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showing posts tagged with 'computer'
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  ...
 
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  ...
 
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=""
 
Configure Internet Explorer (and Chrome) proxy settings through VBScript
edited by on June 12th 2015, at 13:14
Attached to this article are scripts to configure proxy settings for Internet Explorer (all versions). As Google Chrome uses the IE settings for their proxy settings, it can be used for that browser as well. I know there are other, far better methods for configuring proxy settings for clients, but continue your read to see why they were not usable in this particular case.

I ran into a customer where they were still using Internet Explorer Maintenance in their group policies to configure proxy settings for their clients. As a result, all users who got more recent computers did not get the proxy settings, as they were running Internet Explorer 10 or newer. Starting from IE10, configuration of  ...
 
Convert Exchange mailbox to another type
edited by on June 11th 2015, at 15:09

You can easily convert an Exchange mailbox from one type to another through the Exchange Management Shell.

Set-Mailbox -Identity user.name -Type Regular

There are four types you can use to convert to:

  • Regular (User mailbox);
  • Shared
  • Equipment
  • Room

The Equipment and Room types are used for reservations of meeting rooms and equipment (DLP).

 
NETLOGON wait operation timed out when demoting a 2003 domain controller
edited by on June 10th 2015, at 16:04

When demoting a 2003 domain controller using dcpromo, you may run into the following error:

Error
The operation failed because:

Failed to configure the service NETLOGON as requested

"The wait operation timed out"

The error message is quite misleading as the real cause has got nothing to do with NETLOGON, but is in fact a DNS issue. You will most likely have the server's primary DNS pointing to itself using loopback address (127.0.0.1) or its own IP address.

You can correct the issue by having the DNS point to remaining domain controllers, and remove any DNS pointing to itself (i.e. loopback address or any other IP owned by the server being demoted).

 
Find certificate authority servers in your Active Directory (AD) domain
edited by on June 10th 2015, at 14:29

There are two ways to see which Certificate Authority servers exist in your AD domain.

1. Check the Cert Publishers group

The AD group Cert Publishers contain the servers that are permitted to publish certificates to AD. As a consequence, this gruop will contain all servers that are CAs.

2. Use certutil

You can use the certutil command to view (and select from) a list of CAs in the current AD domain:

certutil -config - -ping

Note: type the command as-is, including all spaces and hyphens.

A window will appear, listing the CA name and the server it runs on.

 
An error (1301) occurred while enumerating the groups. The group's SID could not be resolved
edited by on June 10th 2015, at 14:20
After migrating AD from 2003 to 2012, I ran into this issue on a RADIUS server running 2008 R2, used for authentication. When attempting to retrieve AD information for a particular user, the following error appeared:

Error
An error (1301) occurred while enumerating the groups. The group's SID could not be resolved.

The solution (at least for Windows 7 and 2008 R2), is to install hotfix 2830145.

The hotfix is only available by request through e-mail.

When attempting to log on to a 2012-based domain controller, the following SIDs are unmappable:

S-1-18-1 : Authentication authority asserted identity

S-1-18-2 : Service asserted identity

2012 introduces two new securit  ...
 
15 Things to Do After Installing Ubuntu 15.04 Desktop
edited by on June 9th 2015, at 16:18

Nice article about things you can do after a fresh install of Ubuntu on your computer:

http://www.tecmint.com/things-to-do-after-installing-ubuntu-15-04-desktop/

Very useful if you don't have a whole lot of experience with linux in general, and Ubuntu in particular.

 
About Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK)
edited by on June 9th 2015, at 10:47

It has always been a bit tedious to manage and customize Internet Explorer through group policies, especially when your network has different versions of Windows and/or different versions of Internet Explorer.

To reduce complexity of maintaining Internet Explorer in a network, since long, Microsoft has made available the Internet Explorer Administration Kit. This tool allows you to exert more control over Internet Explorer, its settings and its behaviour.

More information and downloading the IEAK: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/bb219517.aspx

 
Unauthorize Windows DHCP server error
edited by on June 8th 2015, at 10:36
Upon unauthorizing a Windows DHCP server, you may get the following error:

DHCP
The parameter is incorrect.

Most commonly, there are two reasons for this error to occur.

If you have just unauthorized a DHCP server, it may take a while for AD to replicate the change to other domain controllers. As a result, the DHCP server may still think it's authorized, whereas it is not. Either wait for, or trigger AD replication throughout your network.

Another reason for this error to occur is the presence of another DHCP server in AD that no longer exists. You can check this with the netsh dhcp command, available on any server with the DHCP server role installed:

netsh dhcp show server

Run the com  ...
 
Difference between index rebuild and reorganize on SQL Server
edited by on June 8th 2015, at 09:47
Maintaining indexes on your table is an important part of keeping your database healthy and its performance adequate. There are two maintenance operations for any index: rebuilding and reorganizing. Both operations were designed to get rid of index fragmentation, but differ in how this is done.

 RebuildReorganizeWhat it doesDrops the existing index and recreates it from scratch.Physically reorganizes the leaf nodes of the index.When to useIndex fragmentation >= 40%Index fragmentation >= 10% and < 40%Impact on systemHigh.

Database will be offline during process, unless you have Enterprise Edition and have enabled the ONLINE option. Online rebuild requires more resources than o  ...
 
New look for Office365 OWA with Gmail-style avatars
edited by on June 5th 2015, at 15:04

Office365 Outlook Web Access (OWA) has been updated with a new look. Most notable is the presence of Gmail-style avatars for the contacts:

 
showing posts tagged with 'computer'
 
 
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