Pre-Announcement of a Pre-Announcements

This is just a placeholder for an announcement coming this Sunday.  It will involve a "book promotion" for one of my AutoCAD-related books.

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Wrapping Infrastructure with Duct Tape, Glue and Software

I had 15 minutes to kill and PowerPoint 2013 staring me in the face, so...  I got to thinking how "managing" an IT environment ends up being a slice-n-dice approach involving a multitude of products. Some of which don't talk to each other very well, others requiring a combination of multiple products in order to achieve greater capability.  And then there's the "in-between", which is where the infrastructure developers of the world live.  They are the glue that binds this tenuous web of licensing horrors and data silos.

This is where my brain lives 99.99% of the time.

The coolest part of this?  When opened in PowerPoint, when I drag a selection window over the large circled objects, and then drag them side to side, the connecting lines move with them in real time.  It's kind of nerdy, but fun.

My Home-made Legend:

• AD = Active Directory
• HRIS = Human Resources Information System.  A generic term for any system for entering, tracking and managing employees or organizational members.
• SCCM = System Center Configuration Manager.
• SCOM = System Center Operations Manager (with/without Orchestrator).
• NMS = Network Monitoring/Management System.  A generic term for any system for monitoring the network environment and sending alerts when problems occur, as well as (optionally) providing a means for remote management of network equipment.
• Licensing = A hodge-podge of spreadsheets, Word documents, Access and other databases, piles of paper, folders, sticky notes, all collectively used for tracking what was purchased, who purchased it, when, for how many users, expiration dates, contract numbers, points of contact, vendor information, yada yada yada
• Lifecycle Tracking = Another hodge-podge of spreadsheets, Word documents, Access and other databases, piles of paper, folders, sticky notes, all collectively used for tracking purchase and warranty information for hardware such as computers, printers, routers, hubs and switches, telephony, copiers, blah blah blah.

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Deploy Windows 8 Start Tiles Using Group Policy Preferences

I've already written about creating custom shortcuts to do things like "Shutdown" and "Restart" on the Desktop and Start screen for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 systems.  But I'm a HEE-YOOOOOOOOOOOGE (aka:  really big) fan of Group Policy and Group Policy Preferences in particular. And since I like to leverage things Microsoft provides for free, this is a win-win.

How to Do It...

1. Create a new Group Policy Object (GPO)
1. I named it "Desktop Shortcuts"
2. Edit the Computer Preferences to add the shortcuts to the "All Users Start Menu"
1. Expand Computer Configuration / Preferences / Windows Settings
1. Click on Shortcuts
2. Right-click Shortcuts, and select New / Shortcut
3. For this example, I entered the "shutdown.exe" command with the arguments "-r -f -t 10" to force a Restart after a 10-second delay. (see Figure 1)
4. (Optional) You could also set the shortcut icon to use the standard red power symbol (see Figure 3).
5. Close the Group Policy Management Editor
3. Link the GPO to the Organizational Unit (OU) where the computers reside.

Figure 1 - Group Policy settings

Figure 2 - Start screen result ("Restart 10" tile)

The end result will depend on whether you apply this to Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 systems ONLY, or include older versions of Windows.  For all Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 systems (and corresponding Server versions) it will add a shortcut to the Start Menu.  But on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 systems it will also add it as a Tile to the Start screen (aka "Metro" interface).

Figure 3 - Shortcut itself

When It Doesn't Work

If the target item isn't found, Group Policy will abort the shortcut creation and move on to the next setting.  You can verify this by looking in the Windows Event log:

1. Open Windows Event Viewer
2. Expand the Application log
3. Search for event ID 4098 (has a severity Level of "Warning")
4. The text in the body of the event will describe what failed.  The example below shows I tried to create a shortcut named "Bogus Shortcut" that tries to refer to a "fubar.exe" which wasn't found on the target computer...

Description:

The computer 'Bogus Shortcut' preference item in the 'U - Desktop Shortcuts {E69E2B0E-6026-4FB1-86E0-30B67CC61CE1}' Group Policy Object did not apply because it failed with error code '0x80070002 The system cannot find the file specified.' This error was suppressed.

Summary

This works well as long as the shortcuts refer to things which are part of your standard server environment.  In other words, standard Windows commands or standard add-ons or third-party items, which are present on every system where you intend to apply this approach.  Good luck!  As always:  Test, Test, Test!

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It's Scripting Time Again! AD Server Descriptions

This issue has come up a LOT in my career, but I don't know why.  It seems like something that Microsoft should address with some "feature" or utility or something.  What I'm blabbering about is updating the description for each Active Directory server account to match whatever the local computer description is.  The local computer description is what you see (and can update) from the Computer "Properties" form.

Local Computer Description

Active Directory Computer Description

It came up again tonight when a friend (called asking for help.  I happened to have the pieces of code on my server and glued them together in a few minutes (the mess below).  Every time I do something like this, I see horrifically bad coding habits from years past and do my best to clean them up before sharing them.

Is this Earth-shatteringly unique?  No.  Is it the only script of its kind? No.  Can you find alternatives on the web that will do just as well?  Absolutely.  If I get a little spare time, I will try to post this in PowerShell format (unless you want to submit that and I will post it, giving you full credit).

In any case, I hope this helps someone out there.  Read the WARNING and DISCLAIMER at the bottom!

'****************************************************************
' Filename..: server_descriptions.vbs
' Author....: David M. Stein
' Date......: 11/26/2012
' Purpose...: update AD computer descriptions from local descriptions

' Usage.....: cscript server_descriptions.vbs >output.log

' (note: the above redirect to output.log is optional)
'****************************************************************

Set objRootDSE = GetObject("LDAP://rootDSE")
ldapRoot = objRootDSE.Get("defaultNamingContext")

Const ADS_SCOPE_SUBTREE = 2
Const E_ADS_PROPERTY_NOT_FOUND = &h8000500D

' parse out NetBIOS domain name (e.g. "CONTOSO.COM")
nbDomain = Mid(Split(ldapRoot,",")(0),4)

wscript.echo "info: LDAP root is " & ldapRoot
wscript.echo "info: NetBIOS domain is " & nbDomain

serverlist = GetServerList()

For each strServer in Split(serverlist, ",")
  wscript.echo "server_name...: " & strServer
  strOUpath  = ComputerOU(strServer)
  localDesc  = GetLocalDescription(strServer)
  domainDesc = ADComputerDescription(strOUpath)

  If localDesc = "" Then
    localDesc = "NOT_DEFINED"
  End If

  wscript.echo "ou_path.......: " & strOUPath
  wscript.echo "local_descrip.: " & localDesc
  wscript.echo "domain_descrip: " & domainDesc

  If localDesc <> "NOT_DEFINED" Then
    try = ChangeADDescription(strOUPath, localDesc)
    wscript.echo "desc_updated..: " & try

  End If

  wscript.echo "----------------------------------------"
Next

'----------------------------------------------------------------
' function: get list of servers from domain using OS captions
'----------------------------------------------------------------

Function GetServerList()
  Dim conn, cmd, query, retval : retval = ""
  Dim rs, strOS, strName, counter : counter = 0

  wscript.echo "info: querying server names from active directory..."

  Set cmd = CreateObject("ADODB.Command")
  Set conn = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
  conn.Provider = "ADsDSOObject"
  conn.Open "Active Directory Provider"
  cmd.ActiveConnection = conn
  

  query = ";(objectCategory=computer);" & _
    "name,distinguishedName,operatingSystem;subtree"

  cmd.CommandText = query
  cmd.Properties("Page Size") = 100
  cmd.Properties("Timeout") = 30
  cmd.Properties("Cache Results") = False

  Set rs = cmd.Execute

  Do Until rs.EOF
    strOS = rs.Fields("operatingSystem").value
    If InStr(UCase(strOS), "SERVER") > 0 Then   
      strName = rs.Fields("name").value   
      If retval <> "" Then
        If InStr(retval, strName) < 1 Then
          retval = retval & "," & strName
          counter = counter + 1
        End If
      Else
        retval = strName
        counter = counter + 1
      End If
    End If
    rs.MoveNext
  Loop

  rs.Close
  conn.Close
  Set rs = Nothing
  Set cmd = Nothing
  Set conn = Nothing

  wscript.echo "info: " & counter & " servers were found"
  GetServerList = retval

End Function

'----------------------------------------------------------------
' function: get current computer OU from active directory
'----------------------------------------------------------------
 
Function ComputerOU(netBiosName)
  Dim objConnection, objCommand, objRecordSet, strQuery
  Set objConnection = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
  Set objCommand = CreateObject("ADODB.Command")
  objConnection.Provider = "ADsDSOObject"
  objConnection.Open "Active Directory Provider"
  Set objCommand.ActiveConnection = objConnection
  objCommand.Properties("Page Size") = 1000
  objCommand.Properties("Searchscope") = ADS_SCOPE_SUBTREE
  strQuery = "Select ADsPath From 'LDAP://" & ldapRoot & _
    "' WHERE objectCategory='computer'" & _
    " AND name='" & netBiosName & "'"
  
  On Error Resume Next
  objCommand.CommandText = strQuery
  Set objRecordSet = objCommand.Execute
  objRecordSet.MoveFirst
  Do Until objRecordSet.EOF
    strResult = objRecordSet.Fields("ADsPath").Value
    objRecordSet.MoveNext
  Loop
  ComputerOU = strResult
End Function

'----------------------------------------------------------------
' description: get local description from remote computer via WMI
'----------------------------------------------------------------

Function GetLocalDescription(strName)
  Dim objWMI, colItems, objItem

  Dim query, retval : retval = ""

  On Error Resume Next
  Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strName & "\root\CIMV2") 

  If err.Number = 0 Then

    query = "SELECT * FROM Win32_OperatingSystem"
    Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery(query,,48) 
    For Each objItem in colItems 
      retval = objItem.Description
    Next
    If IsNull(retval) or Trim(retval) = "" Then
      retval = ""
    End If

  Else

    wscript.echo "error: " & strName & " is offline or inaccessible"

  End If
  GetLocalDescription = retval
End Function

'----------------------------------------------------------------
' function: get AD computer description
'----------------------------------------------------------------

Function ADComputerDescription(strLDAP)
  Dim objComputer, retval, try, ldapstring
  ldapstring = strLDAP
  On Error Resume Next
  Set objComputer = GetObject(ldapstring)
  try = objComputer.Get("description")
  If Err.Number = E_ADS_PROPERTY_NOT_FOUND Then
    retval = ""
    Err.Clear
  Else
    retval = try
  End If
  ADComputerDescription = retval
End Function

'----------------------------------------------------------------
' function: set AD computer description (limit 48 chars)
' refer to: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa394239(v=vs.85).aspx
'----------------------------------------------------------------

Function ChangeADDescription(strLdapName, strDesc)
  Dim objPC, retval
  wscript.echo "info: modifying domain description..."
  On Error Resume Next
  Set objPC = GetObject(strLdapName)
  objPC.Description = strDesc
  objPC.SetInfo
  retval = err.Number
  If retval <> 0 Then
    retval = retval & " / " & err.Description
  Else
    retval = "SUCCESS"
  End If
  Set objPC = Nothing
  ChangeADDescription = retval
End Function

Warning

This script example includes MINIMAL error handling.  Always TEST, TEST, TEST, and when you think it works properly, TEST it some more.

Disclaimer

Use this script code AT YOUR OWN RISK.  Always test thoroughly in an isolated "test" or "development" environment to avoid negatively impacting production computers.  The author assumes/accepts NO LIABILITY for any direct or derivative use or consequential damages, however, the author wouldn't mind a little constructive feedback if it helps you in any way.

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Thanksgiving Special: 7 Easy Computer Performance Tips

While you're taking a break from "work" this week/weekend, you might also take a few minutes to give your Windows-based computer(s) some TLC.  The good news is that all of these tips are "FREE", or almost free, and available to you right now.

Geek Warning: This article is intended for the non-professionals out there.  The non-IT folks.  So if you are an uber computer expert this article will likely bore you to tears.

Final note: Rather than following the typical pattern of most common to least common, I'm ordering this by least-often recommended tips to most-often recommended.  Why? Because the sometimes the least-often recommended things are because people forget to recommend them, not because they're least important.  Okay, on with this...

1. Clean Up!

Desktop computers are notorious dust magnets.  The cooling system relies on one or more fans to circulate air through the case, which draws in hair, dust, dirt, and small alien planets.  This coats the mesh screens, cooling fins, and pretty much everything inside your computer, making it run hotter.  As it runs hotter, the fan has to run more often.  The net result is you draw more electrical current, and help make your electric bill higher and you poorer.

What to Do:  Run down to the Best Buy, Target, Walmart, OfficeMax, Office Depot, Lowe's or Home Depot and buy a can or two of compress air.  Power off your computer (don't just pull the plug out!), then unplug everything from the case, and take it outside (don't do this indoors!) and spray every opening with the compressed air to blow out the dust and dirt.  This is the only item on my list that potentially costs money.

2. Fight the Clutter

One more way to keep your computer clean and running cooler is keep away piles of junk from around your computer.  Stacks of paper, books, bags, food containers, cups, crackpipes, and used condoms, can obstruct the cooling efficiency, and may be helping channel additional dust into your computer.

What to Do: Keep your desktop clear!  If you have your computer case on the floor, vacuum the rug or carpet around it, and keep the floor around it clear as well.

3. Clean Out The Garbage

This needs to be done before you do step 4 (below).  As you use your computer, it opens and modifies files, registry settings, and downloads TONS of junk in the background to supposedly "speed up" your computing experience.  The problem is that a lot of that junk never gets cleaned out.  As it builds up, it fills up precious disk space on your hard drive, making the performance slower over time.

What to Do:  Run the Disk Cleanup utility.  Click on the Start button, click All Programs / Accessories / System Tools / Disk Cleanup.  Run it at least once every month, maybe even weekly (if you use your computer every day)

4. Defrag Your Hard Drive

As you use your computer, it opens and closes files, reads and saves settings and all of that requires reading and writing information to the hard drive.  Over time, this information gets scattered around the disk platters inside the hard drive, making the "head" (the little part that does the reading and writing) have to fly all over the place to find all the pieces each time it needs a particular chunk of information.  This scattering is called "fragmentation".  The more fragmented the disk becomes, the more the head has to spaz out flying around to find things, making your computer run slower and slower.

What to Do:  If you have a Windows XP computer, click the Start button, go to All Programs / Accessories / System Tools and click on Disk Defragmenter.  Run the Analyze feature and then run Defrag.  You can schedule it to run automatically, which many computers already have configured.  But if your computer doesn't have it scheduled, it might be a good idea to set it to run at least weekly.

5. Uninstall the Bullshit

Chances are good that you bought your computer from a retailer or from a vendor online.  These sellers often load their own piles of doggy poo on everything they sell.  Chances are also good that you will NEVER use 90 percent of it, ever.  Even worse: Many of their so-called "performance utilities" actually do a poorer job of things than the tools that already come built into Windows 7 (or Windows 8).  Disk and Memory "cleaners", anti-virus and anti-malware products, browser plug-ins, tutorial apps, and so on.  If you received a disk with your computer which contains all that crap, you can always reinstall it later if you need to.

What to Do:  In this case, it really depends on your computer savvy level.  If you feel confident about what you do and don't need, by all means go for it.  Otherwise, enlist the help of the nearest teenage computer nerd or a computer-savvy family relative, and be sure to bribe them lavishly (beer, food, all work well).

6. Backup and Archive

There's a good chance you have a lot of important files stored on your computer.  There's also a good chance you haven't backed them up somewhere recently (or ever).  Ask yourself if your house burned down while you were at work tomorrow, what would you lose on your computer that you could never get back?  It's a very real question to consider.

Even worse: Maybe you backed up your stuff to an external hard drive or a USB thumb drive.  That's good. But where do those items actually sit?  If they're still inside your house, that's not really much of a backup plan.  Have you considered online backups?  There are plenty of options available, both free and paid, which can help you safely backup your files. Most vendors offer a limited amount of storage space for free, and offer paid features as you go up in space requirements.

What to Do:  Check out Mozy, Carbonite, iCloud, Google Drive, Microsoft SkyDrive, and compare their offerings and pricing.  Also, be SURE to read their usage terms so you fully understand what "rights" they have with your files.

7. Enjoy Your Thanksgiving!

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Windows 8 / Server 2012 Shutdown Safety Tip

I really don't want to try to reinvent the many articles out there on how to make your own "Shutdown" and "Logoff" shortcuts on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, but I feel I need to add just a little bit more.

In case you aren't aware of what I'm talking about, I will describe it, sans screen captures.  The issue is how the Windows 8 "Metro" UI makes it feel like you have to click-click-click-click-click to the stupid "Charms" bar in order to Shutdown or Restart your computer.  Let's digress...

The Dilemma

Finding the Shutdown and Restart links in Windows 8 (and Windows Server 2012) for the first time can be a little confusing. I say "little", but that's like saying rednecks are a "little" upset that Obama won the election. Basically, you move the mouse cursor (or your finger or other body part, if you have a touch-screen) to the bottom right corner of the screen.  This brings up the transparent sidebar menu which contains five (5) icons, called "Charms".  You can also press WINKEY+C to do the same.

In case you expect this sidebar thing to be called a "Charms Bar", stop right there!  Microsoft has told some people, including Paul Thurrott, that this is not what it's called.  But in let's move on...

Then you click the bottom icon, which looks like a gear.  This is the "Settings" link.  Because we've gotten used to going through "Settings" to do "Shutdown" and "Restart", right?  This makes NO sense to me, nor to most other people I've talked with, but Redmond knows what we want.  So when you open the Settings panel, you click "Power" and then you get options for "Sleep", "Shutdown" and "Restart".  I'm sure this is because three gestures/clicks is faster than two.  Geez, I'm a real smart-ass tonight.

Band-aid Workaround

The easiest workaround to avoid all this crazy finger-straining is to make your own Desktop or Taskbar shortcuts to "shutdown.exe" with various options (for shutting down immediately, doing a restart, etc.):

"shutdown -s -f -t 0" (shutdown immediately)

"shutdown -r -f -t 0" (restart immediately)

Careful!  Let's add a Safety Button

The danger to using the above commands is the "-t 0" part.  Yes, it means "do it now!!!" (say that with your best Arnold Schwarzenegger impression).  I prefer t use "-t 10" (delay ten seconds), for both of those commands.

But Wait! There's More!

(My respects to Billy Mays)  This is especially relevant to Windows Server 2012:  In addition to adding a delay time, you might want to add one more shortcut:

"shutdown.exe -a" and label it "Abort Shutdown!"

If I really need to explain why this could be helpful, well, I'll let you ponder this for a few more minutes. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt.  Okay, I'll tell you:  It's like cutting the green wire when the bomb is about to detonate in a few seconds.  It's your safety abort switch.  From here you can right-click on these shortcuts and Pin them to Start or the Taskbar, or both.

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Why "Coming Soon" Can Be a Bad Idea

I'm not sure what drives some companies to want to show their hand early, while others play them close to the vest. Especially in the field of computer hardware and software.

I've read dozens of articles comparing the marketing philosophies of companies like Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and Samsung. But the one in this list in a unique situation is Microsoft. They earn a major portion of their revenue from enterprise business sales and subscriptions. Enterprise customers, unlike consumers, live on quarterly and annual budget cycles.

When Sony or Nintendo announces a major product is "coming soon" in the consumer market space, it doesn't have the same effect on their market as what happens when Microsoft announces a new version of Windows is coming in six months.  Enterprise customers hear that and do the following:  Hold off on buying and upgrading.  Even if the pricing is tweaked to offer a "free jump" to the new version when buying the current version within X months of the release, that's not the real challenge.  The real challenge is dealing with another round of planning, preparation, testing, and deploying.  Then there's the user learning curve issue and training.  Even when many organizations opt out of training budget, they have to contend with the communications and hand-holding aspects.  Intranet posts, e-mails, meetings, meetings and more meetings.  It all adds up to pain.

Sure, it's not always practical to suddenly announce a major new release of Windows or Office, when enterprise customers, partners, OEMs, and developers need lead-time to get familiar with the new versions.  But there needs to be a better/happier medium than announcing a new release coming "next year".  Practical or not, my gut feeling is somewhere between three (3) and four (4) months is about right.  Thoughts?

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