Microsoft Identity Manager online resources (#MIM2016)

1. Quick note on Microsoft Learn & Docs
2. Microsoft news and announcements
   1. Microsoft Product support lifecycle
   2. Feeds
3. Official documentation – Microsoft
   1. Getting prepared
   2. Best practices
   3. Deployment documentation
   4. MIM for developers
   5. MIM reference material
4. Github
   1. (Microsoft) MIM Configuration Documenter
   2. (Microsoft) Workflow Activity Library (WAL)
   3. MIM projects
5. Microsoft Community
   1. Forums (Active)
   2. Microsoft Answers
   3. Forums (Achive)
   4. Technet blogs archive
   5. Experts Exchange
   6. Microsoft Wiki
      1. FIM/MIM related content (check the tags)
      2. ILM/FIM/MIM article overview
      3. ILM/FIM/MIM Troubleshooting
   7. The FIM/MIM geek blogs & posts…
6. Social Media
   1. Facebook
   2. Twitter
7. Books
   1. Online Companion guide for MIM 2016 book
8. Visio Stencils
9. Archives
   1. Microsoft Learn – previous versions

Quick note on Microsoft Learn & Docs

A while ago Microsoft moved from Docs (Docs.microsoft.com) to Learn (Learn.microsoft.com), but still some older information might point to the Docs links. In case the redirect fails, replace the docs prefix in the URL to learn an try again.
If it still fails, Bing it and let me know.

Microsoft news and announcements

• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager/microsoft-identity-manager-2016
• https://support.microsoft.com/en-US/search/results?query=microsoft+identity+manager&isEnrichedQuery=false
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager/reference/version-history
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager/reference/microsoft-identity-manager-2016-connector-version-history

Microsoft Product support lifecycle

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/?terms=Identity

Feeds

• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/rss-feed-picker
• Atom: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/feed/atom/953e6581-605c-e03f-3595-5f98899c1d1d
• RSS: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/feed/rss/953e6581-605c-e03f-3595-5f98899c1d1d

Official documentation – Microsoft

• Microsoft Learn- MIM landing page: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager
• Microsoft Identity Manager 2016 news and updates: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager/microsoft-identity-manager-2016
• Version History: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager/reference/version-history

Getting prepared

Supported platforms: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager/microsoft-identity-manager-2016-supported-platforms

Best practices

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager/mim-best-practices

Deployment documentation

• Capacity planning: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager/capacity-planning-guide
• Deploy and use: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager/microsoft-identity-manager-deploy
• Deprecated features: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager/microsoft-identity-manager-2016-deprecated-features

MIM for developers

• •Microsoft Identity Manager 2016 developer reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager/reference/microsoft-identity-manager-2016-developer-reference
• •Microsoft Identity Manager Cmdlets Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/microsoft-identity-manager/overview?view=idm-ps-2016sp1

MIM reference material

• Developer reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager/reference/microsoft-identity-manager-2016-developer-reference
• Functions reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager/reference/mim2016-functions-reference
• Management agent run error codes: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager/reference/maerrorcodes
• RCDC configuration XML: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-identity-manager/reference/rcd-configuration-xml-reference

Github

(Microsoft) MIM Configuration Documenter

https://github.com/microsoft/MIMConfigDocumenter

(Microsoft) Workflow Activity Library (WAL)

https://github.com/microsoft/MIMWAL

MIM projects

https://github.com/search?q=mim2016

Microsoft Community

Forums (Active)

• Tech Community : https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/

• Microsoft Learn – Q&A : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/search.html?type=question%20OR%20idea%20OR%20kbentry%20OR%20answer%20OR%20topic%20OR%20user&redirect=search%2Fsearch&sort=relevance&q=identity%20manager

Microsoft Answers

• •Microsoft Answers: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/search/search?SearchTerm=MIM%202016
• •FIM 2010: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/search/search?SearchTerm=FIM%202010

Forums (Achive)

• (archive) Technet forum FIM/MIM: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/home?forum=ilm2&filter=alllanguages
• (archive) Technet Forum ILM 2007: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/home?forum=identitylifecyclemanager&filter=alllanguages

Technet blogs archive

Technet blogs archive: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/

• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/iamsupport/
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/connector_space/
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/identitymanagement/
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/idaguys/
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/imex/

Experts Exchange

• Experts Exchange: https://www.experts-exchange.com/searchResults.jsp?searchTerms=MIM2016

Microsoft Wiki

• Microsoft Wiki: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki
• Short URL: https://aka.ms/wiki

FIM/MIM related content (check the tags)

• MIM: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/tags/MIM/default.aspx
• https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/tags/MIM+2016/default.aspx
• https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/tags/MIM+2016/default.aspx
• https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/tags/FIM/default.aspx
• https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/tags/FIM+2010/default.aspx

ILM/FIM/MIM article overview

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/3610.fim-2010-mim-2016-related-wiki-articles.aspx

ILM/FIM/MIM Troubleshooting

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/3610.fim-2010-mim-2016-related-wiki-articles.aspx#FIM_Troubleshooting_Article

The FIM/MIM geek blogs & posts…

Below you’ll find some interesting and helpful articles and posts (some of the are old/archived… But still valid for MIM too.)

In alphabetic order (on last name)

• Bob Bradley: https://idm4real.com/
• Blain Checkly: https://identityminded.wordpress.com/
• Jorge de Almeida Pinto (MVP): https://jorgequestforknowledge.wordpress.com/
• Soren Granfeldt: https://github.com/sorengranfeldt
• Antony Ho (Microsoft) : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/aho/
• Jeff Ingalls (https://ingallsdesigns.com/),
• Borys Majewski (http://idarchitect.net/)
• Ryan Newington (https://twitter.com/RyanLNewington): https://lithnet.io/products/mim
• Kent Nordstrom: https://konab.com/blog/
• Darren Robinson: https://blog.darrenjrobinson.com/identity-manager-management-agents/
• Carol Wapshere: https://www.wapshere.com/missmiis/rcdc-memberof-list
• …

Social Media

Facebook

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/MicrosoftIdentityManager/

Twitter

• https://twitter.com/search?q=%23MIM2016
• https://twitter.com/hashtag/fim2010r2

Books

• https://www.davidplundell.com/fim-best-practices-volume-1
• https://www.packtpub.com/product/microsoft-identity-manager-2016-handbook/9781785283925
• https://konab.com/fim-2010-r2-book/

Online Companion guide for MIM 2016 book

• https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/34993.microsoft-identity-manager-2016-handbook-online-companion-guide.aspx

Visio Stencils

https://github.com/PeterGeelen/Microsoft-Identity-Manager/tree/main/FIM-MIM%20stencils

Archives

Microsoft Learn – previous versions

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/desktop/forefront-2010/ee652263(v=vs.100)

FIM News: the Microsoft Hybrid identity management (#FIM2010)

Today Andreas Kjellman presented an updated FIM roadmap on the FIM Team User group.
Register and keep an eye on http://thefimteam.com/fim-team-user-group/, as the recording will be published shortly.

Also just a few days ago the new Hybrid Identity website went live (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/solutions/identity-management.aspx).

The updated website contains the Hybrid Identity White Paper (http://aka.ms/hybrididentitywp)

Microsoft’s approach to identity spans on-premises and the cloud, creating a single user identity for authentication and authorization to all resources, regardless of location.
Also check the Hybrid Identity Datasheet (http://aka.ms/hybrididentityds)

There is a new product “AADSync” to make onboarding to AAD and Office 365 for multi-forest a lot easier. It will also support advanced DirSync scenarios. It is building on FIM2010R2 and DirSync.

The preview is available on Connect. (http://connect.microsoft.com/directory).

Documentation can be found at: http://www.aadsync.com/

There will be more information later in the year about Preview programs and deeper technical information.

There is more news to come, just keep an eye on the Server & Cloud Blog (http://blogs.technet.com/b/server-cloud/)

Also note that the new AADSync tool is referred as Microsoft Azure Active Directory Sync Services (AADSync), as Windows Azure is rebranded to Microsoft Azure…

Note-to-self: the Short URL collection bookmarks

Category	Short Url	Description
Book	http://aka.ms/packtpub_da_troubleshooting	Book: Direct Access troubleshooting
Exchange	http://aka.ms/mostpopularexch2010wiki	Most poplar Exchange 2010 articles on TN Wiki
FIM	http://aka.ms/ecmaresourcewiki	ECMA Resource Wiki
FIM	http://aka.ms/fim_codeplex	FIM projects on Codeplex
FIM	http://aka.ms/fim_portsrightspermissions	FIM Ports, rights and permissions
FIM	http://aka.ms/fim2010	https://identityunderground.wordpress.com/
FIM	http://aka.ms/msidentitypublicreleases	Microsoft’s Identity Software: Public Release Build Versions
FIM	http://aka.ms/msidmpublicbuilds	Microsoft’s Identity Software: Public Release Build Versions
FIM	http://aka.ms/msidmpublicreleases	Microsoft’s Identity Software: Public Release Build Versions
FIM	http://aka.ms/powershellma	PowerShell Management Agent > The IDM explorer
FIM	http://aka.ms/understandingfimdeprovisioning	Understanding Deprovisioning
FIM	http://bit.ly/FIM2010R2-RC	FIM 2012 R2 RC
FIM	http://bit.ly/FIM2010R2BetaDocs	FIM R2 Beta docs
FIM	http://bit.ly/pGW4gS	FIM Exam
FIM	http://bit.ly/FIM2010BetaExam	FIM Exam
FIM	http://bit.ly/TNEdgeCustomizingFIMPortal	FIM Portal customisation
FIM	http://bit.ly/CreatingCustomRCDC	FIM Creating Custom RCDC
FIM	http://bit.ly/FIM2010HotfixRSS	FIM Hotfix RSS
FIM	http://bit.ly/FIMTags	FIM tags
FIM	http://bit.ly/FIM2010_slowlink	Improve FIM performance over slow link
FIM	http://bit.ly/FIM2010Solutions	FIM 2010 Solutions from partners
FIM	http://bit.ly/FIM2010CustomActivity_WF	FIM Custom Activity WF
FIM	http://bit.ly/FIM2010SDK	FIM 2010 SDK
FIM	http://bit.ly/FIM2010Resources	FIM 2010 Resources
FIM	http://aka.ms/fim2010bpa	FIM 2010 Best Practice Analyser
FIM	http://aka.ms/fim2010functionsref	FIM 2010 Functions Reference
FIM	http://aka.ms/fim2010partnermas	FIM 2010: Management Agents from Partners
FIM	http://aka.ms/fim2010r2bpa	FIM 2010 Best Practice Analyser
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimblogs	FIM 2010 Community, feeds & blogs
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimbuild_overview	FIM Build Overveiw
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimbuilds	FIM Build Overveiw
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimcmpermissions	FIM CM Permisssion
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimcommunity	FIM Community overview
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimcommunity_feeds_blogs	FIM Community overview
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimfilema	FIM File MA
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimlpdownload	FIM Language Pack download
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimma_ln8	FIM Lotus Notes MA
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimmaportspermissions	FIM Rights, Ports & Permissions
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimmas	FIM Management Agents
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimmasfrompartners	FIM Management Agents from partners
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimrampup	Learning FIM
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimresources	FIM Resources
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimscriptbox	FIM Script box
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimsecurity	FIM Security Setup
FIM	http://aka.ms/fimtechoverview	FIM Technical Overview
FIM Book	http://aka.ms/fim2010r2bestpracticesbook	FIM Book
FIM Book	http://aka.ms/fim2010r2handbook	FIM Book
FIM Book	http://aka.ms/fim2010r2handbookshortcuts	FIM Book
FIM Book	http://aka.ms/fim_r2_best_practices_vol1	FIM Book
FIM Community	http://aka.ms/fimteamug	FIM Team User Group
FIM Forum	http://aka.ms/fimforum	FIM Forum on Technet
FIM Forum	http://aka.ms/fimforumtn	FIM Forum on Technet
FIM Learning	http://aka.ms/fim2010rampup	Learning FIM
FIM News	http://aka.ms/2013fimannouncement	2013 FIM Announcement
FIM Technet	http://aka.ms/tnwikiforum	FIM 2010 Forum
FIM Wiki	http://aka.ms/fim2010resources	FIM 2010 Resources
FIM Wiki	http://aka.ms/fim2010wiki	FIM 2010 Wiki
Forefront	http://aka.ms/forefrontroadmap	Forefront Roadmap announcement
Forefront	http://aka.ms/forefronttechcenter	Forefront Tech Center
ILM	http://aka.ms/ilm2007gettingstarted	ILM Getting Started
Learning	http://bit.ly/MS_MVA	Microsoft Virtual Academy
PFE	http://aka.ms/pfe_wiki	Premier Field Engineering at TN Wiki
PFE	http://aka.ms/stayoutoftrouble	Premier Field Engineering
PKI	http://bit.ly/MSPKIBook	MS PKI Book
PKI	http://bit.ly/CurrentCLMresources	Current CLM Resources
Security	http://bit.ly/MS_BRS	Business Ready Security
Security	http://bit.ly/NEAT_Spruce	Neat And Spruce at Microsoft
Security	http://bit.ly/FBLeak20110510	FB leak
Security	http://bit.ly/DownloadBRSTrial	Microsoft Business Ready Security Trial Environment
Sharepoint	http://aka.ms/sp2010kernelmodeauthn	Sharepoint Kernel Mode Authentication
Technet	http://aka.ms/fim2010forum	FIM Forum on Technet
Visual Studio	http://aka.ms/debugextension	Extension debugging
Wiki	http://aka.ms/fimwiki	FIM at Wiki
Wiki	http://aka.ms/fixrgb	Fix RGB codes to names in HTML
Wiki	http://aka.ms/happybirthday_ed	Wiki surprise
Wiki	http://aka.ms/ninja	Wiki Ninja
Wiki	http://aka.ms/ninjas	Wiki Ninja
Wiki	http://aka.ms/notappropriatefortnwiki	Wiki guidelines
Wiki	http://aka.ms/tnwikibookmarks	Wiki Bookmarks
Wiki	http://aka.ms/wikitagcloud	TechNet Wiki: easy bookmarks to important TNWiki resources
Wiki	http://aka.ms/wikitoolbox	TN Wiki toolbox
Wiki	http://bit.ly/AddTocToYourTNWikiDoc	Add TOC to your Wiki article
Wiki Blog	http://aka.ms/tnwikiblog	TN Wiki Blog
Wiki Blog	http://aka.ms/wikiblog	TN Wiki blog
Wiki blog	http://aka.ms/wikininjablog	TN Wiki blog
Wiki Governance	http://aka.ms/technetwikicommunitycouncil	Wiki Governance
Wiki Governance	http://aka.ms/tnwikicouncil	Wiki Council
Wiki Governance	http://aka.ms/tnwikifeedback	Wiki Feedback
Wiki Governance	http://aka.ms/wikidevelopment	Wiki Governance
Wiki Governance	http://aka.ms/wikiguide	Wiki Governance
Wiki Governance	http://aka.ms/wikininjas	Wiki Ninja
Wiki Governance	http://aka.ms/wikireputation	Wiki Governance
Wiki Governance	http://aka.ms/wikuserguidelines_personalisation	Wiki Governance

Microsoft announced additional connectors for FIM 2010 R2 (#FIM2010)

Source: Forefront Identity Manager 2010 group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/155109068156/

The FIM team has announced the availability of some additional Connectors for FIM2010R2.

General Availability of PowerShell Connector

The PowerShell Connector can be used to communicate with a system through PowerShell scripts. This allows an easy and flexible way to communicate with other systems but also to pre-/post-process data and files before handed over to the FIM Synchronization Service. We believe the community will help providing scripts for this Connector for various systems and will open a place where scripts can be published for reuse.

TechNet docs:   http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=393057
Download:          http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=393056

Release Candidate of Generic SQL Connector

The Generic SQL Connector will allow you to connect to any database where you have an ODBC driver available. It enables new features compared to the built-in MA such as support for Stored Procedures, running SQL scripts, built-in delta import support, import multiple object types, connect to multiple tables, and much more. This Connector is built on ECMA2.3 which allows schema discoverability to be customized in the Sync Engine UI. A pre-release of the next Sync Engine hotfix is included with the Connector download and is required for the Connector to work.

Download:          https://connect.microsoft.com/site433/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=52652

Release Candidate of SAP Users and Roles/Groups

The updated SAP templates for Users and Roles/Groups allows you to manage Users, Roles, and Groups in SAP. This also include password sync for Users to SAP. The Connector will make sure roles are represented as groups to make it possible to manage these with bhold. This template will require the previously published WebService Connector: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=235883.

Download:          https://connect.microsoft.com/site433/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=52651

Participation on Connect

If you have participated in any other Connector preview program you will have access to the Release Candidate downloads. If you have not participated before then to get access to the preview programs on Connect either join the program “Identity and Access Management”, “FIM Synchronization Service Connectors Pre-release” on http://connect.microsoft.com/directory or follow this link http://connect.microsoft.com/site433/SelfNomination.aspx?ProgramID=6709&pageType=1

Generic LDAP Connector (build 4.3.1082.0)

We have also published an update to the Generic LDAP Connector adding support for some additional LDAP directories, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2936070/. If you have additional LDAP directories you think we should support, please feel free to contact provide feedback on the Connect Site or via the FIM 2010 forum on technet.

Note-to-self: new #FIM2010 Connector for Windows Azure Active Directory published

Source: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41166

Forefront Identity Manager Connector for Windows Azure Active Directory helps you synchronize identity information to Azure Active Directory.

Version:	Date Published:
1.0.6567.0002	2/19/2014

#FIM2010 newsletter – looking for more interesting resources

Since a while I’ve been on the lookout for interesting, blogs, articles, sites and feeds on FIM 2010.

I’ve been gathering them in a FIM 2010 weekly newletter on paper.li : http://paper.li/geelenp/1364888465/

If you think there are sources missing from this, list, feel free to let me know.

So far, I found these:

• Tweets mentioning “#FIM2010”
• Facebook Posts mentioning “FIM2010” (FIM group at FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/155109068156/)
• http://blog.konab.com/feed/
• http://www.forefrontblog.nl/feed/
• http://feeds2.feedburner.com/IdentityManagementCrisis
• http://blog.goverco.com/feeds/posts/default
• https://identityunderground.wordpress.com/feed/
• http://blogs.technet.com/rss.aspx
• http://blog.kloud.com.au/feed/
• http://fimfacts.wordpress.com/feed/
• http://blog.msresource.net/feed/
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/karchworld_identity/rss.aspx
• http://justidm.wordpress.com/feed/
• http://biggelaara.wordpress.com/feed/
• http://feeds.feedburner.com/puttyqcom
• http://blogs.technet.com/b/jingalls/rss.aspx
• http://www.fimspecialist.com/feed/
• http://jorgequestforknowledge.wordpress.com/feed/
• http://setspn.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
• http://feeds.feedburner.com/PredicaTeam
• http://blogs.technet.com/b/steady/rss.aspx
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/rss.aspx
• http://be-id.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

And also

• http://feeds.feedburner.com/missmiis
• http://www.integrationtrench.com/feeds/posts/default
• http://bobbradley1967.wordpress.com/ (update)

Blog feeds are filtered on keywords: FIM, FIM2010, “FIM 2010”, bhold

All suggestions are welcome to peter(at)fim2010(dot)com.

Reviewed for you: Microsoft DirectAccess Best Practices and Troubleshooting (Packt Publishing)

Packt has recently published a new book "Microsoft DirectAccess Best Practices and Troubleshooting". (http://aka.ms/PacktPub_DA_Troubleshooting)

A few weeks ago I was asked to review the book.

Written by Jordan Krause a Microsoft MVP in Enterprise Security, and specializes in DirectAccess.

Packt Publishes advertises this book is an ideal guide for any existing or future DirectAccess administrator and system administrators who are working on Windows Server 2012.

This book will also be beneficial for someone with a basic knowledge of networking and deployment of Microsoft operating systems and software who wants to learn the intricacies of DirectAccess and its interfaces.

It’s a pretty condensed book of 116 pages in total, of which 98 technical content.

Structured in 5 chapters:

Chapter 1: DirectAccess Server Best Practices
Chapter 2: DirectAccess Environmental Best Practices
Chapter 3: Configuring Manage Out to DirectAccess Clients
Chapter 4: General DirectAccess Troubleshooting
Chapter 5: Unique DirectAccess Troubleshooting Scenarios

From a technical standpoint of view, it’s an interesting read, with lot of interesting advice.

It is quite confusing that the author discusses topics which are explained in a later chapter.
ISATAP for example. Chapter 2 discusses IPv6 vs ISATAP, while chapter 3 explains the ISATAP definition ( Intra-Site Automatic Tunnel Addressing Protocol).

To build the story in the book, it would make more sense to explain the basics first as it’s key information to the topics discussed and explained. It’s a good practice to set a common ground and vocabulary first, to start off on the right foot.

But when I say condensed, it really is condensed and not only on content level. Regarding readability, some of the pages are large blocks of heavy text, long sentences, barely using white space or paragraphs. Sentences reaching 4 lines require you to read the sentence again.

Shorter sentences and using more paragraphs is a simple fix.

Although the book is packed with valuable information, I’m a bit disappointed in the fact that the book does not get it’s full potential.

It would greatly improve by putting all hints & tips in a quick list (eg in an additional chapter or quick reference card), and/or gathering the do’s and don’ts in an action list like:

Please remember:

• There are 3 platforms providing Direct Access: Windows 2008 R2, UAG and Windows 2012. Majority of DA deployments are covered by UAG and Windows 2012 as Windows 2008 R2 is quite difficult to handle.
• Clients must be Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 7 ultimate or Windows 8 Enterprise
• Windows 7 pro and Windows 8 Pro do not support Direct Access (See: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2756536)

Practical Hints & tips

• The default gateway setting must only be defined on the external NIC
• Name your NICs intuitively (chapter 1)
• Set NIC binding correctly (chapter 1)
• disable NICs not in use (ch.1)
• Check Receive Side Scaling (RSS) (ch.1)
• Enable spoofing of MAC addresses on VMs (ch.1)
• Add static routes
• Choose proper hostname
• Join domain
• Prestage the computer account
• IP-HTTPS
• DA must be a remote access platform and nothing else
• Don’t use the Getting started wizard … + reasons (see chapter 1 of book)
• Run the full Remote Access Setup Wizard
• …
• Create your own GPOs (ch.2)
• …
• Do not host the NLS website on the DA server
• Set Teredo to Enterprise client
• Use DNS Round Rbin for DA CLuster (ch.3)
• Set client side firewall rules for each protocol needed (ch.3)
• … (and so on)…

Furthermore, in the technical section in the book you won’t find any links to useful references, although there are plenty of opportunities to put in added value, again.

PacktPub has extremely good books that support this book:

1. Windows Server 2012 Unified Remote Access Planning and Deployment
2. Microsoft Forefront UAG 2010 Administrator’s Handbook
3. Mastering Microsoft Forefront UAG 2010 Customization

Sorry, correction, the commercial part at the end refers to one of them.
But that’s not the author’s credit.

There is a massive amount of additional reading and in depth material out-there, which the author could refer to. I’ll come to that in a second (cfr NRPT)

I would love to get some insight in the list of hyperlinks the author frequently uses regarding this topic. Show me your favorites, man!

The author explicitly targets existing DA administrators and “anyone interested in learning more about the technology before diving in for themselves”.

But the index at the end of the book is missing essential acronym definitions.

It would be nice to give the explanation with the acronym, like

DIP, see Dedicated IP, 62,85
UAG, see Unified Access Gateway, 36
NRPT,see Name Resolution Policy Table, 50
NAT, see Network Address Translation, 35-37
GSW, see Getting Started Wizard
…

One stunning example is NRPT, which is frequently touched in the book, but never explained.

Even in the simplest case a reference to some useful resources would have helped, like:

• Introduction to the NRPT (http://technet.microsoft.com/nl-nl/library/ee649207(v=ws.10).aspx)
• Appendix B: The Name Resolution Policy Table (NRPT) (http://technet.microsoft.com/nl-nl/library/ee649241(v=ws.10).aspx)

So, I’m hoping that Packt Pub will fix the gap.

Despite, I still consider the Microsoft DirectAccess Best Practices and Troubleshooting book as a quick reference and a companion guide for Direct Access Administrators.

An additional (online) reference list will make this book on DirectAccess rock, like Jordan kicks off with on page 1.

And why not building that online reference on Technet Wiki?

Note to the layout team: a small detail to make it complete: when you use justified layout (left and right aligned), that would make the book more polished.

Microsoft announces Important Changes to the Forefront Product Line

Directly from: http://blogs.technet.com/b/server-cloud/archive/2013/12/17/important-changes-to-the-forefront-product-line.aspx

Today, Microsoft announced an important changes to the roadmaps of Forefront Identity Manager (FIM) and Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG):

(quote)

“We plan to ship another major release of FIM in the first half of calendar year 2015.

• Microsoft will not deliver any future full version releases of Forefront UAG and the product will be removed from price lists on July 1, 2014.

Microsoft remains committed to delivering the identity and access capabilities offered in FIM (identity and access management).  Some Forefront UAG scenarios (secure application publishing and remote access) are addressed with new capabilities available in Windows Server 2012 R2 today.

Forefront Identity Manager

The next full release of FIM will be delivered as part of Microsoft’s identity and access management product roadmap, which includes both on-premises investments and those we are making in Windows Azure Active Directory and related cloud services.

The investment areas for this next major release of FIM will include:

• Hybrid scenarios with Windows Azure AD
• User & Access Management
• Audit & Compliance

We will share more details on specific features and functionality as we get closer to the release date.

Forefront Unified Access Gateway

Based on product strategy, customer feedback, and prevailing market dynamics, Microsoft has made the decision not to deliver any further full version releases of Forefront UAG.

Microsoft customers continue to have access to select remote access and secure application publishing capabilities through Windows Server 2012 R2.  Windows Server is not a complete replacement for all UAG scenarios, but it does provide:

• DirectAccess deployment and policy management.  This capability has been part of Windows Server 2012 since its initial release in September 2012.
• Basic secure application publishing via the new Web Application Proxy service in the Remote Access role of Windows Server 2012 R2.  This new service allows customers to securely publish access to resources through a reverse proxy and includes integration with Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) for conditional access policy and multi-factor authentication capabilities.

Customers will be granted a Windows Server 2012 Standard server license for each UAG server license with active Software Assurance to allow them to make the transition.  For customers who wish to continue using Forefront UAG, Microsoft will provide maintenance and support through the standard Microsoft support lifecycle.  Mainstream support will continue through April 14, 2015, and extended support will continue through April 14, 2020.  Customers with active Software Assurance on UAG as of Dec. 1, 2013 may also add new UAG server instances, users, and devices without any requirement to order additional licenses.”

(end quote)

Release of three new Connectors for #FIM2010 R2 for public General Availability

Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/155109068156/

Microsoft has announced the release of three new Connectors for FIM2010R2 for public General Availability.

Windows Azure Active Directory Connector
This conector can be used in scenarios not supported by DirSync, for example multi-forest or non-AD.
Microsoft still recommends to use DirSync as the primary solution to synchronize AD to AAD and use it whenever possible.
The Connector comes with sample code and configuration for a resource/account-forest scenario.

For more information: please refer to the TechNet documentation: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=330371.

Generic LDAP
This Connector will allow you to connect to an LDAPv3 compliant directory.
It currently supports the same LDAP directories (IBM, Novell, and Oracle) we ship with FIM2010R2 and will over time replace the built-in LDAP Management Agents.

For more information, please refer to the TechNet documentation: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=270179.

SharePoint User Profile Store
This Connector will connect to the SharePoint User Profile Store and can be used as a replacement for the built-in synchronization engine which comes with SharePoint, for example in multi-forest or non-AD scenarios.

For more information, please refer to the TechNet documentation: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=331344.

Microsoft Forefront Identity Manager 2010 R2 Handbook – shortcuts

As you know (or not) I’ve been involved in reviewing Kent Nordstrom’s book… (http://konab.com/fim-2010-r2-book/)

You can order print and/or E-book at: http://aka.ms/FIMR2Book.

Overview

Page	Chapter	Title	URL	Description
		About the Author	http://konab.com
		About the Reviewers	http://be.linkedin.com/in/pgeelen	Peter Geelen
		About the Reviewers	http://aka.ms/FIM_R2_Best_Practices_Vol1	FIM R2 Best Practices Volume by David Lundell
		Support files, eBooks,	http://PacktLib.PacktPub.com
4		Preface	http://aka.ms/PowerShellMA	Granfeldt PowerShell MA 2.0 used to demonstrate ECMA
5		Downloading the example code	http://www.packtpub.com.	extensible connectivity
10		The Story in the book	http://aka.ms/ADFSOverview	Implement federation
10		The Story in the book	http://office365.microsoft.com	Read more about Office 365
19		Management agents	http://aka.ms/FIMPartnerMA
20		Management agents	http://aka.ms/FIMMA
28		FIM Licensing	http://aka.ms/FIMLicense
30	3	Installation	http://aka.ms/FIMCapacityPlanning	Capacity Planning
32	3		http://aka.ms/SCSM2010Deployment	SCSM for reporting
32	3		http://aka.ms/FIMPlanning
32	3		http://aka.ms/VirtualizationBestPractices
35	3		http://aka.ms/FIMLanguagePacks
35	3		http://aka.ms/SQLCollations
35	3		http://aka.ms/SCSMCollations
35	3		http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh332707	Technet Site
37	3		http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff461010
40	3		http://aka.ms/SCSM2010Deployment
40	3		http://support.microsoft.com/kb/975332	AuthZ Man Hotfix
49	3		http://blogs.msdn.com/b/chunliu/archive/2010/03/24/why-SharePoint-2010-not-use-kernel-mode-authentication-in-iis7.aspx	turn off Kernel Mode authentication
72	3		http://aka.ms/SCSM2010Ports	complete list of ports required by SCSM 2010
87	3		http://blog.konab.com/fim-2010-r2-book/reporting	FIM post-install scripts for Data Warehouse
93	4	Basic configuration	http://support.microsoft.com/kb/303972	Replicating Directory Changes
98	4		http://blogs.technet.com/b/doittoit/archive/2009/05/20/introducing-hierarchal-provisioning.aspx	Hierarchical Provisioning
101	4		http://aka.ms/FIMPreImportFilter
104	4		http://aka.ms/FIMDeprovisioning
116	4		http://aka.ms/FIMRunProfile
118	4		http://aka.ms/UnderstandingFIMDeprovisioning
118	4		http://aka.ms/FIMServiceSchema
130	4		http://blog.konab.com/2011/09/performance-improvements-in-fim-2010-r2
134	4		http://blog.konab.com/fim-2010-r2-book/basic-configuration/
161	5	User management	http://aka.ms/FIMDRE
163	5		http://aka.ms/FIMMVExtension
170	5		http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305144	UAC attribute
172	5		http://aka.ms/FIMFunctions
173	5		http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/how-toenable-or-disable-accounts-in-active-directory-domain-service-usingfim.aspx
200	6	Group management	http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc223142	Group Type bitmask
206	6		http://aka.ms/FIMAddIn	Add-ins & extensions
251	7	Self-service Password Reset	http://aka.ms/FIMR2Upgrade
254	7		http://aka.ms/SSPRconfigureSMSOT
262	7		http://aka.ms/FIMR2QuickStart
276	8	FIM & Office 365	http://fimattributestore.codeplex.com	ADFS 2.0 Attribute Store for Forefront Identity Manager
277	8		http://fim.codeplex.com	.
279	8		http://www.pointsharp.com
285	9	Reporting	http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj133843	Default Report
289	9		http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj133844	ETL Script
294	9		http://aka.ms/FIMReporting	Modifying FIM Reports
295	9		http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj133861	Extending FIM reporting
297	10	FIM Portal Customization	http://aka.ms/CustomizeFIMPortal
300	10		http://fim2010client.codeplex.com
314	10		http://aka.ms/FIMxPath
319	10		http://aka.ms/RCDCRef
321	10		http://idmcrisis.com/post/2009/11/14/Working-with-RCDCe28099s-in-Visual-Studio.aspx	Working with RCDCS in Visual Studio
325	11	Customizing Data transformations	http://aka.ms/FIMFunctions
328	11		http://aka.ms/FIMWALExample
328	11		http://aka.ms/ECMA2
329	11		http://aka.ms/FIMPartnerMA
329	11		http://aka.ms/PowerShellMA
331	11		http://aka.ms/FIMFunctions
337	11		http://aka.ms/DebugExtension
348	12	Issuing Smart Cards	http://aka.ms/CorePKI
348	12		http://aka.ms/FIMCMandLunaSA
353	12		https://identityunderground.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/clm-vs-key-recovery-agent-certificatetemplate
374	12		http://aka.ms/FIMCMPermissions
387	12		http://fimcmextensions.codeplex.com
390	13	Troubleshooting	http://aka.ms/FIMTroubleshooting
405	13		http://aka.ms/FIMCMTroubleshooting
408	13		http://aka.ms/FIMBackup
408	13		http://aka.ms/FIMCMBackup
409	13		http://aka.ms/SPFoundationBackup
410	13		http://aka.ms/CABackup
411	13	Summary	http://blog.konab.com/fim-2010-r2-book
413		Afterword	http://aka.ms/FIMForumTN
		Afterword	http://aka.ms/FIM2010Resources
		Afterword	http://aka.ms/FIM2010Wiki

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References

• http://konab.com/fim-2010-r2-book/
• http://aka.ms/FIMR2Book