Thursday, June 20, 2013

New site online

Check out my new site! www.virtualrick.com

All future posts will be on the new site. See you there!

Friday, January 11, 2013

passwd: Module is unknown after uninstalling Centrify

Issue:
Cannot log into Linux machine with local accounts (including root) after uninstalling Centrify.  The  error message below can be seen after booting to single user mode and attempting to reset a password.

passwd: Module is unknown

or when you try to su to a user

su: Module is unknown

Solution: 
Restore the files below with the copy created by the Centrify installation with .pre_cdc ending.

  1. common-accont
  2. common-auth
  3. common-password
  4. common-session



Tuesday, January 8, 2013

X11Forwarding with Centrify on Ubuntu Desktop 12.04

Issue: X11Forwarding not working even after enabling it in /etc/ssh/sshd_config.
"X11 forwarding request failed on channel 0".

Environment: Ubuntu Desktop 12.04, Centrify 2012.3


Resolution:

  1. Uncomment and set X11Forawarding to "yes" in /etc/centrifydc/ssh/sshd_config
  2. Restart centrify-ssh (sudo /etc/init.d/centrify-sshd restart)
Verify:
Example connection command
ssh -X -v -v user@server.address

After entering your password you will see the message "X11 forwarding request accepted on channel 0"

References:
Thanks Ryan!



Monday, December 31, 2012

How-to bulk delete Zendesk users


Situation

After successfully performing a bulk import into Zendesk....I needed to clear out all the accounts.  I had to run this process multiple times as it appears to only return a subset of the users that matched the criteria.

Create text file full of end-users

curl -v -u {email-address}:{password} https://{company}.zendesk.com/api/v2/users/search.json?role="end-user" > zd_end-users.txt

Python script to delete all users in a text file

#!/usr/bin/python
import os
import json

json_data = open('zd_end-users.txt')
data = json.load(json_data)
for user in data['users']:
        os.system("curl -v -u {email-address}:{password} https://{company}.zendesk.com/api/v2/users/%s.json -X DELETE" %user["id"])
json_data.close()


References

http://developer.zendesk.com/documentation/rest_api/introduction.html

Install Windows Server 2012 on vSphere 5

Issue: After the initial reboot when installing Windows Server 2012 the machine stalls with a blue windows and the spinning status balls.

Resolution: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2021887

How-to bulk import users from AD into Zendesk

How-to bulk import users from AD into Zendesk



PS Y:\> get-aduser -Filter * -SearchBase "ou=employees,ou=accounts,dc=virtualrick,dc=com" -Properties OfficePhone | select Name, UserPrincipalName,OfficePhone | Export-csv c:\employees-accounts-virtualrick.com_2012-11-28.csv




Monday, October 22, 2012

Why is my A4 print job coming out on 8.5 x 11? I have A4 paper loaded!

Problem: Every time I send a print job it comes out on 8.5 x 11" paper even when I tell it to use A4 or a specific tray to use.  This was happening to me specifically on a Xerox WorkCentre 7125 and MS Word 2010.

Resolution: Disable 'Scale content for A4 or 8.5 x 11" paper sizes' from the Advanced options in MS Word.

1. Open MS Word options
2. Under Advanced > Print, deselect 'Scale content for A4 or 8.5 x 11" paper sizes'