S.M.A.R.T - Hard drive reporting possible failure

Above is the screenshot from the SMART hard drive monitor tool on my laptop.

Multiple WSUS servers and on in the DMZ

I worked in an environment where there were traveling laptops, site to site vpns, and large offices. We wanted all machines to download and update patches for the fastest sources without impacting site to site vpn tunnels. The site to site vpns offices had split tunnel enabled and could download directly from the Internet so there is the configuration that was used:

Wsus1 - stored patches locally
Wsus2 - redirect clients to download from ms download site ( in the DMZ )
Wsus3 - at a large office > 50 machines - pull list of patches and updates from Wsus1
Wsus4 - at a large office > 50 machines - pull list of patches and updates from Wsus1
Wsus5 - at a large office > 50 machines - pull list of patches and updates from Wsus1


On my external DNS I setup
A record - wsusserver.wsus.domain.com - ip x.x.x.x
On my internal dns I setup a delegation for the sub domain wsus.domain.com using Bind on Windows.
Bind lets you have client view which allows you to give different answers depending on the requesting ip address/subnet.
for mask
172.16.1.x - A record - wsusserver.wsus.domain.com - ip y.y.y.y - to point users to Wsus1
172.16.21.x - A record - wsusserver.wsus.domain.com - ip x.x.x.x - to point users to Wsus2 - this was so that any site-to-site offices for our small offices would be directed to use the WSUS server in the DMZ and pull the updates from MS without impacting VPN traffic.
172.16.3.x - A record - wsusserver.wsus.domain.com - ip 172.16.3.y - to point users to Wsus3 that subnet's local wsus with local patches
172.16.4.x - A record - wsusserver.wsus.domain.com - ip 172.16.4.y - to point users to Wsus4 that subnet's local wsus with local patches
172.16.5.x - A record - wsusserver.wsus.domain.com - ip 172.16.5.y - to point users to Wsus5 that subnet's local wsus with local patches

For WSUS1 and WSUS2, I had to approve patches separately, I tried working with some WSUS scripts to export then import the approved patch list but didn't spent to much time trying to get that working and started approving the patches manually.

Recover Password saved in WinSCP

Needed a password that was saved in WinSCP, after a bit of searching I found the application -
Asterisk Logger v1.04 , which worked like a charm.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/astlog.html


password , recover , asterisk , windows application , WinSCP

Get updated maps - Garmin nuvi 205W

I just used Google Maps Send function - it saved the destination address to my GPS.

I wished it would send the points between as well. Found a site that has that software for a price. $60.00
http://www.expertgps.com/gps-receivers/Garmin-nuvi-205W.asp

This page had some details on how to register and get newer map updates:
http://www.brighthub.com/electronics/gps/reviews/55477.aspx?p=2

Powershell and Citrix

Found a great web page with lots of Powershell and Citrix Examples:
http://cibengineering.com/citrix/powershell-logoff-disconnected-user-sessions

ESX Backup

I had written a script a while ago to grab some /etc files from VMware ESX....

I no longer have those scripts handy but found two links to people who have examples:

Backing up ESX ( Service Console )
http://vmetc.com/2008/10/11/how-to-backup-vmware-esx-servers/

http://blog.core-it.com.au/?p=363

PDF Work

Today I had to take a 7 page pdf PDF and fill out the form on the just fist page.

I used "PDFill PDF Tools (FREE)" to split the pages, saving just the first to a new file.

Then I used the "PDF-XChange PDF Viewer" - the Free version and used the typewritter tool to fill out the PDF form. Searching for a tool to annotate PDFs for free was really harder then I thought it should be.

Great tools. While looking at one of the tool's help they company really spelled out how Adobe keeps adding features to PDF and are not really letting it live up to is open standard potential.

I blogged about these tools basically so I can find the names and download them in the future, but if this helpful to anyone else I am glad about that too.

Accessing MS Access from PowerShell

I was trying to modify some scripts on MS Technet Script Guy's blog for working with PowerShell and MS Access.

Kept getting an error when trying to open the database, the example was using an .mdb file extension. I left my test file with the Office 2007 default of .accdb.

The example had the filename and path in a variable thought that was the problem at first then realized the connection string seemed to be referring to version 4.


I found that the ADO string need to be "Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0" rather then "Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0"

Example of the error
***********************************
PS C:\code\examples-powershell\msaccess> $cn.Open("Provider = Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source = C:\code\examples-pow
ershell\msaccess\msaccessdatadb1.accdb")
Exception calling "Open" with "1" argument(s): "Unrecognized database format 'C:\code\examples-powershell\msaccess\msac
cessdatadb1.accdb'."
At line:1 char:9
+ $cn.Open <<<< ("Provider = Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source = C:\code\examples-powershell\msaccess\msaccessdatadb1
.accdb")
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : ComMethodTargetInvocation

PS C:\code\examples-powershell\msaccess>



************************************



2008 Winter Scripting Games - Event 9 - MS Access PowerShell
http://blogs.technet.com/heyscriptingguy/archive/2009/08/13/hey-scripting-guy-can-i-query-a-microsoft-access-database-with-a-windows-powershell-script.aspxhttp://blogs.technet.com/heyscriptingguy/archive/2009/08/13/hey-scripting-guy-can-i-query-a-microsoft-access-database-with-a-windows-powershell-script.aspx
The file I was working with - ScriptingGamesBeginnerEvent4.ps1

Other reference:
How to find a record using ADO and Jet OLE DB provider
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283874

Bandwidth Availability

I typed in the address of an office I am working at to see what the results were:

http://riveroffers.com/

Carrier Distance Capability
1 3.17 miles 10 mbps - 1 gbps
2 4.16 miles 10 mbps - 1 gbps
3 4.27 miles 10 mbps - 1 gbps
4 4.49 miles 10 mbps - 1 gbps
5 5.27 miles 10 mbps - 1 gbps
6 5.49 miles 10 mbps - 1 gbps
7 7.22 miles 10 mbps - 1 gbps
8 7.94 miles 10 mbps - 1 gbps

the web page then tells you that cost vary depending if fiber is already run to the building. Also they ask for contact information if you want to go forward.

Some notes about Exchange 2007

Documenting some notes on Microsoft Exchange 2007 High Availability
1) single copy clusters (SCCs) - single data center - must meet clustering hardware specs
2) cluster continuous replication (CCR) - uses MS Clustering and File Share Witness, can be done across data centers.
3) Local Continuous Replication ( LCR ) - lets you make a copy of the Exchange Stores on separate storage (hard drives) attached to the same server.
LCR does not protect against server failure.
4) SCR (Standby Continuous Replication) - 2007 SP1 - uses SQL log shipping like CCR, however the nodes do not have to clustered.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Exchange_Server#Clustering_and_high_availability

Another page that had lots of nice diags was:
http://telnetport25.wordpress.com/2007/11/14/exchange-2007-database-clustering-and-high-availability-features/


Question came up today....
Will Exchange 2010 support public folders....


here is a link that has discussion threads from MS MVP's who say....
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/exchange2010/thread/26d2c23d-136d-4814-b44d-0378a61f0d5c

yes! in a fashion similar to Exchange 2007 SP1.



Exchange 2007 server roles information:
# Edge Transport
# Hub Transport
# Client Access
# Mailbox - only role that can be used on SCC cluster.

Resource - Server Roles
Introduction to Exchange 2007 Server Roles
http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Introduction-Exchange-2007-Server-Roles.html

Getting Started with Exchange Server 2007: Server Roles
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa996031(EXCHG.65).aspx


Other Notes:
MS Recommended DAS - direct attached storage, also stating to check with storage vendor, but RAID 10 is recommended, for performance and reliability.

Simple svn gui for Ubuntu

I looked at several pages and post to find a good answer.

My first attempt was to install Eclipse with Subclipse, the plugin had problems installing. I will re-attempt it again later. In the past I found eclipse sluggish on low memory machines, like the one I was installing it on anyway.

I saw this posting about installing scripts for nautilus in ubuntu.
my version Jaunty 9.04.

Link
http://www.automaticable.com/2008-09-15/easy-subversion-gui-for-nautilus-and-ubuntu/

steps it outlines:
aptitude install nautilus-script-collection-svn

nautilus-script-manager enable Subversion

killall nautilus

next step is for my to switch from file urls to svn urls.
http://www.codeandcoffee.com/2007/06/how-to-setup-a-subversion-server-on-linux/

freenx and Nomachine Client on XP - ALT-TAB

I have been using ubuntu 9.04 running freenx and a windows xp client - the alt-tab not working between apps was annoying. Found this article on how to configure the nomachine client to let the session capture the ALT-TAB and Print Screen.

Link to article

Quote:
"Ctrl + Alt + K key combination to enable/disable the catching of Alt+Tab and Print Screen keys within the NX session."

Safe to check IP Address

DynDNS.org is well respected and here is a link to their IP address checker.

http://checkip.dyndns.org/


I had heard in the past doing a google search for what is my ip may land you at a page with spyware, virus, etc.

Uninstall Perl Module

Found in a Google search that someone who goes by celso has perl script for removing modules.

http://www.celsobarriga.com/2008/01/10/uninstall-perl-module/


I wanted to remove Net::LDAP after I had done a force install of in in my win32 strawberry perl setup and had answered "y" to prompt for installing optional modules. I read on a wiki for strawberry perl the that module installed fine for a user with just the mandatory modules.

Looking for FTP solutions

This is a great list of Linux FTP Server Programs
http://www.terinea.co.uk/blog/2008/03/27/linux-ftp-server-with-a-graphical-user-interface-gui/

geen way to get rid of CDs and DVDs

This place in NJ seems to handle hard drives and have links for PCs too.

http://www.cdrecyclingforfree.com

Microsoft Active Directory Topology Diagrammer

Microsoft Active Directory Topology Diagrammer
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=cb42fc06-50c7-47ed-a65c-862661742764&displaylang=en

Great tool from Microsoft automates creation of a Visio diagram of your Active Directory Layout. With options to include site connections, etc.

Bind 9 on Windows XP

I wanted a DNS server on my workstation to test some perl and powershell dns scripts.

I downloaded Bind and had some trouble then find this page which had great directions.

http://alex.charrett.com/technical/bind-on-windows.html

Word 2007 - tricky steps to add auto updating filename and path

Select the location,
Insert tab ?(ribbon?),
Quick Parts,
field,
Under Field Names, Select Filename ,
Check add path to filename , ( not sure what that would look like for sharepoint stored documents?)
ok.



Here is a longer write up:
http://tortoiseshell.net/coffeebreak/blog/index.php/67/how-to-add-the-filename-and-path-to-a-word-2007-document.html

Ammo with flavor

For some reason the marketing at this site interest me.

Season Shot - Ammo with flavor.
www.seasonshot.com


tags: hunter funny