Aggregated Intelligence

Splitting User Stories: Useful resources

2012-02-01T09:16:00.001-07:00

Pointed out to me by Mike Schmidt, these are 2 useful documents on Richard Lawrence’s site that show different strategies that can be used to split user stores:

1. Story splitting cheat sheet: http://www.richardlawrence.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Story-Splitting-Cheat-Sheet.pdf

2. Flow chart to aid in splitting of user-stories: http://www.richardlawrence.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Story-Splitting-Flowchart.pdf

PhoneGap + WP7–OpenSource MultiPlatform Mobile app development

2012-01-29T22:46:00.001-07:00

PhoneGap is an open source mobile app development platform that allows you to create an app for Windows Phone 7 (WP7) and the same app can also be run on other app platforms. Windows Phone support was added as part of version 1.3.

Read the quick start to see how easy it to create a WP7 app.

And here are some videos on using PhoneGap with WP7: http://phonegap.com/2011/12/20/phonegap-for-windows-phone-getting-started/

And more information can be found at this blog-post: PhoneGap for WP7 dissected

Maslow’s pyramid applied to software engineering

2012-01-29T22:26:00.001-07:00

Liked this post by Scott Hanselman, where he applied Maslow’s pyramid to software development:http://www.hanselman.com/blog/MaslowsHierarchyOfNeedsOfSoftwareDevelopment.aspx

Read the post!

Free HDR software for Windows

2012-01-29T21:51:00.001-07:00

I was looking for free software that would run on Windows that would aid in creating HDR images.

After about 5 minutes of searching I came across these 2:

1. Luminance HDR (qtpfsgui) and

2. Picturenaut

I am new to HDR photography, so I wasn’t very sure about all the different options in the software. But I found it a lot more easier to create a cool looking HDR image using Luminance than with Picturenaut.

Here are the input images that I used (found via a Bing search for HDR source images)


-2	0	+2

This was the resulting image using Luminance:

More to follow, once I learn a little more about the 2 softwares and get a few sample source images of my own.

10 things you should know about web.config

2012-01-29T10:44:00.001-07:00

An excellent post that every Asp.net dev should read: http://weblogs.asp.net/jgalloway/archive/2012/01/17/10-things-asp-net-developers-should-know-about-web-config-inheritance-and-overrides.aspx

Windows authentication fails when using hosts file IIS

2012-01-23T21:50:00.000-07:00

You can use the hosts file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts) to setup a mock host-name for local development/testing. Here is an example: I want to use http://helloworld/ locally to point to a test website.

1. Add an entry for helloworld to the hosts file.

This means that the url helloworld will be looped back to your local machine

2. Next in IIS Manager, right click on your site and select “Edit Bindings”

3. In the dialog that opens setup your default binding like so:

4. Browse to http://helloworld/

Now if you have Windows Authentication turned on, on your site, you will find that IE will not auto log you into the site, nor will you be able to log in by providing the correct credentials. The reason for this is that in Windows Server 2003 SP1 a new security functionality called “loopback check” was added, this blocks the authentication request and so for your site to work with the new-host name locally you need to disable the loopback check.

This is described in this post: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926642, and is done via editing the registry (2 methods are provided). Here is the first method (which I like better than method 2 – which completely disables the loopback check).

Method 1: individually allow host-names

Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate and then click the following registry subkey:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\MSV1_0
Right-click MSV1_0, point to New, and then click Multi-String Value.
In the Name column, type BackConnectionHostNames, and then press ENTER.
Right-click BackConnectionHostNames, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type the CNAME or the DNS alias, that is used for the local shares on the computer, and then click OK.
Note Type each host name on a separate line.
Note If the BackConnectionHostNames registry entry exists as a REG_DWORD type, you have to delete the BackConnectionHostNames registry entry.
Exit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

Method 2: disable loopback check
Copy the folllowing text into notepad, save the file with an extension of .reg and run it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa]
"DisableLoopbackCheck"=dword:00000001

DPM–Restoring a protected SqlServer database to a different server

2012-01-21T22:36:00.000-07:00

Reason: I needed to restore a SqlServer database from production to a dev server.

Unfortunately the help documentation for the DPM cmdlets are pretty much useless as they don’t tell you how a cmdlet should be used or what parameters (or combination of parameters are allowed). In addition, most online posts report that you cannot directly perform a restore of SqlServer database to a different server (and that you need to restore the files and then run scripts to reattach the database). I was lucky to happen upon Wilson Souza’s post and modified his source-code to do exactly what I needed it to do: restore a protected production database to a development server. Here is the script that I came up with.

Notes:

It has been tested against DPM 2010. (not sure if it will work against DPM 2007).
An example of how to call the function is provided at the bottom
As part of the restore process, the script will drop the database on the destination server if it already exists
The source database must be part of a protection group (duh! obvious)
The destination database server must have the protection agent installed on it and the agent should be running
the params required are pretty self explanatory – but look at the bottom of the script for an example
Need to install DPM management shell on the machine from where DPM scripts will be run (if its not the DPM server)

function RestoreDbFromDPM
#this script is based on Wilson Souza's work as described at
#http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/dpmsqlbackup/thread/e5e50339-5707-4e72-bb9a-56f6d60ba926

{
    Param([string] $dpmServerName, [string] $sqlProtectionGroupName,
    [string] $serverName, [string] $databaseName, [string] $restoreToServerName,
    [string] $restorePathMdf, [string] $restorePathLog, [bool] $doTheRestore = $false,
    [string] $dateOfRestoreToUse = $null,
    [string] $dpmServerUsedToProtectClient = $null)

    $startDate = $null;
    $endDate = $null;
    if ($dateOfRestoreToUse -ne $null -and $dateOfRestoreToUse.Length -gt 0) #if a date was provided then setup a date-range
    {
        $startDate = Get-Date $dateOfRestoreToUse;
        $endDate = $startDate.AddDays(1).AddSeconds(-1); #one day
    }

    if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name 'Microsoft.DataProtectionManager.PowerShell' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )
    {
        Add-PSSnapin -Name 'Microsoft.DataProtectionManager.PowerShell'
        Write-Host "Completed loading DPM powershell snapin"
    }
    else
    {
        Write-Host "DPM powershell snapin is already loaded"
    }

    RepointDpmAgent $dpmServerName $restoreToServerName

    Connect-DPMServer $dpmServerName; #lets connect

    $sqlProtectionGroup=Get-ProtectionGroup $dpmServerName | where-object { $_.FriendlyName -eq $sqlProtectionGroupName}
    if($sqlProtectionGroup -eq $null)
    {
        Write-Host "The protection group $sqlProtectionGroupName was not found on the server $dpmServerName";
        return;
    }

    #find the data-source for the database-name on the server requested
    $sqlDataSource = Get-DataSource -ProtectionGroup $sqlProtectionGroup | where-object { $_.name -eq $databaseName -and $_.Instance -eq $serverName}
    if ($sqlDataSource -ne $null)
    {
        $sqlDs = [Microsoft.Internal.EnterpriseStorage.Dls.UI.ObjectModel.SQL.SQLDataSource]$sqlDataSource;
        #find a recoverypoint that is not incremental - not sure why incremenatl restores bomb!
        $recoveryPoints = Get-Recoverypoint -DataSource $sqlDs | where-object { $_.HasFastRecoveryMarker -eq "Fast" -and $_.IsRecoverable}
        if ($recoveryPoints -eq $null)
        {
            Write-Host "A recovery point for the database: $databaseName on server: $serverName was not found in the protection group $sqlProtectionGroup" -ForegroundColor Red
            return
        }
        if ($startDate -ne $null) #range has been provided - lets find a recovery point within the date range
        {
            $recoveryPoints = $recoveryPoints | `
                        Where-Object {`
                            $_.RepresentedPointInTime -ge $startDate -and `
                            $_.RepresentedPointInTime -lt $endDate`
                        };

            if ($recoveryPoints -ne $null)
            {
                Write-Host "A recovery point for the specified date: $startDate was found. Recovery Point date: $($recoveryPoints.RepresentedPointInTime)"
            }
            else
            {
                Write-Host "A recovery point for the database: $databaseName on server: $serverName was not found "`
                                "in the protection group $sqlProtectionGroupName "`
                                "within the daterange: $startDate to $endDate. "`
                                "Restore cannot proceed!" `
                                -ForegroundColor Red
                return
            }
        }

        if ($recoveryPoints.Count) #check if we got back an array
        {
            $recoveryPointToUse = $recoveryPoints[-1]; #array - select the latest
        }
        else
        {
            $recoveryPointToUse = $recoveryPoints;
        }

        if ($recoveryPointToUse -eq $null)#what! fail!
        {
            Write-Host "A recovery point for the database: $databaseName on server: $serverName was not found in the protection group $sqlProtectionGroup" -ForegroundColor Red
            return
        }

        $length = $recoveryPointToUse.PhysicalPath.Length; #Length = num files (eg: mdf and log = 2)

        #lets setup the alt.database details.
        $alternateDatabaseDetails = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Internal.EnterpriseStorage.Dls.UI.ObjectModel.SQL.AlternateDatabaseDetailsType;
        $LocationMapping = New-Object Microsoft.Internal.EnterpriseStorage.Dls.UI.ObjectModel.SQL.FileLocationMapping[] $length;
         $alternateDatabaseDetails.LocationMapping = $LocationMapping

        $i = 0;
        $a = $null;
        while($i -lt $length)
        {
            $alternateDatabaseDetails.LocationMapping[$i] = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Internal.EnterpriseStorage.Dls.UI.ObjectModel.SQL.FileLocationMapping;
            $alternateDatabaseDetails.LocationMapping[$i].FileName = $recoveryPointToUse.FileSpecifications[$i].FileSpecification;
            $alternateDatabaseDetails.LocationMapping[$i].SourceLocation = [Microsoft.Internal.EnterpriseStorage.Dls.UI.ObjectModel.OMCommon.PathHelper]::GetParentDirectory($recoveryPointToUse.PhysicalPath[$i]);
            if ($alternateDatabaseDetails.LocationMapping[$i].FileName.ToLower().EndsWith(".ldf"))
            {
                $alternateDatabaseDetails.LocationMapping[$i].DestinationLocation = $restorePathLog
                #= $alternateDatabaseDetails.LocationMapping[$i].SourceLocation;
            }
            else
            {
                $alternateDatabaseDetails.LocationMapping[$i].DestinationLocation = $restorePathMdf
            }
            $i++;
        }
        $alternateDatabaseDetails.InstanceName = $restoreToServerName;
        $alternateDatabaseDetails.DatabaseName = $databaseName;

        $recoveryOption = New-RecoveryOption `
            -TargetServer $restoreToServerName `
            -RecoveryLocation OriginalServerWithDBRename `
            -SQL `
            -RecoveryType Recover `
            -AlternateDatabaseDetails $alternateDatabaseDetails;

        #drop the database if it already exists - else DPM fails on the restore
        DropDatabase $restoreToServerName $databaseName;
         $dbsize = ($recoveryPointToUse.Size / (1024*1024*1024)).ToString(".###");
        Write-Host "restoring database: $($alternateDatabaseDetails.DatabaseName)`n"`
                    " with backup from $($recoveryPointToUse.RepresentedPointInTime)`n"`
                    " to Sql-Server: $($alternateDatabaseDetails.InstanceName)`n"`
                    "   DB size: $dbsize GB .....`n"

        if ($doTheRestore)
        {
            $restoreJob = Recover-RecoverableItem -RecoverableItem $recoveryPointToUse -RecoveryOption $recoveryOption;

            Write-Host "Restore Status: $($restoreJob.Status)`n HasCompleted: $($restoreJob.HasCompleted)`n Start: $($restoreJob.StartTime)"
            $waitTime = 2; #initial wait time
            while ($restoreJob -ne $null -and $restoreJob.HasCompleted -eq $false)
            {
                Write-Host "." -NoNewline;
                Start-Sleep -Seconds $waitTime;
                $waitTime = 20;
            }

            Write-Host ""
            if($restoreJob.Status -ne "Succeeded")
            {
                Write-Host "Restore Status: $($restoreJob.Status)`n Start: $($restoreJob.StartTime)`n End: $($restoreJob.EndTime)" -ForeGroundColor Red
            }
            else
            {
                Write-Host "Restore Status: $($restoreJob.Status)`n Start: $($restoreJob.StartTime)`n End: $($restoreJob.EndTime)" -ForeGroundColor DarkGreen
            }

            $td = (New-Timespan -Start $restoreJob.StartTime -end $restoreJob.EndTime)
            Write-Host "Elapsed time: Hours: $($td.Hours) Minutes:$($td.Minutes) Seconds:$($td.Seconds) MSecs:$($td.Milliseconds)"
        }
        else
        {
            Write-Host "DoTheRestore is set to false - restore is not being performed" -BackgroundColor Red
        }
    }
    else
    {
        Write-Host "Database $databaseName on $serverName was not found" -ForeGroundColor Red
    }

    Disconnect-DPMServer $dpmServerName

    if ($dpmServerUsedToProtectClient.Length -gt 0)#we have been provided the dpmserver for protection - so repoint
    {
        RepointDpmAgent $dpmServerUsedToProtectClient $restoreToServerName
    }
}

function DropDatabase([string] $restoreToServerName, [string] $databaseName)
{
    Write-Host "Checking if database $databaseName needs to be dropped"
    [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('Microsoft.SqlServer.SMO') | out-null
    $sqlServerSmo = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Server ($restoreToServerName)

    if ($sqlServerSmo.databases[$databaseName] -ne $null)
    {
        Write-Host "Dropping database $databaseName on server $restoreToServerName"
        $sqlServerSmo.KillAllProcesses($databaseName)
        $sqlServerSmo.databases[$databaseName].drop()
        Write-Host "Database $databaseName on server $restoreToServerName has been dropped"
    }
    else
    {
        Write-Host "Database $databaseName does not exist on server $restoreToServerName"
    }

    Write-Host ""
}

function RepointDpmAgent([string] $dpmServerName, [string] $dpmClient)
{
    Write-Host "Setting the DPMServer for $dpmClient to $dpmServerName"
    Invoke-Command -ComputerName $dpmClient `
                  -ArgumentList $dpmServerName `
                  -ScriptBlock {param($serverName) $cmd = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Data Protection Manager\DPM\bin\SetDpmServer.exe"; & $cmd -dpmServerName $serverName;}
}

####example of how to call the above functions to perform a restore
cls;

#dateOfRestoreToUse is optional. If not provided – it will use the latest available restorepoint
#doTheRestore is optional. if not true – the script will be run in demo mode and will not perform the restore

RestoreDbFromDPM `
    -dpmServerName "dpmServerName" `
    -sqlProtectionGroupName "ProtectionGroupName" `
    -serverName "DatabaseServerOnWhichTheDatabaseResides" `
    -databaseName "NameOfTheDatabaseToBeRecovered" `
    -restoreToServerName "DatabaseServerToWhichTheRestoreShouldBePerformed" `
    -restorePathMdf "D:\MSSQLData\" `
    -restorePathLog "L:\MSSQLLog\" `
    -dateOfRestoreToUse "2012/01/19" `
    -dpmServerUsedToProtectClient "dpmServerThat ServerName should point to for day to day protection" ` #(not required)
    -doTheRestore $true;

More info:

Another restore sample: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-SG/sqldisasterrecovery/thread/6c011fcd-765d-4f02-adb0-1975bd5c2f94
Yet another restore sample: http://the-network-guy.blogspot.com/2009/01/automating-dpm-recovery.html

Visual Studio Achievements–Gamification of software development

2012-01-20T11:11:00.001-07:00

Check out the new VS add-on called “Visual Studio Achievements”. Its an add-on that tracks what you are coding and provides you awards as you perform certain actions (very much like the achievements that you earn when you play games like Call of Duty on the Xbox).

Learn more and download the add-on from: http://channel9.msdn.com/achievements/visualstudio

And here is a screen-shot of the 2 latest achievements that I earned!

Get your game on!

http://channel9.msdn.com/niners/theRajah/achievements/visualstudio

DPM PowerShell commands–create a help document

2012-01-18T13:42:00.001-07:00

Here is a simple command to list all the commands in DPM with detailed help documentation:

Get-Command -PSSnapin Microsoft.DataProtectionManager.Powershell | Get-Help -detailed > c:\dpmhelp.txt

Fuslogvw not working for Asp.Net applications

2012-01-16T13:36:00.001-07:00

I have found that if I change settings to use a custom path pointed at the root folder of the C drive, Fuslogvw begins to work for Asp.Net applications too. Without that, no logs are generated.

Windows Firewall–Determining why you arent able to connect to a machine

2012-01-16T09:16:00.001-07:00

Recently I was having trouble connecting to a Data Protection Manager server from a remote machine using power-shell cmdlets. I knew I had everything properly configured with DPM, and so I knew it was probably Windows Firewall that was blocking access to the computer.

What I needed was a log of what was being blocked and here is how I was able to turn on logging on the machine (a Windows 2008 server).

Under “Administrative Tools” select “Windows Firewall with Advanced Security”

Click on the topmost node: “Windows Firewall with Advanced Security on Local Computer”

Select “Windows Firewall Properties”

In my case I needed logging turned on for my Domain profile, so on the Domain profile tab, I clicked on the Customize button in the logging section and turn on logging of dropped packets:

The log file is by default created at: “%systemroot%\system32\LogFiles\Firewall\pfirewall.log”

If you look at the log file you will find out the protocol that the remote machine is using to connect and the port. Depending on your specific situation you will have to add an incoming rule (or outgoing rule) to allow the appropriate connections through.

IIS 7x: Listing site settings

2012-01-13T08:51:00.001-07:00

Here is a simple command to list all your IIS sites and their different settings (bindings, authentication, etc)

appcmd list sites /text:*

The information that gets captured includes (sample):

SITE
SITE.NAME:"xxxx"
SITE.ID:"yy"
bindings:"http/*:80:xxxxx"
state:"Started"
[site]
    name:"xxxx"
    id:"yy"
    serverAutoStart:"true"
   [bindings]
      [binding]
        protocol:"http"
        bindingInformation:"*:80:xxxxx"
    [limits]
      maxBandwidth:"4294967295"
      maxConnections:"4294967295"
      connectionTimeout:"00:02:00"
   [logFile]
      logExtFileFlags:"Date, Time, ClientIP, UserName, ServerIP, Method, UriStem, UriQuery, HttpStatus, Win32Status, TimeTaken, ServerPort, UserAgent, HttpSubStatus"
      customLogPluginClsid:""
      logFormat:"W3C"
      directory:"C:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles"
      period:"Daily"
      truncateSize:"20971520"
      localTimeRollover:"false"
      enabled:"true"
    [traceFailedRequestsLogging]
      enabled:"false"
      directory:"C:\inetpub\logs\FailedReqLogFiles"
      maxLogFiles:"50"
      maxLogFileSizeKB:"512"
      customActionsEnabled:"false"
   [applicationDefaults]
      path:""
      applicationPool:""
      enabledProtocols:"http"
      serviceAutoStartEnabled:"false"
      serviceAutoStartProvider:""
    [virtualDirectoryDefaults]
      path:""
      physicalPath:""
      userName:""
      password:""
      logonMethod:"ClearText"
      allowSubDirConfig:"true"
   [ftpServer]
      allowUTF8:"true"
      serverAutoStart:"true"
     [connections]
        unauthenticatedTimeout:"30"
        controlChannelTimeout:"120"
        dataChannelTimeout:"30"
        disableSocketPooling:"false"
        serverListenBacklog:"60"
        minBytesPerSecond:"240"
        maxConnections:"4294967295"
        resetOnMaxConnections:"false"
        maxBandwidth:"4294967295"
     [security]
        [dataChannelSecurity]
          matchClientAddressForPort:"true"
          matchClientAddressForPasv:"true"
        [commandFiltering]
          maxCommandLine:"4096"
          allowUnlisted:"true"
        [ssl]
          serverCertHash:""
          serverCertStoreName:"MY"
          ssl128:"false"
          controlChannelPolicy:"SslRequire"
          dataChannelPolicy:"SslRequire"
        [sslClientCertificates]
          clientCertificatePolicy:"CertIgnore"
          useActiveDirectoryMapping:"false"
          validationFlags:""
          revocationFreshnessTime:"00:00:00"
          revocationUrlRetrievalTimeout:"00:01:00"
       [authentication]
          [anonymousAuthentication]
            enabled:"false"
            userName:"IUSR"
            password:""
            defaultLogonDomain:"NT AUTHORITY"
            logonMethod:"ClearText"
          [basicAuthentication]
            enabled:"false"
            defaultLogonDomain:""
            logonMethod:"ClearText"
         [clientCertAuthentication]
            enabled:"false"
         [customAuthentication]
            [providers]
      [customFeatures]
        [providers]
      [messages]
        exitMessage:""
        greetingMessage:""
        bannerMessage:""
        maxClientsMessage:""
        suppressDefaultBanner:"false"
        allowLocalDetailedErrors:"true"
        expandVariables:"false"
      [fileHandling]
        keepPartialUploads:"false"
        allowReplaceOnRename:"false"
        allowReadUploadsInProgress:"false"
      [firewallSupport]
        externalIp4Address:""
      [userIsolation]
        mode:"None"
        [activeDirectory]
          adUserName:""
          adPassword:""
          adCacheRefresh:"00:01:00"
      [directoryBrowse]
        showFlags:""
        virtualDirectoryTimeout:"5"
      [logFile]
        logExtFileFlags:"Date, Time, ClientIP, UserName, ServerIP, Method, UriStem, FtpStatus, Win32Status, ServerPort, FtpSubStatus, Session, FullPath"
        directory:"C:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles"
        period:"Daily"
        truncateSize:"20971520"
        localTimeRollover:"false"
        enabled:"true"
        selectiveLogging:"LogSuccessful, LogError, LogInfrastructure"
   [application]
      path:"/"
      applicationPool:"xxxx"
      enabledProtocols:"http"
      serviceAutoStartEnabled:"false"
      serviceAutoStartProvider:""
     [virtualDirectoryDefaults]
        path:""
        physicalPath:""
        userName:""
        password:""
        logonMethod:"ClearText"
        allowSubDirConfig:"true"
     [virtualDirectory]
        path:"/"
        physicalPath:"e:\inetpub\wwwroot\xxxxx"
        userName:""
        password:""
        logonMethod:"ClearText"
        allowSubDirConfig:"true"

More info:

http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/114/getting-started-with-appcmdexe

Running DPM Cmdlets from workstations

2012-01-11T16:21:00.001-07:00

The DPM-Cmdlets can be run from computers other than the DPM server. But before you can do that you need to install the DPM Management Shell and for this you need the 2gb DPM installer.

Notes:

DPM and Windows Firewall: I needed to open TCP port 57736 and UDP port 1434 for remote access to work. (more info below)

http://blogs.technet.com/b/dpm/archive/2007/06/20/dpm-cli-hello-world.aspx

The TCP port that I had to open corresponded to the TCP/IP port used by SQL server. You can figure it out using the SqlServer configuration tool by looking at the properties for the protocols:

MS-FTP: 530 User cannot log in, home directory inaccessible.

2012-01-05T22:12:00.001-07:00

When using Microsoft’s FTP system, if you use the “User name directory” isolation mode:

you may get the “530 User cannot log in, home directory inaccessible” error.

Some things to check:

1. You should have a LocalUser folder under the FtpRoot folder.

2. You should have a folder with the name of the account that is being used to connect to the FTP server (eg: account name = testAccount, then folder structure should be Inetpub\Ftproot\LocalUser\testAccount).

3. The account being used to connect to the FTP server should have access to the folder created in step 2. (The account should be a local user account on that box).

Bing maps–plane taking off

2011-12-24T23:14:00.001-07:00

Found this in Bing’s satellite imagery – an airplane taking off from Las Vegas airport.

http://binged.it/ru5Er8

Installing a windows service using PowerShell

2011-12-05T11:00:00.001-07:00

There is a hard way and an easy way. Here is the easy way:

Use Invoke-Command to call InstallUtil instead of New-Service:

Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock { C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\InstallUtil.exe /install "path to windows service.exe"}

Invoke-Command is better than Invoke-Item because the result of the execution is piped back to the console. (With Invoke-Item, any error messages don’t get sent back to caller).

Now here is an additional tip – if you need to specify the username and password under which the service should be run, you can use the undocumented InstallUtil parameters: username and password as shown below

Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock { C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\InstallUtil.exe /username=domain\account /password=password /install "path to windows service.exe"}

Finally, if you need to run this command on a remote machine, use the –ComputerName field that’s part of Invoke-Command

Invoke-Command -ComputerName machineName -ScriptBlock { C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\InstallUtil.exe /install "path to windows service.exe"}

And to uninstall a service:

Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock { C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\InstallUtil.exe /uninstall "path to windows service.exe"}

Useful powershell functions for installing, uninstalling, starting and stopping windows services on a remote machine

function StartService()
{
    param ([string] $serviceName, [string] $targetServer)
    Write-Host "starting service $serviceName on $targetServer"
    Invoke-Command -ComputerName $targetServer -ScriptBlock {param($sn) START-Service $sn} -Args $serviceName
    Invoke-Command -ComputerName $targetServer -ScriptBlock {param($sn) $servicePrior = Get-Service $sn; Write-Host $servicePrior.status} -Args $serviceName
}
function StopService()
{
    param ([string] $serviceName, [string] $targetServer)
    Write-Host "stopping service $serviceName on $targetServer"
    Invoke-Command -ComputerName $targetServer -ScriptBlock {param($sn) STOP-Service $sn} -Args $serviceName
    Invoke-Command -ComputerName $targetServer -ScriptBlock {param($sn) $servicePrior = Get-Service $sn; Write-Host $servicePrior.status} -Args $serviceName
}

function UninstallService()
{
    param ([string] $serviceName, [string] $servicePath, [string] $targetServer)

    Write-Host "uninstalling service $serviceName on $targetServer from path $servicePath"
    Invoke-Command -ComputerName $targetServer -ScriptBlock {param($sp) C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\InstallUtil.exe /uninstall "$sp"} -Args $servicePath
}

function InstallService()
{
    param ([string] $serviceName, [string] $servicePath, [string] $targetServer)

    Write-Host "uninstalling service $serviceName on $targetServer from path $servicePath"
    Invoke-Command -ComputerName es1sbweb -ScriptBlock {param($sp) C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\InstallUtil.exe `
    /username=domain\username /password=password `
    /install `
    "$sp"} -Args $servicePath
}

SqlComplete–A must have add-on for Sql-Server users

2011-12-05T08:47:00.001-07:00

If you use Sql-Server, then you must get SqlComplete for its awesome intellisense that it provides within Sql Server Management Studio (SSMS).

One of the best things I like about it: Regular SSMS intellisense will not work in SqlCmd mode. SqlComplete works even in SqlCmd mode. (And for me that’s huge, because I open all my query windows by default in SqlCmd mode). In addition it provides you with the ability of formatting your entire t-sql document (awesome!).

SqlComplete has two editions: a free edition that has reduced functionality (Not as great document formatting capabilities) and a standard edition that costs $99 (edition differences). I really wished that they had a personal edition for $50, cause I would definitely buy this tool.

Also remember to install the other awesome SSMS add-on: SSMS Tools, which provides some other useful features that make SSMS a pleasure to work with.

More info:

SqlComplete – Alternative to SSMS intellisense: http://www.devart.com/dbforge/sql/sqlcomplete/alternative-to-ssms-intellisense.html

Downloads: http://www.devart.com/dbforge/sql/sqlcomplete/download.html

PlasticSCM–First encounters

2011-12-04T14:35:00.001-07:00

I was looking for a source-control system that I could use at home, which meant that TFS would not be a good candidate for me (although it’s the SCRM that I have the most experience with). I have tested out SVN and Mercurial, but for some reason they didn’t grow on me.

Today I came across PlasticSCM (via a recent blog post regarding their new release 4.0). So I decided to give it a try. (The main reason being that it’s a distributed SCM and based on what I had seen on PlasticSCM’s website, the visualization tools were very good and it also had decent integration with Visual Studio). Another thing that I liked is that the free community edition allows you to use it with up to 15 users free of charge.

So here are some things I found out (based on usage with Visual Studio): (Remember these are just first impressions and this is also my first true usage of a distributed SCM).

I found having a separate repository for every solution was the way to go. When I first tried it out, I used a single repository and added all my solutions to that repository. (Each solution represented a completely distinct project). But it started getting very confusing, as I had to perform all sorts of merges everytime I opened a solution.
Instead, when I created a separate repository for every solution (or group of solutions that represented the same project), things began working in what I considered a more predictable way.
I use Resharper and when I first added a solution to PlasticSCM, I had trouble everytime I closed the solution, as the file .user files could not be saved. In addition, PlasticSCM attempted to check-in all the Resharper temporary files. Currently, I am deleting these files after I add the solution to PlasticSCM and then check the files in. Also, once I have done that, I set PlasticSCM to ignore the *.user files and the _Resharper.* folder.
Although I havent performed much branching and merging as of yet, I found the visualization tools pretty cool

Some useful tips:

First thing to do is set PlasticSCM as the current Source Control Provider:

Next open up a solution that you want to put into source-control. Right click on the solution and select the “Add to source control” item.

This will bring up the New-Workspace dialog. Create a new repository for your solution (click New).

When you click on OK, it will automatically add the solution into PlasticSCM (into the newly created repository).

Now bring up the PlasticSCM client application (via the Start Menu).

You will find that a new Workspace has been created for the solution:

Click on the Items node in the left pane and then ensure that all the files that should be under source-control, show up with a status of “Controlled”.

You do this by selecting any item that is setup as “private” and select the “Add to source control” option.

Your final step is to check in all the files. This is done by selecting the “Pending Changes” option in the left pane and then clicking the “Check-in” button.

That’s it. Your solution is now under source-control.

What does PlasticSCM check-ins look like?

Here is an example: I had a main branch. I created 2 separate branches from main to represent 2 sets of changes that I wanted to make: Add a multiplication feature task and Add a division feature task. Both of these features were to be added to a single change-set in main (the most current changeset).

The 2 features represent coding tasks that 2 separate developers may be involved with. Once the 2 features are completed they are checked into their respective branches. After the features are checked into the branches, the branches are merged one by one into the main line.

And here is what the above scenario looks like:

Some final thoughts:

There doesn’t seem to be any in client help for PlasticSCM. So many times I had to go about exploring trying to attempt to do various tasks in PlasticSCM (for example setting the current workspace – there doesn’t seem to be a way to do this in the branch-explorer. Instead you do it via the Branches view).
During merges, I found that PlasticSCM didn’t do a lot of stuff automatically. I was always provided a diff/merge view (which was very beautiful in its rendering), and had to manually accept the merges. On large projects, this will become quite painful for the person incharge of merging various changesets into the main-line.
I definitely like PlasticSCM and will continue testing it out on my personal projects. I think it will be cool for large teams, but I am not entirely sure whether it’s a good replacement for TFS (which we currently do use at work). I plan on figuring this out as I work more with PlasticSCM.

Installing DD-WRT on TP-Link TL-WR841N

2011-12-03T07:09:00.001-07:00

TP-Link’s TL-WR841N router supports the DD-WRT firmware.

The installation process is simple:

Go to DD-WRT’s homepage and search for the router from the Router Database page. Although you will not find TL-WR841N firmware, you can use the TL-WR841ND files. My router uses v7, so that’s the version of the firmware that I downloaded.

You can use the following link to download the files (if you are using v7 of the router):

http://dd-wrt.com/routerdb/de/download/TP-Link/WR841ND/7.0/factory-to-ddwrt.bin/3849
http://dd-wrt.com/routerdb/de/download/TP-Link/WR841ND/7.0/tl-wr841nd-webflash.bin/3850

Upgrading the router’s firmware is simple: (Remember, when upgrading firmware, always be connected to your router through an ethernet cable, as you will loose WiFi connectivity once the firmware has been updated. After the update, you will have to reset your wifi settings).

Under System Tools, select the “Firmware upgrade” link

Choose the “Factory-To-DDWRT.bin” file that you just downloaded and click the upgrade button. Wait for about 5 minutes. DD-WRT should be installed and should come up if you browse to http://192.168.1.1/

Next go to the DD-WRT Administration page and select the Firmware tab. Install the 2nd firmware update file “TL-WR841ND-Webflash.bin” that you downloaded.

That’s it – you now have TL-WR841N v7.0 running DD-WRT firmware.

The final step will be for you to go through the setup process and define your Wifi settings.

Reverting to TP-Link’s firmware:

If you need to revert to TP-Link’s firmware, then you need to download the appropriate file from: “http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=85237&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=5”. Remember, to be able to download the file you need to create an account on that website. (After creating the account and logging in via the Quick Links button, you should see the file download link).

Download and unzip the contents of the “WR841Nv7_webrevert.rar” file. You will find a bin file within the RAR file. Go to DD-WRT and use the upgrade option to upload the “wr841nv7_webrevert.bin” file. After clicking the upgrade button, you will have to wait about 5 minutes for the router to reboot and complete installation.

After you have reverted the firmware, download the latest TP-Link firmware from TP-Link’s website and upgrade the firmware to that version.

Shape Catcher–Unicode character recognition

2011-11-21T20:40:00.001-07:00

Came across ShapeCatcher, a useful site that allows you to draw a shape and it suggests different unicode characters that match that shape. Definitely beats looking through Window’s CharacterMap looking for that font that looks like a clock.

Or searching for the peace symbol:

Setting up FTP under Windows Server 2008 R2 with user-isolation

2011-11-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

In Windows Server 2008 R2. (Important these are not steps for a production environment. Just for setting up a test FTP server.)
In Server Manager:
Under Roles, click Add Role
    install FTP
        Under roles - add Web Server (IIS)
            Under role services select FTP Server
        Complete the installation
In IIS: Create a FTP Site:
    Right click on Sites and select Add FTP Site

        Name it: Whatever you like
        Path: C:\inetpub\ftproot

    Bindings and SSL Settings
        Select No SSL

    Authentication information
        Select Basic authentication
            Select Allow access to "All users" with Read and Write permissions

    Finish the FTP creation wizard

Under settings for the FTP site (in IIS)
    Select FTP User Isolation
        Select "User name directory (disable global virtual directories)"


Accounts:
Create local user accounts (this is how users get access to the FTP site (or at least one way how you can provide access to your ftp site)). (example: create a local account named FtpUser1)
Create a group called FTPUsers and add user accounts created above to the group. (it makes it easier to provide access to folders as shown in the next step).
Provide the group you created in the above step (FTPUsers) modify priviledges on C:\inetpub\ftproot
Next create a sub-folder called LocalUser (C:\inetpub\ftproot\LocalUser). (important to name it exactly that).
Create a folders for each of the user accounts you created above (eg: if you created an account call FtpUser1, create a folder under LocalUser called FtpUser1).

Test:
Test access to your FTP site via your favorite FTP client. If you did everything correctly, you should have a valid FTP site with an account setup.

FTP 7.5 on Windows Server 2008 R2

2011-11-18T12:53:00.001-07:00

If you search for enabling FTP on Windows Server 2008, you most often get redirected to the following site:

http://www.iis.net/download/FTP

And if you download that FTP7.5 installer referenced on that page and try and run it, you get the following error:

(this version of the operating system is not supported. FTP Service for IIS 7.0 can be installed only on Windows Server 2008).

Turns out that, for Windows Server 2008 R2, you don’t need to download a separate installer. You just need to enable the FTP role. (This is because on Windows Server 2008 R2, you get IIS 7.5 and not IIS 7.0).

More info: http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/263/installing-and-configuring-ftp-7-on-iis-7/

Powershell–Run script via context menu

2011-11-16T16:31:00.001-07:00

I wanted the ability to right click on a PS1 file and then execute a powershell script. (A “run powershell script” from Context-Menu option)

So here is how you can do it:

Copy the following text into a text file and save it:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\Shell\Run with powershell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\Shell\Run with powershell\command]
@="C:\\Windows\\system32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe -NoExit &'%1'"

Save the file and rename it to have an extension “.reg”. Now double click the file and you will have a context menu called “Run with powershell”

To make life easier you can download my version of the file from:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BzvtUeIvT94wMzg1MWRjZjEtZTUyNi00YTlkLWJhMDUtYjczMTljYzdmNmYy

SqlBulkCopy error: given value cannot be converted to type xxxx

2011-11-14T23:44:00.001-07:00

If you get the following error when using SqlBulkCopy: “The given value of type String from the data source cannot be converted to type int of the specified target column.”

Then check for 2 things:

Make sure that you are not setting more characters than what is allowed for a field (i.e., column allows only 5 characters and you set the column to 6 characters).

If you are not setting all the columns, then make sure you use the “SqlBulkCopyColumnMapping”, to setup the mapping (especially true, when you are inserting rows and you are not setting the primary key value as its setup to be an identity column).

EntLib–Logging–SwitchValues

2011-11-03T22:52:00.001-06:00

Here are the list of values that you can use for the SwitchValue for the configuration of the logging block in Enterprise Library.

Value	Description
ActivityTracing	Allows the Stop, Start, Suspend, Transfer, and Resume events through.
All	Allows all events through.
Critical	Allows only Critical events through. A critical event is a fatal error or application crash.
Error	Allows Critical and Error events through. An Error event is a recoverable error.
Information	Allows Critical, Error, Warning, and Information events through. An information event is an informational message.
Off	Does not allow any events through.
Verbose	Allows Critical, Error, Warning, Information, and Verbose events through. A Verbose event is a debugging trace.
Warning	Allows Critical, Error, and Warning events through. A Warning event can indicate both critical and non-critical issues.

MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff664426(v=PandP.50).aspx