VMware Workstation – ‘Linked Clones’ from Templates
Linked Clones KB ID 0000953 Problem VMware Workstation, is a great test tool, if i need to take a look at some new software, or plan how I’m going to do a job, and I don’t have access to the ESX server, or test bench, it’s a great tool to have on my laptop. If you build machines form scratch, every time you need one it can take a while. To address that you can create a template and deploy machines from that. To...
Audit GPO Changes
Audit GPO Changes KB ID 0001920 Problem If you are reading this your either replanning ahead (bravo!) or there’s been an incident that you are concerned about. If that is the case its important to remember that “you cannot audit retrospectively”* *Note: you can find out when GPOs were altered, but not by whom, with some simple PowerShell i.e. Get-GPO -All | Select-Object DisplayName, ModificationTime Group Policies are...
Windows Certificate Services – Setup a CRL
Setup a CRL KB ID 0000957 Problem One of the often-overlooked tasks in a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) deployment is configuring your Certificate Services Certificate Revocation List (CRL). For smaller deployments with only one server, you don’t need to worry about complex design considerations (though a CRL doesn’t have to be hosted on a Certificate Services server). In my test environment, I have only one PKI server,...
Windows – Firewall Group Policy
Firewall Group Policy KB ID 0000979 Problem For everyone who simply does not disable the Windows firewall, then you need to be able to manage what ports are open on your machines. The simplest way to do this is via firewall group policy. This week I had to open TCP port 9503 on the local firewall of my McAfee Move Offload Servers. Below I will open that port on all my machines, but in production I will only apply the GPO to...
Server Manager Error
Server Manager Error KB ID 0001915 Problem I needed to add a role to a Window server today, but when I attempted to do so I got the following error. The request to list features available on the specified server failed. Solution : Server Manager Error This one had me perplexed for a while, I close this dialog box and was looking at Server manager and noticed there was an error ‘large red flag’ so I clicked that and got...
Updating Domain Computer Objects with Last Logon and Machine Information
Last Logon KB ID 0001340 Problem I can’t really take the credit for this, I was at a client’s site a few weeks ago, and they were doing this. I thought ‘That’s cool, I’ll have a play with that when I get the chance”. Essentially, you update the description of the Computer object(s) in AD so that they list; The last user who logged on. What time they logged on. What AD ‘Site’ the machine...
Printers “Some Of These Settings are Managed By Your Organisation”
Managed By Your Organisation KB ID 0001899 Problem When attempting to add a printer, or engage with the printer settings dialog, you may see. Some Of These Settings are Managed By Your Organisation Solution : Managed By Your Organisation This is usually because a policy is being applied, (or has been applied) that is making a change in your registry, to the following key. HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows...
What GPO are Applied?
What GPO KB ID 0001898 Problem There are a number of reasons for you to test and demonstrate group policy application. Recently on Experts Exchange there was a question. where a user could not add a printer because those settings were “Controlled by their organisation’ but was pretty sure no printer GPOs were applied. Or you may simply be setting up a new GPO and it’s not applying, or not working as you would expect....
Windows 11 – Remove Search Adverts
‘Remove Search Adverts KB ID 0001897 Problem Why this has to be a ‘thing’ in a business version of Windows I’m not really sure, but if you want to remove these adverts from the Windows Search function. They are called ‘Search Highlights’ or ‘Dynamic Search Box’. Solution: Remove Search Adverts Option 1 Remove Search Adverts with Domain Group Policy In a domain envronment we can simply...
In Place Upgrade of Window Server
In Place Upgrade KB ID 0001895 Problem An in-place upgrade of a Windows Server, where you update an existing server installation to a newer version without reinstalling from scratch, can be a powerful way to bring older infrastructure up to date without the lengthy process of rebuilding a system and restoring data. The allure of this method lies in its simplicity and time efficiency; theoretically, you can go from, say, Windows...