Find Your Exchange 2010 Version
Posted by JBrokaw in Exchange 2010 on March 8, 2010
From the Exchange Blog
So I just installed RU1 on my brand new Exchange 2010 server and then I issue a Get-Exchangeserver -Identity MyExchangeServer and get the following output for AdminsDisplayVersion and ExchangeVersion:
Ok that looks a little familiar for some reason. I go to my Exchange 2010 RTM server and issue the same CMDlet and get:
…The same result! But one server has RU1 installed and the other is RTM. Shouldn’t I get a different version number back?
Well… no. Exchange 2007 and forward do not reflect the version number either in the value for AdminDisplayVersion, ExchangeVersion, or at this registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\v8.0\<Role>\ConfiguredVersion as influenced by roll ups. This is a common misconception.
The most conclusive way to get the version of your exchange server, rollup and all, is to check the file version of ExSetup.exe in the BIN folder.
Here is Exchange 2010 RU1 version:
And here is Exchange 2010 RTM:
Another way of getting this information is to run the following PowerShell one-liner:
GCM exsetup |%{$_.Fileversioninfo}
The below output is from an exchange 2010 server running RU1:
Here is an exchange 2010 RTM server:
You can then correlate the version number you find with those listed here, here or on the actual rollup update download pages.
PowerShell Script to E-Mail User Mailbox Storage Limit Status
Posted by JBrokaw in Exchange 2007, Exchange 2010 on March 4, 2010
A storage status of “NoChecking” means they do not have a mailbox limit.
To schedule the script. Through Windows Scheduler “PowerShell.exe -PSConsoleFile "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Bin\ExShell.psc1" -Command “C:\Script.ps1"
Save as a .ps1 file
________________________________________________
$FromAddress=MailboxReport@domain.com
$ToAddress=ExampleUser@domain.com
$MessageSubject="Mailbox Report"
$MessageBody="User Mailbox Storage Limit Status"
$SendingServer="emailserver.domain.com"
$file="C:\Mailboxes.txt"
Get-MailboxStatistics | Sort-Object StorageLimitStatus | ft DisplayName, StorageLimitStatus, ItemCount > $file
$SMTPMessage = New-Object System.Net.Mail.MailMessage $FromAddress, $ToAddress, $MessageSubject, $MessageBody
$Attachment = new-object System.Net.Mail.Attachment $file
$SMTPMessage.Attachments.Add($Attachment)
$SMTPClient=New-Object System.Net.Mail.SMTPClient $SendingServer
$SMTPClient.Send($SMTPMessage)
Exchange 2010 Requires Client Encryption – Outlook 2003 Encryption Disabled by Default
Posted by JBrokaw in Exchange 2010 on February 26, 2010
Solution:
1. Enable Encryption in the Outlook 2003 Profile.
2. Create a GPO to enable Encryption for Outlook 2003 clients.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2006508
3. Disable the Encryption requirement on the Exchange 2010 server.
From PowerShell on the Exchange server: Set-RpcClientAccess -Server:ExchangeServerName -EncryptionRequired:$False
Outlook 2003 Responds Slowly When Using Exchange 2010
Posted by JBrokaw in Exchange 2010 on February 26, 2010
MS KB for this issue – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2009942
New vSphere Project
The Hardware:
3 – Dell R710 Servers with 2-Quad Core Xeon CPUs, 32GB RAM, 3-SAS HDs, and 8 NIC ports.
2 – Cisco 2960G Switches.
1 – Dell Equallogic PS6000x 7.2TB with 16 SAS Drives and Dual Controllers.
The Software:
VMware vSphere vCenter Standard
VMware vSphere ESX Enterprise Plus
Initial Server Configuration:
Enable Intel Virtual Technology in Dell BIOS.
Configure Power Management for High Performance.
Configure Dell DRAC username, password, and IP.
Configure local RAID for RAID 1 + 1 Hot Spare.
vSphere ‘Health status changed’ alarm activates every few hours and sends an email notification
This alarm monitors the vCenter Services, but per VMware there is a known issue that will cause the alarm status to go from Green to Yellow. This is caused by vCenter Storage Management syncs. The current fix is to remove the email address from the Actions tab.
http://communities.vmware.com/message/1385495
Using The ESX Host Update Utility
Back Up the ESX Host Configuration
Back up the files in the /etc/passwd, /etc/groups, /etc/shadow, and /etc/gshadow directories.
The /etc/shadow and /etc/gshadow files might not be present on all installations.
Back up .vmx files.
Back Up the ESXi Host Configuration
Install the vSphere CLI.
In the vSphere CLI, run the vicfg-cfgbackup command with the -s flag to save the host configuration to
a specified backup filename.
vicfg-cfgbackup –server <ESXi-host-ip> –portnumber <port_number> –protocol
<protocol_type> –username username –password <password> -s <backup-filename>
Configure a GPO WMI Filter for Office 2000, XP, or 2003
Posted by JBrokaw in Group Policy on February 3, 2010
SELECT * FROM Win32_Product WHERE Caption LIKE “Microsoft Office%2003%” OR Caption LIKE “Microsoft Office%2000%” OR Caption LIKE “Microsoft Office%XP%”
How To Create a Custom Power Plan for Windows 7 via GPO
Posted by JBrokaw in Group Policy, Windows 7 on February 3, 2010
How to Configure Power Settings for Windows 7 PCs via Group Policy
If server is Windows 2008 (R1) the following steps need to be taken:
1: Copy the “Policy Definitions” folder on a Windows 7 PC from the C:\Windows directory to \\Domain.local\SYSVOL\Policies Folder.
2: On a Windows 7 PC download and install RSAT (Remote Server Administration Tools) for Windows 7.
From a Windows 2008 R2 server or the Windows 7 PC with RSAT installed:
1: Create a New GPO.
2: Navigate to “Computer Configuration\Preferences\Control Panel Settings\Power Options”
3: Right Click and Create new “Power Plan (Windows Vista and later)”
4: Change the Action to “New” and name the Policy.
5: Configure the power settings.
6: Make sure the Group Policy is applied to the correct OU. Close the Group Policy Manger.
7: From a Windows 7 PC. Update Group Policy with the “gpupdate /force” command.
8: Find the power scheme you just created by using the “powercfg /list” command.
9: Copy the GUID of the power scheme.
10: Open the Group Policy Management Console again and edit GPO you created for the Windows 7 Power Settings.
11: Navigate to: Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\System\Power Management\Specify a Custom Active Power Plan
12: Enable the Policy and Paste your GUID into the Options.
13: After Group Policy updates the PC’s Power Settings should look like this:
Reset Password on ESX Server
Original Post – Here
How To Change Lost Password on Your ESX Server
You will need to have access to the serial console of the server which has your ESX installation, or access to keyboard and display attached directly to the same box.
To change the password, we’ll follow this procedure:
1) Reboot ESX server.
Unfortunately, if you don’t remember your root password, there won’t be a clean way to reboot your server. Try to shutdown all the VMs running on it, and then power-cycle the box running ESX.
2) Boot ESX server in single user mode
In this mode, you won’t be asked for a root password. When you see the following screen, press the "a" key:
… to change ESX kernel boot parameters. Your screen will look like this:
Now, simply type a space and "single" word, then press Enter:
Eventually, your ESX server will boot and give you a root command line prompt, which means you can do what you want from this moment on:
Assuming you want to change your root password, move on to the next step.
3) Change ESX root password to a new one
Simply type "passwd" and give your new password twice:
sh-2.05b# passwd Changing password for user root. New UNIX password: Retype new UNIX password: passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.
That’s it! You have changed the ESX password! Now it’s time to reboot the system and allow ESX server to come back up online.
4) Reboot ESX server once again
Type "reboot" and wait for the ESX server to come back online in a few minutes:
sh-2.05# reboot