Tips N Tricks

Various Tips and Tricks

2

Quick Tip: Is There A Shortcut URL To Download Online Sign In Assistant

Posted on by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

For those wondering what the download page is for the Microsoft Online Services Sign In Assistant, using your favourite search engine in your favourite browser is one choice.

Alternatively you can use the handy dandy shortcut URL:

https://aka.ms/SIA

 

This will take you to the latest version of the Sign In Assistant download page.

 

Download Microsoft Online Sign In Assistant

 

For reference purposes, the intent of the Sign-In Assis… Read the rest “Quick Tip: Is There A Shortcut URL To Download Online Sign In Assistant”

1

How To Get Azure RM VM IP Addresses Using PowerShell

Posted on by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

This is a follow-up to the initial post on the topic which was based on the original Azure Service Manager (Azure SM) model.  Azure Resource Manager (Azure RM) changes the deployment methodology.  Take a look at Azure Resource Manager vs. classic deployment: Understand deployment models and the state of your resources for more details. We will take a brief look at the relationship of the networking… Read the rest “How To Get Azure RM VM IP Addresses Using PowerShell”

2

Create Azure RM VM Using Existing VHD

Posted on by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

TailspinToys Canada have been busy upgrading their on-premises, Azure and Office 365 infrastructure.  Previously Azure resources were moved from classic (Azure Service Manager) to the new Azure Resource Manager (Azure RM).   The VMs, storage accounts and VHDs were migrated.   One of the migration blockers was that multiple availability sets were previously present in one of the cloud services.  Th… Read the rest “Create Azure RM VM Using Existing VHD”

1

Exchange Management Shell Pipeline Not Executed Because a Pipeline Is Already Executing

Posted on by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

When running operations in the Exchange Management Shell, you may run into the situation where the commands do not complete and the error “Pipeline not executed because a pipeline is already executing” is reported.  An example of this is shown below.

This is an Exchange 2010 SP3 RU15 lab server.  In this case a PowerShell one-liner was used to iterate through the Exchange 2010 servers, and to start… Read the rest “Exchange Management Shell Pipeline Not Executed Because a Pipeline Is Already Executing”

1

Network Monitor Filter Examples

Posted on by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]
The below is an assortment of Network Monitor (NetMon) filters that I used on a frequent basis.  With each of the filters, there is a quick explanation of why they are used.
The filters can be used as regular display filters, or as a colour filter.  The retransmission one is especially useful to have set as a colour filter, as they they stand out when reviewing traces.

Filter Source IPv4 A

… Read the rest “Network Monitor Filter Examples”
0

Outlook Unexpectedly Changed Mail to Keep Offline Settings

Posted on by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

The below was noted when dealing with a customer issue where the VIP was complaining that Outlook had "unexpectedly" changed the amount of data which they had chosen to keep offline.  They had a laptop system with a very small SSD, which filled up due to the increased OST size.

Large OST issues happened frequently in Outlook 2010 as that version of the client would download all content to the OST. … Read the rest “Outlook Unexpectedly Changed Mail to Keep Offline Settings”

0

Script To Start Exchange Services

Posted on by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

Running scripts to start and stop services has been a task long associated with Exchange.  For those who pre-date Exchange 2000, do you remember the fun issues with the increased WaitToKillServiceTimeout value?  By default in ye olde days HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlWaitToKillServiceTimeout was 20,000 ms (20 secs).   Installing Exchange increased that to 600,000 ms (10 minutes). … Read the rest “Script To Start Exchange Services”

0

Script To Remove Windows Update Server Values From Registry

Posted on by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

In some of the lab environments provided to me, the base Windows image has pre-set WSUS updates servers.  When I then move the lab VMs to a different network, the original WSUS servers are no longer available, and I typically point to Microsoft Update or a different WSUS server.

In the case of pointing to Microsoft Update, I wanted to delete the initial WSUS registry values.  In my case, these are … Read the rest “Script To Remove Windows Update Server Values From Registry”

0

PowerShell Tail Command

Posted on by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

In a recent customer conversation, they were excited that PowerShell 5.0 would contain the option to tail a log file.  While they were excited to get that feature, they were less excited to hear that PowerShell 3.0 had already added the –Tail parameter to the Get-Content cmdlet.  Previously there have been other solutions to get this functionality, but is now native in PowerShell.

As an example:

Gets… Read the rest “PowerShell Tail Command”

2

Active Directory Replication Status Tool Expired

Posted on by Rhoderick Milne [MSFT]

Update 25-4-2016 - The tool has been updated and should be functional.  The feedback pages referenced at the bottom are now closed.

Back in 2012 the Active Directory Replication Status Tool (ADREPLSTATUS) was released.  The below is from one of my old labs.  It was a useful tool to have in environments which had no connectivity to external networks.

To download the tool click the image below.

Active Directory Replication Status Tool

ADREPLST… Read the rest “Active Directory Replication Status Tool Expired”