Quick one for troubleshooting domain communications with a local machine.
Checks the domain a machine is registered to:
nltest.exe /parentdomain
Tests Machine Health with Domain Controller:
nltest.exe /sc_query:fqdn.domain.name
Reset Machine Password:
nltest.exe /sc_reset:fqdn.domain.name
I needed to get a SCCM 2012 lab setup for my company. As this was a newer MS product I figured the install wouldn’t be that bad. Well it’s a pre-req / pre-configure nightmare.
Here is my loose and possibly incorrect way that I got a lab running.
Few notes about my deployment
Prep SQL Server box:
Prep CAS Box:
I had the above mentioned pre-reqs after going through the installer. I will list out the things I did to reslove these so you don’t have to go through the installer only to cancel out and reslove this requirements. (I wish Microsoft had done a better job at this installer. I thought they had learned, I thought wrong)
Failed Items:
Warning Items:
Installing Configuration Manager:
Microsoft just released SCCM 2012 to VL customers. Very excited to tear into it. However I got stuck right in the beginning of the installer with:
The WinRM settings are not configured correctly
Well looking at the logs here:
\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Microsoft System Center 2012\Unified Installer\LOGS
I discovered:
[4/10/2012 9:20:08 AM] DEBUG – Server: localhost, winrm\client\auth\CredSSP = False
All you need to do to fix this is run the following commands on the computer you are running the installer from:
winrm set winrm/config/client/auth @{CredSSP="True"}
winrm set winrm/config/client @{TrustedHosts="*"}
Also run these commands on the computer you are installing too (if it’s the same box just run all commands)
winrm qc -q
winrm set winrm/config/service/auth @{CredSSP="True"}
winrm set winrm/config/winrs @{AllowRemoteShellAccess="True"}
winrm set winrm/config/winrs @{MaxMemoryPerShellMB="2048"}
That should take care of you. Just in case it doesn’t the old other thing I had done was to add .Net 3.5.1, all RSAT Tools, and IIS from Roles and Features.
Hope it helps. If it does please leave a comment below and let me know this was worth my time posting 😉
While I have to write a longer post about my overall feeling of Windows 8 and Metro I wanted to toss this one out there.
THANK YOU Microsoft for the Task Manager Performance Monitoring built it. Look how sexy and plan English my transfer rate is for copying a number of large files to my desktop (click for larger version):
Just fantastic, shows me the CPU is doing fine as it decompresses directly from network share and shows me that Network is in fact the bottleneck as the Disk I/O is not maxed.
If you are reading this its likely you googled for the answer to this very questions. “How do I install Exchange 2010 in a child domain?” Its almost like every step of the way you get another ambiguous error message.
Well if you know what to do its fairly easy.
1) Make sure you have an account that is NOT the administrator account that has Enterprise Admin, and Domain Admin of the ROOT domain.
2) Logon to a Windows 2008 x64 / or 2008 R2 x64 box that is a member of the ROOT domain. If you don’t have one just build one or temporarily move the new exchange server into the ROOT domain long enough to preform the following steps.
3) Logged in as your service account with Enterprise Admin and Domain Admin rights to the root open a command prompt (run as administrator if UAC is enabled).
4) Go to the directory you have the Exchange 2010 install located. I recommend using a direct Exchange 2010 SP1 install build.
5) Run the following command
ServerManagerCmd -i RSAT-ADDS
6) Reboot
7) Run the following command (Prep Legacy Permissions)
setup /pl
8) Run the following command (Prep Schema)
setup /ps
9) Run the following command (Prep Domain and Name Org)
setup /p /on:TestlaCorp
–Note: TestlaCorp is my test domain org name, please enter your desired org name.
9) Run the following command (Prep all Domains)
setup /preparealldomains
10) Follow these directions from the ROOT DC Domain Controller: (not totally sure this is required or not, skip and only do if you run into an issue)
11) Now go to your new exchange server box (rejoin it to the child domain if you had moved to the ROOT domain for the above commands).
10) Logon as that ROOT account with Enterprise Admin and Domain Admin for the ROOT domain. You will need to grant it local admin rights on the new child domain server you are planning on installing Exchange 2010 to ahead of logging in.
11) Run the setup as you normally would do. I usually follow this blog for those steps:
Final Notes: I noticed after installing that I was getting an error opening the EMC and it turns out it was just that the installer some how didn’t install any of the roles. Re-running the install fixed that.
Had a funny issue raised from the helpdesk today. All of a sudden all of our Wireless users were no longer to connect to the internal wifi network that was protected by 802.11x PEAP via Merkai -> RADIUS -> NPS (Network Policy Server) -> Active Directory.
We had errors like this:
“Network Policy Server discarded the request for a user.”
“An internal error occurred. Check the system event log for additional information.”
And of course the logs at c:\windows\system32\logfiles had nothing of value in them.
Another thing was that Event Logging from NPS stopped although the service was still running.
It turns out it was just because the certificate NPS uses was renewed automatically thanks to GPO / AD. NPS doesn’t handle the transition well.
All you have to do is change the certificate to another certificate and back to the one that was auto renewed. if you only have one then create another, change it to that, then swap back to the correct auto renewed on.
If you don’t know where to select it, it is under Policies -> Network Policies -> <your policy that grants users access) -> Constraints tab -> Authentication Mode -> Microsoft: Protected EAP (PEAP) [EDIT]
So I have recently been weaning myself off ColdFusion to another coding language. I am really liking what I am seeing in C# Razor tags. It has the same general workflow as Coldfusion without the need for an expensive application server.
Anyways in Coldfusion there was <cfdump var=#VarName#> which would spit out a wonderful table of all the variable elements. I was dumbstruck to find out there is no such native functionality in C# / C# Razor.
I wrote this to do the exact same thing. Enjoy!
@{int i = 0;}
<table>
<tr>
<td>Index</td>
<td>Field Name</td>
<td>Field Data</td>
</tr>
@foreach (var fd in Request.Form.AllKeys) {
<tr>
<td>@i</td>
<td>@fd</td>
<td>@Request.Form[fd]</td>
</tr>
i++;
}
</table>
Hey everyone, you may have seen the marketing hype in the last few days for the Dell XPS 13″ Ultrabook. Professionally, I have been using a first generation Macbook Air with Bootcamp running Windows 7 on it for a while now. Yes I know many Mac users might be upset by this. Too bad, Windows 7 is fantastic and far greater then OSX (let the comments begin).
Windows has never had a good notebook like the MacBook Air to run on (other than the Air of course.) The experience has been fantastic other than a few things that I can’t stand.
1) The FN key is where the Control key should be. It drives me nuts although I am just about used to it now.
2) The ALT key and the Windows Key (the command key for you Mac users) are swapped and in the wrong position. Thankfully I was able to reprogram Windows to swap them back. I wish I could have done the same for the FN and CRTL keys.
3) No backlit Keyboard. I could have used it many times. Apple has put this in newer MacBook Airs.
4) No grip on bottom. The Air slides all over the place, not unmanageable but not perfect ether.
The fact is I LOVE the experience I got from the MacBook Air. However I have wanted to get a non-Apple notebook for some time now. I work as a Windows IT Manager and I hate the elitist feel I get from owning the Air. Additionally, I don’t like the looks I get when I go to Microsoft Conferences. I also want to support the Windows OEM’s. I want to believe that freedom of choice yields better options.
Did Dell come through? Read on………..
First, I got to say my hats off to Dell. They finally got the packaging right. The outer box leads to an inner box that is high quality and even opens at a hinge.
Well, its pretty nice. I was worried it would have a plastic, not so solid feel to the unit but thankfully it feels like a rock (that weighs almost nothing). The Aluminum edging gives it a very solid feel to the touch.
The keys are slightly rounded in the corners, I haven’t decided if that’s a good thing or not. But what is really nice is the plastic / rubber area around the keys. Its has a very nice feel to it.
The touch pad seems perfect to the touch.
The carbon fiber bottom is really nice and in my opinion perfect. It’s a very nice touch and it has rubber strips that keep a nice grip on whatever its sitting on.
I will not be covering everything each notebook has. Instead I will be covering items of high contrast between the two. If I didn’t mention something it is likely because they are very similar.
The Dell has a smaller height and this smaller size means it had to lose some rather important screen real-estate vs. the MacBook Air.
Due to its reduced size, the Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook only has a 1366 x 768 screen resolution. The MacBook Air has an impressive 1440 x 900 screen resolution.
1366 x 768 puts this unit firmly in the Netbook consumer range not the pro-sumer Ultrabook range. In fact, Windows 8 minimum requirements will be 768. It is the lowest possible resolution that will be supported with the up and coming release of Windows 8.
One of the things that made me think Dell was focusing more on quality was the screen was covered in Gorilla Glass. That would be the same stuff on the iPhone, iPad, and other mobile devices.
Unfortunately though, the display behind that glass is awful. To a uneducated consumer I would think it would be fine, however anyone that truly enjoys or works in computing will notice the display is low quality. Image reproduction is terrible.
The Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook at any angle other then dead center is hard and almost impossible to see. Even then the colors are just okay.
The MacBook Air has a simply beautiful screen. The colors and contrasts are perfect at any viewing angle.
Additionally the Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook has a much higher glare then the MacBook Air. Many people noticed it while sitting in my office which has dimmed lighting and tinted Windows. I can only wonder what outside in the light will look like.
As I have said the Dell is smaller. I guess that could be a good thing. The only reason I can think why they did this was to make it less expensive (smaller screen) and to make it easier to use on a airplane (although I never had a problem with the MacBook Air).
Here is a little side by side. Notice the additional length at the top and bottom of the units.
Perhaps the Dell feels a little fatter on its underside.
The power adapter is kind of junky too. Maybe I am just spoiled by the MagLock adapter from Apple but given Dell had to create a new adapter for this form factor I was hoping they would come up with something a little more useful. At least provide a way to wrap the cord around it. However all we got was this:
I should point out there is a button on the side of the unit you can press to get the power level of the battery. This was a nice touch, good job Dell!
Not going to spend too much time on this but the Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook with i5 and 256GB SSD is blazing fast. It is a pleasure tinkering on it. Things load just as fast as my i7 desktop with 8GB of RAM and a SSD.
It kills me that Dell has taken so much effort to make this a quality notebook then turns around and dumps an inferior display in it. I am not just talking about screen resolution, the quality of image reproduction is just awful. Maybe if you are used to Dell displays its not that bad but if you are coming from a MacBook Air (or any MacBook really) then you are in for a real shock.
Its also sad that Dell didn’t do more with the power adapter. It could have been much more functional.
Its not all bad though. The rest of the unit really looks promising. I will mention that I am running into a lot of issues with finding drivers for Windows 8 (blog post about that to follow) but that shouldn’t be used when trying to decide to make the move.
The Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook has a good solid feel to it. I am going to use it over the next week and see if I can live with the few things I thought were not up to par. If not, however, its going back. Check back to see if I switch back to the MacBook Air or not.
If you can deal with the less then eye popping image reproduction, then this might be the right notebook for you. The price is great for what you are getting and its very fast.
This comes second hand from a work college but I figured I should post it since there is nothing on the web about this issue.
Basically as it is described to me, Lync client for Mac OSX (10.6 and 10.7) will connect, show presence, but within one minute it blanks out and disconnects with an error.
Here is a sample error log from a TechNet Forums post where I got the solution from:
2011/12/22 10:46:04.328 [o365] process server certificate from input token failed
So there isn’t a fix just yet however there is a work around. This seemed to resolve the issue, thanks to "Jonathanpisarczyk" on the forums:
Open Lync Control Panel -> security
in the right pane we can find the authentication methods
Double click on the global setting so that we can edit that.
Uncheck the Enable Certificate Authentication.
Commit the changes.
User will need to signoff and back on.
If you have any other details on resolutions please leave them below in the comments.
UPDATE: Ok here some new info. This fixed us only for a few days then we had the problem again. We then fixed it by re-enabling the certificate based authentication. Some posts claim post CU4 you should keep it enabled. Perhaps turning it off and back on fixes it? My college likes to say "jiggle the toilet handle"
-Eric
If you ever get the following message:
The server forwarders cannot be updated.
A zone configuration problem occurred.
When setting up conditional forwarders in Windows 2003 R2 DNS Server then more then likely its because the zone already exists as a stub zone.
In my case I tried to add xyz.local and got this error message each time. My first move was to check if there was a xyz.local stub zone and sure enough there was NOT. After some more checking I noticed there was a “local” stub zone.
Make sure to check for the root level as a stub zone, I bet you will find that is your issue.
Hope it helps!
-Eric
