Random Rantings

Office Reporting API

2019-09-05T22:23:00.000+01:00

Problem

Working with a customer moving from one tenant to another. Two distinct groups of users and one of the challanges has been in getting data on OneDrive, OneNote usage and client usage.We have not found decent information on the usage of OneDrive or OneNote, so moving 5K users is challanging. OneDrive has two statistics that MS publish, Total Files and Active Files. We have found that total files is different in OneDrive from the report is different to the count on a local copy. Have no infor on why this is different.
The PowerBI or Office 365 report for OneDrive will give you the number in Sharepoint.
The following query in PowerShell on your local OneDrive location, assuming all files are synched, will tell you how many files you have.

dir *.* -recurse | measure-object

The Data Source

Based on access to MS O365 usage report on PowerBI.
Enable O365 reporting as per the Microsoft document Link

The file on Customize the reports in Microsoft 365 usage analytics Link is faulty. I've reported this, so a copy is available here

Tenant ID found in Azure AD _Tenant_ID_

Account for the user that enabled O365 reporting admin@_Tenant_Name_.onmicrosoft.com

Shared link for the PowerBI portal

https://app.powerbi.com/groups/me/dashboards/__removed_the_redirect__?ctid=_Tenant_ID_

Office 365 Reports in the admin center - OneDrive for Business usage

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/admin/activity-reports/onedrive-for-business-usage?view=o365-worldwide

The PowerBI Desktip pbit file is in the files section, password is please

If a PowerBI app fails to load data. Delete it and re-add.

PowerBI Desktop will save the creds you used to connect to the PowerBI portal.

Fig 1 – PowerBI Desktop

To make use of the PowerBI report, edit the query to get at the data/ API.

Fig 2 – PowerBI Desktop

Fig 3 – PowerBI Desktop

Copy out the code

let

Source = OData.Feed("https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/" & TenantID,null,[ODataVersion=4]),

TenantMailboxUsage_table = Source{[Name="TenantMailboxUsage",Signature="table"]}[Data]

TenantMailboxUsage_table

Then to edit we take the api piece and add in the tenant ID and then the content we want to report on

Source = OData.Feed("https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/" & TenantID,null,[ODataVersion=4]),

TenantMailboxUsage_table = Source{[Name="TenantMailboxUsage",Signature="table"]}[Data]

We will use

https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/ Tenant ID to be added /TenantMailboxUsage

Giving us

https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/_Tenant_ID_/TenantMailboxUsage

Fig 4 – Report 01

Tenant OneDriveUsage is as follows:

Fig 5 – PowerBI Desktop

let

Source = OData.Feed("https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/" & TenantID,null,[ODataVersion=4]),

TenantOneDriveUsage_table = Source{[Name="TenantOneDriveUsage",Signature="table"]}[Data],

#"Changed Type" = Table.TransformColumnTypes(TenantOneDriveUsage_table,{{"DiskQuota", Int64.Type}})

#"Changed Type"

https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/_Tenant_ID_/TenantOneDriveUsage

All tenant reports

https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/_Tenant_ID_

Other reports available

https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/_Tenant_ID_/TenantClientUsage

What Clients are being used, limited data.

https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/_Tenant_ID_/TenantMailboxUsage

Aggregated mailboxes in O365

https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/_Tenant_ID_/TenantO365GroupsActivity

O365 group activity per month over the last 12 months as a monthly stat

https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/_Tenant_ID_/TenantOfficeActivation

Monthly total office activations

https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/_Tenant_ID_/TenantOneDriveUsage

OneDrive activity per month over the last 12 months as a monthly stat

https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/_Tenant_ID_/TenantProductActivity

Seems to show the total activity per month over the last 12 months as a monthly stat

https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/_Tenant_ID_/TenantProductUsage

Seems to show the total product activity per month over the last 12 months as a stat

https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/_Tenant_ID_/TenantSharePointUsage

SharePoint activity per month over the last 12 months as a monthly stat

https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/_Tenant_ID_/UserActivity

User overall activity per month over the last 12 months as a monthly stat. Is this the important one?

https://reports.office.com/pbi/v1.0/_Tenant_ID_/UserState

User information

Microsoft Graph API - Post 1 of many

2018-12-20T23:32:00.000+00:00

Microsoft Graph API

It almost seems like the Tangential Screw is out of Sync.
A phrase I've commonly used and sound technical enough that people leave me alone, assuming that I know what I'm doing.
Microsoft Graph API seems to be the 'fix for everything' that is wrong in O365/ Intune/ Azure.

Anyway, I decided its time to read about it and jot some notes down.

These are random pieces of code that worked for me and failures and error message I figured out. Mostly because as a person who likes to kick tin, coding is not a natural way to access logs.

If you see D.W. it means didn't work, or I haven't figured out what it does yet.
General assumption needs to be be I made a mistake, but with this cloud stuff...who knows. If you have a complaint or comment on that , then revert to above, I like to kick tin, virtual or physical.

I'm currently using the Graph Explorer
https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/graph-explorer

Will move to Visual Code at some stage with the intention of trying to see if I can get security information.

So here goes:
Demo O365 Tenancy, with a three moth life time.
No vanity domain added yet.

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/security/secureScores?$filter=fqdn eq 'AarifS@M365x106898.onmicrosoft.com'

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/security/hostSecurityProfiles?$filter=fqdn eq 'AarifS@M365x106898.onmicrosoft.com'&$select=riskScore

These work, but give a response with no data.

{
"@odata.context": "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/$metadata#Security/hostSecurityProfiles(riskScore)",
"value": []
}
I assume I need to add data to make get a response.

Send and email
***************
Send an Email
***************

***Command***
POST v1.0 https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/sendMail

***Content 2***
{
"message": {
"subject": "Meet for lunch?",
"body": {
"contentType": "Text",
"content": "You available.Origional - 1 line"
},
"toRecipients": [
{
"emailAddress": {
"address": "my.emailaddress@provider.com"
}
}
]
}
}

***Content 2***
{
"message": {
"subject": "Meet for lunch?",
"body": {
"contentType": "Text",
"content": "You available. I'm free tomorrow and wondering if all is ok
This works as well
"
},
"toRecipients": [
{
"emailAddress": {
"address": "my.emailaddress@provider.com"
}
}
]
}
}

***Content 3***
{
"message": {
"subject": "Meet for lunch?",
"body": {
"contentType": "Text",
"content": "You available. I'm free tomorrow and wondering if all is ok
And how does this continue.
Does it just go on
yes
Joe"
},
"toRecipients": [
{
"emailAddress": {
"address": "my.emailaddress@provider.com"
}
}
]
}
}

***Command*** Get logged in user’s OneDrive site
POST v1.0 https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/drive

***Command*** Get users whose email address starts with “Adele”
D.W. https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users?$filter=startswith(mail,’adele’)
https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users?$filter=startswith(mail,’adams’)
https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users?$filter=startswith(mail,'A')
https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users?$filter=startswith(givenName,'A')

***Command*** Get logged in user’s user profile picture
https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/photo/$value

Query
https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users?$filter=startswith(mail,’adele’)
And the output is
{
"error": {
"code": "BadRequest",
"message": "Invalid filter clause",
"innerError": {
"request-id": "c913cb68-3759-476e-89ba-718887cd7653",
"date": "2018-12-20T23:10:41"
}
}
}

This means that the user Adele is not there!
Not that your query is bad.

Windows 10 not displaying login name or missing last login name

2018-12-13T15:40:00.003+00:00

Windows 10 when connected to Azure AD stops showing the last login name or any of hte login accounts.

Not sure why, had a look and found different solutions.

Seems we need to merge a few together.

Issue

Windows 10 does not show last logged in user name.

Potentially does not show any user names.

Doesn't give any clues as to whom is logging in.

Solution

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]

"HideFastUserSwitching"=dword:00000001

"dontdisplaylastusername"=dword:00000000

First option enables fast user account switching & second confirms that the username is displayed.

Either by itself does not work.

You need both.

Save as a reg file and run.

Fix different Sydi-Server issues

2018-06-01T11:08:00.001+01:00

General post pulling together different issues that I've come across and fixed in Sydi-Server

Cannot find cscript.exe

Got an error “Can’t find script engine “VBScript” for script “”.

This sometimes means that the dll needs to be re-registered.
but it can also be a change made by an AV engine. McAfee and symantec do this a lot

Basically the antivirus software had changed the regkey that should point to the VBScript.dll.
Fix that bad entry and the scripts all run fine

Logon to the server as an administrator.
Open the registry editor (regedit.exe) and navigate to the following registry key.[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}\InprocServer32]
Check the path of the Default registry key, it will most likely point to the path of your Anti-Virus Product.
Right click on InprocServer32 and select permissions. Give the Administrators group full access.
Modify the Default registry key and change the path to C:\Windows\system32\vbscript.dll
Change the regkey permissions back.

To re-register the vbscript.dll

Click on start button, type cmd. In the search result right-click on cmd and select

Run as Administrator.

Type cd %windir%\system32 and press enter.

Type regsvr32 vbscript.dll in command prompt and press enter.

If the registration was successful, you should now see the following message:

DllRegisterServer in vbscript.dll succeeded.

Cannot run Cscript.exe

Error running the cscript.exe command

Adding info on cscript.exe not running on Server 2012R2/ Server 2016 and Windows 10.

Copy the cscript.exe file from %windir%\syswow64 to to folder that you have Sydi-Server
saved to and run it now. All fixed!

Fix for SydiServe Excel issue on Excel 2013 and higher.

Sydi Server not working with Excel 2013 or Excel 2016

Sydiserver 2.4 released http://networklore.com/sydi/

When using the overview module sydi-overview.vbs I was getting errors;

sydi-overview2-4.vbs(596, 2) Microsoft VBScript runtime error: Subscript out of range

Great error message!

Turns out Excel 2013 opens 1 sheet by default, so you need to add in sheets 2 and 3
by copying in line 598 a few times.

Code lines for original are (590 to 601) objExcel.Cells.Select

objExcel.Cells.EntireColumn.AutoFit objExcel.ActiveWindow.SplitRow = 0.8 objExcel.ActiveWindow.FreezePanes = True
objExcel.Range("A1").Select objExcel.Sheets(1).Name = "Computers" objExcel.Sheets(2).Name = "WMI Programs"
objExcel.Sheets(3).Name = "Registry Programs" objExcel.Sheets.Add ,objExcel.Sheets(3) ' Add a new sheet after the last
one objExcel.Sheets(4).Name = "Processes" objExcel.Sheets.Add ,objExcel.Sheets(4) ' Add a new sheet after the last one
objExcel.Sheets(5).Name = "OS Distribution Data"

New lines need to be as follows (590 to 603) objExcel.Cells.Select

objExcel.Cells.EntireColumn.AutoFit objExcel.ActiveWindow.SplitRow = 0.8 objExcel.ActiveWindow.FreezePanes = True
objExcel.Range("A1").Select objExcel.Sheets(1).Name = "Computers" objExcel.Sheets.Add ,objExcel.Sheets(1) ' Add a new
sheet after the last one objExcel.Sheets(2).Name = "WMI Programs" objExcel.Sheets.Add ,objExcel.Sheets(2) ' Add a new
sheet after the last one objExcel.Sheets(3).Name = "Registry Programs" objExcel.Sheets.Add ,objExcel.Sheets(3) ' Add a
new sheet after the last one objExcel.Sheets(4).Name = "Processes" objExcel.Sheets.Add ,objExcel.Sheets(4) ' Add a new
sheet after the last one objExcel.Sheets(5).Name = "OS Distribution Data"

Thanks to Patrick Ogenstad http://networklore.com/ for the tools

MD5 hash of file
sydi-overview.vbs: 5f1d5ca7da8e83d5487d08e362ce4994
SHA1 hash of file
sydi-overview.vbs: 9b94e94a59d711155ffc4ec49026198a9e95a4e5

Command to check the hash CertUtil -hashfile sydi-overview.vbs MD5 CertUtil -hashfile
sydi-overview.vbs SHA1

File to download
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wobblewobble/SydiServe_Excel_Fix/master/sydi-overview.vbs

Posting Code to my blogs

2018-01-31T13:02:00.000+00:00

For my own reference to add code to my blogs and not have it edited

Its adding the following

A tag called < code >

the < is replaced with & l t ;

Item

The > is replaced with & g t ;

And a < br / > added to the end of each line for a new line.

Convert a Virtual Box OVA to VMware OVF and deploy

2018-01-31T12:48:00.000+00:00

Back in college and trying to deploy the demo lab machines. Images I got were Virtual Box OVA files that would not deploy direct to ESXi. Trying to import an Virtual Box OVA file into ESXi and I got errors. Disk was incorrect, wrong hardware, didn't know disk size and a few other errors.

Found a few sites describing the methods, but never had a full set of instructions.

Tried for a few hours and came up with the below.

Download the VMware OVFTools, login is needed to access the download (correct link on 31/1/2018)

https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/details?downloadGroup=OVFTOOL350&productId=352

Run OVFtool in Administrator mode and point it at your old

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware OVF Tool>ovftool.exe E:\Downloads\Malware\Sniffer\Sniffer.ova E:\Downloads\Malware\SnifferOVF\sniffer.ovf

Open up the folder you converted to
Delete the mf file (Sniffer.mf) and edit the ovf file as follows

Then use a text editor to change the following sections in the .ovf file

Change the hardware to ESX suitable hardware

<vssd:VirtualSystemType>virtualbox-2.2</vssd:VirtualSystemType>

to

<vssd:VirtualSystemType>vmx-08</vssd:VirtualSystemType>

Edit the Drive Type from SATA to a SCSI to suit VMware

<rasd:Address>0</rasd:Address>
<rasd:Caption>sataController0</rasd:Caption>
<rasd:Description>SATA Controller</rasd:Description>
<rasd:ElementName>sataController0</rasd:ElementName>
<rasd:InstanceID>5</rasd:InstanceID>
<rasd:ResourceSubType>AHCI</rasd:ResourceSubType>
<rasd:ResourceType>20</rasd:ResourceType>

to

<rasd:Address>0</rasd:Address>
<rasd:Caption>SCSIController</rasd:Caption>
<rasd:Description>SCSI Controller</rasd:Description>
<rasd:ElementName>SCSIController</rasd:ElementName>
<rasd:InstanceID>5</rasd:InstanceID>
<rasd:ResourceSubType>lsilogic</rasd:ResourceSubType>
<rasd:ResourceType>6</rasd:ResourceType>

Delete the following section for the Sound Card (approx. line 100)

<Item>

<rasd:AddressOnParent>3</rasd:AddressOnParent>

<rasd:AutomaticAllocation>false</rasd:AutomaticAllocation>

<rasd:Caption>sound</rasd:Caption>

<rasd:Description>Sound Card</rasd:Description>

<rasd:ElementName>sound</rasd:ElementName>

<rasd:InstanceID>7</rasd:InstanceID>

<rasd:ResourceSubType>ensoniq1371</rasd:ResourceSubType>

<rasd:ResourceType>35</rasd:ResourceType>

</Item>

Then deploy your VM using vCenter/ vSphere Client. This will also deploy the vmdk for you as well.

KCCO

Skype for Business Online gives a DNS error

2017-01-24T00:48:00.002+00:00

Skype for Business Online gives a DNS error on user logon

I was involved in migrating a business from one Office 365 Tenancy to another for business reasons.

In the old tenancy the users were successfully using SfB online.after migrating to the new tenancy, we have random users not capable of logging into Office 365 Skype for Business.

The odd thing was they were getting DNS errors

The Skype for Business DNS troubleshooter Link indicated that all was good and the fact that some users could connect and others could not from different parts of the world seemed to indicate further issues. The Skype for Business Troubleshooter of Admins Link indicated at step 12 that I may have the following issues

Check for duplicate SIP addresses:

KB 2430520: Error in the Office 365 portal: "Value of msRTCSIP-PrimaryUserAddress or the SIP address in the ProxyAddresses field in your local Active Directory is not unique"

Check the msRTCSIP-UserEnabled attribute:

KB 2705378: Error message when you try to sign in to Lync Online: "Cannot sign in to Lync because this sign-in address was not found"

After further investigation, it was found that Azure AD Connect had replicated some msRTC… attributes. Looking at a user using ADSIedit I found the following attributes on a user, that I cleared or set to not set

msRTCSIP-DeploymentLocator SRV:

Cleared this attribute

msRTCSIP-FederationEnabled true

Set to not set

msRTCSIP-InternetAccessEnabled true

Set to not set

msRTCSIP-OptionFlags 257

Cleared this attribute

msRTCSIP-PrimaryHomeServer CN=Lc Services,CN=Microsoft,CN=1:1,CN=Pools,CN=RTC Service,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=domain,DC=IE

Cleared this attribute

msRTCSIP-PrimaryUserAddress sip:a.user@domain.IE

Cleared this attribute

msRTCSIP-UserEnabled true

Set to not set

msRTCSIP-UserPolicies 0=2023619321

Cleared this attribute

Clearing these attributes on on premise AD and then forcing a full synchronisation with Azure AD Connect, I could see the user update the cleared records.

Using the Powershell command

Get-CsOnlineUser -identity a.user@domain.ie | select OnPremSipAddress

I saw that the output had the attribute clear and Skype for Business could log in.

Running a slightly different query returned all the other users I had the issue with

# This will find the Lync onpremise enabled users.

Get-CsOnlineUser | select OnPremSipAddress | out-gridview

Turns out there was a Lync Server deployed in the early naughtys that was just unplugged and removed.

2017-01-21T22:05:00.001+00:00

Azure AD Connect - Add OU’s and Run a Full Sync

What does this cover

This is based on my experience in trying to add objects from extra OU's I sync'd from AD to Office 365/ Azure AD using Azure AD Connect, the version released on December 28th - Version 1.1.380.0.

When I just added the OU's and ran a sync from PowerShell the OU's and objects did not sync.

How I did it.

You need to edit the connector if you add OU’s. Technically re-installing should work, but that's a lot of work

OU's. I tried re-running the installer on the install, but it did not add the OU’s or objects.

So open the Synchronisation Service

Default location - "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Azure AD Sync\UIShell\miisclient.exe"

Edit the AD DS connector, not the Windows Azure AD Connector.

On step 4, when you open containers, you will need to offer your on premise AD credentials.

Then run the Connector Full synchronisation

Select Full Synchronisation

This will run and collect all the new OU’s and objects

Then schedule a Azure AD Connect sync

Open powershell

# This imports the Azure AD Sync Module

Import-Module ADSync

# This gets the existing schedule

Get-ADSyncScheduler

# This starts an AD Sync Sync cycle. Yes I know a double sync...not my language

Start-ADSyncSyncCycle –PolicyType Delta

You will, well should get a

Result

--------

Success

On the right hand side…

Reference information

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/connect/active-directory-aadconnectsync-configure-filtering

Sydi Server not working with Excel 2013 or Excel 2016

2016-04-08T22:40:00.003+01:00

Sydiserver 2.4 released http://networklore.com/sydi/

When using the overview module sydi-overview.vbs I was getting errors;

sydi-overview2-4.vbs(596, 2) Microsoft VBScript runtime error: Subscript out of range

Great error message!

Turns out Excel 2013 opens 1 sheet by default, so you need to add in sheets 2 and 3 by copying in line 598 a few times.

Code lines for original are (590 to 601)
objExcel.Cells.Select
objExcel.Cells.EntireColumn.AutoFit
objExcel.ActiveWindow.SplitRow = 0.8
objExcel.ActiveWindow.FreezePanes = True
objExcel.Range("A1").Select
objExcel.Sheets(1).Name = "Computers"
objExcel.Sheets(2).Name = "WMI Programs"
objExcel.Sheets(3).Name = "Registry Programs"
objExcel.Sheets.Add ,objExcel.Sheets(3) ' Add a new sheet after the last one
objExcel.Sheets(4).Name = "Processes"
objExcel.Sheets.Add ,objExcel.Sheets(4) ' Add a new sheet after the last one
objExcel.Sheets(5).Name = "OS Distribution Data"

New lines need to be as follows (590 to 603)
objExcel.Cells.Select
objExcel.Cells.EntireColumn.AutoFit
objExcel.ActiveWindow.SplitRow = 0.8
objExcel.ActiveWindow.FreezePanes = True
objExcel.Range("A1").Select
objExcel.Sheets(1).Name = "Computers"
objExcel.Sheets.Add ,objExcel.Sheets(1) ' Add a new sheet after the last one
objExcel.Sheets(2).Name = "WMI Programs"
objExcel.Sheets.Add ,objExcel.Sheets(2) ' Add a new sheet after the last one
objExcel.Sheets(3).Name = "Registry Programs"
objExcel.Sheets.Add ,objExcel.Sheets(3) ' Add a new sheet after the last one
objExcel.Sheets(4).Name = "Processes"
objExcel.Sheets.Add ,objExcel.Sheets(4) ' Add a new sheet after the last one
objExcel.Sheets(5).Name = "OS Distribution Data"

Thanks to Patrick Ogenstad

http://networklore.com/

for the tools

Odd observation on Azure

2015-10-12T09:57:00.002+01:00

While looking at some guests and testing some connections I found a small oddity.
One one guests the PowerShell end point is called PowerShell

And another guest its WinRM

Odd!

Azure Site to Site VPN on a SonicWall

2015-10-04T15:03:00.001+01:00

Azure Site to Site VPN on a SonicWall

The first of a sequence of posts about Azure and connecting to Azure.

This one goes into the details of connecting an on premise SonicWall to Azure.

I wrote this as it changes a lot and none of the the others I read had all the details or explanations about what was happening.

Hope this helps someone.

Document describes a site to site VPN between Azure and a SonicWall TZ300.

Document put together on the 30/9/2015.

Azure is as per production portal, not the preview portal.

SonicWall is a TZ300 with SonicWall OS SonicOS Enchanced 6.2.4.220n (August 14^th 2015)

Azure Network Configuration

Azure > Network > Dashboard

Azure > Network > Configure

DNS Servers as given out by DHCP

Client VPN configuration and network IP’s given

Site to Site Connectivity (Site to Site VPN)

Define the LAN (on the ground IP Network) Galway Site

Pick Site to Site Type. Express Route is a Network Provider or ISP offering.

Azure LANs. The IP ranges in use in Azure

It is important to note that it is major work to reconfigure an Azure network post production, so leave enough IP’s in there!!!

When the VPN is up, you will see the connected icons.

Azure > Network > Certificates

To connect the Client to Site VPN you need certificates to enable the connectivity

Generate Client to Site Certificates and installation

To generate certificates, use the executable makecert.exe on a suitable client to generate a certificate. You need a root certificate to upload to the Azure VPN endpoint and a client certificate to install on the end user PC.

More info will follow on another post as I’ve come across an issue with certs on Windows 10

Save makecert.exe to a suitable location and use the following command lines from there to generate the certificates.

makecert -sky exchange -r -n "CN=CustomerNameRootCert" -pe -a sha1 -len 2048 -ss My "CustomerNameRootCert.cer"

makecert.exe -n "CN=CustomerNameClientCert" -pe -sky exchange -m 96 -ss My -in "CustomerNameRootCert" -is my -a sha1

Change the red characters for a suitable name for the certificate.

You will need to export the client certificate from the personal certificate store, complete with the private key.

The Root certificate is uploaded to the Azure platform and the client certificate is installed onto the client machines.

I’ll follow up with another post on the client VPN after I sort out my Windows 10 certificate issues.

SonicWall Configuration

System Status

Network > Address Objects

AzureLAN object – Subnet for Azure networks

Server Private object – Host IP for the server on site

VPN > Settings

This indicates a working VPN from an Azure site with the dynamic routing, an Azure Site to Site configured and an Azure Client to Site VPN (site to site and user VPN)

The properties of the VPN

VPN Policy > General

You need the Policy Type (VPN type) Site to Site

Authentication Type IKE using Preshared Key

IPsec Primary Gateway IP From Azure Portal

Shared Secret From Azure Portal

VPN Policy >Network

Local Network X0 Subnet, the local LAN network

Remote Networks Azure Network Object

VPN Policy > Proposals

Dynamic Routing – use IKEv2 Mode

Static Routing – use Main Mode

Check the VPN script for the other configurations

VPN Policy > Advanced

Enable Keep Alive To keep tunnel up with no traffic

Default LAN Gateway Explicitly use the LAN gateway

VPN Policy bound to WAN Interface, Interface X1

When the tunnel is up, we should see a green dot

Testing

Try to ping your resources in Azure from the on premise resources or ping on premise from Azure.

I’ve seen the green dot indicating the VPN is up on the Sonicwall within seconds, but the Azure network can take longer, up to 20 minutes on occasions.

Client VPN Issue

So I had an issue with client VPN's that I was building and getting the following error in the Azure VPN client

A certificate chain processed, but terminated in a root certificate which is not trusted by the trust provider.
(Error 0x800b0109)

I pulled the installer apart with 7ZIP and started exploring the options.

I found that the certificate from the cloud gateway is not been registered in my certificate store.

The Azure VPN client gets a cert from the gateway. in this case a file called

AzureSubscriptionAccessGUID.cer

azuregateway-AzureSubscriptionAccessGUID-1d7fad7de8ea.cloudapp.net

This is installed into the folder

C:\Users\Joe McGlynn\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Cm\AzureSubscriptionAccessGUID

This cert should be installed by the exe....

and the inf file

AzureSubscriptionAccessGUID.inf Lines 108 and on

[RunPostSetupCommandsSection]

;Commands here will be run After setup finishes

reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RasMan\PPP\EAP\13 /v SelectSelfSignedCert /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

cmd.exe /c certutil -addstore root "%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Cm\AzureSubscriptionAccessGUID\AzureSubscriptionAccessGUID.cer"

But its not....

I installed this certificate manually and it works.

Now to find out why...

Openstack install

2013-08-08T00:42:00.000+01:00

So I'm trying to install Openstack on a few virtual machines at home.

Trying to use/ learn and experiment with Openstack to see how it compares, if it does with some of the other options out there.
So I'm using Ubuntu LTS 12.04 and got the network configured and just spent too much time trying to install the basic starting config, the Chef install.

I kept getting errors

++ DISTRIB_RELEASE=12.04
++ DISTRIB_CODENAME=precise
++ DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION='Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS'
+ OS_TYPE=ubuntu
+ OS_VER=12.04
++ uname -p
+ '[' x86_64 '!=' x86_64 ']'
+ CHEF_SERVER_VERSION=11.0.4-1
+ [[ ubuntu = \u\b\u\n\t\u ]]
+ apt-get update -y --force-yes
E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/apt/lists/lock - open (13: Permission denied)
E: Unable to lock directory /var/lib/apt/lists/
E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (13: Permission denied)

E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), are you root?

Didn't matter if I tried sudo, su or just paste the command.

Well I learnt something new, the Root account is locked on a default. Well maybe locked is too strong a word. The help pages state;
Enabling the Root account is rarely necessary. Almost everything you need to do as administrator of an Ubuntu system can be done via sudo or gksudo. If you really need a persistent Root login, the best alternative is to simulate a Root login shell using the following command...

and the command to enable it is

sudo -i
I get in as the Root user and the install goes ahead OK

root@ubuntu:~# curl -s -L https://raw.github.com/rcbops/support-tools/master/chef-install/install-chef-server.sh | bash
+ export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+ DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+ '[' -e /etc/lsb-release ']'
+ source /etc/lsb-release
++ DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
++ DISTRIB_RELEASE=12.04
++ DISTRIB_CODENAME=precise
++ DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION='Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS'
+ OS_TYPE=ubuntu
+ OS_VER=12.04
++ uname -p
+ '[' x86_64 '!=' x86_64 ']'
+ CHEF_SERVER_VERSION=11.0.4-1
+ [[ ubuntu = \u\b\u\n\t\u ]]
+ apt-get update -y --force-yes
Get:1 http://security.ubuntu.com precise-security Release.gpg [198 B]
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise Release.
......

Hope this helps someone.

The next odd decision

2012-10-12T00:01:00.001+01:00

I changed jobs over a year ago and since then have done >…< this much exercise.
Done some stretching, and other bits but bugger all else. So to fix it for the last few weeks I've been getting bike, kit and my brain sorted to cycle to work.
One way trip, 3.6 Km
Hills to work 0.1 Km
Hills to house 3.5Km

I got a slagging from a work colleague that I knew the exact distance. Well when you coast down to work.....you need to know the pain home.

Anyway, 2 days down and all is well. I even get thinking time as opposed to listen to pointless radio rambling.
Have to drive tomorrow, as I need a suit for the far side if the city. I'm disappointed, but my butt is happy.

Next time Linux distro ( so far, Red Hat, Centos and Ubuntu), Windows 2008 and higher and really bad IP communication.

Add a "Tile" to Windows 8 Server

2012-04-11T01:39:00.000+01:00

To add a program to the "Start" List

Hit Windows key

Right click on the background and and hit All Apps

Select the program “App” you want, in this case Command Prompt and “Pin to Start”

Now Command Prompt is available in the “Start Menu”

And I can drag it to the location I want!

Woooooo Hoooo

Batch file open with

2012-04-11T00:35:00.000+01:00

I broke this before a few years ago and well it appeared again as one of the lads at the www.minasi.com forum posted about the same issue and how to fix it.

When I broke it, I was doing god knows what and had a backup, but was curious. Its simple to fix and shows us a bit more about windows and file associations.

First off, my best advice, if you did this on a production machine and do not remember how, rebuild it. If its a hurry try this.

From a command prompt type the following;
assoc .bat
This should give the following output

.bat=batfile

If not in the command window to restore the default file type association type

assoc .bat=batfile

Easy peasy

Win8 Funny - to be explored or answered

2012-04-11T00:21:00.000+01:00

Demo MS Machine

Ram indicates 0GB, yet

Indicates 2GB of RAM.

Hummm, time to install a guest to my own machine.

Windows 8 and bits I've learnt so far.

2012-04-10T11:01:00.000+01:00

Stuff I've learnt so far.

Office 2010 Plus install would not install off the ISO with the built in "mount iso" option as it kept looking for the Powerpoint installer, even when I only selected install Outlook 2010.
So I mounted the ISO on another machine and installed from there - odd.

Setting an item from a "tile" to a shortcut, hit the windows key, right click on the tile and select the option you want;

Some shortcut keys and what they do;

Win + D Show Desktop.

Win + E Open Windows Explorer.

Win + I Open Settings Charm (plus Control Panel, Personalization, PC Info, and Desktop Help).

Win + X Open Desktop quick menu (it’s like a mini Start Menu!)

Win + R Open Run Dialog.

Win + T Cycle through Desktop apps on the Taskbar

Alt + Tab Open next App (rotates through Apps, Desktop apps each have one place in rotation).

(release Tab,repeat)

Alt + 1 to 9 Open the pinned Taskbar application

Some mouse actions and what they do;

So I looked out the window and saw ...

2012-03-28T11:32:00.001+01:00

And then today I get sent this!

Only in Ireland!

Security notes

2012-03-11T10:02:00.002+00:00

Been looking more and more at security recently and want to put out some nice links I've found.

I love this and tend to use it as a starting point for a discussion with people, especially non
techie people.

10 Immutable Laws of Security

It was posted back in early 2000's and I think is still relevant.

Law #1: If a bad guy can persuade you to run his program on your computer, it's not your computer any more

Law #2: If a bad guy can alter the operating system on your computer, it's not your computer any more

Law #3: If a bad guy has unrestricted physical access to your computer, it's not your computer any more

Law #4: If you allow a bad guy to upload programs to your website, it's not your website any more

Law #5: Weak passwords trump strong security

Law #6: A computer is only as secure as the administrator is trustworthy

Law #7: Encrypted data is only as secure as the decryption key

Law #8: An out of date virus scanner is only marginally better than no virus scanner at all

Law #9: Absolute anonymity isn't practical, in real life or on the Web

Law #10: Technology is not a panacea

Another Microsoft product that I like is this

Microsoft Security Assessment Tool

Expect to spend at least 20 minutes filling it in. Then save the report off for comparison for again.

Found this book, ISO 27001 in a Windows Environment, nice easy read by an Irish man Brian Honan Link

For passwords, Steve Gibson has a password generator on his site, very cool
Password generation
and a password checker (how long to brute force it)
Password Haystack
A port checker
Shields Up
And so much more, go check it out www.grc.com

Where did this all come from, ISO 27001 requirements.

Lync 2010 and Federation

2012-03-11T09:29:00.000+00:00

We recently got Lync 2010 in-house and started looking to see what can be done to federate with some of the people we work and co-operate with.

To check if you can federate with someone, they need to have a DNS record on

While there are other requirements, the easiest to check is the DNS Service record named _sipfederationtls._tcp.domain.

This should point to a valid DNS A record to an Access Edge server formatted

access_edge_servername.domain and point to port 5061.

To see what it looks like here is Microsoft's record, open a command prompt and use the command

nslookup -q=srv _sipfederationtls._tcp.microsoft.com

To federate with Office 365 I tried using the Control Panel but it would not accept the information, so I ended up using a powershell command to add federation will all of Office 365

New-CSHostingProvider –identity LyncOnline –ProxyFqdn sipfed.online.lync.com –Enabled $True

I'm still looking into why this is not displayed in the Lync Control Panel!

WINs..... a large number

2012-03-02T22:22:00.001+00:00

A good friend has been saying that WINs is dead, but the number is big and therefore will take some time to die.

Now it appears that it is yet another large number.

The number appears to be at least another 3842 days (10 years for the life of Server 8 and the extra for the RTM to appear)

WINs is dead, long live WINs.

wow

2012-02-27T20:57:00.003+00:00

I'd love to have this much time...

Bigger version of the picture here

Nice one.

Andrew Lipsons web site

And his disclaimer...

Because The LEGO Company get paranoid about this sort of thing let me make it clear that I have no affiliation with them, that my views are my own and do not necessarily represent theirs, and so on. So if you think any of this is official you are as deluded as they are.

Minasi forum Meeting 2012

2012-02-27T20:49:00.000+00:00

A technical forum I've participated in for years is having another gathering in the near future. Lots of cool people with years of Microsoft knowledge backing up their claims and beliefs. So come along for an educational and fun event.

The dates and speakers for the Minasi 2012 Forum Meeting have been finalised and now published.

You can find the necessary details here

Minasi Conference Website

and here

Minasi Technical Forum

You can book here

Minasi Conference Registration Page

As a preview, here are the speakers

2012 Schedule
Sunday – April 29th 2012

12:00 – Conference Registration Begins

1.00 – Opening Session led by Mark Minasi + Don Jones, What has changed in the last 3 years, how to stay on TOP!

2.00 – Session 1: Mark Minasi – 10 (or more) things that you don’t know about Windows Server 8

3:15 – Break

3:30 – Don Jones

4:00 – Ed Wilson – Microsoft Scripting guy on everything but PosH 3

4:30 – Break

4:45 – Mark Minasi

6:00 – Welcome Reception

Monday – April 30th 2012

9:00 – Jimi Vigotti – how I do it and how you can to (with the right kit).

10:15 – Dave Bisson - Enterprise App Store

11:30 – Break

11:45 – Stacy Hein - SQL Server at scale. Office 365 style

1:00 – Lunch (Provided)

1:45 – Todd Lammle – The next step.

3:00 – James Summerlin – SQL Server Integration Services – More in-depth than last time!

4:15 – Break

4:30 – James Adgate – Security in The Enterprise in 2012: Managing DLP Programs and Driving Standards for Secure Coding of Home Grown Web-Facing Enterprise Applications.

5:45 – Offsite Dinner Organized with Transportation

Tuesday – May 1st 2012

9:00 – James Summerlin – Juniper, Life after TMG/ ISA

10:30 –Scott Calvet – TBC Desktop Virtualization VMware View 5

11:00 – Dennis Olidis - Free Tools to Troubleshoot and Diagnose your Windows System

12:30 – Lunch (Provided)

1:00 – Eric Rux – TBC– Using Windows in your Home!

2:15 – Break

2:30 – A N Other – Microsoft Conferencing, Skype and Lync

3:45 – Break

4:00 – Curt Spanburg – Microsoft Business Application Survival Skills for the IT Admin

5:30 – Dinner (on your own) at a local restaurant. Last chance to rub elbows.

Wednesday - May 2nd 2012

9.00 – Ultan Kinahan – Fixing the big stuff!

10:00 – Ton Siemons – Comparing Hypervisors, VMware, HyperV and Xen
11:15 – Break

11:30 – Michael Ferguson – Managing Security

12:45 – Closing and Lunch

2:00 – Unofficial Round Table

Shortcuts

2012-02-27T20:34:00.000+00:00

These are all done before all over the net, but they are my ones, both CPL amd MSC shortcuts.

Accessibility Controls	access.cpl
Add Hardware Wizard	hdwwiz.cpl
Add/Remove Programs	appwiz.cpl
Administrative Tools	control admintools
Automatic Updates	wuaucpl.cpl
Bluetooth Transfer Wizard	fsquirt
Calculator	calc
Certificate Manager	certmgr.msc
Character Map	charmap
Check Disk Utility	chkdsk
Clipboard Viewer	clipbrd
Command Prompt	cmd
Component Services	dcomcnfg
Computer Management	compmgmt.msc
Date/Time Properties	timedate.cpl
DDE Share	ddeshare
Device Manager	devmgmt.msc
Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)*	directx.cpl
Direct X Troubleshooter	dxdiag
Disk Cleanup Utility	cleanmgr
Disk Defragment	dfrg.msc
Disk Management	diskmgmt.msc
Disk Partition Manager	diskpart
Display Properties	control desktop
Display Properties	desk.cpl
Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected)	control color
Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility	drwtsn32
Driver Verifier Utility	verifier
Event Viewer	eventvwr.msc
File Signature Verification Tool	sigverif
Findfast	findfast.cpl
Folders Properties	control folders
Fonts	control fonts
Fonts Folder	fonts
Free Cell Card Game	freecell
Game Controllers	joy.cpl
Group Policy Editor (XP Prof)	gpedit.msc
Hearts Card Game	mshearts
Iexpress Wizard	iexpress
Indexing Service	ciadv.msc
Internet Properties	inetcpl.cpl
IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration)	ipconfig /all
IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents)	ipconfig /displaydns
IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents)	ipconfig /flushdns
IP Configuration (Release All Connections)	ipconfig /release
IP Configuration (Renew All Connections)	ipconfig /renew
IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re-Registers DNS)	ipconfig /registerdns
IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID)	ipconfig /showclassid
IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID)	ipconfig /setclassid
Java Control Panel (If Installed)	jpicpl32.cpl
Java Control Panel (If Installed)	javaws
Keyboard Properties	control keyboard
Local Security Settings	secpol.msc
Local Users and Groups	lusrmgr.msc
Logs You Out Of Windows	logoff
Microsoft Chat	winchat
Minesweeper Game	winmine
Mouse Properties	control mouse
Mouse Properties	main.cpl
Network Connections	control netconnections
Network Connections	ncpa.cpl
Network Setup Wizard	netsetup.cpl
Notepad	notepad
Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed)	nvtuicpl.cpl
Object Packager	packager
ODBC Data Source Administrator	odbccp32.cpl
On Screen Keyboard	osk
Opens AC3 Filter (If Installed)	ac3filter.cpl
Password Properties	password.cpl
Performance Monitor	perfmon
Phone and Modem Options	telephon.cpl
Power Configuration	powercfg.cpl
Printers and Faxes	control printers
Printers Folder	printers
Private Character Editor	eudcedit
Quicktime (If Installed)	QuickTime.cpl
Regional Settings	intl.cpl
Registry Editor	regedit
Registry Editor	regedit32
Remote Desktop	mstsc
Removable Storage	ntmsmgr.msc
Removable Storage Operator Requests	ntmsoprq.msc
Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof)	rsop.msc
Scanners and Cameras	sticpl.cpl
Scheduled Tasks	control schedtasks
Security Center	wscui.cpl
Services	services.msc
Shared Folders	fsmgmt.msc
Shuts Down Windows	shutdown
Sounds and Audio	mmsys.cpl
Spider Solitare Card Game	spider
SQL Client Configuration	cliconfg
System Configuration Editor	sysedit
System Configuration Utility	msconfig
System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately)	sfc /scannow
System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot)	sfc /scanonce
System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot)	sfc /scanboot
System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting)	sfc /revert
System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache)	sfc /purgecache
System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x)	sfc /cachesize=x
System Properties	sysdm.cpl
Task Manager	taskmgr
Telnet Client	telnet
User Account Management	nusrmgr.cpl
Utility Manager	utilman
Windows Firewall	firewall.cpl
Windows Magnifier	magnify
Windows Management Infrastructure	wmimgmt.msc
Windows System Security Tool	syskey
Windows Update Launches	wupdmgr
Windows XP Tour Wizard	tourstart
Wordpad	wordpad
AD Domains and Trusts	domain.msc
Active Directory Management	admgmt.msc
AD Sites and Services	dssite.msc
AD Users and Computers	dsa.msc
ADSI Edit	adsiedit.msc
Authorization manager	azman.msc
Certification Authority Management	certsrv.msc
Certificate Templates	certtmpl.msc
Cluster Administrator	cluadmin.exe
Computer Management	compmgmt.msc
Component Services	comexp.msc
Configure Your Server	cys.exe
Device Manager	devmgmt.msc
DHCP Management	dhcpmgmt.msc
Disk Defragmenter	dfrg.msc
Disk Manager	diskmgmt.msc
Distributed File System	dfsgui.msc
DNS Management	dnsmgmt.msc
Event Viewer	eventvwr.msc
Indexing Service Management	ciadv.msc
IP Address Manage	ipaddrmgmt.msc
Licensing Manager	llsmgr.exe
Local Certificates Management	certmgr.msc
Local Group Policy Editor	gpedit.msc
Local Security Settings Manager	secpol.msc
Local Users and Groups Manager	lusrmgr.msc
Network Load balancing	nlbmgr.exe
Performance Monitor	perfmon.msc
PKI Viewer	pkiview.msc
Public Key Management	pkmgmt.msc
QoS Control Management	acssnap.msc
Remote Desktops	tsmmc.msc
Remote Storage Administration	rsadmin.msc
Removable Storage	ntmsmgr.msc
Removable Storage Operator Requests	ntmsoprq.msc
Routing and Remote Access Manager	rrasmgmt.msc
Resultant Set of Policy	rsop.msc
Schema management	schmmgmt.msc
Services Management	services.msc
Shared Folders	fsmgmt.msc
SID Security Migration	sidwalk.msc
Telephony Management	tapimgmt.msc
Terminal Server Configuration	tscc.msc
Terminal Server Licensing	licmgr.exe
Terminal Server Manager	tsadmin.exe
UDDI Services Management	uddi.msc
Windows Management Instrumentation	wmimgmt.msc
WINS Server manager	winsmgmt.msc

Frustration clearing the ARP cache on a linux box

2012-02-20T23:49:00.001+00:00

Spent quite some time trying to get to the bottom of this little wonder, how to delete the ARP cache on a linux distro, backtrack 5 to be specific.

Got slightly distracted by this error message on a completely different subject

So back to the problem in hand. Clear or delete the ARP cache on Backtrack

You have to delete each individual ARP entries
So for
192.168.1.1
192.168.1.5
192.168.1.100

you have to use
arp -d 192.168.1.1
arp -d 192.168.1.5
arp -d 192.168.1.100

I've seen mention of scripts to do this, but I think a reboot would be quicker for myself.

for Windows people,
ARP -a displays the ARP cache
arp -d * deletes the arp cache, but need elevated rights in Vista, W7, Server 2008+

Seems I need to look into Linux SE. That may be stopping arp -d* deleting all ARP entries..