Diego Tech Weblog

VmWare vSphere host disconnected from vCenter

diegotech — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:57:15 +0000

Yes, sometimes an host in your infrastructure get disconnected unexpectedly.
For me, a message from VC informed me that an host get disconnected. I checked somethin and all things were ok, but it diddn’t respond to ping or actions by VSphere client on VC.
I’ve been connected to the single host and restored the connection adding it to the infrastructure by vSphere client(after disabling HA and removed the host from VC).
Here some other solutions:

http://malaysiavm.com/blog/resolution-esx-hosts-unexpected-disconnected-from-virtual-center-esx-35-update-2/

http://www.rayheffer.com/266/how-to-fix-not-responding-error-with-vmware-esx-in-vcenter/

vSphere HA issue

diegotech — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:17:29 +0000

Today i was involved in a problem with HA configuration of my datacenter.
I’ve added a new host in my cluster and then i’ve made an update of vCenter. After that, when i enabled the HA on the cluster the result was:
Host 1 OK
Host 2 OK
Host 3 : Cannot complete the configuration of the HA agent on the host. Other HA configuration error.
After waiting for 3-4 minutes on 88%/91%

In detail HA agent on Host 2 in cluster XX in XX has an error:
cmd addnode failed for primary node: Internal AAM Error – agent could not start.: Unknown HA error

I’ve tried the following countermeasures:
+ Reconfigure Host for HA(not working)
+ Disable HA for the Cluster(not working)

I’ve found different documentation about this problem, the most complete is this

In my case the solution was a misconfiguration of dns, so the hosts cannot resolve the name of Host3 and then cannot add him to the HA cluster.
I’ve enabled Tech Support SSH from Configuration->Secuirty Profile and i checked this. After that i added a dns entry directly in my DNS Server.
After that all rise up normally.

Here some References:
Enable Tech Support: One
Resolve DNS problems: Two

Drupal 7: Gallery module

diegotech — Wed, 04 May 2011 17:10:04 +0000

Drupal 7 has a poor support for gallery modules than Druapl 6.

I found this simple good approach: Colorbox
I used Colorbox with Views to compose galleries, this approach has a cons: if you want to create two or more galleries, you must create two or more content types.

In these links it is explained very well:

Another trick in the wall: .htaccess and sites/all/default/files access

diegotech — Wed, 04 May 2011 17:04:26 +0000

Another trick found in a fresh Drupal migration from a local environment to a service provider:
I used Drupal 7 for the first time but i think that it’s a problem that touches also Drupal 6.

I used a module embedded in the Drupal installation called slider, that use Jquery for a slideshow in a header on the front page.
It load some images that slides every 10 seconds. The default path of the images is sites/all/default/files directory that Drupal uses for the public files.
In my first attempt i moved the site to the hosted location, i changed some directives in the root .htaccess but i ever minded that i must change also the .htaccess located in this directory.
This file is created by Drupal at install time and every time that it doesn’t find this file.
For my purposes i must change the file that has these directives:
SetHandler Drupal_Security_Do_Not_Remove_See_SA_2006_006 Options None Options +FollowSymLinks

SetHandler Drupal_Security_Do_Not_Remove_See_SA_2006_006 #Options None #Options +FollowSymLinks

After this everything worked fine.

For later uses i link some sites that i read in this research:

Find Vista / Win 7 main system folders locations after Win XP upgrade

diegotech — Mon, 02 May 2011 10:42:42 +0000

In Windows Vista/Windows 7, many folders that used to be used by earlier versions of Windows have been moved to a new location or given a new name.
Notice how these folders are displayed with a transparent icon and a shortcut symbol. These folders are what is known as a junction.
Junctions work like shortcuts, but in Vista’s case look like regular folders with an arrow. The purpose of a junction is to redirect programs that access them to their Windows Vista equivalent. Since junctions aren’t really folders, it is not possible to access them, and any attempt to do so will give you an “Access Denied” error.

Here is a comprehensive list of all the junction folders that have been moved in Windows Vista, along with their new location:

Note that some folders can be hidden(e.g. Desktop folder in Public profile)

XP: Documents and Settings
Vista: Users

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\My Documents
Vista: Users\$USER$\Documents

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\My Documents\My Music
Vista: Users\$USER$\Music

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\My Documents\My Pictures
Vista: Users\$USER$\Pictures

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\My Documents\My Videos
Vista: \Users\$USER$\Videos

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\Application Data
Vista: Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\Cookies
Vista: Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\Local Settings
Vista: Users\$USER$\AppData\Local

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\NetHood
Vista: Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\PrintHood
Vista: Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\Recent
Vista: Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\SendTo
Vista: Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\Start Menu
Vista: Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\Templates
Vista: Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\Local Settings\Application Data
Vista: Users\$USER$\AppData\Local

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\Local Settings\History
Vista: Users\$USER$\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History

XP: Documents and Settings\$USER$\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
Vista: Users\$USER$\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files

XP: Documents and Settings\All Users
Vista: ProgramData

XP: Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data
Vista: ProgramData

XP: Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop
Vista: Users\Public\Desktop

XP: Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents
Vista: Users\Public\Documents

XP: Documents and Settings\All Users\Favorites
Vista: Users\Public\Favorites

XP: Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu
Vista: ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu

XP: Documents and Settings\All Users\Templates
Vista: ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Templates

XP: Documents and Settings\Default User
Vista: Users\Default

My First Hack on Foneras! A Complete reference.

diegotech — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 20:41:12 +0000

Here all the resources:

This is the hacking portion(load dd-wrt firmware):
I used the simple technique of an offline hack, because of the continuous update of foneras by internet connection, then i choose to download all necessry fliles listed in the link.

Best solution
Other
Another One
Another One
Another One
Another One(Italian)

And now all the resources for making a wireless repeater:

The best
Another
A simple client bridge for connecting two wired lans

The next step is the configuration of a wi-fi hotspot!

See you nex time

Add a network printer for Terminal Services printing

diegotech — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 12:02:40 +0000

Look at these links that will be useful for reaching the target:
How can we add Printers in Terminal Server by Administrator
This
Problems about adding printers by terminal server users.
Look that adding printers by user create a redirection only by network(if the printer is reachable from the terminal server). For example it is the case of adding a local(to the term server) printer or a printer in another network reachable from the local(to term server) lan.
Using the power of terminal services delegate the printing services to Windows terminal services instead of manual configurations.

An useful trick is press F5 on the window Printers and Fax after logon to terminal server. Sometimes the update process of Printers isn’t fast.

How to change ASA 5505 asdm device access from CLI

diegotech — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:26:50 +0000

To change device access from cli follow these steps:
- Connect to ASA 5505 with a serial cable(you can find the cable inside the box)
- Access with your password to conf t area
- type show running-configuration
- Search the line where there are commands like
http server enable
http {outside/inside/dmz}

If there is some misconfiguration(like IPs not properly sync with your lan/wan addressing) you can type the following command:
http

and you will be able to access again to asdm via interfaces and networks specified .

How to configure Cisco ASA 5505 SSH access

diegotech — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:08:11 +0000

I’ve been involved in a project of security assessment for my company and i had to find all possible vulnerabilities in network design, processes and data flows of my case study.
I’m starting to configure a secondary access to all core network devices(including some firewall appliances) and i’ve discovered that cisco asa 5505 haven’t a simple automatic mechanism to configure ssh access.
To achieve this goal we must enter some commands in command line interface form the instruments bar:
Tools –> Command Line Iface

Now we must enter these commands:

*) conf t
*) username password
*) passwd
*) ssh x.x.x.x x.x.x.x {inside/outside} —>The IP/Network enabled for access to asa(e.g. 10.0.0.0 255.255.255.0
*) crypto key generate rsa modulus {512/768/1024/2048}
*) aaa authentication ssh console LOCAL

Check it out by putty client or unix command line.
Pay attention to the ENABLE PASSWORD when you connect with ssh. It is the same used in ASDM.

Cheers,

Robocopy unleashed

diegotech — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:25:34 +0000

I’ve found a simple resource to build a script with the robocopy tool to backup some files from a remote machine.

This is the link: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/window-on-windows/create-a-custom-backup-tool-with-vistas-robocopy/777

Cheers.