Monday

Tag: Microsoft

Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 19.1


SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for accessing, configuring, managing, administering, and developing all components of SQL Server. SSMS combines a broad group of graphical tools with a number of rich script editors to provide developers and administrators of all skill levels access to SQL Server.

The SSMS 19.x installation doesn’t upgrade or replace SSMS versions 18.x or earlier. SSMS 18.x installs side by side with previous versions, so both versions are available for use. However, if you have a preview version of SSMS 19.x installed, you must uninstall it before installing SSMS 19.1. You can see if you have the preview version by going to the Help > About window.

If a computer contains side-by-side installations of SSMS, verify you start the correct version for your specific needs. The latest version is labeled Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 19

What’s new in 19.1

New ItemDetails
Azure Data Studio installation integrationThe installation of SSMS installs Azure Data Studio 1.44.
Always EncryptedAdded support for secure enclaves and in-place encryption in the Always Encrypted Wizard.
Azure SQL Managed InstanceIntroduced visibility to the status of the Distributed Transaction Coordinator (DTC) service for Azure SQL Managed Instance. Object Explorer can be used to determine if DTC is enabled on the Azure SQL Managed Instance (within the Management node).
Backup/RestoreAdded capability to restore backup files from S3-compatible storage to SQL Server 2022 and Azure SQL Managed Instance.
General SSMSUpdated File Version for ssms.exe to align with product version.
General SSMSRemoved deprecated hardware from the list of available service-level objects.
General SSMSChanged the system browser setting, within Tools > Options > Azure Services, to default to True. The external browser will be used, instead of the legacy embedded browser.
General SSMSRemoved Vulnerability Assessment from SSMS.
Link feature for Azure SQL Managed InstanceAdded Network Checker wizard, providing the capability to test the network connection and ports prior to creating the link.
Link feature for Azure SQL Managed InstanceAdded an advanced network troubleshooting capability within the existing link creation wizard. This provides the capability to troubleshoot network connectivity issues while link creation is in progress.
Object ExplorerRemoved script header text when selecting the top 1000 rows.
PowerShellAdded ability for users to choose the version of PowerShell to use when launched from SSMS.
PowerShellIntroduced more PowerShell options within Tools > Options > SQL Server Object Explorer > Commands.

Beginning with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 18.7, Azure Data Studio is automatically installed alongside SSMS. Users of SQL Server Management Studio are now able to benefit from the innovations and features in Azure Data Studio.

Continue reading “Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 19.1”

O365 Security Overview

Office 365 is a popular cloud-based productivity suite that offers many benefits for businesses of all sizes. These Top 5 Security Settings in O365 should help you get started on your path towards a more secure cloud. However, with great power comes great responsibility. As an O365 administrator, you need to ensure that your organization’s data and users are protected from cyber threats and unauthorized access. In this blog post, we will share with you the top 5 security settings in O365 that you should configure to enhance your security posture and reduce your risk exposure.

1. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA is a simple but effective way to prevent account compromise by requiring users to provide an additional factor of authentication besides their password, such as a code sent to their phone or email, or a biometric verification. MFA can stop attackers from accessing your O365 account even if they have your password. You can enable MFA for all users or specific groups in the Azure Active Directory portal.

2. Set up conditional access policies. Conditional access policies allow you to control who can access what resources in O365 based on certain conditions, such as location, device, app, or risk level. For example, you can block access to O365 from untrusted locations or devices, or require MFA for high-risk sign-ins. You can create and manage conditional access policies in the Azure Active Directory portal.

3. Configure data loss prevention (DLP) policies. DLP policies help you prevent sensitive data from leaving your organization or being shared with unauthorized parties. You can define what types of data are sensitive, such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, or health records, and what actions are allowed or blocked when such data is detected in O365 apps, such as Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, or Teams. You can create and manage DLP policies in the Microsoft 365 compliance center.

4. Enable audit logging and alerts. Audit logging and alerts help you monitor and respond to suspicious or malicious activities in your O365 environment. You can view and search audit logs for various events, such as user sign-ins, file downloads, mailbox access, password changes, or admin actions. You can also set up alerts to notify you when certain events occur, such as a user logging in from an unusual location or a file containing sensitive data being shared externally. You can access audit logs and alerts in the Microsoft 365 security center.

5. Review and update your security settings regularly. Security is not a one-time task but an ongoing process. You should review and update your security settings regularly to keep up with the changing threat landscape and best practices. You can use the Microsoft Secure Score tool to assess your current security posture and get recommendations on how to improve it. You can also use the Microsoft Security Roadmap to plan and prioritize your security initiatives. You can access both tools in the Microsoft 365 security center.

These are some of the most important security settings in O365 that you should configure to protect your organization’s data and users. By following these steps, you can enhance your security posture and reduce your risk exposure in the cloud.

Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.12.1


SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for accessing, configuring, managing, administering, and developing all components of SQL Server. SSMS combines a broad group of graphical tools with a number of rich script editors to provide developers and administrators of all skill levels access to SQL Server.

The SSMS 18.x installation doesn’t upgrade or replace SSMS versions 17.x or earlier. SSMS 18.x installs side by side with previous versions, so both versions are available for use. However, if you have a preview version of SSMS 18.x installed, you must uninstall it before installing SSMS 18.12. You can see if you have the preview version by going to the Help > About window.

If a computer contains side-by-side installations of SSMS, verify you start the correct version for your specific needs. The latest version is labeled Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 18.

Beginning with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 18.7, Azure Data Studio is automatically installed alongside SSMS. Users of SQL Server Management Studio are now able to benefit from the innovations and features in Azure Data Studio.

Continue reading “Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.12.1”

History of SQL Server

Have you seen the video on the history of SQL Server?

Microsoft released its first version of SQL Server in 1988. It was designed for the OS/2 platform and was jointly developed by Microsoft and Sybase. During the early 1990s, Microsoft began to develop a new version of SQL Server for the NT platform.

This post has really useful information on the subject of SQL Server history, written by Euan Garden.

The SAF (SQL Admin Facility) interface from SQL Server 1.1:

This article lists some early notes about the development:

“While it was under development, Microsoft decided that SQL Server should be tightly coupled with the NT operating system. In 1992, Microsoft assumed core responsibility for the future of SQL Server for NT. In 1993, Windows NT 3.1 and SQL Server 4.2 for NT were released. Microsoft’s philosophy of combining a high-performance database with an easy-to-use interface proved to be very successful. Microsoft quickly became the second most popular vendor of high-end relational database software. In 1994, Microsoft and Sybase formally ended their partnership. In 1995, Microsoft released version 6.0 of SQL Server. This release was a major rewrite of SQL Server’s core technology. Version 6.0 substantially improved performance, provided built-in replication, and delivered centralized administration. In 1996, Microsoft released version 6.5 of SQL Server. This version brought significant enhancements to the existing technology and provided several new features. In 1997, Microsoft released version 6.5 Enterprise Edition. In 1998, Microsoft released version 7.0 of SQL Server, which was a complete rewrite of the database engine. In 2000, Microsoft released SQL Server 2000. SQL Server version 2000 is Microsoft’s most significant release of SQL Server to date. This version further builds upon the SQL Server 7.0 framework. According to the SQL Server development team, the changes to the database engine are designed to provide an architecture that will last for the next 10 years.”

If you are just interested in the sequence of events the following timeline by Raksh Mishra summarizes the development history of SQL Server:

  • 1987 Sybase releases SQL Server for UNIX
  • 1988 Microsoft, Sybase, and Aston-Tate port SQL Server to OS/2
  • 1989 Microsoft, Sybase, and Aston-Tate release SQL Server 1.0 for OS/2
  • 1990 SQL Server 1.1 is released with support for Windows 3.0 clients. Aston-Tate drops out of SQL Server development
  • 1991 Microsoft and IBM end joint development of OS/2
  • 1992 Microsoft SQL Server 4.2 for 16-bit OS/2 1.3 is released
  • 1992 Microsoft and Sybase port SQL Server to Windows NT
  • 1993 Windows NT 3.1 is released
  • 1993 Microsoft and Sybase release version 4.2 of SQL Server for Windows NT
  • 1994 Microsoft and Sybase co-development of SQL Server officially ends
  • Microsoft continues to develop the Windows version of SQL Server
  • Sybase continues to develop the UNIX version of SQL Server
  • 1995 Microsoft releases version 6.0 of SQL Server
  • 1996 Microsoft releases version 6.5 of SQL Server
  • 1998 Microsoft releases version 7.0 of SQL Server
  • 2000 Microsoft releases SQL Server 2000
  • SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 1 – Release date: June 12, 2001
  • SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 2 – Release date: November 30, 2001
  • SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 3 – Release date: January 17, 2003
  • SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 3a – Release date: May 19, 2003
  • SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 4 – Release date: May 6, 2005
  • 2005 Microsoft releases SQL Server 2005 on November 7th, 2005
  • SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 – Release date: March 18, 2006
  • SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 – Release date: March 5, 2007
  • SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 – Release date: December 15, 2008
  • 2008 Microsoft releases SQL Server 2008 RTM on August 2008
  • SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1 – Release date: August 27, 2009
  • SQL Azure
  • Microsoft released SQL Server 2008 R2 RTM on April 21, 2010
  • SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2 – Release date: September 29, 2010
  • SQL Server 2011, Code name Denali CTP1 Release date: November 8, 2010
  • SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 4 – Release date: December 17, 2010

These are also some (humorous) details from Kevin Kline at this site.

Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.11.1


SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for accessing, configuring, managing, administering, and developing all components of SQL Server. SSMS combines a broad group of graphical tools with a number of rich script editors to provide developers and administrators of all skill levels access to SQL Server.

The SSMS 18.x installation doesn’t upgrade or replace SSMS versions 17.x or earlier. SSMS 18.x installs side by side with previous versions so both versions are available for use. If you have a previous GA version of SSMS 18 installed, installing SSMS 18.10 upgrades it to 18.10.

If a computer contains side-by-side installations of SSMS, verify you start the correct version for your specific needs. The latest version is labeled Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 18.

Beginning with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 18.7, Azure Data Studio is automatically installed alongside SSMS. Users of SQL Server Management Studio are now able to benefit from the innovations and features in Azure Data Studio.

Continue reading “Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.11.1”

Outlook Mistakes that May Disrupt Your Life

Helpful tips for getting more out of Outlook.

Just about everyone I know uses Microsoft Outlook for business email, and just about everyone I know uses about 5% of what Outlook can do to help with your email. There is an article by Eric Simson that lists some steps you can take to reduce the headaches caused by emails and when using Outlook.

  1. Regretting after Sending the Email
  2. Verifying the Recipient
  3. Set up MailTips Alerts for Common Mistakes

There are also some helpful tips here.

Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.10


SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for accessing, configuring, managing, administering, and developing all components of SQL Server. SSMS combines a broad group of graphical tools with a number of rich script editors to provide developers and administrators of all skill levels access to SQL Server.

The SSMS 18.x installation doesn’t upgrade or replace SSMS versions 17.x or earlier. SSMS 18.x installs side by side with previous versions so both versions are available for use. If you have a previous GA version of SSMS 18 installed, installing SSMS 18.10 upgrades it to 18.10.

If a computer contains side-by-side installations of SSMS, verify you start the correct version for your specific needs. The latest version is labeled Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 18.

Beginning with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 18.7, Azure Data Studio is automatically installed alongside SSMS. Users of SQL Server Management Studio are now able to benefit from the innovations and features in Azure Data Studio.

Continue reading “Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.10”

Coming Soon: Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Changes

Microsoft is updating Defender for Office 365 soon to help protect customers from embedded email threats while they are previewing quarantined emails. Microsoft is rolling out more quarantine management features that will help allow IT professionals and end users to better investigate quarantined emails:

  • Quarantine folder policy and user release request workflow
  • Customer organization branding
  • Streamlined email submission from the quarantine portal
  • Robust release of bulk quarantined emails
  • Secured preview of quarantined emails
  • Quarantine support for shared mailboxes

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (previously Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection) provides world-class protection for enterprise email accounts against  threats that include business email compromise and credential phishing. They even have some features that help with automated attack remediation.

These new enhancements should help limit risk to unwanted or malicious content by providing additional security controls to help block embedded threats to help prevent threat actors from knowing their intended victim has loaded an image or other embedded content in the quarantine preview.

“We’re changing the way users preview quarantined messages to provide additional security against embedded threats,” Microsoft explains on the Microsoft 365 roadmap. The idea is to provide some additional controls when previewing an email to make sure the threats are contained and the sender is less likely to know you have contained the suspicious email. With this change some components in quarantined messages will be distorted and not displayed by default. To see the full contents of the message, users can choose to reveal the full message.”

Other new features will allow for more control over quarantine items, release workflow options, corporate branding, and support for shared mailboxes.

Microsoft also plans on adding more intelligence around what kinds of attacks are targeting your business and options around how to deal with ongoing threats.

Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.9.2


SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for accessing, configuring, managing, administering, and developing all components of SQL Server. SSMS combines a broad group of graphical tools with a number of rich script editors to provide developers and administrators of all skill levels access to SQL Server.

The SSMS 18.x installation doesn’t upgrade or replace SSMS versions 17.x or earlier. SSMS 18.x installs side by side with previous versions so both versions are available for use. If you have a previous GA version of SSMS 18 installed, installing SSMS 18.9.2 upgrades it to 18.9.2.

If a computer contains side-by-side installations of SSMS, verify you start the correct version for your specific needs. The latest version is labeled Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 18.

Beginning with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 18.7, Azure Data Studio is automatically installed alongside SSMS. Users of SQL Server Management Studio are now able to benefit from the innovations and features in Azure Data Studio.

Continue reading “Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.9.2”

Cloud Comparison: AWS vs. Azure vs. GCP

Three vendors, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP),  dominate the public cloud computing market. When it comes to infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS), these three huge vendors have a significant lead on other contenders in the field. Lets talk about the services provided and compare the major features offered by each vendor.

Many IT experts recommend that enterprise teams evaluate their public cloud needs to match specific applications and workloads with the vendor that offers the best fit for their needs. Each vendor has particular strengths and weaknesses that make them a good choice for certain projects.

Compute

Compute is described as the processing power that the cloud service offers to support your business workloads. In general, the more compute power offered the better is can be for your business. Since more compute can cost more money, the price also plays a significant role in understanding the offered compute power.

Startups can find the cloud-based compute model most beneficial because this approach allows them to order extra compute power anytime they want without worrying about long-term installation, maintenance, and hardware costs. You can start small and move to more compute power as required to keep compute costs as small as possible.

AWS – Elastic Compute Cloud: Amazon’s flagship compute service is Elastic Compute Cloud, or EC2. Amazon describes EC2 as “a web service that provides secure, resizable compute capacity in the cloud.” EC2 offers a wide variety of options, including a huge assortment of instances, support for both Windows and Linux, bare metal instances (currently a preview), GPU instances, high-performance computing, auto scaling and more. AWS offers a free tier for EC2 that includes 750 hours per month of t2.micro instances for up to twelve months.

Azure – Virtual Machines: Microsoft’s primary compute service is simply known as Virtual Machines. Azure supports Linux, Windows Server, SQL Server, Oracle, IBM, and SAP. Like AWS, Azure has an extremely large catalog of available instances, including GPU and high-performance computing options. Azure has also added instances optimized for artificial intelligence and machine learning. Azure has a free tier with 750 hours per month of Windows or Linux B1S virtual machines for a year.

GCP –Compute Engine: Google’s catalog of compute services is somewhat shorter than AWS or Azure. Their primary service is called Compute Engine, which includes both custom and predefined machine types, per-second billing, Linux and Windows support, automatic discounts, and carbon-neutral infrastructure that uses half the energy of typical data centers. GCP offers a free tier that includes one f1-micro instance per month for up to 12 months.

Continue reading “Cloud Comparison: AWS vs. Azure vs. GCP”

Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.9.1


SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for accessing, configuring, managing, administering, and developing all components of SQL Server. SSMS combines a broad group of graphical tools with a number of rich script editors to provide developers and administrators of all skill levels access to SQL Server.

The SSMS 18.x installation doesn’t upgrade or replace SSMS versions 17.x or earlier. SSMS 18.x installs side by side with previous versions so both versions are available for use. If you have a previous GA version of SSMS 18 installed, installing SSMS 18.9.1 upgrades it to 18.9.1.

If a computer contains side-by-side installations of SSMS, verify you start the correct version for your specific needs. The latest version is labeled Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 18.

Beginning with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 18.7, Azure Data Studio is automatically installed alongside SSMS. Users of SQL Server Management Studio are now able to benefit from the innovations and features in Azure Data Studio.

Continue reading “Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.9.1”

Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.8


SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for accessing, configuring, managing, administering, and developing all components of SQL Server. SSMS combines a broad group of graphical tools with a number of rich script editors to provide developers and administrators of all skill levels access to SQL Server.

The SSMS 18.x installation doesn’t upgrade or replace SSMS versions 17.x or earlier. SSMS 18.x installs side by side with previous versions so both versions are available for use. If you have a previous GA version of SSMS 18 installed, installing SSMS 18.8 upgrades it to 18.8.

If a computer contains side-by-side installations of SSMS, verify you start the correct version for your specific needs. The latest version is labeled Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 18.

Continue reading “Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.8”

Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.8


SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for accessing, configuring, managing, administering, and developing all components of SQL Server. SSMS combines a broad group of graphical tools with a number of rich script editors to provide developers and administrators of all skill levels access to SQL Server.

The SSMS 18.x installation doesn’t upgrade or replace SSMS versions 17.x or earlier. SSMS 18.x installs side by side with previous versions so both versions are available for use. If you have a previous GA version of SSMS 18 installed, installing SSMS 18.8 upgrades it to 18.8.

If a computer contains side-by-side installations of SSMS, verify you start the correct version for your specific needs. The latest version is labeled Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 18.

Continue reading “Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.8”

Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.7.1


SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for accessing, configuring, managing, administering, and developing all components of SQL Server. SSMS combines a broad group of graphical tools with a number of rich script editors to provide developers and administrators of all skill levels access to SQL Server.

SSMS 18.7.1 is the latest general availability (GA) version of SSMS. If you have a previous GA version of SSMS 18 installed, installing SSMS 18.7.1 upgrades it to 18.7.1. Beginning with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 18.7, Azure Data Studio is automatically installed alongside SSMS.

Continue reading “Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.7.1”

Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.6


SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for accessing, configuring, managing, administering, and developing all components of SQL Server. SSMS combines a broad group of graphical tools with a number of rich script editors to provide developers and administrators of all skill levels access to SQL Server.

The SSMS 18.x installation doesn’t upgrade or replace SSMS versions 17.x or earlier. SSMS 18.x installs side by side with previous versions so both versions are available for use. However, if you have a preview version of SSMS 18.x installed, you must uninstall it before installing SSMS 18.6.

If a computer contains side-by-side installations of SSMS, verify you start the correct version for your specific needs. The latest version is labeled Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 18.

Continue reading “Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.6”

Sample Databases for SQL Server 2014

Microsoft has released the training databases for the latest version of SQL Server, named SQL Server 2014. These databases are intended to help Database Administrators and Developers become familiar with some of the new and improved features and functionality in SQL Server 2014. The databases included in these downloads focus on three important features of SQL Server 2014; Resource Governor IO, Online Operations, and the Columnstore Index. You may download the files here, and install them on a non-production version of SQL Server to help you and your team with training.

Office 365 services drops support for older Office clients this year

Microsoft has said that that Office 365 (and Microsoft 365) services (Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, etc.) will require newer versions of Office starting as early as October 13, 2020. Their older versions of Office (Office 2013 and older) will not get updates and may stop being able to access online services after this date. Microsoft has no plans to resolve any issues that may appear with the older versions attempting to access online resources, but the products themselves will contine to work.

As changes are made to the newer products to support changes to O365 services, you can expect the older versions of Office to see issues by early 2021, depending on what actions you are trying to perform.

For the versions of Office that are now out of support, Microsoft no longer offers technical support, will no longer issues bug fixes, and will not issue security updates for vulnerabilities.

Continue reading “Office 365 services drops support for older Office clients this year”

Microsoft 365 vs G Suite

There is a battle online attempting to win market share for cloud-based business productivity suites, and Microsoft and Google are fighting for market share from businesses willing to move their productivity software and services online.

Looking at Microsoft 365 (was named O365 until this year) and Google’s G Suite, you need to understand what features and capabilities are available with either solution as well as what each solution will cost your business. Both would like to be your solution for business productivity software by selling you a subscription-based solution, but you need to determine which service best solves your business needs while also providing the services you’ll need in the future at a price that meets your limited budget.

Both of these major services are built on a robust cloud infrastructure with multiple data centers scattered all over the world. These powerful companies have the history of managing cloud services to prevent downtime, network latency, and demonstrate a pattern of rolling out new features as at fairly steady rate.

Each online solution includes the standard features:

  • Productivity applications that support worker creation of standard documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, and on-line storage of files.
  • Cloud-based business email and calendaring services linked to your custom domain
  • Cloud-based messaging and communication tools that support online meetings and video conferencing.
  • Management console that allows selected administrators to adjust features and settings to meet business and compliance requirements, manage security settings, and configure archive settings that support enterprise customers.

While other companies offer online services including email and online storage, not many companies offer even half of the services and features available from just these two companies.

Continue reading “Microsoft 365 vs G Suite”

Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.5.1


SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for accessing, configuring, managing, administering, and developing all components of SQL Server. SSMS combines a broad group of graphical tools with a number of rich script editors to provide developers and administrators of all skill levels access to SQL Server.

The SSMS 18.x installation doesn’t upgrade or replace SSMS versions 17.x or earlier. SSMS 18.x installs side by side with previous versions so both versions are available for use. However, if you have a preview version of SSMS 18.x installed, you must uninstall it before installing SSMS 18.5.1.

If a computer contains side-by-side installations of SSMS, verify you start the correct version for your specific needs. The latest version is labeled Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 18.

Continue reading “Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.5.1”

Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.5


SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for accessing, configuring, managing, administering, and developing all components of SQL Server. SSMS combines a broad group of graphical tools with a number of rich script editors to provide developers and administrators of all skill levels access to SQL Server.

The SSMS 18.x installation doesn’t upgrade or replace SSMS versions 17.x or earlier. SSMS 18.x installs side by side with previous versions so both versions are available for use. However, if you have a preview version of SSMS 18.x installed, you must uninstall it before installing SSMS 18.5.

If a computer contains side-by-side installations of SSMS, verify you start the correct version for your specific needs. The latest version is labeled Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 18.

Continue reading “Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.5”

Windows End-Of-Life Schedule

There are Windows end-of-life dates you should be monitoring. Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 reached end of life in January 2020. Once a system has reached end-of-life you will no longer receive support from Microsoft, and there will be compliance questions as auditors will have issues with unsupported production systems having potential security vulnerabilities. You should develop a written plan to upgrade existing systems to a supported version, test the plan to verify you won’t have any issues, and implement the plan before your existing systems reach end-of-life.

When deploying a new system to production, you deployment plan should include a plan to either upgrade or retire the system before they reach their projected vendor end-of-life date.

Continue reading “Windows End-Of-Life Schedule”

Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.4


SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for accessing, configuring, managing, administering, and developing all components of SQL Server. SSMS combines a broad group of graphical tools with a number of rich script editors to provide developers and administrators of all skill levels access to SQL Server.

The SSMS 18.x installation doesn’t upgrade or replace SSMS versions 17.x or earlier. SSMS 18.x installs side by side with previous versions so both versions are available for use. However, if you have a preview version of SSMS 18.x installed, you must uninstall it before installing SSMS 18.4.

If a computer contains side-by-side installations of SSMS, verify you start the correct version for your specific needs. The latest version is labeled Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 18.

Continue reading “Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.4”

Automating Lenovo System Updates with Azure Intune

One of the challenges of automating system management with Azure Intune is modifying the typical GPO procedures to work within the limitations of Azure Intune. One of the things you may have automated today is the management of your Lenovo endpoints using system images and GPO to manage the automation settings for your enterprise.

This article will attempt to help you automate those processes with Azure Intune.

We assume you have access to Azure Intune, and a Lenovo laptop or desktop already enrolled in Azure Intune to test this configuration. You will also need the System Update Administrator Tools downloaded from Lenovo, and already have the Lenovo System Update utility installed on the endpoints.

If you assume that in a production environment, the endpoint is coming right out of the box and is directly connected to Azure AD. You will have met the normal requirements for the device to be enrolled in Azure Intune and it should pickup all the profiles and policies assigned, including this new profile. Now the device is enrolled in Azure AD, managed with Azure Intune, and it will automatically get updates from Lenovo.

We are now going to create a profile to properly configure Lenovo System Update using the profile settings in Azure Intune.

1. Consume the TVSU ADMX file
  • Download the System Update Administrator Tools from Lenovo.
  • Run the executable to install the ADMX file onto you local computer. By default, the contents are extracted to C:\SWTOOLS\TOOLS\Admin folder.
  • Navigate to the installation folder and copy the contents of the tvsu.admx file into your clipboard for the next step.
2. Create a Custom Azure Intune Profile
  • Sign in to the Azure Device Management portal
  • Navigate to Device Configuration > Profiles > Click Create Profile
  • Enter the required information for the new profile, for example:
    • Name: Lenovo System Update Automation
    • Description: Lenovo System Update Automation
    • Platform: Windows 10 and later
    • Profile Type: Custom
  • In the Custom OMA-URI Settings menu, click Add and enter the following
    • Name: TVSU ADMX Ingestion
    • Description: (Optional)
    • OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/ConfigOperations/ADMXInstall/Lenovo/Policy/TVSU
    • Data Type: String
    • Value: Copy the contents of the tvsu.admx into this text field
  • Click OK to complete adding the new OMA-URI row
  • Click Create to create the new profile
  • Assign the profile to a group.  This group should only include the test devices that have System Update utility installed.

Verify the settings have pushed to a device by launching Regedit and navigating to

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\AdmxDefault

 

3. Create a TVSU Policy
Step 1
  • Sign in to the Azure Device Management portal
  • Navigate to Device Configuration > Profiles >
    click the Lenovo System Update Automation profile that was created above, then Properties > Settings
  • In the Custom OMA-URI Settings menu, click Add and enter the following
      • Name: Admin Command Line
      • Description: Installs Critical and Recommended packages with a reboot type 3 (requires reboot)
      • OMA-URI:
        ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Lenovo~Policy~Cat_ThinkVantage_61~Cat_System_Update_63~Cat_UserSettings_74~Cat_General_78/Policy_Admin_CommandLine_154
      • Data Type: String
      • Value:
<enabled/><data id="Policy_TextBox_Element_Admin_CommandLine_155" value="/CM -search R -action INSTALL -includerebootpackages 3 -noicon -noreboot -nolicense -defaultupdate"/>

 

    • Click OK to complete adding the new OMA-URI row
    • Make sure you save any changes to this profile.

Apply the profile to a Windows 10 endpoint, then verify the policies have applied to the client by launching Regedit and navigate to

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Lenovo\System Update\UserSettings\General

Note: You can choose to direct your endpoints to a custom location to download all updates from your file server, but I find it helpful to allow my remote users to download updates directly from Lenovo. The link to Lenovo below shows you how to configure your users to download updates from your custom file server.

4. Test your new Azure Intune Profile

Once you have finished adding these settings to an Azure Intune profile and assigning it to your test endpoints, you can sync your test endpoint and verify the settings are applied correctly. You can even execute the Lenovo System Update utility to verify it works correctly. It will now automatically download and apply most updates without warning the user, unless a reboot is required. Once you are finished testing you can assign it to all Lenovo endpoints managed with Azure Intune.

You can read the Lenovo instruction here.

Allow Only One Instance of Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is the Office product that allows users to gain access to their emails, contacts, and other information. It is used by many businesses and most times people set it to automatically start when they log into Windows.

Users can also open multiple instances of Outlook, either on purpose or by accident, which can cause confusion and wasted resources. This default behavior can be easily modified with a small change to the program shortcut.

To avoid multiple Outlook instances, simply add the “/recycle” switch to the command line target of the Outlook’s shortcut.

  1. Right-click the Outlook shortcut in your start menu, select “More…”, then select the menu item “Open file location”.
  2. Right-click the Outlook shortcut in the file folder, and click on “Properties”.
  3. Select the “Shortcut” tab.
  4. In the Target field, append “/recycle” to the end of the command.
  5. Click OK to exit the property dialog

The next time you start Outlook, it will only allow one instance of the program. If the user attempts to restart a second instance, nothing appears to happen.

Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.3.1


SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for accessing, configuring, managing, administering, and developing all components of SQL Server. SSMS combines a broad group of graphical tools with a number of rich script editors to provide developers and administrators of all skill levels access to SQL Server.

Microsoft has announced the latest release of SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) in October as a free download. SSMS 18.3.1 is now available.

Get it here:

Download – The version number for the latest release is 15.0.18183.0

New in this release

New ItemDescription
Data ClassificationAdd Data Classification information to column properties UI (Information Type, Information Type ID, Sensitivity Label, and Sensitivity Label ID aren’t exposed in the SSMS UI).
Intellisense/EditorUpdated support for features recently added to SQL Server 2019 (for example “ALTER SERVER CONFIGURATION”).
Integration ServicesAdd a new selection menu item Tools > Migrate to Azure > Configure Azure-enabled DTExec that invokes Integration services (SSIS) package executions on Azure-SSIS Integration Runtime as Execute SSIS Package activities in ADF pipelines.
SMO/ScriptingAdded support for Support scripting of Azure SQL DW unique constraint.
SMO/ScriptingData Classification – Added support for SQL version 10 (SQL 2008) and higher. – Added new sensitivity attribute ‘rank’ for SQL version 15 (SQL 2019) and higher and Azure SQL DB.

Continue reading “Free Download: SQL Server Management Studio 18.3.1”

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