I recently started using Zenoss (an open source application, server and network management platform) to monitor servers. One of the options that can be configured for each of the devices being managed is a hyperlink that can open a website or application of some relevance. In a situation where I am informed of an issue with a server/application I instinctively try to open a Windows remote desktop session to the server. This used to involve manually opening the Microsoft Terminal Services Console (mstsc.exe), keying the server name and then clicking the connect button. I wanted a way to click a hyperlink from the Zenoss web console and establish an rdp session to the relevant server.
Read more...
When vSphere 4 became available I was keen to upgrade all of my hosts and vCenter servers to start testing features like Fault Tolerance, Site Recovery Manager, and vCenter Linked Mode e.t.c. The host upgrade went smoothly using VMware Update Manager. Similarly, the upgrade of all vCenter servers was also without issue. A short while after, I needed to add RAM to a group of hosts and all was fine until I booted the first host post upgrading it's RAM.
Read more...
I have been using System Center Configuration Manager to deploy software to clients for a while now but I recently had a requirement to control a client remotely. In order to control clients using the SCCM Remote Tools feature, some ports needed to be opened on the client in the Windows firewall.
Read more...
I was trying to deploy some software to a Windows XP SP3 client when I noticed that there seemed to be an issue with network connectivity. For some reason the client hadn't downloaded and installed any software hat had been pushed to it via SCCM. On the off chance, I happened to check the computer name in 'System Properties' (to see who the computer belonged to) and I noticed that the buttons for 'Network ID' and 'Change' were greyed out.
Read more...