J Blog

Windows must be reinstalled to activate! Server 2008...

2009-10-29T02:29:00Z

After installing SP2 on server 2008 before activating, I found a nice little error stating i needed to reinstall windows! bah! the following works for not just Vista, but also 2008 Server

1) Open Internet Browser

2) Type %windir%\system32 into the browser address bar.

3) Find the file CMD.exe

4) Right-Click on CMD.exe and select 'Run as Administrator'

5) Type: net stop slsvc (it may ask you if you are sure, select yes)

6) Type: cd %windir%\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SoftwareLicensing

7) Type: rename tokens.dat tokens.bar

8) Type: cd %windir%\system32

9) Type net start slsvc

10) Type: cscript slmgr.vbs -rilc

11) Reboot

http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/genuinevista/thread/d8c7d689-ccb7-4dc2-ab97-40988db8524d

Apologies on Formatting

2009-10-09T06:59:00Z

Apologies on the formatting of Cisco Article....Community Server needs some work on article writing - the info is there though

Windows Server 2008 Print.exe problems - Unable to Initialize device

2009-03-09T21:07:00Z

Morning,

Problem I have been working on for the last few weeks, was running the print command from the command prompt to a 2008 hosted printer...You receive and error of "Unable to Iniatialize Device "

This problem only occurs when the printer is physically hosted on a 2008 Server

Microsoft have confirmed that this problem is due to smb2 which is new with Server 2008 and Vista, they are also currently working on a patch for the problem. There is however 2 options for getting this to work

1. Host the printer on a 2003 Server
2. Disable SMB2 and revert back to SMB1 - See this guide for Details, Again, Thank you to the Petri Website for this guide which once again has proven amazingly accurate and indepth. Whilst it doesnt specifically mention print.exe, Microsoft have vocalised the problem and I have tested this solution with success
http://www.petri.co.il/how-to-disable-smb-2-on-windows-vista-or-server-2008.htm

James

SCCM Client Domain Join Option In Task Sequence Configuration

2009-03-07T05:47:00Z

When playing with the OS Deployment tools in SCCM, we discover yet another wonderful option in the Task Sequences that allow us to automatically join a machine to a domain after the SYSPREP process runs - unreal!

A few tips when setting this up before creating your task sequence media and imaging your machines. This option is found under the network settings option in your task sequence...

1. Create an account in AD specifically for this domain join portion of the sequence. If you control who can join the domain via groups and group policy, then add this user to the required group. If not, then you can use the delegation of control wizard to allow permissions for Domain Join Only on this account

2. In the actual Task sequence option, Do not specify the default computers container in Active Directory for your machine locations....(this is a redundant point if your SCCM Server is a DC). Create a dedicated OU on the root of your Domain for Client Machine locations eg: LDAP://OU=SCCM Computer Joins,DC=Domain,DC=Local If you do not specify a specific OU, It will fail the join

3. Specify your Domain Joining account in the account options under Network settings.

Once you have OS deployment happening, SCCM's ability to continue your usual manual tasks automatically is unreal

James

System Center Configuration Manager Client Deployment Problems

2009-03-07T05:31:00Z

One of the bugs that I have come across so far with config manager, is the client installation push for the SMS agent....Whilst the collections will poll Active Directory and update thelmselves with machines, right clicking either a collection, or an actual client machine and selecting "install agent", leaves you wondering where your agent is - 24 hours later!....The same can be said when trying to manually install the client agent on a client machine or server....

After trauling and trauling, reinstalls from scratch using two different environments, I discovered this blog which resolved our issues.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/configmgrsetup/thread/24029fc2-6898-4d99-81cf-301c339f9784/

Seems that this fix so far is not officially documented by MS, but I can imagine there are a stack of people who are running into this problem on a 64 bit Windows Server 2008 Platform, Hope this can help you out in your environments

The Client install log (located in the System Centre Install Folder) will display the following
___________________________________________________________________________

From the client's CCMSetup.log

Failed to correctly recieve a WEBDAV request

Failed to successfully complete HTTP request (StatusCode at WinHttpQueryHeaders: 405)

Sending Fallback Status Point message, STATEID='301'
___________________________________________________________________________

The Solution....
___________________________________________________________________________

%windir%\System32\inetsrv\config\applicationHost.config

1. Open the applicationHost.config file to edit it.

2. Search for "Handlers accesspolicy"

3. Paste the following information on the next line

<add name="WebDAV" path="*" verb="PROPFIND,PROPPATCH,MKCOL,PUT,COPY,DELETE,MOVE,LOCK,UNLOCK" modules="WebDAVModule" resourceType="Unspecified" requireAccess="None" />
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Good luck

System Centre Glory Products!

2009-03-05T08:52:00Z

So! Some happier news on from my last not so positive post....System Centre is certainly starting to kick some serious ass....

I have just push Configuration Manager 2007 (SCCM) and Operations Manager 2007 (SCOM) Live and wow....what a system!! I am absolutely dumbfounded by how far along these programs have come, and loving every minute of it!

These tools, in particular, Configuration Manager are absolutely amazing for your client and server management needs - and are making my deployment of over 100 sites looking a far less daunting task....

I would deffinitely reccomend both of these products to anyone, but would also advise a test environment first to iron out the bugs, of which there are a few that i will post about a little later on....

On a whole, a way way better experience than that of Hyper V! Will post some advice and querks to help out along the way when I get some more time

Hyper V! - Hyper What? - Hyper Frustrating!

2009-02-10T23:17:00Z

Right, So, I'm a Microsoft Buff through and through as most of you will know and usually, I love embracing the latest and greatest that MS Has to offer.....But a small word of warning, If you are going to experiment with Hyper V, Be very very careful. I will not bad mouth it here, but i highly recommend a looooad of testing before you push this even into test and Dev Scenario's....can be exceedingly painful.....

The solution for free Virtualisation:

Enter ESXi Here.

James

Hardware Spec Lessons Learnt....

2008-12-18T03:29:00Z

So, last time I posted I was dribbling on about Hardware requirements and what to look for when choosing a vendor or partner to work with...Now I'm going to point out a couple of small things that next time I take this path, I will have under my belt...

Have Yourself, Your Solution Provider or Partner, and a 3rd party person go over your Infrastructure Solution Design....You should map out, every part of the system that you are buying, and look at what they do, how they integrate and any potential pitfalls. Dont trust any one person, you want multiple eyes on this

For Example: A Blade Centre Can hold 16 Blades (Dell or HP)....So you need adequate Bandwdith for these systems...yet a standard enclosure ships with 4Gb....You need to purchase 10Gb Modules for your internal Switches (Chassis Mounted) or else you share 4Gb of Data between 16 servers.....A small thing that is so easily looked over...

Another Exmaple: Certain Vendors (Won't wont mention names) Ship different Fibre Switches with different licences....If you dont have the appropriate licences, they wont talk, and you are in trouble...Something that again, is so small, yet hinders installation and progress and adds to out of budget costs

I can go on with a few more, but the basic point is, sit down, and map out how every component integrates. Then have it reviewed and signed before you spend the money...You dont want to be slapped around by Management when your costs blow out due to not doing it...

Finishing SAN Installation and Configuration soon, Will post on SQL optimized disk arrays once documented :)

James

WSUS Wiki to the rescue yet again!

2008-12-18T03:15:00Z

Just wanted to point out how amazing this site is...If you havent visited in the past, you really should book mark this site...I don't think i have ever come across an issue WSUSWiki hasn't already blogged....

And the latest.....You find an Event ID 364 Logged in your Application Logs with the following description

""Content file download failed. Reason: The server does not support the necessary HTTP protocol. Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) requires that the server support the Range protocol header.""

http://www.wsuswiki.com/ContentFileDownloadFailedAccessDeniedNoHTTP

Again - To the rescue - a 2 second solution...unreal!

James

ERP Hardware Requirements - A starting point

2008-12-01T00:57:00Z

Few thoughts on Hardware Specifications for your ERP Environment...

So you have chosen your ERP Solution and are now looking at the server design behind it...a few thoughts on my experience so far with this

1) Talk to the guys in the know...Swallow your pride, and play stupid, you want to know exactly what the guys that design the systems reccomend for hardware....If you are like myself, and are taking a microsoft path, take their minimum requirements and double it....You want to know processor, memory, and disk loads on your servers, for database setups, you really really want to spec your RAID arrays correctly

2) Reasearch for yourself - For each technology you are implementing, jump online and look at reccomendations on configuration and deployment techniques - for Example, look at the best way to configure your SAN for SQL Performance, there are many many articles online on how this should be done

3) Play the Vendors - Each of the Vendors or partners you work with, will have specialists who will give you their two cents on how your environment should be setup - Talk to numerous, and compare what they each say, you will find it very interesting to see the differences that come up, and it gives you something to research and find out for yourself the ups and downs, and then base your own design on that knowledge...

4) Choose hardware wisely. This is one of the toughest calls you will make in the infrastructure design. Most Vendors offer relatively similar offerings with some differences of course, but rarely will one not be able to do what the other can...its usually a leapfrog pattern with vendors, HP realease a new offering, IBM take over a few months down the track, DELL step in another few months down and beat IBM, Then HP come back in with a new generation which wins....and so on and so on...So my advice on this is to work with what, and who you know....For myself, I have taken the Path of A DELL Blade Centre with EMC Storage...Why? Because i know the DELL product range, And for me, they have been unbeleivable helpful and reliable since i have been working with them, EMC are pretty much the leaders in Storage and DELL Partner up with them, giving me support benefits, price benefits and a central point of call for everthing....They also at this point in time, appear to be the winning frog in the never ending pattern of the Blade Centres...3 months down the track could have seen HP in the lead...

5) Negotiate with Vendors. These guys have room to move, and if you are doing a decent size project, none of them want to see you leave....so play them against each other...! It can be hard, and you can feel like a ***, but this is business, and thousand bucks here, and a few hundred there, mean you have more money to play with coolder toys later on....Play them and play them hard

6) Support and warranty...When you are dealing with a solution that your business is depending on, then you really really need to keep support and maintenance in the front of your mind....If something falls over, you need it fixed asap or its your *ss on the line...Most Vendors will ship a 3 year warranty as part of their kit, but really, is 3 years enough - I chose 5 on everything....cost went through the roof, but the business, myself, and whoever takes my role in the future, can rest in the fact that for 5 years, everything is covered - and that is a nice feeling!

7) Virtualisation. Yes, its the craze at the moment, and rightly so...Virtualisation is amazing....it is quickly becoming a part of every day infrastructure...Scope virtualization options early in the peice....it can be a costly little venture if you dont budget for this initally as part of your plans...some cool little products like VMWare ESXi is shipped only as OEM when using bare metal HyperV's, and can save you some serious coin....Citrix is also an exceedingly good option to be looking at while Microsofts HyperV is still in baby phase and has a long way to go as yet - it will get there though

8) Plan it, Rack it and Stack it! Keep note on this! The bigger the ERP, the bigger the server requirements....bigger server requirements, the more space (even in Blade Centres), if Database driven, you are going to want Storage Arrays - which is more space...which then needs fibre or Ethernet (for ISCI) switches - more space!...And finally, all this requires power redundancy, which is a stack of space on its own...Visio has a great rack builder and visualisation tools with add-inns from most vendors now, so that you can accurately map out your hardware before shooting yourself in the foot. I managed to fill a 42RU rack in a day....and if I hadn't mapped this out with Visio, I would have been stuffed...

So thats it for now, I have my System Racked and Stacked and waiting for power.....Next update I'll discuss Storage and Blade integration with a high emphasis in SQL performance configuration :)

Cheers

James

ERP Mayhem for your Enjoyment

2008-11-24T05:20:00Z

Its been a while since i posted anything of use, and thats been due to the preparations of the new ERP rollout we are about to undertake....

We are about to undertake one of the largest Dynamics AX rollouts in Aus....Using not only the latest in Server Technologies, but the latest Microsoft Solutions and Integrating Technologies

Over the next few months I will try and blog on the process and the trials and tribulations that we face, and hopefully overcome

Ill take you through Server 2008 Rollout, ADDS 2008 (which is already in place), HyperV, SQL 2009, Microsoft System Centre and its relevant components, and cover any Integration issues that we have beteween Manhatten warehousing as well as numerous other solutions that we will be moving away from

Hopefully I will have some useful info to pass through on the project

Any requests or suggestions for articles or guides would be appreciated too, as i am out of ideas at the moment :)

Cheers

James

Why Microsoft?

2008-10-14T05:22:00Z

Why Microsoft - purely because of these two articles right here :)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/261186

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314458

MVP 2009 Cycle :)

2008-10-03T03:01:00Z

Woohoo - Microsoft were kind enough to bring me back into the MVP Directory Services Team for 2009 - Happy times :)

James

2008 RODC's and SQL 2005 & Backup Exec 12.0

2008-09-18T00:59:00Z

So, You have read up on the big push for the Branch office Scenario Technologies that MS have released in Server 2008 - Server Core, RODC's, Bitlocker etc etc, and all seems great and wonderful...which it is, but you start running into some interesting little issues along the way...one, being the inability to install SQL 2005 full blown or Express Versions on an RODC....nice!

Now this is a funny little one, as considering you have deployed an RODC, chances are you have a single server, with a small user base on that site, and you would really really like to stick with a single server and have it take care of everything (which means server core probably isnt feasible)....And then you cop this nice little problem (exposed to me by Backup Exec 12.0) which nicely gives you the option of using a remote instance of SQL across a WAN....Not my idela situation...

What do you do? You have a few options
1) Use a remote instance of SQL and hope for the best (chances are it will work but i dont like cross WAN options when they can be avoided)
2) Use Windows Backup instead of BackupExec - Not a bad option really considering Symantec are, well, Symantec
3) Work around the problem instead of blanketly saying it cant be done...as per the following

- Problem as per my old Nemesis Symantec:
http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/290572.htm

Cause

This issue occurs because SQL Express and SQL Server 2005 cannot be installed on a Windows 2008 computer that is configured in a RODC role. Reason being, the RODC role does not allow the use of local accounts, which are required for SQL Express and SQL Server 2005.

Resolution

To resolve the issue, select a remote SQL instance for the Backup Exec database when installing Backup Exec on a RODC.

Wow.

That doesnt sit right with me personally....So here is a real fix.

1. Demote your RODC back to a member server....
2. Install Backup Exec 12.0 with its default settings - it will install SQL Express 2005 for you (note SQL express 2008 is a no go)
3. Change the Service Logon Accounts for SQL and Backup Exec to Domain Accounts
4. Promote your Server to an RODC

Wow, it magically all works...and not all that hard to figure out why....

James

Server 2008 ADPrep Errors when preparing a 2003 Based Domain... - Adprep was unable to complete because the call back function failed.

2008-09-08T04:44:00Z

"""""

Updating change from:" International ISDN Number (Others)" to "International ISDN Number (Others)" for locale 409, object inetOrgPerson-Display and property attributeDisplayNames.

Adprep was unable to complete because the call back function failed.

[Status/Consequence]

Error message: C:\WINDOWS\debug\adprep\logs\20080903175259\LDIF.log The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.

(0x80070020).

[User Action]

Check the log file ADPrep.log, in the C:\WINDOWS\debug\adprep\logs\20080903175259 directory for more information.

Adprep was unable to update forest information.

[Status/Consequence]

Adprep requires access to existing forest-wide information from the schema master in order to complete this operation.

[User Action]

Check the log file, ADPrep.log, in the C:\WINDOWS\debug\adprep\logs\20080903175259 directory for more information.

""""""

So, what the hell does this error mean and why does it occur when you are running it on the Schema Master, with the Domain Administrator account, with nothing obvious to look at....and the log files are about as useful as my.....well......something useless....

Surprise Surprise - its McAfee 8.5i Enterprise edition that causes this, simply uninstall...run your adprep tools, and reinstall...

Such a simple solution for such a PITA non obvious issue...

Enjoy