Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Moving DHCP from one server to another and keeping all leases.

Moving DHCP from one server (2003-2012) to another, preserving all settings AND MOST IMPORTANTLY leases!

1.   Log on to the source DHCP server by using an account that is a member of the local Administrators group.
2.   Click Start, click Run, type cmd in the Open box, and then click OK.
3.   Type netsh dhcp server export C:\dhcp.txt all , and then press ENTER.

Configure the DHCP server service on the new server.
1.   Click Start, click Administrative Tools, click Server Manager. If needed acknowledge User Account Control.
2.   In Roles Summary click Add Roles, click Next, check DHCP server, and then click Next.

Import the DHCP database
1.   Copy the exported DHCP database file to the local hard disk of the new server.
2.   Verify that the DHCP service is started on the new server.
3.   Click Start, click Run, type cmd in the Open box, and then click OK.

4.   At the command prompt, type netsh dhcp server import c:\dhcp.txt all , and then press ENTER, where c:\dhcp.txt is the full path and file name of the database file that you copied to the server.

Friday, February 7, 2014

How to log into Windows Server 2008-2012 DC without knowing domain name OR how to log into a machine without knowing the local computer name.

Have you ever tried to RDP into a Windows Server 2008-2012 server and either a) wanted to log into a DC and didn't know the domain name or b) wanted to log as using the local ‘administrator’ account but don’t know the PCs name?

In either scenario, simply put .\administrator

If it’s a domain controller, you’ll log in as the domain\administrator, if it’s not you’ll log into the local administrator account.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Some cool websites (IT Tools)-

How about some cool websites?

Want to install and be able to update a bunch of common programs with one installer?

Want to monitor up to 100 domains for free, monitor for expiration date, DNS changes, etc.?

Need to mount an ISO on Windows 7?  (Or, 8 of them?)

Need to boot off of a CD or USB stick to scan a computer for viruses?

Need to extract ANY type of archive?

Want to know EVERYTHING about a computer?

Want to export mailboxes from an Exchange database file to a PST?

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Turning on RDP Remotely (Windows XP and Windows 7)

Ever take a late night call from a user who is trying to remote into their office computer and you need to enable RDP remotely so they can get in remotely?  Assuming a domain environment it is pretty easy.  This was easy in Windows XP, you could remote connect to the registry and turn it on.  Win 7 blocks that.

For Windows 7-
From the server,
psexec \\machinename reg add "hklm\system\currentcontrolset\control\terminal server" /f /v fDenyTSConnections /t REG_DWORD /d 0

One minor issue, this doesn’t poke a hole in the windows firewall.  You’ll need to temporarily disable it, log in, add RDP to the profile, then turn it back on.  From the server-
netsh -r ComputerName -u Username -p Password -c advfirewall set allprofiles state off

That will shut off the firewall.  You can now RDP into the box and open RDP in the GUI in Windows Firewall, then turn it back on.

For Windows XP-
Just go into Regedit, File, Connect Network Registry.  Once connected go to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server
Change fDenyTSConnection to 0


If you need to turn off windows firewall, you can go to Computer Management, connect to the box, and stop the windows firewall service.  (DO NOT attempt this in Windows 7).

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Adam's tips-


Great SFTP server- Crush FTP.  Has a nice web interface to file shares as well, easy to configure.
http://www.crushftp.com/features.html

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Some pretty sweet tools-
http://www.cjwdev.co.uk/Software.html

Notably-
AD Photo Edit- Allows easy upload of photos into AD
AD Info- A cool AD reporting tool for users, computers, groups, printers, etc.
Service Credential Manager- Changes service accounts on multiple servers at once.  Great for changing an admin password, it can automatically search out and update
Group Manager- A tool that allows users to administer groups they are assigned as the manager of.
AD Permission Reporter- Provides a report on your AD pertmissions

As well as a bunch of other tools.

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SO if you ever need to set up a windows DHCP server but can’t authorize it because no AD server is available?  Works on 2008-2008R2 (not sure about 2012).
Here is a handy registry key to bypass authorization-
Add this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\DHCPServer\Parameters
Name: DisableRogueDetection
Type: REG_DWORD
Data: 0x1
and restart the server (only restarting the service will not help)

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Need a tiny TFTP server that doesn't require anything be installed?  TFTPD32 is your answer.

http://www.firewall.cx/downloads/doc_download/19-4-tftpd-32-.html
https://a5-downloads.phpnuke.org/en/c74258/tftpd32-free-download-full-review

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On a Cisco ASA, ever need to see either the client IPSec VPN or Site to Site (L2L) tunnel Pre-Shared-key (pre shared key)?

Use this command-
more system:running-config

It will show you the config with the preshared key/

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Ever need to grab your Public IP from the command line in Linux?

content=$(wget ipecho.net -q -O -)
echo $content

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Ever need to change the MTU size in windows?  Below will change it to 1452.

netsh interface ipv4 show subinterfaces

netsh interface ipv4 set subinterface "Local Area Connection" mtu=1458 store=persistent

Doing a ping larger than 1458 with the -f (no fragment command) should now fail-
ping 8.8.8.8 -f -l 1472

==============================================================

Want to enable DNS Lookup on your Cisco ASA?

dns domain-lookup outside
dns server-group Default DNS
name-server 8.8.8.8

==============================================================

Want to measure bandwidth from individual users on an ASA?
What to explore QOS issues?
Spot inappropriate internet use on an ASA/

http://www.fireplotter.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=154

Product is FREE for watch only mode.  I'd be happy to assist getting it up and running if you have this need.

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Ever run into that quirky VMware issue on a Dell PowerEdge server where you try to create a datastore and your vsphere client disconnects you?  You need to delete the Dell diagnostics partition on the disk.

1.       Enable SSH via console
2.       Connect to VM host via SSH
3.       Run the following to get a list of current LUN paths:
esxcli storage core path list
4.       Record the ‘Device’ value for the device that shows ‘Unavailable or path is unclaimed’ at ‘Adapter Transport Details’ or ‘Target Transport Details’
5.       Run the following to change the label on the partition:
partedUtil mklabel /dev/disks/<device> msdos
6.       Retry datastore creation operation in vSphere
==============================================================

Ever need to download software that was pre-installed on a Dell system?

==============================================================

Ever need to get the Cisco IPSec Client working on Windows 8?

There is a work-around.

1. Press Windows Key+R to open the run prompt > regedit {enter}

2. Navigate to;HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SYSTEM>CurrentControlSet>Services>CVirtA

Locate the DisplayName > Edit its value > Delete all the text to the LEFT of "Cisco Systems VPN Adapter for 64bit Windows."

==============================================================

Want to easily review blue screens (BSOD)?


==============================================================

Ever need to turn on RDP on Windows 7 remotely?

psexec \\machinename reg add "hklm\system\currentcontrolset\control\terminal server" /f /v fDenyTSConnections /t REG_DWORD /d 0

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Ever need to check if inheritable permission is checked on all AD accounts?  This script will do that, just save it as a .vbs files-

Option Explicit

Dim objRootDSE, strDNSDomain, adoConnection
Dim strBase, strFilter, strAttributes, strQuery, adoRecordset
Dim strNTName, strDN, intNtSecDescCntrl
Dim objUser, objSecurityDescriptor, strInheritable

Const SE_DACL_PROTECTED = &H1000

' Determine DNS domain name.
Set objRootDSE = GetObject("LDAP://RootDSE")
strDNSDomain = objRootDSE.Get("defaultNamingContext")

' Use ADO to search Active Directory.
Set adoConnection = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
adoConnection.Provider = "ADsDSOObject"
adoConnection.Open "Active Directory Provider"

Set adoRecordset = CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
adoRecordset.ActiveConnection = adoConnection

' Search entire domain.
strBase = "<LDAP://" & strDNSDomain & ">"

strFilter = "(&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user))"

' Comma delimited list of attribute values to retrieve.
strAttributes = "distinguishedName,sAMAccountName"

' Construct the LDAP query.
strQuery = strBase & ";" & strFilter & ";" & strAttributes & ";subtree"

' Run the query.
adoRecordset.Source = strQuery
adoRecordset.Open

' Enumerate the resulting recordset.
Do Until adoRecordset.EOF
  ' Retrieve values.
  strNTName = adoRecordset.Fields("sAMAccountName").Value
  strDN = adoRecordset.Fields("distinguishedName").Value
  strDN = Replace(strDN, "/", "\/")
  Set objUser = GetObject("LDAP://" & strDN)
  Set objSecurityDescriptor = objUser.Get("ntSecurityDescriptor")
  intNtSecDescCntrl = objSecurityDescriptor.Control
  If (intNtSecDescCntrl And SE_DACL_PROTECTED) <> 0 Then
    strInheritable = "Allow inheritable permissions disabled"
  Else
    strInheritable = "Allow inheritable permissions enabled"
  End If
  Wscript.Echo strNTName & ";" & strDN & ";" & strInheritable
  adoRecordset.MoveNext
Loop

' Clean up.
adoRecordset.Close
adoConnection.Close

Monday, January 27, 2014

Setting up Veeam to use USB drives as an offsite backup.

I had a frugal customer have the need for me to utilize USB hard drives as an offsite backup with Veeam.  There were a few goofy challenges involved in doing this, so I thought I’d summarize it for you all.  First, I know of the existence of backup copy jobs in Veeam.  They are too complicated for my needs.  I simply want a FULL backup to USB in addition to the incrementals my regular job makes.  Why?  Well, say my incrementals are corrupt some how?  Maybe I don’t need to back up EVERY VM for offsite?  Plus I don’t need all of the retention of the incrementals on my main job.

Windows-
The challenge here is, you need to keep the drive letter the same when the client rotates the drives.  I utilized a utility called USBDLM.  It’s a pretty simple utility, but I had to play with it to basically figure out that it does a LOT more than we need it to.
-          Download USBDLM from http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbdlm_e.html#download
-          Unzip them into C:\Program Files\USBDLM
-          Create a file called USBDLM.INI, in it put the following and NOTHING ELSE.  I used drive letter “A”, but you can use whatever you want.
[DriveLetters]
Letter1=A
-          Run the _install batch file to install it as a service, run the _start batch file to start it.

From here on out, whenever you connect ANY USB drive it will always be the drive letter specified in the USBDLM.INI.

Veeam-
Pretty straight forward, set up.  First you’re going to create a repository.  Make sure your first USB drive is connected, make a directory to store your backups (if you want, you don’t have to).
-          Open Veeam, go to Backup Infrastructure, and click on Backup Respositories.
-          Right click, Add Backup Repository.
-          I called mine “Offsite”, hit next, leave “Microsoft Windows Server”, hit next, Leave it on “This server”, hit populate.
-          Select your USB Drive.  (A:\ in my case).
-          Select the path you want to back up to.  (A:\Veeam) in my case.
-          Uncheck Enable vPower NFS, Next, Next, Finish.

Now, set up your offsite job.
-          Go to Backup & Replication, Jobs, Backup.
-          Right Click, Backup.  Name the job whatever you want, click next.  (I called mine Offsite)
-          Add the VMs you want to back up.  NOTE- you can remove certain ‘disks’ if you don’t need them to be offsite.  I have giant 4 TB drives, but if I didn’t, I might need to remove the C: drive of my file server for example…  Do this by clicking on Exclusions, Disks, Edit.  Hit Next.
-          Select your Offsite backup repository, change “Restore points to keep on disk” to 1.
-          Click Advanced, set backup mode to Incremental.  (NOT reversed incremental).  Make sure “enable synthetic fulls” is UNchecked.  Check the box under “Active Full Backup” that says “Perform Active Full Backups periodically.  Set the Weekly on selected days to the day of your offsite, Saturday in my case.  Hit OK, then Next.
-          Leave Image Processing and file system indexing unchecked.
-          Schedule your job to run on the day you want, in my case every Saturday night at 10:00 PM.
-          Hit Next, then Finish.

Last but not least, your jobs are going to fill up your hard drive and stop working.  You need to create a batch file to clean this up.  I made a folder on C:\ called DiskCleanup, then made a batch file with this in it-

forfiles -p "A:\Veeam\Offsite Job" -s -m *.* /D -45 /C "cmd /c del @path"


This file will delete backups over 45 days old, which leave me TWO fulls on each drive.  You might need to change the days to less if you only want it to keep one.  Then, make a scheduled task to run your batch file every week.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Florida Vacation Trip Report

This is a brief summary of our trip to Florida!!

Day 1, flew in.  Curbside baggage check with SWA and no baggage fees were awesome.  Chucked 5 bags from the van to the SWA curb check.  Away they went, to arrive in my room that night.  Wow!  What an awesome service!  The girls LOVED the plane ride!  Both of them were so excited about the entire plane ride!  When we arrived, we walked down to the Magical Express check in.  It was fast, no lines, and very quick service.  It felt like Disney was rolling out the red carpet for us!  We got onto the bus and were entertained by a video of various disney rides and shows, followed by some fun disney cartoons.  The girls didn't want to get off the bus!  We arrive at Port Orleans Riverside and checked in with a very friendly 'cast member' (Disney for employee)  Unfortunately our room wasn't ready and we had some problems with it, but everywhere you turn is a disney employee trying to help.  The hotel was neat, with log themed furnature and the best part, a pull down twin bed!  (Our girls do not do well sleeping in the same bed, Kaela kicks and does thingsin her sleep!  On our first night, our travel agent booked us at "Chef Mickies".  I was kind of bummed, it was a ways away (bus trip to Magic Kingdom, then a walk to the Contemporary hotel.  All of a bufet.)  Boy was I wrong!  The girls were excited to meet each character that walked up to our table!  The food was ok for a buffet, but the character experience was amazing!  Oh and they had beer on tap.  :)

Day 2, we got up early (following our travel agents advice) and headed to Magic Kingdon.  Boy was that a great idea.  The weather os overcast and windy, we weren't hot at all!  Leah was really nervnous about the rides.  I bribed her with picking a stuffed animal if she would be brave and try to have fun.  She told me she would if I would ride with her on all of the rides.  We walked on to Winnie the Pooh, Leah hated it and said it was scary.  Then we walked on to Peter Pan, which both kids liked, but Leah was still a little nervous.  I grabbed a fast pass for Little Mermaid, then we headed for the Haunted Mansion which we also walked on to.  The girls both loved it!  We hit Pirates of the Carribean (5 minute line), they both loved that, then Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  This isn't the mild runaway train I remember.  Kaela loved it, Leah did not.  But Leah was very brave and didn't complain or cry.  The next ride, It's a Small World (10 minute line) more than made up for it, both kids loved it.  Next we used our FastPass to walk onto the Under the Sea ride which both kids loved.  Kaela bought a princess dress and accessories for $150 for our Friday Princess dinner and Leah cashed in her bravery for a Marie stuffed animal.  We headed back to the hotel for lunch and a quick nap, then back to MK to their new restauant Be Our Guest.  OMG, our travel agent is amazinng in the reservations he made for us 6 months ago.  I sprinted accrossed the park to grab some fast passes for Splash mountain, then we were seated in the grand ballroom from beuty and the beast, complete with a snow scene out the windows.  The beast (our host) appeared several times in the dining room.  I had a delicious pork chop and Shanna had a really good stead, complete with beers and cream puffs for desert.  We went to the study after dinner where Kaela danced with the beast and we took some pictures.  Kaela and I road Splash Mountain while Shanna and Leah got us front row seats to the parade of lights.  Splash mountain was Kaela's favorite ride and Leah had a blast usingour misty mates to cool off guests on Main Street.  Both girls loved the parade of lights and the amazing fireworks show.  Tip:  Give the kids a coke at dinner, it is amazing at bringing out their second wind.  :)

Day 3, the earliest I could convince everyone to wake up was 7 AM.  And Shanna demanded a real breakfast (instead of the frosted flakes I got her on Saturday.)  We got breakfast at the hotel and headed to Animal Kingdom.  This day wasn't the beutiful cool day we had Saturday, it was HOT!  But that was to be expected.  I blew it on the schedule managment.  We hit Dinasaur!  (10 minute wait)  I loved it, everyone else HATED it.  Whoops.  Ok, next ride was the Rapids.  No fast past, 70 minute line.  Whoops.  That was a fun line but did everyone in.  We ate at Flame Tree BBQ, we brought Shanna her lunch so she could rest.  The food was amazing!  (Another amazing recommedation from our travel agent!)  I tried to come up with a better plan for our schedule in the afternoon and blew it!  Thank god, it worked out amazingly!  I got a FP for the Safari Ride, then used a FP we got before lunch to ride the Everest Rollar Coaster with Kaela.  We headed to the Lion King Show and I relized we were going to miss our Safari Fast Pass.  We walked in and a disney cast member heard me talking up this show to Leah and put us in front row reserved seating!  It gets better, this show was AMAZING.  Singers and dancers meer feet from us.  They invited Kaela and Leah to play instruments and go around the stage with them.  Leah declined, but Kaela amazingly jumped at the chance.  She was on stage in front of hundreds of poeple!  Wow!  The show was awesome, I've never seen Leah have wider eyes!  After the nice air conditioned break, we decided to bust it over to the Safari to try to convince them to accept our fastpass.  We were almost cloeslined by a rope closing the road for an amazing parade.  While the street was cloes, we had inadvertantly scored front row tickets to a really cool parade!  The fact the our fast passes had expired was a moot point, they cut people slack becasue of the parade.  We walked onto the Safari ride and saw amazing animals up close!  After we left, we had a fantastic dinner at Yak & Yetti (How amazing is my travel agent?)  Before doing this, I had the bright idea to try and score a fast pass.  They were all closed, but I ran into a lady who was leaving and gave me two FPs for the Everest Rollar Coaster.  Yak and Yette was the bomb!  Fantastic food!  Kaela and I jumped on the Everest Rollar Coaster again, then we headed to the gift shop for seom seuvineers (Kaela got Giraffe Micky Ears).  We headed back to the hotel for an early evening.  Shanna had a fantastic idea!  Use some of our unused snacks with our Disney Dinning Plan to get some fruit for breakfast to avoid the breakfast run tomorrow!  Nice job, Shanna!  As much food as they are ramming down our throats on the dining plan, we don't tend to use the snacks.  All girls are asleep as I enjoy a cocktail while writing this.  (Interesting point, I packed a bottle of jack to bring along to avoid paying Disney prices for a nightcap at the end of the day!)

Day 4, Nobody would get up before 8:30.  We had breakfast in the room so we got to Hollywood Studios at around 11.  A little cooler, it was overcast.  Lots of fun, we started off with a fastpass for Toy Story which already had a return time of 7:30 PM!  DOH!  Did Star Tours, then MuppetVision 3d which was very cool.  We grabbed lunch then let the kids play in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground.  We did the backlot tour, Voyage of the Little Mermail show, the Great Movie Ride (which we all liked), and the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show (a car stunt show.)  We ate dinner at the 50's prime time cafe, which was hilarious.  All the tables were 50's dining room tables complete with black and white TVs.  The waitresses told Kaela to mind her manors (she almost cried) and threated to send Shanna to the woodshed if she didn't finish her veggies.  (I had to set the table.)  After dinner we did the Toy Story ride and the girls went back to the hotel while I did the tower of terror and the Rock n' Roller Coaster.  We got back to the hotel and found a bear made of towels left by housekeeping and all of the stuffed animal arranged in funny places!

Day 5, Nobody would get up until 9:00!!  We went to Epcot which was pretty neat.  We did Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, then had Fish and Chips in England.  After lunch we did the test track (Leah and Kaela were not amused.), The Seas with Nemo & Friends, the Talking with Crush show, Circle of Life (stupid), and Living with the Land (Shanna's favorite).  We ate dinner at Teppan Edo (Japenese Steakhouse) which was great!  After dinner we rode Soarin' which everyone loved.  It started raining on the way out, welcome Tropical Storm Andrea!

Day 6,  We went to Hurrican Harbor which is one of the water parks.  It rained off and on during the day, but nothing too bad.  I convinced Shanna to do a couple of water slides, and Leah loved the lazy river.  At about 5 Tropical Storm Andrea was in full force, 30 MPH winds and tons of rain.  We bussed it to Epot for a princess charactor dinner at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall.  We rode Maelstrom  right before dinner.  The food was great and all of the princesses came to our table!  After, me and the kids stayed for the fireworks show which was spectacular!  A new towel animal left by housekeeping, a rooster.

Day 7, pouring rain.  (Tropical Storm Andrea still with us.)  We went to Epcot where Leah had a complete meltdown.  Shanna and Leah went back to the hotel and Kaela and I took the monorail to Magic Kingdom.  After braving the storm throw the gates and grabbing some lunch, the storm backed down and we rode Splash Mountain, then Space Mountain (Kaela hated it.) and drove the cars in Tomorrowland.  Back to Epcot for Mexican food at La Hacienda.

Day 8, nice day and we got up early to head to Magic Kingdom!  Rode the Jungle Cruise, Buzz Lightyear, Stitch's Great Escape, went through the Swiss Family Treehouse, the teapcups, the magic carpets, then the Tiki Room.  Back to the hotel for lunch and a nap, then Kaela dressed up as a princess for our princess dinner.  When getting on the bus, we heard an announcment as we departed that said "Please be on your best royal behavior as we have a Disney Royal Princess traveling with us today!"  Kaela loved that!  We did the PhilharMagic show before dinner then dined at Cinderella's Royal Table, the restaurant inside the castle.  All of the princes came to visit our table.  After, Leah insisted we do the Haunted Mansion again, so we did.  Housekeeping made the girls a towel Bunny!

Day 9, we woke up and packed up to head to Sanibel Island!  Driving through central florida, we hit severe rain and flooding, driving through back neighborhoods to get through!  What a crazy drive!  Our condo is beutiful, a $1.6 Million condo on Sanibel Island!  We went out to dinner at a great little resturant and went grocery shopping.

Day 10, we were very worried about the rain so we went out to the beach first thing.  Beutiful, warm water.  Kaela started gathering shells.  In the afternoon the girls and I hit the pool while Shanna did laundry.  I had a few beers with a pharaceutical sales manager who was here from Philidelphia.  (Don't worry, he isn't a Steelers fan, he's from Ohio.  :) )  They had a 7 year old and 4 year old so they played for hours.  I cooked hamburgers and corn on the cob for dinner.

Day 11, another beutiful day on the island!  We slept in and hit the beach, then the pool.  Shanna made pizza and salad for dinner.

Day 12, we decided to drive up the island and shell at another beach. It was beutiful.  We went to a shell store then ate out at the restaurant we ate at the first night.

Day 13, we took a boat cruise with Adventures in Paradise to Cayo Costa island, a state park island only accessible by boat!  We found great shells and the girls had a blast swimming in the gulf.  We saw several dolphins on the way and way back.  We had lunch and beers at Barnacle Phil's, a local favorite for Roberta’s world-famous black beans and yellow rice! This restaurant is on North Captiva Island, an island only accessible by plane or boat.  Cars are not allowed on the island, everyone gets around in golf carts.  We saw a family moving by using a uhaual on a barge!  The food was great!  On the way back a storm rolled in.  When we got back to the condo a HUGE thunderstorm rolled in.  Our timing is amazing!

Day 14, just a boring day at the beach and the pool.  Ate at the condo.

Day 15, another pretty boring day.  Leah lost her water shoe about 5 minutes after we got to the beach, so I grabbed some beers and just hung out at the pool all afternoon.

Day 16, Drove the 4 hours back to Orlando, had lunch at the airport and flew home.  My sister was awesome enough to pick us up at 9 PM!