Clone a Hyper-V virtual machine without SCVMM

Original post: http://tech.in4mr.com/2009/09/clone-hyper-v-vm-without-scvmm.html

Clone a Hyper-V virtual machine without SCVMM

The following assumes that you have created a machine that you would like to use as a template.

**Sysprepping this machine is not required, but if you will be making more than one copy I highly recommend it (sysprep instructions follow post).

1. Right click on the template machine in Hyper-V Manager and choose Export (Do Not Start a Template)

2. Choose the \ directory for a destination

3. Wait for the export to complete

4. Move the files and folders under \\__ up one level to \

5. Delete the folder \\__

6. In Hyper-V Manager choose “Import a Virtual Machine” from the Action menu on the top right

7. Import from the folder \

8. You will now see two <_template_name_> Virtual Machines in Hyper-V Manager

9. Right click the bottom one (it will have the most recent date) and rename it to your

10. Right click the Virtual Machine and choose “Settings” from the context menu

11. On the left hand side click on the Hard Drive named (it should be under IDE Controller 0) ** image A**

12. Click Remove

13. Repeat steps 11 and 12 for all hard disks

14. Close Settings

15. Open Windows Explorer and Navigate to \\Virtual Hard Disks

16. Rename .vhd to .vhd

17. Repeat step 15 for all remaining hard disks

18. Close Windows Explorer

19. In Hyper-V Manager right click the Virtual Machine and choose “Settings” from the context menu

20. On the left hand side click on IDE Controller 0 and select “Hard Disk” and click “ADD”

21. Repeat for remaining Hard Disks

a. If possible attach these to a SCSI Controller (this may have to be added via “Add Hardware” at the top of the page)

22. Close Settings

23. Right click the Virtual Machine and choose “Start”

24. Right click the Virtual Machine and choose “Connect”

If your template machine had Sysprep run on it:

25. The Virtual Machine’s screen will be grey for a while and then show what appears to be a Windows Server Setup Screen

26. Choose next, Accept the Eula and Enter when you are prompted for a machine name

27. Click next and the system will load for a while and then present you with the logon screen

Sysprep: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766514(WS.10).aspx

Gotchas?: Make sure to read the links below if your going to sysprep a machine with Sql Server or Hyper-V
Sysprep a Sql Server: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/303774
Sysprep a Hyper-V Server: Http://blogs.msdn.com/mikekol/archive/2008/03/25/hyper-v-installation-tricks-part-1-sysprep-and-hyper-v.aspx

Rsync slow in cygwin windows 2003 server

If you are using rsync to push content from a local server to a remote server, I found it to be much faster to perform the rsync over ssh rather than using network paths.

so instead of doing something like:

rsync -avz /cygdrive/c/data/* //192.168.1.20/data/

do this:

rsync -avz /cygdrive/c/data/* -e ssh someuser@192.168.1.20:/cygdrive/c/data/

I have no idea why it is faster.

Also I found rsync over ssh to be more stable when pushing content from local server to remote server rather than pulling content from remote server to local server.

Making mirror server the principal server MS SQL 2005

In MS SQL 2005 mirroring, when the principal server fails you need to execute the following on the mirror server in order to make the mirror server active.

ALTER DATABASE [database name] SET PARTNER OFF
go

RESTORE DATABASE [database name] WITH RECOVERY
go

Shrinking MS SQL 2005 log files

If database is mirrored then remove mirroring first.

DBCC SHRINKFILE ('db log name', [MB])
go
BACKUP LOG [dbname] TO DISK = 'null'
go
DBCC SHRINKFILE ('db log name', [MB])
Go

Outlook 2007 High CPU Usage Problem - Solved

Original solution was found at:

http://weblogs.asp.net/guybarrette/archive/2008/01/13/outlook-high-cpu-usage-solved.aspx

I was having some performance issues with Outlook 2007. When running idle, it was consuming around 20-30% CPU. I know that Outlook is no small app but 20-30% CPU when idle, c'mon!
Trying to figure out what was wrong, I made sure I downloaded all the performance patches and I applied Office SP1 but still experienced a high CPU usage.
One day, I had the idea to disable all the non essential add-ins. Looks like with every software application comes with an Outlook add-in. Why do I need a SnagIt add-ins in Outlook? Why do I need a MindManager add-in? Nuisance if you ask me.
Guess what? After disabling these add-ins, Outlook CPU usage dropped to 0% with peaks at 2-4%!!!
So how do you disable Outlook ad-ins? In the Tools menu, select Trust Center.

Click on the Add-ins tab on the left of the screen and in the lower portion, select Com Add-ins from the drop down and click Go.

You can then uncheck non essential add-ins.

Every time I run Microsoft word or XL it performs installation.

I just uninstalled all instances of office from my PC and reinstalled it. This seemed to work.

MS SQL 2005 mirroring howto

My experience so far has been with setting up MS SQL 2005 mirroring under windows workgroups (not domains). The SQL servers did not have FQDNs. The database I was trying to setup was configured with "simple" recovery model.

Although the following worked for me, not every step may be necessary and the below is not necessarily the recommended method of achieving mirroring or setting up SQL Server:

1. I had the latest service pack for SQL server 2005 on both servers.

2. Modify the recovery model to "FULL". Then I modified a couple of records in the database to make sure there is something in the transaction logs.

3. Perform a full backup of principal and restored on mirror server.

4. Perform a transaction log backup and restore onto mirror server.

5. Both SQL server and the SQL Server Agent services on both the principal and mirror server are running as the same windows user with the same password. I made this windows user part of the Administrators group on both servers.

6. On the last page of the mirroring configuration wizard, click on "do not start mirroring". This will take you to the parent window where you can replace the Server Network Address for both your principal and mirror servers with the IP address rather than database name.

7. Everything else was either very obvious or I left as default.

Once I did the above tasks, then I clicked on start mirroring and everything just started working.