are going to use Node.js.

...

..."

Okay, 1,000 calls is not enough to build a biz on (not that you would) but it is more than enough to play with and still do some cool things. Imagine using this in your blogging, where you gather some cool text analysis info automagically from your post. Or spread out over time, analysis of all your posts. Or maybe a means to help you filter down your news stream. Or... or... or... There's a ton of stuff you can do with an API like this and being free'ish, you can play for, well, free.

SUA Shellshocked? Nope! Microsoft's Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications is not impacted by Shellshock

Services for UNIX - Interoperability - Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications is not affected by Shellshock

Greetings, users of Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications (SUA). I'm the technical writer for SUA, which was deprecated in the Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 timeframe.

This is just a quick post to let you know (because customers have been concerned about SUA and the Shellshock vulnerability in Bash) that SUA is not affected by Shellshock. SUA and its associated SDK do not include Bash, and installing SUA does not install Bash.

For more information about Shellshock, I've collected the following links for you. But again, SUA is not affected by Shellshock.

...

..."

I was wondering about this. While it's still deprecated, it's good know I don't have to wonder about this at least any more...

RSAT for Win10 TP

Microsoft Downloads - Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 Technical Preview

"

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 Technical Preview enables IT administrators to manage roles and features that are installed on computers that are running Windows Server Technical Preview from a remote computer that is running Windows 10 Technical Preview

Version: 9840

File Name:

WindowsTH-KB2693643-x64.msu

WindowsTH-KB2693643-x86.msu

Date Published: 10/1/2014

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 Technical Preview includes Server Manager, Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-ins, consoles, Windows PowerShell cmdlets and providers, and command-line tools for managing roles and features that run on Windows Server Technical Preview.

In this preview release of Remote Server Administration Tools, there are some known issues, and tools that are unavailable. For more information about known issues with this release, see the Windows Server Release Notes.

The following management tools are not available in this release of Remote Server Administration Tools.

BitLocker Drive Encryption administration utilities

Direct Access

Routing and Remote Access

Remote Desktop Services

Windows PowerShell cmdlets for Cluster Aware Updating

Windows PowerShell cmdlets for Best Practices Analyzer

...."

Every time I type or say Win 10 TP I'm going to snicker like a little boy... Anyway, now that I have that snicker out...

You've got Win 10 Server installed? Win 10 client? Need the RSAT tools? Well, here you go!

BTW, did you notice the file names?

Something every Reagan fan needs... "Ronald Reagan Velociraptor Painting"

This Is Why I Am Broke - Ronald Reagan Velociraptor Painting

At only $25.00, man, I'll take two!

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

Guess who's a newly minted Microsoft MVP?

Dear Gregory Duncan,
Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2014 Microsoft® MVP Award! This award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with others. We appreciate your outstanding contributions in Visual Studio ALM technical communities during the past year.

..."

Woot! I've coveted this award for a long time, and it was only through the help and support of others that made it happen. Brian Keller, Martin Woodward, Esther Lee, my employer and most importantly all of you. Thank you again for your support these past years!

Now comes the really hard part, working to continue to deserve this award... :)