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Category Archives: Windows

Manually Purge User from Blackberry Professional Database

We’re just trialling the Blackberry Professional software here, but with a change of heart as to the test user attempted to delete the user to re-add another.  Unfortunately although the Blackberry Professional Software allows you to delete users, it didn’t successfully purge the user from the database.  This meant that we couldn’t add an alternative user (the software comes with 1 user licence to trial with).

The solution is to manually remove the user from the database.  This can be done using the OSQL command line utility.

osql -E SERVERNAMEDATABASESERVERNAME
1>use BESMgmt
2>select DisplayName from UserConfig
3>go

This will show the DisplayName of the user.  For the sake of this document, we’ll call the user “testuser”.

To delete the user, then enter:

1>use BESMgmt
2>delete from UserConfig where DisplayName=“testuser”
3>go

1>exit

That should remove the user.  On checking within the Blackberry Professional software there is now no longer a user, releasing the licence.
:)

Firefox 3 – Handling of unverified SSL certificates

Firefox 3 is now well and truly into it’s beta phase, and one of the headline features is the way that it handles invalid SSL certificates.

I first noticed this when building a test environment to trial a few different web-based CRM systems, and I’ve got to say that there are some big pluses to this.

SSL certificates are cheap now and really for any commercial site out there, there should be no excuses for not using a real certificate.  Windows Vista has proved that if you present users with a dialogue box enough times they will just habitually click through without second consideration, thus making them vulnerable to a plethora of security woes.  This is a big security step forward and will hopefully encourage businesses out there to pull their socks up when it comes to using valid certificates (the biggie is likely to be the ability to use self signed SSL certs in Exchange/OWA!)

There is a method of bypassing this (if needed for testing purposes).  For example, I am wanting to test a site in a lab environment, therefore my vulnerability to man-in-the-middle attacks is absolutely zero….

You can go to Preferences->Advanced Preferences->Encryption->View Certificates->Add Exception and then get and approve the certificate for your server…

Commentary with the Firefox developers is available here: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=431827

….and a good explaination of the reasoning behind the fix here:

http://blog.johnath.com/index.php/2007/10/11/todo-break-internet/
:)

Adding Exchange Public Folders in Evolution

Bit of an awkward fix, unfortunately, as this involves having access to a Windows/Outlook setup, but to add a Public folder that exists on Exchange, it needs to be bookmarked as a favourite for Evolution to pick it up.

For example, we use a public folder for shared (company-wide) contacts here.  To add the folder I just log onto my account on a Windows machine, then added that public folder as a favourite.

After logging out of evolution and back in, I could then see these “public” contacts under the contact folder (CTRL+2).

Using a Blackberry 8310 Curve as a modem on XP

For roaming users who need to connect to services where there is no available WiFi, this is a useful solution.

We use an unlimited data plan with O2 which also has advantages – no further costs for users using the Blackberry as a GPRS modem!

1 – Ensure latest version of Blackberry Desktop Software is installed.

2 – Connect the Blackberry and check that under Device Manager->USB Devices that the Blackberry is listed (if it is not installed correctly, reinstall drivers from:

C:program filescommon filesresearch in motionDrivers

3 – In Device Manager, under ports, you should see an RIM Virtual Serial Port – if not install from the location above.

4 – Next, add a modem in Control panel (using a Standard 33.6 modem). Connect to the virtual serial port listed in step 3.

5 – Under the advanced tab for the modem we just added in the extra initialisation commands box type:

+cgdcont=1,”IP”,”mobile.o2.co.uk”

…assuming o2 is your mobile carrier!

Now set up a new dialup connection using this modem.  Username and password have no significance, just set the phone number to dial as:

*99#

Uncheck the box that says “make this the default internet connection”
:D

Asset Management and Trouble Ticketing systems

Occasionally you find a piece of software that makes life infinitely easier….this has been a very good week, I’ve found 2!

I’ve just installed GLPI as a trouble ticketing system to assist with management of workflow and to track recurring faults.  It’s an open-source, web based tool that uses apache, php and mysql to track issues and produce good quality reports.

It seems extremely stable in trials so far, but I will keep on using for the next few weeks before I roll out to users in our organisation for fault reporting.

Available from here: http://www.glpi-project.org/spip.php?lang=en

The next find was a tool called OCS Inventory.  It’s another web/mysql app that is used for asset management.  The useful thing about this tool is that it uses an agent installed as a service on workstations that can be deployed using a login script.  This then updates the server on workstation boot with an abundance of information about the workstation, such as hardware info, serial number, installed software, installed printers, logged on user, etc

This has turned into a real time-saver for me! It’s available for download from http://www.ocsinventory-ng.org/

Mail Merge in Office 2007 misses characters

We have a user who runs a regular mail merge, and since migrating to Office 2007 has been experiencing problems merging using an Excel source into a Word document.  The merge fails to display characters following the decimal point.

The resolution is to highlight the merge field in the document template and press ALT+F9.  This will then display

{MERGEFIELD FIELD_NAME}

This needs to be edited to include the number of characters before and after the decimal place using the # switch.  # then defines the number of characters.  It’s worth noting that if no characters exist then Word ignores the #.  To get around this, adding a subsequent .00 ensures that if there is a 0 value after the decimal place then it is included.  Our edited mergefield therefore looks like:

{MERGEFIELD “FIELD_NAME” # £##,###.00}

Virtualising Windows

Managing a Windows environment (2 separate domains, one running a couple of 2003 Servers and Exchange, the other running SBS2003), there are times when I need to run a Windows client.  Not least because the management tools required for our PBX phone systems (an Avaya IP Office and an Alcatel OmniPCX), our CCTV system (RMC), our photographic archive (iBase), our EPOS system and Sage Line 50 require windows to run and Wine is insensitive to. There are various other windows specific tools that effectively mean that I need a functional copy of windows to work, rather than beng able to switch over to linux as my sole desktop machine.

At the moment I use a KVM switch to swap between the 2 desktops I use (one is XP the other Ubuntu Hardy Beta).  I spend about 99% of my day in Ubuntu, but can’t escape windows completely….this means 2 machines under the desk – which at best is not very environmentally sound, and at worst is downright inconvenient.

The solution? well a virtualised copy of Windows running on the Linux box is the obvious solution, but what about all the apps and data accumulated on the Windows machine over the last x years…..this may seem like a small concern, but it would take a LONG time to reinstall these apps – because of the custom nature of them they are heavy on configuration time, and while they could be installed, it would be a pain in the backside….

Along come the nice people at VMWare though with the Vmware Converter (http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/) a tool that simply installs and then allows you to convert a physical install of an OS into a Virtual OS that can then be opened in VMware Workstation, Server or Player!

While it is designed to allow for the virtualisation of server environments this is the perfect solution for the likes of myself who still need to use Windows apps, that aren’t Wine compatible but REALLY want to ditch the spare Windows machine sat under the desk…

Insecure email

Working for a number of clients, it’s surprising how many people assume that an email sent is secure by default.  The number of people (including e-commerce providers) who feel comfortable sending (and requesting) credit card information via email is quite shocking…

It’s worth clarifying that sending an email is the digital equivalent of sending a postcard….anyone, on any number of the hops between the sender and the recipient, could read the contents of that email with relative ease, in the same way that if you sent a postcard, anyone en route between the sender and the recipient who handles that card could read the contents.  Worse yet, there are methods of spoofing (pretending to be) the recipient mail server – causing all emails that are destined for the recipient to be captured then forwarded on without the recipient even knowing that this has happened….

There are methods of securing email, however – one of these is worth noting as a free solution – GNUPG http://www.gnupg.org/ and it is worth considering if you need to send any information that you feel is sensitive.  GNUPG can be used for digital signing of emails (proving that the email is really from you) and also for the encryption of emails using a private key pair.

There are resources on the use of GNUPG on the site, and it can be used on a variety of platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac) etc.

Using the OpenVPN Client in Vista

This morning had a client that was having difficulties connecting to our SSL VPN using the OpenVPN client.  The error they were getting was:

Tue Apr 08 17:31:45 2008 ROUTE: route addition failed using CreateIpForwardEntry
: Access is denied.   [status=5 if_index=25]
Tue Apr 08 17:31:45 2008 Route addition via IPAPI failed [adaptive]
Tue Apr 08 17:31:45 2008 Route addition fallback to route.exe
The requested operation requires elevation.
Tue Apr 08 17:31:45 2008 ERROR: Windows route add command failed [adaptive]: sys
tem() returned error code 1

Looking at the error, it obviously points to a permissions excalation issue in Vista – the workaround:

Edit the config file of the SSL vpn (the .ovpn file) in C:Program FilesOpenVpnconfig and add the following lines:

#Force the use of route.exe
route-method exe

This will force OpenVPN to add the route using Route.exe

Then create a batch file to run the OpenVPN executable with the confif file specified::

“C:program filesOpenVPNbinopenVPN.exe” “C:program filesopenvpnconfigyourconfigname.ovpn”

Right click the batch file and run as administrator, and it should work!