In yesterday’s post I described how you could extract Office 2003 updates. When they are extracted however, they still need to be slipstreamed into the package. I also created this script to automate the slipstreaming.
Basically for each extracted patch (.msp) file, it runs msiexec with the correct parameters. So if you have other msi packages that need multiple patch (.msp) files applied to it, you could use this script as a foundation as well.
Not so long ago I had to create a new Office 2003 Administrative Installation Point.
There were 2 choices:
Ofcourse option 2 is the best choice, because then the package will be the most secure from the moment the software is deployed. Also it saves bandwidth and time.
To slipstream updates into Office 2003, there are basically 4 steps:
You can imagine that the older the source files are, the more updates there are to be slipstreamed. So it is best to use an ISO/CD of Office 2003 with the latest Service Pack.
Still if you have the latest Service Pack, you need to slipstream more than 20 updates. I personally don’t like these kind of manual tasks, so I created this script to do the extraction of the updates for me.
Ofcourse this script can be used to extract other kinds of updates as well..
In yesterday’s post I showed some commands to protect all or specific Active Directory objects from accidental deletion.
In some situations (by example preparing for a change) you might want to know which objects are protected from accidental deletion and which are not. Also when multiple people make changes in an Active Directory it might prove difficult to keep track of the changes.
To determine the protection status of AD objects, I use a script that checks the ACL of the AD Object. When Everyone is explicitly Denied access, it is protected from accidental deletion.
In a previous blog post I explained how to enable the Active Directory Recycle Bin which allows you to restore deleted active directory object.
But even though it’s great to be able to restore objects, it is even better to prevent accidental deletion. What accidental deletion basically does, is modify the permissions on an AD object to Deny Everyone so you won’t be able to delete it by accident.
More information about protection from accidental deletion can be found in “Preventing Unwanted/Accidental deletions and Restore deleted objects in Active Directory” and “Windows Server 2008 Protection from Accidental Deletion“.
In Windows Server 2012 with all the new cmdlets, it has become much easier to enable protection from accidental deletion.
By example, you could use these commands:
#Get-ADobject class names
get-adobject -filter * | select objectclass | group objectclass
#Protect specific AD object classes from accidental deletion
get-adobject -filter * | where{($_.ObjectClass -eq “container”) -or ($_.ObjectClass -eq “organizationalunit”) -or ($_.ObjectClass -eq “user”) -or ($_.ObjectClass -eq “group”) -or ($_.ObjectClass -eq “computer”)} | Set-ADObject -ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion $true
#Protect all AD organizational units from accidental deletion
Get-ADOrganizationalUnit -filter * | Set-ADOrganizationalUnit -ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion $true
#Protect all AD objects from accidental deletion
Get-ADobject -filter * | Set-ADObject -ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion $true
Currently report files for multiple customers are placed in a source folder monthly. These report files include the customer name and need to be uploaded a for each customer in a subfolder named “Backup Controle” of their own folder.
Notes:
Example:
This action was performed manually at first using the SharePoint web interface to browse to each customer’s folder and upload the report. This is ofcourse not the type of work you want to do. Using the SharePoint WebDAV you can perform this using Explorer and drag and drop, which would make it a bit more bearable.
It would however be even better if it could be automated and that’s just what we did with this script. The script contains a function where you can define for each customer:
The script will then recursively look inside the customer’s folder for a folder matching the “Backup Controle” folder and will copy the report to it (assuming the report is not already there).
In this example you would call the function like this:
Note: It is assumed that there is only one folder named “Backup” Controle in the customer’s folder.
I’ve been around in the Windows world for quite some time and have studied quite a bit as well. As such I have always been taught that upgrading the functional level was irreversible. It also didn’t help that I got my Windows 2008 certification through beta exams before R2 was released and even before there were any books available.
Thanks to this blog post however, it came to my attentention that it is possible to lower the Forest and Domain Functional Level from 2008R2 to 2008 or from 2012 to 2008R2.
All of this can only be done using PowerShell as you can read in “Step by Step guide to lower Active Directory functional level” by Aman Sahota.
[EDIT] 09-04-2013 : As described in my blog post, this script has become unnecessary for most people. This is because Microsoft to allow almost every Flash site by default. [EDIT]
[EDIT] 13-01-2013 : Apparently for Windows RT, the script doesn’t seem to be working yet. Unfortunately I have no Windows RT to troubleshoot and resolve the issue. [EDIT]
Windows 8 and Windows RT include support for Flash in Internet Explorer 10.
In Windows 8 there are however two version of Internet Explorer 10 that handle flash websites differently. First there’s Internet Explorer 10 Desktop, which is similar as the Internet Explorer you’ve been used to with previous versions of Windows. Then there’s also Internet Explorer 10 (non Desktop), which is the Internet Explorer in the new modern/Windows interface (Metro) that is full screen.
Internet Explorer 10 Desktop allows Flash for all websites. Internet Explorer 10 (Metro) only allows Flash for websites that have been whitelisted.
Especially for Windows tablets, Flash support can be a selling point because most other tablets don’t have Flash support. It is however confusing for regular consumers that not all their websites will work. By example a friend of mine who’s a hairdresser, uses http://www.kapperssite.nl to show her customers hair models and their haircuts. The site is however completely in Flash and that it is not working by default is very annoying.
The websites that have been whitelisted are defined in your local appdate folder. By example: “C:\Users\Bjorn\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\IECompatData\iecompatdata.xml”. This file also contains information about websites and which compatibility mode should be used for each. The segment between <flash> and </flash> contains the websites that have been whitelisted for flash. You can manually modify this file as described here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1961793
As a workaround, I’ve created this script that will automatically perform these tasks:
Because automatic downloading of updated compatibility lists has been disabled, I advise to schedule the script to run on a regular basis (by example monthly). For instructions read this blog post: http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2012/08/11/weekend-scripter-use-the-windows-task-scheduler-to-run-a-windows-powershell-script.aspx Keep in mind that this will clear your Internet Explorer browsing history though.
In the first part of this LAB setup guide, I described the hardware selection process.
In the second part, I described the hypervisor selection and installation.
In the third part, I described VM guest considerations and preparations.
In the fourth part, I described Configuring Server 2012 VM as DC with DNS and DHCP using PowerShell
In the fifth part, I described easily creating (many) proper AD users with PowerShell
In this post I will describe creating a local PowerShell v3 Help Repository.
First of all, let me explain what a local PowerShell v3 Help Repository is and why you might want it. With PowerShell v3 not all help files are included. You can however always selectively download the latest versions of the help files (for specific commands). This saves space and also makes for a more flexible system where help files can be updated more easily.
Downloading the updates to the help files requires an internet connection however, and this might not be possible or desirable in many situations. Also if every server would download these files from the internet, this would waste internet bandwidth. Microsoft realizes this and provides you with the option to create a local PowerShell v3 Help Repository.
My script to create this local PowerShell v3 Help Repository can be found here. The basic steps include:
As stated in step 4, you can manually update the help files. Personally I prefer creating a GPO that creates a scheduled task on every other system to update the help files on a regular basis using the local repository share you just made. This way when you need the help files, you don’t have to wait until the update has been completed and you also don’t have to rely on internet access.
Personally I would have preferred it if Microsoft also offered an option to deploy the help file updates using WSUS. But for now, this will have to do.
blog.bjornhouben.com 