Veeam Backup & Replication 8.0 Update 3 Released

Here they are full release notes and download link (you must register)

http://www.veeam.com/kb2068

To install this update you need to stop "Veeam Backup Service", install update, start "Veeam Backup Service". When you launch Veeam B&R for first time you will be prompted to update Veeam client and any other veeam server repository/Proxy.

Solution

New Features and Enhancements

Microsoft
  • Support for Windows 10 as guest virtual machines (VMs), including application-aware processing.
  • Support for installation of Veeam Backup & Replication and all of its components on Windows 10.

VMware
  • Support for vSphere 6.0 Update 1.
  • Added ability to convert "VMware Tools not found" job warning to informational event. To enable this behavior, set DisableVMwareToolsNotFoundWarning (REG_DWORD) registry value to 1.

Linux
  • Support for the following additional SSH ciphers: aes128-ctr, aes192-ctr, aes256-ctr, aes192-cbc and aes256-cbc.

Veeam Explorer for Microsoft SQL Server
  • Log truncation is automatically skipped for stopped and unsupported SQL Server instances to prevent errors from being logged.
  • Preferred network settings will now also apply to transaction log backup jobs.
  • Support for SQL Servers using non-standard port number.

Veeam Explorer for SharePoint
  • Support for ADFS authentication.
  • Support for UPN credentials.

SureBackup
  • Proxy appliance will now respond to ping from within Virtual Lab to prevent firewalls automatically blocking its network as public.

Other
  • Removed weakly encrypted username and password logging from guest processing components using networkless (VIX) guest interaction mode. Veeam thanks Pasquale Fiorillo and Francesco Ongaro of ISGroup for vulnerability discovery.
  • Improved performance of certain user interface operations, such as opening Backups node in large environments.
  • Reduced load on SQL Server hosting product configuration database, while improving SQL interaction reliability in large environments.
  • Improved performance of configuration backup in large environments.
  • Minor enhancements and bug fixes in various product areas.

Programs - AdvancedRun v1.00 - New utility that runs a program with different settings you choose.

AdvancedRun is a simple tool for Windows that allows you to run a program with different settings that you choose, including - low or high priority, start directory, main window state (Minimized/Maximized), run the program with different user or permissions, Operating system compatibility settings, and environment variables. You can also save the desired settings into a configuration file and then run the program automatically from command-line with the desired settings.



Examples:

  • Run the RegEdit of Windows as normal user on Windows 10/8/7/Vista, without elevation. In this mode, you'll not be able to access or modify Registry keys that require admin rights.
  • Run the RegEdit of Windows as SYSTEM user on Windows 10/8/7/Vista. In this mode, you'll be able to access the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY key.
  • Run a program with a user of another running process.
  • Run a program in high priority.
  • Run a specific instance of program in Windows XP compatibility mode, without making global changes in the Registry.
  • Run a specific instance of program with different PATH environment string, but without modifying the PATH string of the entire system and without using batch files or command prompt window.
  • Run a program with a full set of environment variables you choose, ignoring the system environment variables completely.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/advanced_run.html

Tips - Windows 7 explorer crashes when copying files

If you got problems from coping files on Windows 7 and Explorer continue to crash you could try this options:


The program Explorer.EXE version 6.1.7600.16450 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed. To see if more information about the problem is available, check the problem history in the Action Center control panel.
 Process ID: 98c
 Start Time: 01ced605f3f95e5c
 Termination Time: 60000
 Application Path: C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
 Report Id: 

Here is a Microsoft KB2694911 Base Article full dedicated to this issue:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2694911


Method 1: Run the SFC scan and check if it fixes the issue:

Method 2:  Boot into safe mode and check if issue persists:
If issue does not persist in safe mode then, I would suggest you place the computer in clean boot and check for the conflicting drivers or software:
Note: place the computer to usual startup by following the step 7 from the above link.

Method 3: I would also suggest you create a new user account and check if it helps:
If issue does not persist from new user account then I would suggest you fix the corrupted profile by following the below link.


Method 4: There could be some spyware and virus and in this case utilize some antivirus/tools that you find on this blog


Method 5: You installed some software that creates some problems, please restore you system to a precedent system restore point


Method 6: Disable some plugin or dll that creates problem in Explorer, you can read this blog article:


http://www.alessandromazzanti.com/2014/02/tips-explorer-crash-how-to-solve.html


Method 7


Sometimes faulty RAM (Random-Access Memory) can cause intermittent problems within Windows. Use the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool by clicking Start, type Memory Diagnostics and select the result in the list. When the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool window appears, choose Restart now and check for problems (recommended).


Method 7: Perform a clean Boot :


https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/929135


Method 8: This problem could be related to video card drivers/software problem, in this case it would be fine to reinstall them or change GPU that is used in this moment (internally or GPU)


Outdated or corrupt video drivers can cause Windows Explorer to stop working. Downloading and installing the latest video driver can solve many of these issues. You can do this from using Windows Update or by visiting your system manufacturer’s website or by contacting them directly.
For more information on updating your drivers, see the following content on the Microsoft website:

[update 2016.06.07]

You can use ShellExView program to disable dll or plugin in Internet Explorer that causes problems:

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html


Exchange - Scoped Send Connector meaning and how to manually change Routing weight overriding Ad Sites costs


On Exchange Server about hub transport connector for outgoing email there is an option that some time it could be misunderstood, it is "Scoped Send Connector" checkbox.

When you mark a send connector as scoped, this means it can only be used by Exchange 2007/2010 hub transport or Exchange 2013 mailbox servers in the same Active Directory site as the send connector.  

If not selected, the connector can be used by all transport servers in the Exchange environment.

A Send Connector is not bound/limited to any specific Active Directory site but a merely object in Active Directory!

Example:

Let us suppose to have an AD Site called "Contoso HQ" and the site has 4 transport servers whether they be Exchange 2010 Hub Transport servers or Exchange 2013 mailbox servers.  

Two of these servers are marked as source servers of the scoped send connector and two aren't.  

The two servers which are a member as a source server of the send connector can obviously use the send connector.  The other two transport servers in the same Active Directory site which are not source servers can also use the scoped send connector, all other transport servers in other sites - bad luck!

Unchecking as scoped it means that transport servers in other sites can relay through the send connector if there is no closer option for external mail relay.

To get AD Site and View Cost:

Get-AdSiteLink

Get AD Site Link

Almost all are aware of the fact that Exchange 2010 uses AD Sites and Services information to route emails from one AD site to another.

So you could think to change AD Sites costs but, in large organizations, as changing the existing AD site costs may affect the production network or the AD team just don’t want to make any changes.

Exchange 2010 (infact 2007 as well) has a solution for the above scenario. There is a way by which you can change the email routing without making any changes to the AD site link costs. It is known as “Exchange Cost” and is not configured by default.

This is the command syntax:

Set-ADSiteLink –identity “link name” –ExchangeCost “cost”

[New Exchange Costs Set[4].jpg]

The maximum message size that passes through a site link can be restricted as well. It will come in handy if the link between the site is not great. Run the command below to specify a size limit for communications between various AD sites.

Set-ADSiteLink –identity “link name” –MaxMessageSize “size”




Extra IT - Informatici senza frontiere Benevento

From this blog I integrally publish this news:

http://www.informaticisenzafrontiere.org/2015/10/benevento-aiutiamo-informatici-senza-frontiere/

Nei giorni scorsi una grave alluvione ha colpito Benevento. Fra le strutture colpite c’è anche Futuro Down Onlus, dove i soci ISF di Benevento e della Campania organizzano da tempo cosri di alfabetizzazione informatica per ragazzi down.
Il laboratorio è andato, purtroppo, completamente distrutto e serve l’aiuto di tutti per poterlo riattivare quanto prima.
Trovate, in questo articolo alcuni dettagli in più, oltre ai modi per poter contribuire che riprendiamo anche in questo articolo per comodità:
  1. Durante il Linux Day del 24 ottobre, presso il Museo del Sannio
  2. Tramite Paypal. Email di riferimento: tesoriere@informaticisenzafrontiere.org – Causale: Alluvione Benevento
  3. Tramite Bonifico: Banca Popolare Etica Viale della Repubblica 193/i – 31100 Treviso Coordinate Bancarie ABI 05018 CAB 12000 CC. 000000130726 Iban IT19H0501812000000000130726 -Causale del versamento: “Alluvione Benevento”.

2012 - How to install WSUS on 2012 R2

Here is microsoft article that, step by step, give you instruction how to install WSUS role on Windows 2012 R2 Server.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh852344.aspx

Extra IT - Lorenzo RealEstate about Italy rent apartment agency.

In the past I had opportunity to ask consulting to Lorenzo RealEstate about Italy rent apartment intermediate. 

I got a very good consulting quality and for this reason I publish, in italian language, a presentation letter of his activity and, from my side, I endorse him and his activity.

"Dopo 13 anni di agente immobiliare a Firenze, con la mia agenzia Prince Immobiliare, agli inizi del 2015 mi sono trasferito a Santa Cruz, California e dopo un paio di mesi ho iniziato la mia nuova carriera immobiliare americana. Ho preso la licenza di California Real Estate, passando un duro esame, ed ho iniziato a collaborare con un grande franchising, chiamato Keller Williams.

Qui il mondo immobiliare funziona tutto in maniera differente rispetto all'Italia, con alta tecnologia e probabilmente, con più professionalità. Il mercato attuale sta vivendo il boom: spesso una casa qui a Santa Cruz si vende anche in una sola settimana.

Subito dopo, ho fatto un ulteriore corso ed ho preso una designazione internazionale CIPS (Certified International Property Specialist) e sono entrato a fare parte del GPS (Global Property Specialist).

Ho numerosi strumenti che utilizzo nel mio lavoro, tra questi il più importante credo sia il MLS locale che va da Monterey a San Francisco, inclusa la Silicon Valley. Questo sistema, Multiple listing service, è una grande banca data che mi permette di poter vendere e quindi di poter offrire ai miei clienti, tutti gli immobili che sono presenti sul mercato, anche quelli degli altri agenti e di altre agenzie. (Nota bene che almeno un 95% degli immobili viene messo sul MLS). 
Inoltre, essendo specializzato in internazionale, posso usare anche il MLS internazionale, dove sono presenti numerosi immobili di tutto il mondo, collaborando ovviamente con l'agente locale che ha l'incarico. E' importante dire che tutti gli immobili inseriti nel MLS, sia locale che internazionale, sono con incarico in esclusiva. 

Un altro importante strumento è il network di agenti con il quale ci scambiamo "referral", ovvero se per esempio un agente della Florida, ha un cliente che è interessato ad un mio immobile che vede sul MLS o sui miei canali pubblicitari, tra di noi firmiamo un contratto con il quale lui mi passa il cliente ed io garantisco lui una percentuale in caso di vendita. In questo modo, la possibilità di vendere una proprietà, cresce esponenzialmente. Ed il tutto è super regolato e trasparente. Al momento ho circa 2.000 agenti nella mia rete.

Io mi sto concentrando molto sulle transazioni immobiliari USA-Italia. Ho vari incarichi in esclusiva per proprietà in Italia, come Venezia, Lago Maggiore, Tropea, Sicilia, che propongo al mercato internazionale ed ovviamente americano. Gli americani amano particolarmente l'Italia e poi è ancora grande la comunità di italo-americani qui negli States. Considerando che l'attuale mercato italiano, ahimè, è ancora in fase di stallo, con tempi di vendita lunghissimi, se non interminabili, e con prezzi in ribasso da circa 6 anni, proporre il proprio immobile ad un mercato straniero, come quello statunitense, credo sia un'ottima idea. La loro economia è in crescita e sicuramente il prezzo di un immobile è per loro più "affordable" che per un italiano, viste anche le grandi difficoltà che in Italia si hanno ad ottenere un mutuo.

Io mi trovo nell'esclusiva posizione di avere doppia licenza, italiana e californiana, con una designazione molto prestigiosa come il CIPS. Pertanto credo di essere l'agente ideale per aiutare compratori americani che cercano in Italia. Ed ovviamente anche nell'aiutare gli italiani che vogliano comprare o investire negli USA.
Ho un professionale team di alto livello che mi supporta per le mie transazioni in Italia, accompagnando i miei clienti e fornendo loro un'assistenza completa. 

Tornando all'America, sto collaborando su vari progetti in fase di realizzazione o appena finiti, in vari posti degli Usa, Canada, Messico, Costarica, Rep. Dominicana, Brasile, che sono davvero molto interessanti.

Per finire, utilizzo molto la mia pagina facebook, Lorenzo Real Estate. Sto cercando di renderla più interattiva possibile, con annunci mirati verso il target di persone che intendo raggiungere. E la pagina piace e sta crescendo molto."

Here they are his contact details:


Piero Lorenzo (Lorenzo Real Estate)
Realtor CIPS
Keller Williams Santa Cruz

Server - How to verify that your mail server work properly

To see if your mail server did not fall in a blacklist when sending an email you can check the following website:

http://www.mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx

Other sites chef year the same job:

http://www.dnsbl.info/dnsbl-database-check.php
http://www.anti-abuse.org/multi-rbl-check/
http://multirbl.valli.org/lookup/


To verify that our IP is not generating strange traffics you can use this Cisco tool:

http://www.senderbase.org/

To ensure that our domain has the MX record and other DNS parameters correct, you can use:

http://www.intodns.com/

http://hostadvice.com/tools/whois/

Once you excluded that our server is entered in a blacklist, which does not generate abnormal traffic and the DNS registration is correct you should verify the functionality trying to send email externally:

You can use the following email servers external to check everything:

http://www.mxtoolbox.com/diagnostic.aspx
http://centralops.net/co/EmailDossier.aspx
http://multirbl.valli.org/email-test/

You can utilize this tool:

http://www.mxtoolbox.com/
http://centralops.net/co/NsLookup.aspx

Another control that can be done is that Internet servers are operating properly and that it is not an isolated is that prevents communication between mail servers.

To do this you can use one of the following links:

http://www.internetpulse.com/
http://www.internettrafficreport.com/

Here you have a website to quickly send emails:

http://davidp.ordinarylight.com/qm/

[Italian Article link:  http://www.alessandromazzanti.com/2012/03/server-verificare-il-funzionamento-di.html ]

Vmware - Convert Thin disk to full size how to


If you created a virtual disk in the thin provision format, you can inflate it to its full size.

This procedure converts a thin disk to a virtual disk in thick provision format.

1

Select the virtual machine in the inventory.
2

Click the Summary tab and, under Resources, double-click the datastore for the virtual machine to open the Datastore Browser dialog box.
3

Click the virtual machine folder to find the virtual disk file you want to convert. The file has the .vmdk extension.
4

Right-click the virtual disk file and select Inflate.

The inflated virtual disk occupies the entire datastore space originally provisioned to it.



Vmware - Vmware Converter utility and consideration

VMware® vCenter Converter Standalone is a product to convert virtual and physical machines to VMware virtual machines. 

This tool give you the ability to convert remote client/Server too and executing post migration task (like disk resize, network changes and so on )

here they are official documentation and Vmware Converter download link:

https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/evalcenter?p=converter&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1004588

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone User's Guide

https://www.vmware.com/go/converter-user-guide

VMware vCenter Converter Standalone Documentation

https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/converter_pubs.html

With this article I wouuld like to focalize on some il limitation and best practices that are well explained here:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1004588

  1. If the source is a domain controller, special considerations must be made. VMware does not recommend virtualizing an active domain controller with Converter. For more information, see Virtualizing existing domain controllers (1006996).
  2. If the source is Microsoft Exchange, SQL, or other database server, VMware recommends that the application (Microsoft Exchange/SQL) and database services be shut down prior to conversion. This minimizes any chance of corrupted database tables or stale data in the destination virtual machine.
  3. Disable the real-time antivirus scanning during the conversion.
  4. Read the VMware Converter Release Notes. The release notes review important limitations or issues that may affect the conversion process.
  5. Verify that you are using or have downloaded the latest version of VMware Converter. ........
    ...
  6. If the NIC on the source machine is compatible with TOE (TCP Offload Engine), you need to disable it by running this command in a command prompt on the source machine:

    netsh int tcp set global chimney=disabled  
    For additional information, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 951037.

    Note: The preceding link was correct as of November 21, 2014. If you find the link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

Vmware - How to extend .vmdk Drive on ESX(i)

If you need to extend .vmdk drive here are quickly step to follow (specific case ESX(i) 5.x and windows 2008/12)

1. Shutdown VM
2. Edit Drive settings and put new size:



3. Start VM
4. Go to Start --> Run and type "diskmgmt.msc" and extend drive size






Tips - How to get remote pc/server/device Mac Address

If you need to find remote mac address you can proceed in this way:


  1. If you are on a Windows machine, open a command box (Start...Run...cmd), ping the target machine so you have made contact with it, and then issue the command arp -a to view your local ARP table, which will list IP addresses and their corresponding MAC addresses.

    arp -a

  2. getmac /s remote_computer /u username /p password

    Syntax Example:

    getmac /s remote_computer /u username /p password
  3. nbtstat -a remote_IP

Tutorial - How to backup Print server Roles on 2008 R2/2012 and restore to a new Server

If you need to backup Print Server Role on 2008 R2/2012 and import to a new one here they are steps to follow:

1. On new server install print server role

2. On new server or old server launch print server snapin and backup it and restore like following screenshots.

3. For more details you can read this articles:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/canitpro/archive/2013/06/17/step-by-step-install-use-and-remove-windows-server-migration-tools.aspx

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj134150.aspx

http://www.urtech.ca/2013/06/solved-how-to-migrate-printers-into-server-2012/

2