December 05, 2006
SysInternals Has Been Assimilated!
As an IT geek and system admin, one of the places I used to visit fairly often was SysInternals. Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell started SysInternals ages ago, distributing nifty utilities to do things in WinNT/Win2K/WinXP/WinSrv200x that Microsoft either couldn't be bothered with, or simply couldn't do.
I went there today, to check out what was new, and found THIS!
Yikes!
The free tools are still available, but read the licensing terms very, very carefully, Cheena! For things have changed....
You don't need the SysInternals stuff often, but when you need 'em.... you really need 'em!
Download 'em now, before the Borg decide to assimilate YOU!
NOTE: These utilities will allow you to do things that may send your system(s) out to the Land of Oz! Be careful, and READ the descriptions carefully. Some of this stuff, when used improperly, can and will send your system right out to lunch...
Just Damn....
Posted by ward at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)
October 13, 2006
Exchange Server...
...is Live!
Exchange wasn't the problem. Our Cisco PIX firewall was the problem.
We got some good advice from someone who's BTDT (Been There, Did That), and it just started... working.
PFM (Pure "Flaming" Magic).
Posted by ward at 07:21 PM | Comments (0)
October 03, 2006
Email And Firewalls And Bears, Oh My!
"I coulda been a contenda!"
If my legions of loyal fans have been following the exploits of Willie Gaitz, Elderly Boy Genius, they might know that I've been wrestling with the SFI (Small Financial Institution) Exchange Server installation.
Actually, Exchange has behaved itself. Internally, on the inside of our network, all is bliss.
Unfortunately, we have to communicate with the outside world. "Aye, laddie, there's the rub!"
What I have to do is persuade our Cisco PIX 506E firewall to send email traffic, and only email traffic, to our internal spam catcher.
We're a simple network. We have fewer than 100 PCs. Our Exchange server is on the same subnet as our PIX. This should be simple: "Dude! Catch any email and send it to NOSPAM, there to be sent further to EXCHANGE."
So far, I've managed to kill ALL internet access, for everybody.
Twice.
The only thing that saved my bacon was I was able to UNDO what I did in less than 10 seconds.
So far, the commands on the PIX to do email redirection look like this:
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static (inside,outside) tcp 12.12.12.12 25 192.168.0.2 25 netmask 255.255.255.255 0 0 |
If you parse the above carefully, with a command reference in hand, it makes sense. "Dude! Grab the email and send it ... "
BUT... when I plug the appropriate IP addresses in there, and activate it, external internet access goes to hell in a hand basket. Internal works just fine.
I think I'll go sit in the corner, with a bottle of cheap rotgut. Passers-by will shake their heads in sympathy... "Poor fellow. He was normal once, but then he fell afoul of the PIX, and there he sits, an object of pity... swilling cheap rotgut instead of a fine vintage like ours..."
Posted by ward at 09:43 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2006
More Exchange Server Stuff
Exchange Server seems to be playing nicely, so far.
My current set of problems relate to DNS, security issues, and the ISP that supports the SFI (Small Financial Institution) where I work.
I should explain a little? Be advised, this is just a little "geeky" - you might want to skip over it.
Still with me? Cool.
For lo these many years, external email was handled by our local ISP. This was fine, when all we had to do was manage a maximum of 15 email accounts. The primitive and clunky tools provided by the ISP worked OK, sorta, and were cost-effective.
When reality popped up and said "Dude, everyone in the organization MUST have an email account that works seamlessly inside and outside the organization!", reality smacked everyone in the chops. Managing 60+ email accounts with the afore-mentioned stone-age tools provided by the ISP became a monumental pain in the gluteus maximus.
MY gluteous maximus.
Enter Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.
After much sniveling and moaning on my part, and a really enthusiastic push by the IT Manager, we got authorization to move all email in-house using Microsoft Exchange Server.
I've had experience with Exchange Server before (version 5.5), and properly managed, it's a more than competent solution for a small (less than 100 user) organization. Exchange, in fact, is behaving itself most admirably, so far. Install is easy, admin's a snap, and internally, within our private IP network, it works just fine.
My problem is with our ISP - and not so much with them as with the nuts and bolts of changing the DNS and MX record to point at the SFI (Small Financial Institution) static, external IP.
To avoid hijacking attempts, the ISP wants our PIN before they'll change the DNS/MX records. The guy who managed all the ISP stuff recently retired. "PIN? What PIN?", I asked.
Horrified silence on the other end of the line.
"You don't have the PIN", he said.
"Nope," I replied, "How do I get another one?"
"Well," said Sean the Support Guy at the ISP, "It involves letter-head stationary, and faxing, and signatures, Oh My!"
Don't you just know that Monday is a pain in the butt?
Posted by ward at 09:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 19, 2006
Arrrgh, Matey! Exchange Walks The Plank!
After annoying my co-workers ("Avast, me hearties!"), I have finally managed to wrestle Exchange Server 2003 into a sorta submission.
It all turned out to be, in a most embarassing turn of events, my very own workstation's fault.
Rule Nr. 543: If you, as an IT geek, are going to test a network install of a server application, do NOT use your own (heavily "customized") workstation for test purposes.
There are disadvantages to having "Network Deity" privileges for your own workstation...
Anyway, the "test" Exchange environment now plays nicely with our "standard" Win2K/WinXP+Outlook200x workstation environment.
In about a month, after beating on the test environment, we'll start rolling the new email/calendaring system out.
The big deal, of course, is going to be the training issue.
If I'm lucky, I'll still have some of my hair left when it's all done...
Posted by ward at 07:59 PM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2006
More System Admin Stuff
I have some more geeky goodness.
As a working sysadmin, one of my big problems is keeping the local admin accounts secure in a networked environment. That means changing the local ADMINISTRATOR passwords from time to time.
After a little thrashing around diddling with scripts that just don't work, I remembered this little jewel from the inventive mind of Mark Russinovich at SysInternals. PSPASSWD.EXE lets you change the local administrator password for all machines in a Windows domain. Or, of all specified machines in a Windows domain.
I've used the SysInternals stuff for years. It's all pretty straightforward, and it all works. Best of all, he's made some of the most useful tools freeware.
If you're a system administrator, this is Good Stuff. If you deal with a large network, persuade the purchasing people to get the full-house suite. And learn to use the command line. After all, "WIMP - Windows Icons Mouse (and) Pointers. Real men use DOS!"
WARNING and DISCLAIMER(s): As always, test it before you use it. Not for amateurs. YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary). Not warranted by OWW. "Me? I was in Buffalo!" "If you don't write it down, it never happened." "Who? Never heard of him-her-it!"
Heh.... Ò¿Ö
Posted by ward at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)
August 22, 2006
Windows System Admin Stuff
When you're an IT God (Minor Deity Division) you have to figure out ways to automate stuff.
I commend to your attention AutoIt (See it HERE).
Download it, then dig around in the Help. Play with it a bit. Hint: Check out the functions.
Connie, make sure that you check out the RunAsSet functionality.
Come to think of it, John Dominik, you should check this out as well.
Mikey, Bro-inlaw Michael, and B-Squared - don't mess with this until you talk to me. There is much power here, Grasshopper, but Beware the Dark Side!
This is some seriously Good Stuff. And... it's freeware!
Posted by ward at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)
August 12, 2006
Fire Up The 'Way Back Machine, Sherman!
According to THIS, today is the 25th anniversary of the introduction of the first IBM personal computer, the Model 5150. Yep, 'way back in 1981.
What makes that a significant date is the name of the company: IBM.
Prior to that date, there was the Apple II, the Commodore PET, the Radio Shack TRS80.
By that date, I had personal, hands-on experience with:
Making an Apple II run an automatic chip tester at a Major SemiConductor Company in Sunnyvale, California. It was programmed in interpreted BASIC, and was a bear to debug. Once debugged, it worked well enough to have a service life of four years - which is an eternity in a chip fab.
Persuading a Commodore PET use it's built-in HPIB (an instrumentation bus designed by Hewlett-Packard) to talk to, and control a fairly large telescope for an astronomer at the University of California. In 6502 Assembler.
And.... 'way back in 1978, my Mom got the very first computer owned by a member of my family. She used it to run astrology software, and to write letters. When she actually took delivery of the little beast, she called me down to LA to make it work. It still works. I haul it down from the attic every so often, just to remind myself of the way the world was, 'way back when. And to remember the way Mom's eyes lit up when the power came on and that old Model I said ">>READY".
Posted by ward at 07:57 PM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2006
Pure 'Flaming' Magic
Acronym Of The Day
PFM - Pure "Flaming" Magic - I'd forgotten this one. 'Way back there, when dinosaurs walked the land, were "black boxes", delivered from DNC (Director of Naval Communications) to do things like encrypt and decrypt ultra tippity-top SECRET messages without human intervention. When we asked how it worked, the response was, in the best Naval Tradition, "Pure 'Flaming' Magic, Sailor! If we wanted you to know, we'd tell you!"
- - - - - - - - - -
OWW is hip-deep in server upgrades and network file & directory rationialization.
The server first: A ten-year-old Alpha server running a financial application under the VMS O/S (Full-Geek Alert!) will finally be retired this weekend. Testing on the new box is in full swing - which means that OWW has limited time for anything.
The network shares are spread between two Win2K servers. We (read OWW) are in the throes of consolidating those shares onto a single server, thereby freeing up the other server for something else - like maybe an in-house email system utilizing Exchange Server with some of it's more admin-friendly features, such as being able to really administer the damned thing, instead of depending upon the tender mercies of our local telephone company's very primitive web-based POS "administration" utility.
Moving the email system "in-house" will be a major PITA, with some countervailing Very Good Things. Presuming we do this half-way competently, email will turn from "I need it NOW" to "Oh, email? It just... happens."
In OWW's working world, the ideal is "invisibility". If we do our job absolutely perfectly, someone will say "Who's that walking down the hall?"
Some old-timer, who's been with the SFO (Small Financial Organization) for 97 years will say, "Oh! That's one of the IT guys!"
"We have those?"
"Well, I think it's an IT guy, anyway. Everything just works around here, so I'm not sure if I've even talked to an IT guy...."
We want the whole shootin' match to be PFM...
Posted by ward at 07:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 29, 2006
Microsoft "Kill Switch"???
If THIS is true, Microsoft and it's products are DOA at Chez OWW.
To recap what Windows Genuine Advantage currently is - During the initial startup of your new PC, you are invited to register your copy of Windows XP with Microsoft - this feature is optional. You then must activate your copy of Windows XP - this is mandatory. When you want to download and install an update, WGA checks your Windows XP serial number against Microsoft's internal database. If MS decides that you're OK, whether you've registered or not, you can download your updates, because your serial number is valid.
So far, so good, sorta. It's kind of intrusive, but I can live with it.
According to the article highlighted above, WGA is about to get much more intrusive, and complicate my professional life enormously. If the quote below is true, Microsoft has just whupped it out in public, is now dragging it in the dirt, and inviting the two classes of people it cannot afford to annoy to stomp all over it with spiked golf shoes.
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I like to review updates before they are installed. The only update that I have not installed is the latest WGA because of the security issues related to it. I called Microsoft support to see if there is a hidden option to say, "yep, I've got updates turned to manual… it's okay." The rep said, "No and why wouldn't you want to get the latest updates to Windows." I responded with the issues relating to WGA. He spent some time telling me that WGA was a good thing, etc. I reiterated that I have accepted all the updates except WGA and just want to review the updates before they're installed on my machine. He told me that "in the fall, having the latest WGA will become mandatory and if its not installed, Windows will give a 30 day warning and when the 30 days is up and WGA isn't installed, Windows will stop working, so you might as well install WGA now." [emphasis added]
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At the SFI (Small Financial Institution) where I work, we've discussed, off and on, going from Windows XP to one or the other of the various Linux distros. I lean towards Xandros, because at need, you can run MS Office 2003 and earlier without any difficulties.
That discussion may now become Very Serious.
And the two classes of people Microsoft cannot afford to annoy?
Your average sophisticated home user who happens to know a decent lawyer will have a field day with this. In fact, if he/she is a lawyer, it'll get really ugly.
What's worse, from Microsoft's viewpoint, is the small- and medium- sized businesses that will drop Windows XP and Windows Server like a hot potato the first time one of said businesses Windows XP installations just....stops working. No more upgrades, and a steady migration to things like Xandros Business Edition and Xandros Server.
I repeat IF the article turns out to be true, Microsoft is in a world of hurt, IF the article is true.
Posted by ward at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)
March 14, 2006
A Virus Checker Gone Wild
I was just getting ready to write up my latest techno-gizmo, when I saw THIS.
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"[Friday] McAfee released an anti-virus update that contained an anomaly in the DAT file that caused many important files to be deleted from affected systems. At my company, tens of thousands of files were deleted from dozens of servers and around 2000 user machines. Affected applications included MS Office, and products from IBM (Rational), GreenHills, MS Office, Ansys, Adobe, Autocad, Hyperion, Win MPM, MS Shared, MapInfo, Macromedia, MySQL, CA, Cold Fusion, ATI, FTP Voyager, Visual Studio, PTC, ADS, FEMAP, STAT, Rational.Apparently the DAT file targeted mostly, if not exclusively, DLLs and EXE files." |
If McAfee is set to DELETE files instead of quarantine, you could be in Big Trouble.
Fortunately for me, at work we use a different commercial anti-virus, and at home we're using AVG - neither of which is affected. I do expect, however, that I'm going to be hearing from various folk that they've got problems.
Posted by ward at 11:00 PM | TrackBack
February 24, 2006
HP Printers
HP makes pretty solid hardware, especially their printers.
Case in point: my antiquated, and Very Tired DeskJet 540. The poor old thing is/was at least 12 years old, and finally rolled over and died. The print head would no longer move, it just sat there and vibrated at power-on, then the trouble light started flashing. I cleaned the bar the print head rides on, but that wasn't any help.
I acquired a slightly used HP DeskJet 5150, and had no end of trouble getting the darned thing to install, but the end result is that the printer IS installed, and IS working, but Old Wierd Ward is mightily annoyed with HP.
Being a slightly paranoid sort, I like to keep my data on one drive (drive D:), and my system files on another drive (drive C:).
So I copied the 5150's installation file to D:\HP5150 and ran it. All was well until the installation program told me to plug the USB cable into the printer and let the installation complete - which I did, and the installation just sat there and did nothing. No error message, no info dialog box, it just...sat there and did nothing.
Grrrrr....
After about 30 minutes of thrashing about, 2 reboots, and a vigorous head-scratch, I put the install file on C:\HP5150, rebooted yet again, and .... whaddya know, every thing completed and I now have a printer!
Nowhere in the install dialogs is anything mentioned about the install program having to reside on drive C:.
Grrrr......
Ah, well, I do have a printer, it does work, and at this point I'm reasonably happy.
Posted by ward at 08:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 15, 2006
Good Computer Stuff for the New Year
On a regular schedule, once every three months, I go into the local WalMart and buy two cans of compressed air/gas/whatever the devil it is. Then, I take the various PC boxes here at The Swamp, and both printers, out into the garage, where I blow out all the dust devils that gather inside the cases. I blow off the CPU fan/heatsink combo, the hard disk, the CD and DVD drives, the floppy drives, the rat's nest of cables and wires, and the inside of the power supply.
Heat is the big enemy of electronic components, and dust is a great insulator. Plus, enough dust laying over the contacts of edge connectors will eventually cause a short, and POOF! No more computer.
This simple routine takes care of the physical side of PC maintenance. Total cost? Six bucks, plus a couple of hours of my time.
The software side is even less costly.
My firewall is built-in to my wireless switch. Wireless isn't used here at The Swamp just yet, but it will be within six months. Cost of the firewall? About twenty bucks added onto the cost of the wireless access point. Recurring costs? None.
Anti-virus software is provided, at no charge, by AVG AntiVirus, available from Grisoft HERE. AVG updates automatically, and has NEVER caused any kind of a problem, which is more than I can say for Norton or Macaffee.
Spyware protection is supplied by SpyBot Search & Destroy, at no charge, available HERE.
Every so often, I'll defragment the hard drives.
I've had exactly one hardware failure, a hard drive, while I've used this routine. One hardware failure in four years, with five different computers. (No, we don't have five different computers running at once - that'd be overkill, even for me!)
All of this stuff is easy to do, and well within the capabilities of any one who knows the difference between a screwdriver and a wrench.
What's much more difficult is data organization and backup strategies, which I'll get into some other time.
Posted by ward at 08:35 PM | Comments (0)
November 21, 2005
Sony - Felony Stupid in Public
Like I said yesterday, Sony's problems are going to make them very twitchy for a while.
Sony is being sued by the State of Texas (HERE), and also by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (HERE) over the mess that Sony has made for itself.
Also, as I said earlier, they DO deserve all the kicks and jibes that they're going to collect for this. They've been caught being Felony Stupid in Public - they tried to slide one by, were especially clumsy at it, AND they violated the laws of at least one state in the US. On top of that, the methods they used actively harmed their customers - which is where the "Felony" part of "Stupid in Public" comes in.
"Misdemeanor Stupid in Public" is embarrasing, but doesn't actually harm anyone else - you just have a Very Red Face.
Sony is now facing civil actions from at least one state and one non-profit organization. Just wait until the tort lawyers start lining up with their hands out!
Again, as I wrote yesterday, Sony is going to have a fairly long, and very uncomfortable place in the spotlight for a while.
And again, they really do deserve the kicking around they're going to get.
Posted by ward at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2005
Sony Hates Their Customers
It appears that Sony has whupped it out, dragged it in the dirt, and stepped on it with their tasselled golf shoes.
Background can be found HERE and, if you want a technically-oriented discussion, HERE at SysInternals.
In brief, a "rootkit" can do anything it wants to and with your computer. If you've recently bought and played a Sony/BMG music cd on your computer, you've probably got the rootkit installed on your PC.
Here is how to test for it's presence on your system. Use Notepad to create a text file and save it in a known-to exist folder on your system. I used the file below, and saved it in My Documents. Save it with the name "$SYS$" (without the quotes). Then open My Documents. If you can't find the $SYS$ file, you've got the rootkit.
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This is the $SYS$ root-kit test file. Save it with the filename "$SYS$" (without the quotes) in a known-to-exist folder, then use My Computer to see if you can find it. If you can't find it, you've been root-kitted by Sony, the miserable pukes! |
Sony has, due to VERY unfavorable publicity, released an un-installer for this rootkit. It also appears that the un-installer does Bad Things to the security of your system. See the details HERE.
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The impact of Sony BMG's now-withdrawn copy-protection scheme spread even farther Wednesday. A security company said it had spotted malicious Web sites ready to attack PCs left vulnerable after users tried to uninstall a rootkit Sony used to hide its digital rights management (DRM) software. |
Obviously, Sony is having a Bad Week. They deserve every bit of the kicking around they're going to get.
It's my belief that Sony as a corporation deserves a whacking great fine. The executive who OK'd this excresence deserves (but won't get) jail time.
The driving forces behind DRM (Digital Rights Management), mainly Microsoft, also deserves a whack or two on the behind for driving this kind of crap into the marketplace and right down our throats.
Posted by ward at 11:30 AM | Comments (1)