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Azure AD Connect replaces DirSync
edited by on June 26th 2015, at 14:50

Microsoft has released the Azure Active Directory Connect to the general public. Azure AD Connect replaces (although "incorporates" is a better word) DirSync as the new tool to set up synchronization between your on-premise Active Directory and Azure Active Directory, including Office 365.

The current version of Azure AD Connect is only the beginning. Microsoft has announced a lot more features, which will be made available in the next versions.

More information and installation resources: https://azure.microsoft.com/nl-nl/documentation/articles/active-directory-aadconnect/

 
AD Replication error 8452
edited by on June 26th 2015, at 12:01
When attempting to trigger an AD replication from one DC to another using Active Directory Sites and Services or repadmin.exe, you may get the following error:

AD Replication error 8452:
"The naming context is in the process of being removed or is not replicated from the specified server."

The most common cause for this error is that you tried to replicate between DCs for which no DS replication connection exist. The replication attempt will therefore fail. As a workaround, try replicating to the target DC from another source DC. Or, create a new replication connection between the target and source DCs.

Open Active Directory Sites and Services.

In the tree to the left, locate t  ...
 
Trigger replication of a AD integrated DNS zone
edited by on June 26th 2015, at 11:25

Active Directory (AD) integrated DNS zones are not replicated by the DNS server, but replicates through the Active Directory replication mechanism, and uses the same settings for AD replication.

You can trigger replication through Active Directory Sites and Services, or with repadmin.exe on command prompt:

repadmin.exe /replicate target_dc source_dc DC=DomainDnsZones,DC=domain,DC=com

Replace parameters accordingly:

  • target_dc is the DC to replicate to
  • source_dc is the DC to replicate from
  • Edit the naming context so it includes your FQDN: e.g. contoso.co.uk → DC=contoso,DC=co,DC=uk
 
About the pool of public (NTP) time servers: pool.ntp.org
edited by on June 26th 2015, at 10:13
The NTP Pool project is a pool of publicly available time servers, all volunteers. Time servers in the pool are usually stratum 1 or 2 servers. Although the pool consists of NTP servers worldwide, it is divided into geographical location so users can pick from a pool of time servers closest near their geographical position. The pool is probably the most used pool of NTP servers.

Using servers from the pool uses DNS load balancing to randomly assign one or more servers to synchronize to. Up to four different servers can be used. To avoid DNS caching from taking the same server more than once, additional DNS records have been created in the form of:

number.geolocation.pool.ntp.org

number be  ...
 
Error [0x80070005-00000000-00000000] when sending an e-mail in Outlook
edited by on June 25th 2015, at 16:46
When attempting to send an e-mail, you get a non-delivery report containing the following error code:

[0x80070005-00000000-00000000]

Usually, this error is caused if you are sending mail on behalf of someone else, and don't have permission to do so. Note that send on behalf and send as are two different, exclusive permissions. Having one permission does not automatically allow the other.

In rare cases, this error can also occur when a user's mailbox has been migrated to Exchange 2013, and the shared mailbox is still on the old Exchange server. This causes problems with permissions, and can quickly be resolved by setting the required permissions on the shared mailbox (send as/on behalf), t  ...
 
Enable verbose messages during start up in Windows (2000 and up)
edited by on June 25th 2015, at 09:07

During start up or log on, once in a while, you'll see a message just saying Please wait. To turn this message into a more useful message, you can enable verbose messages through a policy setting (local or GP):

Either through gpedit.msc, or, if you're in a domain, through a GPO, navigate to Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → System. Look for the setting Display highly detailed status messages and set it to Enabled. Reboot to apply the change.

 
Monitor DHCP traffic from linux (command line)
edited by on June 24th 2015, at 15:16
For proper troubleshooting of DHCP traffic, it may sometimes be necessary to capture live data on your network. There are a lot of ways on how this is accomplished, so I won't go into too much detail on all the methods available, nor will I explain what DHCP does or how it works.

DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is used for automatic configuration of a host's network settings, such as IP address, gateway, routing, and more. It works by sending broadcasts using IP/UDP on ports 67 (servers) and 68 (clients). For more information on DHCP, read the explanation on Wikipedia.

In order to capture DHCP traffic, we would then have to monitor packets specifically on port 67/udp and 68/udp.  ...
 
Demote a 2012 (R2) domain controller
edited by on June 24th 2015, at 13:07
With dcpromo.exe now being deprecrated on 2012 and 2012 R2, it is no longer obvious which method to use to demote a domain controller. Although you could resort to Powershell to get it done, there's also a way to demote using Server Manager, albeit not a very clear one.

The trick is to attempt to remove the Active Directory Domain Services role from the server, using Server Manager. When you do remove this, you will be prompted to demote the domain controller before the role can be removed, along with a link to actually perform this task.

Start Server Manager. In the upper right corner, click Manage, then click Remove Roles and Features.

Continue in the wizard that appears, making sure th  ...
 
Debug and troubleshoot an IPSEC VPN tunnel on a FortiGate
edited by on June 24th 2015, at 11:10
The logging on a FortiGate firewall is very scarse, making it difficult to troubleshoot issues. This can especially be a problem when setting up a site-to-site IPSEC VPN tunnel. Although the web interface doesn't provide much information for troubleshooting and debugging, the console does when debugging is enabled.

On most (if not, all) FortiGate appliances, you can access the console through the web interface. It usually can be found on the Dashboard (> Status).



As it says, click on the console to activate it.

Enabling debugging for all IPSEC VPNs means we enable debug mode on "IKE". This is done by the following series of commands.

If any debugging is already in progress  ...
 
Top 10 cheapest countries to go on vacation to
edited by on June 23rd 2015, at 12:49

According to a poll by Columbustravel.nl (a Dutch travelling website), the following countries are the most cheapest to go on vacation to

Worldwide

  1. Nepal
  2. Laos
  3. Bolivia
  4. Cambodja
  5. India
  6. Vietnam
  7. China
  8. Indonesia
  9. Myanmar
  10. Thailand

One can safely conclude that South-East Asia is the cheapest in the world to go to. But let's take a look at the other continents:

Africa

  1. Ethiopia
  2. Marocco
  3. South-Africa

Europe

  1. Czech Republic
  2. Slovakia
  3. Bulgaria

Latin America

  1. Bolivia
  2. Guatemala
  3. Venezuela
 
EBCS/IBAN Calculator (Belgium only!)
edited by on June 22nd 2015, at 17:10

Found this handy tool online to convert Belgian bank account numbers to international IBAN/BIC:

http://www.ibanbic.be/

 
(How to) Uninstall HP Network Configuration Utility
edited by on June 22nd 2015, at 10:29
The HP Network Config Utility provides advanced network configuration tasks for HP servers. It allows to set up NIC teaming, VLAN and more.

Uninstalling this software (e.g. after a P2V) is not possible through Control Panel (Add/Remove Programs) because it's not in the list like other HP software components. The only way to uninstall HP Network Config Utility is through an NIC's properties:

Open the network properties for any Ethernet NIC (doesn't matter which one).

In the This connection uses the following items: box (where you also set up IPv4/v6 settings), you'll see the HP Network Configuration Utilty.

Select (click) it, then click the Uninstall button. At the following prompt, click  ...
 
.NET Framework Offline installers for all supported Windows versions
edited by on June 19th 2015, at 09:40
This article contains a list of download links for the offline/standalone installers for .NET Framework. Each major version is listed, along with the OSes supported by that version.

To install, open the main download for the desired version, select your language, download the main file and run the installer.

For releases that have separate language packs: first download and install the main file. After the installation, click the download link for the language pack, select the preferred language, then download and install that file. You can install more than one language pack on a MUI system.

Version Download links OS requirements .NET Framework 4.6 RC   ...
 
NullSoft Installer Script (NSIS) for Angry IP Scanner 2.21 ("Legacy")
edited by on June 17th 2015, at 14:33
Angry IP Scanner is a very fast, lightweight IP scanner. It has been around for a long time already, and used by many IT professionals to help accomplish tasks. Although version 3 of the program is available for some time now, I still like to use the old version (version 2), simply because it works on every system without the need for Java (version 3 requires Java, unfortunately).

Version 3 comes with an installer available as a download. Version 2 does not, and although it has the built-in ability to create shortcuts if the user chooses to, I rather prefer a proper installer, with proper uninstallation support, in short: the Windows-way. As no such installer exists, I decided to create my   ...
 
Get rid of WRITE SAME kernel error messages on linux (3.x kernel)
edited by on June 17th 2015, at 10:34
Linux distros with a 3.x kernel running on virtualized hardware (e.g. pvscsi on VMware) may ever so often spit out the following error:

$ dmesg | grep "WRITE SAME"
kernel: sda2: WRITE SAME failed. Manually zeroing.

This is because the disk driver (in our case: the VMware paravirtual driver) does not support the WRITE SAME SCSI command, resulting in this message.

While this poses no problem for the system at all, you may want to get rid of these messages, which is done by disabling the use of the WRITE SAME command. This can be done through a bit of configuration. Most modern systems have systemd on board which can be used for this, but in case your system doesn't, there's also a  ...
 
Consumer release of Oculus Rift for Q1 2016
edited by on June 16th 2015, at 15:59
Oculus has revealed its consumer version of the VR-goggles Oculus Rift. It will be available Q1 2016, and although no official prices were published, the goggles should be made available with a modified PC of around USD 1500.

The goggles consists of two small OLED monitors and two lenses, which can be adjusted to match the user's eyes. It also includes an integrated headset, but can be replaced by the user's own preferred headset.

The goggles will also include a controller called Oculus Touch, of which two will be included in the consumer's release package. The controllers allows the user to have their "hands" displayed in the virtual world, and allows for pointing and manipulati  ...
 
Beautiful 4K timelapse of erupting Calbuco vulcano (Chile)
edited by on June 16th 2015, at 12:48

On April 22, 2015, a volcano in southern Chile, erupted for the first time in 4 decades. A lot of photo and video footage is available of the event, but none are so wonderful and gorgeous as the 4K timelapse, shot and released by Timestorm Films.

The high-definition footage, along with an ominous sounding soundtrack, truly is a must-see for all.

See on Vimeo | See on Youtube

 
Setting Out-of-Office for another user on Exchange 2003
edited by on June 16th 2015, at 09:22

The attached VBScript allows you to set an Out-of-Office reply for another user on an Exchange 2003. You'll need the required permissions on the Exchange server to set a user's out-of-office (either Mail Recipients or User Options Management roles).

I found the script in the comments section of this Technet blog article. Special thanks go to the author (Bill Prentice) for sharing.

This script is only for Exchange 2003. Starting from 2007, the Powershell cmdlet Set-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration is available.

 
Conditional adding of Powershell snap-in to a script
edited by on June 15th 2015, at 11:54
When running multiple scripts in a session, which use and add the same snap-in using Add-PSSnapin, only the first one succeeds. Subsequent attempts to add the same snap-in will result in an error:

Error
Cannot add Windows PowerShell snap-in My.SnapIn because it is already added. Verify the name of the snap-in and try again.

You can resolve this issue by enclosing it in the following if-statement:

if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name My.SnapIn -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null ){ Add-PsSnapin My.SnapIn}

It (silently) checks the presence of the requested snap-in. If it does not exist (i.e. the check returns $null, then it loads the snap-in.

Note: replace My.SnapIn with whatever snap-in you   ...
 
Change the console fonts on Ubuntu/Debian
edited by on June 12th 2015, at 15:55

You can efficiently change the console fonts, character sets and keymaps through the following command:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure console-setup

The configuration is stored in the file /etc/default/console-setup, and can be edited by hand as well.

The changes are effective for all virtual consoles after reboot. To apply the change for the current console, run:

setupcon

To prevent changing the console font completely (i.e. native system/BIOS font will be used), set the font to "do not change".
The equivalent in the config file is: 

FONTFACE=""
FONTSIZE=""
 
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