Tech Tweaks

Access Plesk Database

2011-11-21T16:01:00.001+05:30

Below are the ways to access different types of Plesk database

MS SQL:

The database can be accessed using the following CLI command:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\80\Tools\Binn\osql –E

Or you can use the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express

MySQL

Run the following command in 'command prompt'

cd %plesk_dir%\MySQL\bin

mysql -P8306 -uadmin -p psa

MS ACCESS DB (JET)



Use any utility that can used with MS ACCESS (.mdb) files





The Plesk database file is located in %plesk_dir%\admin\db\psa.mdb





Thanks :)

Find Database type used by Plesk

2011-11-21T15:51:00.001+05:30

Here is the way to find which type of database is used by Plesk to store its information:

Run Registry editor by typing 'regedit' in the Run prompt

Find the below key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PLESK\PSA Config\Config

For X64 OS

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\wow6432node\PLESK\PSA Config\Config

Under this, find the value

"PLESK_DATABASE_PROVIDER_NAME"

It could be any of the below 3 types:

- Jet (MS ACCESS)
- MySQL
- MSSQL

Update Hardware Changes in Plesk 10.x Health Monitor

2011-11-11T14:33:00.001+05:30

Sometimes, when you add new hardware to your server, those changes may not get reflected on the Plesk panel. Here is a method to manually update it.

Windows

Go to Command Prompt and enter these:
cd %plesk_bin%
php.exe -d auto_prepend_file="" "%plesk_dir%\admin\plib\scripts\setup-health-monitor.php"

Unix

# /usr/local/psa/bin/sw-engine-pleskrun /usr/local/psa/admin/plib/scripts/setup-health-monitor.php

:)

Retrieve SQL Server 2008 Product Key

2011-11-05T04:21:00.001+05:30

Open Power Shell and Paste the foll: script:

-------------------------------------------------
function Get-SQLserverKey {
    ## function to retrieve the license key of a SQL 2008 Server.
     param ($targets = ".")
    $hklm = 2147483650
    $regPath = "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Setup"
    $regValue1 = "DigitalProductId"
    $regValue2 = "PatchLevel"
    $regValue3 = "Edition"
    Foreach ($target in $targets) {
        $productKey = $null
        $win32os = $null
        $wmi = [WMIClass]"\\$target\root\default:stdRegProv"
        $data = $wmi.GetBinaryValue($hklm,$regPath,$regValue1)
        [string]$SQLver = $wmi.GetstringValue($hklm,$regPath,$regValue2).svalue
        [string]$SQLedition = $wmi.GetstringValue($hklm,$regPath,$regValue3).svalue
        $binArray = ($data.uValue)[52..66]
        $charsArray = "B","C","D","F","G","H","J","K","M","P","Q","R","T","V","W","X","Y","2","3","4","6","7","8","9"
        ## decrypt base24 encoded binary data
        For ($i = 24; $i -ge 0; $i--) {
            $k = 0
            For ($j = 14; $j -ge 0; $j--) {
                $k = $k * 256 -bxor $binArray[$j]
                $binArray[$j] = [math]::truncate($k / 24)
                $k = $k % 24
         }
            $productKey = $charsArray[$k] + $productKey
            If (($i % 5 -eq 0) -and ($i -ne 0)) {
                $productKey = "-" + $productKey
            }
        }
        $win32os = Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem -computer $target
        $obj = New-Object Object
        $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty Computer -value $target
        $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty OSCaption -value $win32os.Caption
        $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty OSArch -value $win32os.OSArchitecture
        $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty SQLver -value $SQLver
        $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty SQLedition -value $SQLedition
        $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty ProductKey -value $productkey
        $obj
    }
}

---------------------------------------

Now enter the below command

Get-SQLserverKey

Press Enter (may be twice)... Details will be shown in the Power Shell Window itself.. It worked for me :)

Error on Plesk File Manager (FileList::init() failed: ls_dir_wrapper() failed: Unable to logon user)

2011-02-04T17:41:00.000+05:30

The issue happened to me on Plesk 10. Here is the work around:

Make sure that the account associated with the domain is active on the server. If it is disabled, you just need to enable it from the Computer Managements --> Users

If account is enabled, the most possible reason of the issue is that the password of domain owner account is not synchronized with corresponding record in Parallels Panel database.
To fix that take the following steps:

1. Retrieve the password of the domain owner from Parallels Panel database with the command below (where USER1 is an owner of the domain, it can be taken from the error):

C:\> "%plesk_bin%"\dbclient --direct-sql --sql="select  su.login, a.password from accounts a, sys_users su  where  a.id=su.account_id and su.login='USER1'"



login       password

USER1       p@ssw0rd

2. Synchronize system password with accordance of retrieved one as follow:

C:\> net user USER1 p@ssw0rd

Good Luck

Export Data Sources (ODBC)

2011-01-18T00:35:00.000+05:30

1. Start regedit.exe
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ODBC\ODBC.INI
3. Select the desired Data Source folder --> Right click it --> Export
4. Save it.

5. Go to your target machine
6. Copy the saved 'reg' file to target machine
7. Double click it to restore.

Note : Take a backup of your current ODBC folder before applying the exported registry settings.

Reset / Forgot Coldfusion 6, 7 and 8 Administrator password

2010-12-06T13:19:00.001+05:30

For ColdFusion 6 MX, ColdFusion 7 MX, and ColdFusion 8:

Stop the "ColdFusion MX Application Server" Service
Open the "neo-security.xml" file contained at %CFMXInstallRoot%\lib
Find the line: var name='admin.security.enabled'
boolean value='true' and change the true to false, then save the file
Start the "ColdFusion MX Application Server" Service
Go to the ColdFusion Administrator again and set a password (http:\\localhost\administrator)

To set the password

Go to 'Security' --> CF Admin Password

Enable 'Use a Cold Fusion Administration Password'

Set the password --> Submit changes

Cannot connect to WAMP from network machines

2010-12-03T15:59:00.001+05:30

In the new version of WAMP, it seems that the permission to connect to WAMP server has been disabled from another machines in the network. Here is the work around for it.

- Find the file 'httpd.conf' (normal path is c:\wamp\bin\apache\Apache2.2.11\conf)
- Find the below lines

# onlineoffline tag - don't remove
   Order Deny,Allow
   Deny from all
   Allow from 127.0.0.1

Replace it with

# onlineoffline tag - don't remove
   Order Allow,Deny
   Allow from all

Restart WAMP service and it will work ...

Retrieve / Recover Plesk Admin Password (Windows)

2010-11-02T16:18:00.000+05:30

Log on to your webserver
Go to start -> run -> cmd c:\cd "%plesk_bin%"
(The %plesk_bin% here stands for c:\program files\swsoft\plesk\admin\bin folder in case of 'by default' installation)

Now give the command plesksrvclient -get you will get your Plesk password in a popup. Coooool.... isnt it ?

Migrate / Move Plesk License Key (Windows)

2010-11-02T16:02:00.001+05:30

Follow the steps to migrate the Plesk control panel license key ..

1) Log in to the source server
2) Take Command window
3) Go to Plesk Bin folder (usually the command "cd %plesk_bin%" takes you there)
4) Give the command "keymng --fetch >> c:\license.psa" (You may change the location as your wish)

Now open the Plesk control panel which needs the new key..

Go to "Server --> License Management --> Upload Key"
Browse for the fetched key and upload it...

Thats it...

Disable inheritance of web.config

2010-09-23T12:41:00.003+05:30

This is helpful when we need to use a different web.config for a virtual directory and not to inherit any settings from the web.config of root folder.

Add the below tag to root web.config

<system.web>

...

</system.web>

</location>

Overcome file upload issue / limit in ASP pages, Change attachment size for Mail Enable

2010-09-23T10:27:00.001+05:30

By default, on ASP pages the file upload limit is set to 200KB. Here are the steps to increase the limit in IIS6 and IIS7

This update can be applied to change the attachment limit in Mail Enable webmail interface.

IIS 6
------
In IIS6, we need to edit the "metabase.xml" to change the limit

1 - Before you can edit the metabase.xml file you must tell IIS to allow you to edit the file. In IIS, right click the name of the server and select properties. Check "Enable Direct Metabase Edit".

2 - Find the metabase.xml file located in C:\windows\sytem32\inetserv and open the file in Notepad.

3 - Search for AspMaxRequestEntityAllowed and increase the value. The default value is 204800 (200K). Setting the value to 1000000 will allow 1 MB file uploads.

4 - You may now wish to uncheck the IIS property called "Enable Direct Metabase Edit".

IIS7
----

Here we can do this as a Server wide property or configure it for each domain

1 - Open Up IIS Manager
2 - Click on ASP
3 - Expand Limits Properties
4 - Change the default 200KB to a bigger value.

To change the value for a single domain, find and edit the ASP property by going on to that domain only.

Restart IIS

Extra Memory for your Windows 7 or Vista

2010-09-17T09:30:00.002+05:30

You can use an USB flash memory as an additional memory on your Windows 7 or Vista Operating system. Just plug it in and try the below settings:

• Right-click the USB flash memory drive letter and select “Properties”.
• Click the “Readyboost” tab at top in the Properties window.
• Now in the list of options, select “Dedicate this device to ReadyBoost.”
• Optionally, you can choose “Use this device” and dedicate a specific amount of Readyboost memory on the USB drive.
• Click the “OK” button.

Give a try and enjoy the performance :)

Adding MIME types in IIS / Plesk, Office 2007 MIME types

2010-08-02T20:58:00.002+05:30

Adding MIME type in IIS
--------------------------

- Open IIS --> right click Local Computer Name --> Properties
- Click 'MIME Types'
- Click 'New'
- In the Extension box, type the file name extension that you wan, eg: docx
- In the MIME Type box, provide the appropriate description --> Apply the settings
- Restart the web service or you may need to 'Recycle' the application pool.

Normally it works as soon as the MIME type is added

Adding MIME type in Plesk (Windows)
----------------------------------------

- Log in to your Plesk Panel
- Select the domain --> Click "Web Directories" (If you wish you can choose a virtual directory)
- Select the MIME Types tab
- Type the filename extension in the Extension field. File name extension should begin with a dot (.), or a wildcard (*) to serve all files regardless of file name extension.
- Specify the file content type in the Content field.
- You can either select the appropriate value from the list or define a new content type. To do this, select Custom... and enter the content type in the input box provided.
- Click OK to finish the creation.

MS Office 2007 MIME Types
------------------------------

.docx -- application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
.docm -- application/vnd.ms-word.document.macroEnabled.12
.dotx -- application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.template
.dotm -- application/vnd.ms-word.template.macroEnabled.12
.xlsx -- application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
.xlsm -- application/vnd.ms-excel.sheet.macroEnabled.12
.xltx -- application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.template
.xltm -- application/vnd.ms-excel.template.macroEnabled.12
.xlsb -- application/vnd.ms-excel.sheet.binary.macroEnabled.12
.xlam -- application/vnd.ms-excel.addin.macroEnabled.12
.pptx -- application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation
.pptm -- application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.presentation.macroEnabled.12
.ppsx -- application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.slideshow
.ppsm -- application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.slideshow.macroEnabled.12
.potx -- application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.template
.potm -- application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.template.macroEnabled.12
.ppam -- application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.addin.macroEnabled.12
.sldx -- application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.slide
.sldm -- application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.slide.macroEnabled.12
.one -- application/onenote
.onetoc2 -- application/onenote
.onetmp -- application/onenote
.onepkg -- application/onenote
.thmx -- application/vnd.ms-officetheme

Install Flash player in Linux / Firefox

2010-07-21T01:50:00.002+05:30

Simply follow the below steps to install Flash player on your linux box

1) rpm -ivh http://linuxdownload.adobe.com/adobe-release/adobe-release-i386-1.0-1.noarch.rpm

2) rpm –import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-adobe-linux

3) mkdir -p /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins

4) yum install flash-plugin

5) mozilla-plugin-config -i -g -v

Now restart Firefox and view the flash videos...

Recover your hacked Gmail account

2010-07-10T02:28:00.004+05:30

If your Gmail account is compromised, try the below link to recover the account:

http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/request.py?ara=1

On the page, click the option 'No' and on the next page provide as much correct details as you could to recover your account.

This has actually worked for many of my friends who had forgot the password or on a compromised account.

Cheers ;-)

Folder permission issue in Plesk

2010-06-04T10:04:00.002+05:30

If you are unable to change the folder permission on your Plesk control panel, try the below steps.

An error message that could probably be displayed is : FileList::init() failed: ls_dir_wrapper() failed: Unable to get file (C:\inetpub\vhosts\domainname.com) attributes: (5) Access is denied

Solution:-
----------

- Go to the domain folder and delete the file ".security"
- Log in to your Plesk control panel --> Select the Domain --> Click "Check Permissions"
- On the next window, deselect "Check-only mode" --> OK

Now wait for the process to complete and try accessing the File Manager in Plesk.

Reset MySQL Password

2010-03-15T07:05:00.003+05:30

- Log on as Administrator
- Stop 'MySQL' service if its running (from Service manager or Task Manager)
- Create a text file with the following statements:

UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('MyNewPass')
WHERE User='root';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

(Replace 'MyNewPass' with the password you need to use and also change the Username as needed. In the case of plesk installations, the username is usually 'Admin')

'Update' and 'Flush' statements, each should be given in a single line. 'Update' statement updates the root password and 'Flush' statement tells the server to reload the grant tables into memory.

- Save the file

- Start MySQL server special --init-file option

On the command window, give the following statement.

C:\> C:\mysql\bin\mysqld-nt --init-file=C:\mysql-init.txt

(Change the paths according to the installation folder)

Restart the service in normal mode.

Reference : http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/resetting-permissions.html

Random Password for User Accounts

2010-01-05T23:31:00.003+05:30

Assign Random Password for User Accounts

==================================

* Click 'Run' --> CMD --> Ok

* Give the command 'net user (username) /random'

The user account will be assigned with a random strong password which is 8 character long..

:-)

Shortcut to Hosts File on your Desktop

2009-12-22T09:34:00.005+05:30

Here is an easy way to create a shortcut on your desktop to edit your 'Hosts' file in Notepad.

- Right click on your desktop --> New --> Shortcut
- On the box, enter the following command:

notepad c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

- Click 'Next' --> Provide desired name for the shortcut --> Finish

Now you just need to open this shortcut to edit your 'Hosts' file...

Cool.... isn't it? :)

Send mail using Telnet

2009-09-30T12:43:00.004+05:30

Here are the steps to send mails using Telnet command:
---------------------------------------------------------

- Open 'Command Prompt' (Start --> Run --> type 'cmd' --> OK)
- Type telnet [server IP] 25
- Type Helo [domain name]
- Type MAIL FROM:[E-mail address]

You may get a '250 OK' message

- Type RCPT TO:[E-mail address1], [E-mail address2], [E-mail address3]

Here also you might get a '250 OK' message

- To write the mail message, type DATA and press Enter

On the first line type SUBJECT:yoursubject and press Enter twice.
Continue typing your message.
Put a single period (.) on a line by itself and press Enter to send your message. The server should display a confirmation that your mail has been sent

Type 'QUIT' to exit Telnet

Hide PHP version on server

2009-07-16T02:25:00.002+05:30

If you do not wish to expose the PHP version used on your server to the outside world, just do the small trick..

- Locate php.ini
- Edit it and make the below value to 'Off'

expose_php = Off

:-)

Deltree replacement in XP

2009-06-05T09:23:00.004+05:30

Just a short tip:

'Deltree' command is replaced in XP by 'RD' or 'RMDIR'

RD {folder name} /s /q

/s - Removes all directories and files in the directory in addition to the parent directory.
/q - Quiet mode (does not asks for confirmation.

:-)

Firefox tweaks

2009-05-13T21:09:00.008+05:30

Here are some tweaks to speed up your browsing speed with Mozilla Firefox...

- Open Firefox
- Type 'about:config' on the address bar and press 'Enter' key

Change the following values to increase the speed:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
network.http.pipelining: true
network.http.proxy.pipelining: true
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests: 8

network.http.max-connections: 96
network.http.max-connections-per-server: 32

Do not open new tab window next to current
-----------------------------------------------
browser.tabs.insertRelatedAfterCurrent --> False

Disable Anti-virus scanning
----------------------------------------

browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone: false

Open search bar results in new tab
--------------------------------------------------

browser.search.openintab: true

Load Firefox faster first time
----------------------------------------

- Right click on Firefox shortcut, then choose Properties
- On Target field, Add /prefetch:1 at the end of the path with space in between.

Eg: “C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe” /prefetch:1

Enjoy faster browsing :)

Make ur computer "Talk"!!

2009-04-09T00:13:00.003+05:30

Open Notepad and type the following:

Dim msg, sapi
msg=InputBox("Enter your text","Talk it")
Set sapi=CreateObject("sapi.spvoice")
sapi.Speak msg

Save the file with a (*.vbs) extension, it will create a VBScript File.

Now open the saved file, input the text and press ok."

U will hear what u typed...

Have Fun :)