Archive for the ‘windows’ Category

iBroken !!….

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

So the title of this post should be something like ‘iphone will not sync with itunes on vista with roaming profile folders’, but I couldn’t resist, ibroken sums it up so well :o)

Yep, my iphone won’t work with my office PC. Well, mine does obviously as I am an administrator with god like powers on our office network. But for my poorer cousins, the standard user, they have their environment subtley controlled for them via the use of microsoft group policies.

The policies in place are not restrictive in nature. They are  simply there to help make certain things transparent to them or make my life easier as an admin and give me some peace of mind about my users data.

The one causing the breakage of the iphone sync is the roaming user profile folder(s). We use roaming profiles to allow people in the office to be able to login to any desktop and have their personal settings follow them around. We also redirect the ‘documents’ folder to a network location so that all their files are in one place and backed up for security.

Under Windows Vista, the user profile folder(s) structure changed a bit. in  Windows XP, user profiles were stored in”C:\Documents and Settings”, but in Windows Vista they are now stored in “C:\Users\”. in order to maintain backwards compatibilty with earlier windows software, Windows Vista has a junction point for ‘C:\Documents and Settings” that points it to “C:\Users” (a junction point is a bit like a shortcut but it will also work in DOS). The junction point makes sure that any application trying to access “C:\Documents and Settings” gets directed to “C:\Users”

Microsoft also changed the structure of the folders that make up the user profile under Windows Vista

\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data

now points to


\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming

and


\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Application Data

now points to


\Users\<user>\AppData\Local

And I *think* this may be where the problem is. NTFS juntion points can only point to another location on the local file system, not a netwok location. itunes will be trying to access “C:\Documents and Settings\scottb\Local Settings\Application Data”, and will be hitting the junction point that redirects it to “C:\Users\scottb\AppData\Romaing”. With folder redirection turned off the story ends here, the location is still on the local filesystem, itunes simply follows the new file path and backups up the iphone in the correct location.

But we have this folder redirected to a network share using a group policy, the “C:\Users\scottb\AppData\Romaing” gets further redirected to a network share file path……and it all just fails.

At this time however, this is only a theory as I cannot understand why only itunes is affected like this and not any other apps (who must also be getting the network redirect for the AppData folder !).

More on this [as|when|if] I figure it out………

ibroken

ibroken

Just Plain Weird !!!……

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

I wracked my brain to come up with a title for this one, but I was simply stumped for how to describe this event

I decided I would allow the MS updates tool to download and install IE8, after all I am running Vista and should really try and keep up with all MS mainstream product versions.

The download kicked off ok and then it installed and required a reboot, which I agreed to…….then I entered the MS twlight zone ?!!

x2 issues/bugs/errors/conditions/*features* seemed to occur as result of installing IE8. The first was that while IE8 would load and display a web page no problem, it would not open a link in a new tab. The tab would launch and then sit there doing nothing. This behaviour was also apparant for trying to right click and launch a link in a new IE8 window. It just did nothing. However, just clicking on a link would load the page into the current tab ok. This meant a morning of getting used to navigating backwards and forwards through my browsing history, which was cumbersome to say the least.

Then I discovered another little gem. Windows explorer would no longer open folders in the same window. Every folder I double clicked opened in a new explorer window. I checked my folder options and changed and applied some settings and then reset them back and applied them to be certain the options were being set, but Vista refused to take this onboard and continued to clutter up my desktop. Right clicking a folder and selecting explore (which was bolded as the context default option by the way) worked ok, but double click was broken :o(

Owing to a deploy of the new site being in progress while this was going on (note to self:: never upgrade your system again during critical moments. grrrrrrrr !!) I had to tolerate this behaviour for the better part of the morning, I now have mild RSI of the second finger on my hand from all the right clicking I had to do (I almost dropped to a DOS prompt to get the work done it got that bad).

Then, while trying to figure out why I had some on page controls missing on the new version of the site, I launched IE8 as administrator……..and it all went back to normal. Possibly a coincidence, but I know where I’m hedging my bets. Just annoying that if permissions was the problem at the time, UAC did not kick in and advise me so (and how come after launching IE8 as admin IE8 and explorer are working fine for me as non admin ??)

Like I said, just plain weird :oD

weird

WMI Restart Windows Services

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Ok

So the title for this post isn’t smart or quippy. and there is a very good reason for this. I needed a script that could restart a windows service or services. I couldn’t find any good ones :o(

I searched using various combinations of the words “wmi, windows, services, restart, start, stop”. While I found a lots of scripts, they all lacked a certain resiliancy that I like in my automation solutions. Essentially they all went something like this (the wmi has been translated into an english procedure so everyone can understand)

  • connect to windows using wmi
  • find all the services
  • select the one that we are interested in using a for/next loop
  • send it a stop signal
  • wait for some random amount of time (between 1 and 2 mins say !)
  • send the same service a start signal
  • move on to the next service
  • exit the script when we have restarted all the services we want to do

Anyone see the problem ? How long do you give a windows service to stop sucessfully ?  Or start for that matter ! These scripts all seemed to wait for a minute or two, and then procede with the assumption everything happend ok. At some point, that kind of thinking with software will bite you in the ass. Here was what I was looking for

  • connect to windows using wmi
  • find all the services
  • select the one that we are interested in
  • check it current state (running or stopped)if the service is stopped, send it a start signal
  • check every 10 seconds for 5 mins that the status has switched to running
  • if the service does not go into a running state after mins, email an smtp address advising the service is misbehaving and then exit the script
  • if the service is already in a running state, send it a stop signal
  • check every 10 seconds for 5 mins that the status has switched to stopped
  • if the service does not go into a stopped state after mins, email an smtp address advising the service is misbehaving and then exit the script
  • if the service does go into a stopped state within 5 mins, run the section of code for starting a service
  • again, monitor the servce to make sure it does restart, if not for any reason, send a warning email

Using this method no assumptions are made about the running state of the service, or it’s response to being told to stop/start. Worst case scenario, it fails to do what it is told and you get an email warning you the you need to intervene manually, at least the failure is known about and can be managed.

The code for this is shown below. Feel free to copy and adapt to suit your own purpose(s) :oD

'needs be run with administrator privileges in oder to work ! we are doing stuff to services after all !!
'the script gives each service x5 mins to change it's state. if this had not occured within that time
'the script sends a failure email and exits

'define the computer name and the services we want to restart. use "." for local host
'the service names are based on their display names, not their short form/function names !
'define the counter used to determin when 5 mins has elapsed
strComputer = "."
arrServices = Array("Kaspersky Administration Server", "Kaspersky Anti-Virus", "Kaspersky Anti-Virus Script Interceptor Dispatcher", "Kaspersky Lab Cisco NAC Posture Validation Server", "Kaspersky Network Agent")
Dim Count

'loop through each service
For each strService in arrServices
	'connect using standard monkier
	Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" & "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
	'get an array containing all services
	Set objItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery ("Select * from Win32_Service")
	'for each service compare it's display name to the current one we are looking for
	For each objService in ObjItems
		'if we get a service display name match
		If objService.DisplayName = strService Then
			'display the current service along with it's current state
			wscript.echo "service name = " & objService.DisplayName & " currently :: " & objService.State
			'if it is currently running, attempt to stop it
			If objService.State = "Running" Then
				wscript.echo ""
				wscript.echo "stopping service..."
				wscript.echo ""
				objService.StopService()
				'wait for 10 seconds, then refresh our view of the current object state
				wscript.sleep 10000
				objService.Refresh_
				'if the service is still not in a stopped state, repeatedly re-check the object status every 10 seconds
				'we also check how many times we have already cheked and exit is it is greater than 29 (30*10seconds = 5mins)
				'initialise counter
				Count = 1
				'start checking comparison loop for 'stopped' condition
				'we need to update the objService.State view using objService.Refresh_ for each iteration to make sure we are seeing the
				'current state of the service
				While objService.State <> "Stopped"
					objService.Refresh_
					'for testing/debuging on the console, tell the user what is going on
					'this will not show up when the script is run as a scheduled job
					wscript.echo ""
					wscript.echo "waiting for service to Stop :: current count = " & Count
					wscript.echo ""
					'wait 10 seconds then increase the counter by 1
					wscript.sleep 10000
					Count = Count + 1
					'if we have reached 30 attempts then bow out and send an email advising manual intervention
					If Count > 29 then
						SendFailedMsg
						wscript.echo "service has taken too long to respond. aborting script"
						wscript.quit
					Else
					End if
					'otherwise we have not reached 30, go round again
				Wend
				'once the service has stopped, let us know
				wscript.echo "service is now " & objService.State
				'now attempt to restart the service, making sure it is definateley stopped first
				If objService.State = "Stopped" Then
				wscript.echo ""
				wscript.echo "attempting to restart service " & objService.DisplayName
				wscript.echo ""
				objService.StartService()
				'wait 10 seconds, the refresh our view of the current object state
				wscript.sleep 10000
				objService.Refresh_
				'if the service is not in a running state, repeatedly re-check the object status every 10 seconds
				'we also check how many times we have already cheked and exit is it is greater than 29 (30*10seconds = 5mins)
				'initialise counter
				Count = 1
				'start checking comparison loop for 'running' condition
				'we need to update the objService.State view using objService.Refresh_ for each iteration to make sure we are seeing the
				'current state of the service
				While objService.State <> "Running"
					objService.Refresh_
					'for testing/debuging on the console, tell the user what is going on
					'this will not show up when the script is run as a scheduled job
					wscript.echo ""
					wscript.echo "waiting for service to Start"
					wscript.echo ""
					'wait 10 seconds then increase the counter by 1
					wscript.sleep 10000
					Count = Count + 1
					'if we have reached 30 attempts then bow out and send an email advising manual intervention
					If Count > 29 then
					SendFailedMsg
					wscript.echo "service has taken too long to respond. aborting script"
					wscript.quit
					Else
					End if
					'otherwise we have not reached 30, go round again
				Wend
				'once the service has started, let us know
				wscript.echo ""
				wscript.echo "service is now " & objService.State
			Else
				'otherwise, if the service must already stopped for some reason ? check first, and attempt to start it
				If objService.State = "Stopped" Then
					wscript.echo ""
					wscript.echo "attempting to restart service " & objService.DisplayName
					wscript.echo ""
					objService.StartService()
					'wait 10 seconds, the refresh our view of the current object state
					wscript.sleep 10000
					objService.Refresh_
					'if the service is not in a running state, repeatedly re-check the object status every 10 seconds
					'we also check how many times we have already cheked and exit is it is greater than 29 (30*10seconds = 5mins)
					'initialise counter
					Count = 1
					'start checking comparison loop for 'running' condition
					'we need to update the objService.State view using objService.Refresh_ for each iteration to make sure we are seeing the
					'current state of the service
					While objService.State <> "Running"
						objService.Refresh_
						'for testing/debuging on the console, tell the user what is going on
						'this will not show up when the script is run as a scheduled job
						wscript.echo ""
						wscript.echo "waiting for service to Start"
						wscript.echo ""
						'wait 10 seconds then increase the counter by 1
						wscript.sleep 10000
						Count = Count + 1
						'if we have reached 30 attempts then bow out and send an email advising manual intervention
						If Count > 29 then
						SendFailedMsg
						wscript.echo "service has taken too long to respond. aborting script"
						wscript.quit
						Else
						End if
						'otherwise we have not reached 30, go round again
					Wend
					'once the service has started, let us know
					wscript.echo "service is now " & objService.State
					wscript.echo ""
					End If
				End If
			End If
		End If
	Next
Next

SendSucessMsg

Sub SendFailedMsg()
    Set objEmail = CreateObject("CDO.Message")
    objEmail.From = "email@yourcompany.com"
    objEmail.To = "email@yourcompany.com"
    objEmail.Subject = "KAV Recycle failed on objEmail.Textbody = "KAV services recycle failed on . Please check services manually"
    objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Item ("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendusing") = 2
    objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Item ("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserver") = "yourmailserver.company.com"
    objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Item ("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserverport") = 25
    objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Update
    objEmail.Send
End Sub

Sub SendSucessMsg()
    Set objEmail = CreateObject("CDO.Message")
    objEmail.From = "email@yourcompany.com"
    objEmail.To = "email@yourcompany.com"
    objEmail.Subject = "KAV Recycle suceeded on . Hooray !!"
    objEmail.Textbody = "KAV services recycle completed OK on :o)"
    objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Item ("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendusing") = 2
    objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Item ("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserver") = "yourmailserver.company.com"
    objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Item ("http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserverport") = 25
    objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Update
    objEmail.Send
End Sub

Once I got this script to run in an admin enabled DOS prompt window, the next step was to run it as a job via the job scheduler under windows. You need to run the job as the SYSTEM user, and tick the box to ‘run with highest available permissions’ in order for this to work. Running as a scheduled job, there is no console to display the output for the job, but you can have the services panel loaded and keep refreshing the view to see your services status changing as the script runs through them.

Overall result will be you get an email advising of a sucessful recycle of your services, or a failure one with a note to check what’s going on.

Enjoy :oD

Scooby Doo And The Missing Printer Objects….

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

I can’t say I’m a great fan of mysteries, I tend to either want to skip to the end real fast or know the outcome ahead of time. I guess it’s the uncertanty that I dislike, I like either solid ‘yes’ or ‘no’ type scenarios, it’s the binary in me :op

However, I must say I currently am experiencing a small but non-critical mystery to do with the companies printers.

We have a mix of network attached printers in the office from HP, Canon and Kyocera. They are all directly connected to the network via jetdirect cards or something that emulates the functionality of a JetDirect ethernet interface.

I have installed all of these printers onto the Windows Server 2008 that also serves as out main file server (file and printing go together in my book). I have installed the x64 and x86 based drivers without issue, and then have shared them out from the server. I then ticked the box to “List in the directory”

printer properties

Now, when I open my printers folder in Vista and click to “Add a printer” I can choose between a local printer or a networked one. selecting a networked one lists all of my configured network printers fine, and if I select them it installs the driver(s) and the whole thing just works. kudos Microsoft.

What I cannot do however is find the printer objects in active directory !?!?!?!? WTF ? Opening the active directory user and computers (ADUC) console I navigate to the “Printers” container…..empty ! yet if I search active directory for all printers, they are all returned in a nice little list.

Where do printer objects get placed by default when they are added to active directory ? Right clicking any of the printer objects in the ADUC console does glean a context menu with the “move” option, so I could place them where ever I like, but I want to know where I am moving them from in case anything breaks and I need to put them back again.

Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you ??……………….

[addendum] So my boss solved this one for me. It seems to have to enable the “Users, Contacts, Groups and Computers as containers” option in the “view” menu on the ADUC console. This allows you to expand computers as if they were containers themselves and there inside my file server were our printer objects <sigh>