Access to (full) shell of Symantec Messaging Gateway (aka Brightmail)

Symantec Messaging Gateway (aka Brightmail) is anti-spam and anti-virus software for internet mail. It's distributed as VMware appliance (or installation disc for dedicated machines).

It's Linux based system but its shell is limited to some maintenance commands specific to product. There are also some limited number of Linux commands available - like ifconfig, route, ping, telnet.

But when it's not enough, when you need access some additional logs, there is a support user with access to full Linux shell.

Here is a receipt how to access this account.

1. Open a console (on pictures Virtual Machine Console is launched under VMware vShpere Client).
2. Login as admin with your admin password.
3. Run set-support command and set temporary password for support user (temporary but product asks for complex password).
4. Logout (as admin).
5. Login as support with temporary password.
6. Enjoy your freedom.

Restore HP system image to hardware RAID volume (LSI MegaRAID SAS 9271-4i)

When there are no native OEM Windows installation discs included..

This is the story how I succeeded with restoring HP system image to RAID Controller. HP workstation comes only with "their" system image (and restore software) on DVDs and there is no way to restore it to RAID volume directly as there is no RAID controller driver included.

This is full list of hardware used in this case:

• HP Z420 Workstation
• LSI MegaRAID SAS 9271-4i 6Gb/s PCIe 3.0 (native LSI, not branded by HP)
• 2x Intel 530 240GB SATA SSD disks
• Multi-lane SAS (SFF-8087) to 4x SATA cable
• HP restore discs with Windows 7 Pro 64-bit

At first I've just tried to connect disks into RAID controller, create RAID1 volume (this is called "virtual disk" in LSI) and to restore system from HP DVD. Failure. PC rebooted after splash screen.

After some hours..

Finally, complete solution

1. Plug first SSD into SATA (at mobo).
2. Restore system from HP restore discs into that SSD.
3. Download and install LSI controller driver (from LSI site).
4. Plug second SSD to RAID controller (I've used P2 connector on multi-lane cable; they were labelled P1..P4)
5. Under RAID controller BIOS: Create RAID0 volume using second SSD disk.
6. Under RAID controller BIOS: Set RAID0 volume as bootable one.
7. Clone first SSD (connected to SATA at mobo) into second SSD (connected to RAID controller).
8. Unplug first SSD and try to boot from RAID0 volume.
9. Reconnect first SSD to RAID controller (I've used P1 connector this time).
10. Change RAID level from RAID0 to RAID1 adding first SSD to the pool. (LSI need some time to regenerate RAID but it happens in background - you can even reboot).

A word about good software

Cloning was done with Macrium Software FREE Edition (v5.2.6377). It snapshots system partition so you may clone system disk to empty one. Intel gives free edition of Acronis (called as Intel Data Migration Tool), but it does not want to clone into Intel SSD connected under RAID controller (support may help you as branded Acronis in known to have some unlock codes).

Normalize WEEKDAY behaviour [T-SQL]

In T-SQL, if you want to get know if it's Friday already, you have to query like this..

SELECT DATEPART(WEEKDAY, GETDAY())

And SQL Server answers with 5. Thanks GOD it's friday! But it's not..

Number given by DATEPART is dependent to SQL connection setting called @@DATEFIRST.
And default @@DATEFIRST is 7, meaning that Sunday is no. 1, Monday is no. 2... and so on..
So Friday is no. 6 in fact, not 5..

Check DATEFIRST by SELECT @@DATEFIRST.

User can trigger this setting by SET DATEFIRST. For example SET DATEFIRST 1, and now Monday is no. 1 and Friday is no. 5.

Ok..

So, DATEFIRST is related to SQL connection and everyone can have different settings. So how to write functions dependent on WEEKDAY? Can we just SET DATEFIRST in function body on ourselves? No, we cannot.

But we can normalize number returned by doing following trick:

SELECT (@@DATEFIRST + DATEPART(WEEKDAY, GETDATE()) - 2) % 7 + 1

Now Monday is no. 1 no matter what DATEFIRST is set to!
And Friday.. Thanks T-SQL it's 5th, again!

Implement GOD MODE for blocking triggers with CONTEXT_INFO [MS SQL]

Sometime you have to implement blocking trigger (for DELETE, INSERT or UPDATE) saving you and your users from changing some important data in database. Blocking trigger - I mean - doing a ROLLBACK when some rules are broken.

But also sometimes you have to DISABLE TRIGGER for some maitenance tasks when you have to fix some data.

But disabling trigger has global effect. At this time no user is protected by entering wrong data into DB.

You may implement some exceptions into blocking trigger.

First (obvious) idea is to make an exception for user logged into SQL Server:

IF SUSER_SNAME() IN ('superuser1', 'DOMAIN\superuser2') RETURN

And RETURN escapes from blocking trigger at its beginning.

But..

If you are "superuser1" you are not protected by trigger at all. And you want to do maintenance only ad-hoc.

Let me introduce CONTEXT_INFO solution.

CONTEXT_INFO is a "key" set to current SQL connection - so it's ad-hoc setting. It gets VARBINARY(128) as value.

Read more about CONTEXT INFO at MSDN.

Simplest example (from MSDN) is

SET CONTEXT_INFO 0x1256698456

GO

SELECT CONTEXT_INFO()

GO

But who's gonna to remember 0x1256698456 as his very special "key"?

My way - use varchar "key" this way:

DECLARE @my_god_mode VARBINARY(128) = CAST('MY_GOD_MODE' AS VARBINARY(128))

SET CONTEXT_INFO @my_god_mode

If you put (above) into your maintenance script and (following) into blocking trigger- you have a complete solution:

IF CONTEXT_INFO() = CAST('MY_GOD_MODE' AS VARBINARY(128)) RETURN

or in more secret way.. :p

IF CONTEXT_INFO() = 0x4D595F474F445F4D4F4445 RETURN

Last tip - conversions both ways to play:

SELECT CAST('MY_GOD_MODE' AS VARBINARY(128))

SELECT CAST(0x4D595F474F445F4D4F4445 AS VARCHAR)

Have a nice god modding, guys! :)

Running ASDM 5.0 for Cisco PIX 515E under Linux/Ubuntu

Cisco ASDM (Adaptive Security Device Manager) is graphical user interface which can be found in Cisco PIX firewalls familiy. ASDM 5.0 is Java application.

Oracle Java (or "Sun Java" in IT prehistory) is not a part of Ubuntu distribution and out-of-the-box installation of Firefox lacks of Java plug-in also.

Additionaly, ASDM 5.0 has compatibility issues with newer JRE editions. Security exceptions are thrown onto Java Console and application refuses to open.

If you have to work with older devices you may find some issues with running their management software. It's not always possible or cost effective to update the firmware (IOS and ASDM) to resolve issues that way.

Here's a complete receipt to install older Java, install ASDM and run it up on Ubuntu system. I guess the receipt is not so distribution specific - so you may try it on other Linux distributions too. Some steps are also common for Windows environment - I'll cover Windows installation on next post.

Environment details

• Cisco PIX 515E firewall
• PIX Version 7.0(4)
• ASDM Version 5.0(4)
• Ubuntu 13.04 (AMD64)

Let's do it

Prepare working directory

Make a workspace. Let's say - create folder named "pix" under home directory.

mkdir ~/pix

..so you can access it by:

cd ~/pix

(I know it's obvious, sorry.)

Get ASDM

Here is - how to get ASDM in "windows" way. Not sure if there is "linux" way (If you know it - leave a comment).

You may get ASDM installation by loging into PIX page. Assuming your PIX is under 192.168.1.254 open URL https://192.168.1.254. Then log into with admin password.

You should see a screen like that (in fact this is Windows screenshot).

Click on "Download ASDM Launcher.." to get MSI file. MSI is of course MS Windows installation package but inside there is a Java application.

If you have got a problem with downloading MSI file (because this is in fact Windows example or your browser lacks of Java plug-in) you may download MSI file using windows machine and then transfer it onto linux machne OR use a "wget". Assuming your PIX is accessible under 192.168.1.254 and your admin account is "admin".

cd ~/pix

wget --no-check --user=admin --ask-password https://192.168.1.254/admin/asdm50-install.msi

Get Java Runtime

You should proceed to Oracle site (not "java.com"). As it was described at the very beginning ADSM has compatibility issues and cannot work with Java Runtime 1.7. Also Java 1.6 is not perfect.

I found those Java JRE editions to work with ASDM 5.0(4) properly:

• Java Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 22 (the latest 5.0 update)
• http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javasebusiness/downloads/java-archive-downloads-javase5-419410.html#jre-1.5.0_22-oth-JPR
• Java Runtime Environment 6.0 Update 7 (remember lucky number)
• http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javasebusiness/downloads/java-archive-downloads-javase6-419409.html#jre-6u7-oth-JPR

With JRE 6.0 Update 10 ASDM starts but refuses to load configuration from PIX. With higher updates main window does not appear after login dialog.

 

I recommend to download ".bin" linux edition. This is self-extracting binnary file which installs into current working directory and does not make any modification to the system. Why this one? First, Oracle does not publish ".deb" packets (only ".rpm"). Second, I guess you don't want to integrate old Java with system.

Please, download jre-1_5_0_22-linux-amd64.bin (assuming you've got 64-bit system).

Get 7zip

We'll need to extract MSI package. It's possible with 7zip. If you have got no 7zip installed, do it so with following command:

sudo apt-get install p7zip-full

Checkpoint

At this point you should have working directory called ~/pix with files inside:

• asdm50-install.msi
• jre-1_5_0_22-linux-amd64.bin

Extract ASDM MSI package

cd ~/pix

7z x -oasdm asdm50-install.msi *.jar

This will extract JAR files from MSI package into asdm output subfolder.

Extract / install JRE

At first bin file needs to get execute flag. Then you may run it. Accept the license and Java will extract to subfolder of working directory.

cd ~/pix

chmod a+x jre-1_5_0_22-linux-amd64.bin

./jre-1_5_0_22-linux-amd64.bin

Tip: Press "q" to skip to the end of license. Type "yes" to accept.

Time to run ASDM

How NOT to do it

Java -jar switch won't work. You'll get "Failed to load Main-Class manifest attribute" error.

Fastest way

You need to export CLASSPATH and then run java pointing a main class of ASDM.

cd ~/pix/asdm

export CLASSPATH=`pwd`/asdm-launcher.jar:`pwd`/jploader.jar

You may check your CLASSPATH by:

set | grep CLASSPATH=

Run Java pointing a main class of ASDM

cd ~/pix/jre1.5.0_22/bin

./java com.cisco.pdm.launcher.Launcher &

Congratulations! You've got Cisco PIX ASDM working on Ubuntu.

Script way

Create run-asdm.sh file..

#!/bin/sh

export CLASSPATH=$HOME/pix/asdm/asdm_launcher.jar:$HOME/pix/asdm/jploader.jar

~/pix/jre1.5.0_22/bin/java -classpath $CLASSPATH com.cisco.pdm.launcher.Launcher &

Set execute flag on script..

cd ~/pix

chmod a+x run-asdm.sh

Run it..

cd ~/pix

./run-asdm.sh

Open Champagne! ;)

BACKUP SERVICE MASTER KEY with date in file name

A service master key is created when SQL Server instance is run for the first time. And it's regeneratred every time you change service account or its password. You should protect it with backup.

Syntax for BACKUP SERVICE MASTER KEY is described here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190337.aspx

Important notice is it does not allow to overwrite previous file. So you have to delete it before executing statement or use unique file names for every day backup.

This is my simple script to have BACKUP SERVICE MASTER KEY done with date in file name (so it's unique per day). It's compatible with SQL Server 2008 and above (older releases does not allow to set value while declaring variable).

Feel free to use it!


DECLARE @tsql NVARCHAR(512)
DECLARE @holder NVARCHAR(16) = '{DATE}'
DECLARE @path_to_file NVARCHAR(256) = 'D:\sqlbackup\keys\service_master_key_{DATE}.bak'
DECLARE @password NVARCHAR(16) = 'mysecretpassword'
DECLARE @current_day_string NCHAR(8) = CONVERT(NCHAR(8),GETDATE(),112)

SET @path_to_file = REPLACE(@path_to_file, @holder, @current_day_string)
SET @tsql = 'BACKUP SERVICE MASTER KEY TO FILE = '''+@path_to_file+''' ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD = '''+@password+''''

EXECUTE sp_executesql @tsql

"Could not obtain information about Windows NT group/user 'DOMAIN\user', error code 0x5" in SQL Agent

Problem:

You login into SQL Server instance using Windows Auth. You're sysadmin. You've created job in SQL Agent - you're the job owner - but you get an error every time you try to run it. You've noticed that changing owner to SQL login with SQL Server auth is workaround.

Details:

Job owner is SQL login with Windows authentication, created for windows domain user. This login is sysadmin (or has enough priviledges to run the job).

You get error:

Unable to determine if the owner of job SYSTEM has server access (reason: Could not obtain information about Windows NT group/user 'DOMAIN\user', error code 0x5. [SQLSTATE 42000] (Error 15404)).

Solution:

It seems something blocks SQL Server to query Active Directory controller for DOMAIN\user details.

Determine windows user who runs SQL Server instance - if you don't know it (you should!).

1. Run Sql Server Configuration Manager.
2. Display SQL Server Services section.
3. Highlight "SQL Server (Your Instance)" and read user name from "Log On As" column.

Open Active Directory Users And Computers app, find this user, open Properties.

I guess that "Password never expires" was not checked. Just check it and apply. Re-run your job.

Speed up paper forms processing with CODE39 barcodes and Symbol LS2208 barcode scanner

It's not a discovery that barcodes make life easier. Barcodes can speed up any process that needs to have some data read from paper or package - and this is done by human. But did you know that introducing barcodes in your project could be very easy?

Scenario

Imagine following scenario. There is a process which includes printing a paper document. Then paper document comes from hands to hands. And finally comes to an operator who needs to trigger some job in computer system related to that paper form. For example: the operator needs to open window, look up for data related to paper, complete form, save it.

Looking up for data could be time consuming and could be a place for human mistakes. This is the place where barcodes come in.

Where to start?

Barcodes are quite wide subject - type of codes, standards, generating, control codes, rights to use. This is not article about it. If you're totally new to barcodes, you should get know CODE39 for a beginning - the simplest one. This type of code is a very good point to start as it's very simple to understand, very simple to generate without 3rd-party libraries, recognized by every barcode reader and there are no restrictions to use it. For comparision: EAN13 that could be found on Coca Cola can it's much more complicated story.

All you need to get started with CODE39 is:

• download CODE39 fonts (ask uncle Google for free ones)
• get know CODE39 syntax which is very simple (please, read forward)

Code39 syntax and generating barcodes

Generally you can code into CODE39 short alphanumeric strings. Every digit or letter has its representation in exactly one bar code (one font). First and last char in code must be asterisk (*) which means start and stop.

So if you want to have 123456789 coded into CODE39, just add asterisks to get *123456789* and change font to CODE39 font. You may try it with WordPad or Microsoft Word. Now imagine 123456789 is for example document ID or some primary key and you want to add it to Crystal Report form. It simple as to change a font (from Times New Roman to Code39). Ok, deploying fonts into set of computers is another story but you may build an MSI package a deploy it with Group Policy in Windows Server.

Good source to get know CODE39 better is Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_39

Well, well - half of work is done. We have got barcodes with ID-s printed on paper forms. Now it time to read it and to trigger some action.

Scanning barcodes

Let me introduce Symbol LS2208. Symbol LS2208 is simple laser barcode reader. It's ready to work just after unboxing. It is very popular and it costs ca. 100 USD.

Symbol comes as RS232 or USB connected devices. In USB version is great plug and play device as it does not require any drivers. It acts as a second keyboard. This also mean you don't need any SDK nor to recompile your software solution to have it worked with Symbol.

First exercise: print some CODE39 codes from WordPad or Microsoft Word (as described earlier) onto the paper (laser reader cannot read from display). Plug Symbol into USB. Then open Notepad and scan your codes into it.

You will find that barcodes read your 123456789 easily in both directions (I mean you don't worry that someone scan your code upside down). You also find that asterisks (*) are omitted, so you won't need to parse them out. You will also notice that every next scan result is written down in the same line without any separation (123456789123456789123456789).

Symbol LS2208 configuration

Now it's time to tune things up. Best about Symbol is that you can reconfigure its behavior and you can also do it very easy. To do so - open printed manual (or print interesting pages to paper) and scan configuration codes with reader. If you fucked everything up - start again from defaults - just find "Set All Defaults" configuration code in manual and scan it.

Great news about configuring Symbol scanner is that configuration is stored in device flash memory - and not in computer. Once configured it may be plugged into another computer and behaves as expected.

What may be done with configuration codes? I suggest you to study Symbol manual by yourself to find interesting behaviors for your project. Most basic behaviors are: adding prefix and suffix to read code. For example - you want to have sent ENTER key along with your code to your app (so user don't have to touch keyboard after scanning). No problem!

With configuration codes you may filter out some unwanted codes. Let's say you have different type of codes on paper form and you don't want your users to scan improper ones.

Another great feature of Symbol LS2208 is continuous scan. Just place scanner in handler (included in the box) and Symbol starts to light constant red line on the table without need to pull the trigger. Just move your paper form (the barcode section) under the line. Now find in manual set of configuration codes to set some insensitivity to the same code if its scanned twice (when you move your paper back and forth). Do some practice with it to find best time of insensitivity.

Additional tips and sample configuration

In this article I've shown you how to have barcodes printed and read with minimal effort. Last tips: Add CODE39 fonts to your project repository. Prepare scanner configuration as a set of control codes - start with "Set All Defaults", save it as PDF document and also add to your project repository - you will be able to configure second device in seconds.

Zeroconf is your friend (real world examples incl. VMware ESXi and IBM DS3524)

Subnet 192.168.1.0/24 is probably the best recognized subnet in the world. Every piece of network hardware - no matter if it's for home use or advanced one for business use - comes with 192.168.1.x as its default IP. We're are very familiar with this subnet.

But sometimes, especially if there is some problems with network, your PC catches IP from some other subnet - like 169.254.x.y. What's this? Does it always mean problems? No. Let me introduce - 169.254.0.0/16 is your new friend.

Subnet 169.254.0.0/16 is:

• part of Zeroconf idea,
• is used for IPv4 Link-Local addressing,
• is not routable,
• is reserved by IANA,
• is described in document RFC 3927

The idea is simple and clever. After media is detected, network interfaces set random IP for itself from 169.254.0.0/16 subnet and it's ready to communicate with other devices within the subnet.

In practice, after media is detected (ethernet cable plugged or associated with WIFI access point), OS is broadcasting for new IP from any DHCP/BOOTP server, and if there is no response, after some timeout it sets new IP itself - from 169.254.0.0/16 subnet. Of course there is no broadcasting for new IP if it's set to static or you're using alternative NIC configuration feature of Windows 7 and above which sets static IP defined by your in case there is no DHCP/BOOTP nearby.

Some interesting part of RFC 3927:

2.1.  Link-Local Address Selection


   When a host wishes to configure an IPv4 Link-Local address, it
   selects an address using a pseudo-random number generator with a
   uniform distribution in the range from 169.254.1.0 to 169.254.254.255
   inclusive.

   The IPv4 prefix 169.254/16 is registered with the IANA for this
   purpose.  The first 256 and last 256 addresses in the 169.254/16
   prefix are reserved for future use and MUST NOT be selected by a host
   using this dynamic configuration mechanism.

   The pseudo-random number generation algorithm MUST be chosen so that
   different hosts do not generate the same sequence of numbers.  If the
   host has access to persistent information that is different for each
   host, such as its IEEE 802 MAC address, then the pseudo-random number
   generator SHOULD be seeded using a value derived from this
   information.

OK, I could have quite unique IP without DHCP - so what? Even cheapest internet router has got DHCP server built-in. Why would I want to work without DHCP? And I always can set any IP manually if there is no DHCP.

At this point I want to introduce some real world examples. In both cases there is no place for DHCP - and of course - you can always set IP manually but it's always an additional effort and source of possible problems if you forget to change IP to AUTO after your job is done.

Scenario A: VMware host in co-location centre

Company has got one 1U server in co-location centre for off-site backup purposes. Centre charges the company for every 1U space and electric power. So for the cost effective installation there is no monitor, there are no additional networking hardware - only server with VMware ESXi on it.

How to maintenance the machine being at co-location site if there is no display or local network infrastructure (accessible for you)? It's common that 1U servers can have two network interfaces (NIC) in standard. One can be connected with collocation LAN (the way it access Internet) and the second one may be for local access purposes.

And a pic how ESXI networking was configured:

Notice: on vmnic1 physical adapter there was management port configured in subnet 169.254.0.0/16. IP number shown (169.254.100.100) is static one (and easy to remember).

How it works? Just connect notebook with server directly using crossed ethernet cable (or straight if you believe in auto-sensing). Because there is no DHCP - after timeout - OS at notebook will set up its NIC with some IP from 169.254.0.0/16 subnet - the same subnet ESXi is in. And you're ready to connect ESXi with VMware Sphere Client.

Pros:

• You can easily access your machine in co-location site with just notebook and ethernet cable.
• You don't have to make VMware ESXi to act as DHCP server on ethernet port labeled "for management".
• You don't have to do any effort to set IP manually on your notebook - especially when you switch between some LAN segments with and without DHCP
• You don't have to remember to set IP to AUTO after work.

Cons:

• You have to wait for a timeout - OS waits for response from any DHCP first.

Scenario B: emergency access to IBM DS3524 storage system

This is also real world example. I have named system storage with its model number because this is more vendor specific solution. IBM DS3524 storage system has two redundant controllers (called Controller A and Controller B). Every controller has its cache, keeps configuration and so on - so storage system can continue work on one controller only. Both controllers have two network interfaces (so there are 4 NICs in total).

• Controller A Port 1
• Controller A Port 2
• Controller B Port 1
• Controller B Port 2

Manual says that Port 1 and Port 2 must be in separate subnets. So it's great occasion to develop solution like that:

• Controller A Port 1 - IP = 192.168.1.201
• Controller A Port 2 - IP = 169.254.111.111 (easy to remember)
• Controller B Port 1 - IP = 192.168.1.202
• Controller B Port 2 - IP = 169.254.222.222 (easy to remember)

You control DS3524 with software called  DS Storage Manager Client. DS Storage Manager has some availability to discover controllers in LAN or define it manually. Using zeroconf idea, in case of emergency, you can plug into DS3524 directly (using crossed ethernet cable or straight if you really believe in auto-sensing) or in-directly using switch (solution may include switch with some VLANs configured). By use of switch you can make connection with both controllers at one time - which is more preferred by IBM software when both controllers are online and in a good mood (healthy state I mean ;). And again: you don't have to configure IP in your notebook manually, so you can access device more quickly. Image scenario where your DHCP server is down because it relays on system storage.

Some pics..

Pros:

• You can easily access your system storage with just notebook and ethernet cable.
• Your access do not relay on DHCP server which could relay on managed system storage.
• Your access may not relay on any other networking devices.
• You don't have to do any effort to set IP manually on your notebook.
• You don't have to remember to set IP to AUTO after work.

Cons:

• You have to wait for a timeout - OS waits for response from any DHCP first.

Hide Results Pane and make some space for your SQL code (SSMS 2012)

Space on your screen has its value. This is productive tip for making some more space for your SQL code while building your query. After executing a query under SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), a result pane appears and takes aprox. half of the screen. You can make it smaller by dragging the separator line down. But better idea is to just hide it.

You have 3 options:

• Go to Windows | Hide Results Pane
• Use CTRL+R shortcut (worth to remember - as it's worth to remember F5 shortcut is for Execute)
• Use Hide Results Pane button just from toolbar - but.. you have to add it onto toolbar first (and spend some minutes if you don't know where to find it - continue reading..)

My favorite is the third one. So, the number one step after running SSMS in new enviroment is to add Hide Results Pane button onto toolbar. And this is the post how to do it.

Some pics..

You're starting with some new query..

You're pressing F5 to execute and a half of screen is taken by results. No space for continuing a query..

You may find Hide Results Pane under Windows menu and get rid of it.

If you want to have Hide Results Pane button easy accessible you have to start with clicking left mouse button on a small down arrow at right side of choosen toolbar. Click Customize at the end.

On the Commands tab click Add Command button.

Next, select Windows in Category list (almost at the end) and then select Show Results Pane in Commands list (also almost at the end). Yes - it's Show Results Pane - do not look for Hide Results Pane.

New command was added at the begining of choosen toolbar. It's good idea to move it to the end with Move Down button. Tip: use auto-fire on your joystick ;)

Ready! Congratulations! Now you can hide and show again results pane fast with only one click.

Installing VMware Tools on Debian 6.0

I found that installing VMware Tools on pure Debian 6.0 installation generates some troubles.

After starting VMware Tools installation you may get error: path to gcc is not valid - even you've got gcc installed already.

After some tries - here is complete task list to install VMware tools.

Stuff used in this installation:

• Pure Debian 6.0.6 AMD64 installation (from image debian-6.0.6-amd64-netinst.iso)
• VMware ESXi 5.0.0 Build 469512 (free license)
• VMware Tools 8.6.0 Build 425874 (included in ESXi installation)

Preparations:

1. apt-get update
2. apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r` make

VMware Tools installation:

Begin with inserting installation CD

Then..

1. mount /media/cdrom
2. cd /tmp
3. tar -zxf /media/cdrom/VMwareTools-8.6.0-425873.tar.gz
4. cd /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib
5. ./vmware-install.pl
6. Response with defaults by pressing [ENTER] to all question

Status of VMware Tools in vSphere Client will update to "Running" just after installation. No reboot required (or any service starting by you manually)!

Watch your behaviours while restoring DB under SSMS!

Today, I was just one step from making a mess.
I have both of Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio installed - 2008 R2 and 2012.

Notice this major difference on DB restoring dialog.

Old one:

New one:

Source and destination fields are switched. If you're acting to fast you may loose your source DB restoring "destination" DB into it.

Windows 8 - new & missing - personal summary

Probably all about Windows 8 was already written. This article is my personal summary of features new in Windows 8, but also missing in Windows 8 (comparing to Windows 7).

What's missing (in custom order)

• Menu Start (of course). Shortly - I miss it. But not as much to have 3rd party one.
• Aero glassy windows. New plain windows are not bad, even nice, but I liked glassy ones.
• Flip 3D. It was very practical way to find some open windows deep on the bottom at the end of business day.
• Recovering files using Previous versions tab. Yes, we people do not need to recovery files - what a stupid MS idea. Hopefully in last years some cloud drives services appeared with recovering options. But still - you may have some (especially large files) out of cloud folder.
• Shutdown button - yes, there is shutdown button in fact - somewhere ;)
• XP mode. Free virtualization enviroment (with legal Windows XP) had its value. Too long.
• Windows Media Center and DVD codec. Now you have to pay more for features which was in standard. For a while you may had free Windows Media Center license - but it was time limited offer.
• Desktop gadgets - a big idea of tiltes in menu screen killed them - but it's not the same, titles are useless as they are only in menu screen and not on the desktop where you spend 99% of time.

What's new (in custom order)

• Tablet mode - another world, messy, stupid applets..
• Internet Explorer in tablet mode - OK, sometimes I use it, while eating dinner, and only one hand it's free - but it's like browsing Internet sitting in a cage.
• Ribbon in file explorer - useful sometimes..
• Upper folder icon in file explorer - big missing feature in Windows 7 - there was ALT+upper arrow shortcut in fact.
• Stacking file copy windows with bandwith graph - nice - but still - is "better files copying" a number-one-feature in new version of Windows? - hey, we have XXI century! 
• Welcome screen/lock screen with wallpaper, clock and weather cast - nice.
• WIN+X shortcut with admin tools - useful, especially when you cannot go into (not existing) menu and click right on "computer".
• Marketplace - echo, echo, echo.. oh! there is something in store.. expensive and useless..
• "Intelligent" scaling of remote desktop screen - the one feature I really like and it's really usefull in my admin tasks.
• New bootloader - it assumes that you'll choose Windows 8 - what's true in most cases - so it does not wait for your decision and loads Windows 8 in "background" - so it save some seconds on booting time - and loose them if you choose another system (need to shutdown Windows 8 and reboot).
• Some "return to factory setting" tools. I have no experience with it. I do not trust.
• Extended and colorful Task Manager. I like this new one but I don't use it to often to tell it's "must have" feature.
• Mounting ISO as virtual drive. It's really nice to have it without 3rd party software. But also I'm used to double-click on ISO to have it burned on media - so I still make this mistake playing with ISO files.
• Panorama wallpapers/themes (spanned on multiple monitors) - nice.
• Hyper-V. Nice, but still - XP mode is missing.
• PDF reader (tablet mode) - in theory you don't have to install Adobe Reader. But in practice - I hate an MS idea to open files (while in destop mode) in tablet apps.
• Image browser (table mode) - as above - bad idea to have it as default JPG reader. Some additional clicks needed to have JPGs opened in old desktop picture app.

Summary

Windows 8 - is a very cheap downgrade from Windows 7. New features would be a reason to upgrade, but you loose as many Windows 7 important features, and you'll need to face a messy hybrid tablet-desktop world.

I'm waiting for Windows 9 - hope it won't be the first Windows without windows (desktop mode).