Create an Active Directory User Account with PowerShell

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I’m in the process of installing SQL Denali and need a couple of users accounts created. If you are creating the Active Directory user on a machine other than a domain controller, you’ll need to install the Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell. Then import the Active Directory module. To see the syntax and available options for creating an Active Directory user using PowerShell, type "Get-Help New-ADUser" inside the PowerShell console. Store Read more [...]
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Install the PowerShell ISE & Enable PowerShell Scripts

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PowerShell 2.0 is installed by default on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. The PowerShell ISE (Integrated Scripting Environment) is installed by default on Windows 7, but not Windows Server 2008 R2. You can use the following information to install the ISE on your 2008 R2 server (as long as it’s running the full GUI and not the Core installation). Launch PowerShell and execute the following: If you attempted to run this on the Core (no GUI) installation Read more [...]
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EqualLogic PS Series SAN Password Recovery

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Problem: You're unable to login to your EqualLogic PS Series Storage Area Network (SAN) to perform administrative functions. When you attempt to login, you receive a login exception message stating "Invalid username or password". Solution: The grpadmin account password can be reset by connecting a computer to the serial port of the active controller on your EqualLogic SAN. You’ll need one of the serial cables that shipped with your SAN which is a standard 9 pin female to female serial cable. Read more [...]
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Enabling Dynamic Memory for a Guest VM on Hyper-V

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You've loaded SP1 on your Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V virtualization host server and you're ready to begin using Dynamic Memory for your virtualization guest machines (VM's). Listed below is the minimum amount of changes required for your virtualization guest machines (VM’s) to be able to use dynamic memory: Set the VM to use Dynamic Memory by specifying a minimum and maximum amount of memory. The VM will need to be shutdown in order to change this setting and the settings will only Read more [...]
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Number of Supported Virtual CPU’s for a Guest on Hyper-V

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Question: How many virtual processors (virtual CPU's) are officially supported by Microsoft for a guest virtual machine (VM) running on Hyper-V? Answer: You may be thinking the answer to this question is four since that is the number you can assign to any guest VM, but the answer like many others in IT is that it depends. It depends on what guest operating system you're running. Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows XP SP3 all officially support a maximum of two virtualized processors Read more [...]
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Unable to Configure Email Server Settings in Trend WFBS 7.0

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Problem: When attempting to configure email server specific settings in Trend Micro Worry Free Business Security – Advanced 7.0, you receive the error: “Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage”: When you hover over an option such as “Disable” in the Anti-spam section, you notice a URL that points to your email server. By default it points to port 16372 on the email server. This is the first clue that gives you an idea that this is potentially a problem with the firewall on the email Read more [...]
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HP Digital Sending Software Error when using IPv6

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I recently ran into an issue where one of my customers HP Digital Senders would no longer resolve email addresses automatically to Active Directory using the HP Digital Sending Software version 4.91. It generated the error: “The operation failed. Please verify your configuration and try again. (LDAP error ServerDown occurred.)”: It also generated the error: “The operation failed. Please verify your configuration and try again. (AUTH_LDAP_SERVER_NOT_AVAILABLE)": While many different problems Read more [...]
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Configure the Page File Size on Windows 2008 Server Core

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I recently ran into an issue where I couldn't start any additional virtual machines on a Hyper-V server that was running Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition - Core Installation (no GUI). After a little research, I determined that the operating system had created a pagefile of over 100 gigabytes in size which was using up the majority of the DAS in the server. The server has 96GB of RAM which is the reason why the operating system automatically configured such a large pagefile. The VM's are Read more [...]
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Running the Dell System E-Support Tool (DSET) on Server Core

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There are multiple reasons why you might want to run the Dell System E-Support Tool (DSET) on your Dell PowerEdge server. It could be because Dell Support has requested it or you’re trying to diagnose a problem or you simply want to know what version of BIOS your server is running without having to reboot it. This tool is especially useful when it comes to Windows Server 2008 R2 core installation since many other utilities will not run on server core. The DSET utility can be installed on server Read more [...]
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PowerShell Script to Return a List of Mailbox Size for All Users

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On several occasions, I've been asked to provide a report of mailbox sizes and number of items in a mailbox to a few of my customers who are running either Exchange Server 2007 or 2010. Like most of my blogs, this blog is as much documentation for myself as anything else. That way when I need to provide another one of these reports again in a few months, I'm not trying to figure out how I previously accomplished the task. The following PowerShell Script creates a text file that contains a list Read more [...]
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Enabling Jumbo Frames for iSCSI on Server Core

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I recommend following the instructions in my “Rename a Network Interface from the Command Line” so you can easily distinguish the difference in the network interfaces. Once the network interfaces are renamed, they should look similar to the ones in this image: If you attempt to ping your SAN at this point with a 8972 byte ping (9000 bytes minus a 20 byte IP header and a 8 byte ICMP header), you’ll receive a message stating “Packet needs to be fragmented but DF set.”: In this example, Read more [...]
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MultiPath I/O on Server Core with the EqualLogic HIT Kit

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I’ve written a few other blogs about iSCSI and Multipath I/O on Windows Servers, but this one focuses on installing the EqualLogic Host Integration Tool (HIT) Kit on Windows Server 2008 R2 Core (no GUI). If you are using an EqualLogic SAN, I recommend installing the HIT kit before doing any of the iSCSI or Multipath I/O configuration. It will make your life a lot easier. It’s also not a problem to install the HIT kit after you’ve done some or all of the configuration, just keep in mind there Read more [...]
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Rename a Network Interface from the Command Line

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While building a Hyper-V server this week, I decided to rename the network interfaces to something that would make identifying the iSCSI connections a little easier. Since the server was installed with only the core (no GUI) installation of Windows Server 2008 R2, the process had to be performed from the command line. The network interface is also commonly referred to by other names such as network adapter or network connection. To show a list of the network interfaces, run the following command: To Read more [...]
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Filter Results by Piping Output to the Find Command

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Piping the output of a command line utility to the find command is a way to easily narrow down the results that are returned. Here's an example of piping the output of the netstat command to find only the ports that your server is listening on: You can pipe the output multiple times to narrow down your search results: The find command can also be used to search text files: Here's the syntax of the find command: µ Read more [...]
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Remote Desktop Licensing in Windows Server 2008 R2

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This blog article will guide you through the steps of setting up Remote Desktop Licensing or Terminal Services Licensing as it's known in previous versions of Windows Server. You've decided to move from Windows 2003 R2 to 2008 R2 domain controllers and you want to run your terminal services licensing on the new domain controllers. You can run the licensing for all your terminal servers operating with Windows 2000 Server and newer Windows Server versions on Windows Server 2008 R2. On the domain Read more [...]
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Typical Installation of Exchange Server 2010

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This blog will walk you through the steps of a typical Exchange Server 2010 Installation. Be sure to follow the instructions in my “Installation of Exchange Server 2010 Prerequisites” blog. By having completed the steps in that previous blog article, you can jump right into Step 3: Select the appropriate option. In the example below, I chose “Install only languages from the DVD”: Click on the link for Step 4: Click “Next”: Accept the license and select “Next”: Select the Read more [...]
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