Tuesday, January 31, 2012

SQL Server Number verses Versions

 

Looking at a SQL server Management Studio there is a version number but it does not match the SQL release, here is a short table to map them.

SQL Server 2008 R2 Original 10.50.1600.1
With SP1 10.50.2500

SQL Server 2008 Original 10.00.1600.22
SP1    10.00.2531
SP2    10.00.4000
SP3    10.00.5500

SQL Server 2005 Original 9.00.1399.06
SP1    9.00.2047
SP2    9.00.3042
SP3    9.00.4035
SP4    9.00.5000

SQL Server 2000 Original 8.00.194
SP1    8.00.384
SP2    8.00.532
SP3    8.00.760
SP4    8.00.2039

SQL Server 7.0  Original -  7.00.623
SP1    7.00.699
SP2    7.00.842
SP3    7.00.961
SP4    7.00.1063

If you want even more detailed information look here:

http://sqlserverbuilds.blogspot.com.au/

Sunday, January 29, 2012

End of life of XenApp 4.5 on Server 2003–look out IE6

 

Windows Server 2003 SP2 is end of life July 2015.

Citrix ends support for XenApp 4.5 (nah Presentation Server, nah MetaFrame, nah WinFrame) in March 2013 (v5.0 is also March 13).

IE6 running on this platform therefore officially has just over two years. Best get moving.

There is of course the Quest solution called affectionately: “Internet Explorer 6 Application Compatibility Solution Bundle” which is based on about $10-20 per Concurrent User.
http://communities.quest.com/community/vworkspace/blog/2011/06/21/ie6-application-compatibility-and-windows-7-deployment

For more information look at the following:

Citrix Lifecycle
http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX122442

Windows Lifecycle
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?LN=en-gb&C2=1173

Article from Brian Madden on this topic
http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/shawnbass/archive/2012/01/17/citrix-plans-to-end-support-for-xenapp-6-0-in-2013-what-s-that-you-re-still-migrating-to-6-0.aspx?asrc=EM_NLN_16165585&uid=8579580

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

CSP-004-1W for CCSP 2011: Citrix Virtual Computing

 

Many of us need certification to keep vendors happy, in some cases they make it easy and other times they do not. Here is my quick guide to help you better understand the CCSP course CSP 004 1W.

Questions set 1

CSP-004-1W CCSP 2011 Q1

CSP-004-1W CCSP 2011 Q2

CSP-004-1W CCSP 2011 Q3

CSP-004-1W CCSP 2011 Q4

CSP-004-1W CCSP 2011Q5

CSP-004-1W CCSP 2011 Q6

Question set 2

CSP-004-1W CCSP 2011 Q2 Q1

CSP-004-1W CCSP 2011q2 q2

CSP-004-1W CCSP 2011 Q2 q3

CSP-004-1W CCSP 2011 q2 q4

CSP-004-1W CCSP 2011 q2 q5

CSP-004-1W CCSP 2011 q2 q6

CSP-004-1W CCSP 2011 q2 q7

CSP-004-1W CCSP 2011 q2 q8

CSP-004-1W CCSP 2011 q2 q9

Monday, January 23, 2012

Citrix client on Ubuntu 11.10 (x64)

 

Linux Citrix Client v12

Go to Citrix.com, Downloads, Choose the Citrix Receiver for Linux x64.

Download Receiver for Linux English v12.0 10/5/11 .deb (format)

The Ubuntu installer will automatically install it, all you need is the certificates (if you get a cert error).

If you have Firefox already installed you can grab them (the destination path has changed from Ubuntu 10 and 11 for the client installation).

sudo cp /usr/share/ca-certificates/mozilla/* /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/keystore/cacerts/

And you are up and running.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Removing Unity from Ubuntu 11.10

 

Prerequisites before starting, get updated

sudo apt-get update

Install gnome classic

sudo apt-get install gnome-session-fallback

Log out then login and choose Gnome Classic from the little configuration button

Remove Unity packages and Unity specific tools

sudo apt-get purge appmenu-gtk appmenu-gtk3 appmenu-qt indicator-appmenu

sudo apt-get remove unity-lens-music unity-lens-applications unity-greeter unity-common unity-asset-pool unity-2d-launcher unity-2d libunity-misc4 libunity-2d-private0 gir1.2-unity-4.0

sudo apt-get purge liboverlay-scrollbar-0.2-0 liboverlay-scrollbar3-0.2-0 overlay-scrollbar appmenu-gtk appmenu-gtk3 appmenu-qt indicator-appmenu

Move the window chrome button to the same side as Windows, ie move from left side to right side.

sudo apt-get install gconf-editor

run gconf-editor in a terminal window

Navigate on the left of /apps/metacity/general
on the right side find the string button_layout and change it to :minimize,maximize,close

image

Logout and/or reboot. You are done.

Original geek who documented most of this: http://linux-software-news-tutorials.blogspot.com/2011/10/ubuntu-1110-oneiric-remove-unity-and.html

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Planning on BYOD?

BYOD (device or desktop)

Bring your own device is both scary and exciting for most people, certainly for most IT managers and CIOs. I should start with the (what should be obvious) BYOD is not a money saver, it is a technology enabler. It is to build better collaboration for a single person – someone traveling, using a work desktop, an IPAD, a home computer etc or for a group of users in a collaborative group.

Plan BYOD for the right reasons.

  1. Decide what you will support, will it go to devices? No, that is too specific and will date. Will it go to OS level, No, that will be wrong soon too. Just set some level of requirements, it must support passwords, auto password change, remote wipe etc. Then you can support any device today or future.
  2. Determine what these shiny new devices can do? Will they connect to the LAN? Will they get a private WLAN? Can they access the intranet, internet, email, VPN etc etc? Maybe it is best to abstract them from the ‘real’ assets and keep them accessing services via Citrix or RDP? Will they authenticate with a CERT? Maybe an AD logon?
  3. Determine the support you will offer, will you connect them to the network, install software, do the owners take responsibility? will you encourage or just tolerate the weird and wonderful knock-off tablets? Don't go to far, you can always go further but you cant go back !
  4. Formalise the plans, the guides, the operations documentation, the security risks, VPN or network controls, IPSEC and routing these the devices. Maybe NAP and NAC have a future on the network if the devices can be managed?
  5. Review the plan and execution after the first 50 devices and see what you got right and wrong. Then fix it.

It does not have to be a problem, it is just another opportunity.

Monday, January 09, 2012

Still sitting on W2K3 Servers? Upgrade, here is why

 

1. Windows 2008, W2K8R2, W2K8R2 SP1 features

Follow is a summary of the key features of Windows 2008 R2 SP1 which includes all features from the original Windows 2008 and Windows 2008 R2 (original). That is as compared to Windows 2003 server.

 

1.1. Active Directory

1.1.1. Domain Features

Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC) represents a new type of domain controller available in Windows Server 2008.

Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS), enables secure document and e-mail collaboration. AD FS provides Web-based extranet authentication and authorisation, single sign-on (SSO), and federated identity services for Windows Server environments.

Windows Server 2008, DFS replication for SYSVOL, Advanced Encryption Services (AES 128 and AES 256) support for Kerberos, Last interactive logon information, Fine-grained password policies (FGPP) for individuals and groups.

Authentication mechanism assurance, a user can have access to different resources if they log in with a certificate versus when they log in with just their username and password or via ADFS. Automatic SPN management, Passwords for these accounts will be reset automatically. And administrative tasks for managed service accounts can be delegated to non-administrators.

1.1.2. Forest Features

Windows Server 2008, No additional features.

Windows Server 2008 Windows 2008 R2, Active Directory recycle bin (must be enabled via command line).

 

1.2. Key Windows 2008 Technologies

Server Manager is the unified Microsoft Management Console (MMC) that offers an integrated experience for adding, removing, and configuring server roles and features.

Windows PowerShell, (superseded by PowerShell v2.0 in Windows 2008 R2).

Server Core installation which includes only the subsystems required for those server roles required on that particular server.

Next Generation TCP/IP Stack with redesigned TCP/IP functionality.

New Failover clustering to increase availability of applications and services (Enterprise Edition or higher).

Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0, (superseded by IIS in Windows 2008 R2)

Windows SharePoint Services is a collaboration technology to improve business processes and enhance productivity.

Terminal Services to provide presentation virtualisation. ie a full Windows desktop from any computer. And application virtualisation via RemoteApp ie presenting only applications instead of the entire desktop.

Network Access Protection (NAP) prevents unhealthy computers from accessing and compromising servers and services.

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) enhancements include support for enterprise auto-enrolment, Network Device Enrolment Services (NDES), the Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP), the Online Responder service, and version 3 certificates.

Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.

Federated Rights Management Services solution, provides a collaboration extension to eliminates the overhead of external user IDs when sharing email or Microsoft office documents to non-staff.

BitLocker Drive Encryption which encrypts the contents of a disk volume.

DFS Replication remote differential compression (RDC); which minimises the volume of replicated data that passes over the WAN. Cross-file replication uses a heuristic to identify when a file exists on the sending computer and not on the receiving computer, but similar files exist on the receiving computer.

Virtualisation through Windows server Hyper-V (superseded by Windows 2008 Windows 2008 R2 SP1)

 

1.3. Key Windows 2008 R2 Technologies

Remote Desktop Services with support for VDI or traditional terminal services.

DirectAccess, allowing remote staff to seamlessly connect to their work environment without the use of a virtual private network (VPN).

Hyper-V Live Migration, enables the movement of virtual machines from one host to another with no perceivable downtime. Hyper-V also supports for up to 64 logical processors to and supports new multi-core hardware and more scalable virtualisation.

BranchCache, reduces WAN bandwidth consumption between the data centre and branch offices.

Windows PowerShell 2.0, provides updated scripting capabilities to help automate server deployment, configuration and management.

File Classification Infrastructure (FCI), is a built-in solution for file classification and management.

Improved Power Management, with support for new processor core and storage power management, reducing power consumption and enhanced budgeting and metering capabilities.

Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.5: Delivers full support for .NET on Server Core, with PHP support, new management tools, and bundled extensions.

 

1.4. Key Windows 2008 R2 SP1 Technologies

Hyper-V Dynamic Memory - Dynamic Memory allows administrators to dynamically adjust memory usage depending on server demand.

VDI with RemoteFX, to support virtualised graphics resources and advanced codecs to enable local-like desktop environment including support for 3D applications, portable graphics content such as Silverlight and Flash, and Windows Aero.

Single set of SP1 updates for Windows Server and Windows 7 – Windows 2008 R2 SP1 delivers all previously released updates prior to Windows deploy and support a single service pack for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Friday, January 06, 2012

Slip streaming Service Packs in Windows XP

Like most in IT I have a collection of ISO images and my WXP is SP2 which means every install is an update to SP3. So I have finally updated it after a few years. Here is how.

Copy your XP CD to your local hard drive (C:\XPoriginal)

Download XP SP3

Extract it to the local drive using the –x command line.

WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe -x:c:\XPSP3

Next, update the original media

cd \XPSP3\i386\update
update -s:c:\XPoriginal

Update the ISO file with WINRAR or similar and you are done.

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