WARNING! Windows Home Server Vail Preview is an early test build of the next version of Windows Home Server. As such, it is not in any way, shape, or form ready for you to MOVE any important data from your current Windows Home Server (or other machine) to a Vail powered machine. Doing so without proper backups elsewhere may put that data at great risk of being lost forever.
In addition, certain features you see may *not* be in the released version. Certain features you do *not* see *may* be incorporated in the released version.
- You’ve downloaded the Vail Beta.
- You’ve burned an Install DVD.
- You’ve installed the Vail Beta.
- You’ve installed the Connector on your client.
You’re up and running, right? Smooth sailing, right? Maybe yes, maybe no… Perhaps no in that you’ve found a bug, oh my!
Before you try to break Vail (which is what Microsoft wants you do), there is one thing you need to do. Install a data collection program to better communicate the problem to Microsoft. This is nothing new. If you have been part of any recent Microsoft Beta and get on Connect to submit a bug, you always come to that “submit CAB file number” section. For Vail, they have a specific program called the “Vail” Log Collector.
As part of the Beta package, you should have a couple of files:
- WindowsServerVailLogCollector.msi
- Vail_LogCollector.doc
The doc file tells you pretty much everything you need to setup and submit submit logs. For the condensed version:
Install
Locate and copy the WindowsServerVailLogCollector.msi file to a convenient location on your Vail server.
Execute the program (either directly on the machine or through a RDC) to install the logging program.
Relocate that file on your workstation, and install the logging program on that machine also.
That is all!
Report
If you encounter a problem/bug, execute the program.
Follow the instructions.
Click on the “Send information” button.
At this point, you should get a CAB number that you need to record and submit as part of your bug report on the Connect site.
After that, click Enter in the logging program to exit.
While not explicitly stated, if you have a problem on a client machine, it might not be a bad idea to create a log file on both the server and the client machine. Just to make sure that Microsoft gets the complete picture.
Painless, right? Necessary? Absolutely!
Why? There are as many computer configurations (server and client) out there as there are people (almost!). To ensure that Vail works on all (most?) of those computers, testing on as many of those different machines is critical to releasing a bug-free product. Also, how you use a Vail server may create a scenario that was not anticipated by the Vail team. In case you had not noticed, Microsoft is not perfect… Regardless, there are again as many possible scenarios as people. Testing as many of those scenarios as possible will help ensure as bug-free a product as can be RTM’d!
If you have any questions or wish to discuss the Log Collector, be sure to visit our dedicated Vail Beta forums.
