Configuring networking from the ESX service console command line

This VMware KB article provides steps to configure networking for an ESX host when you only have access to the service console.

How to modify the ESX Login Message

Logon directly to ESX Host and edit the motd file


1.Enter in the prompt nano /etc/motd
2.Create a message or some welcome banner
3.Press Ctrl o
4.Press Enter
5.Press Ctlr x

Dell Console Redirection fails with Login Failed - Error "Channel in use"

First of all simply clear the cache on your browser. In most cases this should resolve the issue.But if this fails then perform the following steps:

1. Close all your IE sessions (In some case you might need to reboot your machine if the session veiw is locked by anther sessions).
2. Go to c:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Program Files
3. Right click on 'session viewer' and click remove
4. Right click on 'rac5vm control' and click remove
5. Finally, Clear out your browsing cache again.

This should resolve your "channed in use" error with Dell Console Redirection issue.

How to run Remote Desktop Console using CLi

You can use mstsc to create connections to terminal servers or other remote computers.
For example, to connect to the console session of a server, type:

mstsc /v:servername /console

For addition help, run mstsc /? on cli, whic will provide you all the addtional switches and syntax:

/v:ServerName[:Port] - Specifies the remote computer to which you want to connect and optionally, the port number to which you want to connect.

/console - Connects to the console session of the specified Windows Serve.

/f - Starts Remote Desktop connection in full-screen mode.

/w: - Specifies the width of the Remote Desktop window.

/h: - Specifies the height of the Remote Desktop window.

/public - Runs Remote Desktop in public mode.

How to create an "Offer Remote Assistance" shortcut

Being part of IT infrastructure team, occasionally I need to provide support to end users when the desktop support guys are not available. This is when I found the remote assistance feature very handy, providing support to end users without moving from your workstation.

I found the quickest and the easiest way to launch the “Offer Remote Assistance" is to create a shortcut on your desktop:

To do this, simply create a shortcut that points to following url:

%windir%\explorer.exe "hcp://CN=Microsoft%20Corporation,L=Redmond,S=Washington,C=US/Remote%20Assistance/Escalation/Unsolicited/Unsolicitedrcui.htm"

How to Configure ssh for root user in VMWare ESX

Logon directly to ESX Host and edit the configuration file for ssh

1. Enter in the prompt nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
2. Find the line PermitRootLogin and change the value of PermitRootLogin no to yes
3. Press Ctrl o
4. Press Enter
5. Press Ctlr x

Finally, you need to restart the ssh service by entering the following command:

1. service sshd restart
2. Press Enter

Once you completed the above steps, simple use putty to test that changes you made is working fine by allowing you to logon via service console with the root privileges.

     
 

Permissions to Manage Mailbox Servers

So here is the command that you use to add mailbox permissions:


Add-MailboxPermission -Identity "Some User" -User fawad -Accessright Fullaccess -InheritanceType all

Here are some more parameters for -Accessright, which is actually the most important part of the command that can be used to control the permission:

FullAccess
DeleteItem
ReadPermission
ChangePermission
ChangeOwner
ExternalAccount
SendAs

MS Reference article: Answer Available Here


 

How to Unblock Attachments in Microsoft Outlook

In order to unblock attachments in MS outlook, you need to follow few simple registry modification. But it is recommended to backup your registry before you start editing it.


Go command prompt (cmd) then regedit (press enter) and then go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Security

1. Backup your registry by right clicking and select Export.

2. Add a new String Value called: Level1Remove

Once you added the string value then you need to edit it and save the value data to the extension you wish to allow but makesure you add a semi colon delimiter after each extensions.

For Example: .mdb or .mdb;.exe;.scr;.bat and so on

3. Finally, you need to restart outlook without rebooting you pc.

Please refer to MS KB for further details

Windows Server 2008 RDP and Widows Firewall

This can be an issue when you have some sort of GP in your domain to stop the Windows firewall services. If the windows firewall service is stopped for Windows Server 2008, then the traffic to the server will be blocked. This means when the clients try to establish an RDP session will have issue connecting to the server.


Use the following commands to enable or disable the Windows firewall:

Netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state on or Netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state off

Useful AIX commands

Answere Available Here

AIX FAQ

I found the below wesite very useful:
Click Here

How to check the AIX version

Putty to AIX server and use the following below command:

Use "oslevel -g"

How to clean up the metadata of deleted domain controllers

With Windows Server 2008, when you delete a DC from the Active Directory Sites and Services MMC snap-in, and all the DC's associated metadata is also deleted. However, on earlier versions of Windows Server the metadata is left around if a DC is improperly demoted.

Please refer to MS KB: How to remove data in Active Directory after an unsuccessful domain controller demotion 

Microsoft also provides a script (Remove Active Directory Domain Controller Metadata Script) with a GUI to delete DCs. The script currently support the following platforms: Windows Server 2008/R2, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP and Windows 2000.

Revive Deleted AD Objects with Active Directory Recycle Bin

Answer Available Here

How to reboot/shutdown Windows Servers remotely using PsShutdown utility

You need to copy the PsShutdown file on Windows server in a folder. Say I saved the file under a folder called C:\downloadss. Next open windows command prompt, go to  (Start > Run > cmd) and schedule the  reboot:


c:> at 12:00am c:\downloads\psshutdown.exe -r -f -c -t 10 -accepteula

Above command will reboot the system at 12am. If you want to shutdown system:

c:> at 12:00am c:\downloads\psshutdown.exe -s -f -c -t 10 -accepteula

Where:

• -s: Shutdown specified server
• -r: Reboot specified server
• -f: Forces all running application to exit
• -c: Allow the shutdown to by cancel by user
• -t: Specifies the countdown in seconds until the reboot or shutdow process
• -accepteula (you need to add -accepteula to the psshutdown command, otherwise the task will hang, indicating a “running” state in Scheduled Tasks)