How to fully automate the Windows Setup. This time around I will describe how to fully automate the Windows Setup process by using an unattended file. "Autounattend.xml" is the Windows Unattended XML file that automates the whole Windows Setup experience. It allows you to install Windows hands-off (use your hands to hold your son/daughter or just grab a beer). IMPORTANT NOTE:… Read More
How to partially automate the Windows Setup. EI.cfg and PID.txt. or how-to automatically specify which Windows version and what Product Key to use. To partially automate the Windows Setup, you can use an ei.cfg and a PID.txt file. The "Edition Configuration" ("EI.cfg"-file) AND The "Product ID" ("PID.txt"-file) are /OPTIONAL/ configuration files that you can use to AUTOMATICALLY SPECIFY: Which Windows®… Read More
Windows Server 2012 AD DC TO 2012 R2 – (How to perform) an "in-place" domain upgrade. Let’s raise the bar. Someday I decided that my “Windows Server 2012 Standard”-Domain had to be raised to a “Windows Server 2012 R2”-Domain. That is because of a badly-designed GPO (designed by me, who else?), that wreaked havoc to "Windows Update" for my whole domain (I also grew too lazy to find out… Read More
[SOLVED]Virtual machine 'vm-name' could not be started because the hypervisor is not running. Someday, one of my servers failed to boot up one of my virtual machines. For whatever reason, I did figure out that the Hyper-v Role got disabled on boot. ISSUE. Hyper-V Manager An error occurred while attempting to start the selected virtual machine(s). 'vm-name' failed to start. Virtual machine 'vm-name' could not be started… Read More
[SOLVED]Microsoft Network Policy Server (NPS) Error Code 22 tl;dr: The solution, in my specific case, was to: ENABLE TLS-1.0 Server. This way NPS Secure Wireless Connections (with Domain Username + Password) functionality was restored/Started working again. Intro. Sometimes troubleshooting an issue could end up becoming a never-ending nightmare. That was the case in point - I experienced an issue with Network… Read More
2 easy steps to completely disable NetBIOS off your Network. What is NetBIOS you ask? In a nutshell, NetBIOS is a traditional Microsoft protocol, still in use by some of its underlying network technologies. In other words, NetBIOS allows you to call your computers by name (it even works when you don't have or need a Domain Name Server!). So why disable NetBIOS… Read More
[SOLVED] Window Update Error 80072F8F. For a few years, I’ve been haunted by the dreaded Windows Update issue 80072F8F. I experienced this error whenever one of my Windows 8.1 Pro and Windows Server 2012 R2 computers searched for updates on Windows Update (my computers were originally joined to a Windows 2012 Domain then raised to 2012 R2). And no, raising… Read More
Adding second Domain Controller tip. While adding a new Domain Controller (DC) to your pre-existing forest, a nice tip to remember is to: (At the beginning) Always configure your wanna-be (New) DC's TCP/IP v4 PRIMARY DNS IP Address to point it to the FSMO DC. Then, once the New server becomes a new DC ("gets promoted"): Make sure that replication is successful… Read More
2 ways to customise Event Viewer "Log Size" through Group Policy. If you ever wondered how to setup a custom event viewer log size through Group Policy, and all Google or Bing told you was this: located at: “Computer Configuration”. “Policies”. “Windows Settings”. “Security Settings”. “Event Log”. OR this: Located at: “Computer Configuration”. “Policies”. “Administrative Templates”. “Windows Components”. “Event Log Service”. Welcome to the bandwagon 🙂… Read More
Set[UID][GID], Sticky Bits & checksecurity tools. Who, where, what. Linux file permissions is all about numbers: read permissions correspond to a "4", write permissions correspond to a "2" and execute permissions correspond to a "1". When you sum the previous values, you'll get the corresponding "rwx"-scheme (incidentally this also happens to correspond to 3 bits - From 000 To… Read More
3 easy steps to reduce hdd partition size with diskpart In a galaxy (Windows) "Millenium" away, for hard disk drive (hdd) partitioning maintenance tasks, I used to rely on third party (alright - "stolen") applications installed on Windows. Cloning tasks where relegated to Gparted, booted off an "old" CD. Since XP-Vista, I got into "diskpart", Microsoft's "barebones" partition editor. diskpart is good for basic NTFS (doh!… Read More
[SOLVED]'Stopping-Critical' stuck Hyper-V VM tl;dr: Open PowerShell As Admin. Find VM's GUID. Get-WmiObject -Namespace root\virtualization\v2 -class msvm_computersystem | select elementname, processid, name| ft -auto Kill related vmwp.exe <GUID>. taskkill /PID 1234 /F (Only during specific scenarios/if above won't work): net stop vmms & Restart Hyper-V Server. What happened?! Someday I was in the process of shutting down an Hyper-V Virtual… Read More
build a fileserver with CentOS and Samba. These days, a proper Windows file server is considered "commodity". NAS boxes are considered commodities too. Should you wish not to stick to commodities and live "off-the-grid", your LAN documents sharing needs may simply be served by a simple CentOS box (configured with Samba). "What's the catch"?! No centralised Users management (such as when on Active… Read More