Thursday, May 24, 2007

MS: Exchange 2003 ports

For Exchange Communication:
Port 80 for HTTP
Port 691 for Link State Algorithm routing protocol

For Active Directory communication:
Port 389 for LDAP (TCP and UDP)
Port 3268 for Global Catalog Server LDAP (TCP)
Port 88 for Kerberos Authentication (TCP and UDP)

For DNS communication:
Port 53 for DNS (TCP and UDP)

For RPC communication:
Port 135 – RPC endpoint mapper (TCP)
Ports 1024 and higher for RPC services

If you are using IPSec between Frontend- and Backend Servers you have to open:
Port 500 for IKE (UDP)
Port 51 for Authentication Header (AH)
Port 50 for Encapsulation Protocol (ESP)

Rules for firewall

DNS
SMTP
CIFS (Both)
FE/BE Link State Routing (691)
LDAP
LDAP (GC)
LDAP (UDP)
NTP
Ping
Kerberos Sec (TCP)
Kerberos Sec (UDP)
Kerberos Adm (UDP)
RPC (All)
HTTP Exchange Link State Routing (TCP691)
RPC over HTTP Information Store (TCP6001)
RPC over HTTP DSReferral (TCP6002)
RPC over HTTP DSProxy (TCP6004)

Client Access protocols:

HTTP
HTTPS
POP3
POP3 Secure
IMAP
IMAP Secure
SMTP
SMTP Secure

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

CERTIFICATION: Citrix Test 1Y0-306 passed!

Today I passed the Citrix Test 1Y0-306: Citrix Access Gateway 4.2 Advanced Edition: Administration and I got the Citrix Certified Administrator for Citrix Access Gateway 4.0 certification.This is a very, very easy exam, the official course material is enough (plus some experience, the Administrator Manual I have +5 years using Citrix :)
If you don't have the appliance you can install on VMware, check this post

Exam Statistics:

13 Citrix Exams
06 Citrix Certifications
24 Microsoft Exams
15 Microsoft Certifications
05 VMware Certifications
11 VMware Exams

More Info: http://www.musumeci.com.ar/Web_English/certificaciones_eng.htm

Monday, May 14, 2007

MS: How to Reset or Change Microsoft Office 2007 License Key

How to Reset or Change Microsoft Office 2007 Product License Key or Volume License Key (VLK)

Close all Microsoft Office programs.

Locate the following subkey in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Registration

Inside, you will find another subkey that resembles the following subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Registration\{30120000-0011-0000-0000-0000000FF1CE}

Optional: Backup this registry branch by exporting the Registration subkey to a file, just in case the new product key does not work and you have to restore back the old product key.

Under the Registration subkey, there may be several GUID subkeys that contain a combination of alphanumeric characters. Each GUID is specific to a program that is installed on your computer. If you find additional subkeys that reference Microsoft 12.0 registration, then click and open each GUID subkey to view and identify the Office product version by the ProductName registry entry in the right pane.

For example: ProductName=Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007

After you find the GUID subkey that contains your Office product or program which you want to remove the existing product license key or registration details, delete the following registry entries by right clicking on the registry entry in the GUID subkey, click Delete, and then click Yes.

Exit Registry Editor.

Run or open an Office application program, such as Microsoft Word or Excel or Outlook. Office 2007 will prompt you to enter a new 25-character product key.

Type in the valid and genuine product key, and then click OK. Then when prompted to choose your preferred type of Microsoft Office 2007 installation, press on “Install Now”. Microsoft Office 2007 will be updated with new product CD key or volume license key, and ready for activation (if it’s a non-VLK serial) or use.

Friday, May 11, 2007

CTX: Favorites Web Sites

CTX: Guide for Application Developers

The guide has been developed to provide information on how best to use Citrix technologies for application deployment. It is designed to assist developers that are new to Citrix, as well as seasoned Citrix developers. Please use this guide as a starting point or a reference for basic application concepts of Citrix deployments.

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX111705

CTX: StressPrinters 1.2 for 32-bit and 64-bit Platforms

Many driver problems in the Terminal Services environment revolve around poor multi-threaded performance, which in turn can cause Print Spooler instability. Problematic multi-threaded performance is usually exposed when multiple users connect to a Terminal Server simultaneously using the same print driver. Symptoms include the failure to autocreate client printers, increased thread count of the Printer Spooler and/or Citrix Print Manager services, and possibly the unresponsiveness and/or unexpected termination of these services (crashes).
This tool can be used to simulate multiple sessions autocreating printers using the same print driver.
It can also be used to compare the following among various drivers:
• CPU load incurred while creating a printer using a particular driver
• Time required to successfully create a printer using a particular driver


http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX109374

CTX: Citrix ICA Client Memory Footprint Toolkit

The Citrix ICA Client Memory Footprint Toolkit allows developers to remove features from a Citrix ICA Client that are not required. This enables better control over the amount of memory required to store and run the client. All information necessary to remove features is included in this toolkit.

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX112014

CTX: Creating, Configuring, and Testing Health Monitoring & Recovery Tests

Health Monitoring & Recovery is a new feature of Citrix Presentation Server 4.5. The main function of the Health Monitoring & Recovery feature is to monitor the health of Presentation Server. If any of the tests fail, you can configure the Health Monitoring & Recovery feature to generate a recovery action, such as disabling the load balancing capability of the server or restarting the server. The Health Monitoring & Recovery feature includes a number of preconfigured tests; however, you can use the Health Monitoring & Recovery SDK to
create custom tests for your specific environment.
This white paper describes security considerations and how to create, configure, and test Health Monitoring & Recovery tests. The topics covered are:
• “Security Privileges and Testing”
• “Test File Location”
• “HMRSDKTester.exe Utility”
• “Creating and Configuring a Test”
• “Supported Formats”
• “Example of a Nonsupported Scripting Language Test”

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX112166

CTX: Stress Load of Citrix Server (TLoad)

TLoad is a capacity planning and regression testing solution that enables IT administrators to accurately predict how Citrix environments will perform under high levels of user load. By simulating real user interactions, TLoad customers are able to accurately forecast resource requirements, application behavior and performance bottlenecks ensuring potential obstacles are removed before the system goes live. Through a better understanding of how the Citrix environment will function under load, the system architects and administration team can definitively predict the resources required to deliver the best user experience while minimizing cost. http://www.thingenius.com

CTX: Citrix USB Keydrive Toolkit

This note explain how to create and run from a USB key an small ICA client.

http://support.citrix.com/kb/entry.jspa?externalID=CTX112013

CTX: Troubleshooting Tools for Citrix Environments

This is very large list of tools recommended by Citrix Technical Support to troubleshooting Citrix environments .

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX107572

CTX: Microsoft Updates and Information

This is the central location for Microsoft and Terminal Services related resources that specifically apply to Citrix administrators.

http://support.citrix.com/page.jspa?pageID=microsoft

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

MS: Top 7 Tips for Deploying Exchange Server 7

1 ) What are the hardware requirements for Exchange Server 2007?
Microsoft has published the hardware/software requirements for Exchange Server 2007 at
http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/evaluation/sysreqs
In short, the server must have:
• X64 processor; either the Intel EM64T or AMB64 platforms
• At least 2GB of RAM (plus 2-5 MB per mailbox for optimum performance)
• Light = 2MB/Mailbox
• Medium = 3.5MB/Mailbox
• Heavy = 5MB/Mailbox
• Other factors including the number of Storage Groups, server role, etc play a huge part. See this link for more detailed information:
http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2006/11/27/431644.aspx
• Windows Server 2003 x64 or Windows Server 2003 R2 x64, either Standard or Enterprise

2) What are the upgrade paths to Exchange Server 2007?
In-place upgrades are out. You will need to install a new Exchange Server 2007 machine into an existing Exchange 2000 or 2003 organization and move the data. Upgrading from Exchange 5.5 will require a little more work as you will need to completely upgrade the organization to Exchange 2000 or 2003 first. More information on the process can be found here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/a313c016-0e51-466e-a3de-953e1e0d347d.aspx

3) How should I begin planning for disk space?
The factors that affect your storage plans are much more lenient than before, but they will still require some thought.
• Mailbox Size and Count In other words if your target is 1000 mailboxes at 500MB each then you need to think about 488 GB for the base.
• Dumpster Size You should calculate the additional drive space you will need to hold deleted items until the retention period has expired. This could range from 10-40% and even higher depending on the retention period and expected mail volume.
• Content Indexing If you plan to index mailbox items, then you should add another 5% to the overall volume requirements in order to hold the index.
• Growth You should factor in growth in either mailbox numbers or volume. 20% is a generally acceptable number to use to factor growth.
• Log Files The amount of storage they consume will be based entirely on the frequency of backups and the volume of changes made daily to the database files. Many Exchange administrators use 10% as an initial estimation of log files. As always, plan to have logs stored on a separate set of disks.
• IOPS Mailbox IOPS or Database I/O per mailbox, per second is still an important calculation but we have far more breathing room than we did with previous versions of Exchange. (These numbers are possible if you are using Outlook in cached mode.)
• Light Usage (Receive 20 messages a day) 0.11 expected IOPS per user
• Average Usage (Receive 40 messages a day) 0.18 expected IOPS per user
• Heavy Usage (Receive 80 messages a day) 0.32 expected IOPS per user
• Very Heavy Usage (Receive 120 messages a day) 0.48 expected IOPS per user
• In our mailbox example above; 1000 Average mailboxes would require 180 Disk IOPS for adequate performance. A good 7200 RPM drive can usually get a true 100 IOPS while the more expensive drives can get closer to 150.
• To meet our capacity and IOPS goals, we would need to look at a disk system that could hold at least 860 GB of data and operate at 220 IOPS (for growth) Four disks in a RAID 10 confi guration would probably fit the bill.
Here is a great place to learn more about the variables and to perform a more scientific approach to drive estimation:
http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432199.aspx

4) What do I need to know about Server Roles?
Well, you can’t install a server without choosing a role so you must first understand the roles (and your design) before you can proceed. There are five server roles in Exchange Server 2007; Mailbox Server, Client Access, Hub Transport, Unified Messaging and Edge Transport. Here are a few key notes on each:
• Mailbox Server The name says it all. These will likely be your largest servers
• Client Access Provides HTTP/HTPPS access to the data; OWA, RPC over HTTP and ActiveSync
• Hub Transport Think of this as your internal Bridgehead server
• Unified Messaging Communicates with your PBX system. These components are usually installed on a separate server.
• Edge Transport Inbound SMTP traffic goes here. These components must reside on a separate server. This is where message hygiene is configured and how mail gets into your environment. In single-server environments, the Inbound SMTP and message hygiene functionality can be forced on your Mailbox/CAS/Hub server.
• For more detailed information and the Server Role Roadmap, follow this link:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa996319.aspx

5) What role does the AD Site have with Exchange Server 2007?
The AD site definitions are important for internal mailbox routing in an Exchange Server 2007 environment. Exchange Server no longer uses routing groups. Instead, it routes based on the routing topology defined within the Active Directory Sites and Services. Here are a couple of important items to note:
• Ensure there are no IP subnets defined in more than one AD site and that there is no overlap
• At least one Hub Transport server should be installed in each Active Directory site
• A Client Access server must be deployed in each site that contains Mailbox servers

6) Does my Active Directory need to be at a certain functional level before I can install Exchange Server 2007?
Yes. First and foremost the Schema Master for your Active Directory Forest must be running Windows Server 2003 R2 or Windows Server 2003 SP1.
Second, you need to make sure the Active Directory domain level functional level must be set for Windows Server 2000 (or higher) native mode for all domains in the forest.

7) Do I have to upgrade my Outlook clients before I install Exchange Server 2007?
Probably not. Outlook 2003, 2003 and Outlook 2007 are all supported. For Outlook Web Access, clients need to have a supported browser such as Internet Explorer versions 7, 6, 5.5, and 5.01, Mac OS X, Linux, Safari, Firefox, Netscape, and Opera.

VMware: VMware Workstation v6.0 released

Today VMware releases the new VMware Workstation version 6.0.0 .

New features in VMware Workstation include:

Windows Vista support: Users can deploy Windows Vista as a guest or host operating system, facilitating re-hosting of legacy systems, enabling upgrade and migration projects with minimal end-user disruption and simplifying Windows Vista evaluations.
Multiple monitor display: Users can configure one virtual machine to span multiple monitors or multiple virtual machines to each display on separate monitors with this industry-first capability, enhancing desktop productivity.
USB 2.0 support: Users can take advantage of high-performance peripherals such as Apple iPods and fast storage devices.
ACE authoring capabilities: As a companion to VMware Workstation 6, VMware now offers a VMware ACE Option Pack, which enables VMware Workstation 6 users to create secure, centrally manageable virtual machines. Mobility is one of the primary benefits of this Option Pack, as it allows users to securely transport virtual machines on portable media devices such as USB memory sticks.
Integrated Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) functionality: Users can create a virtual machine in minutes by “cloning” an existing physical computer.
Integrated virtual debugger: Users can deploy, run and debug programs inside a virtual machine directly from their preferred integrated development environments (IDEs), accelerating debugging with this industry-first integration with Eclipse and Microsoft Visual Studio.
Background virtual machine execution: Users can run virtual machines in the background without the VMware Workstation user interface for an uncluttered user experience.
Automation APIs: Users can write scripts and programs that automate and help quicken virtual machine testing with support for VIX API 2.0.

In addition, VMware Workstation 6 advances the state of the art in virtualization technology with groundbreaking new capabilities including:

Continuous virtual machine record and replay (experimental): Users can record the execution of a virtual machine, including all inputs, outputs and decisions made along the way. On demand, the user can go “back in time” to the start of the recording and replay execution, guaranteeing that the virtual machine will perform exactly the same operations every time and ensuring bugs can be reproduced and resolved.
Virtual Machine Interface (VMI) support (experimental): VMware Workstation 6 is the first virtualization platform to allow execution of paravirtualized guest operating systems that implement the VMI interface.

CTX: How to Install Citrix Access Gateway on VMware

How to Install Citrix Access Gateway v4.2 (Appliance CD) on VMware Workstation or VMware Server guide.
Download the FrameworkX Virtualizing Citrix Access Gateway Step by Step guide from here

Thursday, May 03, 2007

MS: Troubleshooting SMTP problems in Exchange Server

General troubleshooting for transport issues in Exchange 2000 Server and in Exchange Server 2003
This article provides information about basic troubleshooting utilities that you can use with transport components in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server and in Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 to investigate transport issues. The most common issues involve mail flow.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/257265