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Thursday, April 09, 2015

VOIP Dial Plans

Universal:
x.T|*xx
Default without having to dial 9 for a four digit extension:
[0-8]xxxT3|911|411|611|011xxx.T3|1xxxxxxxxxx|[2-9]xxxxxxxxx|*xxx.T3
The default but with the ability to test providers by dial 55 then phone number:
[0-8]xxxT3|55xxx.T|911|411|611|011xxx.T3|1xxxxxxxxxx|[2-9]xxxxxxxxx|*xxx.T3

Sources
http://apetec.com/voip/Polycom-DialPlan.htm
http://blog.voipdiy.com/2012/10/what-is-dial-plan.html
https://wiki.asterisk.org/wiki/display/DIGIUM/Dial+Plans
http://wiki.voip.ms/article/Dial_Plan_for_Linksys_ATAs
http://voipstuff.net.au/dial-plans/


Friday, March 27, 2015

VMware blogs

http://www.vladan.fr

http://www.virten.net

HP Customized ESXi Image and HP Server Support Matrix


As of 3/27/2015

  • ESXi and vSphere:
    • vSphere 6.0 March 12, 2015 - Download here
    • vSphere 5.5 U2 Nov 2014 - Download here
    • vSphere 5.5 U1 Dec 2014 - Download here
    • vSphere 5.5 June 2014 - Download here
    • vSphere 5.1 U3 Dec 2014 - Download here
    • vSphere 5.1 U2 Nov 2014 - Download here
    • vSphere 5.1 U1 Sept 2013 - Download here
    • vSphere 5.1 Feb 2013 - Download here
    • ESXi 5.0 U3 Nov 2014 - Download here
    • ESXi 5.0 U2 Sept 2013 - Download here
    • ESXi 5.0 U1 Oct 2012 - Download here
    • ESXi 4.x - Download here
    • Contents of above images available here
HP Server Support Matix for VMware
http://h17007.www1.hp.com/us/en/enterprise/servers/supportmatrix/vmware.aspx


Source
http://www8.hp.com/us/en/products/servers/solutions.html?compURI=1499005#tab=TAB4



Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Moving Firefox profile to new computer


  1. Completely close firefox on your old computer
  2. Copy the profile folder on old computer (C:\Windows\Profiles\\Application Data\Mozilla)  to the location where you want to new computer C:\Windows\Profiles\\Application Data\Mozilla.
  3. Start the Profile Manager by typing the following in Start firefox.exe -P
  4. Click on the "Create Profile..." button.
  5. In the dialog that opens, enter a descriptive name for the profile.
  6. Click on the "Choose Folder..." button. A "Browse for Folder" dialog will open.
  7. Select the profile folder you copied and click OK.
  8. Review the path shown in the "Completing the Create Profile Wizard" dialog to make sure it is correct, then click "Finish" to create the new profile.
  9. Select the new profile and press the Start button to start Firefox using the moved profile.

Image:Profilemanager1.png

Source
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_your_profile_folder

Monday, March 16, 2015

Excel or Outlook takes a long time opening file

1. Click Start then click Computer.
2. Click Organize.
3. Select Layout, and then click to clear Preview pane.
4. Open the Excel workbook and test.

If the error continues to occur, go to the next method.

Windows Explorer:
1. Right click on Start button
2. Click Open Windows Explorer
3. Click Organize | Layout
4. Uncheck Details Pane and Preview Pane

Excel:
1. Click File | Open
2. Click Organize | Layout
3. Uncheck Details Pane and Preview Pane

Outlook:
1. Open a new e-mail
2. In the "Include" group on the Ribbon, click Attach File
3. Click Organize | Layout
4. Uncheck Details Pane and Preview Pane

Source
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2779852
http://geniustechbar.blogspot.com/2013/03/excel-cannot-complete-this-task-with.html

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

CodeTwo Active Directory Photos

A nice free tool for importing photos into Active Directory.  The tool can be run from any computer which were the user is logged int an account with administrative rights.

CodeTwo Active Directory Photos
http://www.codetwo.com/freeware/active-directory-photos/


Tuesday, February 17, 2015

How to Unprotect an excel sheet without password

In Excel on the Developer Tabs press View Code

Copy and paste the following.  When Done press F5 to Run code.  The sheet is unprotected now.

Sub PasswordBreaker()
    'Breaks worksheet password protection.
    Dim i As Integer, j As Integer, k As Integer
    Dim l As Integer, m As Integer, n As Integer
    Dim i1 As Integer, i2 As Integer, i3 As Integer
    Dim i4 As Integer, i5 As Integer, i6 As Integer
    On Error Resume Next
    For i = 65 To 66: For j = 65 To 66: For k = 65 To 66
    For l = 65 To 66: For m = 65 To 66: For i1 = 65 To 66
    For i2 = 65 To 66: For i3 = 65 To 66: For i4 = 65 To 66
    For i5 = 65 To 66: For i6 = 65 To 66: For n = 32 To 126
    ActiveSheet.Unprotect Chr(i) & Chr(j) & Chr(k) & _
        Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & Chr(i3) & _
        Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n)
    If ActiveSheet.ProtectContents = False Then
        MsgBox "One usable password is " & Chr(i) & Chr(j) & _
            Chr(k) & Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & _
            Chr(i3) & Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n)
         Exit Sub
    End If
    Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next
    Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next
End Sub

Sorce
http://uknowit.uwgb.edu/page.php?id=28850

Thursday, September 04, 2014

Unable to print or view the print preview of a webpage in Internet Explorer

The problem prints a blank page with a footer  displaying the following line: “file:///C:/Users/userprofile/AppData/Local/Temp/Low/randomfilename.htm”.

You maybe missing the "Low" folder.  Verify that is is there, if not re-create it.

1. Close all open IE windows.
2. Click on Start and then type in %temp% in the search box and click on the Temp folder in the list.
ie print preview blank
3. Now create a new folder called Low.
ie not printing anything
4. Once you’ve created the Low folder, close Explorer, re-start IE and try to print the web page again.

Alternatively you can use Microsoft's Fix it
Fix this problemFix this problem
Microsoft Fix it 50676

Source
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973479
http://www.datacorps.com/2012/how-to-fix-internet-explorer-printing-blank-pages/

Saturday, August 30, 2014

HP & VMware Links


Nice page as of 8/30/2014 with HP & VMware related links.

http://www.v-front.de/p/hp-vmware-links.html


Some notable info

General links

HP customized VMware ESX(i) installation ISOs

HP Online Depot for ESXi 5.x

Friday, June 06, 2014

All mailboxes in an Exchange database are disconnected and/or your account has been disabled in OWA

This was for an issue which occurred on Exchange 2010 sp3 rollup 5.

Email flow had been working for years.  All of a sudden email flow stopped. Email server was restarted and email flow worked only for mailboxes located in one  specific Exchange database.  Mailboxes located in the other Exchange databases didn't have total email flow.  Mailboxes of affected users were unable to open Outlook.

When a working mailbox sent an internal email to an affected mailbox they would receive an undeliverable bounce back with the following message:
"Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups". "There's a problem with the recipient's mailbox. Please try resending this message. If the problem continues, please contact your helpdesk."

OWA was up but any mailbox in an affected database would receive a message "Your account has been disabled".  Among some of the details of the error message was:
Exception type: Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Storage.AccountDisabledException
Exception message: Cannot open mailbox

The issue stems from an Active Directory issue which caused the Exchange server to either get out of synch or to be caching information and not updating.  Below is how the issue was resolved.

Steps summary:

1. Try to reconnect disconnected mailboxes.
2. Check DNS server Exchange is using. (Note that this might not be a necessary step but it was part of resolution)
3. Clean Exchange database.
4. Fix any mailboxes stuck in Disconnect Mailbox folder.

Steps detail:

1. Try to reconnect disconnected mailboxes.

In Exchange Management Console (EMC) navigate to Microsoft Exchange -> Microsoft Exchange On-Premises -> Disconnected Mailbox.
Right click Connect.
Choose matching user.
Click OK.

2. Check DNS server Exchange is using

In Exchange Management Console (EMC) navigate to Microsoft Exchange -> Microsoft Exchange On-Premises -> Organization Configuration.
Right click and select "Modify Configuration Domain Controller"
Select Specify a domain controller
Domain = the domain the Exchange server resides on.
Configuration domain controller = make note of current selection and then choose a secondary domain controller.
Click OK.
Repeat above steps but this time Configuration domain controller = the original or primary domain controller.
Click OK

3. Clean Exchange database

In Exchange Management Shell (EMS) run the following cmdlet

Get-Mailboxdatabase

Make note of any database listed under Name column

Now run the following cmdlet. Replace the "DBNAME" with the database name from above. Run the cmdlet on each database.

Get-Mailboxdatabase –Identity “DBNAME” | Clean-Mailboxdatabase

4. Fix any mailboxes stuck in Disconnect Mailbox folder

In Exchange Management Console (EMC) navigate to Microsoft Exchange -> Microsoft Exchange On-Premises -> Disconnected Mailbox.
Click Refresh.
If any mailbox is still listed, right click and select Connect.
Choose matching user.
Click OK.

Bonus step that was not performed but might be necessary.
If mailbox does not appear after replication, Run Get-Mailboxdatabase | Clean-Mailboxdatabase.



References
http://exchangeexpertscommunity.blogspot.com/2013/07/your-account-has-been-disabled-error.html
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/exchange/en-US/b8c55f32-eebb-4c85-80b4-03b40d53db1d/exchange-2010-sp2-owa?forum=exchangesvrclientslegacy

Friday, May 30, 2014

Network printer won't print even though it is online

If a network printer won't print even though it is online. A driver may have become corrupted.  Try the following steps to resolve:
  1. Run printui.exe /s /t2
  2. Highlight unnecessary/old printers and click Remove
  3. Select Remove driver and driver package and click OK
  4. Repeat above steps and perform the same for the network printer having issue
  5. Stop Print Spooler and repeat above step for network printer
  6. Open Registry (regedit) and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows x64\Drivers\Version-3
  7. Highlight network printer and press delete entry
  8. Start Print Spooler
  9. Re-install network printer driver

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

How to remove/delete old updates on WSUS server

This How-To is designed to show you how to most effectively clean your WSUS server of old, depreciated or superceded updates. This how-to assumes that you have already selected the correct update classifications, products, and languages for your environment. If you still need to do that, see this How-To here: http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/2572
1.

Open the Windows Update Services MMC


Wsus_console_big
2.

Select the All Updates View

Set the display to show the Approval status of 'Any except Declined' with a Status of 'Any'. Click Refresh.
All_updates_big
3.

Display the Supercedence Column

Right-click the column headers and select Supercedence.
Supercedence_column_big
4.

Sort by Supercedence

Left-click on the Supercedece Column.
5.

Select and Decline the Superceded Updates

The updates to be declined have one of two particular flowchart symbols for their updates pictured in the attached image. Select the correct updates and Decline them by either right-clicking the selected updates and clicking decline or by pressing the decline button in the action pane.
Supercedence_icons_big
6.

Run the Server Cleanup Wizard

Make sure you have all options selected in the wizard and let it run. It will delete the files from the declined updates.
Wsus_cleanup_big
7.

OPTIONAL: Automatic Approval Options

In the automatic approval options, under the advanced tab, there is an option to automatically approve update revisions for previously approved updates and subsequentially decline the now expired updates. I suggest you select them.
Wsus_approval-adv_big

Source

http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/2563-clean-your-wsus-server

Monday, February 03, 2014

Steps to updating Sonicwall firmware

Connect the computer to the x0 interface.

1- Get a paper clip and push and hold for 15 seconds on the reset button *wait till the wrench light starts to flash.

2- Go to your local nic settings in your computer (start>run>ncpa.cpl) IP 192.168.168.25 (anything except for 168) Subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 Default gateway will be 192.168.168.168

3- The wait about a minute and then open a browser and go to 192.168.168.168 Go into the Sonicwall boot options and choose firmware (?) with factory defaults.

4- Once it restarts, go to the Sonicwall and log in Default username is admin Password is password.

5- Go to system>settings import settings.

6- Then remove the static ip from your computer and set it to dynamic if that is its original configuration


7- Register your firewall with your mysonicwall.com account.

Recommended Sonicwall Global VPN Client

As of 2/3/2014

For Windows 7: 4.6.4.0114

For Windows 8: 4.7.3.0403

They can be downloaded here
https://www.mysonicwall.com/firmware/previousversions.aspx?CF=14&SG=5317&PG=FD&LC=EN

Saturday, February 01, 2014

How to monitor Sonicwall for FTP traffic

On Sonicwall, navigate to System->Packet Monitor
Click Clear
Click Configure
On the Monitor Filter tab
    Ether Types: IP
    IP Types: UDP, TCP, ICMP
    Destination IP Address: (public IP of FTP server)
    Check "Enable Bidirectional Address and Port Matching
On Advanced Filter tab
    Check all boxes
Click OK

Click Start Capture
Click Stop Catpure when done captureing


Monday, January 13, 2014

How to allow a specific public IP through Windows Firewall

Navigate to Start->Administrative Tools->Windows Firewall with Advanced Security
In left navigation left click Inbound Rules
In the Right navigation left click New Rule…

Click Custom and Next
Click All programs and Next
Select Protocol Type and ports or choose Any and All
Click Next
In Which remote IP addresses does this rule apply to click “These IP addresses” and click Add…
Enter public IP and click OK
Click Next
Click Allow the connection and Next
Choose when rule applies and Next
Give the rule a name and description.  Click Next.
Click Finish.

You can also add a rule from the command line.  The below example adds a rule to allow Remote Desktop services from public IP 209.172.32.36 with the rule name of RDesktopRule.

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="RDesktopRule" action=allow remoteip=209.172.32.36 protocol=TCP dir=in localport=3389


Sources


Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Unable to remove or disconnect network drive

 

When trying to disconnect a network drive the following error message is presented

“This network connection does not exist"

or

"Z:\ refers to a location that is unavailable. It could be on a hard drive on this computer, or on a network. Check to make sure that the disk is properly inserted, or that you are connected to the Internet or your network, and then try again. If it still cannot be located, the information might have been moved to a different location.”

Perform the following steps to correct:

Run->Start
Regedit

Navigate to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MountPoints
In this folder, delete anything with ## in front of it.

Run Task Manager
On Processes tab, highlight Explorer and click End Process
File->New Task (Run…) and type
Explorer

Below is a possible script to automatically fix the registry.  Save the following as .vbs

identify subkeys with "##" and remove them

const HKEY_CURRENT_USER = &H80000001
strComputer = "."
 
Set oReg=GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" &_
strComputer & "\root\default:StdRegProv")
 
strKeyPath = "Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MountPoints2"
oReg.EnumKey HKEY_CURRENT_USER, strKeyPath, arrSubKeys
 
For Each subkey In arrSubKeys
    If CBool(Instr(subkey,"##")) Then
        oReg.DeleteKey HKEY_CURRENT_USER, strKeyPath&"\"&subkey
    End If
Next

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Using the One-Touch DPI and Stateful Firewall high security applies the following configurations to the system. A system restart is then required for the updates to take full effect.

 

System>Administration

  1. Password must be changed every 90 days
  2. Bar repeated password changes for 4 changes
  3. Enforce password complexity: Require alphabetic, numeric and symbolic characters
  4. Apply the above password constraints for: all user categories
  5. Enable administrator/user lockout
  6. Failed Login attempts per minute before lockout: 7
  7. Enable inter-administrator messaging
  8. Inter-administrator Messaging polling interval (seconds): 10

Network>Interfaces

  1. Any interface allowing HTTP management is replaced with HTTPS Management
  2. Any setting to 'Add rule to enable redirect from HTTP to HTTPS' is disabled
  3. Ping Management is disabled on all interfaces

Network>Zones

  1. Intrusion Prevention is enabled on all applicable default Zones
  2. Gateway Anti-Virus protection is enabled on all applicable default Zones
  3. Anti-Spyware protection is enabled on all applicable default Zones
  4. App Rules is enabled on all applicable default Zones
  5. SSL Control is enabled on all default Zones

Network>DNS

  1. Enable DNS Rebinding protection
  2. DNS Rebinding Action: Log Attack & Drop DNS Reply

Firewall>Access Rules

  1. Any Firewall policy with an Action of Deny, the Action is changed Discard
  2. Source IP Address connection limiting with a threshold of 128 connections is enabled for all firewall policies

Firewall>App Rules

  1. If licensed, the Enable App Rules setting is turned on

Firewall Settings>Advanced

  1. Turn on Enable Stealth Mode
  2. Turn on Randomize IP ID
  3. Turn off Decrement IP TTL for forwarded traffic
  4. Connections are set to: DPI Connections (DPI services enabled with additional performance optimizations)
  5. Turn on Enable IP header checksum enforcement
  6. Turn on Enable UDP checksum enforcement

Firewall Settings>Flood Protection

  1. Turn on Enforce strict TCP compliance with RFC 793 and RFC 1122
  2. Turn on Enable TCP handshake enforcement
  3. Turn on Enable TCP checksum enforcement
  4. Turn on Enable TCP handshake timeout
  5. SYN Flood Protection Mode: Always proxy WAN client connections

Firewall Settings>SSL Control

  1. Turn on Enable SSL Control
  2. Set Action to: Block connection and log the event
  3. For Configuration, enable all categories

VPN>Advanced

  1. Turn on Enable IKE Dead Peer Detection
  2. Turn on Enable Dead Peer Detection for Idle VPN sessions
  3. Turn on Enable Fragmented Packet Handling
  4. Turn on Ignore DF (Dont Fragment) Bit
  5. Turn on Enable NAT Traversal
  6. Turn on Clean up Active tunnels when Peer Gateway DNS name resolves to a different address
  7. Turn on Preserve IKE port for Pass Through Connections

Security Services>Gateway Anti-Virus

  1. If licensed, Enable Gateway Antivirus
  2. Configure Gateway AV Settings: Turn on Disable SMTP Responses
  3. Configure Gateway AV Settings: Turn off Disable detection of EICAR test virus
  4. Configure Gateway AV Settings: Turn on Enable HTTP Byte-Range requests with Gateway AV
  5. Configure Gateway AV Settings: Turn on Enable FTP REST request with Gateway AV
  6. Configure Gateway AV Settings: Turn off Enable HTTP Clientless Notification Alerts

Security Services>Intrusion Prevention

  1. If licensed, Enable IPS
  2. Turn on Prevent All and Detect All for High Priority Attacks
  3. Turn on Prevent All and Detect All for Medium Priority Attacks
  4. Turn on Prevent All and Detect All for Low Priority Attacks

Security Services>Anti-Spyware

  1. If licensed, Enable Anti-Spyware
  2. Turn on Prevent All and Detect All for High Priority Attacks
  3. Turn on Prevent All and Detect All for Medium Priority Attacks
  4. Turn on Prevent All and Detect All for Low Priority Attacks
  5. Configure Anti-Spyware Settings: Turn on Disable SMTP Responses
  6. Configure Anti-Spyware Settings: Turn off Enable HTTP Clientless Notification Alerts

AppFlow>Flow Reporting

  1. Turn on Send AppFlow To Local Collector
  2. Turn on Enable Real-Time Data Collection

Log>Log Monitor

  1. Set Logging Level: Debug

Log>Name Resolution

  1. Set Name Resolution Method to: DNS then NetBIOS

Internal Settings

  1. Turn on Protect against TCP State Manipulation DoS
  2. Turn on Apply IPS Signatures Bidirectionally
  3. Allow launching of AppFlow Monitor in a stand-alone browser frame
  4. Enable Visualization UI for Non-Admin/Config users

 

Source

http://www.sonicwall-sales.com/help-and-advice/sonicwall-one-touch-configuration.html

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Configuring Two Sonicwalls To Use Layer 2 Connection with Failover

This is a summery of how you can connect a layer 2 (point to point/direct connection) between two Sonicwalls using SonicOS Enhanced 5.8.  This is also a summery of how you can use the second Sonicwall’s WAN as a failover connection for the first Sonicwall.

On the first Sonicwall, plug layer 2 connection into an interface.  For this example we will use X5.

Network->Interfaces
   
    Zone: WAN
    IP Assignment: Static
    IP Address: 10.10.10.1
    Subnetmask: 255.255.255.0
    Default Gateway: 10.10.10.2
    DNS Server 1: 208.67.222.222
    DNS Server 2: 8.8.8.8
    DNS Server 3: 208.67.222.220

On the second Sonicwall, plug layer 2 connection into an interface.  For this example we will use X5.

Network->Interfaces

    Zone: LAN
    Mode/P Assignment: Static IP Mode
    IP Assignment: 10.10.10.2
    Subnetmask: 255.255.255.0

For failover and the ability to use the second Sonicwall's WAN for the first Sonicwall's WAN...
On the first Sonicwall

Network->Failover & LB

    Check Enable Load Balancing
    Check Respond to Probes

    In the Groups section Click Configure for Default LB
        Type: Basic Failover
    Check Preemp failback to preferred interfaces when possible
    Highlight X5 interface and click Add
    Order desired interface and click OK

    Click Configure for X5
        Select Logical/Probe Monitoring enabled
        Select Probe succeeds when either Main Target or Alternate Target responds
        Main Target: Ping (ICMP) Host: 4.2.2.1
        Alternate Target: Ping (ICMP) Host: 8.8.8.8
        Default Target IP: 208.67.222.222
        Click OK
    Click Accept