Welcome!
So what is this place, anyway? Is it a knowledgebase? a tool set? a software developer site? a place for webmasters? a tech blog?
Well, it's all of those things. This site wants to answer questions you might have about IT related problems you might be having. Search the knowledgebase, and you might find that your question has been answered already. Or check out the tools section; lots of good stuff in there. Got a problem that you can't find an answer to? Use the contact form to ask! Let's get started with some recent posts, shown below.
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Grabbing System Date in a Batch File
Batch programming can be a powerful thing. Basically, anything you can run at a command prompt can be run in a batch file. Coupled with task scheduler, process automation nirvana can be achieved.
However, one thing that is conspicuously is the presence of a date or time variable. For example, if you wanted to date or time encode a filename or create a log entry, you have no way to do that in native batch. But there is a way!
MMS 2012:Desktop Management with System Center 2012
Supporting desktops in large organizations has become increasingly complex. Support teams that are looking to streamline support through improved, remote troubleshooting while working in the security constraints of 'least privilege' access need to look at how Microsoft System Center Operations Manger, Opalis and System Center Configuration Manager can be configured to work together to provide a single, easy-to-use and relevant solution.
I really enjoyed this presentation by Rory McCaw. Utilizing System Center 2012, he was able to show us the path to enlightenment, where managing desktops is push-button easy.
Windows 8 Server official name announced
During the first of two keynote addresses by Brad Anderson at MMS 2012, Windows Server 8 will be henceforth known as Windows Server 2012. Jeff Woolsey gave a brief but informative demo of some of the virtualization and cloud related features of the OS.
Can't wait to get home and try the latest beta!
MMS 2012: Day One
The first day of any conference is usually pretty hectic. You have to travel to get there, get checked in at the conference, get checked in at the hotel, etc. It's mainly a travel day. However, There are a couple of good presentations on the first of of MMS that I thought would be useful, and I was able to squeeze them in.
Read on to check out my first day of MMS 2012.
ARP
Display and modify the IP-to-Physical address translation tables used by address resolution protocol. A host's MAC address can be checked using IPCONFIG.
If another host with a duplicate IP address exists on the network, the ARP cache may have had the MAC address for the other computer placed in it.
vicfg-nics
Get information, set speed and duplex for ESX/ESXi physical NICs. The vicfg-nics command manages uplink adapters, that is, the Ethernet switches used by an ESX/ESXi host.
You can use vicfg-nics to list the VMkernel name for the uplink adapter, its PCI ID, driver, link state, speed, duplex setting, MAC address and a short PCI description of the card. You can also specify speed and duplex settings for an uplink adapter.
vicfg-rescan
Perform a rescan operation each time you reconfigure your storage setup. You can use the vicfg-rescan vSphere CLI or the vSphere Client to perform a rescan.
See the ESX Configuration Guide and the ESXi Configuration Guide. The Fibre Channel SAN Configuration Guide discusses rescan on Fibre Channel storage. The iSCSI SAN Configuration Guide discusses rescan on iSCSI storage.
Install VB6 on Windows 8
As most of the world knows, Microsoft has made available a consumer preview of Windows 8. While this is still considered beta software, I highly recommend you check it out.
Some of us technology minded folks are charged with supporting legacy software, developed with Visual Studio 6 (particulary Visual Basic 6), and with the iminent release of Windows 8, there is some worry about whether our support tools will work with it. This tutorial will (hopefully) help you get VB6 installed on your Windows 8 system!
VBScript: Search Active Directory for User
Anyone can use Active Directory Users and Computers to search fora user. Just right-click the container you want to search, and select the find option. Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy.
But how can you programmatically search Active Directory? It's pretty straightforward, actually. This VBScript sample will show you a couple of different basic concepts of working with AD.
