Using the software updates page in the Microsoft 365 admin center for a high-level overview

This week is all about creating some awareness for a newly introduced page within the Microsoft 365 admin center portal. That new page is the Software updates page and that page provides a high-level overview – in the Windows tab – of the installation status of Windows updates within the organization. It literally provides a high-level overview, as it currently only shows the most important pieces of information. Those pieces of information are the Windows update status information and the End of servicing information. That information provides key insights in the status of devices within the organizations. That includes a quick look at the status of the latest security updates on the devices within the organization, to make sure that the devices are protected from …

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Getting started with Azure Monitor agent on Windows client devices

This week is about something totally different compared to the last weeks and maybe even months. There have been examples before about gathering additional data of Windows devices and using that information for dashboards and more. Those examples were mainly focused on existing data and custom scripting. This time the focus is on the Azure Monitor agent for Windows client devices. A few months ago Microsoft introduced the Windows client installer that can be used to collect data from desktops, workstations and laptops, in addition to the already existing options for servers and virtual machines. It enables the collection of Event Logs, Performance Counters and more. That could be useful with for example the introduction of AppLocker, to gather events about the behavior of apps. …

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Addressing the need for multiple Microsoft Tunnel Gateway servers

This week will focus on addressing the need for multiple Microsoft Tunnel Gateway servers. A single server is easy to setup, and easy to discuss and to describe, but that just a starting point. Often there is a need for multiple Microsoft Tunnel Gateway servers. That could be for providing high availabilty, for supporting the right amount of users and even for providing access to resources on different remote locations. So, it can be multiple servers on the same location and multiple servers on different locations. This post will go through the main scenarios for multiple servers and will focus on the main configurations that should be in place to support and configure those scenarios. No detailed configurations this time. Only descriptions of the main …

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Replacing the TLS certificate for Microsoft Tunnel

This week is a relatively short post that is focused on replacing the Transport Layer Security (TLS) certificate that is used for Microsoft Tunnel. That TLS certificate is used for securing the connection between the mobile devices and the Microsoft Tunnel Gateway and should contain the public name or IP address in its Subject Alternative Name (SAN). Replacing that TLS certificate can be required when the certificate is expired, or when the public name of the Microsoft Tunnel Gateway is changed. Those are a couple of good reasons to replace the TLS certificate. Luckily, those things don’t happen that often, but sadly that also means that it’s always searching for the right actions to perform. This post will walk through the steps that should be …

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