Windows: Disable machine account password change

April 9, 2013 Michael Albert Leave a comment

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Hi,

for test purposes it could be necessary to backup a computer by an image tool, i.e. Acronis TrueImage, and after the test is completed or in situations of a failure reset the computer back to it’s initial state by restoring the image.

In domain environments this could be a problem, because each computer which is member of a Windows Active Directory Domain is negotiating a password with the domain and this password is changed after 7 Days. If your Image is older the domain member ship is broken and you have to rejoin.

The password change is initiated by the client and this behaviour could be prevented by setting a registry value. Set this value, make an image afterwards and you will be able to restore the image as often you want or need without to leave the domain.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Netlogon\Parameters]
"DisablePasswordChange"=dword:00000001

Set it by command line
reg ADD HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Netlogon\Parameters /v DisablePasswordChange /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Have a nice day

Michael

Windows knowhow

Windows Vista: Cannot install Service Pack 2

March 26, 2013 Michael Albert Leave a comment

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Hello,

a customer had the problem that he couldn’t install the Windows Vista Service Pack 2 on his Laptop. Service Pack 1 seems to be installed, but the Service Pack 2 Setup says it isn’t.

Service Pack 2 Setup do not recognize Service Pack 1

I processed a query by using the WMI Command line tool and filtered for Service pack 1 (Hotfixnumber KB936330).
wmic qfe|findstr /I 936330
But in the list of installed hotfixes KB936330 is not listed. WinVer.exe reports a Vista with Service Pack 1 installed.

Continue reading Windows Vista: Cannot install Service Pack 2 →

VMware

VMware: Cannot connect from vCenter Webclient to VDP Appliance

March 26, 2013 Michael Albert Leave a comment

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Hi,

the license of VMware vSphere 5.1 includes the diskbased Backup Solution VDP(vSphere Data Protection). So I’ve decited to try the appliance (Version 5.1 Timestamp 2012-10-02) whether these meets our requirements.

Before I started, I ensured that

The DNS forward and reverse resolution of the choosen name and IP address is possible.
The User, who manage the backup, have vCenter Administrator rights.
all prerequisites are fulfilled

Downloading and installing of the appliance works as expected. The Appliance is properly registered in the vSphere Webclient but I can’t start the VDP Frontend within.

Error: Could not connect to the requested VDP appliance. Would you like to be directed to the VDP configuration screen to throubleshoot the issue.

But whats wrong? I’m currently logged on to the Webclient with my Domain Login. When I’m using SSO Administrator admin@system-domain Login the VDP Frontends starts,
also another Domain Login can connect. Something in the chain Windows Domain, Single Sign On, vCenter and VDP Appliance fails.
Continue reading VMware: Cannot connect from vCenter Webclient to VDP Appliance →

Windows Scripts

Windows: Script to get the NetBIOS Name of an Active Directory Domain

March 25, 2013 Michael Albert Leave a comment

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Hi,

just a short post :-). A powershell script to get the NetBIOS Name of an Active Directory Domain

###############################################################################
# Gets the NetBIOS Domain
# Author Michael Albert michlstechblog.info
# License: GPL v2
###############################################################################
[reflection.assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.DirectoryServices.Protocols")|Out-Null
 
if($args.count -ne 1){
    Write-Warning " Start script with fqdn as parameter"
    Write-Warning (" for example: "+$myInvocation.myCommand.name+" yourdomain.com")
    exit 1
}
$sDomainName=$args[0]
# Get AD Root
$oRootDSE = [ADSI]"LDAP://RootDSE"
$sConfig = $oRootDSE.Get("configurationNamingContext")
# AD Object AD Root
$oADSearchRoot=New-object System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry("LDAP://CN=Partitions," + $sConfig)
# Search for Netbiosname of the specified domain
$sSearchString="(&(objectclass=Crossref)(dnsRoot="+$sDomainName+")(netBIOSName=*))"
$oSearch=New-Object directoryservices.DirectorySearcher($oADSearchRoot,$sSearchString)
$sNetBIOSName=($oSearch.FindOne()).Properties["netbiosname"]
# Print out
Write-Host "Domain NetBIOS Name:" $sNetBIOSName

Have fun :-)!

Michael

VMware

VMware vCenter: Howto add an Active Directory Domain as SSO Identity Source and using system session credentials

March 19, 2013 Michael Albert 6 Comments

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Attention: If plan a update to VMware vSphere/vCenter 5.1.0 Update 1. Currently this version contains a bug which prevents User from Login. VMware is working on an Fix. See KB2050941

=> Bug is solved in 5.1.0 Update 1a

Hi everybody,

since VMware vCenter 5.1 a new service SSO, the Single Sign On Service, handles the authentication for all logons. The advantage is that multiple authentication sources are possible. For example Local User and groups, OpenLDAP Directory Services and of course Microsofts Active Directory.

This post is related to vCenter Version 5.1.0b and describes how to add an Active Directory Domain as Identity source and get this running by using the “Reuse session” Authentication Type. The last one is the tricky part :-).

Let us start. Start the vSphere WebClient with a login which owns the appropriate rights, for example admin@system-domain or any other user who owsn has the SSO administrator privileges, and navigate to Administration/Sign On and Discovery/Configration. In the default configuration two identity sources are added by default. The SSO database and the user management of the local server.

To add an Active Directory as identity source the following informations are required

The Domain fully qualified domain name
The Domains NetBIOS Name
At least one domain controller
The Base DN for the users and groups

The attached powershell script GetSSOParameters.ps1 should determine this for your domain. You must start the script with the fully qualified domain name as parameter. Try it!
PS c:\>GetNetBiosDomainName.ps1 yourdomain.com Basic Config for VMware SSO Identity source NAME: YOURDOMAIN Primary Server: ldap://domaincontroller1.yourdomain.com Secondary Server: ldap://domaincontroller2.yourdomain.com BaseDN Users: DC=yourdomain,DC=com Domain: yourdomain.com Domain Alias: YOURDOMAIN BaseDN Groups: DC=yourdomain,DC=com
If you have the necessary information you can add the Identity source. See Screenshot below. First try to add by specifing a Username and a password which have the rights to query the Active Directory

VMware SSO Identity Source with "Password" option — VMware SSO Identity Source with “Password” option

Press the Test Connection Button and normally this return that the connection is successfully established. Continue reading VMware vCenter: Howto add an Active Directory Domain as SSO Identity Source and using system session credentials →

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