My notes, things I have learned, and documentation I have created.

Sometimes I hate change, and this is one. I just want to edit the /etc/resolv.conf. The search suffix in Ubuntu can be added by adding the following to the /etc/network/interfaces file:

dns-search domaintosearch

For example, on my Ubuntu client:

# cat /etc/network/interfaces
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
dns-search jim-zimmerman.com

I am not sure if the network needs to be restarted. I did restart it by:

# service networking restart

I was trying to use New-MailboxImportRequest to import a PST file into a mailbox. From EMS, I kept getting the following error:

“The term ‘New-MailboxImportRequest’ is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again”

I had to enter the following to get the necessary permission:

New-ManagementRoleAssignment –Role “Mailbox Import Export” –User UserImporting

I did this for the Administrator account, so:

New-ManagementRoleAssignment –Role “Mailbox Import Export” –User Administrator

Then, I was able to import the PST mail. With following command the email was put back into the same folder as when the mail was exported:

New-MailboxImportRequest -Mailbox mailboxname -FilePath UNCToFile

I imported the PST into a mailbox with an alias of jim:

New-MailboxImportRequest -Mailbox jim -FilePath \\SERVER1\c$\jim.pst

If you are going to change IP address of a domain controller, there are a couple things you should do afterwards to ensure that the DNS is in order.

First, go ahead and make the network modifications on the domain controller (IP address, mask, gateway, DNS, etc.).

Then, register the changes with the DNS using:

ipconfig /registerdns

Then, use the following to ensure that the service records are properly updated in the DNS as well. This could really mess things up if not correct, so do the following to make sure:

dcdiag /fix

I was getting the following kinds of errors after an errant update to a Microsoft SQL Server (2005 in this case) while running a “DBCC CHECKDB”:

DBCC results for ‘Transactions’.
Msg 8928, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Object ID 37575172, index ID 0, partition ID 72057594038845440, alloc unit ID 72057594042843136 (type In-row data): Page (1:1169) could not be processed. See other errors for details.
Msg 8939, Level 16, State 98, Line 1
Table error: Object ID 37575172, index ID 0, partition ID 72057594038845440, alloc unit ID 72057594042843136 (type In-row data), page (1:1169). Test (IS_OFF (BUF_IOERR, pBUF->bstat)) failed. Values are 29493257 and -4.
Msg 8928, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Object ID 37575172, index ID 0, partition ID 72057594038845440, alloc unit ID 72057594042843136 (type In-row data): Page (1:1309) could not be processed. See other errors for details.
Msg 8939, Level 16, State 98, Line 1
Table error: Object ID 37575172, index ID 0, partition ID 72057594038845440, alloc unit ID 72057594042843136 (type In-row data), page (1:1309). Test (IS_OFF (BUF_IOERR, pBUF->bstat)) failed. Values are 29493257 and -4.
Msg 8994, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Object ID 37575172, forwarded row page (1:1337), slot 12 should be pointed to by forwarding row page (1:1169), slot 20. Did not encounter forwarding row. Possible allocation error.
Msg 8994, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Object ID 37575172, forwarded row page (1:1337), slot 38 should be pointed to by forwarding row page (1:1169), slot 32. Did not encounter forwarding row. Possible allocation error.
Msg 8994, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Object ID 37575172, forwarded row page (1:1337), slot 41 should be pointed to by forwarding row page (1:1169), slot 41. Did not encounter forwarding row. Possible allocation error.
Msg 8994, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Object ID 37575172, forwarded row page (1:1338), slot 5 should be pointed to by forwarding row page (1:1169), slot 45. Did not encounter forwarding row. Possible allocation error.
Msg 8994, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Object ID 37575172, forwarded row page (1:1338), slot 7 should be pointed to by forwarding row page (1:1309), slot 43. Did not encounter forwarding row. Possible allocation error.
Msg 8994, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Object ID 37575172, forwarded row page (1:1338), slot 23 should be pointed to by forwarding row page (1:1169), slot 56. Did not encounter forwarding row. Possible allocation error.
Msg 8994, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Object ID 37575172, forwarded row page (1:1338), slot 24 should be pointed to by forwarding row page (1:1169), slot 59. Did not encounter forwarding row. Possible allocation error.
Msg 8994, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Object ID 37575172, forwarded row page (1:1338), slot 29 should be pointed to by forwarding row page (1:1169), slot 62. Did not encounter forwarding row. Possible allocation error.
Msg 8994, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Object ID 37575172, forwarded row page (1:1338), slot 33 should be pointed to by forwarding row page (1:1309), slot 66. Did not encounter forwarding row. Possible allocation error.
Msg 8994, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Object ID 37575172, forwarded row page (1:1339), slot 25 should be pointed to by forwarding row page (1:1309), slot 38. Did not encounter forwarding row. Possible allocation error.
Msg 8994, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Object ID 37575172, forwarded row page (1:1340), slot 17 should be pointed to by forwarding row page (1:1309), slot 51. Did not encounter forwarding row. Possible allocation error.
Msg 8994, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Object ID 37575172, forwarded row page (1:1340), slot 20 should be pointed to by forwarding row page (1:1309), slot 22. Did not encounter forwarding row. Possible allocation error.
There are 49003 rows in 821 pages for object “Transactions”.
CHECKDB found 0 allocation errors and 16 consistency errors in table ‘Transactions’ (object ID 37575172).

Here is what I did/tried and what eventually worked:

Put the database in single user mode:

ALTER DATABASE databasename SET SINGLE_USER

Examined and saved some of the contents of a corrupt page:

DBCC PAGE (‘tablename’, 1, pagenumber, 3) WITH TABLERESULTS

Tried to rebuild the indexes in the corrupt table:

DBCC DBREINDEX (“tablename”, ” “, 70)

Tried to repair the database without data loss:

DBCC CHECKDB(‘databasename’, REPAIR_REBUILD)

Eventually gave in and repaired the database with possible data loss:

DBCC CHECKDB(‘databasename’, REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS);

Enabled multi-user mode:

ALTER DATABASE databasename SET MULTI_USER

Fortunately, it doesn’t look like much data was lost, since there was no backup.

Initially, I tried to bring a Windows 2012 R2 into the 2003 ADS environment directly. In other words, I installed 2012 server and tried to promote it in an environment with 2003 DCs exclusively. This failed miserably and instead of spending a lot of time trying to figure the issue out, I opted to go to 2008 R2 and then 2012 R2. This scenario went much smoother.

This was a single Windows 2003 domain. Very simple environment. All role installation and promotion was done from the domain Administrator account.

I built a Windows 2008 R2 server and joined it to the domain.

Then, I added the Active Directory Domain Services role, and let the wizard install the DNS Server role as well.

Once the roles were installed and server rebooted, if needed, I verified the time and that DNS was set correctly.

Then, I ran dcpromo.

When dcpromo was finished, I rebooted and logged in the domain Administrator account.

Then, I transferred all the FSMO roles to the new Windows 2008 R2 domain controller (see http://jim-zimmerman.com/?p=880 ).

I built and joined a Windows 2012 R2 server to the domain.

I added the Active Directory Domain Service role, and again let the wizard install the DNS Server role.

Once the roles were installed, and I verified the DNS and time, I ran the dcpromo equivalent in Windows 2012 R2. I clicked on the flag with the warning symbol in the top right of the Server Manager window. In the drop down, under the Active Directory Domain Services role, was a link to promote the server. I clicked on it to start the promotion. Note: dcpromo is not supported in 2012. When you try to run it, you get a message telling you to go to Server Manager.
dcpromo equiv from server manager make sure to select the 2008 server to replicate from.

After the server rebooted, I transferred all the roles, in a similar manner as above, to my Windows 2012 R2 server.

Once that was done, I verified replication and authenticated to the 2012 server from a client.

Then, I shutdown my 2003 domain controller.

In a week or maybe two, I will boot the 2003 server and demote it. I don’t want to demote right away in case something goes wrong or comes up.
demote 2003 box or shutdown for a while.

Then, I will demote the 2008 server as well. If there were more than one domain controller in this environment, I would keep the 2008 server up until all the domain controllers were replaced with upgraded ones.

UPDATE: So, I demoted the 2003 server after checking to make sure all the roles were on the 2012 server, and ensuring that the Global Catalog was on the 2012 server too. To demote, I just ran dcpromo.

Then, a couple days later, I went through the same process on my 2008 server. I ended with only one domain controller which is a Windows 2012 R2 server.

I don’t really like to do this, but sometimes you are left with no choice. Here is how to have a Windows server automatically login to the Administrator account:

Run regedit.

Navigate to:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]

Right mouse click on Winlogon and add the following String Values with the following settings:

“AutoAdminLogon”=”1”
“DefaultUsername”=”mydomain\Administrator”
“DefaultPassword”=”mypassword”

Then, reboot.

Used this basic procedure to add a hard drive in Windows 2012 R2 Core:

List the disks to ensure you select the correct one:

DISKPART
DISKPART> LIST DISK

Select the correct disk:

DISKPART> SELECT DISK=1

Put the disk online:

DISKPART> ONLINE DISK

Examine the disk attributes:

DISKPART> ATTRIBUTES DISK

Remove the READONLY attribute if on:

DISKPART> ATTRIBUTES DISK CLEAR READONLY

Create a primary partition on the drive:

DISKPART> CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY

Format it:

DISKPART> FORMAT

Assign the desired letter to the drive:

DISKPART> ASSIGN LETTER=D

Here are the changes you need to make to allow clients on your LAN to ping through the Cisco ASA to a host on Internet/WAN. Basically, this is how to create a class map and a policy that uses the class map. Then, implement the policy.

class-map myclass
match default-inspection-traffic
exit
policy-map mypolicy
class myclass
inspect icmp
exit
service-policy mypolicy interface outside

For a PIX 501:

access-list ping_acl permit icmp any any
access-group ping_acl in interface outside

Well, at least I was patient enough to wait until the panic died down about version 1.0.0 of evasi0n for IOS 7. My first attempt with 1.0.1 did not go too good. I ended up cutting my loses and restoring. I believe that part of my problem was that I did not have 7.0.4 installed. Other possible mistakes made: had the phone plugged in before firing up evasi0n, did not kill any applications, and did not restart my phone before like I ususally do. Also, I just hooked it up and went for it. As a result, I got stuck on the configuring system 2/2 portion. My response was to kill evasi0n on my computer and try again. Same thing. I rebooted the phone thinking I would definitely have to restore at this point, but I didn’t have too. I deleted the evasi0n icon, killed everything running and rebooted again. Once up, I tried again. It seemed to work this time, until it rebooted and would get stuck on the Apple screen. At this point, I had no choice but to restore. This is when I discovered that I did not have IOS 7.0.4. So, I upgraded and restored, and made sure everything checked out before I more cautiously tried again.

After I restored, I made sure I killed anything I had running/open and I rebooted. Once the phone was rebooted, I started up evasi0n (MacOS Mavericks) and then plugged in the phone. This time everything went flawlessly. When instructed by evasi0n on my computer, I hit the evasi0n icon on my phone. All went well. Note: quite a few reboots with this jailbreak (three or four if I recall).

Turns out I was still a little too early, since the Mobile Substrate had not yet been updated. As a result, pretty much nothing worked. Fortunately, Saurik quickly turned around an update to Mobile Substrate, now called Cydia Substrate. So, between that and PreferenceLoader update and the 3.0-1 update to TetherMe, it looks like I am back in business.

On the old machine/installation, bring up an Administrator Command Prompt.

Enter the following to remove the product key:

slmgr.vbs -upk

From the new machine, go into Administrator Command Prompt.
Enter the following to activate the new machine by phone:

slui.exe 4

If you have already tried the Product key and got the message stating that the key can only be used once, you will be presented with a Windows with a phone number (855 toll free number), and a long string of numbers.

If you did not enter the product key, you will be prompted to Activate with a new key. I have not tested this, but I believe that you could enter your Product key. You should get an error. I would close the window, and try a “slui.exe 4” again. I would think that would get you to the same screen.

Call the phone number.

You will be prompted to enter the long string of numbers.

Then, you will be asked for more information. I was asked how many computers the key has been used on. I answered one (the truth). I was then given a long string of numbers that I entered in the fields at the bottom of the window.

Once complete, I clicked Activate. My installation was successfully activated.