I decided to start working toward my MS-102 (Microsoft 365 Administrator) certification. This cert basically shows that you know how to run and manage an M365 environment. None of this is new to me, but I always like sharpening the skills I already have and filling in any gaps along the way.

Right now I’ve got a small lab environment built out. I’m running a Windows Server 2019 Standard domain controller and a Windows 11 25H2 Pro client. The setup is a Bee-Link mini PC running Windows 11 Pro as the host, Hyper-V on top, and everything else running as VMs.

I did hit one annoyance early on: RDP kept disconnecting every few seconds. After troubleshooting, I switched over to RustDesk instead, and the connection has been solid ever since. Not sure what it is about Hyper-V, but it is definitely very finicky when it comes to RDP. RustDesk has been much smoother.

Then I ran into another bump in the road while creating my new forest with the techsnazzy.com domain. During the domain controller promotion, it kept adding a “0” to the NETBIOS name. Turns out my main home PC already had that same name and therefore was conflicting. Renamed that machine, reran the process, and the NETBIOS name was fine after that. I did ask AI for help troubleshooting, but it kept leading me down the wrong road, so thankfully I was able to help AI know what to do for next time.

Next up, I’m going to join the Windows 11 client to the domain and start getting deeper into managing my M365 tenant. I’m currently on Business Premium, but I might bump it to E5 for Intune, Defender, and the full suite of security tools. That’s another post for another day.

Anyway, that’s the latest update. If you find this kind of thing interesting, follow along. I’ll be sharing more as I move through the MS-102 path.