Virtual Korean

BugCheck c2 RCA

2010-05-06T16:31:00.000-07:00

Symptom:
Bugcheck code 000000C2
Arguments 00000000`00000007 00000000`0000121a 00000000`00000000 fffffadf`fff03010

Cause:
We have seen the current version combination that is running on the system has shown this type of dump in the past. The other thing we want to do is enable Special Pool through Driver Verifier. This way, in case it is not the drivers, we can catch who may be over-writing memory and corrupting it as it should not be.

Resolution:
Update storport and Hpcisss2 per 940015 You receive a Stop error message after you install update 932755 or 941276 on an HP ProLiant server that is running Storport in Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;940015
There is a link to update storport.

For Hpcisss2 contact HP to obtain the latest HP ProLiant Support Pack for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or to obtain an update to HP driver Hpcisss2.sys. For information about how to contact HP, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/vendors

After you have updated storport and hpcisss2 we need to turn on verifier.exe to try and catch the driver that could be corrupting memory.
244617 Using Driver Verifier to identify issues with Windows drivers for advanced users
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;244617

We need to first go ahead and update the HPCISSS2.SYS and STORPORT.SYS files as this version combination has shown this type dump in the past. The other thing we want to do is enable Special Pool through Driver Verifier. This way, in case it is not the drivers, we can catch who may be over-writing memory it should not be. But these drivers need to be updated first as they have caused these known stop errors.

1. Run VERIFIER.EXE from START and RUN
2. Select "Create Custom Settings" and NEXT
3. Select "Select individual settings from a full list" and NEXT
4. Select "Special Pool" and NEXT
5. Select "Select driver names from a list" and NEXT
6. For the list, we can either choose everything or just select driver names. If you choose to select the driver names, select all drivers that are not Microsoft.
7. FINISH and reboot the machine.

*******************************************************************************
* Bugcheck Analysis *
*******************************************************************************

6: kd> vertarget
Windows Server 2003 Kernel Version 3790 (Service Pack 2) MP (8 procs) Free x64
Product: Server, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS
Built by: 3790.srv03_sp2_qfe.090319-1204
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0xfffff800`01000000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0xfffff800`011d8280
Debug session time: Mon Jan 4 03:39:37.433 2010 (UTC - 6:00)
System Uptime: 92 days 3:08:10.224

6: kd> !sysinfo machineid
Machine ID Information [From Smbios 2.4, DMIVersion 36, Size=2523]
BiosVendor = HP
BiosVersion = I14
BiosReleaseDate = 11/03/2008
SystemManufacturer = HP
SystemProductName = ProLiant BL480c G1
SystemFamily = ProLiant
SystemSKU = 435462-B21

6: kd> x srv!srvcomputername
fffffadf`254e5a10 srv!SrvComputerName =
6: kd> !ustr fffffadf`254e5a10
String(24,34) srv!SrvComputerName+0000000000000000 at fffffadf254e5a10: PRBMSGHUB001

6: kd> .bugcheck
Bugcheck code 000000C2
Arguments 00000000`00000007 00000000`0000121a 00000000`00000000 fffffadf`fff03010

BAD_POOL_CALLER (c2)
The current thread is making a bad pool request. Typically this is at a bad IRQL level or double freeing the same allocation, etc.
Arguments:
Arg1: 0000000000000007, Attempt to free pool which was already freed
Arg2: 000000000000121a, (reserved)
Arg3: 0000000000000000, Memory contents of the pool block
Arg4: fffffadffff03010, Address of the block of pool being deallocated

6: kd> !pool fffffadffff03010
Pool page fffffadffff03010 region is Nonpaged pool expansion
fffffadffff03000 is not a valid large pool allocation, checking large session pool...
fffffadffff03000 is freed (or corrupt) pool
Bad allocation size @fffffadffff03000, zero is invalid
***
*** An error (or corruption) in the pool was detected;
*** Attempting to diagnose the problem.
***
*** Use !poolval fffffadffff03000 for more details.
***
Pool page [ fffffadffff03000 ] is __inVALID.
Analyzing linked list...
[ fffffadffff03000 ]: invalid block size [ 0x0 ] should be [ 0x40 ]
Scanning for single bit errors...
None found

6: kd> kv
Child-SP RetAddr : Args to Child : Call Site
fffffadf`23eb9948 fffff800`011ad769 : 00000000`000000c2 00000000`00000007 00000000`0000121a 00000000`00000000 : nt!KeBugCheckEx [d:\nt\base\ntos\ke\amd64\procstat.asm @ 170]
fffffadf`23eb9950 fffff800`010783fa : fffffadf`389ef080 fffffadf`35b6cbf0 fffffadf`fff03010 00000000`00000004 : nt!ExFreePoolWithTag+0x401 [d:\nt\base\ntos\ex\pool.c @ 4636]
fffffadf`23eb9a10 fffff800`01282eda : fffffadf`35aa33b0 fffffadf`23eb9cf0 00000000`00000000 fffffadf`359d64e0 : nt!IopAllocateIrpPrivate+0x13e [d:\nt\base\ntos\io\iomgr\iosubs.c @ 853]
fffffadf`23eb9a70 fffff800`01282b96 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000560 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!IopXxxControlFile+0x6fe [d:\nt\base\ntos\io\iomgr\internal.c @ 9042]
fffffadf`23eb9b90 fffff800`0102e37d : 00000000`058d8358 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000002 fffffadf`23eb9cf0 : nt!NtDeviceIoControlFile+0x56 [d:\nt\base\ntos\io\iomgr\devctrl.c @ 108]
fffffadf`23eb9c00 00000000`77ef0a5a : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiSystemServiceCopyEnd+0x3 (TrapFrame @ fffffadf`23eb9c70) [d:\nt\base\ntos\ke\amd64\trap.asm @ 1974]
00000000`0574e828 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : 0x77ef0a5a

6: kd> !pool 0xfffffadf`389ef080
Pool page fffffadf389ef080 region is Nonpaged pool
*fffffadf389ef000 size: 340 previous size: 0 (Allocated) *ObjT (Protected)
Pooltag ObjT : object type objects, Binary : nt!ob

6: kd> !handle 0x00000000`058d8358
processor number 6, process fffffadf35ba0bc0
PROCESS fffffadf35ba0bc0
SessionId: 0 Cid: 09b8 Peb: 7fffffd4000 ParentCid: 01c8
DirBase: 8d81a000 ObjectTable: fffffa8000361ad0 HandleCount: 478.
Image: MSExchangeTransportLogSearch.exe
Handle table at fffffa8002ee6000 with 478 Entries in use
8530300085320: Unable to read nonpaged object header

6: kd> lmvm storport
start end module name
fffffadf`29238000 fffffadf`29268000 storport (deferred)
Image path: \WINDOWS\system32\drivers\storport.sys
Image name: storport.sys
Timestamp: Sat Feb 17 00:02:03 2007 (45D69A5B)
CheckSum: 0003A30F
ImageSize: 00030000
Translations: 0000.04b0 0000.04e4 0409.04b0 0409.04e4

6: kd> lmvm hpcisss2
start end module name
fffffadf`294f3000 fffffadf`29505000 HpCISSs2 (deferred)
Image path: HpCISSs2.sys
Image name: HpCISSs2.sys
Timestamp: Tue Mar 20 22:18:22 2007 (4600A3FE)
CheckSum: 00015F1F
ImageSize: 00012000
Translations: 0000.04b0 0000.04e4 0409.04b0 0409.04e4

Kernel Dump process for Windows

2010-05-06T16:30:00.001-07:00

Instructions to check if machine is configured properly for generating a kernel dump: -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) On "My Computer" right click and select "Properties"
2) Select the "Advanced" tab in the "System Properties" page
3) Under "Startup and Recovery" section click on the "Settings" button
4) Under the "Write Debugging Information" section select: "Kernel Memory Dump" from the drop down menu
5) Make sure a check mark is placed on:
"Write an event to the system log"
"Overwrite any existing file"
"Send an administrative alter"
6) Check if "Dump File" path is set to "%SystemRoot%\MEMORY.DMP"
7) Make sure that there is page file is set on a system drive (C:) and that it is at least RAM + 12 MB
8) Check if there is at least 1.5 GB of free space on the system drive (C:)
9) ASR or similar feature is disabled from the BIOS which may prevent machine from writing a dump file
10) Make sure the page file is not split and entirely on C:\
11) For better performance it is advised to have initial and maximum size of the page file same e.g. 1024 for Initial size and 1024 for Maximum size.

OSD for Workstation Deployments Not Functioning Properly

2010-05-06T16:27:00.001-07:00

Symptom:
Customer has recently implemented an new SCCM 2007 site server on a server 2008 system. They are reporting that they are having issues with getting OSD working on this new site. They are reporting multiple problems and need assistance getting OSD working in their environment.

Cause:
Following files were missing\incorrect in the WIM
\Data files:
- TSMBOOTSTRAP.INI
- VARIABLES.DAT

Resolution:
http://blog.coretech.dk/osdeploy/boot-media/using-wds-for-legacy-ris-images-sccm-boot-images-and-psp-sccm-pxe-service-point

++++++++++++++++
Creating the SCCM Boot.wim (this is a rewrite of Johan Arwidmark’s excellent guide)

1. Log on to the primary site server that holds the MP (if more than one is present, repeat step 2 thru 7 on each one).

2. In the TaskSequence node, created a CD boot media, e.g. C:\Deploy.iso

3. Extract the C:\Deploy.iso to a folder e.g. C:\DeployCD

4. Using Imagex, mount the C:\DeployCD\Source\boot.wim to a folder e.g. C:\Mount
imagex /mountrw C:\DeployCD\boot.wim 1 C:\Mount

5. Copy C:\DeployCD\SMS\DATA to C:\Mount\SMS (the entire folder not just the files)

6. Using Imagex, unmount the image and commit the changes.
imagex /unmount /commit D:\Mount

7. Add the C:\DeployCD \Sources\boot.wim as a boot image to on the WDS Server.
++++++++++++++++

Customer performed steps above and was able to get PXE boot working as before in old environment. There paths were different in steps 6 but process is the same.

What was missing in the WIM was the \Data files:
- TSMBOOTSTRAP.INI
- VARIABLES.DAT

Process above made those available in the resulting WIM file.

Exchange Server Enterprise 2003/Having problem sending emails to distribution list

2010-05-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

Setup:
=======
>>Multi domain environment

Issue :
=====
Mails sent to corp DL gets stuck in the MADL QUEUE
The corp DL is a nested DL
The type of the DL is GLOBAL security group
Expansion server is set to ANY SERVER

Symptom:

=========

When a user sends a message to a global distribution or security group in a multidomain forest, the users in the global distribution group may not receive the message. The last entry in the tracking logs is a submission to categorizer.

The person who sends the message does not receive a non-delivery report (NDR). The sent message disappears and is not delivered. The message to the Global DL that has disappeared in CAT cannot be retrieved. It is not in the Queue directory or in the Temp table.

Mail that is sent directly to individual members of the global groups delivers successfully.

Concern:
==========

The DS access tab contains ‘n’ number of servers , then why does exchange contact another GC in other domains?

Was working for years, and why is it all happening all of a sudden.

Explanation:
============

Exchange doesn't much care which GC it talks to. It picks a DC based on the DS Access Tab of the Expansion Server and on the AD site. If the GC knows the DL name and knows the members of it, the query would be resolved. If the GC doesn't know the members of the DL, the query ends there and we see the hard error in the application log, due to expansion failure (Provided the diagnostic logging enabled for CAT).

In Exchange 2000 and 2003, Microsoft recommends that all distribution groups used for email are Universal groups, not Domain Local or Global groups. This has been our recommendation for many years, as configurations outside of this can result in abnormal mail flow (as you have seen) or lost email. To quote from our Knowledge Base Article #839949:

“Only universal group memberships are replicated across all domains to all global catalog servers in the forest. Microsoft always recommends using universal distribution groups for mail distribution in a multi-domain”

Now some further explanations as to why this is a problem:
====================================================

In short, Exchange is simply delivering the mail to the users that it is told should receive it. Please note that Exchange knows nothing about the members of the DL, it counts on the GC to provide this information. The basic process looks like this:

- Mail is sent to a distribution list from the mail client of choice.
- Exchange Categorizes the message, and in the process needs to lookup the members of the DL.
- Exchange sends an LDAP query to a GC, the GC looks up the DL name, checks the membership, and responds to Exchange with recipients.
- Exchange delivers successfully to all recipients. Looks good, the process worked.

Now let’s say the DL contains 100 recipients. But because Exchange delivers based off what the GC tells us, and it only knows about 20 users, Exchange is acting as designed. We cannot NDR the message or throw an error, or notify anyone there was a problem, because we simply weren’t told by the GC that the message was ever intended for those additional 80 people. But in the example, the reason the DL is missing 80 people from the membership because the recipients are spread across multiple domains, and global or domain local memberships are not replicated to all GC’s. As we know, only universal groups and their members are replicated across the organization to all GC’s. This is the reason only Universal Groups are recommended and supported for mail flow

It is also important to note that Exchange first queries any GC in its AD Site. Remember that GC’s from different domains can be kept in the same AD Site. Group memberships as noted above, however, are kept per domain. So when Exchange is looking for a GC, it is quite possible for Exchange to pick alternate GC’s in its AD Site, each containing memberships for different domains. Again, this is another reason Universal Groups are recommended.

Also, please be aware that in Exchange 2007, only Universal mail enabled Distribution Lists can be created. Though, you can view the Global Groups using Exchange management console.

Related articles:

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=839949
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc755692.aspx
http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2006/06/23/428114.aspx

Windows Server 2003 Standard\print spooler - spooler service is crashing

2010-05-06T16:18:00.001-07:00

Symptom:
Print spooler service crashes on Windows 2003 print server.

Cause:
Based on the crash dump analysis we found C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3\CSPEUI.dll was causing issue.

Resolution:
We renamed this dll file and removed AdobePS IKONV2_1 drivers from the print server.
We applied hotfix KB 946198 for printers showing offline issue and reboot the print server.
Print spooler seems to be stable after this fix.

Additional Information:
946198 The print queue status is displayed as "Offline" on a Windows Server 2003-based print server if SNMP is enabled and if the printer devices do not respond to SNMP commands
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;946198

Long time since my last post

2010-04-30T10:30:00.001-07:00

I know it's been a very long time since my last post. This again is a website I try to use for my own knowledge refresher and to state my opinions. I would like to continually update this blog and eventually make it a more informing blog that will interest and entertain other people.

Change Cluster Account Password KB

2009-06-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

Note: In Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and Microsoft Windows 2000, to change the Cluster service account password, you have to stop the Cluster service on all nodes before you can make the password change

To Prompt for password, use the following parameters: (Password will not be visible while being typed and it will prompt for confirmation)
cluster /cluster:EASTCLUSTER /changepassword /skipdc /force

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305813

Video Conference

2009-04-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

MSMQ Cluster

2009-03-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

On any MSMQ server, it’s usually a good idea to implement the BindInterfaceIP key if there are multiple NICs involved, especially if there are multiple IPs which map to different subnets. MSMQ will pick one, and then use the subnet from that IP to determine its site membership. On a cluster, you almost always have the clustered IP, and the IP from the heartbeat NIC which can cause problems, so it’s especially important to include this key on a cluster. Here’s the reference:

329492 A cluster node with two network cards does not receive messages

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;329492

We also recommend using MMCV to view the queues, and keeping TMQ handy:

898701 How to use the Mmcv.exe utility to manage clustered Message Queuing resources

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;898701

887220 Description of TMQTools utilities for Microsoft Message Queuing

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;887220

You had also asked about getting performance counters to work on an MSMQ cluster. As we discussed, on a typical MSMQ cluster, there are at least 3 instances of MSMQ, the clustered instance, and the two local instances. Only one instance can be monitored remotely. You need to add the NetNameForPerfCounters registry key as described in this article:

884975 Performance Monitor counters may not appear, and the counter values may be incorrect when you remotely monitor clustered instances of Message Queuing in Windows 2000 Server

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;884975

The key should be added to both nodes, and if you’re still having problems, to the clustered registry section of MSMQ as well (Clustered QMs\MSMQ$MyResource\Parameters). The computer should then be rebooted. When adding the key, please note that the machine name needs to be added in uppercase letters. If the counters are still not visible remotely, then try the following:

-From a clustered command prompt, run “perfmon” and see if they’re viewable. If they are, then we know the MSMQ counters are working, and we’re having problems with the key. Try restarting the remote registry service on the active node, and see if that resolves the problem of viewing the counters remotely.

-If the counters are still not viewable, remove the registry key, and start the local MSMQ service on the inactive node, see if you can view the counters

-If the counters are not viewable from a clustered command prompt, then most likely there’s a problem with the counters themselves. Run the following command from a regular command prompt on both nodes:

-unlodctr MSMQ

-Reboot

-Switch to the Windows\System32 directory

-lodctr mqperf.ini

-Reboot

-Test the counters

Dynamic disks fail on import

2009-03-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

Problem: Dynamic disks fail on import
Environment – 2003 SP1 – not clustered
Root Cause (if known) – LDM database had errors on disks
Resolution – Copy good LDM header to remaining disks. Convert two disks from dynamic to basic.

Tools used was dmpss and diskprobe. The header was change by reading the binary and changing the hex to match the basic disk headers.

MSMQ issues with messages not be delivered

2009-03-16T17:23:00.000-07:00

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:

Messages are stuck in the outgoing queue on an MSMQ Sender, and cannot be sent the cluster.

RESOLUTION:

Once we determined that public queues were being used, we found that MSMQ was associated with the wrong site. Most likely this was due to the cluster having multiple IPs, and MSMQ choosing the incorrect IP to determine site membership. Implementing the BindInterfaceIP registry key should avoid this from happening in the future.

Vista high cpu issues

2009-03-16T17:10:00.000-07:00

Turned out to be a bogus network adapter in the regkey created by Juniper VPN

Delete from this location

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\DNSRegisteredAdapters\

A unique guid will be here for the network adapters. Make sure to delete the correct key.

Sharepoint 2003 on MSDE

2009-03-16T14:06:00.000-07:00

-----------------------------------------------------

CASE RESOLUTION AGREEMENT:

-----------------------------------------------------

- We are trying to upload multiple documents on the document library of the SharePoint site .

- It is failing with an error – “Form Validation error. The web server is too busy. Please try again”

- This issue is happening with this site only.

- Once we will be able to successfully upload multiple documents to this SharePoint site, we should consider this case as resolved/closed.

-----------------------------------------------------

CURRENT ACTION PLAN:

-----------------------------------------------------

- We have found that we are using SQL MSDE database with SharePoint.

- MSDE database has a limit of 2 GB as per http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms811304.aspx.

- It also mentions the statement – “Applications may grow beyond the MSDE 2000 2-GB data limit or the application's user base may grow beyond the workload limitation in SQL Server Desktop Engine. If this occurs, Microsoft recommends migrating the MSDE 2000 solution to a SQL Server based solution. SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000) can be upgraded to SQL Server 2000 Personal and Standard Editions”

- We confirmed that we have crossed the 2 GB limit for the database.

- We also confirmed that the SITE database upgraded successfully to the proper level.

- We will migrate the databases to Microsoft SQL server tomorrow at 09:00 P PST.

----------------------------------------------------

Important Articles

----------------------------------------------------

SQL MSDE has 2 GB limit

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms811304.aspx

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324992

How to move SharePoint Portal Server 2003 from SQL MSDE databases to Microsoft SQL Server

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/837848

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894164/en-us

Disk provisioning from AP

2009-03-16T14:02:00.001-07:00

$TargetDCName = "servername"

[array]$logDeviceIDList = @()

[array]$LogDriveLetters = "H","I","J","K","L","M","N","O","P","Q","R","S"

[array]$LogDiskNumbers = @()

[array]$dbDeviceIDList = @()

[array]$DBDiskNumbers = @()

$sgprefix = (hostname).Substring((hostname).Length - 4,4) + "-SG"

$logdiskpartInputFile = (get-childitem env:TMP).Value + "\logdiskpart.in"

$dbdiskpartinputfile = (get-childitem env:TMP).Value + "\DBdiskpart.in"

$logformatbatchFile = (get-childitem env:TMP).Value + "\logformatVolumes.bat"

$dbFormatBatchFile = (get-childitem env:TMP).Value + "\DBformatVolumes.bat"

Function Delete-IfExists

{cn

if (test-path $args[0])

{

write-warning "Deleting existing $args[0] file"

(get-childitem $args[0]).Delete()

}

Function Get-SGNumber

{#determine if the SG number is 9 or less. If so, add a leading zero for clarity and admin view in the console and powershell.

if ($i+1 -lt 10)

{

$SG = "0"+[string]($i+1)

}

else

{

$SG = [string]($i+1)

}

return $SG

}

#delete batch/script files if they exist in %tmp%

delete-IfExists $logDiskPartInputFile

delete-ifexists $dbdiskpartinputfile

delete-ifexists $logformatbatchfile

delete-ifexists $dbformatbatchfile

################################

#DEFINE LOG DRIVES

$LogDrives = get-wmiobject win32_diskdrive | where {[math]::Round($_.size/1024/1024/1024,0) -eq 89}

if ($LogDrives.Count -eq 12)

{

foreach ($logdrive in $logdrives)

{

if ($logdrive.DeviceID.Length -eq 18)

{

$logDeviceIDList = $logDeviceIDList + ($LogDrive.DeviceID -replace ("DRIVE","DRIVE0"))

}

else

{

$logDeviceIDList = $logDeviceIDList + $LogDrive.DeviceID

}

#generate the array of disk numbers for diskpart's "SELECT DISK " command

$logDeviceIDList | sort | foreach {

$logDiskNumbers = $logDiskNumbers + $_.Substring($_.Length - 2,2)

}

#generate the logdiskpart.in file in %TMP% for logfiles

for ($i=0; $i -lt 12; $i++)

{

$SGNumber = Get-SGNumber

add-content -path $logdiskpartInputFile -value ("select disk " + $LogDiskNumbers[$i])

add-content -path $logdiskpartInputFile -value ("create partition primary align = 1024")

add-content -path $logdiskpartInputFile -value ("assign letter " + $logDriveLetters[$i] + ":")

add-content -path $logformatbatchFile -value ("format " + $logDriveLetters[$i] + ": /a:64K /FS:NTFS /v:" + $SGPrefix + $SGNumber + " /q /y")

}

$i = $null #reset the counter for later use

write-warning "In 5 seconds, the below dispart script will run. To cancel, press Ctrl-C NOW"

sleep 1

gc $logdiskpartInputFile

sleep 5

write-host "Running diskpart..."

diskpart.exe /s $logdiskpartinputfile

write-warning "In 5 seconds, the below format script will run. To cancel, press Ctrl-C NOW"

sleep 1

gc $logformatbatchFile

sleep 5

write-host "Running format..."

cmd.exe /c $logformatbatchFile

#Create mount point placeholder folders and log folders

for ($i=0; $i -lt 12; $i++)

{

$SGNumber = Get-SGNumber

new-item -path ($logdriveletters[$i] + ":") -name ($sgprefix + $SGNumber + "-DB" + $SGNumber) -type directory

new-item -path ($logdriveletters[$i] + ":") -name ($sgprefix + $SGNumber + "-Logs") -type directory

}

$i = $null

#################################

#DEFINE DB MOUNT POINTS

$DBDrives = get-wmiobject win32_diskdrive | where {[math]::Round($_.size/1024/1024/1024,0) -eq 132}

if ($DBDrives.Count -eq 12)

{

foreach ($DBdrive in $DBdrives)

{

if ($DBdrive.DeviceID.Length -eq 18)

{

$DBDeviceIDList = $DBDeviceIDList + ($DBDrive.DeviceID -replace ("DRIVE","DRIVE0"))

}

else

{

$DBDeviceIDList = $DBDeviceIDList + $DBDrive.DeviceID

}

#generate the array of disk numbers for diskpart "SELECT DISK" command

$DBDeviceIDList | sort | foreach {

$DBDiskNumbers = $DBDiskNumbers + $_.Substring($_.Length - 2,2)

}

for ($i=0; $i -lt 12; $i++)

{

$SGNumber = Get-SGNumber

add-content -path $DBdiskpartInputFile -value ("select disk " + $DBDiskNumbers[$i])

add-content -path $DBdiskpartInputFile -value ("create partition primary align = 1024")

add-content -path $DBdiskpartInputFile -value ("assign mount " + $logdriveletters[$i] + ":\" + $sgPrefix + $SGNumber + "-DB" + $SGNumber)

add-content -path $DBformatbatchFile -value ("format " + $logdriveletters[$i] + ":\" + $sgPrefix + $SGNumber + "-DB" + $SGNumber + " /a:64K /FS:NTFS /v:" + $SGPrefix + $SGNumber + "-DB" + $SGNumber + " /q /y")

}

$i = $null #reset the counter for later use

write-warning "In 5 seconds, the below dispart script will run. To cancel, press Ctrl-C NOW"

sleep 1

gc $DBdiskpartInputFile

sleep 5

write-host "Running diskpart..."

diskpart.exe /s $DBdiskpartinputfile

write-warning "In 5 seconds, the below format script will run. To cancel, press Ctrl-C NOW"

sleep 1

gc $DBformatbatchFile

sleep 5

write-host "Running format..."

cmd.exe /c $DBformatbatchFile

#################################################

# CREATE STORAGE GROUPS AND DATABASES

write-warning "To skip the storage group and database provisioning, press CTRL+C NOW"

sleep 5

for ($i=0; $i -lt 12; $i++)

{

$SGNumber = Get-SGNumber

$SGFilesPath = $logdriveletters[$i] + ":\" + $sgprefix + $SGNumber + "-Logs"

$DatabaseFilePath = $logdriveletters[$i] + ":\" + $sgPrefix + $SGNumber + "-DB" + $SGNumber

new-StorageGroup -Name ("SG" + $SGNumber) -LogFolderPath $SgFilesPath -SystemFolderPath $sgFilesPath -DomainController $TargetDCName | foreach {new-mailboxdatabase -StorageGroup $_.Name -Name ("DB" + $SGNumber) -DomainController $targetDCName}

}

Cluster Config Powershell from Alex Pavlovsky

2009-03-16T13:59:00.000-07:00

if ($args.count -ne 2){

write-host "usage: installcluster.ps1 10.0.0.1(virtual ip of the cluster) PRBMSGHUB001(file share wittness name)"

break}

else{

$clusterVname = ((hostname).substring(0,(hostname).Length - 1)+'v') -replace "PRB","PRC"

$clusterBname = (hostname).substring(0,(hostname).Length - 1)+'b'

$creds = get-credential

$ClusterSvc = $creds.Username

$ClusterPwd = $creds.Password

$clusterVIPAddress = $args[0]

$fswName = $args[1]

write-host""

write-host "Cluster Configuration Parameters:"

write-host "=================================================="

write-host ""

write-host "Virtual cluster name: " $clusterVName

write-host "Cluster IP address: " $clusterVIPAddress

write-host "Cluster service account: " $clusterSvc

write-host "=================================================="

write-host ""

write-host "The cluster configuration will execute in 10 seconds. To cancel, press Ctrl-C"

start-sleep -s 10

Cluster.exe /cluster:$clustervname /create /node:(hostname) /ipaddress:$clusterVIPAddress /user:$ClusterSvc /min

Cluster.exe $clusterVName res "Majority Node Set" /create /group:`"Cluster Group`" /type:`"Majority Node Set`"

Cluster.exe $clusterVName res `"Majority Node Set`" /online

Cluster.exe $clusterVName /quorum:`"Majority Node Set`"

Cluster.exe $clusterVName res `"Local Quorum`" /offline

Cluster.exe $clusterVName res `"Local Quorum`" /delete

write-host "================================================="

write-host "Completed the cluster configuration for node A."

write-host ""

write-host "WARNING: Node $clusterbname will be added in 10 seconds. To cancel, press Ctrl+C"

start-sleep -s 10

cluster.exe $clusterVName /add:$clusterbname /min

write-host "================================================="

write-host "Completed the cluster configuration for node B."

write-host "Creating File Share Witness share:"

new-item \\$fswname\c$\MNS_FSW_$clusterVName -type directory

$Class = "Win32_Share"

$Method = "Create"

$MC = [WmiClass]"\\$FSWName\ROOT\CIMV2:$Class"

$InParams = $mc.psbase.GetMethodParameters($Method)

$InParams.Access = $null

$InParams.Description = "$clusterVName file share witness"

$InParams.MaximumAllowed = 10

$InParams.Name = [string]"MNS_FSW_$clusterVname"

$InParams.Password = $null

$InParams.Path = "C:\MNS_FSW_$clusterVname"

$InParams.Type = [uint32]0

$result = $mc.PSBase.InvokeMethod($Method, $inParams, $Null)

if ($result.ReturnValue -ne 0) {

write-host "Failed to create MNS Share"

}

else

{

write-host "Created MNS share succesfully. Please set appropriate security ACLs on the share (by default, everyone has full access = VERY BAD)."

cluster.exe $clusterVName res `"Majority Node Set`" /priv MNSFIleShare=\\$fswName\MNS_FSW_$clusterVName

cluster.exe $clusterVName group `"Cluster Group`" /move

cluster.exe $clusterVName res `"Majority Node Set`" /priv

cluster.exe $clustervName /priv HeartBeatLostInterfaceTicks=10:DWORD

cluster.exe $clustervName /priv HeartBeatLostNodeTicks=10:DWORD

cluster.exe $clusterVname network "Heartbeat" /prop Role=1

cluster.exe $clusterVname /setnetpri:"Heartbeat","Team"

write-host "Please reboot each cluster node to complete configuration."

write-host "It is also necessary to change share permissions on the MNS FSW"

}

RDP powershell script from Alex Pavlovsky

2009-03-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

Ever been tired of ping –t, then waiting until the remote desktop is available when rebooting servers? No more! Save the below script as a .ps1 file (for example, c:\connect.ps1), and run the following command:

C:\connect.ps1 –server servername

When the server comes online and is reachable via terminal services, the TS connect window will automatically pop up. No more guessing when it’s ready!

param(
$server = $(Read-Host "Enter the server number")
)
$ping = new-object System.Net.NetworkInformation.Ping
do {$testPing = $ping.Send($server)} while ($testPing.status -ne "Success")
write-host "Ping successfull, trying connection on 3389"
do {$socket = new-object System.Net.Sockets.TCPClient($server,3389)} while ($socket.Connected -ne $true)
write-host "Port 3389 listening, connecting MSTSC"
mstsc -v $server

An update to turn off default SNP features is available for Windows Server 2003-based and Small Business Server 2003-based computers

2009-03-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

Issues:
After you install Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Windows Server 2003 Scalable Networking Pack (SNP) on a computer that has a TCP/IP Offload-enabled network adapter, you may experience many network-related problems.

To manually disable RSS and TCP Offload yourself, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
Right-click EnableTCPChimney, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
Right-click EnableRSS, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
Right-click EnableTCPA, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
Exit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

Microsoft Visio Toolbox

2009-03-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a brief synopsis of some of the tools and connectors available at the Microsoft Visio Toolbox (http://visiotoolbox.com):

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer for Visio
The Visio Connector for MBSA is an add-in that extends the functionality of network diagrams created in Visio 2007 Professional. With properly entered Shape Data of each computer shape (Network Name, IP Address ), the Visio Connector for MBSA displays a smart tag when you hover over a computer shape, enabling you to perform a MBSA scan from the diagram. Alternatively, you can import existing MBSA scan results using the MBSA menu. The Visio 2007 Connector for MBSA displays color-coded results on the diagram that represents the baseline security status of your network. Detailed baseline security reports can be displayed in a report window by selecting an individual computer shape.
Available at: http://visiotoolbox.com/downloads.aspx?resourceid=2&aid=59

Visio for SQL Server Connector
Visio Infrastructure for SQL Servers is a tool which is meant for IT administrators who require constant interactions with the users for the installations of the SQL server in any IT infrastructure. This tool eases the constant communication between the end user and the administrator where administrators will have a ready to install visual representation of data which can be executed later to build the infrastructures efficiently. This diagrammatic representation of SQL Servers with the configuration data of each server will help installation implementation with less communication with the end user. The objective of this tool is to prove the capabilities of Visio to draw the effective diagrams using Visio SDK.
Available at: http://visiotoolbox.com/downloads.aspx?resourceid=2&aid=68

SCOM & SCCM Connector
With Microsoft Visio 2007 Pro the user now has the ability to connect data to diagrams and use data graphics to make the visualization more meaningful and impactful. The OpsManager and ConfigManager Solution for Visio 2007 Pro helps you visualize your key reports. Using the solutions framework which utilizes an easy to configure web server component provided for your environment you can now easily connect data from OpsManager and ConfigManager in Visio 2007 Pro.
Available at: http://visiotoolbox.com/downloads.aspx?resourceid=2&aid=67

Microsoft Active Directory Topology Diagrammer
With the Active Directory Topology Diagrammer tool, you can read your Active Directory structure through Microsoft ActiveX® Data Objects (ADO). The Active Directory Topology Diagrammer tool automates Microsoft Office Visio to draw a diagram of the Active Directory Domain topology, your Active Directory Site topology, your OU structure or your current Exchange 200X Server Organization. With the Active Directory Topology Diagrammer tool, you can also draw partial Information from your Active Directory, like only one Domain or one site. The objects are linked together, and arranged in a reasonable layout that you can later interactively work with the objects in Microsoft Office Visio.
Available at: http://visiotoolbox.com/downloads.aspx?resourceid=2&aid=538

Near Real Time Monitoring Connector
Microsoft Visio 2007 Connector for Near Real Time Monitoring (NRTM) of Disk Space uses the new Data Graphics feature of Visio 2007 to display the results of server monitoring. This application enables effective integration of Microsoft Office Visio 2007 with the service management solution System Center Operations Manager 2007. The Visio 2007 Connector helps to view the results of monitoring servers as a clear, comprehensive Visio network diagram.
Available at: http://visiotoolbox.com/downloads.aspx?resourceid=2&aid=61

WBS Modeler
The Microsoft Office Visio 2007 WBS Modeler is intended to improve the project planning process by giving the opportunity to generate Project Plans from a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) using a graphical representation of elements. The Application enables effective integration of Microsoft Office Visio 2007 with Microsoft Office Project 2007. It provides an approach to visually and graphically create, edit and modify project plans using Visio 2007.
Available at: http://visiotoolbox.com/downloads.aspx?resourceid=2&aid=51

IconSet Builder
The Icon Set Builder provides a quick and easy way to create custom Icon Sets that you can use in the Data Graphics in your diagram. Just upload the images you want to use, then copy the resulting shape into your diagram or template. This copies in the icon set so that you can use it in other data graphics.
Available at: http://visiotoolbox.com/downloads.aspx?resourceid=2&aid=60

User Profile Hive Cleanup tool to remediate profiles not unloading

2009-03-16T11:31:00.000-07:00

Issues: User profiles not unloading after logoff.
Resolution: UPHCleanup 1.6d

Windows blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/uphclean/

Real world problems

Here are actual scenarios that UPHClean v2.0 resolves:

VMware hgfs.dat
VMware creates the hgfs.dat file in profile folder for the first user that logs in and keeps it open. When using roaming profiles you get a problem with that. (read VMware FAQ1317 for a solution)
SUN Java (JRE)In some cases SUN Java creates a folder called hsperfdata with file permissions only set to the user and can not be removed by the system without taking ownership. SUN say’s this is by design (bug id 5042659)
Microsoft Internet explorer cookies and favoritesFavorites and cookie files sometimes excide more than 255 chars and can only be deleted through the command line
Also suspects for open file handles causing sharing violation SAP SapGui (SapWorkDir), Imprivata SSO, Indexing Software, Virus scanner etc.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1317

Details

When I log off from a terminal server in a virtual machine, why do I get these messages?

Windows cannot copy file C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\VMware\hgfs.dat to \\\\\\Windows\profile\Application Data\VMware\hgfs.dat

Windows cannot update your roaming profile. Reason: The process cannot access the file because the file is being used by another process.
Solution

If you use Terminal Services (TS) to connect to a virtual machine running a terminal server, and you have the roaming profiles feature enabled, TS caches your profile in the virtual machine for the duration of your TS session. When you log off at the end of the session, TS tries to rewrite your profile to the roaming profile server.

If you also have the VMware shared folders feature enabled in the virtual machine, TS tries to copy the file hgfs.dat back to the roaming profile server. This operation fails because VMware Tools keeps the file open with exclusive access; the file cannot be accessed by the Windows guest. This results in the error messages you have seen.

These messages are seen only by the first user to log on through TS; subsequent logons do not cause the user profiles to be cached, because the shared folders feature was not designed for concurrent session access.

You can safely ignore the failure to copy the roaming profile, but you may lose changes to your shared folder mappings that were made in the current session.

The shared folders feature is not supported by ESX Server or GSX Server, but is enabled when you install VMware Tools with the Complete option. The feature is not enabled when you install VMware Tools with the Typical option under these products.

You can work around the problem by changing a value in this registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\NetworkProvider\Order\

The workaround disables the VMware shared folders feature in the virtual machine. Since the feature is not supported by ESX Server or GSX Server, disabling it is not a problem. However, if you migrate the virtual machine to Workstation, you will not have access to VMware shared folders unless you re-enable the feature.

Access the Windows Registry. Choose Start > Run, then type regedit. The Registry Editor window opens.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\NetworkProvider\Order\.
Right-click ProviderOrder and choose Modify. In the Edit String Value dialog box, edit the value data string and remove the word hgfs.
Click OK.
Close the registry editor. Choose File > Exit.
Reboot the virtual machine.

If you ever want to re-enable the VMware shared folders feature, add ,hgfs to the end of the value data string, or set the string to hgfs if it is empty. Alternatively, you can reinstall VMware Tools, using the Complete option to re-enable shared folders.

Product Versions
VMware ESX 2.0.x
VMware ESX 2.1.x
VMware ESX 2.5.x
VMware ESX 3.0.x
VMware ESX 3.5.x
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Installable
VMware GSX Server 3.x (Linux hosts)
VMware GSX Server 3.x (Windows hosts)

Security Compliance Management Toolkit Series

2009-03-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

This Solution Accelerator is designed to help your organization meet its security and compliance requirements by providing the following resources:

Prescriptive, tested, end-to-end security guidance from Microsoft for Windows Vista® Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows XP® Professional SP3, Windows Server® 2008, Windows Server® 2003 SP2, and 2007 Microsoft Office SP1.
Automated tools like the GPOAccelerator to help you configure and deploy recommended security settings.
Configuration Packs for you to use with the desired configuration management (DCM) feature of Microsoft® System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 to monitor the Microsoft security guidance deployed in your environment. You can also remediate security baseline issues with this functionality.
Reporting functionality you can use to notify auditors that the computers in your environment are in compliance with best practices and the security recommendations for these Windows operating systems and Office applications.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc677002.aspx

Microsoft Operations Framework

2009-03-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

In case you have not already heard, MOF 4.0 was recently released. The guidance in MOF 4.0 encompasses all of the activities, workflow, and processes involved in managing an IT service: its conception, development, operation, maintenance, and—ultimately—its retirement.

With this release, MOF now reflects a single, comprehensive IT service lifecycle—it helps IT professionals connect service management principles to everyday IT tasks and activities and ensures alignment between IT and the business. MOF 4.0 content is available for download here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=457ed61d-27b8-49d1-baca-b175e8f54c0c&DisplayLang=en

As part of the MOF 4.0 release, the MOF dev team released a set of job aids that can be used to facilitate the application of MOF guidance. These job aids are intended to provide tools that IT professionals can put to immediate use. The Job aids are in the form of templates and examples; these items can be tailored to meet the needs of specific organizations and activities.The job aids are packaged by MOF phase, so IT pros can choose the tools that are likely to be most useful given the task at hand. Below is a list of what is available within each package:
Manage
Change Management Forward Schedule Template
Request for Change Template
Risk Template Tool
Plan
Operating Level Agreement Template
Operations Level Agreement
Privacy Policy Sample
Service Level Agreement Template
SIP Service Catalog Sample
Deliver
Functional Specification
Migration Plan
Site Deployment Project Plan
Test Cases Workbook
Test Plan
Test Specification
Training Plan
Vision Scope
Operate
Incident Management Ticket Template
Operations and Services Description Template
The job aids are available for download here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b7fc1b86-8e3c-47db-8121-03f41e7277ad&DisplayLang=en. This collection of job aids will be expanded on an ongoing basis, supplying tools for IT professionals to use throughout the IT service lifecycle. Send your questions or feedback to the MOF dev team directly at mof@microsoft.com

A hotfix is available that improves the stability of the Windows Management Instrumentation repository in Windows Server 2003

2009-03-16T11:17:00.000-07:00

High handle count on Windows 2003 servers

http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?kbid=933061

csrss = 292,362 and svchost = 100,854

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 3.1 (MAP) NOW AVAILABLE!

2009-03-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

I've used this as a poor man's vmware's capacity planner. Because I can basically get similar statistics such as cpu, memory, disk I/O

Cost: None

Download MAP 3.1: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=111000
Read more about MAP: http://www.microsoft.com/MAP
View demos on Team Blog: http://blogs.technet.com/MAPBLOG

Micrsosoft Best Practices for various products

2009-03-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Best Practices Analyzers
Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool
The ISA Server Best Practices Analyzer is a diagnostic tool that automatically performs specific tests on configuration data collected on the local ISA Server computer from the ISA Server hierarchy of administration COM objects, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) classes, the system registry, files on disk, and the Domain Name System (DNS) settings. The resulting report details critical configuration issues, potential problems, and information about the local computer. By following the recommendations of the tool, administrators can achieve greater performance, scalability, reliability, and uptime.

Microsoft Exchange Best Practices Analyzer v2.8
The Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer programmatically collects settings and values from data repositories such as Active Directory, registry, metabase and performance monitor. Once collected, a set of comprehensive ‘best practice’ rules are applied to the topology. Administrators running this tool will get a detailed report listing the recommendations that can be made to the environment to achieve greater performance, scalability and uptime.
See the Exchange Team blog for more info on the Exchange 2007 Readiness Check: http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2006/07/28/428506.aspx. Additional Exchange Analyzer tools are available here.

SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer
The SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) gathers data from Microsoft Windows and SQL Server configuration settings. BPA uses a predefined list of SQL Server 2005 recommendations and best practices to determine if there are potential issues in the database environment.

Microsoft Best Practices Analyzer for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and the 2007 Microsoft Office System
The Microsoft Best Practices Analyzer for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and the 2007 Microsoft Office System Best Practices Analyzer programmatically collects settings and values from data repositories such as MS SQL, registry, metabase and performance monitor. Once collected, a set of comprehensive ‘best practice’ rules are applied to the topology. Administrators running this tool will get a detailed report listing the recommendations that can be made to the environment to achieve greater performance, scalability and uptime.

Microsoft Forefront Client Security BPA
The FCS Best Practices Analyzer Tool is designed for administrators who want to determine the overall health of their Forefront computers and to diagnose current problems. The tool scans the configuration settings of the computer and reports issues that do not conform to the recommended best practices.

Office Communications Server 2007 Best Practices Analyzer
The Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Best Practices Analyzer Tool is a diagnostic tool that gathers configuration information from a Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 environment and determines whether the configuration is set according to Microsoft best practices. You can install the tool on a client computer that runs Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, or on a server that runs Office Communications Server 2007.

Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices Anaylzer
This tool examines a server that is running Windows Small Business Server 2003. The tool collects configuration information from many sources including the following sources:
- Active Directory Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
- Registry
- Metabase
Then, the tool analyzes the collected information, and the tool verifies this information for correctness. After the tool has collected and analyzed the information, the tool presents a list of issues that are sorted by severity. For each issue, the tool provides descriptions of what the problem is and of how you can fix this issue.

Best Practice Analyzer for ASP.NET
The Best Practice Analyzer ASP.NET (alpha release) is a tool that scans the configuration of an ASP.NET 2.0 application. The tool can scan against three mainline scenarios (hosted environment, production environment, or development environment) and identify problematic configuration settings in the machine config or web config files associated with your ASP.NET application. This is an alpha release intended to gain feedback on the tool and the configuration rules included with it.

BizTalk Server 2006 Best Practices Analyzer
The BizTalk Server 2006 Best Practices Analyzer performs configuration-level verification by reading and reporting only. The Best Practices Analyzer gathers data from different information sources, such as Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) classes, SQL Server databases, and registry entries. The Best Practices Analyzer uses the data to evaluate the deployment configuration. The Best Practices Analyzer does not modify any system settings, and is not a self-tuning tool.

Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 Resource Kit - Best Practices Analyzer
MDM Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) Tool helps you to analyze the prerequisites for MDM setup and deployment. Because each MDM server component has different prerequisites, the tool helps you to plan and build a successful deployment environment by assessing each server's readiness for MDM before you run MDM Setup.In addition to analyzing each server's individual readiness, BPA Tool helps you to verify the firewall configuration that MDM requires between servers running MDM Device Management Server and servers running MDM Gateway Server.Finally, after you deploy MDM, you can run a post-deployment scan to help make sure your installation works properly and follows MDM best practices.

Microsoft Commerce Server 2007 Best Practices Analyzer
The Microsoft Commerce Server Best Practices Analyzer performs configuration level verification, by reading and reporting only. For example, the Best Practices Analyzer gathers data from Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) classes, Microsoft SQL Server databases, registry entries, IIS Metabase Settings, and other parts of your deployment, and uses the gathered data to determine whether best practices are being followed. The Best Practices Analyzer does not modify any system settings, and is therefore not a self-tuning tool.

Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server Power Tools with TFS BPA
The Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server Power Tools is a set of enhancements, tools and command line utilities that improve the Team Foundation Server user experience. This download includes Best practice analyzer for TFS along with other important tools

Group Policy Diagnostic Best Practice Analyzer for Windows Server 2003 (32 bit and 64 bit Editions)
The Microsoft Group Policy Diagnostic Best Practice Analyzer (GPDBPA) for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 is designed to help you identify Group Policy configuration errors or other dependency failures that may prevent settings or features from functioning as expected.

Unstable WMI service on cluster prevents SQL Config Manager from running

2009-03-16T10:55:00.000-07:00

Problem: Unstable WMI service on cluster prevents SQL Config Manager from running
Resolution:

Tools:

1. WMIDIAG log to check the consistency of WMI.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d7ba3cd6-18d1-4d05-b11e-4c64192ae97d&displaylang=en

2. Setup-Performance MPS Report

As it is a 64 bit server please download the MPS report utility in the workspace.

Workspace location: https://sftus.one.microsoft.com/choosetransfer.aspx?key=508b6323-2443-4e44-9a72-d9c1e98ae649
Password: Ij!oq6%hIK7OXA

3. Configure WMI verbose logging on the local and remote machines via wmimgmt.msc, right-click on WMI Control (local) and select Properties, click the “Logging” tab, and change the “Logging level” to verbose, set the “Maximum size” to 26214400, and click “OK’
Reproduce the issue and send the content of the directory “C:\WINDOWS\system32\wbem\Logs”

4. Procmon logs while reproducing the issue.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx

virtualizing VirtualCenter

2009-03-14T21:49:00.000-07:00

When virtualizing VirtualCenter remember a couple of things:

1. Disable DRS(Change Automation Level!) for your VirtualCenter VM and make sure to document where the VirtualCenter server is located (My suggestion would be the first ESX Box)

2. Enable HA for the VirtualCenter server, and set the startup priority to high

3. Make sure the VirtualCenter server gets enough resources by setting the shares “high”, and maybe even set reservations

4. Make sure VirtualCenter starts up automatically when a power cut occurs (Configuration, Virtual Machine Startup and Shutdown)

5. Make sure other services and servers that VirtualCenter relies on are also starting automatically, with a high priority and in the correct order like:

Active Directory
DNS
SQL

6. At Least 2GB of Memory and 1 CPU

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_vc_in_vm.pdf

Reset your lost Windows password

2009-03-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

Just had to reset a lost Windows XP password for the second time and thought it would be useful for myself to have a howto online:

1. Boot from the System Rescue CD
2. Mount the disk: ntfs-3g /dev/sda1 /mnt/windows -o force
3. This depends on the OS install if there are caps used, but usually: cd mnt/windows Windows/System32/config
4. List the account in the SAM datbase: chntpw -l SAM
5. Reset the password of the Administrator: chntpw -u Administrator SAM
6. Press 1 to clear the current password
7. Reboot the server/workstation: reboot

So if you’ve forgotten your Windows XP / 2000 / 2003 password this is the way to clear it or reset it.

Enabling CDP in ESX/ESXi

2009-03-14T21:28:00.002-07:00

Thanks Scott Lowe for this.

Let’s start out with an easy one: enabling CDP on ESX for a vSwitch. There is no GUI for enabling or disabling CDP for a vSwitch (yet), so it’s off to the CLI. You’ve probably seen this command before:

esxcfg-vswitch --set-cdp both vSwitch0

Replace the italicized parts of that command with the appropriate information for your environment. That sets CDP to both listen (receive CDP transmissions) and announce (send CDP transmissions). I recommend using both, although I have not currently found a way to explore the CDP information that ESX is gathering by listening to announcements. If anyone has any information there, I’d love to hear it.

The next one is a bit harder: enabling CDP on ESXi for a vSwitch. Of course, since we are using ESXi there is no Service Console, so this time we’ll have to rely upon the next-generation equivalent of VIMA.

The command from next-gen VIMA looks like this:

vicfg-vswitch --server vcenter.domain.com -h esxi.domain.com -B both vSwitch0

Unless you’ve set some environment variables, you’ll be prompted for username and password. I substituted the “-h” for “-−vihost” and “-B” for “-−set-cdp”. Again, you’ll need to replace the italicized portions with the appropriate information for your environment. I did find that using IP addresses didn’t seem to work well; I had to use fully-qualified domain names instead.

That’s probably just an oddity.
The last scenario is enabling CDP on a dvSwitch. The process for this is the same for both ESX and ESXi. You’ll need to use the next-generation VI Client for this, and then go to the Edit Settings screen for the dvSwitch. Once there select Advanced, and you’ll see the option to set the CDP behavior. Click Both from the drop-down list and you should be good to go.

Vmware Training Videos

2009-03-14T21:28:00.001-07:00

http://vmwarevideos.govirtual.tv/

Ldifde output for users in a global group

2009-03-14T20:41:00.001-07:00

So a Admin Assistant sent me a email and the user wanted to get a list of users from a particular group on a easy to read format. It seems you can't copy the users within the global group with AD users and computers. You can do it with Hyena but no use of installing that on a end user.

So I looked around for a script and found this on MS site for creating a user list with ldifde and a vbs script to clean it up.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555937

1. Write the batch file that runs LDIFDE against your Active Directory. Save the file as ExportDL.BAT using a text editor like Notepad. If you’re using Notepad, make sure that the file extension is .bat and not .bat.txt when you save the file.

@echo off
ldifde -f groups.ldf -d "cn=GroupName1,ou=myOU, dc=mydomain,dc=com" -l member -s mydc1
cscript modify.vbs //Nologo > "GroupName1.txt"
ldifde -f groups.ldf -d "cn=GroupName2,ou=myOU,dc=mydomain,dc=com" -l member -s mydc1
cscript modify.vbs //Nologo > "GroupName2.txt"
.
.
.
ldifde -f groups.ldf -d "cn=GroupNameN,ou=myOU,dc=mydomain,dc=com" -l member -s mydc1
cscript modify.vbs //Nologo > "GroupNameN.txt"

Here the two lines starting with LDIFDE and CSCRIPT are repeated for each distribution group in the active directory. The example shows how to write the script for distribution groups named GroupName1, GroupName2 and GroupNameN, where they represent the display name of the individual distribution groups in Active Directory. In this example, all the distribution groups are placed in the OU named myOU. If your distribution groups are scattered in separate OUs, take care to give the complete LDAP path in the –d switch. Also, in this example, it is assumed that the Active Directory domain name as mydomain.com (represented by dc=mydomain,dc=com in this code snippet) and the domain controller as mydc1. You will need to change these parameters in your script to reflect actual values.

The function of each iteration in the batch file is to extract (using LDIFDE) each distribution group into an LDIF file named groups.ldf. The groups.ldf file is a temporary file. The next statement (cscript modify.vbs) invokes the modify.vbs script (described below). The modify.vbs script works on the groups.ldf file to produce meaningful output.

2. Write the MODIFY.VBS file. Again, you can use Notepad. You may not need to make any changes to the below code. This file opens the groups.ldf file created by LDIFDE in the batch file you created in step 1. It then extracts only the display names of each member of the group and places it into a new text file. The text file containing the group members is created automatically and is given the name of the distribution group from which the users were extracted. If the file already exists, it is overwritten automatically every time you run the script.

Dim objFileSystem, objInputFile
Dim strOutputFile, inputData, strData, strTemp

Const OPEN_FILE_FOR_READING = 1

' generate a filename base on the script name
strOutputFile = "groups.ldf"
Set objFileSystem = CreateObject("Scripting.fileSystemObject")
Set objInputFile = objFileSystem.OpenTextFile(strOutputFile, OPEN_FILE_FOR_READING)

' read everything in an array
inputData = Split(objInputFile.ReadAll, vbNewline)
For each strData In inputData
   if Mid(strData, 1,2)="me" and len(strdata)>10  then
       strTemp=Mid(strData, 12, InStr(1, strData,",",1)-12)
       WScript.Echo strTemp
   end if 
   if Mid(strData,1,2)=" C" then
       strTemp=Mid(strData, 5, InStr(1, strData,",",1)-5)
       WScript.Echo strTemp 
   end if
Next
objInputFile.Close
Set objFileSystem = Nothing
WScript.Quit(0)

3. Run the ExportDL.bat file. Once execution completes, see the folder where you put the above two files. You should see that you have new text files with the names all your distribution groups.

The script worked great until the ldifde created a white space on one of the lines for a user this line had to be edited to correct the issue.

 if Mid(strData,1,3)=" CN" then

Thanks to Jake Baker for helping me out with this.

I'm just a kiddie scripter so I appreciate the help bud.

VCB Problem after applying patch ESX350-200901401-SG

2009-03-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

This problem started after the latest ESX 3.5 patches that came out at then end of February. Called in to VMware support and they claimed no one else has the issue. There is no way I'm the only one and true to form after a few weeks it's spreading around.

Here's a forum that one person started:

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/196837

Symptom:
During the normal VCB operation the VMware tools status will change from OK to Not Running in the vCenter tools status for some time during the initial snapshot operation but it will return to OK once the VCB operation is completed.

However, on hosts that have the patch bundle ESX350-200901401-SG, the VMware tools status on the virtual machines may stay as Not Running even after the VCB operation is completed. This may cause subsequent VCB attempts to fail with an error stating "cannot find machine name specified by ip address"

For now the workaround is to:

1. Restart mgmt-vmware service immediately once the backup job is done. This will bring the tools status to OK. One can write a cron job to do it periodically.

OR

2. Log in and Log out OR simply log out (if already logged in) from the VM. This will cause the tools status to go "OK" if it was showing as "Not running" before. (This method did not work for me, Tools might have shown it was running temporarily but returned to a not running state in VCenter)

OR

3. Use VCBMounter to look for VM name or UUID rather than VM IP. VM IP will only work when the status of tools is "OK", but VM name and UUID will work even if the tools status shows as "Not running".

VMware Engineering is aware of the problem and is working on a patch...

Where the hell is my patch.

My workaround has been to have the backup jobs point directly to the hosts for backup since the vmware tools not running is only on the Virtual Center or vCenter as they call it now.

Copying large files on Windows

2009-03-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend I was trying to copy over a 60gb vmdk file from a remote server and at around 96% insufficient resources.

Problem: Operating system error 1450 Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service.

Fix:

Registry setting 1

Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
Type PoolUsageMaximum as the entry name, and then press ENTER.
Right-click PoolUsageMaximum, and then click Modify.
Click Decimal.
In the Value data box, type 60, and then click OK.

Important
- Use 60 as your initial value. If your backup does not succeed, use 40 as your value. If that does not work, you must change the behavior of your backup program to reduce the demand of paged pool. If the value works, you may want to increase the value by approximately 25 percent until the backup does not work. If the backup is unsuccessful, use the second registry setting that is described in this article.
- Make sure that the value for this registry setting is not more than 60.
- If you are using the /3GB switch, use 40 as your initial setting. Note that this value is a percentage value.
Quit Registry Editor.
Restart your computer.

Because you must test these settings during the most stressful backups, you may have to wait a month for a whole backup cycle to complete if you are not sure which backup consumes the most resources. Because of this situation, Microsoft recommends that you test low values first. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

312362 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/312362/ ) Server is unable to allocate memory from the system paged pool

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304101/en-us

My very first entry

2009-03-14T20:31:00.000-07:00

I wanted to start this blog as my own personal knowledge base so I remember how I fixed things. Getting older.