INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Interview Question

2014-10-30T21:30:00.000+05:30

Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Interview Question

1. What are Exchange Sever 2013 and its evolution?

Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 is an email, calendaring, and address book system that runs on a centralized Windows Server system

Exchange 4.0 – 5.0 – 5.5 – 2000 – 2003 – 2007 – 2010- 2013

2. What are the new features in Exchange server 2013

PFs do take advantage of the existing high availability and storage technologies of the mailbox store, using specially designed mailboxes to store both the hierarchy (the properties of the PFs and the structure in which they are organized) and the content (the actual data) of PFs.

 Site Mailbox was introduced in Exchange 2013

 Exchange Administration Center was introduced.

 New Managed Store completely rewritten in C# was introduced.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj150540%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

http://www.msexchange.org/articles-tutorials/exchange-server-2013/planning-architecture/exchange-2013-preview-publicfolders-part1.html

3. What are the features removed from Exchange 2013 compared to legacy version of Exchange server

 Exchange Management console was removed.

 Removal of storage group.

 Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) streaming backup APIs

 User Datagram Protocol (UDP) notifications

 Document Access, Message Flag, Spell Check, Search folder are removed from Outlook Web App

 Client authentication using Integrated Windows authentication (NTLM) for POP3 and IMAP4 users

 Managed Folder

 Export-Mailbox, Import-Mailbox & Move-Mailbox cmdlets

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj619283%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

4. What are the feature still remains in Exchange Server 2013 that have not got removed out.

 Microsoft still use Jet EDB Database Structure

 Exchange 2013 still uses the VSSBackup application programming for backup

5. How many roles are there in Exchange Server 2013

 There are two roles In Exchange Server 2013.

1. Client Access Server Role and

2 . Mailbox Server Role

 There are three roles In Exchange Server 2013 SP1.

1. Client Access Server Role and

2 . Mailbox Server Role

3. Edge Server Role

6. What are different edition in Exchange Server 2010 and how do you find them

Two server editions:
Standard Edition
Enterprise Edition.

The Exchange server edition can be find using the build number. PowerShell command : Get-ExchangeServer | ft identity, admin*

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb232170%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

7. What is the latest service pack or patch available in Exchange server 2013.

 Exchange Server 2013 Service Pack 1 which got released on Feb 25 2014

8. List the Exchange server 2013 SP1 License Types

 Server licenses A license must be assigned for each instance of the server software that is being run. The Server license is sold in two server editions: Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition.

 Client Access licenses (CALs) Exchange 2013 also comes in two client access license (CAL) editions, which are referred to as a Standard CAL and an Enterprise CAL.

Ref: http://office.microsoft.com/en-in/exchange/microsoft-exchange-server-licensing-licensing-overview-FX103746915.aspx

9. What are the prerequisites needed to install exchange Server 2013 SP1 (CPU, Memory, Disk & OS )

 Microsoft Operating System: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with

Service Pack 1 (SP1) operating system

 Components:

o Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5

o Windows Management Framework 4.0

o Remote Tools Administration Pack

o ADLDS for Exchange Server 2013 Edge Server Role

 Memory

o Mailbox 8GB minimum

o Client Access 4GB minimum

o Mailbox and Client Access combined 8GB minimum

o Edge Transport 4GB minimum

 Disk space

o At least 30 GB on the drive on which you install Exchange

o An additional 500 MB of available disk space for each Unified Messaging (UM) language pack

o 200 MB of available disk space on the system drive

o A hard disk that stores the message queue database on with at least 500 MB of free space.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

10. Where Exchange Server stores the Exchange related information in Active Directory

 Domain Partition – Mail enable recipient, groups and contact related to domain level are stored

 Configuration Partition – Stores the Exchange configuration information like, policies, global settings, address list, connecters and it contains the information related to forest level

 Schema Partition – stores the Exchange specific classes and attributes

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998561%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

11. What are the types of Active Directory deployment that server supported in Exchange Server 2013 deployment

 Single Forest

 Multi Forest

 Resource Forest

12. Difference between Exchange 2013 on-premises, Online, office 365 and Windows Azure Powershell

The Exchange Online is able to manage the users and permission of Exchange service. The Office 365 (Windows Azure AD) is to manage the whole Office 365 service. Windows Azure can use to manage users, domain and other things which will affect the whole Office 365 service. It is not able to be used to manage Exchange service, Lync service and SharePoint service. To manage Exchange service, you need to use Exchange Online PowerShell to perform the activity.

Ref:http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2012/09/19/comparing-exchange-online-and-exchange-server-2013.aspx

http://community.office365.com/en-us/forums/148/t/193946.aspx

13. List out the purpose of running prepare schema and prepare AD switches in Exchange server 2013

 Prepare Schema – After running the Prepare Schema switch, the Active directory will contain the classes and attributes required to support Exchange environment

 Prepare AD – after running the Prepare AD switch, new container will be created to hold the details of the information from server to databases to connectors. This process also created universal security groups to manage Exchange and sets appropriate permissions on objects to allow them to be managed

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb125224%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

14. What happened to HT, UM and Edge role in Exchange Server 2013

 The hub transport role and unified message role are splited on the Client access server role and mailbox server role to perform the complete operation. Edge Server was launched again in the Exchange server 2013 service pack 1

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/jj851175.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj150569%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

15. How many user databases and recovery databases are supported in Exchange server 2013

 Enterprise Edition can support 50 mounted databases per server in the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) and (CU1) versions, and 100 mounted databases per server in (CU2) and later versions; Standard Edition is limited to 5 mounted databases per server

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb232170%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

16. What is the change in the MAPI connectivity with Exchange Server 2013

 Microsoft removed MAPI over RPC in Exchange Server 2013 and they used RPC over HTTP. The also introduced MAPI Over HTTP in Exchange 2013 SP1 which works if you have Outlook 2013 SP1

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn635177%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123741%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

17. What is the purpose of Autodiscover service & Availability Service?

 Auto discover service— The Autodiscover service does the following:

o Automatically configures user profile settings for clients running Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, or Outlook 2013, as well as supported mobile phones.

o Provides access to Exchange features for Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, or Outlook 2013 clients that are connected to your Exchange messaging environment.

o Uses a user's email address and password to provide profile settings to Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, or

Outlook 2013 clients and supported mobile phones. If the Outlook client is joined to a domain, the user's domain account is used.

 Availability service—The Availability service is the replacement for Free/Busy functionality responsible for making a user’s calendar availability visible to other users making meeting requests.

o Retrieve current free/busy information for Exchange 2013 mailboxes

o Retrieve current free/busy information from other Exchange 2013 organizations

o Retrieve published free/busy information from public folders for mailboxes on servers that have previous versions of Exchange

o View attendee working hours

o Show meeting time suggestions

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124251%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb232134%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

18. What are the DNS host record required to receiving email from the internet

 A mail exchange (MX) record that contains information about which mail server the domain uses to receive mail.

19. Explain the list of files will be there under Exchange 2013 database folder

 *.edb File - A mailbox database is stored as an Exchange database (.edb) file.

 Checkpoint file .chk, keeps track of which transactional logs moves into database files. Keep on check the log file entering the database in a current order

 Transactional log – eoo.log file which write the current transactions into transactional logs. If it reaches 1 MB, it will rename the log file into E00000001.log

 Temp.EDB – Temporary database file, which will process the transactional logs that are to be to write in .EDB Database file

 .JRS – Reserved Log files – if the size of the disk is full and you can’t write any mails as transactional logs these files will help into action

20. What you mean by database portability

 Database portability is a feature that enables a Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 mailbox database to be moved to or mounted on any other Mailbox server in the same organization running Exchange 2013 that has databases with the same database schema version. Mailbox databases from previous versions of Exchange can't be moved to a Mailbox server running Exchange 2013. By using database portability, reliability is improved by removing several error-prone, manual steps from the recovery processes. In addition, database portability reduces the overall recovery times for various failure scenarios.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd876873%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

21. What is the purpose of DAC?

 DAC mode is used to control the startup database mount behavior of a DAG. When DAC mode isn't enabled and a failure occurs that affects multiple servers in the DAG, and then when a majority of the DAG members are restored after the failure, the DAG will restart and attempt to mount databases. In a multi-datacenter configuration, this behavior could cause split brain syndrome, a condition that occurs when all networks fail, and DAG members can't receive heartbeat signals from each other. Split brain syndrome can also occur when network connectivity is severed between datacenters. Split brain syndrome is prevented by always requiring a majority of the DAG members (and in the case of DAGs with an even number of members, the DAG's witness server) to be available and interacting for the DAG to be operational. When a majority of the members are communicating, the DAG is said to have quorum.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd979790%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

22. How to check backup is completed successfully for the Exchange 2013 mailbox database

 Powershell Command - Get-Mailboxdatabase -status | Format-List Identity, *backup*

23. What is the purpose of site mailbox in Exchange server 2013

 Site mailbox requires Exchange 2013 and Sharepoint 2013 which has the functionally of shared storage through an Exchange 2013 mailbox for email messages and a SharePoint 2013 site for documents, and a management interface that addresses provisioning.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj150499%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

24. What is the change on public folder in Exchange Server 2013

 Public folder uses specially designed mailboxes to store both the public folder hierarchy and the content. This also means that there’s no longer a public folder database. High availability for the public folder mailboxes is provided by a database availability group (DAG).

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj150538%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

25. Explain the mail flow in Exchange server 2013

The below diagram provides more detail on the mail flow in Exchange server 2013. To have more detail look on

http://blogs.technet.com/b/rischwen/archive/2013/03/13/exchange-2013-mail-flow-demystified-hopefully.aspx

26. What is S/MIME certificate and how to send email using S/MIME certificate

 S/MIME (Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions)used for users to encrypt outgoing messages and attachments so that only intended recipients who have a digital identification (ID), also known as a certificate, can read them. With S/MIME, users can digitally sign a message, which provides the recipients with a way to verify the identity of the sender and that the message hasn't been tampered with.

 Setting up S/MIME for Outlook Web App needs Exchange 2013 SP1 which can be configured using Powershell command

Get-SmimeConfig and Set-SmimeConfig

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738140%28v=exchg.141%29.aspx

http://office.microsoft.com/en-in/mac-outlook-help/send-a-digitally-signed-or-encrypted-message-HA102928381.aspx

27. What is RBAC and list out the management role present in Exchange Server 2013

 Role Based Access Control (RBAC) is the permissions model used in Microsoft Exchange Server 2013. With RBAC, you don't need to modify and manage access control lists (ACLs), which was done in Exchange Server 2007. ACLs created several challenges in Exchange 2007, such as modifying ACLs without causing unintended consequences, maintaining ACL modifications through upgrades, and troubleshooting problems that occurred due to using ACLs in a nonstandard way.

o Organization Management

o View-Only Organization Management

o Recipient Management

o UM Management

o Discovery Management

o Records Management

o Server Management

o Help Desk

o Hygiene Management

o Compliance Management

o Public Folder Management

o Delegated Setup

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd298183%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

28. How to enable Offline Outlook Web App (OWA) in Exchange Server 2013

 Microsoft Outlook Web App (OWA) 2013 has the new option called "Offline" use. It allows you to use Webmail without being connected to the server. OWA in "Offline" mode can also be used when you have no Internet connection. When you turn on "Offline" use, a local copy of your mailbox data is created. The supported browsers are Internet Explorer 10, Safari 5 or Chrome 16.

 To set offline access for an Outlook Web App mailbox policy, use:

Set-OwaMailboxPolicy –AllowOfflineOn [NoComputers | AllComputers | PrivateComputers]

 To set offline access for an Outlook Web App virtual directory:

Set-OwaVirtualDirectory –AllowOfflineOn [NoComputers | AllComputers | PrivateComputers]

Ref: http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2012/11/06/offline-access-in-outlook-web-app-2013.aspx

29. How Activesync works in Exchange Server 2013

 Microsoft ActiveSync provides for synchronized access to email from a handheld device, such as a Pocket PC or other Windows Mobile device. It allows for real-time send and receives functionality to and from the handheld, through the use of push technology.

 A mobile device that's configured to synchronize with an Exchange 2013 server issues an HTTPS request to the server.

This request is known as a PING. The request tells the server to notify the device if any items change in the next 15 minutes in any folder that's configured to synchronize. Otherwise, the server should return an HTTP 200 OK message.

The mobile device then stands by. The 15-minute time span is known as a heartbeat interval.

 If no items change in 15 minutes, the server returns a response of HTTP 200 OK. The mobile device receives this response, resumes activity (known as waking up), and issues its request again. This restarts the process.

 If any items change or new items are received within the 15-minute heartbeat interval, the server sends a response that informs the mobile device that there's a new or changed item and provides the name of the folder in which the new or changed item resides. After the mobile device receives this response, it issues a synchronization request for the

folder that has the new or changed item. When synchronization is complete, the mobile device issues a new PING request and the whole process starts over.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa997252%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

30. What is the purpose of retention policy tag

 Retention tags are used to apply retention settings to folders and individual items such as e-mail messages and voice mail. These settings specify how long a message remains in a mailbox and the action to be taken when the message reaches the specified retention age. When a message reaches its retention age, it's moved to the user’s In-Place Archive or deleted.

 Unlike managed folders (the MRM feature introduced in Exchange Server 2007), retention tags allow users to tag their own mailbox folders and individual items for retention. Users no longer have to file items in managed folders provisioned by an administrator based on message retention requirements.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd297955%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

31. What is the advantage of mailbox movement in Exchange Server 2013

 It’s online mailbox movement where we don’t user intervention to close their outlook while moving the mailbox between exchange server or databases

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj150543%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

32. What are PowerShell cmdlet used to check the mailbox connectivity with Exchange Server 2013

 Test-Mapiconnectivity

 Test-Outlookconnectivity

 Test-ImapConnectivity

 Test-PopConnectivity

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123681%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd638082%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738126%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738143%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

33. How to determine the Exchange server 2013 health status

 Test-ServiceHealth

 Get-ServerHealth -Identity Server01

 Test-ReplicationHealth -Identity MBX1

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998852%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj218703%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691314%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

34. Difference between proxy and re-direction terminology in Exchange Server 2013

 Microsoft Client Access server can act as a proxy for other Client Access servers within the organization. This is useful when multiple Client Access servers exist in different Active Directory sites in an organization, and at least one of those sites isn't exposed to the Internet.

 A Client Access server can also perform redirection for Microsoft Office Outlook Web App URLs and for Exchange ActiveSync devices. Redirection is useful when users connect to a Client Access server that isn't in their local Active

Directory site, or if a mailbox has moved between Active Directory sites. It's also useful if users should actually be using a more effective URL. For example, users should be using a URL that's closer to the Active Directory site in which their mailbox resides.

Ref: http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2013/01/25/exchange-2013-client-access-server-role.aspx

35. How to check Exchange 2013 autodiscover service

 To verify the auto discover use the Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer - https://testconnectivity.microsoft.com/

 Test-OutlookWebServices -identity:Rajis@mail.com | ft * -AutoSize –Wrap

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc539050.aspx

36. What is the new feature added in Exchange 2013 Transport rule

New predicates and actions are added in Exchange 2013

o New predicates

 AttachmentExtensionMatchesWords Used to detect messages that contain attachments with specific extensions.

 AttachmentHasExecutableContent Used to detect messages that contain attachments with executable content.

 HasSenderOverride Used to detect messages where the sender has chosen to override a DLP policy restriction.

 MessageContainsDataClassifications Used to detect sensitive information in the message body and any of the attachments. For a list of data classifications available, see Sensitive Information Types

Inventory.

 MessageSizeOver Used to detect messages whose overall size is greater than or equal to the specified limit.

 SenderIPRanges Used to detect messages sent from a specific set of IP address ranges.

o New actions

 GenerateIncidentReport Generates an incident report that is sent to a specified SMTP address.

The action also has a parameter called IncidentReportOriginalMail that accepts one of two values: IncludeOriginalMail or DoNotIncludeOriginalMail.

 NotifySender Controls how the sender of a message that goes against a DLP policy is notified. You can choose to simply inform the sender and route the message normally, or you can choose to reject the message and notify the sender.

 StopRuleProcessing Stops the processing of all subsequent rules on the message.

 ReportSeverityLevel Sets the specified severity level in the incident report. Values for the action are: Informational, Low, Medium, High, and Off.

 RouteMessageOutboundRequireTLS Requires Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption when routing this message outside your organization. If TLS encryption isn't supported, the message is rejected and not delivered.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj150483%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

37. How to move the database from one drive to another disk

 Using Exchange 2013 Powershell command: Move-DatabasePath

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124742%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

38. What are the Outlook client versions and browser supported in Exchange Server 2013

 Outlook 2013

 Outlook 2010 SP1 with November 2012 Cumulative Update

 Outlook 2007 SP3 with November 2012 Cumulative Update

 Entourage 2008 for Mac, Web Services Edition

 Outlook for Mac 2011

Ref:https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/845.outlook-versions-supported-by-exchange- 200720102013online.aspx

39. List the different type of mailboxes can be created in Exchange Server 2013

 User Mailbox

 Room Mailbox

 Shared Mailbox

 Site Mailbox

 Linked User Mailbox

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb201680%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

40. List out the service used for CAS server and Mailbox Server

 Microsoft Exchange 2013 Mailbox Services

 MSExchangeADTopology.exe Microsoft Exchange Active Directory Topology

 MSExchangeAntispamUpdate.exe Microsoft Exchange Anti-spam Update

 MSExchangeDagMgmt.exe Microsoft Exchange DAG Management

 MSExchangeDelivery.exe Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Transport Delivery

 MSExchangeDiagnostics.exe Microsoft Exchange Diagnostics

 MSExchangeEdgeSync.exe Microsoft Exchange EdgeSync

 MSExchangeFastSearch.exe Microsoft Exchange Search

 MSExchangeHM.exe Microsoft Exchange Health Manager

 MSExchangeIMAP4BE.exe Microsoft Exchange IMAP4 Backend

 MSExchangeIS.exe Microsoft Exchange Information Store

 MSExchangeMailboxAssistants.exe Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Assistants

 MSExchangeMailboxReplication.exe Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Replication

 MSExchangeMigrationWorkflow.exe Microsoft Exchange Migration Workflow

 MSExchangePOP3BE.exe Microsoft Exchange POP3 Backend

 MSExchangeRepl.exe Microsoft Exchange Replication

 MSExchangeRPC.exe Microsoft Exchange RPC Client Access

 MSExchangeServiceHost.exe Microsoft Exchange Service Host

 MSExchangeSubmission.exe Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Transport Submission

 MSExchangeThrottling.exe Microsoft Exchange Throttling

 MSExchangeTransport.exe Microsoft Exchange Transport

 MSExchangeTransportLogSearch.exe Microsoft Exchange Transport Log Search

 MSExchangeUM.exe Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging

 Exchange 2013 Client Access Services

 MSExchangeADTopology.exe Microsoft Exchange Active Directory Topology

 MSExchangeDiagnostics.exe Microsoft Exchange Diagnostics

 MSExchangeFrontEndTransport.exe Microsoft Exchange Frontend Transport

 MSExchangeHM.exe Microsoft Exchange Health Manager

 MSExchangeIMAP4.exe Microsoft Exchange IMAP4

 MSExchangePOP3.exe Microsoft Exchange POP3

 MSExchangeServiceHost.exe Microsoft Exchange Service Host

 MSExchangeUMCR.exe Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging Call Router

41. What is the service needed to move mailbox in Exchange 2013

Move requests are processed by two services:

o Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Replication service (MRS)

o Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Replication Proxy (MRSProxy) service

Ref: http://www.msexchange.org/articles-tutorials/exchange-server-2013/mobility-client-access/exchange-2013-local-mailboxmoves-part1.html

42. What is the purpose of File Share Witness

 A witness server is a server outside a DAG that's used to achieve and maintain quorum when the DAG has an even number of members. DAGs with an odd number of members don't use a witness server. All DAGs with an even number of members must use a witness server. The witness server can be any computer running Windows Server. There is no requirement that the version of the Windows Server operating system of the witness server matches the operating system used by the DAG members

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd638104%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

43. Llist out the different type of quorum model used in Exchange server 2013

 Even - Node and File Share Majority quorum mode

 Odd - Majority quorum mode

 DAGs with an even number of members use the failover cluster's Node and File Share Majority quorum mode, which employs an external witness server that acts as a tie-breaker. In this quorum mode, each DAG member gets a vote. In addition, the witness server is used to provide one DAG member with a weighted vote (for example, it gets two votes instead of one). The cluster quorum data is stored by default on the system disk of each member of the DAG, and is kept consistent across those disks. However, a copy of the quorum data isn't stored on the witness server. A file on the witness server is used to keep track of which member has the most updated copy of the data, but the witness server doesn't have a copy of the cluster quorum data. In this mode, a majority of the voters (the DAG members plus the witness server) must be operational and able to communicate with each other to maintain quorum. If a majority of the voters can't communicate with each other, the DAG's underlying cluster loses quorum, and the DAG will require administrator intervention to become operational again.

 DAGs with an odd number of members use the failover cluster's Node Majority quorum mode. In this mode, each member gets a vote, and each member's local system disk is used to store the cluster quorum data. If the configuration of the DAG changes, that change is reflected across the different disks. The change is only considered to have been committed and made persistent if that change is made to the disks on half the members (rounding down) plus one. For

example, in a five-member DAG, the change must be made on two plus one members, or three members total.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd979799%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

44. Difference between Primary Active Manager and Standby Active Manager

 Primary Active Manager which runs inside the Microsoft Exchange Replication Service used to notify and react in case of server failure. The PAM owns the cluster quorum resource and holds the information about active, passive and mounted databases.

 Standby Active Manager provides information of the server hosting the active copy of a mailbox database to the Client Access or Transport services.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd776123%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

45. What is the purpose of safety-net and transport dumpster

 Transport dumpster helps to protect against data loss by maintaining a queue of successfully delivered messages that hadn't replicated to the passive mailbox database copies in the DAG. When a mailbox database or server failure required the promotion of an out-of-date copy of the mailbox database, the messages in the transport dumpster were

automatically resubmitted to the new active copy of the mailbox database.

 The transport dumpster has been improved in Exchange 2013 and is now called Safety Net.

Similarity between Safety Net and transport dumpster in Exchange 2010:

 Safety Net is a queue that's associated with the Transport service on a Mailbox server. This queue stores copies of messages that were successfully processed by the server.

 You can specify how long Safety Net stores copies of the successfully processed messages before they expire and are automatically deleted. The default is 2 days.

Here's how Safety Net is different in Exchange 2013:

 Safety Net doesn't require DAGs. For Mailbox servers that don't belong to a DAGs, Safety Net stores copies of the delivered messages on other Mailbox servers in the local Active Directory site.

 Safety Net itself is now redundant, and is no longer a single point of failure. This introduces the concept of the Primary Safety Net and the Shadow Safety Net. If the Primary Safety Net is unavailable for more than 12 hours, resubmit requests become shadow resubmit requests, and messages are re-delivered from the Shadow Safety Net.

 Safety Net takes over some responsibility from shadow redundancy in DAG environments. Shadow redundancy doesn't need to keep another copy of the delivered message in a shadow queue while it waits for the delivered message to replicate to the passive copies of mailbox database on the other Mailbox servers in the DAG. The copy of the delivered message is already stored in Safety Net, so the message can be resubmitted from Safety Net if necessary.

 In Exchange 2013, transport high availability is more than just a best effort for message redundancy. Exchange 2013 attempts to guarantee message redundancy. Because of this, you can't specify a maximum size limit for Safety Net. You can only specify how long Safety Net stores messages before they're automatically deleted.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj657495%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

46. What is the purpose of crimson log channel in Exchange Server 2013

 The HighAvailability channel contains events related to startup and shutdown of the Microsoft Exchange Replication service and other components that run within it, such as Active Manager or VSS writer for example. The HighAvailability channel is also used by Active Manager to log events related to Active Manager role monitoring and database action events, such as a database mount operation and log truncation, and to record events related to the DAG's underlying

cluster.

 The MailboxDatabaseFailureItems channel is used to log events associated with any failures that affect a replicated mailbox database.

Ref: http://www.msexchange.org/kbase/ExchangeServerTips/ExchangeServer2013/ManagementAdministration/exchange- 2013-crimson-channel-event-logs.html

47. How EWS plays their role in Exchange Server 2013

 The Exchange Web Service holds the below list of features

o eDiscovery

o Archiving

o Personas

o Unified Contact Store

o Retention Policies

o User Photos

o Mail Apps for Outlook Management

o Propose new meeting time

Ref: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/jj190903%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

48. What is Outlook Anywhere and how to configure in email client

 In Microsoft Exchange Server 2013, the Outlook Anywhere feature, formerly known as RPC over HTTP, lets clients who use Microsoft Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010, or Outlook 2007 connect to their Exchange servers from outside the corporate network or over the Internet using the RPC over HTTP Windows networking component. This topic describes the Outlook Anywhere feature and lists the benefits of using Outlook Anywhere.The Windows RPC over HTTP Proxy component, which Outlook Anywhere clients use to connect, wraps remote procedure calls (RPCs) with an HTTP layer.

This allows traffic to traverse network firewalls without requiring RPC ports to be opened. In Exchange 2013, this feature is enabled by default, because all Outlook connectivity takes place over Outlook Anywhere.

o On the Tools menu, click Account Settings, select the Exchange account, and then click Change.

o Click More Settings, and then click the Connection tab- Under Outlook Anywhere,

o Select the Connect to Microsoft Exchange using HTTP check box.

o To specify a proxy server, click Exchange Proxy Settings.

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123741%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

49. How to set Out-of-Office by Exchange admin when user is on vacation

 Using Exchange 2013 Powershell command - Set- MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration

 Example: Set-MailboxAutoReplyConfiguration -Identity 'Rajis' -StartTime '03/27/2014 19:30' -AutoReplyState Enabled -EndTime '03/29/2014 07:00' –InternalMessage 'I am on vacation and will respond to your message after I return'–

ExternalMessage 'I am on vacation' –ExternalAudience 'Known'

Ref: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd638217%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx

50. Difference between accepted domain and remote domain in Exchange Server 2013

 Remote domains are SMTP domains that are external to your Microsoft Exchange organization. You can create remote domain entries to define the settings for message transferred between your Exchange organization and specific external domains. The settings in the remote domain entry for a specific external domain override the settings in the default remote domain that normally apply to all external recipients. The remote domain settings are global for the Exchange organization

 An accepted domain is any SMTP namespace for which a Microsoft Exchange Online organization sends or receives.

Windows Server 2008 Interview Question & Answer

2014-10-22T22:14:00.001+05:30

What are some of the new tools and features provided by Windows Server 2008?

Windows Server 2008 now provides a desktop environment similar to Microsoft Windows Vista and includes tools also found in Vista, such as the new backup snap-in and the BitLocker drive encryption feature. Windows Server 2008 also provides the new IIS7 web server and the Windows Deployment Service.

What are the different editions of Windows Server 2008?

The entry-level version of Windows Server 2008 is the Standard Edition. The Enterprise Edition provides a platform for large enterprisewide networks. The Datacenter Edition provides support for unlimited

Hyper-V virtualization and advanced clustering services. The Web Edition is a scaled-down version of Windows Server 2008 intended for use as a dedicated web server. The Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter Editions can be purchased with or without the Hyper-V virtualization technology.

What two hardware considerations should be an important part of the planning process for a Windows Server 2008 deployment?

Any server on which you will install Windows Server 2008 should have at least the minimum hardware requirement for running the network operating system. Server hardware should also be on the Windows Server 2008 Hardware Compatibility List to avoid the possibility of hardware and network operating system incompatibility.

What are the options for installing Windows Server 2008?

You can install Windows Server 2008 on a server not currently configured with NOS, or you can upgrade existing servers running Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003.

How do you configure and manage a Windows Server 2008 core installation?

This stripped-down version of Windows Server 2008 is managed from the command line.

Which Control Panel tool enables you to automate the running of server utilities and other applications?

The Task Scheduler enables you to schedule the launching of tools such as Windows Backup and Disk Defragmenter.

What are some of the items that can be accessed via the System Properties dialog box?

You can access virtual memory settings and the Device Manager via the System Properties dialog box.

When a child domain is created in the domain tree, what type of trust relationship exists between the new child domain and the trees root domain?

Child domains and the root domain of a tree are assigned transitive trusts. This means that the root domain and child domain trust each other and allow resources in any domain in the tree to be accessed by users in any domain in the tree.

What is the primary function of domain controllers?

The primary function of domain controllers is to validate users to the network. However, domain controllers also provide the catalog of Active Directory objects to users on the network.

What are some of the other roles that a server running Windows Server 2008 could fill on the network?

A server running Windows Server 2008 can be configured as a domain controller, a file server, a print server, a web server, or an application server. Windows servers can also have roles and features that provide services such as DNS, DHCP, and Routing and Remote Access.

Which Windows Server 2008 tools make it easy to manage and configure a servers roles and features?

The Server Manager window enables you to view the roles and features installed on a server and also to quickly access the tools used to manage these various roles and features. The Server Manager can be used to add and remove roles and features as needed.

What Windows Server 2008 service is used to install client operating systems over the network?

Windows Deployment Services (WDS) enables you to install client and server operating systems over the network to any computer with a PXE-enabled network interface.

What domain services are necessary for you to deploy the Windows Deployment Services on your network?

Windows Deployment Services requires that a DHCP server and a DNS server be installed in the domain

How is WDS configured and managed on a server running Windows Server 2008?

The Windows Deployment Services snap-in enables you to configure the WDS server and add boot and install images to the server.

What is the difference between a basic and dynamic drive in the Windows Server 2008 environment?

A basic disk embraces the MS-DOS disk structure; a basic disk can be divided into partitions (simple volumes). Dynamic disks consist of a single partition that can be divided into any number of volumes. Dynamic disks also support Windows Server 2008 RAID implementations.

What is RAID in Windows Server 2008?

RAID, or Redundant Array of Independent Disks, is a strategy for building fault tolerance into your file servers. RAID enables you to combine one or more volumes on separate drives so that they are accessed by a single drive letter. Windows Server 2008 enables you to configure RAID 0 (a striped set), RAID 1 (a mirror set), and RAID 5 (disk striping with parity).

What conceptual model helps provide an understanding of how network protocol stacks such as TCP/IP work?

The OSI model, consisting of the application, presentation, session, transport, network, data link, and physical layers, helps describe how data is sent and received on the network by protocol stacks.

What protocol stack is installed by default when you install Windows Server 2008 on a network server?

TCP/IP (v4 and v6) is the default protocol for Windows Server 2008. It is required for Active Directory implementations and provides for connectivity on heterogeneous networks.

How is a server running Windows Server 2008 configured as a domain controller, such as the domain controller for the root domain or a child domain?

Installing the Active Directory on a server running Windows Server 2008 provides you with the option of creating a root domain for a domain tree or of creating child domains in an existing tree. Installing Active Directory on the server makes the server a domain controller.

What are some of the tools used to manage Active Directory objects in a Windows Server 2008 domain?

When the Active Directory is installed on a server (making it a domain controller), a set of Active Directory snap-ins is provided. The Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in is used to manage Active Directory objects such as user accounts, computers, and groups. The Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in enables you to manage the trusts that are defined between domains. The Active Directory Sites and Services snap-in provides for the management of domain sites and subnets.

How are domain user accounts created and managed?

The Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in provides the tools necessary for creating user accounts and managing account properties. Properties for user accounts include settings related to logon hours, the computers to which a user can log on, and the settings related to the user’s password.

What type of Active Directory objects can be contained in a group?

A group can contain users, computers, contacts, and other nested groups.

What type of group is not available in a domain that is running at the mixed-mode functional level?

Universal groups are not available in a mixed-mode domain. The functional level must be raised to Windows 2003 or Windows 2008 to make these groups available.

What types of Active Directory objects can be contained in an Organizational Unit?

Organizational Units can hold users, groups, computers, contacts, and other OUs. The Organizational Unit provides you with a container directly below the domain level that enables you to refine the logical hierarchy of how your users and other resources are arranged in the Active Directory.

What are Active Directory sites in Windows Server 2008?

Active Directory sites are physical locations on the network’s physical topology. Each regional domain that you create is assigned to a site. Sites typically represent one or more IP subnets that are connected by IP routers. Because sites are separated from each other by a router, the domain controllers on each site periodically replicate the Active Directory to update the Global Catalog on each site segment.

Can servers running Windows Server 2008 provide services to clients when they are not part of a domain?

Servers running Windows Server 2008 can be configured to participate in a workgroup. The server can provide some services to the workgroup peers but does not provide the security and management tools provided to domain controllers.

What does the use of Group Policy provide you as a network administrator?

Group Policy provides a method of controlling user and computer configuration settings for Active Directory containers such as sites, domains, and OUs. GPOs are linked to a particular container, and then individual policies and administrative templates are enabled to control the environment for the users or computers within that particular container.

What tools are involved in managing and deploying Group Policy?

GPOs and their settings, links, and other information such as permissions can be viewed in the Group Policy Management snap-in.

How do you deal with Group Policy inheritance issues?

GPOs are inherited down through the Active Directory tree by default. You can block the inheritance of settings from upline GPOs (for a particular container such as an OU or a local computer) by selecting Block Inheritance for that particular object. If you want to enforce a higher-level GPO so that it overrides directly linked GPOs, you can use the Enforce command on the inherited (or upline) GPO.

How can you make sure that network clients have the most recent Windows updates installed and have other important security features such as the Windows Firewall enabled before they can gain full network access?

You can configure a Network Policy Server (a service available in the Network Policy and Access Services role). The Network Policy Server can be configured to compare desktop client settings with health validators to determine the level of network access afforded to the client.

What is the purpose of deploying local DNS servers?

A domain DNS server provides for the local mapping of fully qualified domain names to IP addresses. Because the DNS is a distributed database, the local DNS servers can provide record information to remote DNS servers to help resolve remote requests related to fully qualified domain names on your network.

In terms of DNS, what is a caching-only server?

A caching-only DNS server supplies information related to queries based on the data it contains in its DNS cache. Caching-only servers are often used as DNS forwarders. Because they are not configured with any zones, they do not generate network traffic related to zone transfers.

How the range of IP addresses is defined for a Windows Server 2008 DHCP server?

The IP addresses supplied by the DHCP server are held in a scope. A scope that contains more than one subnet of IP addresses is called a superscope. IP addresses in a scope that you do not want to lease can be included in an exclusion range.

DNS Interview Questions and Answer

2014-10-22T21:59:00.001+05:30

1. Secure services in your network require reverse name resolution to make it more difficult to launch successful attacks against the services. To set this up, you configure a reverse lookup zone and proceed to add records. Which record types do you need to create?

Answer - PTR Records

2.What is the main purpose of a DNS server?

Answer - DNS servers are used to resolve FQDN hostnames into IP addresses and vice versa.

3.SOA records must be included in every zone. What are they used for?

Answer - SOA records contain a TTL value, used by default in all resource records in the zone. SOA records contain the e-mail address of the person who is responsible for maintaining the zone. SOA records contain the current serial number of the zone, which is used in zone transfers.

4.By default, if the name is not found in the cache or local hosts file, what is the first step the client takes to resolve the FQDN name into an IP address?

Answer - Performs a recursive search through the primary DNS server based on the network interface configuration

5.What is the main purpose of SRV records?

Answer - SRV records are used in locating hosts that provide certain network services.

6.Before installing your first domain controller in the network, you installed a DNS server and created a zone, naming it as you would name your AD domain. However, after the installation of the domain controller, you are unable to locate infrastructure SRV records anywhere in the zone. What is the most likely cause of this failure?

Answer - The zone you created was not configured to allow dynamic updates. The local interface on the DNS server was not configured to allow dynamic updates.

7.Which of the following conditions must be satisfied to configure dynamic DNS updates for legacy clients?

Answer - The zone to be used for dynamic updates must be configured to allow dynamic updates. The DHCP server must support, and be configured to allow, dynamic updates for legacy clients.

8. At some point during the name resolution process, the requesting party received authoritative reply. Which further actions are likely to be taken after this reply?

Answer - After receiving the authoritative reply, the resolution process is effectively over.

9. Your company uses ten domain controllers, three of which are also used as DNS servers. You have one companywide AD-integrated zone, which contains several thousand resource records. This zone also allows dynamic updates, and it is critical to keep this zone up-to-date.Replication between domain controllers takes up a significant amount of bandwidth. You are looking to cut bandwidth usage for the purpose of replication. What should you do?

Answer - Change the replication scope to all DNS servers in the domain.

10.You are administering a network connected to the Internet. Your users complain that everything is slow. Preliminary research of the problem indicates that it takes a considerable amount of time to resolve names of resources on the Internet. What is the most likely reason for this?

Answer - DNS servers are not caching replies.. Local client computers are not caching replies… The cache.dns file may have been corrupted on the server.

Blender ( OPEN Source 2D & 3D software )

2014-10-07T18:31:00.000+05:30

Blender is free and open source software

Blender is an integrated application that enables the creation of a broad range of 2D and 3D content. Blender provides a broad spectrum of modeling, texturing, lighting, animation and video post-processing functionality in one package. Through it's open architecture, Blender provides cross-platform interoperability, extensibility, an incredibly small footprint, and a tightly integrated workflow. Blender is one of the most popular Open Source 3D graphics application in the world.

Key Features:

Fully integrated creation suite, offering a broad range of essential tools for the creation of 3D content, including modeling, uv-mapping, texturing, rigging, skinning, animation, particle and other simulation, scripting, rendering, compositing, post-production, and game creation;
Cross platform, with OpenGL uniform GUI on all platforms, ready to use for all versions of Windows (98, NT, 2000, XP), Linux, OS X, FreeBSD, Irix, Sun and numerous other operating systems;
High quality 3D architecture enabling fast and efficient creation work-flow;
More than 200,000 downloads of each release (users) worldwide;
User community support by forums for questions, answers, and critique at http://BlenderArtists.org and news services at http://BlenderNation.com;
Small executable size, easy distribution.

Download Link

Kali Linux - Penetration Testing Platform

2014-10-07T18:10:00.001+05:30

Kali Linux contains a large amount of tools from various different niches of the security and forensics fields. This site aims to list them all and provide a quick reference to these tools. In addition, the versions of the tools can be tracked against their upstream sources.

The Kali Linux penetration testing platform contains a vast array of tools and utilities, from information gathering to final reporting, that enable security and IT professionals to assess the security of their systems.

Kali Linux Download Link

If u forgot windows 7 or 2008 local admin password & u don't have third party CD then follow below steps.

2013-04-13T11:55:00.003+05:30

If u forgot windows 7 or 2008 local admin password & u don't have third party CD then follow below steps.

1. Boot from windows CD
2. Select repair option
3. In repair mode select command prompt
4. Go to the drive where os is installed & rename system32\utilman.exe to anything
5. Copy sydtem32\cmd.exe to system32\utilman.exe & reboot the system
6. After os start u will get easy access icon on d left side of d screen, click on that. Command prompt wil , here u can change password by typing "net user administrator newpassword"

7. Don't forgot to rename utilman as it was previous

Microsoft Exchange Server Online Book

2012-08-08T17:21:00.000+05:30

Book List

Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Distilled

Mastering Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

Managing Microsoft Exchange server

Mastering Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Administration Instant Reference

Microsoft Exchange server 2007, Tony Redmond's guide to successful implemen..

Mastering Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1

Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Advanced Administration

Mission-Critical Microsoft Exchange 2003, Designing and Building Reliable E..

MCTS: Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Configuration Study Guide, Exam 70-236

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 with SP1, Tony Redmond's Guide to Successful..

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Implementation And Administration

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Administration, Real World Skills for MCITP ..

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007: The Complete Reference

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Infrastructure Design, A Service-Oriented Ap..

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 for Dummies

Microsoft Exchange 2000 infrastructure design, co-existence, migration, and..

Mission-Critical Microsoft Exchange 2000, Building Highly-Available Messagi..

Mastering Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1

Microsoft Exchange Server for Windows 2000, planning, design and implementa..

Using Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5

Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Scalability With Sp1 And Sp2

Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Deployment and Migration, SP1 and SP2

10 minute guide to Microsoft Exchange 4.0

Mastering Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server

Microsoft Exchange 2003 Deployment and Migration

Exchange Server Cookbook, For Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange 2000 Server

Read Books Online

Linux Boot Process

2012-08-08T15:44:00.000+05:30

Introduction: The Linux startup process is the process of Linux-operating system initialization. Linux Boot Process is most discussed topic over internet. It includes Linux internals. It is very important for Linux Administrator. Because most of the troubleshooting is depend upon this. Please note that in this article, I have explained everything for x86 platform.
.
Phase1 From Power ON to Loading Kernel
Overview of Phase1:
Step 1- When we power on PC, BIOS (which is stored on Motherboard) loads into RAM. The purpose of BIOS is load OS or Kernel into RAM.
Step 2- BIOS search for Bootable Device. When bootable device found goes to next step
Step 3- When bootable device found it loads 1 stage Boot Loader i.e. MBR in RAM. Size of MBR is just 512 bytes. just first sector of Harddisk
Step 4- First stage boot loader loads Second stage boot loader i.e. GRUB or LILO
Step 5- When second stage boot loader gets executed in RAM, Splash Screen gets displayed. Job of second stage boot loader is to load kernel in RAM
Step 6- Stage 2 boot loader loads Kernel and optional initial Root FileSystem into RAM. It passes control to Kernel and kernel get decompressed into RAM and get initialised. At this stage second stage boot loader checks Hardware and mount root device also loads necessary kernel modules. When it completes first Userspace program gets executed i.e. init. init is father of all processes

Detail Phase1 process:
Step 1- BIOS boots up
-    When we power on PC, BIOS (which is stored on MotherBoard) loads into RAM.
The purpose of BIOS is load OS or Kernel into RAM.
BIOS is made up of two parts: the POST code and runtime services. After the POST is complete, it is flushed from memory, but the BIOS runtime services remain and are available to the target operating system.

Step 2- BIOS boots up contd.
-    BIOS performs Power On Self Test (POST). Here BIOS does Hardware Inventory.
-    Here, to boot an operating system, the BIOS runtime searches for devices that are both active and bootable in the order of preference defined by the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) settings.

What is this MBR?
=============================================

M         B           R
-    Size of MBR is 512 bytes.
-    Boot Sector is stored in first 446 bytes.
Boot Loader resides here.
-    Partition Table is stored in next 64 bytes
-    Last 2 bytes are for Magic No. The magic number serves as a validation check of the MBR.

Step 3- MBR loads into RAM
-    If the POST is successful, the BIOS calls INT 19H
-    INT 19H is to load the sector at head 0, cylinder 0, sector 1 i.e. MBR of Hard disk into memory at 0:7C00h, and transfer control to it.
-    After MBR gets loaded into RAM, BIOS handover control to it.
-    It loads First Stage Boot Loader which resides in MBR

Step 4- Stage 1 Boot Loader loads into RAM
-    The job of the Stage 1 Boot Loader is to find and load the Stage 2 Boot Loader
-    Stage 1 BL examines Partition Table from MBR and search for Active Partition.
-    It also scans remaining to verify that they are all inactive.
-    Active Partition's boot record is read from the device into RAM and executed.

Step 5- Stage 2 Boot Loader & Kernel
-    The purpose of Stage 2 BL is to load OS kernel into RAM.
-    Now here 2 major Boot Loaders are available for Linux. i.e. LILO & GRUB. Here we w
-    The main advantage of GRUB over LILO is, GRUB has knowledge of Linux Filesystems. So GRUB can load kernel directly from ext2 or ext3 filesystem. Whereas LILO uses RAW sectors on the disk and it requires BIOS calls int 13 fn 8 & int 13 fn 2.
-    GRUB does this by adding one more Stage after Stage 1 i.e. Stage 1.5.
o    Here Stage 1 BL loads Stage 1.5 (i.e. /boot/e2fs_stage1_5 to load ext2 or ext3 FileSystem)
o    Stage 1.5 then loads Stage 2 BL.
o    Now GRUB has all the information about FileSystem.
-    Stage 2 BL then request to display a list of available kernel (Defined in /boot/grub/menu.lst)
It is also called GRUB startup menu, which allows the user to choose an operating system and examine and edit startup parameters.
-    After an operating system is chosen, respective kernel gets loaded into RAM and Stage 2 BL passes over the control.
-    Here Stage 2 BL uncompresses Kernel and fills the memory with kernel memory structures which can be seen in the /proc virtual file system

The Engine Of The Car Is Ready And Running!!
The Linux OS is ready and running!! Kernel Land is ready!!
But No User land!!
==================================================================================
Phase2. From init to Login prompt.

-    When the kernel is loaded, it immediately initializes and configures the computer's memory and configures various hardware attached to the system, including all processors, I/O subsystems, and storage devices. It then looks for the compressed initrd image in a predetermined location in memory, decompresses it, mounts it, and loads all necessary drivers.
-    After this the kernel locates & starts the first user-space application /sbin/init
-    Init is the Father of all Processes. Its PID is 1

-    Before /sbin/init loads into RAM, it reads /etc/inittab file
-    /etc/inittab is ASCII text file. Where we can configure multiple parameters for init daemon
-    If you take close look of /etc/inittab, you will find below entries there ->
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/etc/inittab
============
id:5:initdefault:                     ---- > Defines Default Runlevel. Here it is 5

# System initialization.
si::sysinit:/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit      ---- > Executes /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit in subshell
                             I have explained below about rc.sysinit
l0:0:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 0
l1:1:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 1
l2:2:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 2
l3:3:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 3
l4:4:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 4
l5:5:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 5
l6:6:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 6

# Trap CTRL-ALT-DELETE
ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now

# When our UPS tells us power has failed, assume we have a few minutes
# of power left. Schedule a shutdown for 2 minutes from now.
# This does, of course, assume you have powerd installed and your
# UPS connected and working correctly.
pf::powerfail:/sbin/shutdown -f -h +2 "Power Failure; System Shutting Down"

# If power was restored before the shutdown kicked in, cancel it.
pr:12345:powerokwait:/sbin/shutdown -c "Power Restored; Shutdown Cancelled"

# Run gettys in standard runlevels
1:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty1
2:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty2
3:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty3
4:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty4
5:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty5
6:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty6

# Run xdm in runlevel 5
x:5:respawn:/etc/X11/prefdm nodaemon    -> this line will get executed for
runlevel 5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-    /etc/inittab executes /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit in new subshell.

o    calls /etc/sysconfig/network in same shell
It sets the hostname and checks whether Network is yes or no i.e. checks for existence for Network card
o    calls /etc/init.d/functions script in the same shell.
It sets global umask and path and defines 27 shells functions within the rc.sysinit shell environment
o    Displays the "Welcome to Red Hat..." from /etc/redhat-release
o    Runs dmesg* which creates /var/log/dmesg and display its contents on the screen
o    Mounts all local filesystems from /etc/fstab and updates /etc/mtab
mount command simply displays the contents of /etc/mtab
Now /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit script ends!!

Summary: rc.sysinit:     1. Sets the global umask, global PATH
2. Sets up the Networking subsystem
3. Basically starts the System Daemons
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to /etc/inittab:

-    /etc/rc.d/rc script is executed in a new subshell of /etc/inittab

o    It starts and stops the Application Networking daemons, by using Init Scripts
These init scripts are stored under /etc/init.d/
Their symlinks are created in all /etc/rc.d/rc?.d/directories
If name of the symlink in /etc/rc.d/rc?.d/ starts with S then those services will get start system boots.
If name of symlink in /etc/rc.d/rc?.d/ starts with K then those services will get stop when system boot.

If you want any service to start when system boots up then use below command:
# chkconfig -level on
# chkconfig level 3 gpm on --- > Enabling GPM service

o    It runs /etc/rc.d/rc.local which is a symlink in all RLs and is the only script which is run regardless of the RL and is S99local in all /etc/rc.d/rc?.d/... and points to
        /etc/rc.d/rc.local

-    Goes back to inittab
-    shutdown CAD magic keys are set - You can hack it if you wish
ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now

-    mingettys are spawned with their terminals. All mingettys enter sleep state - EXCEPT one
And here you get a LOGIN PROMPT.

-    If Runlevel 5, then script " /etc/X11/prefdm" is executed..

Here INITAB is OVER.
=========================================================

Phase3. From Login prompt to Bash Prompt

Now mingettys are loaded.

What is getty?

A getty is is a program that opens a tty port, prompts for a login name, and runs the /bin/login command. It is normally invoked by init.

The mingetty daemon is used to listen for virtual consoles (like the 6 that run by default with your keyboard and monitor) and cannot be used to handle serial lines

You will need to configure agetty or mgetty to listen on the serial ports, because they are capable of responding to input on physical serial ports.

How do you get Login Prompt?

-    The first mingetty [awake one] loads device driver for /dev/tty1 & executes /etc/issue
-    mingetty then executes the /bin/login process and is then put to sleep state by init
-    /bin/login displays login prompt.

Towards Bash prompt ->

-    /bin/login execs /usr/bin/passwd which challenges for passwd from user which then does authentication and authorization using PAM

-    init then puts the login daemon into sleep state, wakes up mingetty which now takes over

-    mingetty checks for .hushlogin in $HOME/$USER

If $HOME/.hushlogin DOES NOT EXISTS then it does the following:

- executes lastlog* -u $USER using /var/log/lastlog
- executes cat /etc/motd
- executes users mail, if any, in /var/spool/mail/$USER
-     init then wakes /bin/login process

-    mingetty then goes into zombie state and is killed by init

-    login then loads /bin/bash as a monitored child process

-    /bin/bash takes over

-    and login goes into sleep state

-    Executes /etc/profile -> sets system-wide ENV variables Global Profile

-    Executes /etc/inputrc -> Sets keyboard mappings [See stty -a] Show Terminal characteristics

Examples ->    # stty intr ^g   --> Keyboard mapping
                     # stty -echo     --> Terminal Characteristics

#/etc/inputrc See man bash - /bell-style
                ============
                     set bell-style [audible] [none] [visible]
                     set disable-completion [off] on

                         To do it per-user:
                =================
setterm -blength 0 [in per user .bash_profile]
or
xset b off [in GUI]
[bash -r, --noediting as args in /etc/passwd 7th field]

-    Executes /etc/profile.d/*.sh [16 shell scripts are executed]

colorls.csh    colorls.sh
glib2.csh    glib2.sh
gnome-ssh-askpass.csh    gnome-ssh-askpass.sh
krb5-workstation.csh    krb5-workstation.sh
lang.csh    lang.sh
less.csh    less.sh
vim.csh    vim.sh
which-2.sh

-    Executes /etc/bashrc - Sets system-wide [Global] aliases/shell functions
sets the users and root's final global umask
-    Executes user's personal .bash_profile
-    Executes .bashrc   -> user specific Bash initialization file. It resides at every users home directory. And gets executed when you successfully login to the Linux system.

-    Misc :
o    .bash_history -> It stores all command history
o    .bash_logout   -> It stores logout logs. It gets executes while Logoff.

Finally, at last, the comforting shell login prompt bash!!

=========================Boot Process Ends here====================

More details click here

SAMBA Interview Question & Answer

2012-08-02T11:53:00.000+05:30

Q: - Which SELinux security context used for SAMBA ?

samba_share_t

Q: - On which ports SAMBA server works ?

- UDP port 137 for netbios-ns, the NETBIOS Name Service

- UDP port 138 for netbios-dgm, the NETBIOS Datagram Service

- TCP port 139 for netbios-ssn, the NETBIOS session service

- TCP port 445 for microsoft-ds, the Microsoft Domain Service

Q: - What are the Secrity or Authentication Mode for SAMBA server?

ADS

DOMAIN

SERVER

USER

Q: - How to Manually Create Machine Trust Accounts ?

/usr/sbin/useradd -g machines -d /var/lib/nobody -c "machine nickname" -s /bin/false machine_name$

passwd -l machine_name$

Q: - What are the SAMBA server Types ?

- Primary Domain Controller (PDC)

- Backup Domain Controller (BDC)

- ADS Domain Controller

Q: - Which protocol SAMBA server uses ?

SMB, which stands for Server Message Block, is a protocol for sharing files, printers, serial ports, and communications abstractions such as named pipes and mail slots between computers.

Q: - How Does a Workstation find its Domain Controller?

There are two different mechanisms to locate a domain controller: one method is used when NetBIOS over TCP/IP is enabled and the other when it has been disabled in the TCP/IP network configuration. Where NetBIOS over TCP/IP is disabled, all name resolution involves the use of DNS, broadcast messaging over UDP, as well as Active Directory communication technologies.

Q: - Can Samba Be a Backup Domain Controller to an NT4 PDC?

No. The native NT4 SAM replication protocols have not yet been fully implemented.

Q: - How Do I Replicate the smbpasswd File?

Replication of the smbpasswd file is sensitive. It has to be done whenever changes to the SAM are made. Every user's password change is done in the smbpasswd file and has to be replicated to the BDC. So replicating the

smbpasswd file very often is necessary.As the smbpasswd file contains plaintext password equivalents, it must not be sent unencrypted over the wire. The best way to set up smbpasswd replication from the PDC to the BDC is to use the utility rsync. rsync can use ssh as a transport. ssh itself can be set up to accept only rsync transfer without requiring the user to type a password.As said a few times before, use of this method is broken and awed. Machine trust accounts will go out of sync, resulting in a broken domain. This method is not recommended. Try using LDAP instead.

Q: - Can Samba fully replace my Windows NT server that is not a Primary Domain Controller (PDC)?

Samba can completely serve files and printers to Windows, just as a Windows NT server would.

Q: - Can Samba replaces my Windows NT PDC?

Not completely. Samba domain control capabilities for a Windows 9x client are solid and complete, and so these clients would probably never know the difference. The domain control support for Windows NT/2000 clients is still being developed. Currently, enough has been implemented to allow a Windows NT client to join a Samba-controlled domain, but there is more to domain control than that. The most conspicuous absence is the lack of support for Windows NT trust relationships and the SAM replication protocol used between NT PDCs and Backup Domain Controllers (BDCs).

Q: - What TCP and UDP ports required for NetBIOS over TCP/IP use?

The NBT name service uses port 137/udp, the NBT session service uses port 139/tcp, and the NBT datagram service uses port 138/udp.

Q: - How SMB protocol works?

There will be three stages in creating an SMB connection between a client and a specific share on a server.

The first stage in connecting to an SMB share is to negotiate the SMB protocol dialect to use. In the request packet, the client sends a text listing of all the SMB dialects that it understands. The server selects the most advanced protocol that it knows and responds to the client, specifying the protocol number from the list. At this point, the client and server have agreed that SMB commands can be used for the remainder of the conversation.

The second stage is to create a session connection between the client and server. To do this, the client issues a session setup request, which includes a sername and some proof of validity, such as a password. The server attempts to validate requesting user. If successful, the server then returns a session UID to client. This UID is unique for each session and has no relation to the server internal representation of users.

The third stage before access to files on a remote share is allowed is for the client to make a successful tree connection to the shared resource. The client sends to the server a tree connect request, which includes the UID previously issued by the server. At this stage the server verifies that the authenticated user is authorized to access the requested resource. If the user has sufficient privileges to access the share, the client is issued a tree connection ID (TID). The TID is used in all requests to access files contained in the resource to which the TID refers.

In this way SMB protocol works.

Q: - How man sections samba configuration file (smb.conf) contains?

smb.conf file contains three sections.

1. [global] Contains settings that determine Samba overall behavior.

2. [homes] A default share for providing a home directory for all users.

3. [printers] A default share for exporting all printers on the host via CIFS.

Q: - If a netbios name is not defined in smb.conf, than what will be netbios name?

If a netbios name is not defined, Samba will use the IP hostname of the server by default.

Q: - I want to use User level security for my samba server than what i have to add in smb.conf file?

security = user

Q: - How you will verify that your smb.conf file doesn’t have any mistakes and misspellings?

"testparm " tool that verifies the syntax of a configuration file(smb.conf).

testparm -s smb.conf

Q: - What is the use of "smbclient" command?

"smbclient" is used to display the list of shares on your server. This verifies that smbd is running and functioning correctly. The -L option instructs smbclient to enumerate the shares on the server rather than actually connecting to one. The -N switch instructs smbclient to use an anonymous login rather than the login name of the current user.

smbclient -L localhost -N

Antother use of "smbclient" command to connect the samba share.

smbclient /// -U

Q: - Explain "smbstatus" command?

The smbstatus utility displays information about connected users and currently locked files.

Q: - Is it possible for Samba to share file systems that have been mounted using NFS?

Yes. However, this can be problematic if the NFS server that provides the file system fails, causing the Samba server to hang. It is always safer to use Samba to share a local file system.

Q: - How many simultaneous connections can a Samba server support?

In theory, there is no limit. In practice, the limit is determined by the server’s hardware, specifically the total amount of available RAM and the CPU power. It might also depend on the amount of activity from the smbd processes.

Q: - Can Samba be a member of more than one workgroup at the same time?

No, Samba can be a member of only one workgroup.

Q: - What is SWAT?

SWAT is GUI Based administration tool for samba server.

Q: - I am trying to use SWAT, but I keep getting the message There was no response. The server could be down or not responding. What is the problem?

The most likely cause is that SWAT is not listening to connections, or you have used the wrong URL in trying to connect to SWAT. SWAT usually lives behind port 901, so the URL you should use is http://ID_ADDRESS_OF_SERVER:901/

Q: - Can i set empty password for samba user?

Yes, if you want to set the value to an empty password, you must change

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXX

NOPASSWORDXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XX
in your smbpasswd file.

Note: - if you have edited the smbpasswd file by hand, make sure that the LAN Manager and NT password fields contain exactly 32 characters, no more and no fewer. If these fields do not have exactly 32 characters, Samba will not be able to correctly read the entry.

or You can modify by "smbpasswd" command.
smbpasswd -n USER_NAME
Also you have to set the null passwords parameter to yes in the [global] section of smb.conf:
null passwords = yes

Q: - Can i set empty password for samba user?

Yes, If you want to set the value to an empty password, you must change

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXX

NOPASSWORDXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

in your smbpasswd file.

or You can modify by "smbpasswd" command.

smbpasswd -n USER_NAME

Also you have to set the null passwords parameter to yes in the [global] section of smb.conf: null passwords = yes

Q: - Does Samba support PAM?

Yes

Q: - What is role of "NTLM"?

The challenge / response authentication protocol available to Windows clients and servers for validating connection requests.

Q: - Explain "force group" parameter used in smb.conf?

It will define the group id to be used for all file access in the place of the user’s primary group.

Q: - Explain "force user" parameter used in smb.conf?

It will define the user id to be used for all file access.

Q: - Explain "write list" parameter used in smb.conf?

A list of users and/or groups that should be given write access even if the read only parameter has been enabled.

SEND MAIL IINTERVIEW QUESTION & ANSWER

2012-08-02T11:42:00.003+05:30

Q: - How to start sendmail server ?

service sendmail restart

Q: - On which ports sendmail and senmail with SSL works ?

By default, Sendmail uses TCP and UDP port 25 for non-encrypted transfers. If the Sendmail server is configured to use SSL for encrypting email sent and received, it uses port 465.

Q: - Explain use of "trusted-users" file ?

List of users that can send email as other users without a warning including system users such as apache for the Apache HTTP Server.

Q: - Explain the use of "local-host-names" file ?

If the email server should be known by different hostnames, list the host- names in this file, one line per hostname. Any email sent to addresses at these hostnames is treated as local mail. The FEATURE(`use_cw_fileâ€™) option must be enabled in the sendmail.mc file for this file to be referenced.

Q: - explain the use of /etc/aliases file ?

/etc/aliases, can be used to redirect email from one user to another. By default, it includes redirects for system accounts to the root user. It can then be used to redirect all email for the root user to the user account for the system administrator.

Q: - Can we use SSL Encryption with Sendmail ?

Yes, Sendmail can be configured to encrypt email sent and received using SSL (secure sockets layer)

Q: - What is Sendmail ?

Sendmail is an MTA, meaning it accepts email messages sent to it using the SMTP proto- col and transports them to another MTA email server until the messages reach their destinations. It also accepts email for the local network and delivers them to local mail spools, one for each user.

Q: - What is the role of MUA ?

An MUA (Mail User Agent) with access to the mailbox file, directly or through a network file system, can read messages from the disk and display them for the user. This is generally a console or webmail application running on the server.

Q: - Which are the important configuration files for Sendmail server ?

The /etc/mail/ directory contains all the Sendmail configuration files, with sendmail.cf and submit.cf being the main configuration files. The sendmail.cf file includes options for the mail transmission agent and accepts SMTP connections for sending email. The submit.cf file configures the mail submission program.

Q: - How to configure sendmail to accept mail for local delivery that is addressed to other hosts?

Create a /etc/mail/local-host-names file. Put into that file the hostnames and domain names for which sendmail should accept mail for local delivery. Enter the names with one hostname or domain name per line. And also make sure that Sendmail configuration file should contain "use_cw_file" option.

dnl Load class $=w with other names for the local host

FEATURE(`use_cw_file')

Q: - When an organization stores aliases on an LDAP server, how you will configure sendmail to read aliases from the LDAP server?

Use "sendmail -bt -d0" command to check the sendmail compiler options. If sendmail was not compiled with LDAP support, recompile and reinstall sendmail.

Add an ALIAS_FILE define, containing the string ldap to the sendmail configuration.

# Set the LDAP cluster value

define(`confLDAP_CLUSTER', `wrotethebook.com')

# Tell sendmail that aliases are available via LDAP

define(`ALIAS_FILE', `ldap:')

Q: - How to forward emails of a local user to external address?

Add an alias to the aliases file for each user whose mail must be forwarded to another system. The recipient field of the alias entry must be a full email address that includes the host part. After adding the desired aliases, rebuild the aliases database file with the newaliases command.

Q: - You have been asked to create a sendmail configuration that sends all local mail to a mail hub, while directly delivering mail addressed to external systems.

Create a sendmail configuration containing the MAIL_HUB define to identify the mail relay host for local mail. Use the LOCAL_USER command to exempt the root user's mail from relaying.

dnl Define a relay server for local mail

define(`MAIL_HUB', `smtp.test.com')

dnl Users whose mail is not passed to the mail hub

LOCAL_USER(root)

Rebuild and reinstall sendmail.cf, and then restart sendmail.

Q: - How to configure multiple mail queues?

mkdir /var/spool/mqueue/queue.1

mkdir /var/spool/mqueue/queue.2

mkdir /var/spool/mqueue/queue.3

chmod 700 /var/spool/mqueue/queue.1

chmod 700 /var/spool/mqueue/queue.2

chmod 700 /var/spool/mqueue/queue.3

Add the QUEUE_DIR define to the sendmail configuration to use the new queue directories.

dnl Declare the queue directory path

define(`QUEUE_DIR', `/var/spool/mqueue/queue.*')

Q: - How to disable certain SMTP commands?

Add the confPRIVACY_FLAGS define to the sendmail configuration to set Privacy Options that disable unwanted, optional SMTP commands. Here we will disables the EXPN, VRFY, VERB, and ETRN commands.

dnl Disable EXPN, VRFY, VERB and ETRN

define(`confPRIVACY_FLAGS', `noexpn,novrfy,noverb,noetrn')

Rebuild and reinstall sendmail.cf, and then restart sendmail.

Q: - In which Sendmail configuration file we have to make changes?

we will make the changes only in the sendmail.mc file, and the changes will be moved into the sendmail.cf file for us.

Q: - When Sendmail dispatches your email, it places the servers hostname behind your username, which becomes the "from address" in the email (ie. user@mail.test.com).But we want to use the domain name and not the hostname?

define(`confDOMAIN_NAME', `test.com')dnl

FEATURE(`relay_entire_domain')dnl

Q: - What does /etc/mail/access file contains?

The access database ("/etc/mail/access") is a list of IP addresses and domainnames of allowable connections.

FEATURE(`access_db',`hash -T -o /etc/mail/access.db')dnl

and cat /etc/mail/access

localhost.localdomain RELAY

localhost RELAY

127.0.0.1 RELAY

192.168.0 RELAY

test.com RELAY

Q: - How to restrict sendmail to sending a big file?

define(`confMAX_MESSAGE_SIZE',`52428800')dnl

or If you are using a PHP based webmail application like SquirrelMail, you can adjust the max file size in php.ini file.

vi php.ini

post_max_size = 50M

upload_max_filesize = 50M

memory_limit = 64M

Q: - How to set 25 recipients for each email?

define(`confMAX_RCPTS_PER_MESSAGE',`50')dnl

Q: - Which antivirus you have integrated with sendmail ?

ClaimAV

Q: - What is Clamav-Milter?

Clamav-Milter is a tool to integrate sendmail and clamAV antivirus.

Q: - Which configuration files are required to integrate sendmail and ClaimAV antivirus?

milter.conf and clamav-milter

Q: - How to test sendmail integration with ClaimAV?

grep Milter /var/log/maillog

You have to get following type of messages.

sendmail: Milter add: header: X-Virus-Scanned: ClamAV version 0.88.2, clamav-milter version 0.88.2 on mail.test.com

sendmail: Milter add: header: X-Virus-Status: Clean

Q: - Which tool you have used to block spamming?

SpamAssassin

Q: - What does "/etc/mail/" directory contains?

The /etc/mail/ directory contain all the Sendmail configuration files, with sendmail.cf and submit.cf being the main configuration files.

Q: - Explain the use of /etc/mail/relay-domains file?

The /etc/mail/relay-domains file is used to determine domains from which it will relay mail. The contents of the relay-domains file should be limited to those domains that can be trusted not to originate spam.

Mouse Emulator

2012-07-27T16:50:00.000+05:30

Is your mouse broken, or did you just forget it? Or maybe you are having USB driver problems, and your mouse isn't working. With Mouse Emulator, you can still use your computer.

Yust run the program, and it will show you which keys you have to press to move the mouse cursor. For more information, check the readme or read the manual on this page.

This program is also very usefull for laptop owners with low quality mouses. Just hold down the Fn key, and you can use the numeric keypad in the center of your keyboard to move the mouse!

Mouse Emulator can also toggle mouse buttons with a simple key press. This is very useful for RSI users that have problems with drag operations with the mouse.

The program recognizes the following keys: (NumLock must be ON!)

Keypad 1 - Left mouse button
Keypad 2 - Right mouse button
Keypad 3 - Middle mouse button
Keypad 4, 5, 6, 8 - Moves the mouse left, down, right and/or up respectively.
Keypad 7 - Mousewheel up (Scroll)
Keypad 9 - Mousewheel down (Scroll)
Keypad / - Toggle Left mouse button (Useful for RSI users)
Keypad * - Toggle Right mouse button (Useful for RSI users)
Keypad - - Toggle Middle mouse button (Useful for RSI users)

You can exit Mouse Emulator by right clicking on the mouse icon in the taskbar.

Download Link

Linux File System Structure

2012-07-16T11:53:00.003+05:30

1. / – Root

Every single file and directory starts from the root directory.
Only root user has write privilege under this directory.
Please note that /root is root user’s home directory, which is not same as /.

2. /bin – User Binaries

Contains binary executables.
Common linux commands you need to use in single-user modes are located under this directory.
Commands used by all the users of the system are located here.
For example: ps, ls, ping, grep, cp.

3. /sbin – System Binaries

Just like /bin, /sbin also contains binary executables.
But, the linux commands located under this directory are used typically by system aministrator, for system maintenance purpose.
For example: iptables, reboot, fdisk, ifconfig, swapon

4. /etc – Configuration Files

Contains configuration files required by all programs.
This also contains startup and shutdown shell scripts used to start/stop individual programs.
For example: /etc/resolv.conf, /etc/logrotate.conf

5. /dev – Device Files

Contains device files.
These include terminal devices, usb, or any device attached to the system.
For example: /dev/tty1, /dev/usbmon0

6. /proc – Process Information

Contains information about system process.
This is a pseudo filesystem contains information about running process. For example: /proc/{pid} directory contains information about the process with that particular pid.
This is a virtual filesystem with text information about system resources. For example: /proc/uptime

7. /var – Variable Files

var stands for variable files.
Content of the files that are expected to grow can be found under this directory.
This includes — system log files (/var/log); packages and database files (/var/lib); emails (/var/mail); print queues (/var/spool); lock files (/var/lock); temp files needed across reboots (/var/tmp);

8. /tmp – Temporary Files

Directory that contains temporary files created by system and users.
Files under this directory are deleted when system is rebooted.

9. /usr – User Programs

Contains binaries, libraries, documentation, and source-code for second level programs.
/usr/bin contains binary files for user programs. If you can’t find a user binary under /bin, look under /usr/bin. For example: at, awk, cc, less, scp
/usr/sbin contains binary files for system administrators. If you can’t find a system binary under /sbin, look under /usr/sbin. For example: atd, cron, sshd, useradd, userdel
/usr/lib contains libraries for /usr/bin and /usr/sbin
/usr/local contains users programs that you install from source. For example, when you install apache from source, it goes under /usr/local/apache2

10. /home – Home Directories

Home directories for all users to store their personal files.
For example: /home/john, /home/nikita

11. /boot – Boot Loader Files

Contains boot loader related files.
Kernel initrd, vmlinux, grub files are located under /boot
For example: initrd.img-2.6.32-24-generic, vmlinuz-2.6.32-24-generic

12. /lib – System Libraries

Contains library files that supports the binaries located under /bin and /sbin
Library filenames are either ld* or lib*.so.*
For example: ld-2.11.1.so, libncurses.so.5.7

13. /opt – Optional add-on Applications

opt stands for optional.
Contains add-on applications from individual vendors.
add-on applications should be installed under either /opt/ or /opt/ sub-directory.

14. /mnt – Mount Directory

Temporary mount directory where sysadmins can mount filesystems.

15. /media – Removable Media Devices

Temporary mount directory for removable devices.
For examples, /media/cdrom for CD-ROM; /media/floppy for floppy drives; /media/cdrecorder for CD writer

16. /srv – Service Data

srv stands for service.
Contains server specific services related data.
For example, /srv/cvs contains CVS related data.

DESKTOP LEVEL INTERVIEW QUESTION & ANSWER

2012-07-12T18:19:00.000+05:30

QUESTION & ANSWER

Difference between Switch and Hub

Switch HUB

a. Works at layer 2 works at layer 1

b. Uses MAC address for packet uses broadcast for packet forwarding

forwarding

c. Does not required CSMA/CD requires CSMA/CD

d. Faster than HUB Slower than Switch

e. Full-duplex Half-duplex

f. high throughput Low throughput

What is bandwidth of of CAT5 & CAT 6 cables?

Answer: CAT 5 - 100 Mbps, CAT 6 – 1000 Mbps

What is the recommended CAT5 cable length between switch and PC ?

Answer: 100 meters

When to use cross cable and straight cable

Answer: Similar device = cross cable

• Switch to switch

• PC to PC

• Hub to HUB

• Switch to HUB

• PC to router

• router to router

Unsimilar device = straight cable

• PC to switch

• PC to HUB

• Router to Switch

Difference between domain and workgroup

Answer:

Domain Workgroup

A. centralized network model Decentralized network

B. Domain is controlled by DC No centralized control

C. Centralized login Local login

D. centralized user database local user data based

E. Easy and centralized management NA

F. good for large network good for small network

Explain in short about all 7 layers of OSI

Answer:

• Application layer - user interface and application Data conversion

• Presentation layer - and transformation keep data of diff

• Session layer - application separately end to end connectivity

• Transport layer - using port numbers, logical addressing like IP

• Network layer - address. Physical addressing like MAC

• Data link layer - address. Physical transmission of data using

• Physical layer - O's and l's.

_______________________________________________________________________

Define Active directory service

Answer: ADS is a new logical network model of windows 2000 and 2003 which includes forest, trees, domain, etc.

What if forest. ?

Answer: forest is collection of single or multiple trees.

What is trees?

Answer: Trees are collection of single or multiple domain arrange in hierarchy using child-parent relationship.

Which authentication protocols are supported by ADS?

Answer: NTLM and Kerberos

What is Global Catalog?

Answer: GC is a DC which maintains full copy of local domain parti on and partial copy of entire forest.

What is function of LDAP?

Answer: LDAP is a protocol used to query or access active directory database. It uses port 389.

What are the requirements for ADS?

Answer:

A) Windows 2000/2003 Server Operating System

b) TCP/IP protocol and IP address

c) Network Card with Active state

d) NTFS partition

What is Sysvol?

Answer: Sysvol (System Volume) a special folder located on NTFS partition of DC for storing domain public files like logon script, GPO templates, etc. The contents of sysvol folder are replicated to all DC in a domain.

______________________________________________________________________________

Difference between FAT32 and NTFS

Answer:

FAT32 NTFS

a. Supported by win9x, 2000, 2003, xp supported by NT, 2000, 2003, xp

b. Remote security Local security

c. NA compression and encryption

d. NA Hot Fixing

e. NA Shadow copy and Disk quota

Difference between Basic disk and dynamic disk

Answer:

Basic Disk Dynamic disk

partition are created Volumes are created

can be converted to dynamic cannot be converted to basic

grouping of disk not allowed grouping of disk are allowed

No data redundancy data redundancy using RAID 1/5

partition table is at start Partition table is at end

Explain about RAID-1

Answer:

A. Min. and max. 2 hard disk

b. If any one disk fails data can be recovered from other disk.

c. 50% space wastage.

D. no read/write performance improvement.

E. good for storing Operating system.

Explain about RAID-5

Answer:

A. data is stored in distributed format across all the disk

B. min 3 max. 32

C. if any one disk fails data can be recovered using parity.

D. parity space wastage eg. parity = total space \ no of disk.

E. good for storing data.

Can we convert FAT32 to NTFS? How?

Answer: you can convert FAT32 partition to NTFS using convert.exe command.

Eg . convert /fs:ntfs

What is mounting?

Answer: mounting is a process of assigning or mapping of the folder to a drive.

What is RAID?

Answer: RAID is a technology of grouping disk in order to provide more space and redundancy. There are total 54 RAID method. Windows 2003 support RAID 0, 1 and 5.

What is difference between mirroring and duplexing?

Answer: Mirroring requires single controller and duplexing requires two controllers.

______________________________________________________________________________

What is Web Server?

Answer: Web server is a server or application server which host or stores websites. Every web site should have a name like www.vision.com and IP address. Eg. IIS, Apache server, etc.

What is mail server?

Answer: Mail server is a software which maintains user mailboxes, eg : Exchange server , Lotus domino, etc.

What is mail client?

Answer: software used by client to access to mails stores on mail server, using mail client software you can send mail and receive mail. Eg: Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Lotus notes, etc.

What is Proxy server?

Answer: It is software used for sharing of internet connection.

E.g. Wingate, Win proxy, Analog proxy, etc.

Port numbers for various application and services

Answer:

There are total 65536 ports available. Below are the lists of some well-known ports.

LDAP : 389

Global catalog:

Kerberos : 88

DNS : 53

SMTP : 25

POP3 : 110

Telnet : 23

NNTP : 119

IMAP : 143

RPC : 135

HTTP : 80

HTTPS/SSL : 443

FTP : 21

What is firewall?

Answer: It is software used to provide security to your network by not allowing unauthorized access to your internal network from External users. Eg: PIX firewall, Checkpoint firewall, etc.

Active Directory Interview Question & Answer

2012-07-12T13:32:00.001+05:30

1. What is Active Directory schema?

Answer: The schema is the Active Directory component that defines all the objects and attributes that the directory service uses to store data.

2. What is global catalog server?

Answer: The global catalog is the set of all objects in an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) forest. A global catalog server is a domain controller that stores a full copy of all objects in the directory for its host domain and a partial, read-only copy of all objects for all other domains in the forest.

3. Which is the default protocol used in directory services?

Answer: Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)

4. What is IPv6?

Answer: IPv6 is short for "Internet Protocol Version 6". IPv6 is the Internet's next-generation protocol, designed to replace the current Internet Protocol, IP Version 4. IPv4 allows to connect 4.3 billion IP address, where as IPv6 allows 340 trillion IP addresses to be used.

5. What is the default domain functional level in Windows Server 2003?

Answer: Mixed mode functional level

6. What are the physical & logical components of ADS?

Answer: The physical component of Active directory contain all the physical subnet present in your network like domain controllers and replication between domain controllers.

The logical structures of active directory include forest, domains, tree, OUs and global catalogs.

7. What is multimaster replication?

Answer: Multi-master replication is a method of database replication which allows data to be stored by a group of computers, and updated by any member of the group

8. What is a site?

Answer: Sites in Active Directory® represent the physical structure, or topology, of your network. Active Directory uses topology information, stored as site and site link objects in the directory, to build the most efficient replication topology. You use Active Directory Sites and Services to define sites and site links. A site is a set of well-connected subnets. Sites differ from domains; sites represent the physical structure of your network, while domains represent the logical structure of your organization.

9. Which is the command used to remove active directory from a domain controller?

Answer: Dcpromo /forceremoval

10. What is trust?

Answer: To allow users in one domain to access resources in another, Active Directory uses trusts.

Trusts inside a forest are automatically created when domains are created. The forest sets the default boundaries of trust, and implicit, transitive trust is automatic for all domains within a forest.

11. What is the file that’s responsible for keep all Active Directory database?

ANSWER: 1. ntds.dit : This is the main database file for active directory.

2. edb.log : When a transaction performed to ad database, like writing some data first the data will be stored to this file. And after that it will be sent to database. So the system performance will be depends on how this data from edb.log file will be written to ntds.dit

3. res1.log : Used as reserve space in the case when drive had low space. It is basically 10MB in size and creted when we run dcpromo.

4. res2.log : Same as res1.log. It is also 10MB in size and the purspose also same.

5. edb.chk : This file records the transactions committed to ad database. During shutdown, shutdown statement is written to this file. If it is not found when the system rebooted, the ad database tries to check with edb.log for the updated information.

12. What is the SYSVOL folder?

Answer: All active directory data base security related information store in SYSVOL folder and its only created on NTFS partition.

13. What are application partitions? When do I use them?

Answer: Application directory partitions: These are specific to Windows Server 2003 domains.

An application directory partition is a directory partition that is replicated only to specific domain controllers. A domain controller that participates in the replication of a particular application directory partition hosts a replica of that partition. Only Domain controllers running Windows Server 2003 can host a replica of an application directory partition.

14. What is the Global Catalog?

The global catalog contains a complete replica of all objects in Active Directory for its Host domain, and contains a partial replica of all objects in Active Directory for every other domain in the forest.

15. Feature of AD?

Answer: Fully Integrated Security, integration with DNS, Policy Based Administration, Scalable, Flexible, Extensible, inter operability with other directory services.

16. What is structure of AD?

Logical & Physical

17. What is the Component of AD?

Logical Structure: Domains, Tress, Forests and OU.

Physical Structure: Sites and Domain Controllers.

18. What is a Domain?

Domain is collection of computers connected together with a server and users.

19. What is a Tree?

Tree is a logical component of AD, is a collection of domains which share contiguous.

20. What is a Forest?

Collection of trees which contain domains

21. What is a child DC?

CDC is a sub domain controller under root domain controller which share name space.

22. What is a roll of ADC?

It maintains backup of AD to provide fault tolerance and network load balancing.

23. What are the tools found after installing a DC?

Active Directory User and Computers,

Active Directory Sites and Services,

Active Directory Domain & Trust,

Domain Controller Security Policy,

Domain Security Policy

24. What is the diff. functional level of 2003?

Domain functional level & Forest functional level

25. What is a standalone server?

Server which is not a part of domain

26. What is a Schema?

Schema is design of AD, defines objects and classes, set of rules.

27. What is an FSMO?

Flexible Single Master Operation

28. What is the diff. operation master of 2003?

Schema Master, Domain Naming Master, PDC Emulator, Infrastructure Master, RID Masters.

29. What is a Schema Master?

Is responsible for overall management, structure and design of schema Only one schema master in entire forest

30. What is domain naming master?

Is responsible for addition or removal of domains and maintaining unique domain names only one domain naming master in entire forest

31. What is a PDC Emulator?

Is responsible for providing backup compatibility for NT BDCs, in mixed mode it acts like a PDC for BDCs. It updates the password changes, synchronizes time between DCs. Only one PDC Emulator per domain.

32. What is infrastructure Master?

Is responsible for updating user and group information and updating Global Catalog Only one infrastructure master per domain

33. What is RID Master?

Relative identifier is responsible for assigning unique IDs to the object s created in the AD. Only one RID Master per domain.

Career Path Finder

2012-07-12T13:04:00.001+05:30

Career Path Finder

Ophcrack

2012-04-16T12:55:00.001+05:30

What is ophcrack?

Ophcrack is a free Windows password cracker based on rainbow tables. It is a very efficient implementation of rainbow tables done by the inventors of the method. It comes with a Graphical User Interface and runs on multiple platforms.

Features:

» Runs on Windows, Linux/Unix, Mac OS X, ...
» Cracks LM and NTLM hashes.
» Free tables available for Windows XP and Vista.
» Brute-force module for simple passwords.
» Audit mode and CSV export.
» Real-time graphs to analyze the passwords.
» LiveCD available to simplify the cracking.
» Loads hashes from encrypted SAM recovered from a Windows partition, Vista included.
» Free and open source software (GPL).

Download Ophcrack Live CD

How to Download restricted scribd files

2012-04-02T19:07:00.001+05:30

In Scribd, If the uploader disabled the download option, you will not be able to download files for offline use and they can only be accessed online. How do you download locked or restricted files or documents from Scribd?

Simple Coded created By Samar Dhwoj Acharya

Open the scribd document you want to download. Now copy the URL from address bar and paste in the textbox below.

Coded Link

Learning the bash Shell; Unix Shell Programming

2012-03-10T12:58:00.001+05:30

Learning the bash Shell; Unix Shell Programming

Google Transliteration IME is available for 22 different languages

2012-02-28T13:39:00.002+05:30

Google Transliteration IME is available for 22 different languages

Google Transliteration IME is an input method editor which allows users to enter text in one of the supported languages using a roman keyboard. Users can type a word the way it sounds using Latin characters and Google Transliteration IME will convert the word to its native script. Note that this is not the same as translation -- it is the sound of the words that is converted from one alphabet to the other, not their meaning. Converted content will always be in Unicode. For example, typing "hamesha" transliterates into Hindi as: and typing "salaam" transliterates into Persian as:

Google Transliteration IME is available for 22 different languages - Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Farsi (Persian), Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Russian, Sanskrit, Serbian, Sinhalese, Tamil, Telugu, Tigrinya and Urdu.

Sample status window and the edit window for Hindi IME are shown below. For simplicity, Hindi IME is used as an example at most places in this help page.

Installation

Install

To install, download (If you are on a 64-bit Windows, make sure you have selected the 64-bit radio button in the download page) and run the installer and follow the instructions on screen.

More than one language IME can be installed on the same client machine.
Requirements are Windows 7/Vista/XP 32-bit/64-bit operating systems.
Only one instance of IME will be installed per machine but the configuration is done for each user using IME.

Uninstall

To uninstall, follow these steps:

Click on the "Start" menu.
Select "Control Panel" and then go to "Add or Remove Programs".
In the program list, select the "Google Input", click on "Change/Remove" button.
By default, "Retain my personal data with settings" option will be checked, which will not clean your personal customizations like display font, user correction cache etc., as part of uninstall. Uncheck the option, if you want to clean all your personal settings information.
In the "Uninstall Google Input" dialog box, click "Yes".

Configuration

If you want to use IME with any application like notepad, you must first open the application and then open our IME. IME can be opened by clicking on the language bar on the desktop and then selecting the IME language icon or through a shortcut key if it's already configured. To close IME, you can change the language in language bar or try right clicking on the current application to see whether it supports 'Close IME' popup menu option or by closing the current application.

Displaying Language Bar

In desktop, right click on tool bar and select Toolbars -> Language bar

Enabling Language Bar

If the 'Language bar' option is not visible in 'Toolbars', then it needs to be enabled through control panel:

Windows 7/Vista

Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options -> Keyboard and Languages tab
Click on Change keyboards... button to open Text services and input languages dialog
Navigate to Language Bar tab
Enable the radio button Docked in the taskbar under Language Bar section
Apply all settings and try to display language bar as mentioned in previous section.

Windows XP

Go to Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options -> Languages tab -> Text services and input languages (Details) -> Advanced Tab
Make sure that under System configuration, option Turn off advanced text services is NOT checked.
Go to Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options -> Languages tab -> Text services and input languages (Details) -> Settings Tab
Click Language Bar
Select Show the Language bar on the desktop. Click OK.
If you are installing the IME for East Asian language or Right-To-Left language, go to Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options -> Languages Tab
Make sure that options Install files for complex scripts and right to left languages and Install files for East Asian languages are checked in the checkboxes. This requires installation of system files and the system will prompt to insert the Operating System Disc.
Apply all settings and try to display language bar as mentioned in previous section.

IME Shortcut

A shortcut key sequence can be applied to the IME as follows which can be used to quickly enable IME for any in-focus application:

Windows 7/Vista

Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options -> Keyboard and Languages tab
Click on Change keyboards... button to open Text services and input languages dialog
Navigate to Advanced Key Settings tab
If Google Input is not listed in Installed Services box, then click Add and in Add Input language dialog box, go to the language for which you want to enable IME in the languages tree and expand the node. Check the checkbox next to Google Input in the list.
In Hot keys for input languages Select To - Google Input
Press Change Key Sequence
Select Enable Key Sequence
Select option like Left ALT + SHIFT + Key 1
Apply all changes
Now opening an application like notepad and pressing Left ALT + SHIFT + Key 1 should open the IME.

Windows XP

Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options -> Languages tab -> Text services and input languages (Details) -> Settings Tab
If either or Google Input not listed in Installed Services box, then click Add and in Add Input language dialog box, select in Input language and Google Input in Keyboard layout/IME. Click OK
Press Key Settings
In Hot keys for input languages, Select Switch to -Google Input
Press Change Key Sequence
Select Enable Key Sequence
Select option like Left ALT + SHIFT + Key 1
Apply all changes
Now opening an application like notepad and pressing Left ALT + SHIFT + Key 1 should open the IME.

Features

Status Window

Whenever you enable our IME for an application either through a shortcut or through language bar, its status window will be visible on the screen. By default it will be placed at the bottom right corner of your desktop which can also be moved around. It is used for more configuration and controlling various features of our IME. It has three to five icons (depending on the language and features available) with leftmost being the application icon. Next to it are IME language indicator button, keyboard button (not present for Amharic and Tigrinya), canonical mode button (This button will be present if you have any canonical schemes associated with the IME) and menu button in that order.

Edit Window

When the IME is enabled for an application like notepad and you start typing, IME displays the edit window with the typed text and the corresponding word choices in IME language. In the below example, user has typed 'googl' and the IME has displayed five choices numbered 1 to 5.

Navigation and Selection

By default the leftmost choice will be highlighted indicating active choice. Active choice can be changed by navigating other choices through BOTTOM-ARROW or TAB key - which moves the selection to the right; or through UP-ARROW or SHIFT+TAB keys - which moves the selection to left. To select one of the choices as the new word for your application, use ENTER key which inserts the active choice to the application at its current cursor position. Using SPACE or any other PUNCTUATION CHARACTER also inserts the active choice to the application along with the typed punctuation character. Exception will be when IME thinks that there is a better choice of word containing the punctuation character as part of the word itself. All the above controls only insert the active choice (highlighted) into the application. Another way to insert any choice even if it is not active is using its position number as: CTRL+.

Word Completions

When you type a word, the choices displayed in edit window will be either in BLACK or BLUE color. Intuitive partial word choices for the typed content are displayed in BLACK color which will always be grouped on the left side. If there are any better dictionary-based word completions for the typed content, they are displayed in BLUE color and grouped on the right side.

Paging

In the example being discussed, IME displays only 5 choices in the edit window which is the page size setting of the edit window. It can be configured through the menu button of the status window. If there are more choices than the page size set, then it will be displayed in the next page. Page navigation can be done through the small arrow buttons at the right bottom corner of the edit window or through PageUP and PageDown keys. Even when you navigate the choices with arrow or tab keys, the control moves to the next or previous page from either end of the edit window.

Search

At anytime while typing in edit window, if you click the Google image on top right corner of the edit window, it triggers a web search for the active/highlighted choice in google.com. Search can also be triggered for non-active choice by right-clicking on any choice and then clicking the Search... drop-down button.

User Cache

There will be scenarios where the leftmost choice is not the one you are looking for and you select some other choice (second choice in the below example for typed word 'program') which will be inserted into the application.

IME remembers this selection for the current user and when the user next types 'program' again, the last selected choice will now be displayed as the leftmost choice. To share this information across all applications for a user, this is persisted at user level even after closing the application. But this persisting behavior can be disabled through the 'Disable User Cache' option from menu button of status window. Note that caching doesn't apply if you select word completions. It is only for word choices shown in BLACK color.

Switch to English

If you want to add both roman alphabet (typically English) content and IME language content to any application, there is an easy way to switch between the two. In one mode IME gives you choices in its language and in another mode it just emits what you have typed. Toggling can be done by clicking the IME language button in status window or through shortcuts: CTRL+G or F12.

Keyboard

When you don't get some words as expected choices for any rare complex words; you can use the flexible keyboard to input any possible word. You can open the keyboard by clicking the keyboard button on status window or through the shortcut CTRL+K. Mouse is used to enter characters from the IME keyboard which also triggers word completions in the edit window. Keyboard can be closed by clicking the keyboard button again on status window or through shortcut keys: CTRL+K or ESC. There is also option to enter Zero Width Joiner (ZWJ) and Zero Width Non Joiner (ZWNJ) characters.

Customization

You can customize many features through IME's menu. Options available through the menu popup in status window are:

Change or activate one of the available canonical schemes (Option available only if there is atleast one scheme in the Schemes directory).
Select the font and size to be used to display the choices in IME language inside edit window (Suggestion Font).
Select the font and size to be used to display the English/Roman characters inside edit window.
Set the page size for edit window to restrict its size through number of choices.
Enable or disable the persistence of user cache.
Add/Edit or Delete macros using Manage Macros option.
Information about the IME like version.
Help, linking to this page.

Special Cases

There are some special cases in how IME behaves for some characters in some languages:

Example in Arabic for special case of SPACE where it is part of the typed word.
Example in Arabic for special case of PUNCTUATION where it is part of the typed word.
Example in Greek for special case of CAPITALIZATION where only first character being in uppercase in input retains its casing.
Example in Greek for special case of CAPITALIZATION where all uppercase word in input retains its casing.
Example in Greek for special case of DIGITS where number is converted digit wise instead of its whole value.

User Defined Macros

IME supports adding custom user defined macros. Macros are short character sequences mapped to a word of your choice. When you type a character sequence, if there is a word corresponding to that sequence in the user-defined macros collection then it will be shown as the first choice in the Edit Window. You can manage the macros by choosing the 'Manage Macros...' option from the IME's menu.

When you select this option the 'Manage Macros' dialog opens, allowing you to add, modify and delete the set of macros.

Adding a Macro entry

Click on the 'Add' button. This will add an empty row to the Macros List. You can double click (or select the cell and press F2) on the cell to add the new Macro entry.

Macro Text should consist of only alpha-numeric characters and the length should not exceed 100 characters. Macro Text is case-sensitive.
Macro Target should not contain any spaces and the length should not exceed 50 characters.

Removing a Macro entry

Select the cells you want to delete (Use Shift+Click to select a range or Ctrl+Click to select multiple disconnnected cells) and click on the 'Delete' button. Note that you cannot delete single cells. If you delete a cell, the full row will be deleted.

Modifying and Saving Macro Entries

You can edit any cell by double clicking it (or selecting the cell and pressing F2 key).
You can cancel the edit anytime by pressing the 'Esc' key or clicking outside the cell. Press the 'Enter' key to complete the edit.
After all edits are completed you need to click on the 'Save' button to save your changes.
You can click on the 'Discard' button anytime to discard all the changes made so far (after the previous save action).

Once you have the Macros in place you can use them while typing. For example if 'Mon' is mapped to in the Macros, then when you type 'Mon' you will see as the first option.

Custom Canonical Transliteration Schemes

Transliteration IME supports adding custom transliteration schemes. Defining a scheme is done in a text file with a .scm extension. Once the scheme file is created you need to place it in the Schemes directory and when you start the IME the next time, it will automatically pick up the scheme files and provide you a menu option to choose one of the available schemes.

Defining Schemes

The Scheme files (.scm files) are text files and you can use your favourite text editor to edit them. The scheme file can be saved as UTF-8 text or UTF-16 text. A scheme file consists of two parts, header and the mapping rules section.

Header

The scheme file header specifies multiple attributes. A sample header with all the attributes will look like,
version: 1.0 name: ITRANS using classes class-delimiters: [ ] wildcard: # stop-char: _
- version is a mandatory field. Currently we only support 1.0.
- name is a mandatory field. The name specifies the name of the canonical scheme. The name should not contain more than 30 characters. This is the name displayed in the 'Schemes' menu. So a name descriptive of the scheme is useful. Here in the above example, the Name is set to 'ITRANS' indicating this scheme file implmenents ITRANS scheme (one of the popular schemes for Indic languages).
- using classes is an optional line. Having this line will give you the ability to use classes (grouping of mappings under common name). Classes are explained below.
- wildcard is an optional field. Wildcards are used in conjunction with classes
- class-delimiters is an optional field. These are used in conjunction with classes.
- stop-char is an optional field. The canonical transliteration engine by default looks for the longest prefix, matching a rule. If the user wants to break it in the middle, then a Stop char should be be used. For example, if 'a', 'i' and 'ai' all have valid mappings and user wants the engine to output mapping for 'a' followed by mapping for 'i', this can only be done by using the input sequence 'a_i' assuming '_' is the stop-char (using 'ai' will lead to the mapping for 'ai' and not what user expected).
Class specification

You can define mutiple classes in your scheme file if you have specified the using classes line in the header. A class definition should look like,
class ... rules
The class-begin-delimiter, and class-end-delimiter are the ones specified in the header as mentioned above,
class-delimiters:
If you have not specified class-delimiters in the header (but using classes is defined) then '{' and '}' are used as the default class delimiters. The rule specification inside a class is same as rule specification outside the class.
Rule specification

Rules are specified as,

Rule prefix can consist of a sequence of ASCII characters and optionally a class specifier. A class specifier inside a rule should be of the form,
name>
If the Rule prefix has a class specifier, then the Rule target should use the wildcard. Rule Target consists of a sequence of characters in the target language of user's choice and a wildcard (when the Rule Prefix has a class specifier). The wildcard character is the one specified in the header as,
wildcard:
If no wildcard is specified in the header (but using classes is defined) '*' is used as the wildcard by default. A sample scheme file with a class (headers omitted),
class sample { a 1 b 2 c 3 } a{sample} 1* {sample}x *2 ad 14 vd 24
When the rules are processed each occurence of the class in the Rule Prefix is replaced by the prefixes defined in the class and the '*' (wildcard) in the target is replaced by the corresponding target in the class. So in the above example the rules get expanded into,
aa 11 ab 12 ac 13 ax 12 bx 22 cx 32 ad 14 bd 24
The first three rules correspond to the first rule in the rule file, the next three rules are for the second rule and the last two rules are same as the last two rules in the file because it does not use any class specifiers (Note that the rules inside the class are not added to the set of rules for the scheme). Now if you use this scheme file and type "abaxcxad", you will get the suggestion as "12123214" in the IME Window. If you are not using classes the scheme file is just a set of rules with the version and name specified in the header.
Example of a scheme file with no classes,
version: 1.0 name: Sample r1 target1 r2 target2 r3 target3
Now when you use this Scheme file and type the sequence "r1r2r3" you will see the word "target1target2target3" as the suggested option.

Integrating Scheme file with IME

To integrate the scheme file with the IME, place the scheme file (with extension .scm) under the Schemes directory. The Schemes directory is present under the IME installation directory (It is usually under C:/Program Files/Google/Google Input/). Once the scheme file is placed you need to restart the IME and the IME will pick up the scheme file while loading. If there are any errors in the scheme file it will be displayed in a dialog so that you can fix them. If there are no errors, the Scheme will appear under the Schemes menu and you can activate it and start using it. Schemes can be activated in several ways,

Selecting the scheme from the Schemes menu.
Using the shortcut key Ctrl+M (If there are multiple schemes this will activate the last used Scheme or the first scheme if you are using Schemes for the first time)
Using the 'Toggle Canonical Scheme' button in the Status Window.

Feedback

Your feedback is important and will help us improve the product. You can send your comments to transliteration-support+ime@google.com.

Troubleshooting

I do not see the language toolbar.
>>> Check configuration section.

The word I want does not appear in any of the choices.
>>> In case the word you are trying to type does not appear in the list of choices in all pages, you can use the Keyboard.

I see only boxes as choices. No character in IME language is displayed in edit widow.
>>> Make sure that you have installed a Unicode font like Arial Unicode MS supporting IME language and customize a font through IME menu.

How to update to a newer version?
>>> Google IME automatically updates to a newer version when one is released. The update process happens silently, whether or not you're using the IME at the time. If Google IME is open at the time of the update, you must close the IME and restart the system for the new version to take effect.

Download Link

Baraha - Free* Indian Language Software

2012-01-31T13:53:00.003+05:30

Baraha - Free^* Indian Language Software

Baraha software supports Kannada, Konkani, Tulu, Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Assamese and Oriya languages. Runs on Windows XP/Vista and Windows 7.

Baraha software can be effectively used for...

Email, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Website in Indian languages.
Document, Spreadsheet, Presentation in Indian languages.
Database, Customized application in Indian languages.

Baraha software consists of 3 editors.

Baraha editor - a standalone editor for Indian languages.
BarahaPad editor - a standalone Unicode editor for Indian languages.
BarahaIME editor - type Indian language text in any application.

Download Link

HOW TO INSTALL Mac OS X 10.4.8 ON VMWARE WORKSTATION 6.0 WITH WINDOWS

2011-12-10T12:58:00.002+05:30

Chrome Remote Desktop

2011-12-10T12:44:00.004+05:30

Chrome Remote Desktop

Chrome Remote Desktop is a new Chrome extension that lets you remotely control a computer from your browser. It's the first software that uses a technology code-named "chromoting" and it's especially useful if you have a Chromebook.

The goal of this beta release is to demonstrate the core Chrome Remoting technology and get feedback from users. This version enables users to share with or get access to another computer by providing a one-time authentication code. Access is given only to the specific person the user identifies for one time only, and the sharing session is fully secured.

One potential use of this version is the remote IT helpdesk case. The helpdesk can use the Chrome Remote Desktop BETA to help another user, while conversely a user can receive help by setting up a sharing session without leaving their desk. Additional use cases such as being able to access your own computer remotely are coming soon.

Chrome Remote Desktop BETA is fully cross-platform, so you can connect any two computers that have a Chrome browser, including Windows, Linux, Mac and Chromebooks.

I've installed the extension on a Dell laptop that runs Windows 7 and on a Samsung Chromebook. The extension has more than 17 MB, so you have to wait a little bit until it's downloaded and installed. After installing the extension on my Dell laptop, I clicked the new icon from the new tab page and Chrome Remote Desktop asked me to "grant extended access permissions" to my computer.

Eraser

2011-12-05T12:13:00.005+05:30

Eraser

(Permanently Delete Files from Hard Disk)

Eraser is an advanced security tool for Windows which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns. Eraser is currently supported under Windows XP (with Service Pack 3), Windows Server 2003 (with Service Pack 2), Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Why Use Eraser?

Most people have some data that they would rather not share with others - passwords, personal information, classified documents from work, financial records, self-written poems, the list continues.

Perhaps you have saved some of this information on your computer where it is conveniently at your reach, but when the time comes to remove the data from your hard disk, things get a bit more complicated and maintaining your privacy is not as simple as it may have seemed at first.

Your first thought may be that when you 'delete' the file, the data is gone. Not quite, when you delete a file, the operating system does not really remove the file from the disk; it only removes the reference of the file from the file system table. The file remains on the disk until another file is created over it, and even after that, it might be possible to recover data by studying the magnetic fields on the disk platter surface.

Before the file is overwritten, anyone can easily retrieve it with a disk maintenance or an undelete utility.

There are several problems in secure file removal, mostly caused by the use of write cache, construction of the hard disk and the use of data encoding. These problems have been taken into consideration when Eraser was designed, and because of this intuitive design and a simple user interface, you can safely and easily erase private data from your hard drive.

Eraser Features

It works with Windows XP (with Service Pack 3), Windows Server 2003 (with Service Pack 2), Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000 can still be used with version 5.7!

It works with any drive that works with Windows
Secure drive erasure methods are supported out of the box
Erases files, folders and their previously deleted counterparts
Works with an extremely customisable Scheduler

Download Link

Beyond Compare

2011-09-15T17:05:00.003+05:30

Beyond Compare

Beyond Compare allows you to quickly and easily compare your files and folders. By using simple, powerful commands you can focus on the differences you're interested in and ignore those you're not. You can then merge the changes, synchronize your files, and generate reports for your records.

You can compare entire drives and folders at high speed, checking just sizes and modified times. Or, thoroughly verify every file with byte-by-byte comparisons. FTP sites and zip files are integrated seamlessly, so you can update your website with the touch of a button.

Once you've found specific files you're interested in, Beyond Compare can intelligently pick the best way to compare and display them. Text files can be viewed and edited with syntax highlighting and comparison rules tweaked specifically for documents, source code, and HTML. The text contents of Microsoft Word .doc and Adobe .pdf files can also be compared but not edited. Data files, executables, binary data, and images all have dedicated viewers as well, so you always have a clear view of the changes

Download Link

Windows Server 2008 - File/Folder Permissions and Mapping Network Drives

2011-07-22T17:15:00.002+05:30

Windows Server 2008 - File/Folder Permissions and Mapping Network Drives from vaibhav