And if you tried to create a GPO preference on Windows 2008 R2 Domain Controller  for Internet Explorer you will find options for:

- Internet Explorer 5 and 6

- Internet Explorer 7

- Internet Explorer 8

Lets Open Group Policy Management Console on Windows 2008 R2 domain controller and see:

Start –> Run –> GPMC.MSC –> Expand the nodes and select any group policy –> Right Click and click Edit you will see:

Under User Configuration –> expand Preferences –> Control Panel Settings –> Internet Settings

Right Click in the right pane, and click new to explore available options

And as you see, Internet Explorer 9 is not listed (as you already expected)

Solution:

Microsoft have a hotfix for this situation, The hotfix will not add “Internet Explorer 9” to the Menu, But it will make “Internet Explorer 8” option applies also to IE9 (without this hotfix, the options will be filtered out, and will not be applied on iE9 users).

Download the hotfix from here, Install on the Windows 2008 R2 domain controller where you configure the group policies, and whenever you need to create a preference for IE9 choose “Internet Explorer 8” from the New menu, and you good to go.

Reference:

• Internet Explorer Group Policy Preferences do not apply to Internet Explorer 9 in a Windows Server 2008 R2 domain environment.

Note:

If you are applying Internet Explorer preference on Windows 7 machines, consider installing the below hotfix as well, The hotfix is descried and available for download here:

• Some settings in Group Policy Preferences for Internet Explorer do not deploy correctly to computers that are running Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

So, We have a non stable Wireless access point, non stable Internet connection!

and at times we will get that yellow triangle with the exclamation mark on the WIFI connection on our PCs, and the only way to restore the connection is to Disconnect/and reconnect to the wireless AP.

I wrote this batch to automate this process, It could be written by another ways, but I find this simple and straight forward.

What the batch file do is:

Ping a Public IP –> If failed –> Try again after 1 Minute –> If still failed –> Disconnect from the wireless network –> Wait for 1 Minute –> Connect to the wireless network –> Start over again.

Prerequisites:

1- Name your Wireless card as WAN (or edit the batch to reflect your wireless “card name”).

2- replace YourWirelessSSID in the batch with your actual wireless network name (SSID).

3- If required,  make the batch starts with your windows startup, so it runs automatically.

The Batch:

@Echo off
:Start
CLS

Rem ####################Ping Check#####################

Ping 4.2.2.2 |find "TTL=" && GOTO Start
Ping -n 60 127.0.0.1 >nul
Ping 4.2.2.2 |find "TTL=" && GOTO Start

Rem ###########Reset The Wireless Network##############

netsh wlan disconnect interface=WAN
Ping -n 60 127.0.0.1 >nul
Echo.
netsh wlan connect ssid=YourWirelessSSID name=YourWirelessSSID interface=WAN
Ping -n 10 127.0.0.1 >nul

GOTO Start

Note: tested on Win 7

In Lync Server 2010 While configuring a trunk to enable media bypass, and disable (un-enable) the refer support (as the recommended settings when creating a SIP trunk to Cisco Unified Communications Manager CUCM), you may receive the below error when you try to commit changes:

RTCP active calls must be false if bypass is enabled and refer support is disabled

Cause:

As the error message mention, RTCP active calls must be false if bypass is enabled and refer support is disabled,

RTCP active calls can’t be modified from the Lync Control panel, you need to open Lync management shell to configure it as false

Solution:

in the below example, my Trunk name is: PstnGateway:10.0.0.20

- in the trunk prosperities, Temporarily un-enable the media bypass, and commit to save changes:

- Now, let’s open Lync Management shell and check the status of RTCP Active Calls, and RTCP Calls on hold:

Get-CsTrunkConfiguration -Identity PstnGateway:10.0.0.20

We see both are True by default, Also note the EnableSessionTimer status is False.

- Now, run the below commands to set RTCPActiveCalls and RTCPCallsonHold as false:

Set-CsTrunkConfiguration –identity PstnGateway:10.0.0.20 –RTCPActiveCalls $false –RTCPCallsonHold $false

You will be prompted to set EnableSessionTimer as true, to do so, run the below command

Set-CsTrunkConfiguration –identity PstnGateway:10.0.0.20 –EnableSessionTimer $true

- Now lets check the status again:

Get-CsTrunkConfiguration -Identity PstnGateway:10.0.0.20

Now you can Enable Media Bypass on the Newly Created Trunk

Commit to save, and it should complete successfully this time

If you are in the same situation, you can use the steps below to identify the version of iSCSI initiator on your server:

STEP1: Find the Driver Version Number

- Open Device Manager, and expand the SCSI and RAID controllers node

- Right click on Microsoft iSCSI Initiator, and click Prosperities

- Go to the Driver tab, and take note of the Driver version number

STEP2: Map the Driver Version to the iSCSI Version

- lookup the version number in the below table to find the corresponding iSCSI Initiator release version:

This post is based on: http://netappfas.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-do-i-check-version-of-microsoft.html

The challenge was that after I configured the mediation server, I need to confirm it’s working fine and would interact with the IP GW/ IP PBX successfully.

After googling around and binging around, It worked for me -thanks God- and the virtualized Cisco Communications Manager (or Cisco unified Communications Manager Installation  CUCM) took its place in the lab, and configured to work with the mediation server.

In this article I will introduce to you how to setup Cisco Unified Call Manager on a virtual machine, and how to do simple post installation steps,But my guess is that you will use this not on your OCS 2007 R2 Lab, but in the Lync Server 2010 lab instead, right?

Important Note: I ended the subject with: For Non-Cisco Folks” because my scope about installing, and configuring CUCM was for LAB purpose only, If you attend to implement this in production, you better consult a Cisco CUCM expert.

First: You will need:

- VMWare Workstation installed on your PC (I used version 7.x).

- Cisco unified Communications Manager Installation DVD (I Used Cisco unified Communications Manager  version 6.0.1.2000-4)

Installation:

Create a new virtual machine with these configurations:

1. OS: RED HAT Enterprise Linux 3
2. HDD: 80 GB
3. RAM: 1 GB
4. NIC: 1
5. CD: Use CUCM6.iso
6. Floppy: Remove floppy

Now start the VM, it should boot from the CUCM6 DVD,

Go with the installation as mentioned in the coming screenshots (Click on image to enlarge),

but note that, the mouse courser is for indication only, you need to use Tab/Space keys on your keyboard to navigate/select.

Select the proper time zone:

Enter the static IP for the CUCM:

For simplicity, I used UserName:Admin, whenever I asked for a username, and  Password:P@ssw0rd whenever I asked for a password.

Fill Organization Info:

Configure Time:

Now, give it a while, till the next screen appears:

Congratulations, Now installation completed successfully, you can logon now with the username and password provided while installation, here’s a couple of commands you may need to use:

Query IP Config

Show Network eth0

Shutdown The System

Utils System Shutdown

Restart The System

Utils System Restart

Access the Web Interface:

Now go to any other virtual machine in the same network, open your Internet Explorer and enter the CUCM IP in the address bar, then click on the link as below:

Enter the Username and password :

From this web interface you can configure CUCM to work with your OCS infrastructure, but first you need to do few steps and the server will be ready.

Post Installation Steps:

1- Confirm Available Licenses:

1. Go to the Cisco Unified Administration Page

1. Go to ‘System > Licensing > License Unit Report

2- Enable Necessary services

• Go to the Cisco Unified Serviceability Page
• Go to ‘Tools > Service Activation’
• Check the services you would like to Activate (Or check all the services)
• Click ‘Save’

3- Remove Dependency on DNS and Hostname

1. Go to the Cisco Unified Administration Page
2. Go to ‘System > Server’
3. Change the hostname to the IP address of the CUCM Server
4. Go to ‘System > Enterprise Parameters’
5. Scroll down to the ‘Phone URL Parameters’ Section
6. Change the hostname in the URLs to the IP address of the CUCM Server
7. Click ‘Save’

4- Enable IP Phones Auto-Registration

1. Go to the Cisco Unified Administration Page
2. Go to ‘System > Cisco Unified CM’
3. In the Auto-Registration Information.
4. Define a range of phone numbers so CUCM can assign phone numbers automatically (in the below example: 3001 to 3010), and save settings.

For now, you can start and configure your softphones and do phone to phone calls,

next you can configure Exchange UM/Lync/OCS integration, or whatever your lab is.

A: Unfortunately there is no available date or exam number for exams for TMG 2010 and UAG 2010. You will want to check back to the Learning Catalog for any updates for the TMG 2010 and UAG 2010.
I’m sorry we do not have any other information for you at this time.

Q:
in order to get my MCITP: EA certificate, I attended the 70-624 Exam:TS Deploying and Maintaining Windows Vista Client and 2007 Microsoft Office System Desktops
But as I see in your sites, This exam retired on October 31, 2010.
Would this affect my MCITP:EA? i.e. do I need to attend another exam to replace the retired 70-624 Exam?

A:
The retired 70-624 exam will not affect your MCITP certification. If you pass an exam before it expires, it will still could towards that certification.

Q:
Is there /will be a certificate about: MCITP: Enterprise Security Administrator or similar?

A:
Unfortunately at this time there are no MCITP certifications that fall in line with what you speak of. Please go to the following links to look over the types of certifications we offer: Certification by Product/Technology and Certification by Name. This should help give you an overview of what certifications are available to you.

As per Mitch Tulloch from oreilly.com there’s a workaround. Sit down at your desk and log on to your Windows XP workstation using your administrator credentials and start Registry Editor by Start –> Run –> regedit –> OK. Then select the Connect Network Registry option under the File menu (Figure 2).

Click on Photo to Enlarge
Figure 2. Connecting to the Registry on a remote machine.

This opens the Select Computer search box. Either browse Active Directory to locate the remote server, or type its name in the textbox (Figure 3).

Click on Photo to Enlarge
Figure 3. Connecting to the Registry on a remote server named SRV220.

Click OK and a node will be displayed in Registry Editor for the remote machine (Figure 4).

Click on Photo to Enlarge
Figure 4. HKLM and HKU hives on SRV220.

Now browse HKLM on SRV to find the following Registry key (Figure 5).

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server

Click on Photo to Enlarge
Figure 5. Registry key for Terminal Server on remote machine.

Under the Terminal Server key, you’ll find a REG_DWORD value named fDenyTSConnection. Double-click on that value to open the Edit DWORD Value box and change the value data from 1 (Remote Desktop disabled) to 0 (Remote Desktop enabled), as in Figure 6 below.

Click on Photo to Enlarge
Figure 6. Set fDenyTSConnections to 0 to enable Remote Desktop on SRV220.

The remote machine needs to be rebooted for the change to take effect, so open a command prompt and type the following command:

shutdown -m \\srv220 -r

After the remote machine reboots, Remote Desktop should be enabled on it.

Ref.: 1

what happens when in windows 2003 you installed the Certificate Authority BEFORE you install the IIS?

Answer is : the \certsrv virtual directory will not be created in the IIS

Then, what to do?

Answer is open the command line and run:

Certutil -vroot

and that’s it, no need to uninstall and reinstall the CA.

Exchange 2007 stops receiving external emails periodically from time to time.

Analysis:

When you try to telnet the HUB server IP on port 25 you receive this error:

4.3.1 Insufficient system resources

On an SMTP server on the front of the HUB server –that should deliver emails to the HUB server-, the below warning is logged in the Application Event log:

Message delivery to the host ‘HUB_SERVER_IP’ failed while delivering to the remote domain ‘DOMAIN.TLD’ for the following reason: An SMTP protocol error occurred.
The SMTP verb which caused the error is ‘MAIL’.  The response from the remote server is ’452 4.3.1 Insufficient system resources

Well, now go to the HUB server, open the event viewer, and filtered the Application log by:

Source: MSExchangeTransport

Category: ResourceManager

You will find Warning(s) error(s) like the one mentioned below:

Cause:

That’s due to the Back Pressure effect of Exchange 2007/2010, that checks periodically on some aspects on the HUB server(s) and see if it’s out of the limit or not –in my case above, there’s an issue with the free disk space on the Partition C:\-.

Solution:

Solve the issue mentioned in the event viewer.

Note: While it’s possible to disable the Back Pressure, it’s not recommended at all.

best way to go, is to investigate why it’s happening, and solve the root cause.

Error:
A server-side database availability group administrative operation failed. Error: The operation failed with message: Error 0x6f7 (The stub received bad date) from cli_RpccCreateCluster

Error 0x6f7 (The stub received bad data) from cli_RpccCreateCluster

Warning:
The operation wasn’t successful because an error was encountered. You may find more details in log file “C:\ExchangeSetupLogs\DagTasks\dagtask_xxxxxxx_add-databaseavailabilitygroupserver.log”

Exchange Management Shell command attempted:
Add-DatabaseAvailabilityGroupServer -Identity ‘DAG01′ -MailboxServer ‘SERVER NAME’

and you can check the mentioned log file (….add-databaseavailabilitygroupserver.log) for more details.
Cause:

You know that when you prepare the server to be a member in a DAG, you configure 2 network cards on that server, one for connectivity to other Exchange servers and other services (MAPI NIC), and the other one for Replication (Replication NIC).

The above error happens when you didn’t configure a default Gateway (GW) in the TCP/IP properties of the (MAPI NIC).
Solution:

Configure a default gateway in the TCP/IP properties of the (MAPI NIC), Even if it’s a dummy IP,

Make sure that your routing table is proper.