How to Install Windows 2008 Terminal Server (Remote Desktop Services) with Remote Application Sharing
Terminal Services has been renamed for Windows Server 2008 to Remote Desktop Services.
After installing Server Standard or Enterprise 2008, you will need to add the Remote Desktop Services Role to the Server.
1) Open Server Manager
2) Select Roles
3) Select Add Roles
4) Click next on the first Screen
5) From the Selection List select Remote Desktop Services
You will be presented with a selection of different defined options under this role. Standard Terminal Services is covered under 'Remote Desktop Session Host'
6) Select Remote Desktop Session Host (formerly Terminal Server)
7) Install
You will need to restart the Server after the installation.
Remote Application Sharing
You can run Software in Terminal Services mode using the Remote Desktop Services RemoteApp Manager. For example, Quick Books (an accounting software used by small businesses) can be accessed from another office without having to log on to the terminal server under an RDP session. Instead, you can send a link to the application which will run in Terminal Server, or Remote Application, mode.
You will need to install the software you wish to run on the Server first.
To configure Remote application sharing on the Terminal Server:
1) Open Administrative Tools, Remote Desktop Services, RemoteApp Manager
2) From the selection list on the right hand side, select Add RemoteApp Programs
3) In the RemoteApp Wizard, click Next
4) Select the program or programs that you wish to run and click Next
5) Click Finish
(Note: Remote Users need to have a user account in your Domain you log onto)
Create an Remote Desktop Shortcut to your RemoteApp
1) From the list of RemoteApp Programs, select your program, e.g. Quick Books
2) From the slection list on the right hand side, select Create .rdp File
3) The RemoteApp Wizard will open again - click Next
4) Select the location to save the package. The default is C:\Program Files\Packaged Programs
5) Select the server name. This is the external dns address of your Domain e.g. serverts.domainname.com that resolves to your location.
6) Select the Server Port. The default is 3389 for Remote Desktop. If you have Port Redirection enabled on the local router, you should change the port to the port assigned to the Terminal Server.
7) Leave the other settings as default
8) Click Next and Finish
You can e-mail this shortcut to your clients, or make it available for download through FTP. When the user double clicks on the icon, they will be prompted a variant of teh Remote Desktop Window, be prompted for their Username and Password for your domain. The application will open in Terminal Services, with all the appearances of opening on the local computer.
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Message Includes an Invalid Address
From @ciaranjkenny
When a message is sent from the Blackberry handset it initially appears to go but is then displayed on the handset marked with a red X, meaning it hasn't been sent. When the message is opened it shows a status: 'message includes an invalid address'
This can be caused if the Exchange server has been restarted and the BES server is running on a different box. In this case the CDO MAPI connection made by the BES server to the Exchange server is disrupted in the same way that an Outlook connection to Exchange is disrupted by restarting the Exchange server. Outlook will sometimes restore its connection but, more often, it is necessary to restart Outlook. In the case of the CDO MAPI connection from BES to Exchange the quickest fix for the problem is to restart the box on which the BES is running.
Related Tickets
When a message is sent from the Blackberry handset it initially appears to go but is then displayed on the handset marked with a red X, meaning it hasn't been sent. When the message is opened it shows a status: 'message includes an invalid address'
This can be caused if the Exchange server has been restarted and the BES server is running on a different box. In this case the CDO MAPI connection made by the BES server to the Exchange server is disrupted in the same way that an Outlook connection to Exchange is disrupted by restarting the Exchange server. Outlook will sometimes restore its connection but, more often, it is necessary to restart Outlook. In the case of the CDO MAPI connection from BES to Exchange the quickest fix for the problem is to restart the box on which the BES is running.
Related Tickets
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
The Ghost File!
From @macnamara_dan
I have recently dealt with a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) with one of our clients. It was causing constant reboots with message:
Problem seems to be caused by the following file aopyjy.sys.
Fault found in nonpaged area.
My first step was to research for information about the file and see what it is. To my surprise my search yielded no info about this file(!) I tried Google search, Yahoo, Bing, Ask, Livesearch but found nothing-zero! No info whatsoever. The file was located in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\aopyjy.sys
My first thought was that could be some kind of malware so I started with antivirus scan which returned with: no threats found.
I then I ran Malware bytes antimalware-updated to latest version, full scan- still no threats found.
I then I ran HiJack this -I looked over the log and there was nothing unusual.
Next step was ADS spy scan plus Trojan remover, and yet again – no threats found!
Next I ran the registry scan for this file and found a key in registry under Search assistant-ACMru-5603 folder key (a typical place for storing malware files). I removed this key, but the BSOD kept appearing.
Then I decided to check what why this file was in this particular directory and see if there was any way to remove it manually.
What I noticed was that, the file was around 800kb and the strangest thing is that the file was being modified every minute. It was as if someone or something was constantly using the file and modifying it in the background. That was scary but this was not the only issue.
I tried to delete or rename it however, surprise surprise, this was not possible. To try and remedy this I went into Safe mode-no luck. The file was being loaded with the operating system and was not possible to delete whilst Windows is running.
So my next step was to log on from another windows installation through Windows Live CD boot disk-I have tried couple of them, such as Hiren Boot CD and Erd Commander but no luck- this time I got another blue screen. So I decided to try to logon through Windows recovery console from Windows installation CD but this was not possible-another blue screen.
In this case I gave up and ran some check disk tests, because I had in mind that there was possible hard drive failure (info which I gleaned from the second blue screen. Obviously, if you suspect that the hard drive is failing, you run command prompt "chkdsk" the integrated tool in Windows designed to check the disk for errors. So if you have bad sectors on your hard drive, then you should strongly consider replacing the hard drive, because it's possible to lose all your data when the hard drive eventually fails.
The command prompt returned bad sectors, which confirmed my concerns for failed hard drive. A failed hard drive is obviously a serious issue which can be costly. So I checked the computer was still under warranty by phoning Dell.
At Macnamara we use Dell as our partner because we feel they offer the best after sales service and support in the business. Following my telephone call they have resolved the problem by replacing the hard drive-which resolved my problem once for all. However, I keep wondering, what this file was and why there is no information about it anywhere on the Web!!!
Has anyone else encountered this problem and how did they solve it? If you have read this post whilst researching for a resolution to the aopyjy.sys file, we hope our experience helped you.
If you have used our solutions, we’d love to hear from you. Just drop us a comment on our blog.
I have recently dealt with a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) with one of our clients. It was causing constant reboots with message:
Problem seems to be caused by the following file aopyjy.sys.
Fault found in nonpaged area.
My first step was to research for information about the file and see what it is. To my surprise my search yielded no info about this file(!) I tried Google search, Yahoo, Bing, Ask, Livesearch but found nothing-zero! No info whatsoever. The file was located in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\aopyjy.sys
My first thought was that could be some kind of malware so I started with antivirus scan which returned with: no threats found.
I then I ran Malware bytes antimalware-updated to latest version, full scan- still no threats found.
I then I ran HiJack this -I looked over the log and there was nothing unusual.
Next step was ADS spy scan plus Trojan remover, and yet again – no threats found!
Next I ran the registry scan for this file and found a key in registry under Search assistant-ACMru-5603 folder key (a typical place for storing malware files). I removed this key, but the BSOD kept appearing.
Then I decided to check what why this file was in this particular directory and see if there was any way to remove it manually.
What I noticed was that, the file was around 800kb and the strangest thing is that the file was being modified every minute. It was as if someone or something was constantly using the file and modifying it in the background. That was scary but this was not the only issue.
I tried to delete or rename it however, surprise surprise, this was not possible. To try and remedy this I went into Safe mode-no luck. The file was being loaded with the operating system and was not possible to delete whilst Windows is running.
So my next step was to log on from another windows installation through Windows Live CD boot disk-I have tried couple of them, such as Hiren Boot CD and Erd Commander but no luck- this time I got another blue screen. So I decided to try to logon through Windows recovery console from Windows installation CD but this was not possible-another blue screen.
In this case I gave up and ran some check disk tests, because I had in mind that there was possible hard drive failure (info which I gleaned from the second blue screen. Obviously, if you suspect that the hard drive is failing, you run command prompt "chkdsk" the integrated tool in Windows designed to check the disk for errors. So if you have bad sectors on your hard drive, then you should strongly consider replacing the hard drive, because it's possible to lose all your data when the hard drive eventually fails.
The command prompt returned bad sectors, which confirmed my concerns for failed hard drive. A failed hard drive is obviously a serious issue which can be costly. So I checked the computer was still under warranty by phoning Dell.
At Macnamara we use Dell as our partner because we feel they offer the best after sales service and support in the business. Following my telephone call they have resolved the problem by replacing the hard drive-which resolved my problem once for all. However, I keep wondering, what this file was and why there is no information about it anywhere on the Web!!!
Has anyone else encountered this problem and how did they solve it? If you have read this post whilst researching for a resolution to the aopyjy.sys file, we hope our experience helped you.
If you have used our solutions, we’d love to hear from you. Just drop us a comment on our blog.
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Getting our blog on
We are hoping to start frequently posting blogs within the next week.
We know that so much of the IT community is online and we, like many, troubleshoot for solutions online.
We hope to give you plenty to read from updating you on any problems the guys have faced working on client projects (and, more importantly, the solutions!) to links to interesting developments in technolgy.
We hope you enjoy reading our posts during this time of constant development.
We know that so much of the IT community is online and we, like many, troubleshoot for solutions online.
We hope to give you plenty to read from updating you on any problems the guys have faced working on client projects (and, more importantly, the solutions!) to links to interesting developments in technolgy.
We hope you enjoy reading our posts during this time of constant development.
SBS 2008 - Sharepoint 3.0
An interesting quirk in setting up SBS 2008. If you try and add users before running the 'Set Up Your Internet Address' Wizard, when you subsequently try and run the wizard, it fails; true to MS form, it doesn't give you any reason for this failure.
In the System Event Log, it coincides with the Event:
Log Name: Application
Source: Windows SharePoint Services 3
Date: 18/05/2010 13:47:30
Event ID: 5586
Task Category: Database
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: SERVER01.ingealtoir08.local
Description:
Unknown SQL Exception 33002 occured. Additional error information from SQL Server is included below.
Access to module dbo.proc_getObjectsByClass is blocked because the signature is not valid.
Event Xml:
5586
2
484
0x80000000000000
41874
Application
SERVER01.ingealtoir08.local
33002
Access to module dbo.proc_getObjectsByClass is blocked because the signature is not valid.
<:event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">A Google search may lead you to believe that any one of a number of Hotfixes are required, followed by running the 'Sharepoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard'. In actual fact, all that is required is to run this Wizard in the first place. Once compelted, you can run the Set Up Your Internet Address Wizard and it completes sucessfully.
In the System Event Log, it coincides with the Event:
Log Name: Application
Source: Windows SharePoint Services 3
Date: 18/05/2010 13:47:30
Event ID: 5586
Task Category: Database
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: SERVER01.ingealtoir08.local
Description:
Unknown SQL Exception 33002 occured. Additional error information from SQL Server is included below.
Access to module dbo.proc_getObjectsByClass is blocked because the signature is not valid.
Event Xml:
33002
Access to module dbo.proc_getObjectsByClass is blocked because the signature is not valid.
<:event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">A Google search may lead you to believe that any one of a number of Hotfixes are required, followed by running the 'Sharepoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard'. In actual fact, all that is required is to run this Wizard in the first place. Once compelted, you can run the Set Up Your Internet Address Wizard and it completes sucessfully.
Friday, 19 February 2010
Use Kaseya to Boot in to Safe Mode with VNC Access
Have you ever had trouble with a Remote PC, maybe with a virus, or a driver corruption, where you just needed to get into Safe Mode but didn't want to arrange a site visit?
The following Kaseya Scripts will add the VNC Client and the Kaseya Agent to the startup registry for Safe Mode, then restart the machine (with a 2 minute warning to the User) that machine is about to reboot into Safe Mode.
The Script edits boot.cfg so that the next time the machine restarts it boots into Safe Mode with Networking.
--
Script Name: Boot Into Safe Mode With VNC (PT1)
Script Description: [posted by geoff@lynxcomputing.com]
Edits the Registry to include WinVNC and KaseyaAgent in safe mode services. Edits boot.ini. Reboots into Safe Mode after 2 mins - Remote Controllable!
IF True
THEN
Set Registry Value
Parameter 1 : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Network\WinVNC4\
Parameter 2 : Service
Parameter 3 : REG_SZ
OS Type : 0
Pause Script
Parameter 1 : 10
OS Type : 0
Set Registry Value
Parameter 1 : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Network\KaseyaAgent\
Parameter 2 : Service
Parameter 3 : REG_SZ
OS Type : 0
Pause Script
Parameter 1 : 10
OS Type : 0
Send Message
Parameter 1 : This Machine Will ReBoot Into Safe Mode in 2mins. Please Save All Open Documents.
Parameter 2 : 1
OS Type : 0
Pause Script
Parameter 1 : 120
OS Type : 0
Write Script Log Entry
Parameter 1 : The Machine Was Sent A Command To ReBoot Into Safe Mode
OS Type : 0
Execute Shell Command
Parameter 1 : bootcfg /Raw "/safeboot:network /sos /bootlog /noguiboot" /id 1
Parameter 2 : 1
OS Type : 0
Pause Script
Parameter 1 : 10
OS Type : 0
Reboot
OS Type : 0
ELSE
--
Hey Presto! The PC reboots, the agent comes back online, and you have remote access to the PC in Safe Mode.
Now you need to restart the machine into normal mode. You'll need another script that changes boot.cfg to restart the machine normally.
--
Script Name: Boot Into Safe Mode With VNC (PT2)
Script Description: [posted by geoff@lynxcomputing.com]
Restores Boot.ini to standard. Reboots into Windows (Instant).
IF True
THEN
Execute Shell Command
Parameter 1 : bootcfg /Raw "/noexecute=optin /fastdetect" /id 1
Parameter 2 : 1
OS Type : 0
Pause Script
Parameter 1 : 10
OS Type : 0
Write Script Log Entry
Parameter 1 : The Machine Was ReBooted into Windows
OS Type : 0
Reboot
OS Type : 0
ELSE
--
Posted by Geoff
Follow Lynx on Twitter
http://twitter.com/geoff_lynx
http://twitter.com/CiaranJKenny
The following Kaseya Scripts will add the VNC Client and the Kaseya Agent to the startup registry for Safe Mode, then restart the machine (with a 2 minute warning to the User) that machine is about to reboot into Safe Mode.
The Script edits boot.cfg so that the next time the machine restarts it boots into Safe Mode with Networking.
--
Script Name: Boot Into Safe Mode With VNC (PT1)
Script Description: [posted by geoff@lynxcomputing.com]
Edits the Registry to include WinVNC and KaseyaAgent in safe mode services. Edits boot.ini. Reboots into Safe Mode after 2 mins - Remote Controllable!
IF True
THEN
Set Registry Value
Parameter 1 : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Network\WinVNC4\
Parameter 2 : Service
Parameter 3 : REG_SZ
OS Type : 0
Pause Script
Parameter 1 : 10
OS Type : 0
Set Registry Value
Parameter 1 : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Network\KaseyaAgent\
Parameter 2 : Service
Parameter 3 : REG_SZ
OS Type : 0
Pause Script
Parameter 1 : 10
OS Type : 0
Send Message
Parameter 1 : This Machine Will ReBoot Into Safe Mode in 2mins. Please Save All Open Documents.
Parameter 2 : 1
OS Type : 0
Pause Script
Parameter 1 : 120
OS Type : 0
Write Script Log Entry
Parameter 1 : The Machine Was Sent A Command To ReBoot Into Safe Mode
OS Type : 0
Execute Shell Command
Parameter 1 : bootcfg /Raw "/safeboot:network /sos /bootlog /noguiboot" /id 1
Parameter 2 : 1
OS Type : 0
Pause Script
Parameter 1 : 10
OS Type : 0
Reboot
OS Type : 0
ELSE
--
Hey Presto! The PC reboots, the agent comes back online, and you have remote access to the PC in Safe Mode.
Now you need to restart the machine into normal mode. You'll need another script that changes boot.cfg to restart the machine normally.
--
Script Name: Boot Into Safe Mode With VNC (PT2)
Script Description: [posted by geoff@lynxcomputing.com]
Restores Boot.ini to standard. Reboots into Windows (Instant).
IF True
THEN
Execute Shell Command
Parameter 1 : bootcfg /Raw "/noexecute=optin /fastdetect" /id 1
Parameter 2 : 1
OS Type : 0
Pause Script
Parameter 1 : 10
OS Type : 0
Write Script Log Entry
Parameter 1 : The Machine Was ReBooted into Windows
OS Type : 0
Reboot
OS Type : 0
ELSE
--
Posted by Geoff
Follow Lynx on Twitter
http://twitter.com/geoff_lynx
http://twitter.com/CiaranJKenny
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Monitoring Services using Kaseya
Monitoring Services on a Server is one of the top tasks for any IT Support company. Getting a stopped service restarted before anybody notices can save you a lot of time and effort, and ensures that the Client experiences minimal downtime. Imagine if you never had to wait for someone to call to let you know their e-mail isn't working? Exchange Information store stops, but because you are monitoring it, and have set the correct recovery options, it restarts by itself without any intervention from you, and without the client even noticing?
Kaseya can monitor these services, however getting the appropriate restart response and alerts can be tricky.
Monitor Sets can be set up for each service on the Server (or indeed on a PC), and can be configured to attempt to restart the Service 3 times at selected intervals. The Monitor set can then send you an e-mail and set up a dashboard alert.
However, what we really need is to be alerted only if the service is not sucessfully re-started. This requires a little more work, but gives very much more satisfying results. No intervention is necessary unless the service didn't restart after 3 attempts, in which case it might by symptomatic of something bigger going on, in which case you'll need/want to intervene anyway.
Monitor Set
Configure your Monitor Set in Kaseya to monitor the Selected Service; in this example I'll use the POP3svc Service. Configure the recovery options to 3 restart attempts at 1 minute intervals.
However, do not set the monitor set to alarm or to e-mail. We only need to know if the Service did not restart. Instead, we want it to call a script to check that the service has restarted.
Script 1
Script Name: 10.1.1.5a) Wait 5 mins
Script Description: [GMC]
Wait 5 mins then check POP3SVC Service is running
IF True
THEN
Schedule Script
Parameter 1 : 10.1.1.5b) MS Exchage POP3
Parameter 2 : 5
Parameter 3 :
OS Type : 0
ELSE
This waits 5 minutes, giving the monitor set enough time to attempt the restart, then calls script 2 to check that it is running:
Script 2
Script Name: 10.1.1.5b) MS Exchange POP3
Script Description: [GMC]
Monitor Set - Lynx - Exchange POP3
IF Service is Running
Parameter 1 : pop3svc
THEN
Write Script Log Entry
Parameter 1 : 10.1.1.5 MS Exchange POP3 Service was restarted by Lynx Monitoring
OS Type : 0
ELSE
Execute Shell Command
Parameter 1 : eventcreate /l system /so "LYNX MONITORING" /t warning /id 601 /d "The POP3Svc Service failed to restart after 3 attempts by Lynx Monitoring. An alert was raised."
Parameter 2 : 0
OS Type : 0
Write Script Log Entry
Parameter 1 : 10.1.1.5 The POP3Svc Service failed to restart after 3 attempts by Lynx Monitoring. An alert was raised.
OS Type : 0
This 2nd script checks that the service is running. If it is, it writes to the script log that Lynx Monitoring (thats us!) saw that the service stopped, and was restarted.
If the service is not running, then using the command line, it writes a System Event using the eventcreate cmd, ID 601 from source Lynx Monitoring.
Alerts
This is the good bit. You then configure an alert to search the Event Log for Event ID 601 (or whatever you chose as your ID) from source Lynx Monitoring (replace, obviously, with your own company name). If it finds this event, only then will you receive an e-mail and an alert on your monitoring dashboard, indicating that the service is still not running after 5 minutes and 3 attempted restarts.
The best bit about this is that you only need 1 alert for all the services on the server. Each Service needs it's own monitor set, and its own small script to check that they have restarted, but the Alert is only looking for ID 601 from Lynx Monitoring. When you configure your alert e-mail, it will populate the contents with the details of the service, which you entered using the 'eventcreate' command.
Summary
A little time is needed to set up the monitor sets for each service and creating the scripts, but once you have the details set, it should just be a case of changing the service name in each new script. And just think, you'll never have to check the services on startup ever again.
Also, ss long as you remember to create the script log entry, you will also be able to fully report to the client on every service you restarted over the month.
Kaseya can monitor these services, however getting the appropriate restart response and alerts can be tricky.
Monitor Sets can be set up for each service on the Server (or indeed on a PC), and can be configured to attempt to restart the Service 3 times at selected intervals. The Monitor set can then send you an e-mail and set up a dashboard alert.
However, what we really need is to be alerted only if the service is not sucessfully re-started. This requires a little more work, but gives very much more satisfying results. No intervention is necessary unless the service didn't restart after 3 attempts, in which case it might by symptomatic of something bigger going on, in which case you'll need/want to intervene anyway.
Monitor Set
Configure your Monitor Set in Kaseya to monitor the Selected Service; in this example I'll use the POP3svc Service. Configure the recovery options to 3 restart attempts at 1 minute intervals.
However, do not set the monitor set to alarm or to e-mail. We only need to know if the Service did not restart. Instead, we want it to call a script to check that the service has restarted.
Script 1
Script Name: 10.1.1.5a) Wait 5 mins
Script Description: [GMC]
Wait 5 mins then check POP3SVC Service is running
IF True
THEN
Schedule Script
Parameter 1 : 10.1.1.5b) MS Exchage POP3
Parameter 2 : 5
Parameter 3 :
OS Type : 0
ELSE
This waits 5 minutes, giving the monitor set enough time to attempt the restart, then calls script 2 to check that it is running:
Script 2
Script Name: 10.1.1.5b) MS Exchange POP3
Script Description: [GMC]
Monitor Set - Lynx - Exchange POP3
IF Service is Running
Parameter 1 : pop3svc
THEN
Write Script Log Entry
Parameter 1 : 10.1.1.5 MS Exchange POP3 Service was restarted by Lynx Monitoring
OS Type : 0
ELSE
Execute Shell Command
Parameter 1 : eventcreate /l system /so "LYNX MONITORING" /t warning /id 601 /d "The POP3Svc Service failed to restart after 3 attempts by Lynx Monitoring. An alert was raised."
Parameter 2 : 0
OS Type : 0
Write Script Log Entry
Parameter 1 : 10.1.1.5 The POP3Svc Service failed to restart after 3 attempts by Lynx Monitoring. An alert was raised.
OS Type : 0
This 2nd script checks that the service is running. If it is, it writes to the script log that Lynx Monitoring (thats us!) saw that the service stopped, and was restarted.
If the service is not running, then using the command line, it writes a System Event using the eventcreate cmd, ID 601 from source Lynx Monitoring.
Alerts
This is the good bit. You then configure an alert to search the Event Log for Event ID 601 (or whatever you chose as your ID) from source Lynx Monitoring (replace, obviously, with your own company name). If it finds this event, only then will you receive an e-mail and an alert on your monitoring dashboard, indicating that the service is still not running after 5 minutes and 3 attempted restarts.
The best bit about this is that you only need 1 alert for all the services on the server. Each Service needs it's own monitor set, and its own small script to check that they have restarted, but the Alert is only looking for ID 601 from Lynx Monitoring. When you configure your alert e-mail, it will populate the contents with the details of the service, which you entered using the 'eventcreate' command.
Summary
A little time is needed to set up the monitor sets for each service and creating the scripts, but once you have the details set, it should just be a case of changing the service name in each new script. And just think, you'll never have to check the services on startup ever again.
Also, ss long as you remember to create the script log entry, you will also be able to fully report to the client on every service you restarted over the month.
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