C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\CONFIG\machine.config

There are some differences in the other .config files too, but they don't seem to have a bearing on the MMC issue.

Thanks again Ove! Your workaround saved me a lot of grief.

P.S. inspecting the machine.config file differences, it appears that the 3.5 SP1 upgrade adds a new <system.serviceModel> section to the bottom of the machine.config XML. Presumably this is the source of the issue, though I cannot guess why. Deleting this section of XML also appears to resolve the problem.

For the record the section added to mine is as follows:

  <system.serviceModel>
    <extensions>
      <behaviorExtensions>
        <add name="persistenceProvider" type="System.ServiceModel.Configuration.PersistenceProviderElement, System.WorkflowServices, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
        <add name="workflowRuntime" type="System.ServiceModel.Configuration.WorkflowRuntimeElement, System.WorkflowServices, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
        <add name="enableWebScript" type="System.ServiceModel.Configuration.WebScriptEnablingElement, System.ServiceModel.Web, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
        <add name="webHttp" type="System.ServiceModel.Configuration.WebHttpElement, System.ServiceModel.Web, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
      </behaviorExtensions>
      <bindingElementExtensions>
        <add name="webMessageEncoding" type="System.ServiceModel.Configuration.WebMessageEncodingElement, System.ServiceModel.Web, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
        <add name="context" type="System.ServiceModel.Configuration.ContextBindingElementExtensionElement, System.WorkflowServices, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
      </bindingElementExtensions>
      <bindingExtensions>
        <add name="wsHttpContextBinding" type="System.ServiceModel.Configuration.WSHttpContextBindingCollectionElement, System.WorkflowServices, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
        <add name="netTcpContextBinding" type="System.ServiceModel.Configuration.NetTcpContextBindingCollectionElement, System.WorkflowServices, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
        <add name="webHttpBinding" type="System.ServiceModel.Configuration.WebHttpBindingCollectionElement, System.ServiceModel.Web, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
        <add name="basicHttpContextBinding" type="System.ServiceModel.Configuration.BasicHttpContextBindingCollectionElement, System.WorkflowServices, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
      </bindingExtensions>
    </extensions>
    <client>
      <metadata>
        <policyImporters>
          <extension type="System.ServiceModel.Channels.ContextBindingElementImporter, system.workflowservices, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL"/>
        </policyImporters>
        <wsdlImporters>
          <extension type="System.ServiceModel.Channels.ContextBindingElementImporter, system.workflowservices, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL"/>
        </wsdlImporters>
      </metadata>
    </client>
  </system.serviceModel>

WSUS decided to crap out on me today after a .net windows update.

Removing above from C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\CONFIG\machine.config fixed the issue.

In order to install OMSA 6.5 on XS 6.0.2 , we need to get latest ISO from Dell site. Connect this ISO to the Dell Server via virtual CD ROM

Mount the CD-ROM on XenServer and run the install.sh script to start OMSA agent on XS.

This will install the require package

Insure the ports are open. By default installation does open the require ports

Start the server service

And point the URL to https://: 1311

Notes

What is DeltaCopy In general terms, DeltaCopy is an open source, fast incremental backup program. Let's say you have to backup one file that is 500 MB every night. A normal file copy would copy the entire file even if a few bytes have changed. DeltaCopy, on the other hand, would only copy the part of file that has actually been modified. This reduces the data transfer to just a small fraction of 500 MB saving time and network bandwidth.   NOTE: We now offer two solution for using rsync on Windows: DeltaCopy Syncrify We recommend checking both of them to see which works best for you. Click here to see differences.     In technical terms, DeltaCopy is a "Windows Friendly" wrapper around the Rsync program, currently maintained by Wayne Davison. "rsync" is primarily designed for Unix/Linux/BSD systems. Although ports are available for Windows, they typically require downloading Cygwin libraries and manual configuration.

Features

Unlike "rsync", DeltaCopy is a only available for Windows and is tightly integrated with services available only on Microsoft platforms (XP, 2000, 2003, Vista, Windows 7 & 2008). Here is a list of features

• Incremental backup - Copies part of the file that is actually modified
• Task scheduler - Profiles in DeltaCopy can run based on a schedule
• Email notification - Administrators can receive email confirmation on successful as well as failed transfers
• One-click restore - Backed up files can be easily restored.
• Windows friendly environment - No need to manually modify configuration files or play around with command line options.

 

Licensing

DeltaCopy is freely available under GNU Public License version 3 along with source and is currently being maintained by Synametrics Technologies.

 

System Requirements

• XP, 2000, 2003, 2008, Vista and Windows 7. We have not tested DeltaCopy on Win9x.
• 10 MB hard disk
• 64 MB ram
• 1 GHz processor or better

NOTE: If you have an "rsync" daemon running on Linux/Unix/BSD or any other platform, DeltaCopy client will successfully connect to them.

How to use it

DeltaCopy is based on a Client/Server model. All necessary binaries are included in the download file.. Designate one machine as Server and other as client and install the program on both of them.

Following steps show how to use DeltaCopy.

To-do task on the server

• Execute "DeltaCopy Server".
• When you first run DeltaCopy Server, it will ask you to register the server as Windows Service.

 

After registering the service, click the "Start Server" button to run the program as Windows Service

 

Next, create virtual directories on the server, which is similar to a virtual directory on an FTP or HTTP server.

 

 

To-do task on the client

• Execute "DeltaCopy Client" on the client machine.
• Create a new profile. A Profile in DeltaCopy is a group of files that you want to backup together.

 

To add file/folders to a profile, drag them from Windows Explorer on to the listbox or click the add File/Folder buttons.

Assign a schedule for the profile. DeltaCopy is integrated with Windows Scheduler. This means that your login account must have enough permission to create Scheduled Tasks on the machine.

Works Great - Im Syncing a 2tb NFS vhd - should improve backup times!

Find an email address in Exchange / Active Directory

In Active Directory when you have an Exchange server a user or group, even a public folder can have multiple smtp email addresses associated with the entity (user/group/public folder etc.), but finding the non-default email address can be tedious. A great way to search for it is:

Go to Active Directory Users and Computers –> right click on the domain and click find –> in the find field, change the criteria to ‘custom search’ –> click the advanced tab where you can type in a LDAP query. If you are trying to find out who has sales@yourdomain.com, type proxyAddresses=smtp:sales@yourdomain.com.

Wildcards can be added to the email address portion, and you can also type a wildcard ie. *.yourdomain.com and then change the view to add the proxyaddress column to see all of the entities with their proxyAddresses (email addresses)

The five FSMO roles are:

1. Schema Master
   
2. Domain Naming Master
   
3. Infrastructure Master
   
4. Relative ID (RID) Master
   
5. PDC Emulator

The FSMO roles are going to be transferred, using the following three MMC snap-ins :

• Active Directory Schema snap-in  : Will be used to transfer the Schema Master role
  
• Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in : Will be used to transfer the Domain Naming Master role
  
• Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in : Will be used to transfer the RID Master, PDC Emulator, and Infrastructure Master roles
  

Note: The following steps are done on the Windows Server 2008 machine that I intend to set as the roles holder ( transfer the roles to it )

Lets start transferring the FSMO roles.

• Using Active Directory Schema snap-in to transfer the Schema Master role

  You have to register schmmgmt.dll in order to be able to use the Active Directory Schema snap-in
  

1. Click Start > Run

2. Type regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll

   

3. Click OK

   

   A popup message will confirm that schmmgmt.dll was successfully registered. Click OK

4. Click Start > Run, type mmc, then click OK

   

5. Click File > then click Add/Remove Snap-in...

   

6. From the left side, under Available Snap-ins, click on Active Directory Schema, then click Add > and then click OK
   
   

7. Right click Active Directory Schema, then click Change Active Directory Domain Controller...

   

8. From the listed Domain Controllers, click on the domain controller that you want to be the schema master role holder and then click on OK

   

   You will receive a message box stating that the schema snap-in is not connected to a schema operations master. That is for sure, as we have not yet set this Windows Server 2008 domain controller as a Schema Master role holder. This will be done in the next step. Click OK

   

9. In the console tree, right click Active Directory Schema [DomainController.DomainName], and then click Operations Master...

   

10. On the Change Schema Master page, the current schema master role holder will be displayed ( ex. ELMAJ-DC.ELMAJDAL.NET) and the targeted schema holder as well (ex. ELMAJ-DC2K8.ELMAJDAL.NET). Once you click Change, the schema master holder will become
    ELMAJ-DC2K8.ELMAJDAL.NET , click Change
    
    

    Click Yes to confirm the role transfer

    

    The role will be transferred and a confirmation message will be displayed. Click OK
    
    

    Then click Close, as you can see in the below snapshot, the current schema master is ELMAJ-DC2K8.ELMAJDAL.NET

    

• Using Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in to transfer the Domain Naming Master Role
  

1. Click Start > Administrative Tools > then click Active Directory Domains and Trusts

   

2. Right click Active Directory Domains and Trusts, then click Change Active Directory Domain Controller...

   

3. From the listed Domain Controllers, click on the domain controller that you want to be the Domain Naming master role holder and then click on OK

   

4. Right click Active Directory Domains and Trusts, then click Operations Master...

   

5. On the Operations Master page, we are going to change the Domain Naming role holder from ELMAJ-DC.ELMAJDAL.NET to ELMAJ-DC2K8.ELMAJDAL.NET, Click Change

   

   Click YES to confirm the transfer of the Domain Naming role

   

   The role will be transferred and a confirmation message will be displayed. Click OK , then click Close

   

   
   

Till now, we have successfully transferred two FSMO roles, the Schema Master role and the Domain Naming role. The last three roles can be transferred using a single Snap-in.

 

• Using Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in to transfer the RID Master, PDC Emulator, and Infrastructure Master Roles
  

1. Click Start > Administrative Tools > then click Active Directory Users and Computers

   

2. Right click Active Directory Users and Computers, then click All Tasks > Operations Master...

   

3. You will have three Tabs, representing three FSMO roles (RID, PDC, Infrastructure). Click the Change button under each of these three tabs to transfer the roles.

   

   Click Yes to confirm the role transfer

   

   The role will be transferred and a confirmation message will be displayed. Click OK
   
   
   
   As for the Infrastructure role, once you click on the Change button you will receive the below message

   

   By default, when you first install your first Domain Controller, it holds the five roles and beside that it is a Global Catalog. If your environment is a multi-domain/forest, then you should think about structuring your FSMO roles and transfer the Infrastructure role to a none Global Catalog domain controller. Else if you have small number of domain controllers ( ex. two domain controllers) then you should not worry about this. Click Yes

   

4. The Tabs should now look like this:

   

 

That's it, by now, you have successfully transferred the five FSMO roles to the Windows Server 2008 Domain Controller.

 

Summary

There are five FSMO roles in a forest, to transfer any of these roles you have to use the appropriate Active Directory snap-in. In my next article, I will be showing you the complete steps required to successfully migrate/upgrade your domain controller to a new hardware server.

Notes

Disable BiDirectional on the Port tab of printer properties

As an example, the following command will find all computers in Active Directory that have not been logged into during the past 8 weeks:

dsquery computer -inactive 8 -limit 0

After reviewing this list to make sure these computers no longer exist on your network you can use the following command to find and delete them:

dsquery computer -inactive 8 -limit 0 | dsrm

The DSQUERY utility comes with the Windows Server 2003 Support Tools package (Adminpak.msi) which can be installed directly from your Windows Server 2003 installation media or downloaded from the Microsoft website.

You can force the cisco device to connect at a slower/more stable connection. Go into config and type the following:
service internal
int atm 0
dsl noise-margin (a value between -3 and 3).

The service internal command exposes the dsl noise-margin command (and other hidden/non standard commands)
dsl noise-margin forces the router to training at a higher noise margin (sacrificing speed for stability). Setting this to 3 for example should see you get a higher noise margin, slower speed (and depending on fimware) a higher attenuation.
Start at 3 and work your way down to 0 in 0.5 steps until you get a stable connection. A value of 0 is the same as not having this command at all (eg: normal settings).
If you add a dsl noise-margin command, after a reload you'll see "WARNING: Unsupported Command. May cause violation to ADSL standards." on bootup, ignore it, it's just the addition of the noise-margin command.

Handy - Notes

Installing UK voice prompts for Asterisk

26th September 2011, 08:53 pm

By default the English language voice prompts that Asterisk comes with have an American accent. There are some free UK voice prompts available and below are instructions for downloading and installing those. The instructions below will replace the existing US prompts with the UK ones.

The prompts can be found here – http://www.enicomms.com/cutglassivr/

More details about different language voice prompts can be found here – http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/Asterisk+sound+files+international

The commands below download the wav, ulaw, alaw, g729 and g723 codec versions.

First create a folder to download the files to -

cd /usr/src
mkdir uk
cd uk

next grab the files -

wget http://www.enicomms.com/cutglassivr/audiofiles/Alison_Keenan-British-English-...
wget http://www.enicomms.com/cutglassivr/audiofiles/Alison_Keenan-British-English-...
wget http://www.enicomms.com/cutglassivr/audiofiles/Alison_Keenan-British-English-...
wget http://www.enicomms.com/cutglassivr/audiofiles/Alison_Keenan-British-English-...
wget http://www.enicomms.com/cutglassivr/audiofiles/Alison_Keenan-British-English-...

next extract the files that were downloaded -

find . -name 'Alison_Keenan-British-English-*' -exec tar xvfz {} \;

now we’re going to replace the file extensions on some of the files to match the default Asterisk ones -

find . -exec rename .g711a .alaw {} \;
find . -exec rename .g711u .ulaw {} \;

now remove the original tar files, copy over the new files and tidy up the download folder -

rm -f Alison_Keenan-British-English-*
unalias cp
cp -rf * /var/lib/asterisk/sounds/en
cd ..
rm -rf uk

You can hear an example of these prompts by calling the echo test number here – http://sysadminman.net/livedemo.html

Good prompts - Notes