Project Nami – new blog

I started a new blog covering the fun I’m having running a WordPress site running Project Nami backed by Azure and MS SQL. The new blog is using continuous deployment from the GitHub source of Project Nami. What is Project Nami? – well, certainly it’s Not Another MySQL Install. 🙂

How to install Microsoft OLE DB Provider for DB2 Version 4.0 on Windows Server 2012 Core

If you’re happily running MS SQL Server 2012 on Windows Server 2012 Core, but you need to install the Microsoft OLE DB Provider for DB2 Version 4.0, that smile won’t last long.

The installation fails trying to create an Internet shortcut, as Internet Explorer isn’t installed:

Action 10:33:43: WixCreateInternetShortcuts. 
WixCreateInternetShortcuts: Creating IUniformResourceLocatorW shortcut 'C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Microsoft OLE DB Provider for DB2 Version 4.0\Online Help.url' target 'http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=232712'
WixCreateInternetShortcuts: Error 0x80040154: failed to create an instance of IUniformResourceLocatorW
WixCreateInternetShortcuts: Error 0x80040154: failed to create Internet shortcut
CustomAction WixCreateInternetShortcuts returned actual error code 1603

I solved this issue by creating a MSI transform to remove the actions creating the URL. I used my long time standby ORCA to create the transform. I’ve made the transform available for download.

So on with the installation on Windows Server 2012 Core.

First make sure you meet the prerequisites, 2 key packages being Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package (x86 and x64). A quick way to see what you have installed on Core is with some PowerShell of course:

Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Sort Name | Select Name

Assuming you have the MSI and transform in a folder on your server, you can install with the following command (and you can add /qn to run silent):

C:\Installs>msiexec /i DB2OLEDBV4_x64.msi TRANSFORMS=noURL.mst /lv c:\installs\results.txt

I hope this helps save you some frustration!

-Joe

Add Unblock for Downloaded Files via Explorer’s Menu

When you download a file from the Internet, an NTFS stream is added to indicate the file came an unsafe place. This adds a layer of security when you try to open the file as you are forced to click through an are-you-sure dialog box or a document will open in safe mode. You can right-click the file, choose Properties, and select the Unblock button to remove this extra protection. The following process will allow you to right-click a downloaded file and perform the Unblock function directly from the context-sensitive menu.

I solved this “annoyance” previously using the streams.exe program. I’ve found a more elegant method using a new cmdlet in PowerShell 3.0 – “Unblock-file”.

Create the following as a REG file. Right-click and merge once created.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Unblock\command]
@="PowerShell.exe -NoProfile -NonInteractive Unblock-File -Path '%1'"

Or run from an administrative command line:

reg add HKCR\*\shell\Unblock\command /ve /d "PowerShell.exe -NoProfile -NonInteractive -Command Unblock-File -Path '%1'"

You will then have the menu option “Unblock” available when right-clicking on a file.

Bonus:
Did you unzip a file already? Unblock at the extracted folder level all contained files.

reg add HKCR\folder\shell\Unblock\command /ve /d "PowerShell.exe -NoProfile -NonInteractive -Command Get-ChildItem '%1' -recurse | Unblock-File"

If you want to get rid of the quick pop-up PowerShell command window (no, adding “-WindowStyle Hidden” doesn’t work) you can put PSRun.exe in your path and replace ‘PowerShell.exe’ with ‘PSRun.exe’ in the registry edit.

Change Windows Power Scheme – Server Core R2

The Windows Performance Tuning Guide suggests enabling Processor Performance Boost (Intel Turbo Boost Technology). A fresh install of Windows 2008 R2 (Core) sets the power scheme to Balanced, where Turbo Mode is disabled. From the Tuning Guide, you can modify just the Processor Performance Boost policy under the Balanced scheme, but as I’m usually running my OS as a virtual machine, I’ll just show a command to set the power scheme to High Performance.

The single line command below with determine the GUID for the “High Performance” power scheme and set it to the active scheme:

@echo off & echo. & echo Current Power Scheme & powercfg -list | find /i “) *” & echo. & powercfg -list | find /i “high” > %temp%\pwrcfgs.txt & for /f “tokens=4 delims= ” %i in (%temp%\pwrcfgs.txt) do @powercfg -setactive %i & echo. & echo New Power Scheme & powercfg -list| find /i “) *”

Output:

Current Power Scheme
Power Scheme GUID: 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e  (Balanced) *

New Power Scheme
Power Scheme GUID: 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c  (High performance) *

 

Turbo Mode will now be enabled.

[edit] See new recommendations from this KB2207548.

Add Unblock to Explorer’s Context Sensitive Menu

When you download a file from the Internet, an NTFS stream is added to indicate the file came an unsafe place. This adds a layer of security when you try to open the file as you are forced to click through an are-you-sure dialog box. You can right-click the file, choose Properties, and select the Unblock button to remove this extra protection.  The following process will allow you to right-click a downloaded file and perform the Unblock function directly from the context sensitive menu.

 

Step 1) Download Streams and place somewhere in your Path (i.e., C:\Windows)

 

Step 2) Save the following as a .REG file (i.e., unblock.reg) and merge to your registry.

 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Unblock\command]
@="streams -d \"%1\""

Note: You will still get the are-you-sure dialog box since you are performing an operation on the file while it still has the stream, but this unblock process will still save you time navigating the menu and choosing the Unblock button.

Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 Hotfixes and Updates

Below is a running list of hotfixes, security updates, and non-required updates.

 

Type	KB	Published	Required?	Restart?
Update: Stability & Reliability	KB974431	10/12/2009	No	Yes
Security: CryptoAPI spoofing	KB974571	10/13/2009	Yes	Yes
Security: LSASS DoS	KB975467	10/13/2009	Yes	Yes
Update: Time Zone	KB976098	11/16/2009	No	No
Update: Stability & Reliability	KB977074	01/25/2010	No	Yes
Security: SMB Remote Code Execution	KB971468	02/09/2010	Yes	Yes
Security: Hyper-V DoS	KB977894	02/09/2010	Yes	Yes
Security: SMB Remote Code Execution	KB978251	02/09/2010	Yes	Yes
Update: Application Compatibility	KB978562	02/22/2010	No	Yes
Update: Application Compatibility	KB978637	02/22/2010	No	Yes
Update: Time Zone	KB979306	02/22/2010	No	No
Update: Application Compatibility	KB976264	03/09/2010	No	No
Update: Application Compatibility	KB981618	04/12/2010	No	Yes

 

Note: There have been 2 required reboots of Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 since release.

Redirect Incorrect HTTPS URL requests – Dealing With Wildcard Certificates

I have a 4th-level wildcard SSL certificate to secure one of my web sites. This wildcard certificate does not cover my 3rd-level domain, so I have to use a 4-level domain URL to properly use the certificate. When I need SSL, my proper URL is https://www.mydom.myedu.edu. When I don’t need SSL, I use the URL http://mydom.myedu.edu. A problem can arise when people forget the "www" as the 4th-level when using "https" at the same time – the user’s browser will display a warning that the certificate is not valid (i.e., https://mydom.myedu.edu). The code below for the global.asax file will redirect the browser to the correct SSL URL if the incorrect SSL URL is used when the user first makes an attempt to view the requested web page. Just change the "wrongStartSSLurl" and "goodStartSSLurl" variables for your environment.

As the code below may be mangled, here’s a text file of the code.

–Begin Global.asax file

   1:  <script language="VB" runat="server">

   2:      Sub Session_OnStart()

   3:          'This code is for correcting an issue with wildcard SSL certs

   4:          'when the base domain is not covered by the cert.

   5:          Dim wrongStartSSLurl As String = "https://mydom"

   6:          Dim goodStartSSLurl As String = "https://www.mydom"

   7:          Dim requestedURL As String =HttpContext.Current.Request.Url.ToString()

   8:          Dim startOfRequestedURL As String = Left(requestedURL, Len(wrongStartSSLurl))

   9:          If startOfRequestedURL = wrongStartSSLurl Then

  10:              Dim properSSLurl As String = Replace(requestedURL, wrongStartSSLurl, goodStartSSLurl)

  11:              HttpContext.Current.Response.Redirect(properSSLurl)

  12:          End If

  13:      End Sub

  14:  </script>

—End Global.asax file

End-User Determination of SharePoint/WSS Version

You need to be able to view the web server’s Header information during the viewing of a SharePoint/WSS page.

 

With the Firefox web browser, you can install the Firebug extension to access the web server headers.

 

Once installed, click the little "bug" icon in the lower right corner of Firefox.

Select the "Net" tab and choose Enable.

 

Then surf to one of your SharePoint/WSS pages.

 

You’ll see under Firebug’s Net tab the Headers sub-tab. Look for a line similar to the one highlighted below.

 

 

Compare the number to this listing of SharePoint/WSS version numbers.

Installing Live Mesh on Windows Server 2008 R2

I was not able to install Live Mesh on my Windows Server 2008 R2 (full) system until I added the registry entry below:

 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer]
"DisableMSI"=dword:00000000

 

See this machine policy setting: DisableMSI

 

This entry was eluded to by the Live Mesh installation error message I was receiving. I though it might have been UAC or compatibility issues, but I only got it installed after the registry change.

 

Live Mesh is now running fine. (And I removed the registry entry after the successful install).

Installing ATI FireGL V7200 Drivers with Windows Server 2008 R2

Currently, there are no drivers for the ATI FireGL V7200 for Windows Server 2008 R2 (or 2008). The OS installs, but uses generic VGA drivers with no dual monitor support. There are Windows 7 drivers for newer FireGL cards, but I tried the technique below to use them and just got reboots.  Using the Vista drivers and an INF file modification I was able to get full support for dual monitors with the ATI FireGL V7200 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x64).

 

Download the Vista drivers. Go through the driver file extraction process. Modify the driver INF file as follows:

Ex.: C:\AMD\FirePro_8.583_Vista64_77160\Packages\Drivers\Display\LH6A_INF\CH_77160.inf

 

Copy these two lines under the [ATI.Mfg.NTadm64.6.0] section:

 

"ATI FireGL V7200" = ati2mtag_R520GL, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_7104
"ATI FireGL V7200 Secondary" = ati2mtag_R520GL, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_7124

to the [ATI.Mfg.NTamd64.6.1] section.

 

You will now have this section as follows:

[ATI.Mfg.NTamd64.6.1]
"ATI FireGL V7200" = ati2mtag_R520GL, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_7104
"ATI FireGL V7200 Secondary" = ati2mtag_R520GL, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_7124

 

Now continue the installation (or rerun setup.exe from the extracted files location).  You may have to force the selection of the driver, you can use Update driver under Device Manager and specifically point to the edited INF file.