Life of an Admin

Interesting New Social Networking Service !

2010-01-21T20:55:00.005-05:00

BLIPPY (http://www.blippy.com/)

It looks lot like twitter. Works mostly like twitter. But its not another one of those social networking site. The concept is very different and to many it might be something they are not willing to try.
Its a service where people create their login and then attach their credit card to their account. YES, Credit Card. Thats all, the user doesnt do anything else. The service basically "blips" or posts messages (like twitter) for everytime the user uses their credit card. The blip contains the transaction amount, where the purchase was made and in some cases what items were purchased... coool.. huh ??

Initially to me the idea seemed weird and useless, but few minutes into it, it seemed pretty cool. You can actually see what people are buying, whats songs they are buying on itunes, what apps are famous on app store, amazon products and deals people are getting on those.
And then there is the "like" option like facebook and the commenting by friends or followers like twitter which makes it more interesting. You are actually telling people what you bought today, where you ate, what food items you bought, what kind of shoes you bought of zapos (and providing links to these products directly). This service actually started to look more interesting .. But some people might have issue using this or getting to try this. Privacy Issues is a big thing, and telling the world where you are using your credit card might sound weird. Also like twitter, you dont control who is following you. Almost anyone in the world can start looking at your purchases.
Overall a great concept, and i think it will be huge in the near future. I think there are a few ways to make money from this. Partnering with sites like Amazon, Zappos, Shopping.com, Itunes, etc and providing links to products people buy (and earning commision) ; product based advertising; Ad supported mobile app; .....

Useful Linux commands - quicklist

2009-09-24T13:41:00.002-04:00

http://www.pixelbeat.org/cmdline.html

How to Remove Windows 7 from dual boot with XP

2009-02-19T10:23:00.002-05:00

I installed Windows 7 on another partition to play around and then comes the time to let go of it.(i love it, but its trial version and i cannot move all my programs and data to it. so will wait till release).

To do so, we have to fix the boot menu and remove the files from the partition or format the partition.

1. Boot up and log on to Windows XP.
2. Insert Windows 7 DVD disc.
3. Open command prompt and type the following command and press enter:

[DVD Drive Letter]:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt52 ALL /force

eg.

If the DVD drive is D:, then enter

D:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt52 ALL /force

The step will remove the boot menu to select operating system which shows up at the boot time.

4. Remove the disc and restart the computer. Computer will start with XP.
5. Manually remove files and folders of Windows 7, including Windows, Program Files and Users folder. You can format the partition also, if you have no other data on it and you created it just for windows 7.

If you have a dual boot Vista/Windows7 and want to remove windows 7, then replace the NT52 with NT60. NT52 is the MBR (Master Boot Record) used by Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, while Windows Vista uses NT60

Setting up Tomcat as service on Linux

2009-01-23T14:50:00.002-05:00

Instead of manually starting Tomcat each time, you can configure it to start at boot.

1. Save tomcat start / stop script
Copy and paste the following script into your text editor:

###############################################
# This is the init script for starting up the
# Tomcat server
#
# chkconfig: 345 91 10
# description: Starts and stops the Tomcat daemon.
#

# Source function library.
. /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions

# Get config.
. /etc/sysconfig/network

# Check that networking is up.
[ "${NETWORKING}" = "no" ] && exit 0

tomcat=/usr/local/jakarta-tomcat
startup=$tomcat/bin/startup.sh
shutdown=$tomcat/bin/shutdown.sh
export JAVA_HOME=/usr/local/jdk

start(){
echo -n $"Starting Tomcat service: "
#daemon -c
$startup
RETVAL=$?
echo
}

stop(){
action $"Stopping Tomcat service: " $shutdown
RETVAL=$?
echo
}

restart(){
stop
start
}

# See how we were called.
case "" in
start)
start
;;
stop)
stop
;;
status)
# This doesn't work ;)
status tomcat
;;
restart)
restart
;;
*)
echo $"Usage: @@@SMARTY:TRIM:PRE@@@ {start|stop|status|restart}"
exit 1
esac

exit 0

##############################
############ end ############

Edit the lines that start with tomcat and export to match where you installed tomcat and jdk.

I am not the original creator if this script and i got it through a friend. I modified it a little to work in my case.

2. Save to /etc/init.d and chmod

Save the edited file above to /etc/init.d directory as "tomcat" or any other name you want. Now allow execute access to the script.

3. chmod a+x tomcat

4. Add to appropriate run level directories
chkconfig --add tomcat
chkconfig tomcat on

Thats it. You might want to see which run levels you want to add this.

Do you use SPF records to prevent SPAM ?

2009-01-23T14:18:00.002-05:00

SMTP email allows any computer to send an e-mail claiming to be from anyone. Thus, it is easy for spammers to send e-mail from forged addresses. This makes it difficult to trace back to where the spam truly comes from, and easy for spammers to hide their true identity in order to avoid responsibility.

SPF or Sender Policy Framework, allows the owner of an Internet domain to use special format of DNS TXT records or the newer SPF records to specify which machines are authorized to transmit e-mail for that domain.

SPF makes it easy for a domain, whether it's an ISP, a business, a school or a vanity domain, to say, "I only send mail from these machines. If any other machine claims that I'm sending mail from there, they're lying."

So what does SPF actually do ?

Suppose a spammer forges a hotmail.com address and tries to spam you.He connects from somewhere other than hotmail.When his message is sent, you see MAIL FROM: , but you don't have to take his word for it. You can ask Hotmail if the IP address comes from their network.
Hotmail publishes an SPF record. That record tells you (your computer) how to find out if the sending machine is allowed to send mail from Hotmail.
If Hotmail says they recognize the sending machine, it passes, and you can assume the sender is who they say they are. If the message fails SPF tests, it's a forgery. That's how you can tell it's probably a spammer.

For more information on SPF, and you to create SPF records for your domains, visit
openspf.org

How cool is this .. I neeed it !

2009-01-23T13:25:00.003-05:00

Setting up Tomcat/Apache on IIS server on different IP, but both using port 80.

2009-01-23T12:42:00.002-05:00

When you start (IIS) 6.0 on Microsoft Windows Server 2003, IIS binds to all IP addresses on the server, not just the IP addresses that are assigned to Web sites. This may be true even though you have set the metabase property DisableSocketPooling to True. DisableSocketPooling will work on IIS 5 , but not on IIS 6.

So to successfully allow applications to use the same port on different IP addresses, you must use utility, Httpcfg.exe. Httpcfg.exe is located on the Windows Server 2003 CD in the Support\Tools directory as part of the Support.cab file.

After you have installed the support tools from the CD,

Open Command prompt
Type the following, where xxx.xxx.x.x is the IP address you want to add:
httpcfg set iplisten -i xxx.xxx.x.x
When this succeeds, Httpcfg returns the following:
HttpSetServiceConfiguration completed with 0
After the IP address is added, use the following command to list it:
httpcfg query iplisten
Httpcfg returns the following:
IP :xxx.xxx.x.x
Stop the HTTP service and its dependent services. Type the following string at the command prompt:
net stop http /y
Restart the HTTP service and it dependent services. To do this, type the following string at the command prompt:
net start w3svc

After this IIS will only bind to the addresses added to the list. Now you can configure IIS or any other webserver to use other IP's on the same port (80).

Zip and Unzip under Linux

2009-01-21T11:53:00.002-05:00

To zip and unzip files under linux, you need to install zip and unzip programs.

These can be installed by
# apt-get install zip
# apt-get install unzip

or under Red Hat installations by
# yum install zip
# yum install unzip

To zip use
$ zip abc *
this will zip all files in current directory and create abc.zip

$ zip -r abc *
this will zip all files in current directory and subdirectories and create abc.zip

To Unzip
$ unzip abc.zip
will extract all files in current directory

$ unzip abc.zip -d /dir1
will extract all files in /dir1 directory

$ unzip -l abc.zip
this will just list the files in the zip file

Some shortcuts and commands

2008-09-25T14:30:00.001-04:00

Some shortcuts and commands.... if you are not a GUI person ..

Accessibility Controls
access.cpl
Accessibility Wizard
accwiz
Add Hardware Wizard
hdwwiz.cpl
Add/Remove Programs
appwiz.cpl
Administrative Tools
control admintools
Automatic Updates
wuaucpl.cpl
Bluetooth Transfer Wizard
fsquirt
Calculator
calc
Certificate Manager
certmgr.msc
Character Map
charmap
Check Disk Utility
chkdsk
Clipboard Viewer
clipbrd
Command Prompt
cmd
Component Services
dcomcnfg
Computer Management
compmgmt.msc
Control Panel
control
Date and Time Properties
timedate.cpl
DDE Shares
ddeshare
Device Manager
devmgmt.msc
Disk Cleanup Utility
cleanmgr
Disk Defragment
dfrg.msc
Disk Management
diskmgmt.msc
Disk Partition Manager
diskpart
Display Properties
control desktop
Display Properties
desk.cpl
Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected)
control color
Driver Verifier Utility
verifier
Event Viewer
eventvwr.msc
Files and Settings Transfer Tool
migwiz
File Signature Verification Tool
sigverif
Folders Properties
control folders
Group Policy Editor (XP Prof)
gpedit.msc
Help and Support
helpctr
Indexing Service
ciadv.msc
Internet Connection Wizard
icwconn1
Internet Explorer
iexplore
Internet Properties
inetcpl.cpl
Internet Setup Wizard
inetwiz
IP Configuration
ipconfig /all
IP Configuration (DNS)
ipconfig /displaydns
IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents)
ipconfig /flushdns
IP Configuration (Release All Connections)
ipconfig /release
IP Configuration (Renew All Connections)
ipconfig /renew
IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re-Registers DNS)
ipconfig /registerdns
IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID)
ipconfig /showclassid
IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID)
ipconfig /setclassid
Keyboard Properties
control keyboard
Local Security Settings
secpol.msc
Local Users and Groups
lusrmgr.msc
Log off
logoff
Malicious Software Removal Tool
mrt
Microsoft Paint
mspaint
Mouse Properties
control mouse
Mouse Properties
main.cpl
Network Connections
control netconnections
Network Connections
ncpa.cpl
Network Setup Wizard
netsetup.cpl
Notepad
notepad
On Screen Keyboard
osk
Outlook Express
msimn
Performance Monitor
perfmon.msc
Performance Monitor
perfmon
Power Configuration
powercfg.cpl
Printers and Faxes
control printers
Printers Folder
printers
Private Character Editor
eudcedit
Regional Settings
intl.cpl
Registry Editor
regedit
Registry Editor
regedit32
Remote Desktop
mstsc
Removable Storage
ntmsmgr.msc
Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof)
rsop.msc
Security Center
wscui.cpl
Services
services.msc
Shared Folders
fsmgmt.msc
Shuts Down Windows
shutdown
System Configuration Editor
sysedit
System Configuration Utility
msconfig
System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately)
sfc /scannow
System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot)
sfc /scanonce
System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot)
sfc /scanboot
System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting)
sfc /revert
System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache)
sfc /purgecache
System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x)
sfc /cachesize=x
System Information
msinfo32
System Properties
sysdm.cpl
Task Manager
taskmgr
TCP Tester
tcptest
Telnet Client
telnet
Tweak UI (if installed)
tweakui
User Account Management
nusrmgr.cpl
Utility Manager
utilman
Windows Backup Utility (if installed)
ntbackup
Windows Explorer
explorer
Windows Firewall
firewall.cpl
Windows Magnifier
magnify
Windows Management Infrastructure
wmimgmt.msc
Windows Media Player
wmplayer
Windows Messenger
msmsgs
Windows Picture Import Wizard (need camera connected)
wiaacmgr
Windows System Security Tool
syskey
Windows Update Launches
wupdmgr
Windows Version
winver
Windows XP Tour Wizard
tourstart
Wordpad
write

FTP uploads Denied to FTP Sites Error 550 when behind ISA

2007-08-23T11:43:00.000-04:00

After trying everything, giving all permissions, trying different ftp servers, on windows and on linux, if you can connect and read but still cant do uploads on external ftp server, then you better check your ftp rule in ISA. By default the ISA protocol has uploads denied in the ftp filter. So whenever you create ftp access rule, make sure you enable uploads specifically (if you need it) otherwise it will be blocked.

1. In the console tree of ISA Server Management, click Firewall Policy.
2. In the details pane, click a server publishing rule or access rule that applies to FTP traffic.
3. On the Tasks tab, click Edit Selected Rule.
4. On the Traffic tab (for a server publishing rule) or on the Protocols tab (for an access rule), click Filtering, and then click Configure FTP.
5. On the Protocol tab, select Read Only, if FTP uploads should be blocked.

HTH

Setting VNC and starting as a service on Linux /Fedora

2007-08-10T11:55:00.000-04:00

Ensure that vnc-server is loaded (rpm -q vnc-server).
If it isn't there, load it from cd or with yum

Edit /etc/sysconfig/vncservers and add an entry that reads:

VNCSERVERS="1:username". Replace username with a real user on your system
(this step is important, so that when the system reboots and starts the serive, it knows which user can access)

Logon to your system as the username listed above and run, vncpasswd .
This will add the password to access through VNC

Make sure you logon as the user and run: vncserver :# (any number). This will actually create the xstartup file for the next step. This needs to be done only once so that the file is created.

Navigate to /home/user/.vnc and modify the xstartup file. Uncomment the top two lines to get a normal desktop (gnome or kde). lines start with unset and exec.

replace twm & with
gnome-session &
or
startkde &

Run: service vncserver stop. If it will not stop, type kill [pid_number].

Run, service vncserver start. This will start the service, but it will not be running the next time you boot. To have this start automatically at boot time,

Run: chkconfig --level 35 vncserver on

On your windows/linux machine from where you want to access this machine download and install vncviewer.

Done

Not Able to connect to Windows 2003 share from Mac OS X ??

2007-07-27T17:32:00.001-04:00

If you are constantly getting that "the original item cannot be found" error when you try to connect to a windows 2003 server from Mac OS, here's the most likely solution.

The default security policy on Windows 2003 Server is set to always encrypt network connections under all circumstances. Whilst this is fine for most clients (especially Windows clients, understandably), the version of SMB that Panther uses doesn’t support encrypted connections. Apparently this support exists in Samba 3, but not on the version OS X uses. The solution is to change the security policy to use encryption when it’s available and not otherwise. Here’s how.

From Administrative Tools, open Domain Controller Security Settings.
Go to Local Policies then Security Options.

Scroll down to find the entry Microsoft network server: Digitally sign communications (always). Set this to Disabled.

The only thing left to do is to reload the security policy, as changes don’t otherwise take effect for some time. Open up a command window and type:

gpupdate

Once you get the confirmation that the policy has been applied you should be all set.

Thanks to http://allinthehead.com/retro/218/accessing-a-windows-2003-share-from-os-x
for saving a lot of time.

Spice Works - One cool tool all admins MUST use

2007-04-04T18:43:00.000-04:00

Most of us admins are always looking around to find a free tool (or a trial version) which we can use to get a task done. It can be a packet sniffer, patch manager, hardware inventory tool, ticketing software, etc etc etc ..
Even if we find the right tool at the right time, it is usually a limited version available for download or a paid tool.
Well, Spice Works was one tool I came across and was totally surprised to see the features it offers and still it is totally free. No free trial period, but FREE.
Spice Works is actually not a tool but a set of tools useful to a sys admin. Tools range from helpdesk system, to inventory management - both hardware and software, patch manager, service manager. You can check servers for online / offline status, free hard drive space, runnign services, etc. It has awesome help feature where you can get help from other pros facing similar problems.

To list down the features : -

Find all the Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs and servers, routers, printers and any other IP-based devices on your network

Discover software packages, services, hot fixes, and patches installed on the computers on your network

Readily access service tags

Acquire the MAC addresses for the computers on your

Stay on top of software compliance by knowing how many software licenses you're using relative to how many you've purchased

	Be proactively alerted to low hard drive capacity, low printer ink and toner, or servers that are offline
	Be notified when users install unauthorized software or un-install critical software
	Set up email notification to alert you via pager, SMS (text message) or email when a monitor fires
	Enter the number of licenses you have for a software package and know if you exceed your allotment - ensuring you stay compliant
	Know when someone creates a Windows user account
	Keep tabs on out-of-date anti-virus installations

	Allow your users to create tickets by submitting issues via email or a web portal
	Enable users to view the latest status of their tickets via the help desk web site
	Run a report on all tickets - enabling you to see which hardware or software (or department!) causes you the most problems

	Compare the configuration of two computers, allowing you to identify differences between the machines, including hardware, software, patches, etc.
	Click on the Software tab to see a list of applications, services and hot-fixes installed in your network over the last day, week or month - eliminating unauthorized software from being loaded into your network
	Use the DNS tab to see how all your DNS mapping is setup
	Browse the network by MAC address to quickly identify devices that don't belong and eliminate un-authorized devices on your network

	Export reports to PDF or Excel to store them for printing or more analysis
	Identify all computers with less than 1GB RAM - expediting the process of knowing which computers need an upgrade
	See what computers have a particular software package installed
	Create custom reports and save them for future use
	Run a report on all open tickets and hone in on important trends
	Determine which of your computers are ready to run Microsoft Vista

-------

Well, so this explains it all.. it is a robust tool set which provides with lot of details and is very useful and time saving. This tool has definitely become one of my best tools recently.

Another Strange VISTA Problem - Error while adding network Printer

2007-03-29T14:52:00.000-04:00

I was recently trying to add one of my network printers on Vista and got this ugly meaage saying

"Specified Print Monitor is unknown"

I had in the past added other network printers and it installed fine. So i tried adding another network printer (Brother 8840) and this installed fine. SO the problem was coming only for my Konica Minolta Magicolor 2300 DL printer.

The problem turned out to be again with Vista. If you have User Account Control turned off, you might face this problem. STRANGE.

SOLUTION :

So i turned off UAC in control panel, user accounts and restarted.
Tried adding the printer again, and SUCCESS.

After adding the printer, i turned off UAC again without any issues with using the printer.

So, another one of those VISTA problems Solved.

Slow Network access / slow network copy / slow shares in VISTA

2007-03-29T14:41:00.000-04:00

This is one of the many problems i faced with Vista. File access on network shares was really slow. Shares took upto 5 minutes to show contents. Also file copy speed over the LAN was max 2 Mbps. After lot of research and trying some solutions, the problem was found to be ..

Vista's Network Auto tuning feature.

By Default it is turned on.

SOLUTION:

Just turn it off and you will be all set.

To disable it, run: “netsh interface tcp set global autotuning=disabled”

If you want to enable it again, run: “netsh interface tcp set global autotuning=normal”

(Both these last two should be run from an Administrator Command Prompt, not a “normal” command prompt).

Also, disabling Remote Differential Compression is a good idea to speed up things.

To do this go to Control Panel / Programs / Turn off Windows features

Untick Remote Differential Compression.

Firefox Sux!!!!!!

2007-03-29T13:16:00.000-04:00

I am tired of hearing that firefox is so cool and how it is the fastest, most secure, bla bla bla browser. Well after some research and looking into some facts it think i was right that ... firefox really sux..

No, Firefox is not the fastest browser.
It is not the most secure.
It is not 100% compatible with all sites.

There are so many myths about it ..

This site addresses most of them. Really an eye opener for all those blind firefox fans.

Moving ISA 2004 to a new Machine

2007-03-27T10:28:00.000-04:00

Recently i was faced with a situation where i had to move our current installation of ISA 2004 to a new machine. I could have just imaged the hard drive over to the new machine, checked the network / ip settings, etc and would have been easy.. But, the problem was i need to have a new OS. We wanted to downgrade from Windows 2003 enterprise to 2003 Standard, so imaging was not an option.

So these are the steps i followed..

Created a new machine with Windows 2003 Standard.
Did not add it to the domain yet and did all the following while it was offline/not connected to network.
Installed ISA 2004
backed up ISA 2004 configurations from the old server. I backed up firewall settings, system policy and network settings from the ISA interface.
After backing up, i removed the old ISA from the Domain, and disconnected it from the network.

Connected the new ISA to network and changed its name to same as old ISA. Added it to the domain.
Imported the 3 settings which were backed up.
Configured the network settings and ip addresses as old ISA

some fine tuning might be required, like if you changed anything in the firewall client configurations on the old ISA, you might have to do it manually.

i compared the settings / configurations with the old ISA, and everthing seemed fine.

If your ISA is DHCP or DNS or both, then you have to take into consideration these settings also.
My ISA was a DNS hosting stub zone for my active directory integrated DNS and was also the DHCP server.
I had to install DNS and DHCP on ISA and configure it exactly the same way after connecting it to the network.

Everything went smooth..

Remote Desktop

2007-03-21T15:54:00.000-04:00

1. With Windows 2003 you can now connect to the console session of a server meaning you actually have 3 connections available when running in "Remote Administration" mode. This was not possible with Windows 2000.

2. You can always connect to the console session even if you get the following message on the standard sessions: "The terminal server has exceeded the maximum number of allowed connections."

3. To be able to connect to the console session you need a Remote Desktop client using the RDP protocol 5.1 or higher. The one with Windows XP is 5.1 and works fine. The one from Windows 2000 does not work. It does not support a console option. A new client for 2003 exists as well that use RDP 5.2 (it has a re-connect option if the connection is dropped and some other stuff): http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a8255ffc-4b4a-40e7-a706-cde7e9b57e79&DisplayLang=en It can be installed on Windows 95 and up (though you won't get the support for mapping local drives etc.)

4. To connect to the console session you start the client from a command prompt (or create a shortcut) or directly under Start Menu -> Run with the following command: mstsc /console You then select server name etc. as usual when the client starts. Note that mstsc on Windows XP is located in: "%Windows%\System32\mstsc" And the 5.2 download installs in: "%ProgramFiles%\Remote Desktop\mstsc" If you don't add the 5.2 to the "PATH" statement the one in system32 will be run by default (it does not upgrade the Win XP client).

5. Other options exist to connect to the console session.

5. A. The "Remote Desktop Management Console" (MMC) snap-in. This has a checkbox for console session which is on by default. 5. B. You have the Remote Desktop Web Connection as well that you can install (a web based client): Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs. Click Add/Remove Windows Components. Click Internet Information Services, then click Details. Under Internet Information Services, click World Wide Web Service, then click Details. Select the Remote Desktop Web Connection check box. Click OK and finish the wizard. This can be installed on the machine you want to connect to or any other Windows 2003 server. It uses an ActiveX control that you download to your browser. Note that if you have removed the "Default Site" under IIS you need to create your own virtual dir to C:\windows\web\tsweb\ on the site of your choice. If you still have the "Default Site" the virtual dir will be created for you. The sample default.htm page doesn't support the option to logon to the console session by default. So in the default.htm you need to add the following:

5. B.1. Above the code for the checkbox that already exist add:

5. B.2. Under the sub called "BtnConnect" add: if Document.all.CheckBoxConsole.checked then MsRdpClient.AdvancedSettings2.ConnectToServerConsole = TRUE end if

6. Connecting to the console session is useful for other things than when you get the "The terminal server has exceeded the maximum number of allowed connections." message. For example I'm running a game server where the server software runs in a command window. Normally I would create a service of this to get around the issue with ending up in the wrong session etc as you could do in Windows 2000. But it's an old game and when creating a service out of the .exe I wouldn't get any status info from the server. With Windows 2003 I can have them running in the console session. No need to use a third party tool like Radmin, VNC etc. to accomplish this.

7. Be warned that if you do not connect to the console session with the same account as the one currently logged in, all open files in the console session will be lost. You get a big warning message about this though if you try and log in with another account. If you log in with the same account you directly take control over the console session and any other person connected on the console session gets disconnected. All files/apps will still be running.

8. Once logged on to the console (or any other session) you can right click on the taskbar and select "Task Manager". When in a session you get a tab here called "Users". You can now choose to log off or disconnect the other sessions that might have become orphan or are still being open on a computer at work or something. You could connect to those sessions as well to see if any files are open in them first or even remote control them to interact with them.

9. You will notice in the terminal service manager that the console session always have sessionid = 0. You still see both a remote connection with sessionid = 0 and a "console" object as well. The "console object" will always be there as well but to identify which session is connected to it look for the one with sessionid = 0.

10. Other cool stuff is that you can remote control other sessions on the computer to interact with them (right click on them -> Remote Control). In other words the "connect" option takes the session directly, while the "Remote Control" option will interact with the session, two at the same time. By default the current user of the session gets a message telling him/her that another connection is incoming for Remote Control. You can select Yes or No to this. If you are the only one using the server then you can disable this message under policies but on the other hand you could just "connect" instead of remote control the sessions in that case.

11. Note that if you have set a timeout limit on sessions to disconnect or remove them this might apply to the console session as well. I haven't verified this yet. In other words if you will be running cmd windows or other apps don't set a time limit. Leave it at default which is umlimited.

12. This concept of console session is different compared to the remote desktop service built-in in Windows XP. In Windows XP you only have one session which is the console session and that's the one you always connect to. With Windows 2003 in Remote Administration mode you have the console session and two other "standard" sessions as in Windows 2000 Server, where the console never is the default one unless you use one of the methods mentioned above.

Peanut Butter Wiki - PBWIKI

2007-02-16T13:06:00.000-05:00

Ever wondered, what would happen if were to lose your IE favourites. Imagine if you lost all your documentation, all your FAQs, all the research you did. Imagine not finding the forum page which once helped you solved a critical problem.

I always had these problems.. also, where to store all the info, all documents, all web links, configuration settings, etc...

Then a friend suggested this site.. www.pbwiki.com.
Its a wiki. but its a personal wiki, which you can have private or make it public to share with your friends, staff etc..

It definitely has helped me get a little organised and the information which was all scattered is not easily accessible, from any computer and all in one place.

I use it to add important bookmarks, categorize important sites/links (windows, linux, db, networking, etc etc), save important configuration details, server and machie details, important FAQs, troubleshooting info, to-do lists, etc

pbwiki is easily editable and it is easy to add pages, create hyperlinks, and crete TOC. you can also have a side bar with toc and quick links to the important pages.

definitly a great tool for me ..

Exchange 2003 - Latest Project

2007-01-19T16:08:00.000-05:00

I am back blogging after a long time now. Well, just bored and tired from reading about Exchange so took a break.
Exchange 2003 , the lastest project at my company..
After reading a little about it here and there.. i think it is not as easy as it may seem. The first tast at my hand is deciding the hardware.
So i dedicating the next few days on planning the architecture, and then deciding the hardware. For our company size i think a 1 dual processor server with enough harddrive storage in Raid Configuration should be enough,, will also evaluate the need for Storage array but i doubt we would need it.
the machine.. i think will go with a 2u server with 4 channel Raid and 8 hot swap SCSI Drives. Think this should be enough .. lets see..
also need to evaluate the backup and recovery procedure...
In a way its good.. atleast something new and exciting to do..

Time frame.. well i think i should have this in production within a month.. this includes.. planning, hardware ordering, configurations, testing and deployment..

Lets see if i am being too optimistic ..

:)

Tantra and Barking Dog T-Shirts now available

2005-09-15T09:33:00.000-04:00

Highly popular and funny t shirts from Tantra are now available in the US. Their Barking Dog Brand with witty comments is a hit. You can get the tshirts online now from Motichoor. www.motichoor.com

The site also features some cool ethinic indian stuff like jewelry. bags, accessories etc.

ScanZoom by Scanbuy - Price comparison on cell phones

2005-05-20T16:29:00.000-04:00

SCANBUY | Optical Intelligence for your mobile phones:

"Scanbuy's Optical Intelligence� is a full software solution turning camera phone into personal barcode scanners. Optical Intelligence� reads and translates barcodes on-device through the use of low-cost CMOS imager based digital cameras. "

You can download the ScanZOOM app for your cell phones FREE from scanbuy.com. In addition to the software you will receive a free macro lens(if you are in first 2000 beta testers)for the phone. The macro lens is an add on snapable lens for the phone and is useful for taking pictures of barcodes with clarity. The add on lens has 50 mm focal length and is perfect to have a clear shot of the barcode.

The app lets you scan and decode barcodes on products and do price comparision. You see the details of the product scanned (eg books) including a picture and prices offered by different sellers. The scanned barcodes are also stored in the database and you can visit Scanzoom.com and login with your username and see all the products you have scanned. The portal has the option to buy those products directly from the site at the cheapest prices.

Overall, i would like to say its a killer app. No matter where you are you always have a tool with you to find the cheapest price of any product you come across and like.

Visit scanbuy.com and scanzoom.com for more details and to download the Free app.

Did i mention i work for this company ;)

The SysAdmin Purity Test

2005-05-16T16:04:00.000-04:00

The SysAdmin Purity Test

Oh, so now we Sysadmins also have a purity test!!!!
Well, this site is a real test for all you admins out there. The questions are real serious and u should answer them truly. Its only 543 questions, so dont panic. And about my score.... hehehe..all i would say is that i am not that pure anymore.. cheers

Adminspotting - Hahahahaha

2005-05-13T14:22:00.000-04:00

Daily Time Cycle of a typical Admin

2005-05-12T16:34:00.000-04:00

I found this at some website and was pretty impressed. Although my life is a little better than this (fingers crossed) at this time, this is a typical day in sys admin's life. !!!

The life of a sysadmin goes approximately as follows.

8am: Your pager goes off and wakes you up. The message says it's the office, and it's a crisis. You roll out of bed moaning.

8:15am: You are now sufficiently awake to phone the office. The receptionist is frantic. She says nobody in the entire office can print and they have a major proposal that has to be faxed out before 9am and if it isn't the company could lose a million dollars in new business. You try to get her to explain what's wrong, but she's incoherent.

8:30am: You're dressed in yesterday's dirty clothes (they were all you could find in time) and running out the door.

8:45am: You arrive at the office.

8:46am: You determine that the problem is that the printer is turned off, and you turn it back on. 10,000 pages spew out from the hundreds of multiple failed attempts by all of your coworkers to print.

8:47am: Your boss reams you out for "not having fixed that printer problem last time when you said it was all taken care of. You spend the next hour explaining that there's nothing you can do to stop people from turning off the printer if they *really* want to.

9:45ish: You finally convince your boss to release you and make your way to your office, assaulted all along the way by people demanding that you must help them fix things right now that you know are going to take weeks and really aren't priority.

10am: You finally arrive at your office and shut and lock the door to keep out the users. You start to read the 40 or so email messages you find waiting every morning, which include about 5 new requests, 34 or so messages demanding to know why such and such hasn't gotten done yet, and one message from your boss denying your request to have an assistant and demanding that you justify how you spend your time yet again.

11am: You've just finished responding to all of your email, including the umpteen millionth justification of your existance for your boss. Unfortunately, the secretary has figured out how to order the phone system to override your do-not-disturb on your phone, and is now routing all the angry phone calls from your coworkers to you.

11:30am: You finish talking to everyone on the phone and calming them down.

11:30am-4:30pm: You work your ass off on whatever projects have the most urgency to the company. Usually this involves a lot of work with software, crawling around on the floor several times, tearing a hole in your clothing, and banging your head (hard) on the bottom of a desk.

3pm: You have your lunch delivered to your office.

4:30pm: You finally get to touch your lunch, and realize that Burger King french fries do not taste good cold. You're on about your 15th coke since arriving in the office.

4:35pm: Your lunch is over. You're not finished eating, but your boss has just phoned you (he knows how to override the DND on the phone too) and demanded that you drop everything and go fix some assinine problem which you know is caused by the user and which you fix every week and which you have warned the user about but about which they just don't listen.

6:30pm: You finish the project your boss set you to and decide to try to sneak out of the office and go home. (Not that you have a social life or anything, but you haven't had 8 hours sleep in a month and a half.) In the elevator on the way out of the office you encounter a coworker, who grabs you by the ear and drags you back to the office to fix something that's bugging them.

6:30pm-8pm: Somehow, despite repeated attempts to leave, the moemnt you try to actually do so, someone else appears to force you to work.

8pm: You're about to depart when you're suddenly informed that there's some vitally urgent data processing that has to be done and that only you know how to do and which can't be performed until all of the data entry people have left for the night at 10pm.

8pm-10pm: You try to nap in your office but the phone keeps ringing so you finally give up and put in several more hours of working.

10pm: You try to do your data processing but can't because there are still people logged into the data acquisition system. You spend the next fifteen minutes running around begging them to log out, and they reply that "yeah, I'll be out in a minute..."

10:20pm: You get sick of waiting, walk over to the server console, issue commands to kick off all the users, and disable logins.

10:30pm-2:30am: You perform that data processing which nobody else could do because they won't let you teach them because they know what kind of hours you have to put in doing it.

Midnight: Your blood turns to coca-cola.

2:30am: You realize that the data processing isn't QUITE done but you're about to pass out so you re-enable logins so you won't get paged about THAT in the morning, scrounge a taxi voucher out of your desk (they've given you your own pad because you use them so often), call a taxi, and leave the building.

2:45am-3:15am: You freeze your ass off waiting for a taxi.

3:15am-3:30am: The taxi takes you home. The driver seems to have decided to take the scenic route for the hell of it.

3:31am: You collapse in a heap on your bed and fall asleep face down with your shoes on the pillows and your clothes still on because you're too tired to remove your clothes or even orient yourself properly on the bed.

8:00am: Your pager goes off.

Repeat ad nauseum until your boss doesn't like your response to one of his "justify your existance" demands and fires you or you die of caffine poisioning. Oh, and don't bother factoring in any weekends or holidays: You'll be expected to work those too.

Microsoft 70-293 - Another step towards my MCSE 2003

2005-05-12T13:35:00.000-04:00

70-293 - Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure.

Well, out of the 3 tests left for my MCSE 2003, this is the one i am currently working on. As always, i prefer to study from the Microsoft Press Books. The book (isbn: 0-7356-1893-3) is very clear and easy to understand. The concepts are made clear as if you are a beginner and not an expert.

This test focuses on the development of network technoligies ( like DNS, WINS, TCP/IP, DHCp etc) on a medium to large network. It concentrates more on the organizational elements of the deployment than on the process of configuring a single machine. For example, rather than how to configure an individual machine with DNS, TCP/IP, it concentrates more on the process of creating a DNS namespace for a large organization.

Routing and remote access, server clustering, hardening servers, Digital certificates, DNS etc are some of the topics covered in detail in this exam.

With about 3 years of experience, i would guess the time needed to study for this test would be anywhere from 1-2 months. Eeverybody is different, and u can probably do it quicker like in a week, but understanding the concepts and gaining knowledge is more important than just clearing the test with brain dumps :)

Finally - Scanbuy , Inc in Fortune top 25 breakout for 2005 !!!!

2005-05-06T14:46:00.000-04:00

Scanbuy Inc in Fortune Top 25 Breakout Companies of 2005

Guys, this is one cool company where i work as a systems/network administrator. I am really happy and proud to see that the company which i joined as one of the first few employees is doing so well and has a great future. I am happy to see that the hardwork of the handful people at Scanbuy didnt go waste.

To read the full article and list of other companies click here
Scanbuy Inc in Fortune Top 25 Breakout Companies of 2005

You can also download Scanzoom and ScanLIFE from scanbuy's website.

Netbux - Make Money to Google or Yahoo or any search engine

2005-05-06T14:36:00.000-04:00

Make money with NetBux !

All you need to do is use NetBux search instead of Google, and you can make hundreds of dollars a month!!

A company named NetBux has created a method where you can search and earn money! All you have to do is use Netbux to Google instead of google, and use it often daily. NetBux shows a few small ads with each search and gets paid by advertisers to do so. In exchange, you get a portion of the cash!! Netbux makes money for each search you make, so they pass some of this money to you as thanks.

Is this a scam? / Is this legal?

It's 100% legal! Advertisers pay NetBux to get to have their ads listed on Netbux's service.

No scam, either. NetBux has to give their advertisers hits or else the advertisers wouldn't be willing to pay NetBux. This is why NetBux has created this program to allow you to earn money. It helps them and then they help you!

How do I join netbux?

Click Here to Join NetBux !

Try to get as many friends to join with you, and if they need convincing, show them this page.

2005-03-24T21:08:00.000-05:00

My Toys - WOW!! - Play Station Portable (PSP)

2005-03-24T21:07:00.000-05:00

My Toys - Dell Axim - Pocket PC PDA with Blutooth and Wireless LAN

2005-03-24T21:06:00.000-05:00

My Toys - Ipod Mini - 4 GB

2005-03-24T21:04:00.000-05:00

My Toys - Fuji S5100 4MP, 10X optical Zoom

Now this is an Ad !!! Proud to be Sikh !

2005-02-18T18:56:00.000-05:00

An unusual FBI ad, starring a turbaned Sikh FBI agent.

Click here for Streaming video from fbi.gov

ISA 2004 - A new Pain in my Life

2005-02-10T12:47:00.001-05:00

If only Auto Updates would work with ISA 2004.

God, tried each and everything. hundreds of different configurations.
Been on mailing lists, blogs, read thousand articles, configured as the guru's have done..still.. :(

Last nite i saw some hope, two machines updated when i checked the logs. had made some changes before that... but.. no other machine is able to do that ...uffff!!
My happiness was short lived.

Pray for me !!!!

A new Toy in my geeky world - P900 !

2005-02-08T12:27:00.000-05:00

Hmmm,

So here's my new Baby !!!
Afer using P800 for 1 year, I could move to no other phone except this P900.

P900 – Simply smarter
The Sony Ericsson P900 is a triple band mobile phone, an MP3 audio and MPEG4 video player, an advanced handheld device and a mobile video and digital camera. Wherever you are, you have phone and e-mail access to your network of contacts. Your calendar is updated. And you have every mobile messaging possibility available. Send pictures taken with the P900 built-in camera in seconds. Record a short video clip and e-mail it right away. Text input is easy. P900 has an on-screen keyboard and a large touchscreen for your comfort. Discover the multi-tasking P900 for yourself. And let rocking MP3 music Ringtones impress others.

For more info on P900
Click Here

Have you grokked your SYSADMIN today?

2005-02-07T11:51:00.000-05:00

I almost had tears in my eyes when i read this at one of my favorite websites...

Sysadmins - the backbone of the backbone of our new global reality. 21st century technological sorcerers you might say. Sysadmins are equally at home deftly maneuvering through tangled infestations of PBX and networking cables to find a faulty jack as they are battling against the latest, most vicious viruses that hit the email scene. They are veritable unsung server room heroes!

Sysadmins come in all shapes, sizes and varieties (though some might suggest there is a general tendency on the shape question to possess a bit of 'mirth' around the midriff). Moving along, it's important for the good of the entire Universe to spend a few moments each day and grok your local Sysadmin. Economies and governments depend on it! Believe us, the only thing worse than neglecting your local Sysadmin is incuring his/her wrath. A Sysadmin with realized wrath distribution potential is even deadlier than hyper-killing ninja bunnies unleashed on a colony of legless mice on Valium. It's just not pretty.

What does Grokked mean? Go read Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein if you want the real answer. Lazy folks will just realize grok means something along the lines of 'deeply understand'. Grok it? Good.

2005-02-05T12:15:00.000-05:00

Mustang 2005 GT V8 !

This Baby will be mine soon.
Coming to @man!'s world March/April 2005 ....

My Pics / Website !!!

2005-02-05T11:26:00.000-05:00

Hey friends..

For the time being i have posted some of my pics here:

MSN Spaces at http://spaces.msn.com/members/amanbedi

Finally i will be moving them and adding hundreds more ( which are waiting since months to be posted ) on my website. This website is currently under construction ;)

yeah yeah yeah .. it will be up soon as soon as i can get some time :)

My Website http://aman.is-a-geek.com
(This is running off my computer at home)

Check back this link soon for all the pics i have collected since years !!!

2005-02-04T11:34:00.000-05:00

A Perfect Wallpaper for a Geeky Admin !!! ( are there any other types of Admin ??)

Great Song, Awesome poetry, another Handsome Sikh ! (a lil less than me ;) )

2005-01-31T00:30:00.000-05:00

Rabbi Shergill

Bulla Ki Jaana Maen Kaun - Rabbi Shergill

Bulla ki jaana maen koun ?
Na maen momin vich maseet aan
Na maen vich kufar diyan reet aan
Na maen paakaan vich paleet aan
Na maen moosa na pharaun.

Bulleh! ki jaana maen kaun

Na maen andar ved kitaab aan,
Na vich bhangaan na sharaab aan
Na vich rindaan masat kharaab aan
Na vich jaagan na vich saun.

Bulleh! ki jaana maen kaun.

Na vich shaadi na ghamnaaki
Na maen vich paleeti paaki
Na maen aabi na maen khaki
Na maen aatish na maen paun

Bulleh!, ki jaana maen kaun

Na maen arabi na lahori
Na maen hindi shehar nagauri
Na hindu na turak peshawri
Na maen rehnda vich nadaun

Bulla, ki jaana maen kaun

Na maen bheth mazhab da paaya
Ne maen aadam havva jaaya
Na maen apna naam dharaaya
Na vich baitthan na vich bhaun

Bulleh , ki jaana maen kaun

Avval aakhir aap nu jaana
Na koi dooja hor pehchaana
Maethon hor na koi siyaana
Bulla! ooh khadda hai kaun

Here's the English translation of this great Song !!!!
(Note Mine)

Says Bulla, who knows who I am!

I am not in the mosque of the believer,
Nor in false rites.
I am not in the pure or the impure.
Neither Moses nor Pharaoh.
Says Bulla, who knows who I am!

I am not in the vedas or holy books,
Not in drug or wine.
Not in the drunkards wasted intoxication,
Not in wakefulness or sleep.
Says Bulla, who knows who I am!

I am not in sorrow nor in joy,
Neither in clean nor unclean.
I am not water, I am not earth,
I am not fire, I am not air.
Says Bulla, who knows who I am!

I am not from Arabia or Lahore,
Nor from India or Nagaur.
Neither a hindu or muslim from Peshawar,
Nor do I live in Nadaun.
Says Bulla, who knows who I am!

I cannot be unearthed in the mysteries of religion.
I was not born of Adam and Eve.
I am not the name I assume.
I am not in stillness, not in movement.

Finally, I only know myself.
I cannot know any other.
Who could be wiser than I?
Bulla asks, who then, stands here?
Says Bulla, who knows who I am!

"Bulla ki jaana" - orginally sung by Baba Bulleh Shah, new rendition by Rabbi Shergill

Awesome Weekend !

2004-12-19T11:17:00.000-05:00

Wow , what a weekend after such a long time.
well, where to start? lets start by saying that the weekend is not yet over, Sunday has just started :)

Friday....
A great evening spent at GlenRock Gurdwara with my friends Ranjit and Rubina. Awesome dinner (ofcourse the Langar at the gurudwara :) ) followed by a few hours of pool later. man, i did play well and Rubina is not bad at all. Then comes in coffee at Dunkin Donuts and a nice sound happy sleep at around 4 am....

Saturday...
Great morning breakfast by Ranjit's mom, a large parantha ...wow ! preprations to go to Rubina's place for Lunch..Lunch at Rubina's Beautiful house in New York, talks, fun, dog, a bird, uncle's jokes, and ofcourse Bina's non stop talking :) ... 2 great games of bowling with uncle, aunties, ranjit, harvir and Bina.. I did well there, although not my best and was impressed how well Bina played. she is good at both bowling and pool...IMPRESSED.. Uncle is a good too.. next comes a visit to Bina's Jersey City apartment where we all go and have dinner.. falafel and chicken sandwich. hmmmm.. a trip back to to the pool place and another few hours of pool filled with fun ...:) late night talks at home and again bed to 4 am to end saturday .. a great one after a long time..

Sunday..
i just woke up and i am sure it is going to be filled with more exciting stuff (hint: aunty's nice food, Bina's company, ranjit's laughter and some movie : )

@man!

ISA 2004 - Another addition to my books

2004-12-14T12:11:00.000-05:00

Here comes another one. Tom Shinder's ISA Server 2004.

I sometimes wonder, whether it is that i really like to collect books or is it that i cannot find any other way to watse my money. Because, from what i know of myself ....it takes me a while to get to read a book( if i read a book at all) ..

The list of books i have and which are in queue to be read are :

ISA Server 2004 - by Tom Shinder
Exchange server 2003
Group Policy, Profiles and IntelliMirror - by Jeremy
Window's Scripting Guide- by Ed Wilson
Some of my MCSE stuff
Windows 2003 Server
Sharepoint Portal Server 2003
etc etc etc

ufff.. isnt that a long list ?
may be one day i will have more time or may be some day ...weekends will just become longer !!!!

@man!

Ufffff - Monday !!

2004-12-06T14:14:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful weekend it was...
Movies, shopping, sleep, TV, and a nice drive throught the city to Queens and back - Mitsubishi Eclipse GT - Spyder... Wow !! what a car ! Loved it.

All to end with this monday morning.
oh God .. i hate mondays so badly.

After the nice drive( Eclipse), I am confused again...
With my plans to buy a car early next year .. my mind is still not set on a car.
ok here are the top choices..

1) Ford Mustang 2005 .....ohhh the RED loooks so hot !
2) BMW 325 2005....hmmmm now this a cool beamer
3) And my new love Mitsubishi Eclipse..
4) Ford Mustang 2004 (I loved the shape...)
5) Infinty G35 ( ok now i am starting to dream ....)

Well, may be i have few more additions to this list in a few days.. or may be a few more test drives will make me decide...

And yeah ... its only a few more day before i turn 25... wow, now i can rent all those cars without paying the high underage fees.. :)

@man!

Well, A nice Definition ...

2004-11-11T11:18:00.000-05:00

The Sysadmin is a very special species of geek. The type of person that spends his or her day ensuring that other folks' day at the office doesn't suck. Often mistreated by the suits and under appreciated by the lemmings they support, Sysadmins are frequently found between a rock and a hard place.

Yes, People do constantly take us for Granted.

Just a Test... Too bored to do anything else

2004-11-02T16:27:00.000-05:00

Well, too bored.. nothing much happening in life..... and i dont feel like making those Firewall Changes right now. ... so why not try this !!!