The OptionKey Blog

Crontab changes in Linux 26.04 vs previous versions

2026-07-23T09:11:57.593-06:00

I use a small Linux server to control the turning on and shutting off our client stations with crontab. The system I typically use is Ubuntu Server running on Hyper-V, I setup the server, enable WOL to turn them on and NET RPC to shut them down. I have been doing this since ubuntu 12.04. and this is the first time where I've had to reconfigure my scripts to make it work.

Here is a sample of the crontab on versions of Ubuntu Linux (before 26.04)

00 21 * * 1-4 $USER $PATH/$Script.sh

My crontab is setup so at 9:00 pm on Monday though Thursday the script "$Script.sh" is run as $User that is located located at $PATH

However in Ubuntu 26 it throws an error when running the script as the $USER, so once I removed the user from the crontab now looks like this.

00 21 * * 1-4 $PATH/$SCRIPT.sh

Terminal of Cron throwing an error

Created a log file to catch the error. Add >> /$PATH/$LOGFILE.log to crontab

After looking at the log it is erroring out on the user?

Once the error is resolved

After troubleshooting and finding out that the user in the crontab was causing the error; I removed the user and crontab started running the scripts. I was able to acknowledge that the script was running as the log filled up with the commands. I was going though documentation for Ubuntu 26.04 and I either missed or I can't find the changes made in crontab. It is interesting the little changes that though such a big monkey wrench into a system that really hasn't changed for years. At any rate the issue has been resolved and the system is running the scripts as expected.

Fixing error 401 Unauthorized IP: $IPADRESS when running apt-get on Linux

2026-05-07T09:41:00.002-06:00

I have a very dated VM that works as a mail forwarder for my organization, it is a Ubuntu Server VM running 20.04 LTS which connects to google workspaces and sends email for our on prem devices such as copiers, software, scripts, etc. I went to run some security updates using apt-get and I got an interesting error saying that there is a 401 Error Unauthorized IP.

The fix is to disable the sources in the sources.list directory, which I have two files.

ubuntu-esm-infra.list
ubuntu-esm-infra.list.distUpgrade

In VI I commented out the source lines.

reinstalled apt

After I was able to update the system; and upgrade the outdated packages. Now I can go headed and upgrade the system to the newer release.

StorageSpaces replace a drive using the serial number

2026-04-28T09:54:05.268-06:00

Backup Your Data (Crucial!): Before anything else, ensure you have a current backup of your data, as drive failures can be unpredictable

Identify the Failing Disk: Use the Storage Spaces Management tool (or PowerShell) to identify the specific physical disk that is unhealthy. This will also show up in the Physical Disks Section in storage on windows server.

If you can't or are unable to identify the disk in software, you may have to if possible shut the system down and find the drive. Mark and label the drives that need to be replaced; you can do that by finding the serial number of the drive that failed as down below.

Use the following command to get the status of your storage spaces; note any drives that are failing by serial number.

Get-StoragePool -FriendlyName "Data" | Get-PhysicalDisk

We can get the serial numbers of the disks we want to replace we can't use the FriendlyName due to both disks having the same friendly name. The disks we want to replace are

Disk 1 - W381A7X4

Disk 2 - W391A8Z8

Get-PhysicalDisk -SerialNumber $SERIALNUMBER

So we need to set the disk as retired; to do that we are going to use the following powershell command.

$DiskToRemove = Get-PhysicalDisk | Where-Object { $_.SerialNumber -like '*OldSerialNumber*' } | Set-PhysicalDisk -Usage Retired

As shown below

$DiskToRemove = Get-PhysicalDisk | Where-Object { $_.SerialNumber -like '*W391A8Z8*' } | Set-PhysicalDisk -Usage Retired

Storage spaces will automatically move data off the drive. Use the command

Get-StorageJob

to get the progress of the job. This shouldn't take very long, once finished remove the bad/retired drive and replace with the new one.

In windows add a new disk

It will find the disk you put in while the disk you removed will still show in your lists of disks until we remove it in software.

After the new disk has been added; select the old disk and remove it.

Once the disk is removed windows will begin repairing the storage spaces array

If you use the Get-PhyscialDisk command in powershell it will show the newly added drives

When Storage Spaces has completed it's rebuild there will be no job running, to check that you can use the command Get-StorageJob to get the status.

When completed everything will show up fine and as repaired.

Error Accessing Active Directory Tools in a Domain

2026-04-27T16:09:00.002-06:00

I came across a strange error when trying to connect to active directory users and computers where I could not access the domain tool.

The error it's self was pretty generic, as shown below.

It turned out that there was an issue with a sysvol registration, we had just setup a new AD Controller and demoted and removed an old one. To fix the issue modify the SysVolReady from 0 to 1 as shown below.

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netlogon\Parameters

Then you will be able to access your active directory tools again; and you can verify using run net share. You should see a result like below if it is working properly.

Changing Apache Tomcat Catalina from using a jks keystore to a pfx keystore

2026-04-27T15:46:00.001-06:00

I have an Apache Tomcat server that was using a jks keystore; but when I got a new certificate it was having an issue with the trust chain when I updated the certificate. Since this is a tomcat server running on windows; I decided to move to a PFX certificate. You can read my post on How to create a PFX Certificate if you need more information on how to do that.

For pathing the .pfx certificate is in the tomcat directory where the original jks keychain is. To change the certificate we have to update the server.xml file. Specifically where we have the SSL Connector connecting. When updating the connector be sure to stop the apache tomcat service and restart it after the update.

<!-- Define a SSL HTTP/1.1 Connector on port ****

This connector uses the JSSE configuration, when using APR, the

connector should be using the OpenSSL style configuration

described in the APR documentation -->

<Connector port="****"

protocol="HTTP/1.1"

SSLEnabled="true"

maxThreads="150"

connectionTimeout="20000"

URIEncoding="UTF-8"

compression="on"

compressionMinSize="1000"

noCompressionUserAgents="gozilla, traviata"

compressableMimeType="text/html,text/xml,text/css,text/javascript"

xpoweredBy="false"

scheme="https"

secure="true"

keystoreFile="$KeystoreFile"

keystorePass="$KeystoreFilePassword"

clientAuth="false"

sslProtocol="TLS"

server="$SERVER.DOMAIN.CA"

What we need to update is add the keystoreType to the serverXML file

<!-- Define a SSL HTTP/1.1 Connector on port 8443

This connector uses the JSSE configuration, when using APR, the

connector should be using the OpenSSL style configuration

described in the APR documentation -->

<Connector port="8443"

protocol="HTTP/1.1"

SSLEnabled="true"

maxThreads="150"

connectionTimeout="20000"

URIEncoding="UTF-8"

compression="on"

compressionMinSize="1000"

noCompressionUserAgents="gozilla, traviata"

compressableMimeType="text/html,text/xml,text/css,text/javascript"

xpoweredBy="false"

scheme="https"

secure="true"

keystoreFile="$Cert.pfx"

keystorePass="$KEYSTOREPASSWORD"

keystoreType="PKCS12"

clientAuth="false"

sslProtocol="TLS"

server="$SERVER.DOMAIN.CA"

Once the update is complete and Apache Tomcat has been restarted; you can check your certificate chain using SSL Shopper

How to create a PFX certificate file using OpenSSL on Windows

2026-04-27T15:04:00.004-06:00

Here is how to create a .pfx certificate for use with a webserver be it IIS, Apache tomcat, what ever you happen to be using that can support a .pfx certificate.

I'm working in windows, so if you don't have it installed; install it from https://slproweb.com/products/Win32OpenSSL.html

I installed Open SSL to my C:\Program Files and set my working directory to the \bin directory.

You will need three files for generating the .pfx.

Your key file,
the provided domain certificate
intermediate certificate file

Using cmd prompt or powershell go to your working directory in my case

cd "C:\Program Files\OpenSSL-Win64\bin"

The command is pretty simple; below is the command replace the blue text with what you want to generate your PFX File.

$Certificate.pfx = what you want your cert name to be
$domain_private_key.key = Your domain key for registering SSL Certficates
$certficiate.crt = Your certificate file from your register for your domain
$intermediate.crt = Your intermediate certificate provided by your registar such as godaddy

openssl pkcs12 -export -out $certificate.pfx -inkey $domain_private_key.key -in $certificate.crt -certfile $intermediate.crt

The certificate will be generate in the \bin directory so don't forget to clean up after yourself and remove your files. My source files I put into a folder called source and the certs I put into a folder called certs

Upgrading Windows 11 From 23H2 to 25H2 causes error 0x800f0991

2026-04-16T06:54:00.002-06:00

I had a heck of a time upgrading my Windows 11 Pro System from 23H2 to 25H2 and I really did not want to do a clean install. I really shouldn't have had a problem but it was; the issue had to do with Hyper-V and Windows Subsystem for Linux.

My system is an AMD Ryzen 9 with all the bells and whistles, and it was constantly failing windows update where the error was 0x800f0991.

Running DISM & SFC did not help at all with the results displaying everything was fine with the system. Booting from USB and trying an offline scan also proved to be useless.

I do a lot of work with Hyper-V and upgrading from 21h2 to 23H2 was painless which is why I was so puzzled why I couldn't go from 23H2 to 25H2. I figured it had to be something with windows virtualization; it was the only thing it could be. I have a number of 3rd party software installed a game or two but with the changes in Hyper-V, the network virtualization stack, it made the most sense that was going to be the best place to start.

So I backed up my VM's exporting them before removing Hyper-V. I had to remove Data Center Bridging, Hyper-V, Virtual Machine Platform, Windows Hypervisor, and Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Before removing the virtualization components in windows it failed the 6 times when I tried to upgrade though a booted USB and PC Health Check.

Once that was done I was able to upgrade using PC Health Check.

Now that I'm updated to Windows 11 25H2; unfortunately Hyper-V will not work and causes a continuous boot loop. However the upgrade to 25H2 from 23H2 worked very well so long as Hyper-V was removed.

Autodesk 2026 Crashes Trying to open an AutoDesk 2023 file

2026-04-09T20:01:00.007-06:00

I did a system upgrade of a Autodesk Revit Machine where the upgrade was a significant one The system was 10 years old an Intel i7 2600K to an AMD Ryzen 5 9600X. The CPU boost alone is significant but everything was just better. Going from 32GB DDR3 to 64GB DDR4 and upgrading from an ATI FirePro 4800 to a Nvida RTX 5060. The Storage also got a huge boost moving from a 1TB SATA SSD to a Gen4 M.2 2tb WD Black.

CPU Comparision

The system came together great, it loaded autocad, revit extremely quickly and rending files that would normally take hours took just a few minutes. Then the SNAG happened.

A particular file that they were working with did not work on the new system. It opened fine on the old system but it took a while to make changes and they wanted to migrate the job file to the new system and the new version of REVIT. Given the generational changes in processing not to mention it being completely different CPU architectures, upgraded software, windows 11 pretty much anything could be causing the issue. There was no other file that had an issue like this file.

With no other files seemingly being affected, and the old system did not have the problem with opening or rendering the file so I started looking into differences in the software and the system. We even got autodesk involved, and they didn't have any trouble opening the file; however no one tried to render it.

We did as they asked and tried the following:

Please try this
1. Install all the updates for windows, and video card driver, restart computer
2. Close all Autodesk programs.
3. Run "Autodesk Access", sign in as your email
4. Install all the updates listed from bottom towards up
5. Restart computer.

If still not working, try the following 3 things:

1. https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Clear-a-corrupt-damaged-C4R-model-from-the-system.html

2. https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-Disable-Add-Ins-for-Revit-Products.html

3. https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-reset-Revit-to-the-installation-defaults.html

Hope this helps, let me know.

When none of that worked; did some more research but came up empty. Below are some of the things I tried to get the system to open the file. Really the file opened but no changes could be made and the file would not render it was quite the issue.

Troubleshooting:

For Revit 2026, you can disable add-ins by using the built-in Add-Ins Manager, its standalone application, or by manually moving the add-in files from their installation directory. These methods allow you to manage add-ins individually, as a group, or disable them entirely.
How to use the Add-Ins Manager
Inside Revit: Click on the Manage tab, then find the Extensions panel and click Add-Ins Manager. From here, you can enable or disable individual add-ins, all add-ins, or macros. The changes will take effect after restarting Revit.
Standalone Application: Search for "Revit Add-Ins Manager" in the Windows Start menu or navigate to the installation folder at <Revit installation folder>AddInsManager\RevitAddInsManager.exe. This is useful if a faulty add-in prevents Revit from launching.
Cloud Models: If you are working with cloud models, you may need to deselect all items in the Add-Ins Manager and then recheck only the Autodesk Collaborate add-in before restarting Revit.
How to disable all add-ins at once
For users who need to disable all third-party add-ins at once, you can modify the Revit.ini file.
Add a section called [API].
Add the line DisableUserAddinsAndMacros=1.
To re-enable the add-ins, change the value to 0.
Restart Revit for the changes to take effect.
3. General System and Software Troubleshooting
Disable Add-ins: Temporarily disable all third-party add-ins in Revit 2026 to see if a conflict is causing the crash.
Update Graphics Drivers: Ensure your graphics card drivers are updated to the latest certified version from the manufacturer's website.
Check System Resources: Verify your system meets the Revit 2026 System Requirements (16 GB RAM minimum, 100 GB free disk space for temp files recommended).
Clean Reinstallation: If all else fails, a clean uninstall and reinstall of Revit 2026 may be necessary to resolve a corrupted installation.
Check Windows Event Viewer: This can provide clues about the crash details.
If the problem persists, gather your Revit journal files and submit a support ticket to Autodesk with the crash report number for further investigation.
The default location for Revit journal files is: C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Autodesk\Revit\<Autodesk Revit version>\Journals. This folder can be accessed by typing %LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk\Revit\<Autodesk Revit version>\Journals into the File Explorer address bar. If you cannot find the folder, it may be hidden, so you will need to enable "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" in Windows' folder options.
Default location:
C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Autodesk\Revit\<Autodesk Revit version>\Journals.
To find it quickly:
Type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk\Revit\<Autodesk Revit version>\Journals into the File Explorer address bar.
Replace the placeholder:
Replace <Autodesk Revit version> with your specific version, such as Autodesk Revit 2024 or Autodesk Revit 2023.
Crashes when opening of a Revit model
Cloud Model: If the model being opened is stored on a BIM 360 or Autodesk Docs cloud project, see the following article: Crash with or without CER occurs when trying to open any model in Revit.
Install Revit Updates: See the following article: How to keep Revit updated.
Install clean Revit: How to Complete a Clean Uninstall of Revit products
Disable Add-ons: See the following article: Check if add-ons are causing unexpected behavior in Revit.
Try opening the file with Audit.
Open with worksets closed
Open the model with the worksets containing linked models closed: Open Worksets.
If the model opens, reload each link individually until the problematic link is identified.
Crash on Windows 11 environment:
Crash when using steel connections: SQLDUMPER.EXE window opening and closing when launching or working in Revit or Advance Steel
Crash with update Windows 11 24H2: Crashes in Revit after updating to Windows 11 24H2
Crash in Revit 2024 at conflicting/ corruption schemas when using mixed Revit updates: Schema Conflicts in Revit 2024
Note: See the following for Revit and AutoCAD links:
"Data in file (file name).rvt is corrupt and needs to be manually recovered" when opening a file or syncing a file to central in Revit.
How to repair corrupt AutoCAD files.
More Troubleshooting
See the following link for more troubleshooting: Crash AND open.
For Revit 2019 and older
Rename or Delete the Flexnet files:
Close all Autodesk software, then rename or delete the following three files from this location: C:\ProgramData\FLEXnet
adskflex_<number>_tsf.data
adskflex_<number>_event.log
adskflex_<number>_tsf.data_backup.00
Note: Check if the files are not hidden using these steps: How to turn on hidden files and folders on Windows.
Locate and rename the ADUT folder:
Go to C:\User\username\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\ADUT.
Rename the folder (for example, to "ADUT2").
Delete the contents of the folder: C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\CLM\LGS.

The Fix

The fix ended up being an issue with SteelConnections. I paid careful attention to what the system was doing when it was trying to render and noticed it was crashing bringing up steelconnections. So what I had to do was manually remove steelconnections from the addins folder.

Close Revit.

Browse to the folder C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\[Version].
eg %PROGRAMDATA%\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\2026

Move the add-in files to another location to temporarily disable them. Renaming the files will not work. (eg moving steelconnections2026.addin to the desktop)

Restart Revit to confirm the add-ins are no longer available.

That fixed the issue with the file. The file rendered very fast taking only a few minutes on settings that use to take the older system hours.

*Note to re-enable the addin move it back to the addins directory

A powershell script to update rustdesk in action 1

2026-03-31T13:01:00.001-06:00

For maintaining remote access for our IT systems we use a mix of action1 and rustdesk. Though action1 has a very good remote web interface it can be slow at times. I've setup a rustdesk server for additional security. Below is a powershell script that I created.

The script creates a folder for downloading rustdesk from github; and if it isn't there create it, download and install. There is a else where if it is installed, uninstall rustdesk then create the install directory and install the latest version.

$Folder = 'c:\#NAMEOFFOLDER'

"Test to see if folder [$Folder] exists"

if (Test-Path -Path $Folder) {

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force c:\#NAMEOFFOLDER\*.*

Remove-Item 'c:\#NAMEOFFOLDER'

Get-CimInstance -ClassName win32_product | Where-Object Name -Match "RustDesk" |

ForEach-Object -Process {

Invoke-CimMethod -InputObject $_ -Name Uninstall

}

New-Item -Path "c:\" -Name "#NAMEOFFOLDER" -ItemType "directory"

Invoke-WebRequest https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/releases/download/1.4.6/rustdesk-1.4.6-x86_64.msi -OutFile c:\saplit\rustdesk-1.4.0-x86_64.msi

$pkg = "c:\#NAMEOFFOLDER\rustdesk-1.4.0-x86_64.msi";

Start-Process msiexec "/i $pkg /norestart /qn" -Wait;

##Start-Process msiexec "/i $pkg /qn" -Wait;

##Start-Process msiexec "/i $pkg /norestart /qn" -Wait;

Start-Sleep -Seconds 30

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force c:\#NAMEOFFOLDER\*.*

Remove-Item 'c:\#NAMEOFFOLDER'

} else {

#uninstall rustdesk

Get-CimInstance -ClassName win32_product | Where-Object Name -Match "RustDesk" |

ForEach-Object -Process {

Invoke-CimMethod -InputObject $_ -Name Uninstall

}

New-Item -Path "c:\" -Name "#NAMEOFFOLDER" -ItemType "directory"

Invoke-WebRequest https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/releases/download/1.4.6/rustdesk-1.4.6-x86_64.msi -OutFile c:\saplit\rustdesk-1.4.0-x86_64.msi

$pkg = "c:\#NAMEOFFOLDER\rustdesk-1.4.0-x86_64.msi";

Start-Process msiexec "/i $pkg /norestart /qn" -Wait;

##Start-Process msiexec "/i $pkg /qn" -Wait;

##Start-Process msiexec "/i $pkg /norestart /qn" -Wait;

Start-Sleep -Seconds 30

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force c:\#NAMEOFFOLDER\*.*

Remove-Item 'c:\#NAMEOFFOLDER'

}

Removing a VM from Hyper-V High Availability cluster

2026-03-30T09:43:00.001-06:00

To remove a virtual machine from a Hyper-V High Availability cluster is really relatively trivial, so long as you don't have any system on the cluster in failover, you right click on the role and click remove

You will then be prompted; asking if you want to remove the role and you select YES.

Then the system is removed from the cluster and is operating on the host the VM was assigned to run to.

Automating SQL Data Dump and SFTP File Transfer with Powershell and WinSCP on Windows

2026-03-11T14:55:00.002-06:00

We work with a third party that takes care of a few systems for us that we automated and to make that work we had to script an automated process to export data from our SQL server and automatically upload it to an SFTP Server.

For this setup we are using WINSCP for doing the file transfer and a combination of a bat file and powershell for exporting the data out of SQL and automating the process. I am using windows for automating this process.

What will be required:

WINSCP
Powershell

So install powershell and WINSCP on to the system.

Open powershell as and administrator and install the Clobber the WINSCP Module and the SQLServer module

Install-Module -Name PowershellGet

Install-Module -Name SQLServer

Install-Module -Name WinSCP

Once done we will make two files, they will be running from the same directory.

SQLDataExport.ps1 and gen_sql_data.bat

The powershell file is fairly straight forward. It essentially gets and runs the sql query and saves it to a directory as a txt or csv.

SQLDataExport.ps1

$serverInstance = "$address, $port"

$databaseName = "$databaseName"

$Username = "$databaseUser"

$Password = "$databasePassword"

$filePath = "$PATH\$FILENAME" + (Get-Date).ToString("yyyyMMddTHHmmss") + ".txt"

Import-Module SqlServer

$sqlQuery = "$YOURSQLQUERY"

Invoke-Sqlcmd -ServerInstance $serverInstance -Username $Username -Password $Password -Database $databaseName -TrustServerCertificate -Query $sqlQuery | Out-File $filePath -Encoding UTF8

BatFile (This is where all the FTP Magic happens)

@ECHO OFF

powershell.exe -executionpolicy remotesigned -File $PATHTOPOWERSHELLSCRIPT.ps1

timeout /t 120

echo "FTP Started" >> seed_exReport.rpt

date /t >> exReport.rpt

time /t >> exReport.rpt

echo option batch abort > ftpPutCmds.txt

echo option confirm off >> ftpPutCmds.txt

echo open sftp://$USERNAME@$SFTPURL -privatekey=$SFTPPRIVATEKEY.ppk -passphrase=$PASSWORD -hostkey=acceptnew >> ftpPutCommands.txt

echo option transfer binary >> ftpPutCmds.txt

echo cd seed >> ftpPutCmds.txt

echo put $SQLDATA_*.txt >> ftpPutCmds.txt

echo close >> ftpPutCmds.txt

echo exit >> ftpPutCmds.txt

"C:\Program Files (x86)\WinSCP\WinSCP.exe" /console /script=ftpPutCmds.txt /log="$PATH2Error.log" /loglevel=1* /logsize=5*100M

echo "FTP Finished" >> seed_exReport.rpt

IF EXIST *.txt (move *SQLDATA_*.txt Old\) REM move old file to a folder called old

date /t >> exReport.rpt

time /t >> exReport.rpt

echo. >> exReport.rpt

Once done you can setup the task scheduler to run the batfile. You will need the script to start in the directory that the bat file and powershell file are in.

Allowing Windows 11 Access to Unauthenticated Shares

2026-01-13T10:32:00.002-07:00

Windows 11 prevents you from accessing open SMB shares because they are a security risk. However sometimes you need to access these unauthenticated shares for a variety of reasons. Here is how you do that.

Method 1: Use the Local Group Policy Editor

Open the search menu and type gpedit.msc, then select "Edit group policy" to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Network > Lanman Workstation.
Find and double-click the policy named "Enable insecure guest logons".
Select "Enabled," click "Apply," and then "OK".
Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Method 2: Use the Registry Editor

Open the search menu, type regedit, and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
Navigate to the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters.
In the right-hand pane, find the AllowInsecureGuestAuth value. If it doesn't exist, right-click in an empty space, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it AllowInsecureGuestAuth.
Double-click AllowInsecureGuestAuth, set the "Value data" to 1, and click "OK".
Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer.

Method 3: Powershell Commands

Run the following powershell commands in an elevated powershell window.

Set-SmbClientConfiguration -RequireSecuritySignature $false

Set-SmbClientConfiguration -EnableInsecureGuestLogons $true

Enabling Java Virtual Console on Windows 11 and Windows Server

2025-10-27T12:42:00.003-06:00

I wrote a post about bypassing Java MD5 to run Java KVM viewer, well now to get it to run on the latest version of java and Windows you need to disable it completely or have an alternative to using the iKVM Viewer.

With the MD5 algorithm disabled with the new java, you get an application error attempting to launch the iKVM Viewer as shown below.

To resolve the issue you need to open a text editor program as administrator on windows and browse to your JAVA directory a typical default example is

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre-1.8\lib\security\"

Open java.security

an go to line 694 and disable the jdk.jar.disabedAlgorithms by putting a # in front of the line as shown below.

You will then be able to run the iKVM viewer as shown below.

Replacing a drive and repairing a storage spaces volume

2025-09-12T09:17:00.005-06:00

When you have a drive fail in a storage spaces, changing out the drive isn't straight forward, however well worth the effort when you consider the advantages storage spaces has over regular RAID. Specifically the lack of a an expensive disk controller, and tiered spaces with the use of HDDs and SSDs.

So in my case it is a 2U server with a RAID Controller set to JOBD, and I had a failure of a Seagate drive as shown in the picture above. On the server we removed the bad physical drive, if on a raid controller prepare the drive, should be set to JOBD. Formatting may be required. As shown in image below, I added a Toshiba drive; and to replace it we need to the the following.

PS C:\> $PDToRemove = Get-PhysicalDisk -FriendlyName "$DISKNAME"

In this case the drive's friendly name is "SEAGATE ST600MP0006" then we need to remove the disk with the following Powershell statement.

PS C:\> Remove-PhysicalDisk -PhysicalDisks $PDToRemove -StoragePoolFriendlyName "$PoolName"

(in this case SEAGATE ST600MP0006)

Once the old disk is removed we can run a repair with the following powershell statement

PS C:\>Repair-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName "$VIRTALDISK"

This will take some time to run, but it is much faster then repairing a RAID setup, taking about 20 minutes to repair the storage spaces mirror setup. While the dive is being repaired you will see it in a InService status.

When storage spaces finishes the drive will show as being in good health.

Troubleshooting Edifact Import Files on SirsiDynix Horizon ILS

2025-09-11T15:14:00.003-06:00

Some libraries use edifact files for automating purchasing from different vendors. In this case acquisition librarian uses an FTP client to download and load the edifact file into the ILS. Errors can easily happen where you can then no longer access the invoice from the vendor and a new edifact file must be issued and imported into horizon.

What is an Edifact File?

The UN/EDIFACT Syntax Rules were approved as the ISO standard ISO 9735 by the International Standardization Organization.

The EDIFACT standard provides:

a set of syntax rules to structure data
an interactive exchange protocol (I-EDI)
standard messages which allow multi-country and multi-industry exchange

Edifact File Sample

UNA:+.? ' UNB+UNOC:3+###:###+####:###+250903:1557+B000025704' UNH+B000025707+INVOIC:D:###:UN:EAN008'	Header
BGM+380+#####+43' DTM+137:20250903:102' NAD+BY+####::###' NAD+SU+#####::###' NAD+SU+++Name.+Address .+City+Province+PostalCode+Country' CUX+2:CAD:4'	Vendor Info
LIN+000001' IMD+L+050+:::Library MARC - CUSTOM' ALC+C++++ABK::28' QTY+$$$$' MOA+####' RTE+Quantity:1.07' RFF+LI:'	PO/Item Info
UNS+S' CNT+2:8' MOA+####' TAX+7+GST' MOA+#####'	Summary
UNT+69+B000025707' UNZ+1+B000025704'	Footer

The UNB number the B number MUST match the B number in UNZ, also the UNH B number MUST match the UNZ B number. These are unique identifiers for the invoice generated by the vendor. If there is an issue with the import of an invoice such as cancelled items on the PO, or any other error you will need to get a new Edifact file from the vendor.

How to check the error on edifact files in Horizon

To check for errors on edifact imports (uploads) you need to view them in table Editor

Double click table editor to open up the search and type in edifact

Then select double click on “edifact exceptions” and scroll to the bottom for the most recent errors. You will want to look for the errors highlighted in Green, not errors stating the edifact file has already been uploaded.

If you try import a file and it fails do the following:

Ask the vendor for a new Edifact File with new header numbers. (Once you try import it once it can not be imported again with the same header numbers)
Check the PO in horizon, verify everything is ok and there is nothing cancelled, etc.
Check for error codes in table editor using the edifact exceptions view
Either fix the PO or remove the troublesome line in the edifact file using Notepad.
Once the PO or the edifact file is fixed, reimport (upload) the file into horizon.

Additional Error info:

If you get an error like Process Invoice Error PO/Line, means there is a mismatch with the PO and the invoice, and the PO in Horizon needs to be fixed or an item in the edifact file needs to be removed shown in the example in orange. Verify the PO in horizon before trying to re-import the edifact file in Horizon. The PO either needs to be corrected or remove anything that is not in the PO in the edifact file.

Unfortunately you have to go back to the vendor and ask for a new edifact file because there was an error on import and a new header needs to be generated so the Unique identifier matches what the vendor gives for the import and once a file has been imported it can not be easily deleted in Horizon.

Meraki AP Management Changes

2025-07-23T12:34:00.005-06:00

I work for a smallish organization and we have a network that is locked down that we use for managing devices, however we don't run a DHCP server on it. The MR36 unlike the MR32 and MR33 requires a network with a DHCP server for internet access and management of the access points. Trying to double up using an already established network you are using for wifi clients for example causes connectivity issues for the wifi clients.

In the past we would configure the meraki ap on a network with a DHCP server and change the VLAN and network settings on the AP to match the statically assigned ip we wanted for the device on our management network. When we did that it worked just fine as shown below on an MR32.

However not so with the MR36, setting the VLAN's for the AP's worked the same but when I switched it back to the network without DHCP server the device became unavailable along with not routing traffic properly. The AP goes offline. Shown below VLAN X is a network where devices are statically assigned, and when the meraki switch has that VLAN setup for the AP the AP cannot connect, and the dashboard times out.

Switch Settings

Dashboard

But when I change the VLAN to one with a DHCP Server (VLAN A) the dashboard becomes responsive again.

To resolve the issue what I had to do was create a Management AP network for the Meraki AP's that has a DHCP Server. So instead of using VLAN X I have it using VLAN Y for the native VLAN. When I tried to use a network for double duty such as VLAN A, your wifi clients cannot connect and their mobile devices give a connection error.

On my firewall I created a new network (VLAN Y as described above) and I put the VLAN throughout where it is required, and will use that as the native VLAN and management network for the Meraki APs.

Error opening PDF's In Chrome with Adobe Acrobat: PDF edit, convert, sign tools enabled

2025-06-18T15:03:00.003-06:00

If you start having trouble opening PDF's in chrome or edge you might need to check for the "Adobe Acrobat: PDF edit, convert, sign tools".

If you disable or uninstall the extension in chrome you will be able to see the PDF again in chrome and/or edge.

To do that go to the Chrome Menu > Extensions > Manage Extensions

Then disable or remove the extension.

How to generate a QRCode for connecting to a wifi network

2025-06-09T14:56:00.000-06:00

Here is how to generate a QRCode so people can access your (or a) wifi network.

Using a QRCode generator that can do plain text or allow the customization or the URL field where it will not put in https:// in front of the text like the QRCode generator in Adobe express does. If the service your using puts in https:// in front of your SSID code it will fail to connect the mobile device to the network.

Adobe Express

Canva and other free qrcode generators will allow you to customize the URL field without it pre-propagating the URL with https:// or by allowing you to use the plan text field.

CANVA

QRCODE TEC-IT

Below is the code you need to use to generate the QRCode for allowing devices to connect to your wifi network. Replace the <$SSID> and <$PASSWORD> with your ssid name and password and anyone should be able to connect but a quick caveat; you do have to make sure your wifi security is compatible, so if your using WPA3, you will have to make sure your using WPA3 and not WPA2.

WIFI:T:WPA2;S:<$SSID>;P:<$PASSWORD>;;

This allows you more flexibility in a more corporate or creative environment the using the "share" network that comes up on your phone.

Updating a SMTP Relay Server without less secure apps

2025-05-01T01:49:00.004-06:00

Starting May 1, 2025, Google Workspace accounts no longer support less secure apps, third-party apps, or devices that ask you to sign in to your Google Account with your username and password. You must use OAuth to let these apps and devices access your account.

Now there are a variety of ways to deal with this issue such as setting up a google SMTP Relay, which I did in 2017 and now google wants you to use oauth which means any google workspace account has to have 2FA enabled and you need to setup app passwords.

To generate an app password first enable 2FA if you have not. Once that is setup and configured you can use the link below to create an app password for the SMTP Server.

https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords

For the sake of this documentation let's say it is Account created in December 2023. It is a 16 character password that you will need to copy and keep somewhere safe. Let's say it is the password shown directly below.

YTLE PUYV LHMW QXBT

So in our relay server you want to find the auth file for the relay server, which if you followed my Tutorial Creating a GMAIL SMTP Relay Server Using Ubuntu On Hyper-V, is in

/etc/mail/authinfo

Edit gmail-auth, and update the AuthInfo with the following:

AuthInfo:smtp-relay@gmail.com "U:$ComputerUsername" "I:$GoogleEmailAddress" "P:$PASSWORD"

and save the file. ***NOTE *** There should be no spaces in the password.

Once done recompile sendmail using sudo sendmailconfig and you can test using

echo "subject: test email" | sendmail -v $emailAddress

That is it your done. You now have an update SMTP Relay server that is in compliance with Google's new security policies.

Windows 11 Blocking mdnsNSP.dll with Local Security Authority

2025-04-02T13:15:00.001-06:00

Local Security Authority (LSA) is a feature now automatically turned on starting with Windows 11 22H2 with new installs of the system. LSA is a feature that is suppose to preview code injection that can compromise credentials. The library mdnsNSP.dll is regarded as an untrusted software.

This library comes with software such as bonjour which is typically packaged with iTunes and some older printer drivers.

There are a couple of ways to deal with this issue the easiest is to remove the software in question, but on the other hand you can also disable LSA in a few ways.

Disable by using the registry

Open the Registry Editor, or enter RegEdit.exe in the Run dialog, and then go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa registry key.
Open the RunAsPPL value, and set its data value to 00000000. Or delete the RunAsPPL value.
If the protected processes light (PPL) feature was enabled with a UEFI variable, use the Local Security Authority Protected Process Opt-out tool to remove the UEFI variable.
Restart the computer.

Disable by using local policy on Windows 11 version 22H2 and later

Open the Local Group Policy Editor by entering gpedit.msc in the Run dialog.
Expand Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Local Security Authority.
Open the Configures LSASS to run as a protected process policy.
Set the policy to Enabled.
Under Options, select Disabled.
Select OK.
Restart the computer.

Remove the LSA protection UEFI variable

You can use the Local Security Authority (LSA) Protected Process Opt-out tool from the Microsoft Download Center to delete the UEFI variable if the device is using Secure Boot.

The Download Center offers two files named LsaPplConfig.efi. The smaller file is for x86-based systems and the larger file is for x64-based systems.

Sources.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/security/credentials-protection-and-management/configuring-additional-lsa-protection

Windows 11 auto login - Updated for 2024

2025-03-30T23:08:00.001-06:00

Quick guide: Automatic login in Windows 10

Open the Registry Editor using [Windows] + [R] and “regedit”.
Enter HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device.
Double click on “DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion”.
Set the value from “2” to “0”.
Open User Accounts using [Windows] + [R] and the CMD command “netplwiz”.
Uncheck the box beside “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer”.

How to set up an automatic login in Windows 11

Follow these steps to set up an automatic login in Windows 11 and remove the password prompt. The steps to set up an automatic login in Windows 10 are identical.

Enable automatic login in Windows 11

Firstly, you must set up the automatic login feature.

Step 1: Open the “Run” dialog box by entering the shortcut [Windows] + [R] and enter the CMD command “regedit”. This will open your system’s Registry Editor.

Note

Proceed with caution when making changes to the Registry Editor. Unintended changes may permanently alter the system and could permanently damage it in a worst-case scenario.

Step 2: Enter the path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device.

Step 3: Double click on “DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion” and change the value from “2” to “0” in the Value data menu.

You can disable the password prompt in the Windows Registry Editor.

Disable the password prompt in Windows 11

You can disable the password prompt once you completed the following steps.

Step 1: Open the “Run” dialog box again with the shortcut [Windows] + [R] and enter “netplwiz”.

Step 2: The “User accounts” menu will open. Uncheck the box beside “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer”.

Uncheck the box to disable the password prompt to set an automatic login.

Step 3: Enter the current password to confirm changes and click “OK”.

Automatic login after stand-by/energy-saving mode

It is even easier to disable the password prompt after waking the device from standby mode. This option is possible without changing anything in the Registry Editor.

Step 1: Open “Settings” with the shortcut [Windows] + [i].

Step 2: Go to the “Accounts” menu and select “Never” in “Login options”. The password prompt will not appear anymore after the device has been woken from power saving mode.

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Find the following entries we will need to edit them

AutoAdminLogon

DefaultPassword

DefaultUserName

if you don't have them we will need to make these entries and set the following values, these are all string entries and will need the following values

AutoAdminLogon and set the Value data to 1

DefaultUserName and set the Value data to $domainuser

DefaultPassword and set the Value data to $userpassword

Add the user in this case "guest" to our guest group on the local machine.

Local Users and Groups

2025 - Update to How to setup an automated WakeOnLan with Cisco Meraki using MAC allow list

2025-03-30T11:20:00.002-06:00

Back a while a go I did a post about setting up an automated WOL system using linux and cron. With the new updates in the Linux Kernel, and other security updates things break so this is an update to my post in 2020, as some utilities are now required to keep WOL working.

So the uplink switch that has the WOL clients is set to MAC ALLOW LIST. with the specified VLANS. You need to add the server sending the WOL packet, in my case is a virtual machine, and it should be set to a STATIC MAC.

The only required packages required for WOL on Linux, was SAMBA, Net-Tools and wakeonlan. After some security updates WOL stopped working even though on the linux server it shows that it is running the magic packet but it is not getting though. It also shows that the WOL, SAMBA and net-tools packages are up to date.

So after troubleshooting using the firewall and the Cisco Meraki Switch, testing the WOL from the firewall and the switch, with it successfully running.

I found an update where I was missing a package called etherwake. While the windows clients on Windows 10 and 11 still require the driver settings form my post in 2020, the linux server needs to be updated with the etherwake package.

sudo apt install etherwake

For the startup script I used this format for running cron.

####################

##Put IN ARP CACHE##

####################

sudo arp -i ethx -s $ipaddress $macaddress #Computer Label

####################

##Send WOL Packets##

####################

sudo -i -u $user -p $password wakeonlan -i $ipaddress $macaddress #Computer Label

wakeonlan $macaddress #Computer Label

How to setup Intel Vpro with Mesh Commander

2025-03-28T14:25:00.005-06:00

I really like VPRO, it is one of the intel technologies that I find extremely useful. I did a post back in 2017 for setting up VPRO on systems so you can remotely manage systems using Mesh Commander.

Starting with the 12th generation systems, VPro systems use TLS to connect, which MeshCommander supports. Below is a step by step setup of the BIOS/UEFI Settings required to use VPRO with MeshCommander.

Enter BIOS/UEFI

Go to Intel Manageability and enable intel manageability control

If this is the first time you have setup VPRO you will need to update the password, it needs to be at least 8 characters long, with one number, one capital and one alternative character i.e. -%#_@

Once we have updated the password, we will configure Intel AMT.

In AMT Configuration I enable all the redirection features

SOL - Serial Over Lan (for trouble shooting via serial interface)

Storage Redirection - (Remotely booting images)

KVM - Allows the remote control of a client even if the OS isn't running

For User Consent I changed it to none so there is no issue to remotely access the computer, however if it is a user's workstation you may want to set it to KVM or ALL to get permission to access the system.

None - You can access the computer anytime without alerting the user

KVM - You can access the computer anytime but need permission from the user to access the computer when using it for KVM access

ALL - You need to get permission from the user to access anything vpro function

For the network settings, you can specify a specific FQDN and a static ID

Network Access State, set the network access state to active.

Network Active - You can use VPRO Features

Network Inactive - VPRO is not available

Full Unprovision - Reset VPRO to the default state

Power Control, I set the sleep states to S0, ME Wake in S3, S4-5

Desktop: On in S0

Desktop: On in S0, ME Wake in S3, S4-5

Once configured you can add the system to mesh commander

Hit the add computer

Here is where the VPRO setup is slightily different from the 12gen version and above vs 11 gen and below. For 11 gen and lower you need to set the Auth/Security to Digest/None, if you don't have kerberos setup. Otherwise for 12 gen and up you need to set it up for Digest/TLS.

Auth/Seucrity Options:

Digest/None (use for 11 gen intel and below)

Digest/TLS (use for 12 gen intel and above)

Kerberos/None

Kerberos/TLS

Fill out the system information, the friendly name is the name that you will see in mesh commander for connecting and can be anything. The important information is the hostname which can be a FQDN or IP address, use the auth/security for the system your using. The username/password is what you have setup in the VPRO bios/UEFI.

Once your finished hit OK, if it is 12th gen intel and above you have to accept the certificate.

When you connect to access the KVM go to the remote desktop on the menu as shown below.

Enable the AMT Redirection in meshcommander

When you connect you will then be able to interact with the full system

How to fix clients overwriting other clients in Action 1

2025-03-11T10:48:00.002-06:00

Action 1 is a great patch management system. However one thing you should not do is add the action 1 client when imaging, the client should always be added on after or you will need to run a script to clear a registry entry.

The issue looks like this

The client that was imaged shows up but then when the action 1 client is imaged and deployed it doesn't change a registry entry so when you have systems with the action 1 client imaged and deployed the clients over write each other in the action 1 web interface.

Uninstalling and reinstalling the action 1 client will not fix the issue however clearing the registry value should, and should not require re-installing the client.

On the affected system(s) check the registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Action1

The 'agent guid' should be unique, if not stop the service and clear the registry value; then restart the service.

You can also get the information for this fix form Action1

https://www.action1.com/documentation/distribution-with-pc-images

1) Install Action1 agent on the computer that will be the image
2) Open Start > Services > Stop 'Action1 Agent' service
3) Open Start > Regedit > Clear 'agent.guid' value

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Action1

Using Powershell in Action1 to update RustDesk

2025-02-20T00:26:00.000-07:00

Using Powershell in Action1 to update RustDesk

This script can be used to install and update RustDesk using Action1. Action1 is a wonderful cloud based patch management system, though I can create an on prem solution for deploying RustDesk, it was decided that we needed to be able to deploy updates for the software to users at home as well for remote support options as RustDesk is more responsive and faster than Action1. This can be run as a custom script created and saved in the script library in action1

or it can be run directly on the endpoint if it is a script you don't need to run over again which can be found near the actions column in action 1.

Below is the powershell script for updating/installing RustDesk. If you have your own rustdesk server this WILL keep your settings when updating.

##START COPY

$Folder = 'c:\itTemp'

$URL = 'https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/releases/download/1.3.7/rustdesk-1.3.7-x86_64.msi'

##"Test to see if folder [$Folder] exists"

if (Test-Path -Path $Folder) {

##If it exsists remove it

Remove-Item 'c:\itTemp' -Force

##Is RustDesk Installed? If it is uninstall it.

Get-CimInstance -ClassName win32_product | Where-Object Name -Match "RustDesk" |

ForEach-Object -Process {

Invoke-CimMethod -InputObject $_ -Name Uninstall

}

##Create a temporary folder, download the latest version of RustDesk and install it

New-Item -Path "c:\" -Name "itTemp" -ItemType "directory"

Invoke-WebRequest https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/releases/download/1.3.7/rustdesk-1.3.7-x86_64.msi -OutFile c:\itTemp\rustdesk-1.3.7-x86_64.msi

$pkg = "c:\itTemp\rustdesk-1.3.7-x86_64.msi";

Start-Process msiexec "/i $pkg /norestart /qn" -Wait;

##Wait 30 seconds before removing the directory

Start-Sleep -Seconds 30

##Clean up garbage

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force c:\itTemp\*.*

Remove-Item 'c:\itTemp' -Force

} else {

##If the itTemp folder doesn't exsits remove rustdesk

Get-CimInstance -ClassName win32_product | Where-Object Name -Match "RustDesk" |

ForEach-Object -Process {

Invoke-CimMethod -InputObject $_ -Name Uninstall

}

##Create a temporary folder, download the latest version of RustDesk and install it

New-Item -Path "c:\" -Name "itTemp" -ItemType "directory"

Invoke-WebRequest https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/releases/download/1.3.7/rustdesk-1.3.7-x86_64.msi -OutFile c:\itTemp\rustdesk-1.3.7-x86_64.msi

$pkg = "c:\itTemp\rustdesk-1.3.7-x86_64.msi";

Start-Process msiexec "/i $pkg /norestart /qn" -Wait;

##Wait 30 seconds before removing the directory

Start-Sleep -Seconds 30

##Clean up garbage

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force c:\itTemp\*.*

Remove-Item 'c:\itTemp'

}

##END COPY