Error:
TDDS is not running on any host instance in <SQL_SERVER_NAME>.BizTalkMgmtDb [SQLSTATE 42000] (Error 50000). The step failed.
Determine DLLs hosted by Process
tasklist /m /fi "IMAGENAME eq wmiprvse.exe"
/M [module] Lists all tasks currently using the given
exe/dll name. If the module name is not
specified all loaded modules are displayed.
/FI filter Displays a set of tasks that match a
given criteria specified by the filter.
If you want DLL's hosted by any/all processes, remove the /FI filter parameter. In the example, we list dll's in use by the WMIPRVSE services.
Another example might be;
tasklist /m /fi "IMAGENAME eq cmd.exe"
You can filter on many different items, such as PID. Below we list dll's used by the SYSTEM process.
tasklist /m /fi "pid eq 4"
UDP Client Testing
There are many applications that use UDP ports in operation. When firewalls are in place, it can be difficult to determine if the problem connecting is due to the firewall, or simply the application.
The attached files can help with this.
udpserv.ps1 is a quick PowerShell script that will listen on a defined port for incoming UDP data and display the received data on the screen.
To use the udpserv.ps1 script;
- Change $port = 2020 to the port you want to test.
- Open a PowerShell window.
- Change to script download location
- Execute script by typing ".\udpserv.ps1" and process enter. The script will block until complete.
The client script udpclient.ps1 will connect to the defined port on the defined server and will send 10 lines indicating the iteration of the UDP test.
To use the udpclient.ps1 script;
- Change the $IP = "10.0.0.1" line to match the IP of the system running udpserv.ps1.
- Change the [int] $Port = 2020 to match the port specified in the udpserv.ps1 script above.
- Open a PowerShell window.
- Change to script download location
- Execute script by typing ".\udpclient.ps1" and process enter.
You can download the udptest.zip file which contains the client and server scripts.
WordPress Error Table ‘alertadigital.wp_wc_follow_users’ doesn’t exist
If you receive an error message like
Error Table 'table.wp_wc_follow_users' doesn't exist, you may have inadvertently caused the problem by updating two plugins at the same time. I was updating the wp support and wp disquz tables, received an error, and afterwards started seeing this error.
To fix it, use the sql query below. When doing so, make sure you execute it on the correct database.
Continue reading WordPress Error Table ‘alertadigital.wp_wc_follow_users’ doesn’t exist
Apache — Redirect all HTTP requests to HTTPS
This post describes the process of forcing all HTTP traffic to HTTPs.
If we all lived in a perfect world, there would be no need for security. However, we don't, so there is.
One way you can help increase the security of your site and therefore your data, is to only implement ssl protocol in the server, or to block non ssl traffic via the firewall.
Continue reading Apache — Redirect all HTTP requests to HTTPS
RDP Licensing on Microsoft Server 2012
If you have ever installed additional RDP licenses on a pre Windows 2012 server, you likely found this a straight forward procedure.
In server 2012 however, you will notice that the RDP Licensing Manager is not available.
Windows Server License Activation Failed
In our environment, we use a KMS, Key Management Server to automate licensing in our environment.
If you have ever worked with Windows servers, I am sure you have seen issues where suddenly, sometimes after years of operation, a server fails activation.
Remotely Add Users to the Local Admins Group with Powershell
I can't tell you how many times I have had to reach out and touch multiple servers to add a service account to one of the systems local groups. This can be a time consuming endeavor when you get above a few machines.
This post lists the code needed to add a user to the local administrators group of a remote system.
To use the script, change the following;
- PATH_TO_SERVER_LIST, Change this to the path to the list of servers on which to add the user.
- DOMAIN_NAME, Change to your domain name
- USER_TO_ADD, Change to the domain user you want to add to the remote systems local administrators group.
That's all you need.
The script makes an ADSI connection to the server
$AdminGroup = [ADSI]"WinNT://$s/Administrators,group"
The script then loads the user AD object.
$User = [ADSI]"WinNT://$DomainName/$UserName,user"
And finally the script attempts to add the user to the local administrators group.
Note that each of the commands is wrapped in a try/catch block which outputs an error indicating where the problem occurs.
$servers = gc "PATH_TO_SERVER_LIST"
$DomainName = "DOMAIN_NAME"
$UserName = "USER_TO_ADD"
foreach($s in $servers){
$s
try{ $AdminGroup = [ADSI]"WinNT://$s/Administrators,group" }
catch{ write-warning "Failed to connect to [$s]" }
try{ $User = [ADSI]"WinNT://$DomainName/$UserName,user" }
catch{ write-warning "Failed to obtain record for [$DomainName] [$UserName]" }
try{ $AdminGroup.Add($User.Path) }
catch{ write-warning "Failed to add user [$DomainName\\$UserName] to [$s]" }
}
Note: You can select the group by changing the word Administrators in the connection line to the group to which you want to add the user.
For example, to use the local users group instead of administrators, the line would be;
- $AdminGroup = [ADSI]"WinNT://$s/Users,group"
Recursively List all Windows Servers in OU
You can use the snippet below to list all of the systems in an organizational unit, OU, and below. The output lists the name of the server and the os version.
Use ADSI and Powershell to Monitor Group Access
Several years ago, I was tasked with putting together a script to output a list of all users and groups on a server. Additionally, management wanted to know the membership of the local groups. If the groups contained other groups, the contents of those groups should be listed as well. Continue reading Use ADSI and Powershell to Monitor Group Access