Microsoft releases Project Honolulu version 1803 and RSAT previews

[KRS]

It's been a busy day for Microsoft today. Along with its usual Patch Tuesday updates, the company released a new Windows 10 Insider Preview in the Fast ring, new ISO images, and an SDK preview. On top of all of that, it also released Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) Insider Preview and Project Honolulu Technical Preview 1803.

 

The RSAT Preview is build 17108, and despite the lower build number, there's a known issue that might prevent it from being installed on any Windows 10 machines on builds older than 17110. There are a couple of fixes, such as DNS server tools being correctly installed, and shielding data files and template disks can now be created as they should be.

 

Microsoft says that it has fixed 430 bugs in Project Honolulu version 1803. It also includes the following new features:

Access Control

Major new functionality in this release — we have added Azure Active Directory (AAD) based access control. Using AAD identities, you can configure conditional access policies that require Multi-Factor authentication, device compliance, and more. You can find instructions to configure this in the Azure Active Directory section of the Gateway access documentation.

Known issue with AAD authentication: If you are using a self-signed certificate, AAD authentication will fail in Microsoft Edge. To work around this issue, you must use a valid certificate or choose to trust the self-signed certificate on your machine where you are running the Edge browser.

Logging

We’ve updated the logging schema to include more details for auditing and troubleshooting. Previously, the only details logged were the module, user on the target node, and the PowerShell script or CIM call executed. Now events are logged with these parameters:

• Module: which tool triggered the action being logged
• CIM call, PowerShell script name, or file uploaded
• Gateway from which the action occurred
• UserOnGateway: the username used to access the Honolulu gateway
• UserOnTarget: the username used to access the target node (if different from the gateway user)
• LAPS: Boolean showing whether LAPS was used to connect to the target node

These events are logged on the target node in event channel Microsoft-ServerManagementExperience with event ID 4000.

Resizable Panes and Columns

New UI functionality – resizable UI elements! You can now resize the follow components:

• Tool menu
• Details pane
• Overview
• All datagrid and datatree columns (Grids that support grouping are not yet supported.)

Tool Improvements

Finally, we have added new functionality to the following existing tools:

• Certificates – Added Request & Renew certificate functionality.
• Files – Download or upload whole folders with automatic zip and unzip.
• Processes

o Added more information in the details pane: Services, Handles, and Modules.

o Processes are now grouped by default when managing the local Windows 10 PC.

• Services – View and edit additional settings such as startup parameters, user account, and recovery options.
• Storage Volumes – Ability to enable quotas using the File Server Resource Manager (FSRM) role service
• Updates – The update tool now respects the WSUS setting in your environment and gives you the option to check online for updates as in the desktop tool.

Hyper-Converged Infrastructure

The Hyper-Converged Cluster connection includes several significant new features in 1803, including:

1. Storage jobs like repair and rebalance are now visible directly on the objects they affect:
   
2. You can toggle deduplication and compression on/off for each volume with one click:
   

…and more!

To learn more about what’s new for Hyper-Converged Infrastructure, check out this video.

Hyper-Converged Cluster Known Issues

You will need a recent Windows Server Insider build to create an HCI cluster.

Storage jobs sometimes say they started in the year 1601. This is unlikely to be correct and is being investigated. Although they can run long, storage jobs generally finish within a few hours of when they start.

The checkbox for deduplication and compression in the ‘Create volume’ pane may be disabled even if the Data Deduplication feature is installed. If this happens, the workaround is to use the rocker switch on the Volume page to enable deduplication and compression.

When filtering the Inventory grid, the count of items does not update.

Project Honolulu is updated via Microsoft Update, so it's worth noting that you have to turn on "Give me updates for other Microsoft products when I update Windows". If you don't, then the product won't get the next update.

If you want to download RSAT Insider Preview build 17108 or Project Honolulu version 1803, you can find them here.

 

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