Scripting IT, one step at a time.

Learning to script as a SysAdmin is like learning to breathe properly for an athlete: Sure you can get along without it, but you’ll never be as good as someone that knows it (in case you were wondering, proper breathing is done in through the nose, out through the mouth, and from the diaphragm not the chest).

Learning to script will save you time and make your network run much smoother. You’ll wonder how you ever got along without it once you’ve experienced the benefits of being able to do 10 hours worth of work in 10 seconds through the power of a script.

The biggest hurdle that I encountered when learning to script was deciding which language to learn (I foolishly thought that I only needed to learn one, and then I’d be good). On the Windows side the house, the progression of scripting languages usually goes something like this:

First you learn batch scripting (called shell scripting in the *NIX world, and by some in the Windows world). Then when you start running into things you can’t do with shell scripting, you learn VBScript. With the recent introduction of PowerShell from Microsoft you can now progress to that as well when you find the things you can’t do with VBScript (which will likely take a while, as VBScript is pretty robust).

If I could give a SysAdmin just starting out in scripting only one piece of advice, it would be to forget that progression. It takes too long (took me about 4 years to go from Shell Scripting to PowerShell). Start with PowerShell.

You are going to find that there is a bit of a steep learning curve for PowerShell if you have never done any scripting but the payoff, I promise you, is well worth the headache. Don’t get me wrong, VBScript has been the scripting language of choice for the Windows SysAdmin since the introduction of WSH (Windows Script Host) with Windows 2000, and there are several distinct benefits of learning VBScript:

• There are thousands of VBScripts readily available on the internet.
• Learning to work with WMI and ADSI in VBScript will teach you a lot about both.
• Pretty much anything you will want to do, someone has already done, and you can find their work via google (LAOAE applies here).

The reason I suggest that you go straight for PowerShell is the sheer power and flexibility that it offers. Unlike VBScript or shell scripting, PowerShell sees everything as an object, and as such gives you access to all of the DotNET Classes, Methods, and Properties for that object. This is very powerful when it comes to manipulating things with a script.

Another great reason to start off with PowerShell is that it was designed from the start to have built in security. By default PowerShell will not run scripts at all. Whereas the WSH (what runs VBScript) has no such compunctions, and will run ANY script right out of the gate (anybody remember the “I love you” virus?). In the past this has been an issue for SysAdmins, many going so far as to delete the WSH interpreter from their machines, so that NO scripts could be run.

On the Linux side the progression is from Shell Scripting, to Perl or Python. I would advise you to learn Shell Scripting first, as the BASH shell (the default on most Linux distros) is quite robust. Perl or Python (one is just as good as the other, though I prefer Python) will allow you to greatly expand what can be done with Shell Scripting. In addition, both Perl and Python can be run on Windows through the WSH interpreter.

At the end of the day making the commitment, and taking the time to learn a scripting language is more important than which language you choose. It will make your job easier, and make you feel like a Rock Star when you can use scripting to provide solutions to many of the difficulties you will face as a SysAdmin.

Graffiti: a societal blight, and how it can be dangerous to IT.

Graffiti is one of those things that I see so often I am pretty much inured to it. It disgusts me that our society has let it become such a pervasive blight in most cities that no one really cares about it anymore.

Personally I think the punishment for graffiti should be to have whatever garbage you were painting or writing branded on your face (if they only hold the brand for 2 seconds the resulting mark will only last for about 10 years, five seconds is good for a lifetime). But that’s just me.

The area of town where my office is located is rife with graffiti (yeah I work in the “hood”), and on most days there is a police department graffiti unit somewhere in the neighborhood (got a bit of a gang problem in that area as well). I see so much of the crap that I tend not to really notice it much.

Until this morning as I was kind of wandering aimlessly around our parking lot on my cell phone. Among the other random (I can’t read that crap) squiggles interspersed around the lot I found something different.

Here is a drawing of what I found (it was silver marker on gray concrete so I couldn’t get it to show up right on the camera I keep at the office):

At first I thought it was just kind of interesting, and then the realization of what I was looking at hit me: it’s not graffiti, it’s modified warchalking.

Warchalking has pretty much died out, so I’m not too sure about how many people even know what it is, but if you don’t, you need to read up on it. Let’s examine this image:

modified warchalk graffiti

1.  This is the warchalking symbol for a closed node. I know this because…

2.  This is (or rather was) the SSID for the wireless access setup in the building that the symbol was in front of.

3.  This is an interesting modification. I believe that the symbol in the small circle is noting that the signal is 802.11g, and the key shape is denoting that the node is password protected.

4.  Traditionally the warchalking symbol will have a “W” in it if the node is WEP protected, I can only assume that this is a modification of that to show that the network is WPA2 encrypted.

After realizing this I was both furious and amused, as we apparently have a hood denizen that is both a petty criminal (hence the vandalism), and also believes he is some sort of computer criminal. I know that nothing was compromised, but I changed all of my wireless settings just in case.

I also contacted the graffiti abatement unit at the police station and explained what I had in the parking lot. They sent an investigator out to photograph the graffiti, and I explained to him what it meant, and he took notes. Hopefully when they catch the little punk they’ll confiscate his laptop and charge him with some cyber terrorism related crime.

The lesson I’ve learned is this – keeping an eye on the external environment can be an important bit of security.

Admin’s Arsenal: BareGrep.exe

Ok, here is the situation: you’ve got 1200 script files in a particular directory on your XP workstation, and you need to find any script that references “\\atl01\share” (queue Dennis Hopper voice), what do you do?!

Traditional convention is that you spend several hours opening each file in notepad and doing a “find”, or you might be able to cut it down to an hour or so if you opened several dozen of the files at a time in Notepad++ and did “find in all files”, or you could take about a half an hour and move the files over to a *NIX machine and use grep. I’ve got a better answer: BareGrep.exe from our friends at Bare Metal Software. BareGrep is basically a GUI version of the *NIX grep command for Windows machines, and it works wonderfully. Much like BareTail (which I reviewed here), BareGrep is fully portable, meaning you can run it from a USB drive! Here is a shot of the interface:

BareGrep user interface

Here is a short list of some of the features in BareGrep:

• Regular expression text search (that’s inside the files)
• Wildcard and regular expression file search
• Files to find or search can be specified with a regular expression
• Multiple files can also be specified with the mouse
• Recursive directory search
• Frequently used text search patterns may be saved, named and edited
• Searching while you type, to find results quicker
• Capturing groups (using bracket characters ‘(‘ and ‘)’ in a regex) extract strings from files
• Tabular presentation of search results
• Export/copy of search results in many formats
• Search files of any size (> 2GB)

Not only will this utility do all that, but it is usable from the commandline as well! What more could you want? Wait, what? You want… more features? Well you’re in luck, as BareGrep comes in two forms, the Free version (what we’ve covered so far), and the Registered version ($25 at the time of this review), which offers all of the features of the free version, as well as:

• Selecting a search result line shows that line in context in the file
• Tabs display files recently viewed
• Tabs may be positioned on any side of the window and oriented horizontally or vertically
• Lines containing particular strings can be highlighted to help you notice important text
• Highlight colours are fully customizable

Now I can’t even begin to cover the colossal amount of time that this utility has saved me, but I can tell you that it is well worth the price of admission. BareGrep can be downloaded here.

The LAOAE Principle

Least Amount Of Administrative Effort. From the moment that I first heard that term, I knew it was important. The first time you hear it, most people will think “man that guy is lazy”, and dismiss it.

Then when you are in the 35th hour of a 100 machine deployment with no help, scurrying to and fro like a hummingbird on meth trying to get installs going, you’ll pause to breathe and think to yourself; there must be an easier way to do this.

That is the point at which most people get their first peek at understanding The LAOAE (pronounced “layaway”) Principle.

The point of LAOAE is not to do less. That is just not an option for most SysAdmins. They’re too busy learning the latest Linux distro, the latest version of Windows, and how to make them play nice, web design, eMail administration, reading about the latest security solutions, learning about how to bypass the latest security solutions, keeping SPAM at bay, getting the phone system to work correctly, learning a new scripting or programming language, checking system logs to make sure everything is working, trying to consolidate servers with virtualization, replacing failed hardware, ordering new hardware, tracking orders, tracking licenses, inventorying hardware and software, checking backups, restoring the computer you accidentally DoD secure wiped, reporting stolen hardware, dealing with vendor calls, calling vendors, researching ways to ease the migration to the next version of (insert insanely complex software package here), and trying to get coffee so they can stay awake after having been at the office all night trying to restore the server that crashed at 1am, and they need to find a way to get it all done.

In short the point of LAOAE is to be able to do the job of 2 or 3 people, because no one outside of IT understands what it takes to get it all done, and they are not going to take your word that you need help. They are going to ask you to quantify the need, which will take more time that you don’t have enough of in the first place.

When following The LAOAE Principle there are some general rules of thumb that will help you in using LAOAE appropriately:

• If you will do a task the same way more than once, find a way to automate it.
• Don’t reinvent the wheel.
• Work smarter.
• Document your network.

Automation is mostly about scripting. On Windows machines Batch files are good, VBScript is better, PowerShell is best (if appropriate). On Linux machines Shell scripting is good, Perl and Python are best. If you choose Perl or Python you get the added benefits of being able to use the same language on both Windows (through the WSH interpreter) and Linux. Personally I like Python better than Perl, and PowerShell better than either (but that’s just my preference).

Google is your friend. If you want to do something, chances are good that someone has already done it. If you can use someone else’s hard work in getting (whatever it is) done, all the better. Fits The LAOAE Principle nicely.

It’s amazing how many people do tasks the hard way. Mostly it’s because the vast majority of people never really stop to think about the task that they are doing, they just focus on getting it done. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about on a Windows computer:

Open the C: drive on your computer. Go on, I’ll wait….

…Ok, if you’re like the vast majority of people you just did the following:

• Click the Start Menu
• Click the ‘My Computer’ icon
• Double click the ‘C:’ icon

A more efficient way to do that is this:

• Press: “Win + R” (that’s the Windows key and the “r” key at the same time)
• Type: “c:” (without the quotes) {ENTER}

It’s not much of a difference (maybe a couple of seconds), but I can do it the second way faster than anyone I’ve ever seen using the first way (and I can’t touch type).

Finally we come to Network Documentation. This is probably the one thing that most SysAdmins consistently don’t do. It’s a tedious task, and boring to boot. So what? You’ll be glad you have it when you need it. Good network documentation is absolutely priceless when it’s needed (like when all the servers are stolen, and you have to rebuild your network as fast as possible to get the business running).

LAOAE is not about cutting corners. It is all about efficiency. There are several benefits to following this principle beyond saving time. One of the biggest benefits is consistency.

Consider this:
One of the most common tasks that an administrator will do is creating new user accounts. If you create a script to do this for you, you will never forget to add a user to a group, or forget to assign a logon script to that user. Every account created using that script will be created exactly the same way. A side benefit to this is that any permissions that the user has will always be consistent, leading to tighter security.

Admin’s Arsenal: BareTail.exe

As someone that works with Linux systems on a daily basis I have sort of a love/hate relationship with tail.exe (it can be frustrating trying to get it to display exactly what I want, though piping out to grep usually fixes that straight away).

One thing I have always wondered though is why it is not a native Windows utility. It is freaking useful!

Well all is not lost, as there are a couple of solutions available. The “just like on Linux!” alternative for Windows is Tail for Win32. This is a port for Windows systems of the “tail -f” command on *NIX systems.

My preferred solution is BareTail.exe, a more full featured offering. This is basically a GUI version of Tail which allows you to define syntax highlighting. This utility can also be run from the command line.

Here is a screenshot of the BareTail interface:

BareTail user interface

You’ll notice two important things in this interface:

1. The multiple open tabs (you can tail more than one log file at a time)
2. The Follow Tail checkbox (view scrolls to show files as they are written in real time)

This utility is chock full of functionality, and is natively portable (meaning you can run it from a USB drive, yes!). BareTail offers many other useful features, including:

• Optimized real-time viewing engine
• View files of any size (> 2GB)
• Scroll to any point in the whole file instantly
• View files over a network
• Configurable line wrapping
• Configurable TAB expansion
• Configurable font, including spacing and offset to maximize use of screen space
• View the end of a growing file in real time, no matter how fast the file grows
• Like “tail -f” on Unix systems, but with many more features
• Simultaneously monitor multiple files for changes using tabs
• Visual indication on each tab of file status and changes
• Tabs may be positioned on any side of the window and oriented horizontally or vertically
• Lines containing particular strings can be highlighted to help you notice important text
• Highlight colors are fully customizable
• Windows / DOS text files (lines end in CR/LF pairs)
• Unix text files (lines end in LF)
• Microsoft IIS logfiles (and other files terminated with a string of nulls)

BareTail comes in two license formats: Free, and Registered ($25 at the time this was written). The Registered version offers all of the features of the Free version plus:

• Regular expression text search (including line numbering for search results)
• Searching while you type, to find results quicker
• Feedback on regex syntax errors while you type, to build regexes quicker
• Filter tail mode (include or exclude lines)
• Frequently used text search patterns may be saved, named and edited
• Export/copy of search and filter results in many formats

At only $25 for a license this is a worthwhile upgrade, but the free version is imminently usable as well.

You can download BareTail here.

Joe’s Tips for achieving computer Zen

Recently Alex Payne wrote an article titled al3x’s Rules for Computing Happiness, and while we agree on a few things, there are several points that I most certainly do not agree with. As I was reading this article it got me to thinking about a page I had typed up at a previous job with some guidelines about how to not be frustrated with your computer at home. So in a slightly modified form I present to you Joe’s suggestions for achieving Computer Zen:

On choosing the correct OS for your needs:

1. If you are only going to use your computer for email, web surfing, working with digital pictures, and to fill your iPod; buy a Mac. Just be prepared to spend more for less than you will get with the other options.
2. If you rail against the man, refuse to pay for software, and want to be able to do anything that is possible with a computer; buy a computer without an OS and load the Linux distribution of your choice on it. Just be prepared to invest an amount of time reading man pages that could be considered the equivalent of earning a Doctorate in Computer Science to get your ultra-cool-high-tech-laser mouse working.
3. If you want to be able to do most everything that you would need to (special circumstances aside), and do not want to have to learn how to program your computer to use it; buy a Windows computer. Just be prepared to buy some (optional) expensive software, and invest some time cleaning off malware from that late night “accidental” pr0n excursion.

On choosing software:

1. Carefully evaluate software before you decide to use it. Take the time to set up a VM (that’s virtual machine) and install it there first. If you don’t want to go to the trouble, be prepared to suffer through some odd issues.
2. Never install cracked software unless you are willing to reinstall your computer (sometimes “free” is not worth the price).
3. Open source software has come a long way. Investigate your options before choosing to buy software.
4. Never install iTunes on a Windows machine. There are other options for managing your iPod, and iTunes is a resource hog.

On general computer skills:

1. Invest some time and really learn how to use and maintain your chosen OS and software. In the grand scheme of things you will save far more time doing it this way, than just going until something breaks and then having to try to figure it out (or having to pay someone to do it for you).
2. Always back up your data (pictures, important documents, etc.) to something not on your computer. External hard drives are cheap now, as are web based backup solutions. Investigate your options, and choose a solution that is right for you. A good backup will save you hours of headache, and tons of heartache in the event of a data loss.
3. Rip the Caps Lock key off of your keyboard. In all likelihood the only use you find for it will be to annoy others.

On using the internet:

1. DO NOT CLICK EVERYTHING YOU SEE! No matter how many times I say this, I guess it takes personal experience to really drive it home. Assume that every popup you see is a trap, and investigate it fully before clicking on it at all. Common traps to avoid: “click here to install missing codec”, “your computer is infected with a virus click here to remove it”, “click here to enter”, (clicking on) “I agree…”.
2. Do not use Internet Explorer unless the website does not work in anything else. FireFox is cross platform (will work on Windows, Linux, Mac), far safer, and in my opinion a better all around experience.
3. Google is your friend. need to know how to start Outlook in Safe mode? Search “Start Outlook in Safe Mode” on Google.com, and you will find the answer very quickly.
4. Do not forward rumor email or chain email! If someone sends you an email about business cards being laced with a potent tranquilizer, head over to snopes.com and check it out for yourself before you decide to tell anyone about it or send it to anyone. Some people just have too much time on their hands, and will mass email anything.
5. Do not buy perscription meds online unless it is from a pharmacy your doctor recommends. Ask them about it FIRST. Anything that is advertised as “Buy \/i@gr4 herre cheap!!!” is a trap!

As with any Zen dicipline, Computer Zen is a long journey, and you will only get out of it that which you invest into it.

Mysterious Server 2003 disk space consumption

So the System drive of my (primary) domain controller has been running low on disk space (it’s a 20GB partition running with about 4GB or so free). This has been a nagging issue that I’ve had off and on for a while now, and I haven’t really had the time to delve into it.

I decided to start my investigation by running WinDirStat and looking for any oddly large files. The largest portion of the System disk is consumed by the Program Files directory (no big surprise there), and aside from a couple slightly disturbing large files from my backup software there is only one group of large files on the drive – hovering in at about 12GB for the 8 or so files. And they all have the same path and are similarly named: C:\System Volume Information\{914b4760-84b2-11dd-bca9-000e0cb2b564}{3808876b-c176-4e28-b7ae-04046e6cc752}

Hmmm, interesting. A quick Google search turns up some results linking this directory (more specifically files with CSLID names in this directory) to two things: System Restore points, and virus files.

Well I’m pretty sure it’s not virus files (no other odd behavior or weird network activity), and if I’m not mistaken to enable System Restore on WS2003 you have to manually copy over some files from an XP CD (which is a pretty cool hack, but not something I’ve done on any corporate network I’ve ever worked on).

At this point I start hearing dramatic music in the back of my mind, I’ve got a bonafied mystery! Or at least initial facts would indicate so.

Well a bit more in depth investigation turns up what some of you already knew at this point, the culprit is VSS. But I never configured VSS! (queue swelling of dramatic music in the background)

Ok so this is something of a mystery after all. So I go digging around in the event logs for the last 3 years looking for the initial VSS snapshot message. It sounds like a lot of work, but Microsoft Log Parser actually makes things like this pretty trivial.

Turns out that the VSS snapshots started on the same day that I installed our current Backup software (Yosemite Backup 8.5 sp2) which cooincidentally has the ability to make use of VSS snapshots!

Now this is not a huge issue, as VSS will delete old snapshots when space is needed, however I tend to take exception to software doing things like this without my permission.

Well luckily for me, I used to be a manager at the company that makes our backup software, so I fire up my trusty IM client, and start poking at the engineering department.

Twenty minutes later I have my trusty pipe and smoking jacket firmly in place, as I am feeling quite like Sherlock Holmes. It seems that in fact it was the backup software which enabled VSS for all volumes on my server, and (because it uses the defaults when enabling VSS) had set VSS to not limit the space consumed by snapshots!

A simple trip into Disk Management, and a quick change to the drive’s Property page, and VSS is now limited to 4GB for the system partition (which is far more than I’ll ever need). Interestingly enough had I disabled the VSS service on this machine before installing the backup software, it would not have enabled VSS. I’ve asked that they include a note about VSS being automatically configured to the Yosemite Backup installer (it may exist now, I’m not sure as I haven’t actually read any of the installer screens in years), but who knows when that will make it into the software.

As a side note, I’ve spoken to the Tech Support Manager at Yosemite Technologies (they make Yosemite Backup), and they are currently writing a knowledge base article about this, and how to change the VSS settings from the defaults that Yosemite Backup enables.

Voiding the warranty on your Verizon BlackBerry 8830 for fun and profit

It’s no secret that I’ve never been a big fan of Verizon, but it’s the cell provider that my employer uses, and since they pay for my cell phone, I don’t really have much choice.

It’s also no big secret that I am a die hard BlackBerry fan (until there is something that has equivalent functionality, including a user changable battery – I’m looking directly at you iPhone).

So naturally when I started working for this employer I got a Motorola Q from Verizon as my work phone (Verizon didn’t have much in the way of modern BlackBerries at that point in time). Ugh, huge mistake, I’ve learned my lesson there, and will never stray from the BlackBerry goodness again. At least until next time something equally attractive comes along.

Well thankfully by the time I became fed up with my Motorola Q’s inabilty to open an email without choking like the star of the latest Max Hardcore movie, they had just introduced the BlackBerry 8830.

So I sucked it up and after several replacement Q’s had the same issues, I told my boss that the Q just wasn’t cutting it, and I needed to upgrade to a BlackBerry. The first few days with the new BlackBerry were pure bliss after enduring six months of pure torture at the hands of the previously mentioned under performing Motorola Q.

Then I had lunch with a friend that had just bought a BlackBerry 8820 from AT&T (basically the same phone with a slightly different feature set). During lunch his phone rang, and I was absolutely floored by the volume of his ringer! It was so loud! I suddenly realized that my BlackBerry 8830’s ringer sounded positively weak in comparison. As it turns out, this is a common problem with the Verizon 8830 (note to Verizon: learn from Dell’s mistakes, and quit screwing with the firmware of the phones you sell).

Also turns out the Motorola Q that was having issues was not the phone’s fault, I ran into someone with one from Sprint, and it worked just fine.

Well it’s been my experience in the past with Dell hardware that is malfunctioning that like 90% of the time flashing the problem device with the actual manufacturer’s firmware resolves the issue. Ok, mission defined, let’s flash the firmware on the BlackBerry 8830 with some standard RIM firmware and see what happens.

It turns out that RIM does not have “standard” firmware for their devices. They instead redirect you to download the latest BlackBerry OS from your device manufacturer! Bummer.

Flash forward 6 months to last week (yeah I just pulled off a flash forward and a flashback at the same time, I RULE!). I am once again having lunch with the previously mentioned 8820 owning friend, when he shows me the latest BalckBerry 4.5OS on his 8820. Then he proceeds to tell me that AT&T wasn’t quick enough with the BlackBerry OS upgrades, so he’s figured out how to find generic OS updates and apply them. SCORE!!!

Well not so much, as it turns out. Apparently the 8830 is only carried by Verizon and Sprint, and there is not an updated OS for it available yet. However some quick google searching turns up beta OS forums.

Now, normally I would never, but since there is a release for the 8820, and the 8830 is not THAT different, the beta is probably extremely close to the RTM version. Just one catch, it will void my warranty with Verizon.

But, seeing as there are compelling reasons to update (louder ringer reported on Verizon phones, html email, and the ability to open Office documents attached to email without a BlackBerry Enterprise Server), I took the plunge.

A couple hours and some torrent downloading later, I have the 4.5 OS running on my Blackberry, and guess what? The ringer is LOUD!!! Finally I can hear my phone ringing without it being right next to me.

And I must say, while slightly slower than the previous 4.2 OS (which I am going to chalk up to it being a beta OS), the improvements are really nice.

For me, losing the Verizon warranty is totally worth it. And I guess technically if I ever have an issue with the phone, I can always revert back to the original 4.2 OS before calling Verizon support.

##############################
# WARNING!
##############################

Backup your 8830 first!

NOTE:
I did not include instructions before for a reason, this is NOT a safe procedure! If you are not 100% comfortable with possibly bricking your phone, DO NOT DO THIS!!!
I am not responsible if you brick your phone! (and neither is anyone connected with this site, so don’t get any ideas)

Before you go any further, make a note of these two links (you are going to want to read the second one in it’s entirety before you start this!):
http://www.blackberryforums.com/beta-you-than-me/

http://www.blackberryforums.com/beta-you-than-me/146196-4-5-0-77-8830-a.html

First, update the BlackBerry Desktop Software to the latest version (I think it’s v4.6) from this site: https://www.blackberry.com/Downloads/entry.do?code=A8BAA56554F96369AB93E4F3BB068C22

After that is done, you are going to want to download two versions of the 4.5 OS. The names of the torrents you are looking for are:

BlackBerry.8830.World.Edition.OS.4.5.0.51.beta.zip.torrent

8830_4[1].5r74.exe.torrent

Once Google has given you links to the torrent files, and you’ve downloaded them, here are the basic steps:

1. Disconnect your BlackBerry from your computer.
2. Install OS Beta v4.5.0.51 (be careful here, the file names can be confusing) on your computer (you are going to use the Desktop Software to load this to the BlackBerry).
3. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files\8830-v4.5.0.51_P3.2.0.41\Java, and locate the file “net_rim_bb_medialoader_qualcomm.cod”
4. Copy this file to a safe location (this is your volume corrected ringers, which RIM left out of the final beta for whatever reason).

Now at this point I loaded the v4.5.0.51 OS Beta to my phone, but you should not have to do this (though it certainly won’t hurt).

To load an updated OS to your phone, connect your phone to the computer, and select AppLoader from the BlackBerry desktop Software. The OS update detection should be automatic. If not, you might want to try deleting the vendor.xml file located in c:\program files\common files\research in motion\apploader.

Now, once you have decided how you are going to handle the first beta, you can proceed to the final beta (v4.5.0.77 currently).

If you installed v4.5.0.51 make sure you disconnect your BlackBerry from the computer before proceeding.

Following the same procedure as before, install the v4.5.0.77 beta OS to your computer, but do not connect the BlackBerry just yet.

First, rename the “net_rim_bb_medialoader_qualcomm.cod” file you copied earlier to “net_rim_bb_medialoader_8830.cod” and drop it into the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files\8830-v4.5.0.77_P3.2.0.51\Java\ folder on your computer.

Once this is done, you may want to delete the vendor.xml file located in c:\program files\common files\research in motion\apploader.

Once that is done, connect the BlackBerry, and select AppLoader from the BlackBerry Desktop Software. The installation of the 4.5.0.77 beta OS should now begin.

Again, if you brick your phone you have no one to blame but yourself.

Admin’s Arsenal: mRemote

I don’t know about other admins, but I manage a LOT of remote connections in a typical day. Some days it seems like I don’t do much other than look up passwords and user names for all the remote connections I need to make to get my daily duties handled, well it used to anyway.

I’ve used many terminal mangers, and the only one that had met my needs for managing all of the remote connections I handle on a day to day basis is mRemote. The author describes mRemote as:

mRemote is a full-featured, open source, multi-tab remote connections manager.

It allows you to store all your remote connections in a simple yet powerful interface.

Currently these protocols are supported:

* RDP (Remote Desktop)
* VNC (Virtual Network Computing)
* ICA (Independent Computing Architecture)
* SSH (Secure Shell)
* Telnet (TELecommunication NETwork)
* HTTP/S (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
* Rlogin (Rlogin)
* RAW

Now while this program has a “portable” version, it is not a portable application in the true sense of the term, as it depends on several applications that must be installed on the machine mRemote is run from to be truly useful. Here are the requirements for running mRemote:

Supported Operating Systems:

* Windows XP
* Windows Vista

Prerequisites:

* Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
* Microsoft Terminal Services Client 6.0
Needed if you use RDP. mstscax.dll and/or msrdp.ocx must be registered.
* PuTTY
Needed if you use Telnet, SSH, Rlogin or RAW. Included in all packages.
* Citrix ICA Client
Needed if you use ICA. wfica.ocx must be registered.

ATTENTION!
mRemote was only tested under 32bit environments, so 64bit systems are unsupported but may run mRemote just as usual.

Bearing that in mind, all of the machines I would run mRemote from will already meet these prerequisites, so for me, it is as good as portable (I run it from my USB drive anyway).

Also there is a bit of controversy over this program, as the author is looking to take it commercial. However since it is currently open source, even if he does in fact go that route in the future, I’m quite sure that someone else will pick up where he left off with the open source version.

You can download mRemote here.

Admin’s Arsenal: PSTools

The PSTools suite is one of those things that you’ll find new uses for every time you play with it. The PSTools suite was developed by Mark Russinovich who worked on the original NTFS file system, and hence has a rather unique insight into the inner workings of Windows systems.

The PSTools suite is comprised of the following utilities:

* PsExec – execute processes remotely
* PsFile – shows files opened remotely
* PsGetSid – display the SID of a computer or a user
* PsInfo – list information about a system
* PsKill – kill processes by name or process ID
* PsList – list detailed information about processes
* PsLoggedOn – see who’s logged on locally and via resource sharing (full source is included)
* PsLogList – dump event log records
* PsPasswd – changes account passwords
* PsService – view and control services
* PsShutdown – shuts down and optionally reboots a computer
* PsSuspend – suspends processes
* PsUptime – shows you how long a system has been running since its last reboot (PsUptime’s functionality has been incorporated into PsInfo)

While these tools work locally (and in most cases work better than the native Windows utilities, or provide functionality that is not available natively), they really shine when it comes to working with remote machines. If I had nothing else but a fresh (default) Windows install, I could probably continue to administer my network using the PSTools.

Notice I said nothing but a default windows install. Microsoft has done something rather unique with the PSTools suite (in fact with the entire Sysinternals utilities collection), and made them usable from a “live” website (to get an overview of what is available, just type \\live.sysinternals.com\tools into your browser’s address bar).

Now all these tools are stand alone executables (no need to install), so they can be run from a USB drive (SWEET!!!), however being able to run them without even having the executables on the machine is just awesome!