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Tuesday, May 15, 2018

VMware 6.5 vCenter High Availability (VCHA) Limitations

As per VMware vSphere 6.5 testing (currently on 6.5 U1), there are currently 2 known limitations on automatic failover on vCenter High Availability (VCHA)


  • Loss of Management or Public Network
    • If your VC Nodes can still communicate within heartbeat network, automatic failover will not occur. 
  • vSphere Web Client Service Failure. 
    • Service failure of web client does not trigger automatic failover due to several factors that could cause service failure. And even though web client service is not running, key APIs could still be functional. 

Thursday, March 27, 2014

SCCM MSI: Could not access network location %APPDATA%\

A very frustrating error when installing the agent. All when you thought that the setup was running fine and easy (for~4000+ clients) some of them just don't get installed! 

So looking at the ccmsetup log, I found out this:


MSI: Could not access network location %APPDATA%\

Resolution, check the registry of each *sob* clients that we're left out. Here's the registry:  

HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-18\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

Look for "AppData" and change the value to " %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming"

That's it! Wait for the setup to reinitialize which is about 2 hours. 

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Add Multiple Discovered/Managed Computer to a Collection - SCCM 2007/2012/2012 R2

After doing some research, here's the script I've used to add a list of computers to a certain collection using a batch file. Basically there are three parts of the script:

1. comp.txt - contains the list of computers to be added
2. addcompresid.vbs - contains the script that adds computers to the collection.
3. batch.bat - contains the script to add computers from comp.txt using addcompresid.vbs script.

Instructions:

1. Copy and create (probably from notepad) the batch.bat and addcompresid.vbs
2. Edit Set objSWbemServices= objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer on addcompressid.vbs to specify which MP you are going to connect.
3. Edit Set _COLID on Batch.bat  to specify the collection ID. This can be found on the properties of the collection. 
4. On the same folder, create comp.txt and paste all the computers to be added.


So here's the script and enjoy! 

_________________________________________________________________
Batch.bat

@echo off
Set _COLID=COLLECTION
Set _log=AddToCollection.log

echo Starting log file > %_log%

for /f %%a in (comp.txt) do call :AddComp %%a

goto :eof 

:AddComp

cscript //nologo AddCompResID.vbs %1 %_COLID%
Echo. Adding Computer %1 to SCCM CollectionID %_COLID%
Echo. Adding Computer %1 to SCCM CollectionID %_COLID% >> %_log%

goto :eof

_________________________________________________________________
addcompresid.vbs

strCompName = Wscript.Arguments.Item(0)
strCollID = Wscript.Arguments.Item(1)

Set objSWbemLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")
Set objSWbemServices= objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer("MPSERVER","root\sms")

Set ProviderLoc = objSWbemServices.InstancesOf("SMS_ProviderLocation")
For Each Location In ProviderLoc
    If Location.ProviderForLocalSite = True Then
        Set objSWbemServices = objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer _
            (Location.Machine, "root\sms\site_" + Location.SiteCode)
    End If
Next

Set colCompResourceID = objSWbemServices.ExecQuery("SELECT ResourceID FROM SMS_R_System WHERE " & _
                                              "NetbiosName='" & strCompName & "'")

For each insCompResource in colCompResourceID
 strNewResourceID = insCompResource.ResourceID
Next

Set instColl = objSWbemServices.Get("SMS_Collection.CollectionID=""" & strCollID & """")
Set instDirectRule = objSWbemServices.Get("SMS_CollectionRuleDirect").SpawnInstance_()

instDirectRule.ResourceClassName = "SMS_R_System"
instDirectRule.ResourceID = strNewResourceID
instDirectRule.RuleName = strComputerName
instColl.AddMembershipRule instDirectRule

_________________________________________________________________


Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Bypass HTTPS or SSL Requirement for Citrix Receiver


For those of you doing POCs or Testing Lab, here's how to disable SSL or HTTPS requirement for Citrix Receiver.

To bypass SSL, open regedit.exe on the client workstation and go to:

For 64-bit 

     HKLM\software\wow64\citrix\authmanager

For 32-bit

     HKLM\software\citrix\authmanager

Create string with value: 


     ConnectionSecurtiyMode = Any




And also, go to:

For 64-bit

       HKLM\software\wow64\citrix\dazzle\AllowAddStore

For 32-bit

     HKLM\software\citrix\dazzle\AllowAddStore

And set the value to "A" and restart the receiver. 



This is also useful for those troubleshooting connection between Citrix Receiver and Xenapp Server. But take note though that this is not recommended for production environment since you are exposing the user's credentials in the network. 


Thursday, June 13, 2013

The installed version of SQL Server is not supported. Verify that the computer and installed version of SQL Server meet the minimum requirements for installation. Please see the Supported Configurations document for further information.

I got a very interesting error today while working with multiple SCOM 2012 Server across different data centers and here's what I got:


The installed version of SQL Server is not supported. Verify that the computer and installed version of SQL Server meet the minimum requirements for installation.  Please see the Supported Configurations document for further information.

Here's the scenario when I encountered the error:

1. Installed the first SCOM 2012 Server located on Data Center 1.
2. Installed second SCOM 2012 Server also on Data Center 1.
3. Installed third SCOM 2012 Server on Data Center 2 and enocuntered the error.

Here's the solutions that resolved the issue:

1. Make sure that the credentials used in installing SCOM 2012 have rights on the remote SQL Server.
2. Verify connectivity between Server and Remote SQL Server.
3. Check firewall ports on Remote SQL Server.
4. *this resolved my issue* Do a WBemTest from the Server to the Remote SQL Server. If you get "RPC Server Unavailable", it means that RPC Ports are blocked, either at the Remote SQL Server or your network firewall. Make sure to open RPC ports 135, 137, 139 and 445 to resolve this issue.

This error may be due to SCOM Setup unable to determine the version of SQL on the Remote Server and thus displaying the error message.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Wireless on Windows Server 2012

I've recently installed Windows Server 2012 on my laptop for testing and lab purposes and what do I get, I cannot connect to the wireless router!

So here's how to enable wireless networking on Windows Server 2012 (not recommended for production servers)

1. Go the Server Manager
2. Click Add Roles and Features
3. Go to Features List
4. Enable Wireless LAN Service
5. Add the Feature and restart