New site online

Check out my new site! www.virtualrick.com

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

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

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!

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

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'

HP ProCurve Port Monitoring

Below is a quick guide on how-to configure port monitoring on an HP ProCurve 3800 switch

Configure the mirror
This is the port you are going to attach your collector (Wireshark).

• switch-core(config)# mirror 1 port e 17

Configure the port to monitor
This selects the port to monitor and tells it were to mirror it.  In this example we are monitoring eth-1 and mirroring it to mirror 1 which we define in the previous step.

• switch-core(eth-1)# monitor all both mirror 1

Collect your packets

Start collecting your packets using an application like Wireshark - website

Tested on software revision  : KA.15.03.3004 

vRanger 5.5 Error 3201

After setting the permissions as per the vRanger 5.5 Installation Guide the backups were failing while using the non-admin account.

Error message: "Backup failed: An internal error occurred during execution, please contact Quest support if the error persists.  Error Message: 3201 - can't open [DATASTORE NAME]..."

Solution:  Currently I haven't identified the minimal permissions required, but I have determined that adding all privileges under "Virtual machine" > "Provisioning" enables the backups to perform successfully.

VCP5 Certified

Passed the VCP510 exam to update my VCP 4 to VCP 5 two weeks ago, today I received the confirmation e-mails along with the logos.

Enable IPv6 in Chrome

In order for internal websites to function over DirectAccess I had to enable IPv6 DNS in Chrome.  I found that a restart of my computer was required in order to successfully access IPv4 pages with acceptable load times.

Below are the steps:

1. Open Chrome
2. Browse to  chrome://net-internals/#dns
3. Click the enable IPv6 button
4. Attempt to browse to your site.

DirectAccess Client Connectivity - Teredo state

I ran into an issue to where I was unable to get connected to my DirectAccess server due to an issue with my DA Client IPv6 settings.  It's important to note that the teredo interface state should be "qualified" when it's functioning properly.


The default client type was set to "client".  Once I changed this to "enterpriseclient" everything started working.

C:\Windows\system32>netsh interface teredo show state
Teredo Parameters
---------------------------------------------
Type                    : client
Server Name             :    (Group Policy)
Client Refresh Interval : 30 seconds
Client Port             : unspecified
State                   : offline
Error                   : client is in a managed network


C:\Windows\system32>netsh int ter set state enterpriseclient
Ok.

C:\Windows\system32>netsh interface teredo show state
Teredo Parameters
---------------------------------------------
Type                    : enterpriseclient
Server Name             : (Group Policy)
Client Refresh Interval : 30 seconds
Client Port             : unspecified
State                   : qualified
Client Type             : teredo client
Network                 : managed
NAT                     : restricted
NAT Special Behaviour   : UPNP: No, PortPreserving: Yes
Local Mapping           : :60432
External NAT Mapping    : :60432

This can be configured via GPO.

References

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/p2p/archive/2007/03/22/teredo-and-the-pnrp-global-cloud.aspx

Execute command from history (Linux)

1) use the history command
2) record the number for the command you want to run
3) type "!" + the job number to execute that command.
Example: "!17" will execute history line 17

Determine your external IP from Linux CLI

"dig myip.opendns.com @resolver1.opendns.com +short"

vm to vm serial access on vSphere

Note to self:  Enable serial logging on the vSphere host before attempting to perform serial debugging between two vm's.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1003900

Passed the CCNA Voice exam yesterday, recieved confirmation and logos today.

some true bad-logic...

Don't use the # sign in dial strings for sip calls.  Apparently the SIP header does not like the from field to contain the %23 that it translate the # key into which results in a "corrupted header" and then causes the call the drop after exactly 15 minutes.

Excel 2010 with Multiple Monitors on Windows 7

Since Excel likes to open all the spreadsheets into one window it makes it difficult to use both of your monitors.  To work around this I realized that you can simply right click on the task bar icon for excel and click on the Excel icon towards the bottom to open another instance of excel which you can then move where ever you would like.

Not sure why it took me so long to figure out I could do this since I use this technique all the time for IE and Firefox.

Link to google data api's

http://code.google.com/p/google-gdata/downloads/list

View Exchange calendendar in Google calendar

I was looking for a quick and easy way to view my work calendar from my google calendar and found www.icalx.com. Simple overview is your use the native function of outlook to publish your calendar to their site, then you add that iCal URL to your Google calendar view. Took no more than 5 minutes to get it all setup and working.