Unspecified Error (CONNECTING_WITH_TLS): Unknown error -1

SYMPTOMS:
Your Exchange server receives extremely delayed (or even does not receive) emails  from some domains (e.g. @gmail.com).
In your SMTP logs you see a sequence of 503 and 240 (quit) protocol status message from problematic domains smtp server incoming connections.

CAUSE:
Exchange server advertises TLS as available, and those domains' servers are configured to try STARTTLS first. Your SBS (tipically self-signed) certificate has expired.

RESOLUTION:
When SBS certificate expired you probably ran Internet Connection Wizard in order to renew it. That wizard does NOT replace the certificate stored in exchange smtp server configuration for protected (TLS) communication. This has to be done manually.
In smtp virtual server properties in the connection tab, under protection configuration click "Certificate" button and select "Replace existing certificate". Select the new valid certificate from the list and click next.
Mails start flowing!

UPS SNMP Configuration in VMWare esxi5

Scenario: I have a Mega System UPS connected to the network through its  NetAgent Mini. I want to have a customer's vmware esxi5 host being shut down by the ups client utility, which works through snmp.

Steps:
Download and install the Mega System ClientMate utility per VMWare from here:
http://www.megatec.com.tw/Download.htm
Note: the zip is misleading, you must install the clientmate.tar.gz file in the root folder of the .rar archive along with the install.dat file in the VMWare ESX subfolder (the clientmate.tar.gz in that subfolder is the Linux one!).
Configure it using the provided utility.

From VMWare CLI Utility run this commands in order to configure and enable the SNMP Agent.


Configure community for the agent (don't know if mandatory)
C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI>vicfg-snmp.pl --server esxhostaddress
01 -c public
Enter username: root
Enter password:
Changing community list to: public...
Complete.


Add the UPS as a target with parameters configured in the web interface.

C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI>vicfg-snmp.pl --server esxhostaddress
01 -t UpsIPaddress@161/public
Enter username: root
Enter password:
Changing notification(trap) targets list to: 10.0.0.18@161/public...
Complete.



Enable snmp agent
C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI>vicfg-snmp.pl --server 10.0.0.2
01 -E
Enter username: root
Enter password:
Enabling agent...
Complete.


Restart clientmate service

Now it should work.

Squid 2.7 and SARG for Windows %5C issue

From 2.7 and above the squid access.log writes ntlm username in the following format:
domain5%Cusername
This is to address blanks in active directory usernames.
This format is not correctly handled by sarg, which writes it in the urls and paths. The resulting reports have broken links.
In order to avoid this problem just edit squid.conf in order to have access.log written in another format.
I succesfully tested this format:
logformat squid %ts.%03tu %6tr %>a %Ss/%03Hs %

Office Word 2010 keeps reconfiguring

Symptom: every time you start Word reconfiguration starts up. If you start Word in Safe Mode (by pressing Ctrl while launching application) it starts normally.

Note: I've installed Office 2010 after removing a previous Office 2007 installation.


Comment: this is a very popular subject on the internet. I confess I've tried the NoReReg solution and Microsoft Fix uninstall without success before trying this simple solution.


Cause: The previous installation had COM addins that where not removed from the registry by the uninstall process, even by the Microsoft Fix uninstaller. 


Solution: Launch Word, and once it has configured in File\Options\Addons(components) disable all components. 


This was quite an overlook, but i post it as a reminder.

213,000.00

nice job(s), steve.

bye.

Windows Server 2008 Backup and RD1000

Scenario: I have a Brand New Dell Poweredge Server with SBS2011. The server has a RD1000 SATA Cartridge Unit.

The total disk capacity of server is nearly 1TB (divided in two partititions), but actual data occupies about 222 GB.

The SATA Disk Cartridges are 300GB.

Problems, problems, everywhere (and not any hint to solve):

SBS Backup does not recognize the RD1000 both as a Disk Unit and as a network share (bah...), but I found that if you launch the Windows Server Backup outside from the SBS Console you can reach the RD1000 Network Share.

Wow! But... when I try to Schedule the backup through the wizard it analyzes the destination drive and aborts with message "Not enough space". It seems that the backup will need 400(!)GB.

That does not match with the data size! And I think that even if Bare Metal support needs some extra files that can not be so big.

Solution: Scheduling a batch ignores that destination size check. I'm saving the data on the RD1000 using the following batch:

WBADMIN START BACKUP -backupTarget:\\server\rd1000  -include:c:,d:  -allCritical -vssFull -quiet >> C:\Batch\Backuplog.txt 

I've tried a restore through the console and it seems to be able to restore individual files and exchange and sharepoint applications.

HTH

Firefox and nternet Explorer extremely slow on HP USB docking station

Symptom: You are using a notebook with Windows 7 x64 and a HP USB 2.0 Docking Station. Your IE9 and/or Firefox experience is dramatic.

Cause: The problem is not in the browser software but in the Display Link Driver.

With the USB docking station comes the driver 5.4, which has a very poor performance.

Resolution: Upgrade to latest Display Link Drivers directly from Display Link Inc. (as for 07/09/2011 is ver. 5.6) .

http://www.displaylink.com/support/downloads.php

Error re(installing) certificate services

Symptom: When you try to install certificate services over a Windows 2003 Server you get the following error

An error was detected while configuring Certificate Services. The Certificate Services Setup Wizard will need to be rerun to complete the configuration. Certificate Services Setup failed with the following error: A stop control has been sent to a service that other running services are dependent on. 0x8007041b (WIN32: 1051)

Solution: Windows setup tries to Stop the IIS Admin Service, but it fails. Manually Stop this service prior to the installation.

Note: This happened to me because of Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager.

Outlook 2010 missing features

Cause: You install Outlook 2010 "standalone" in a computer with a previous version of Office installed / you upgrade only the Outlook program of your Office suite.

Symptom: Some features of Outlook 2010 are missing, and the corresponding configuration options and/or buttons are disabled or greyed out.

Workarounds: I found this interesting article over the web suggesting some workarounds.

http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2010/standalone.asp

Many thanks to the authors (but I'd preferred them not to be sarcastic over searching the web before purchasing).

Chi ha lasciato il bilanciamento del bianco impostato manualmente?

Sono molte le coppie che condividono la passione per la fotografia.

Tuttavia non sempre è possibile, per ragioni di costo e di spazio, avere un corpo macchina SLR digitale per ciascuno.

In questo caso sarebbe auspicabile che i produttori di macchine fotografiche digitali, che ora integrano diversi dispositivi nelle fotocamere, come ad esempio il ricevitore gps per geotaggare le foto, includessero anche un lettore di impronte digitali.

Una volta registrata l'impronta (volendo anche tramite un computer dotato anch'esso di lettore) la fotocamera potrebbe registrare anche l'autore nelle metainformazioni del file immagine: e fine delle discussioni sull'autore del capolavoro.

Inoltre la macchina potrebbe ricordarsi come era impostata l'ultima volta che è stata utilizzata da quell'utente, un po' come fanno certe autovetture di fascia alta che una volta riconosciuto il guidatore regolano automaticamente altezza dei sedili e posizione degli specchietti . Ogni fotografo ha le sue abitudini ed i suoi trucchi, e così avrebbero fine anche le discussioni per aver lasciato il bilanciamento del bianco manuale o una sovraesposizione d'abitudine.