About Me

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This is a blog for John Weber. One of my joys in life is helping others get ahead in life. Content here will be focused on that from this date forward. John was a Skype for Business MVP (2015-2018) - before that, a Lync Server MVP (2010-2014). I used to write a variety of articles (https://tsoorad.blogspot.com) on technical issues with a smattering of other interests. I have a variety of certifications dating back to Novell CNE and working up through the Microsoft MCP stack to MCITP multiple times. FWIW, I am on my third career - ex-USMC, retired US Army. I have a fancy MBA. The opinions expressed on this blog are mine and mine alone.

2010/08/19

LM and OC password lockout

A bit of trivia I discovered today.  The OC client and the LM client are sort of linked at the hip. I backed into this via Outlook and the LM addin…because I got locked out of my office account while testing the client’s install.  Something got bollixed up with the passwords…and here is what happened.

While doing some testing I had to change the login account on my OC.  I noticed that when I did that, the LM client picked up the change.  Nice!

SNAGHTML393cee5

But alas!  the password in the LM client account setup remains as the previous login…

image

Naturally, this resulted in the account being locked out for password failure.  So, while the LM did pick up the user name change, it bombed on the password.

Also, note that this is different depending on which way you work it…certainly not a two way street.  In the first scenario, I changed the username from OC, and LM picked up the change but not the password.  Going the other way is even worse; changing the username in LM only sent the sign-in name to OC client… the underlying verification stayed the same in both clients – and both were wrong.  In addition, the LM had the password from the other account!

image

Let’s hope this get’s fixed in CS 2010 where the LM and OC are one client.

disable “Schedule a Conference Call” button in Outlook LM plugin

 

I got asked today on how to do this.  Being as clueless as I am, I started with a little research.  Doggoned if I didn’t hit paydirt after only a few reads.  This is good stuff, so I want to make sure that I don’t lose it.

See this article here for the original material – figures there would be a KB for this.  I am reposting here for my own edification.

There is a registry entry that can be used to disable this button:

1. Locate and then click to select the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Live Meeting\Addins

Note Use this subkey for x86-based systems. If you are running a x64-based system, locate and click the following subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Live Meeting\Addins

2. After you select the subkey that is specified in step 3, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.

3. Type RemoveConferenceCall, and then press ENTER.

4. Right-click RemoveConferenceCall, and then click Modify.

5. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.

6. On the File menu, click Exit to close Registry Editor.

Change the Value to 0 and the button will be available again.

A full list of livemeeting registry keys can be found here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637135(office.13).aspx

2010/07/29

quote o’ da day

"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."

P.J. O’Rourke

2010/07/24

Reveal hidden devices server 2008

I do a lot of lab work.  I use virtual images.  I build the base image and then copy/move as needed.  Recently, I took an entire lab build and needed to start it on a new VM host.

The first 2008 DC I started told me that I could not rename the NIC because “…a connection with the name specified already exists.”

Found this article here, which fixed me right up.  The relevant portions are included for reference.

The following procedure will show no-longer-connected devices in Device Manager for Server 2008.

Open a command window with elevated privileges (Start -> Right-click "Command Prompt", select "Run as Administrator")

In the command window, execute the following commands:

SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1
START DEVMGMT.MSC

The second command starts the Device Manager. It MUST be started from the elevated-privilege command window for this procedure to work.

In Device Manager, click the VIEW menu item and select "Show hidden devices".

This should show any hidden devices. For network adapters, expand the network adapters node. Right-Click any device you wish to remove, and click Uninstall.

2010/07/21

single cert for ocs/exchange

this is a rewrite of previous post that got thrown away somehow…

Single certificate for OCS/Exchange firewall usage

Certificates can be complicated to understand, difficult to manage, and if you don’t have an internal PKI structure, downright expensive as you move forward with more and more dynamic applications that extend your Unified Communications to your remote users and business partners.

Internal certificates work wonders for your Active Directory Domain Services members. For Unified Communications, where OCS and Exchange are going to be using the same ISA 2006 server as the firewall, utilizing a Subject Alternative Name (SAN) certificate for your edge configuration and your ISA configuration can save you time, management hassles, and possibly provide cost savings as well. For internal servers, an internal PKI is just fine, but for the public interface of your system, you should most likely be looking at using a public-sourced key such as Go-Daddy, Thawte, DigiCert, etc. OCS Federation, remote users, and Public Instant Messaging Connectivity (PIC) demand public certificates. I know that I do not want to ship my internal CA root certificate to a slew of administrators and expect them to get that certificate into the correct spot for our systems to co-exist. But I digress.

The following table shows the SAN names needed on a certificate to support the base OCS and Exchange functions on ISA 2006/TMG/UAG – and I imagine that this certificate construction will work just fine on many other firewalls as well. The table comes from my test domain; you should replace my test domain with your own domain name.

Obtain a public SAN (UCC) certificate from your favorite provider; import the certificate into your OCS Edge server and your ISA server computer account Trusted Root Certificate store and then you can use one certificate for all these uses. This approach leaves you with only the one certificate to manage and renew, or, if life treats you badly, move to a new server.

 

SAN Name (what URL?)

Usage

Notes

1

SIP.tsoorad.net

OCS Edge Server

IM, Presence, Federation, PIC

2

LM.tsoorad.net

OCS Edge Server

Web Conferencing

3

AV.tsoorad.net

OCS Edge Server

A/V

4

OCS.tsoorad.net

ISA Reverse Proxy

Web Components

5

CWA.tsoorad.net

ISA Web Listener

Communicator Web Access

6

DOWNLOAD.CWA.tsoorad.net

ISA Web Listener

Cname for CWA desktop sharing

7

AS.CWA.tsoorad.net

ISA Web Listener

Cname for CWA desktop sharing

8

MAIL.tsoorad.net

ISA publisher

Outlook Anywhere, EAS, OWA, POP, IMAP

9

AUTODISCOVER.tsoorad.net

ISA Web Listener

Autodiscover is used by outlook and OCS.

2010/07/14

Evolution II

For those that don't know about history...here is a
condensed version.

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the
splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

  1. Liberals
  2. Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to BBQ at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement...

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned
to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly BBQ's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. They
became known as girlie-men. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention
of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic
voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that
conservatives provided.

Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass for obvious reasons.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare.. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly Bud or Miller. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, engineers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America . They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

Here ends today's lesson in world history.

American Evolution

I find this to be very clever.  YMMV.

 

evo_oink

evo_man_big_gulp

test 02 Feb

this is a test it’s only a test this should be a picture