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2016: What an epic year!

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As we begin 2017 I wanted to thank everyone for making this blog a resounding success. Your comments, your shares and your feedback mean a lot to me and I want to thank you for your continued support.

Blog Success

As we wrap up the third year at SuperTekBoy I wanted to share some numbers with you.

  • In 2015, SuperTekBoy welcomed 320,000 visitors who viewed 450,000 pages.
  • In 2016, SuperTekBoy welcomed 377,000 visitors who viewed 521,000 pages.

That’s around 18% growth. Thank you!

With your continued support–your shares, your likes, your follows–I am sure we can continue this upward trend.

Never could I have imagined 3 years ago that this site would grow to the extent it has. Thank you!

Without you, there is no need for me. So, as always, I desire your feedback. Good or bad. Plus, let me know if there is an article you’d like me to write.

[Read more…] about 2016: What an epic year!

Exchange December 2016 Updates

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Exchange 2013 Big Logo

It was a big month for Exchange updates. Not only did we get Cumulative Update 15 for Exchange 2013, but we also got Cumulative Update 4 for Exchange 2016.

As always, test these updates in a lab first! I recommend checking out this 7-part guide on configuring Exchange in your lab. It doesn’t take much to get one going.

The updates are as follows:

Exchange 2016 MiniExchange Server 2016 Cumulative Update 4 | KB3177106 | UM Language Pack

Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 9Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 15 | KB3197044 | UM Language Pack

Exchange 2010 MiniExchange Server 2010 SP3 Update Rollup 16 | KB3184730

Exchange 2007 MiniExchange Server 2007 SP3 Update Rollup 22 | KB3184712

A quick word on Exchange 2007

It’s time to update. Exchange 2007 will go end of life on April 11th 2017. That’s a little over 4 months. If you are counting the days from this blog post that is exactly 100 days before Microsoft drops all support for Exchange 2007. On April 12th you will receive no more patches and no more telephone support.

If the lack of security updates from Microsoft isn’t convincing enough, check this article for a list of cool things Exchange 2013 can do. (P.S. Like the fact Exchange 2013 uses less IOPS per mailbox than 2007…say what?)

Windows Server 2016 was breaking Exchange 2016

Cumulative Update 3 for Exchange 2016 officially added support for deployment on Windows Server 2016. Unfortunately, it was quickly realized that a bug existed that would crash the IIS Application Pools after a reboot of a freshly installed DAG member. The Server Team’s official response can be found here.

If you attempt to run Microsoft Exchange 2016 CU3 on Windows Server 2016, you will experience errors in the IIS host process W3WP.exe. There is no workaround at this time. You should postpone deployment of Exchange 2016 CU3 on Windows Server 2016 until a supported fix is available.Windows Server Team

This issue has since been resolved in an update provided by the Windows Server team. The update can be downloaded here (KB3206632).

It is worth noting that Exchange 2016 CU4 will not install on Windows Server 2016 unless this update is present. [Read more…] about Exchange December 2016 Updates

Change the notification email for directory synchronization failures

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In this article we explore how to change the email address that receives the Office 365 directory synchronization failure notifications. We will explore how to do this with PowerShell.

Let’s get started!

Getting connected

First, you will need to have access to the Windows Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell. An article detailing how to install this module and all prerequisites can be found here.

You should have an icon on your desktop named Windows Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell. Right click on this icon and select Run As Administrator from the context menu.

Windows Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell Icon

At the PowerShell prompt enter the following command and hit enter.

 C:\> Set-ExecutionPolicy –ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

Execution Policy Change
The execution policy helps protect you from scripts that you do not trust. Changing the execution policy might expose you to the security risks described in the
about_Execution_Policies help topic at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135170. Do you want to change the execution policy?
[Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "N"):

Press Y for yes and hit Enter. [Read more…] about Change the notification email for directory synchronization failures

Unable to connect to the Synchronization Service

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If you run into the following error after installing Azure AD Connect then the fix might be quite simple. There are certainly a number of in-depth articles out there concerning the synchronization service but this might be one quick step to try first.

Unable to connect to the Synchronization Service - Azure AD Connect

Unable to connect to the Synchronization Service.

Some possible reasons are:
1) The service is not started.
2) Your account is not a member of the required security group.

See the Synchronization Service documentation for details.

If you have just installed Azure AD Connect and attempt to launch the Synchronization Service Manager, you may receive the error above. It is likely that the second bullet point regarding membership to a required security group is somewhat true.

Chances are your account has this membership but not the associated token. The fix is possibly quite simple: Log off and log on again.

It’s possible your current logon session does not have your updated group membership. Once you do this launch the Synchronization Service Manager again to see if you have access.

TwitterHave you run into this problem? What was your fix? Drop a comment below or join the conversation on Twitter  @SuperTekBoy.

Separate email message counts on Windows Phone 10 lock screen

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The notification area of the Windows Phone 10 lock screen is priceless. From an email workflow the benefit of the lock screen is to quickly see if any new messages have come in. This is especially useful as it saves you time from keying in your pass code and checking your account for new messages.

Windows Phone 10 Lock Screen Notifications A

If you are like me you may have multiple email accounts on your Windows phone. Like me, you may also prefer to track how many new messages each email account has received on your lock screen. By default Windows Phone isn’t configured this way. Rather it tells you the aggregate number of all email messages across all accounts in a single notification. In the picture above the number two is actually two email accounts that have received one message each. This may be good for some but when I have both work and personal email accounts on my phone I want to know which account has the new message to determine if it needs immediate attention.

In this guide we show how to create a separate message count on your lock screen for two email accounts. In our example, one account will be a work account on Exchange and the other will be a personal account on Outlook.com.

Let’s get started! [Read more…] about Separate email message counts on Windows Phone 10 lock screen

Patch and Switch – Episode 86 – Live from MVP Summit

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While attending my first MVP Summit I had the great pleasure of being a guest on the Patch and Switch show. I joined hosts Rick Claus and Jared Shockley with fellow MVP Nick Westbrook for a light hearted discussion on life as an IT professional.


(Originally posted at https://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/Patch-And-Switch/86-Convoy-Coconuts-CB)

[Read more…] about Patch and Switch – Episode 86 – Live from MVP Summit

Favorite Exchange sessions at Microsoft Ignite – RunAs Radio #504

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On October 4th I had the great pleasure of being a guest on the RunAs Radio podcast. I joined host Richard Campbell to discuss what we learnt about the future of Exchange from Ignite 2016.

Gareth on Runas Radio #504 - Favorite Exchange Sessions From Microsoft Ignite

Listen to the podcast

(Originally posted at http://runasradio.com/Shows/Show/504)

[Read more…] about Favorite Exchange sessions at Microsoft Ignite – RunAs Radio #504

The Current Status – Episode 43 – Live from IT/Dev Connections

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During my recent visit to IT/Dev Connections I had the great pleasure of being a guest on the The Current Status – Episode 43. I joined hosts Phoummala Schmitt and Theresa Miller and special guests Michael Van Horenbeeck and Paul Cunningham.

The Current Status Episode 43 at IT/Dev Connections
Photo courtesy of Paul Cunningham

Listen to the podcast

In this episode we discuss what we learnt from Microsoft Ignite and IT/Dev Connections with regard to the future of Exchange and Office 365.

(Originally posted at https://soundcloud.com/thecurrentstatus/episode-43-exchange-uncut)

[Read more…] about The Current Status – Episode 43 – Live from IT/Dev Connections

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