I was slightly hesitant when I got the upgrade emails from Symantec but I went ahead and downloaded it. The upgrade installation went through without a hitch, all my settings were retained, and the jobs are running properly. I'm not being sarcastic when I say that this is probably the best Backup Exec upgrade I've had in the past 4 years.
One of the reasons I wanted to roll this out is that I'm looking at rolling out a 2008 Hyper-V box next year and they've added a new agent specifically for Microsoft Virtual Servers. Now I'm not a licensing expert but it looks like they're going to focus more on licensing the Host Virtual server and not worry as much about how many virtual machines are on it. An Agent for VMWARE ESX is now available as well.
On top of that, they've released a new version of their System Recovery product (8.5) which like the previous version allows you to convert your backups into virtual machines. The new 8.5 version adds support for Hyper-V and scheduled conversions.
http://www.symantec.com/business/backup-exec-system-recovery-server-edition
So far so good with the new version. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it lasts...
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
vmware 2 install - system administrator has set policies to prevent this installation error
Whilst trying to upgrade my VMWare server 1.0 to the new 2.0 version, I ran into a fun error.
So I tried a few resolutions I had found on the web which led me to this patch:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925336
Now granted, the title of that KB seems misleading but apparently it applies here too. Since VMWare made this big huge install file (500+ MB), you have to install this patch and reboot. Afterwards, the installer worked fine for me.
So I tried a few resolutions I had found on the web which led me to this patch:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925336
Now granted, the title of that KB seems misleading but apparently it applies here too. Since VMWare made this big huge install file (500+ MB), you have to install this patch and reboot. Afterwards, the installer worked fine for me.
Friday, October 10, 2008
VMWare Server 2.0 problem with disconnected network cable
I ran into an interesting problem with VMWare Server 2.0 this week on a laptop. When the network cable is not plugged in and you're not on a wireless network, you can't open a browser to connect to the console of currently running virtual machines. (I really miss the old Console app).
The workaround I use is to create a Loopback Adapter on the host machine:
2003 instructions:
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5647584.html
XP instructions:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/839013
Once created, assign a static IP like 172.16.180.1 or something similar. The loopback adapter is always on and always appears connected. Reboot and then use the loopback adapter's address to get into the VMWare admin web console. https://172.16.180.1:8333 or whatever address you chose to assign your loopback adapter. (Keep in mind you want to choose an address that isn't likely to conflict with other networks when you travel. Using the loopback adapter is perfectly safe and won't affect how your virtual machines operate. This workaround just pertains to how the web console is bound to IIS.
The workaround I use is to create a Loopback Adapter on the host machine:
2003 instructions:
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5647584.html
XP instructions:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/839013
Once created, assign a static IP like 172.16.180.1 or something similar. The loopback adapter is always on and always appears connected. Reboot and then use the loopback adapter's address to get into the VMWare admin web console. https://172.16.180.1:8333 or whatever address you chose to assign your loopback adapter. (Keep in mind you want to choose an address that isn't likely to conflict with other networks when you travel. Using the loopback adapter is perfectly safe and won't affect how your virtual machines operate. This workaround just pertains to how the web console is bound to IIS.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
copy user - parameter is incorrect error
So recently I've been trying to fix an issue that was preventing me from copying existing user accounts. You'd get to the final step and click finish and be rewarded with an error box stating: Windows cannot create the object such and such because: The parameter is incorrect.
As it turns out, this error is caused by bad data in one of the user Attributes. The good news is that it can be fixed, the bad news is that it may require some perseverance to find it. The following steps and screenshots were done on a Win2k8 controller so some things might look different. The user and computers MMC is currently in 'advanced' mode (View-> Advanced Features)
Open up a known good user that you can copy and on another window or another dc open up the problem user. Go to the Attributes Tab and set the Filter in the bottom right to "Show only attributes that have values" and repeat in the other window. (That is unless you like spending LOTS more time doing this). This will narrow the search down considerably.
Now do a side by side comparison and look for values that either exist in only one user or that look odd.
In my case, when I went to Edit the msRADIUSCallbackNumber attribute, I found that it had garbage in it. Just hit the Clear button and OK out.
After I torched the msRADIUS values on mine, I was able to copy the user without any problems. And due to a shortage of time, I didn't get around to writing a powershell script to dump it out to excel but maybe if I get bored one day...
As it turns out, this error is caused by bad data in one of the user Attributes. The good news is that it can be fixed, the bad news is that it may require some perseverance to find it. The following steps and screenshots were done on a Win2k8 controller so some things might look different. The user and computers MMC is currently in 'advanced' mode (View-> Advanced Features)
Open up a known good user that you can copy and on another window or another dc open up the problem user. Go to the Attributes Tab and set the Filter in the bottom right to "Show only attributes that have values" and repeat in the other window. (That is unless you like spending LOTS more time doing this). This will narrow the search down considerably.
Now do a side by side comparison and look for values that either exist in only one user or that look odd.
In my case, when I went to Edit the msRADIUSCallbackNumber attribute, I found that it had garbage in it. Just hit the Clear button and OK out.
After I torched the msRADIUS values on mine, I was able to copy the user without any problems. And due to a shortage of time, I didn't get around to writing a powershell script to dump it out to excel but maybe if I get bored one day...
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Dell Latitude E6400 first impressions
Where to begin? It has a completely redesigned exterior and IMHO looks a bit more like the stinkpad laptops. That aside, the slick black top does look nice. The battery has been relocated to the rear of the unit and they added firewire, usb powershare (which allows you to charge devices off of it while it's off), HDMI output, SD Card slot, eSATA port, and an optional built in webcam for the lid. It also feels lighter but I'm haven't decided yet if it feels as sturdy as the D630 series that it replaced. The only downside so far is that it only has 3 USB ports but honestly it's a fair trade. The power cord has a glowing blue light near the plug which is probably just for bling but to me it's a power system troubleshooting tool (confirming power is getting there).
The new BIOS interface looks like it was designed by the guys who did the UI for the diagnostics CD. It has built in mouse support and a few menu tweaks. It didn't prompt with an option to go into BIOS from the boot Logo so I used the F12 boot menu option to get into it. One step backward is that it wouldn't let me use special characters in the admin password (ie $%^@). These type of things are common for major version changes and will probably be ironed out in a few patches.
The new docking station selection is pretty snazzy and come with multiple elevation options. The one I got has Dual DVI and HDMI ports as well as the base VGA port.
Overall the performance has been good so far.
Updated: 10/12/08 - Upon closer inspection, it's actually a DisplayPort in the back and not an HDMI, but you can buy an adapter from Dell. It appears they're still trying to push the DisplayPort technology even though the rest of the world is going HDMI.
The new BIOS interface looks like it was designed by the guys who did the UI for the diagnostics CD. It has built in mouse support and a few menu tweaks. It didn't prompt with an option to go into BIOS from the boot Logo so I used the F12 boot menu option to get into it. One step backward is that it wouldn't let me use special characters in the admin password (ie $%^@). These type of things are common for major version changes and will probably be ironed out in a few patches.
The new docking station selection is pretty snazzy and come with multiple elevation options. The one I got has Dual DVI and HDMI ports as well as the base VGA port.
Overall the performance has been good so far.
Updated: 10/12/08 - Upon closer inspection, it's actually a DisplayPort in the back and not an HDMI, but you can buy an adapter from Dell. It appears they're still trying to push the DisplayPort technology even though the rest of the world is going HDMI.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Error when starting Data Collector Sets
So if you're like me and went overzealous in locking down your 2008 servers, you may run into a nice error message when trying to start your Data Collector Sets in the Reliability and Performance Monitor:
When attempting to start the Data Collector Set the following system error occured:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or
because it has no enabled devices associated with it.
I finally figured out which service it was complaining about - "Performance Logs & Alerts". It was set to disabled which I believe occurred after I had locked it down with the Security and Configuration Wizard. Set this service to Manual and then your data collector sets will be able to run.
You'll also want to set Task Manager to Automatic if you want to be able to schedule your Data Collector sets to run on a schedule.
When attempting to start the Data Collector Set the following system error occured:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or
because it has no enabled devices associated with it.
I finally figured out which service it was complaining about - "Performance Logs & Alerts". It was set to disabled which I believe occurred after I had locked it down with the Security and Configuration Wizard. Set this service to Manual and then your data collector sets will be able to run.
You'll also want to set Task Manager to Automatic if you want to be able to schedule your Data Collector sets to run on a schedule.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Microsoft Press Practice Test - Errors on Vista - application.WriteTestRecord
So I had just finished crawling through ye olde MCTS exam prep book and decided to install the Practice Tests. The installation went fine but when I tried to launch a Lesson Test, I kept getting errors.
An unacticipated error has occured in the application.WriteTestRecord
An unanticipated error has occured in the application.UpdateTimer
The latter was so much fun, I had to go and End Process Tree for MSLocalWare.exe to get rid of the endless error messages.
Since the practice tests were installed from a CD, I went to the C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Press Training Kit Exam Prep folder and unchecked the Read Only checkbox. (The same thing happened on my 32 bit vista install as well). Sometimes you find that apps that have been copied from CDs love to retain their read-only flags on files. Just for overkill, I also added the Everyone Group as full control on the folder.
And voila, the practice tests have worked fine since.
An unacticipated error has occured in the application.WriteTestRecord
An unanticipated error has occured in the application.UpdateTimer
The latter was so much fun, I had to go and End Process Tree for MSLocalWare.exe to get rid of the endless error messages.
Since the practice tests were installed from a CD, I went to the C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Press Training Kit Exam Prep folder and unchecked the Read Only checkbox. (The same thing happened on my 32 bit vista install as well). Sometimes you find that apps that have been copied from CDs love to retain their read-only flags on files. Just for overkill, I also added the Everyone Group as full control on the folder.
And voila, the practice tests have worked fine since.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Migrating from SYSVOL to DFS-R in 2008
FRS will soon be obsolete. Microsoft has replaced it with DFS-R in 2k8 which offers better capacity, better performance, and is easier to troubleshoot.
First upgrade all domain controller to 2k8, then raise domain functional level to 2008.
Migration is done with DFSRMIG.EXE and consists of 4 states
0 - start
1 - copy SYSVOL to SYSVOL_DFSR. FRS still active
2 - SYSVOL redirected to SYSVOL_DFSR. all clients now use the new one
3 - SYSVOL replication stopped. original must be removed manually
To start, run dfsrmig /setglobalstate 1
then dfsrmig /getmigrationstate until it says that all domain controllers have been synched. It took 6 minutes on my single domain (3 DCs) but microsoft says allow up to an hour on larger setups. It's like watching grass grow so go get some coffee or something for a few minutes.
Then dfsrmig /setglobalstate 2
repeat the same /getmigrationstate
*Now you can rollback and go back to the way things were by running /setglobalstate 0 or 1. Once you change to state 3, you can't go back. You don't have to do step 3 yet in case you want to run it for a few days but keep in mind that you shouldn't do any changes to policies, etc until you complete this as replication to the old SYSVOL share isn't working anymore. I personally am only on step 2 and am going to give it a try for a few days this week. (checking event logs, listening for complaints, the usual). I'll update this post if anything goes wrong. :)
When you're ready to finish this, run dfsrmig /setglobalstate 3
Do the /getmigrationstate until it says you're done.
References (with much more detail):
http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/archive/2008/02/14/sysvol-migration-series-part-2-dfsrmig-exe-the-sysvol-migration-tool.aspx
http://redmondmag.com/features/article.asp?editorialsid=2516
First upgrade all domain controller to 2k8, then raise domain functional level to 2008.
Migration is done with DFSRMIG.EXE and consists of 4 states
0 - start
1 - copy SYSVOL to SYSVOL_DFSR. FRS still active
2 - SYSVOL redirected to SYSVOL_DFSR. all clients now use the new one
3 - SYSVOL replication stopped. original must be removed manually
To start, run dfsrmig /setglobalstate 1
then dfsrmig /getmigrationstate until it says that all domain controllers have been synched. It took 6 minutes on my single domain (3 DCs) but microsoft says allow up to an hour on larger setups. It's like watching grass grow so go get some coffee or something for a few minutes.
Then dfsrmig /setglobalstate 2
repeat the same /getmigrationstate
*Now you can rollback and go back to the way things were by running /setglobalstate 0 or 1. Once you change to state 3, you can't go back. You don't have to do step 3 yet in case you want to run it for a few days but keep in mind that you shouldn't do any changes to policies, etc until you complete this as replication to the old SYSVOL share isn't working anymore. I personally am only on step 2 and am going to give it a try for a few days this week. (checking event logs, listening for complaints, the usual). I'll update this post if anything goes wrong. :)
When you're ready to finish this, run dfsrmig /setglobalstate 3
Do the /getmigrationstate until it says you're done.
References (with much more detail):
http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/archive/2008/02/14/sysvol-migration-series-part-2-dfsrmig-exe-the-sysvol-migration-tool.aspx
http://redmondmag.com/features/article.asp?editorialsid=2516
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