Publishing Citrix AppCenter for Non-Administrators

Symptom
When publishing Citrix AppCenter for non-administrators, UAC prompts for credentials or gives a permission issue. 


Environment
Citrix XenApp 6.5
Windows Server 2008 R2


Resolution
Instead of publishing CmiLaunch.exe, use the following Command Line and Working Directory for the published app:


Command Line:

"C:\Windows\System32\mmc.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\Citrix Delivery Services Console\Framework\cmi60.msc"

Working Directory:
C:\Windows\System32

Citrix Web Interface 5.4 Event ID 30024 and 31003

Symptom

Users unable to login to Citrix Web Interface. When observing the Event Viewer, Event ID 30024 and 31003 appear with the following errors:

The XML document sent by the Citrix servers could not be processed because it contains invalid XML. This message was reported from the XML Service at address . The specified Citrix XML Service could not be contacted and has been temporarily removed from the list of active services. 

All the Citrix XML Services configured for farm xxxxxxx failed to respond to this XML Service transaction.

Background

This issue can be caused by several different issues, including DNS issues, firewall issues on the XenApp servers, XML service not running on the XenApp servers and even a few known issues with corrupt XML files. None of these were the cause of this particular issue. What led me to this conclusion is a tool called Citrix Medevac. Medevac was able to connect to the XML data on the XenApp 6.5 farm, which immediately told me XenApp itself was good to go, even DNS issues were ruled out.


Resolution

In the end this was caused by our endpoint protection software G-DATA. It wasn't even in the firewall area as first expected. They have a web protection component that works perfectly on the XenApp servers but caused issues with TCP/80 traffic initiated by the server. Disabling Web > Process Internet Content resolved the issue.



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Adding A Shared Office 365 mailbox to iPhone

In this example, Bob wants to have access to Contoso’s sales email box:

1)    Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account
2)    Choose Other
3)    Choose Add Mail Account
4)    Name: Contoso Sales
5)    Email: sales@contoso.com
6)    Password: (Bob’s O365 password)
7)    Next
8)    Make sure IMAP is selected
9)    Incoming Mail Server
          a.    Host Name: outlook.office365.com
          b.    Username: bob@contoso.com/sales
          c.    Password: (Bob’s O365 password)
10)    Outgoing Mail Server
          a.    Host Name: smtp.office365.com
11)    Click Next

 

This is verified on iOS 9 and O365 as of 12/2/2015

Verify and Validate Jumbo Frames Configuration

For jumbo frames to properly and pass from device to device, both devices plus all network devices in between must be configured. Miss configuration on a single port or device and all of your hard work is for nothing, you will have fragmented packets and may even see a loss in performance.

The easiest way to do this is to run a ping but you can't just run a normal ping. You must force the buffer size and set it not to fragment. This can be done using the following command below (where 10.10.1.1 is your destination ip:

ping -l 8972 -f 10.10.1.1

How To Add A Printer Driver To Terminal Server

Many printer drivers include additional software we don't want to have running in our Terminal Server environments. For most printers, you can install the drivers without having to install the software. I say most instances because a few vendors will package everything up into a single executable install and you won't be able to navigate to the INF file needed to install the driver.

1. Go to Start > Run and type in MMC
2. Go to File  > Add/Remove Snap-ins
3. Add Print Management (If you do not see this, you'll need to install the Print and Document Services Role)
4. Click Add the local server
5. Click Finish
6. Click OK 
7. From the tree to the right, expand Print Management >  Print Servers > servername 
8. Right-click on Drivers and choose Add Driver
9. Choose 64- or 32-bit drivers (which ever is appropriate for your environment)
10. When prompted to choose a driver, click Have Disk and navigate to the INF file provided by the manufacturer.

This has been validated on the following operating systems:

Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2012 R2

How To Reset The Administrator Password On Polycom VVX Phones

The directions below work on the following phones:

• Polycom VVX 300
• Polycom VVX 310
• Polycom VVX 400
• Polycom VVX 410
• Polycom VVX 500
• Polycom VVX 600 

Perform the following steps to reset a forgotten Polycom administrator password:

1. Reboot the phone
2. When you see 'Starting applicaiton, press cancel to interrupt.", press cancel.
3. Immediately press and hold the 1, 3 and 5 keys until "Enter password to reset settings" appears.
4. Use the mac address as the password

This will reboot the phone with the default admin password as "456". 

Update 7/18/2016:
I've had a few questions come up on how to cycle though the number pad to enter the alpha part of the mac address. Once you've completed the steps 1-3, you'll see three red tabs on the bottom of the phone. the one labeled 1->Aa is how you cycle through. Here are the definitions of each:

1->Aa: Numeric Entery
A->a1: Capital Letter Entry
a->1A: Lowercase Letter Entry

Entering alpha characters is just like old-school texting. If you want to type in a capital C, you'll need to change the mode to A->a1 then press the '2' key three times. Pausing about 3-5 seconds between letters.

Java Applet could not be loaded errors on NetScaler

Issue
With newer versions of Java JRE users may experience issues accessing admin applets on Citrix NetScaler.


Resolution
1) Go To Control Panel > Java Control Panel
2) Under Temporary Internet Files, click 'Settings'
3) Click Delete Files, check all boxes and click 'OK'
4) Uncheck 'Keep temporary files on my computer'
5) Click 'OK'.

Cisco VPN Client Not Working With Windows 8.1

Symptom
Error 442 - Failed to Enable Virtual Adapter, when starting on Windows 8.1

1. Go to HLKM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CVirtA
2. Verify that the DisplayName reads "Cisco Systems VPN Adapter" or "Cisco Systems VPN Adapter for 64-bit Windows". If it doesn't, change it.

Some of you may already have the proper name, if that's the case you'll need to perform these additional steps:

1. Navigate to the Cisco folder in Program Files and set Windows 7 compatibility for cvpnd.exe and vpngui.exe.
2. Make sure that the Cisco VPN Adapter in Network Connections is disabled.
3. Reboot
4. Launch the Cisco VPN Client

(Thanks to Teknarus for the second half)

Exchange 2010: The WS-Management service cannot process the request. The system load quota of 1000 requests per 2 seconds has been exceeded. Send future requests at a slower rate or raise the system quota.

Issue:

When launching the Exchange Management Console on Exchange Server 2010, you get the following error.. The WS-Management service cannot process the request. The system load quota of 1000 requests per 2 seconds has been exceeded. Send future requests at a slower rate or raise the system quota.

Resolution:

1. Close Exchange Management Console
2. Run Command Prompt as Administrator
3. Run the following command: IISRESET
4. Once complete, launch Exchange Management Console

Windows 7 Error: "Failed to connect to a windows service" when logging in

Error:
Failed to connect to a windows service
Windows could not connect to the Group Policy Client service. This problem prevents standard users from logging on to the system.

Users may also see:
Event ID 6003

The winlogon notification subscriber was unavailable to handle a critical notification event.
Environment:

Windows 7 Professional


Resolution:

 

1. Create a reg file on your desktop with the settings contained farther down
2. Run regedit.exe as an administrator.
3. Locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\gpsvc and export it to your desktop. This is used as a backup just in case something goes wrong.
4. Right click on gpsvc select Permissions.
5. Click Advanced.
6. Click the Owner tab.
7. Under Change Owner to, highlight your current user and then click ok
8. Close out of permissions.
9. Right click on gpsvc select Permissions.
10. Click Administrators, check full control.
11. Click OK and close the permissions window.
12. Right click on gpsvc, delete it.
13. Run the regfile created in step 1.
14. Reboot.

Reg File:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\gpsvc]
"PreshutdownTimeout"=dword:000dbba0
"DisplayName"="@gpapi.dll,-112"
"Group"="ProfSvc_Group"
"ImagePath"=hex(2):25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,00,6f,00,\
  74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,\
  00,76,00,63,00,68,00,6f,00,73,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,2d,00,\
  6b,00,20,00,6e,00,65,00,74,00,73,00,76,00,63,00,73,00,00,00
"Description"="@gpapi.dll,-113"
"ObjectName"="LocalSystem"
"ErrorControl"=dword:00000001
"Start"=dword:00000002
"Type"=dword:00000020
"DependOnService"=hex(7):52,00,50,00,43,00,53,00,53,00,00,00,4d,00,75,00,70,00,\
  00,00,00,00
"RequiredPrivileges"=hex(7):53,00,65,00,49,00,6d,00,70,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,6f,\
  00,6e,00,61,00,74,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,\
  65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,54,00,63,00,62,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,\
  00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,54,00,61,00,6b,00,65,00,4f,00,77,00,\
  6e,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,68,00,69,00,70,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,\
  00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,49,00,6e,00,63,00,72,00,65,00,61,00,\
  73,00,65,00,51,00,75,00,6f,00,74,00,61,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,\
  00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,41,00,73,00,73,00,69,00,67,00,6e,00,\
  50,00,72,00,69,00,6d,00,61,00,72,00,79,00,54,00,6f,00,6b,00,65,00,6e,00,50,\
  00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,53,00,\
  65,00,63,00,75,00,72,00,69,00,74,00,79,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,\
  00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,43,00,68,00,61,00,6e,00,67,00,65,00,\
  4e,00,6f,00,74,00,69,00,66,00,79,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,\
  00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,43,00,72,00,65,00,61,00,74,00,65,00,50,00,\
  65,00,72,00,6d,00,61,00,6e,00,65,00,6e,00,74,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,\
  00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,53,00,68,00,75,00,74,00,64,00,\
  6f,00,77,00,6e,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,\
  00,53,00,65,00,4c,00,6f,00,61,00,64,00,44,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,65,00,72,00,\
  50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,52,\
  00,65,00,73,00,74,00,6f,00,72,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,\
  65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,42,00,61,00,63,00,6b,00,75,00,70,00,50,\
  00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,00,00
"FailureActions"=hex:80,51,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,14,00,00,\
  00,01,00,00,00,c0,d4,01,00,01,00,00,00,e0,93,04,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\gpsvc\Parameters]
"ServiceDll"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,\
  00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,\
  67,00,70,00,73,00,76,00,63,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
"ServiceMain"="GroupPolicyClientServiceMain"
"ServiceDllUnloadOnStop"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\gpsvc\Security]
"Security"=hex:01,00,14,80,8c,00,00,00,98,00,00,00,14,00,00,00,30,00,00,00,02,\
  00,1c,00,01,00,00,00,02,c0,14,00,02,00,0d,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,\
  00,00,02,00,5c,00,04,00,00,00,00,00,14,00,ff,01,0f,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,\
  05,12,00,00,00,00,00,18,00,8d,01,02,00,01,02,00,00,00,00,00,05,20,00,00,00,\
  20,02,00,00,00,00,14,00,8d,01,02,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,04,00,00,00,00,\
  00,14,00,8d,01,02,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,06,00,00,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,\
  00,05,12,00,00,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00

Credit
Parts of this post came from a user called NarenXP. I expanded and added additional steps needed to complete the fix on Windows 7.


 

How to Remove System Reserved Partition from Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2

The procedure below has been validated on the following OS:

Windows 7 Professional
Windows 7 Enterprise
Windows 7 Ultimate
Windows Server 2008 R2 (all editions)

1. Run command prompt as administrator
2. Type: bcdboot c:\windows /s c:
3. You should get a message that states: Boot files successfully created.
4. Open Disk Management, right-click on your C: drive and select Mark Partition as Active.
5. Reboot
6. Open Disk Management, delete the system reserved partition.

QuickBooks Update Consumes All Internet Bandwidth

Issue
We have standalone installs of QuickBooks 2012 and QuickBooks 2013. Whenever the update would run on either, QuickBooks would consume 100% of our bandwidth, saturating our internet and causing major issues.

In addition to this, the updates would take hours to complete - odd given that they were consuming so much bandwidth (we have 30mbps fiber). If that copy of QuickBooks were taken off of our network - the update would complete in minutes.

Resolution
We are running a Barracuda Web Filter 310 inline between our network and firewall (a Cisco ASA 5510). Turning off content caching (Advanced > Caching > Enable Content Cache) resolved the issue. The same QuickBooks update that saturated our internet and took hours was now only a few minutes long.

XenServer VM (Guest) will not Force Shutdown

Issue
A XenServer guest will not shutdown due to a pending task. In this case, it hung while adding an adapter while the guest was running - but has happened to me on other tasks as well.

Solution

1. Attempt to cancel the task though the console.
1. Use xe task-list , which will give you a list of tasks running, along with the UUID.
2. Use xe task-cancel uuid=[task uuid] to end the task
2. Sometimes the task will not respond, in which case you need to restart the toolstack
1. Use xe-toolstack-restart to restart.

Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 4 (BACS 4) - Teams menu grayed out

Issue
After upgrading from Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 3 (BACS 3) to Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 4 (BACS 4) -or- installing Broadcom Adcanced Control Suite 4, you are unable to create a new NIC team. The Teams menu is grayed out, even though the BASP driver is installed.

Environment
Windows 2008
Windows 2008 R2

Solution
Do not try to launch  BACS from the system tray - an issue crept up in BACS 4 (but not in BACS 3) where User Account Control causes issues. Instead go into your control panel, right click on Broadcom Control Suite 4, and click 'Run As Administrator'. Once in, choose 'Team View' from the filter drop-down and you'll be good to go.

Cisco VPN Client connects with VZAccess Manager, unable to see remote network.

Symptom
I got a new Pantech UML290 to replace my old 3G modem. I uninstalled my old VZAccess Manager and installed the new VZAccess Manager for my new modem. It connects just fine, I can reach the internet. My Cisco VPN Client also connected and authenticated but I could not reach my corporate network.

Solution

1. Close your VPN Connection and any open applications.
2. Launch VZAccess Manager
3. Go to Options > Preferences > Connect
4. Change Device Operating Mode from Windows Mobile Broadband to LAN Adapter
5. Click OK on the alert.
6. Your VZAccess Manager will now pretty much reset and restart.

You should now have access to your corporate network.

This was done on the following PC:
Windows 7 Pro x64
Cisco VPN Client 5.0.07.0440
VZAccess Manager 7.7.7.0 (2767c)
Pantech UML290

Group Policy - Regional Options Do Not Save

Problem
When configuring Regional Options in Group Policy, the settings don't stay. The second you go back in, they revert to default.

Resolution
You'll notice that the setting has a red underline (or red dashes) under it, which means the setting is disabled. You'll need to highlight the field you want to apply and hit F6, which will enable the setting.

Applies To
Windows Server 2008 R2

Citrix Monitoring

Anyone looking to monitor your Citrix farm needs to take a serious look at eG Innovations - http://www.eginnovations.com/. They have a great product and unbelievable support.

Originally, I was looking at Citrix EdgeSight to monitor our XenApp 5 farm. While it’s a good product, it didn’t monitor the health of our entire farm/network. Problems caused by logon servers, database issues, firewalls, etc. just weren’t caught by the EdgeSight – it was just too focused on XenApp. We needed something that went beyond just XenApp.


We’ve been using eG Manager for about a month and a half, monitoring Citrix XenApp, Citrix STA, Citrix Web Interface, Citrix License Server, Domain Controllers, Active Directory, SQL, Windows DNS, Dell iDRAC, standard WMI and Cisco ASA.

Setup and implementation times were a fraction of what I thought it would be. The system comes with many preconfigured components each with their own preconfigured tests and thresholds. Within several days, we had metrics that made sense and allowed us to tune our farm.

They also have some of the best support I’ve seen. The software is easy to use but with the scope of what can be monitored, questions come up. Their technicians have been fast to respond and have been spot on in their responses.

Waterfalls Auto Spa - The Saga Continues

So I finally heard from Michael Weaver yesterday. He tells me that the graphics on my car are not factory and if they were factory, they would have a clear coat over them.

What the hell....I asked him if he even bothered to call the local Dodge dealership....no answer.

Michael did go though the trouble of finding a local company that could possibly fix it and he said the best he could do would be to give me a few free car washes under the table. So you screw up my car and you expect me to come back...I think not!

He says the owner told him they were not willing to do anything to remedy the situation.

I do have to give him credit for trying, it sounded like he was trying to do everything he could for me that didn't involve approval from the owner.

What kind of business man is Al Ierardi when his employees care more about his customers than he does. He sounds like another absentee business owner who only gets involved as little as possible.

We'll I'm going to see how involved he'll get. I've left a voice mail for him....let's see if he returns my call.

Waterfalls Car Wash Naples FL

So I did some research and found out that Al Ierardi, the owner of Waterfalls Auto Spa on Pine Ridge, also owns Waterfalls Car Wash on US-41.

His employees from the US-41 location filed a class action lawsuit back in 2004. He allegedly required them to work overtime and didn't pay them for it.

No wonder the manager can't get a hold of the owner...guy sounds like a real peach.

Waterfalls Auto Spa Car Wash Naples Florida - Part 2

So after a day or two, I heard back from him saying he wasn't able to contact the owner. He said I would hear back from them no later than 8/10.

8/10 came and went...but no call. Figuring they still may be trying to work it out I gave them a few days. On 8/17, a full week after I was supposed to be contacted, I finally called and left a message for him.

It's now 8/19 and I still haven't heard from anyone. I called and left a message again for Michael Weaver, the manager of that location, but I still haven't heard from anyone.

Now I wanted to give them the benifit of the doubt but come on..how can you run a business like this?