Lenovo StorageDisk Firmware bug

So I've been trying to upgrade a Lenovo v3700 SAN to firmware version 7.5.0.8 this week...

After having no success I logged a call with IBM support and have just found out that there is a bug in the software and they are hoping to get to the bottom of it soon.  

So for anyone trying to install "Lenovo-StorageDisk-6099-7.5.0.8", hang fire for the time being. 

.NET Framework 4.6.1 and Exchange Compatibility Issue

The Exchange team at Microsoft have issued a warning to customers saying NOT to install .NET Framework 4.6.1 on Exchange servers.

We wanted to post a quick note to call out that since yesterday, the .NET Framework 4.6.1 has been made a recommended update on WU (Windows Update).
As we have already stated in the Exchange Supportability Matrix, at this time, this version of .NET framework is not supported by Exchange. In fact, we know of some issues if it is installed.

We are working with the .NET team to ensure that Exchange customers have a smooth transition to .NET Framework 4.6.1, but in the meantime, delay this particular .NET update on your Exchange servers (information on how this can be accomplished can be found in the KB article 3133990, How to temporarily block the installation of the .NET Framework 4.6.1).

Be careful when approving any updates within your WSUS server or deployment system ensurig you do not inadvertently approve the update for your Exchange servers.

Avision AD230 Document Scanner

The Avision AD230 Document Scanner is a compact desktop scanner that can scan up to 40 pages a minute in 200dpi colour.

This scanner comes with a host of features and software to help meet nearly every office's scanning functions.  It can hold up to 80 pages of paper at a time and can support up to US legal paper size.

The scanner can send your scans to your computer in JPEG or PDF format, both in colour or black and white.  While also having the ability to scan to email or scan directly to a printer.

I used this scanner in order to send some documents over to my work and the quality and ease of doing so was very good.  The quality of the scans were very acceptable as well.

Using the scanner in my small office at home was very good as it didn't seem to over heat my room, cause any additional noise when in standby or was overly loud when in use.  It also folded up neatly when not in use so wasn't a burden to have on my desk.

With the scanner you get some software to use, PaperPort SE14 and Avision Button Manager V2 that helped to give you the functionality described above.  The software is easy to install, friendly to use without having to read a manual and does with it says on the tin.

If your looking for a robust desktop scanner then this could easily do the job for you.   It is currently available from Amazon UK priced at £299

Avision MiWand 2 Wi-Fi Scanner Review

The Avision MiWand 2 Wi-Fi scanner is a hand held scanner that can help you experience the power of a scanner while on the move.  The scanner weights around 250g so is lightweight enough to carry around while on the move without it becoming cumbersome.

This portable scanner can provide scanning at a 1200dpi resolution in 24-bit true colour, whilst saving the images as either a JPEG or PDF to the micro SD card (the scanner ships with a complimentary card).

Coming with a rechargable battery, is cost effective in that department.  It also has a small 1.8 inch LCD display built in which can provide a small preview of what you've scanned.   Given the screen size it can help you determine if your scan has been lined up correctly but cannot help you determine any further detail.

The scanning process is fairly straight forward, after pressing the scan button you just need to start rolling the scan over your document.  I did notice that even though the auto-crop function was enabled the device didn't crop off any of the excess edges so I had to edit the JPEG afterwards on my laptop.

Transferring your scans from the MiWand to your laptop or similar device can be done via the inbuilt Wi-Fi.  Turning the Wi-Fi on the device turns it into a hotspot that you can connect to via the wireless on from your tablet/laptop/etc.  Once you connect your default browser will automatically launch providing you with a website of the scans where you can download a copy.     In order to do this you do need to disconnect from your home/office Wi-Fi connection and then reconnect once you have a copy of the scan so it can be slightly cumbersome, however it a good feature to have if you do not have a micro SD reader available.

As someone that travels quite a bit for work to various office the MiWand will come in handy when I have to scan a copy of my receipts to claim on the work expenses or need to scan documents to send/keep a copy of quickly and easily. So for mobile workers this device would definitely come in handy.

You can purchase a Avision MiWand2L A4 Avision Mobile Hand Scanner - Silver from Amazon UK at the moment for £70.29.

Retention Policy Powershell Commands

I've recently been working on applying retention policies to mailboxes and we've been doing a granular roll-out to the users.  I've been using some Powershell commands to track who has the policy applied and who hasn't.

The following command will list all users who have a retention policy applied to their mailbox:

Get-Mailbox -filter 'RetentionPolicy -like "*"' | Select-Object Name, RetentionPolicy

You can export that to a CSV if need be by using:

 Get-Mailbox -filter 'RetentionPolicy -like "*"' | Select-Object Name, RetentionPolicy | Export-CSV C:\directory\file.csv

To identify which users don't have a retention policy applied to their mailbox the following command will assist:

Get-Mailbox -filter 'RetentionPolicy -eq $null' | Select-Object Name, RetentionPolicy

Again to export that to CSV you would use:

Get-Mailbox -filter 'RetentionPolicy -eq $null' | Select-Object Name, RetentionPolicy | Export-CSV C:\Directory\file.csv 

Clearing out move requests

When you perform a successful mailbox migration, either from another version of Exchange or from another mailbox database the move request is "left" behind as such and should be cleared out as part of good housekeeping.

My favourite command for doing this is:

Get-MoveRequest -MoveStatus Completed | Remove-MoveRequest

SCCM Client Version Report

In order to help understand what versions of the SCCM client is out there within our environment I have pulled together this SQL query to help:

select sys.Client_Version0, "CM Name"=
case sys.Client_Version0
when '4.00.6487.2000' then 'CM07 SP2 (4.00.6487.2000)'
when '4.00.6487.2188' then 'CM07 R3 (4.00.6487.2188)'
when '4.00.6487.2187' then 'CM07 R3 (4.00.6487.2187)'
when '4.00.6487.2157' then 'CM07 R3 (4.00.6487.2157)'
when '5.00.7711.0000' then 'CM12 RTM (5.00.7711.0000)'
when '5.00.7804.1000' then 'CM12 SP1 (5.00.7804.1000)'
when '5.00.7804.1202' then 'CM12 SP1 CU1 (5.00.7804.1202)'
when '5.00.7804.1300' then 'CM12 SP1 CU2 (5.00.7804.1300)'
when '5.00.7804.1400' then 'CM12 SP1 CU3 (5.00.7804.1400)'
when '5.00.7804.1500' then 'CM12 SP1 CU4 (5.00.7804.1500)'
when '5.00.7804.1600' then 'CM12 SP1 CU5 (5.00.7804.1600)'
when '5.00.8239.1000' then 'CM12 SP2 (5.00.8239.1000)'
when '5.00.8239.1203' then 'CM12 SP2 CU1 (5.00.8239.1203)'
when '5.00.8239.1301' then 'CM12 SP2 CU2 (5.00.8239.1301)'
when '5.00.7958.1000' then 'CM12 R2 (5.00.7958.1000)'
when '5.00.7958.1101' then 'CM12 R2 KB 2905002(5.00.7958.1101)'
when '5.00.7958.1203' then 'CM12 R2 CU1 (5.00.7958.1203)'
when '5.00.7958.1303' then 'CM12 R2 CU2 (5.00.7958.1303)'
when '5.00.7958.1401' then 'CM12 R2 CU3 (5.00.7958.1401)'
when '5.00.7958.1501' then 'CM12 R2 CU4 (5.00.7958.1501)'
when '5.00.7958.1604' then 'CM12 R2 CU5 (5.00.7958.1604)'
when '5.00.8239.1000' then 'CM12 R2 SP1 (5.00.8239.1000)'
when '5.00.8239.1203' then 'CM12 R2 SP1 CU1 (5.00.8239.1203)'
when '5.00.8239.1301' then 'CM12 R2 SP1 CU2 (5.00.8239.1301)'
else 'Others(non-Clients)'
End,count(*) [Total]
from v_R_System sys
where sys.Name0 not like 'unknown' and
sys.Client_Version0 not like '' and sys.Client_Version0 not like '0.0%'
group by sys.Client_Version0
order by 3 desc