Author Archives: ncbrady

Awarded MVP in Enterprise Mobility for the 9th time !

Posted on July 1, 2019 by ncbrady

Today I got a fantastic email from Microsoft stating that I’ve once again been awarded MVP in Enterprise Mobility It’s my 9th time to be awarded so I’m humbled, honored and very pleased indeed and of course I’m extremely grateful … Continue reading →

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How to enable Thunderbolt on Windows Server 2019

Posted on June 26, 2019 by ncbrady

Note: This guide involves manually editing driver inf files and is for lab use only, modifying drivers is not supported by either Intel, Lenovo or Microsoft, so use at your own risk. I’ve used this method on my Lenovo P1, … Continue reading →

Posted in deduplication, hyper-v, INF, Lenovo, ThunderBolt, Windows Server 2019 | 9 Comments

SCCM Technical Preview version 1906 is available

Posted on June 20, 2019 by ncbrady

Microsoft released SCCM Technical Preview 1906 a week ago or so and I upgraded my lab but never got around to blogging about it. So here’s some info about it, better late than never :P. And here it is in … Continue reading →

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Patch against the BlueKeep vulnerability, even the NSA is warning you

Posted on June 8, 2019 by ncbrady

Introduction You’d have to be living under a rock to not have noticed the blog posts and tweets from many different people (including myself) in relation to patching your Windows 7 computers (and others… including eeek… Windows XP) against the … Continue reading →

Posted in BlueKeep, HoneyPot, rdpscan | 3 Comments

How can I install System Center Configuration Manager (Current Branch) version 1902 on Windows Server 2019 with SQL Server 2017 – Part 6

Posted on May 30, 2019 by ncbrady

Introduction This multi-part guide will show you how to install the latest baseline version of Configuration Manager from Microsoft. The latest available baseline version is System Center Configuration Manager (Current Branch) version 1902 as of April the 10th 2019. I … Continue reading →

Posted in 1902, baseline version, SQL Server 2017, Windows Server 2019 | Leave a comment

How can I get BitLocker Recovery Keys from the ConfigMgr database in SCCM?

Posted on May 26, 2019 by ncbrady

Introduction Microsoft released the mother of all releases when it comes to SCCM Technical Preview recently and that was Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager Technical Preview version 1905. It contained many features including one which I’m interested in, namely Microsoft … Continue reading →

Posted in 1905, MBAM, SQL Server 2016, SQL Server 2017 | 10 Comments

SCCM Technical Preview version 1905 is available and this is a HUGE release !

Posted on May 21, 2019 by ncbrady

Introduction Only a few weeks ago Microsoft released SCCM TP 1904, and now, 1905 is already released. So what’s new in 1905TP ? What isn’t new, there are SO MANY new features it’s unreal ! Improved control over WSUS Maintenance … Continue reading →

Posted in 1905 | 3 Comments

How can I use the new Community hub in SCCM Technical Preview 1904

Posted on May 21, 2019 by ncbrady

Introduction A few weeks ago Microsoft release SCCM Technical Preview version 1904 and it had many interesting features, one of which is dedicated to community involvement. After installing SCCM Technical Preview 1904, open the console and browse to the Community … Continue reading →

Posted in 1904, hub | 1 Comment

How can I deploy Windows with a custom blocksize using SCCM ?

Posted on May 21, 2019 by ncbrady

Introduction I had the task to figure out how to install Windows 10 with a blocksize of 16k in order to align with the deduplication of data on a HPE 3PAR Thin Technologies when used with VMWare ESXi 6.5 Update … Continue reading →

Posted in ESXI drivers, paravirtual, Vmware, vmxnet3 | Leave a comment

How to find and extract VMWare ESXi drivers

Posted on May 17, 2019 by ncbrady

Introduction I use VMWare ESXi virtual machines at work and occasionally I need to add drivers to a new boot image. VMWare doesn’t make it easy. Here is an example of that. I needed to add NIC drivers for ESXi, … Continue reading →

Posted in ESXI drivers, Vmware | 1 Comment

Update now to protect yourself from the next WannaCry

Posted on May 14, 2019 by ncbrady

Update: 2019/5/31. I’m adding this information as it’s just so critical BlueKeep is a term for a security vulnerability (CVE–2019-0708) (noted as “critical” by Microsoft)[1][2] affecting computers using older versions (Windows 8 and Windows 10 are not affected) of the … Continue reading →

Posted in BlueKeep, CVE-2019-0708, Security, WannaCry | 2 Comments

ConfigMgr log files help you when you least expect it, oh and SCCM 1904 TP is out !

Posted on April 30, 2019 by ncbrady

Introduction Another month has gone by and Microsoft have just released SCCM 1904 TP (Technical Preview). Technical Preview releases are released for testing new features for SCCM and are only applicable for LAB environments. To get TP 1904 you can … Continue reading →

Posted in 1904, SQL Server 2016, SQL Server 2017 | 3 Comments

Upgrading the SQL Server 2012 Client Agent with PowerShell to support TLS 1.2 for SCCM installations

Posted on April 28, 2019 by ncbrady

Introduction This is a quick post to highlight a small update to my Install SQL Server 2017.ps1 script used to install SCCM 1902 with SQL Server 2017 on Windows Server 2019 published recently. I’ve added a new section to deal … Continue reading →

Posted in 1902, baseline version, PowerShell, SQL Server 2017, TLS | Leave a comment

How can I install System Center Configuration Manager (Current Branch) version 1902 on Windows Server 2019 with SQL Server 2017 – Part 5

Posted on April 24, 2019 by ncbrady

Introduction This multi-part guide will show you how to install the latest baseline version of Configuration Manager from Microsoft. The latest available baseline version is System Center Configuration Manager (Current Branch) version 1902 as of April the 10th 2019. I … Continue reading →

Posted in 1902, baseline version, PowerShell | Leave a comment

Windows 10 version 1903 comes with a new desktop background !

Posted on April 20, 2019 by ncbrady

Introduction Microsoft released Windows 10 version 1903 yesterday to MSDN and I upgraded one of my VDI machines with it, using an In Place Upgrade task sequence (SCCM) and it went very well. I was pleasantly surprised to see that … Continue reading →

Posted in 1903 | Leave a comment