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DSQuery Operating System Service Pack Version

Sheen — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:59:27 +0000

I had a requirement recently to get the service pack versions for all workstations on the domain. I tried a few different options but the easiest option was to use the extremely useful dsquery tool.

Without further ado, this is the command:

dsquery * -scope subtree -attr “cn” “operatingSystem” “operatingSystemServicePack” -filter “(&(objectclass=computer)(objectcategory=computer)(operatingSystem=Windows XP*))” -limit 100000

The output of this command would be as follows:

cn                 operatingSystem                      operatingSystemServicePack
WRK001   Windows XP Professional     Service Pack 1
WRK002   Windows XP Professional     Service Pack 2
WRK003    Windows XP Professional     Service Pack 3

Where, cn is the workstation name and the others are self explanatory.

Share your handy little tips and tricks!

Are you Binging yet?

Sheen — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:28:04 +0000

Bing sure is a funny name for a search engine. The only other Bing I know is Mr Chandler Bing and he was funny. This Bing however is serious stuff. For the first time since Google came around, it has serious competition and for the first time I (a serious Google search user) have started considering another search engine as an alternative. It is still early days for Bing and there sure will be a lot of improvements in the pipeline but Bing doesn’t fail to impress. Mr Ballmer must be very happy to hear about Bing’s apparent early success.

Who is competition for the mighty Google search engine? On paper, there is Yahoo! search, Ask search, and now Bing search. If you have used it you will find how close Bing is to being a real threat to Google. Bing is already making bigger plans for the future by teaming up with Wolfram Alpha.

Watch out Google!

What is the weight of Data?

Sheen — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:50:11 +0000

This HAS to be the most hilarious technical thread ever! A question was posted on one of Microsoft’s technical forums (by a person who apparently created that ID just to ask this question) to find out why his laptop was getting heavier the more he used it. The question sure was innocently dumb but the answers are wickedly funny. A great read.

Click here to read the article.

The WinRoute tool

Sheen — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 07:56:00 +0000

WinRoute.exe is a tool that can be used to view and easily understand a complicated Exchange email routing topology. This tool is a recommended first step towards troubleshooting Exchange Email routing issues.

To install the tool, go through the following checklist:

Ensure that the ‘Routing Engine Service’ is running.
Ensure that the MTA Stacks Service is running.
Ensure that the SMTP service is running.
Ensure that the Program Files\Exchsrvr\Bin\ directory has the following files
1. Dsaccess.dll
2. Pttrace.dll
3. Exchmem.dll
Download the WinRoute tool from here.
Copy winroute.exe to the Program Files\Exchsrvr\Bin directory.

To use WinRoute:

Execute the winroute.exe file.
Identify the routing group ‘master’ server.
Connect to the master server (This is always recommended)

WinRoute works on all Exchange 2000 and 2003 servers and uses the Link State Protocol (TCP 691) to get routing information. Exchange 2007 does not have a routing engine so this tool will not work on Exchange 2007. However, there is a similar tool called the Routing Log Viewer in Exchange 2007 that provides similar functionality.

Give this a whirl and drop me a line if you found this useful.

Remember! it is always good to share!

Exchange 2007 Recreate OWA folders

Sheen — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:45:47 +0000

If you face an issue where OWA in Exchange 2007 stops working, there is a pretty cool powershell command you can run to recreate the OWA virtual directory. The following commands will get you going:

This command will list all the current virtual directories.

Get-OwaVirtualDirectory

This command will delete the “owa” virtual directory under the Default Web Site.

Remove-OwaVirtualDirectory -identity "owa (Default Web Site)"

This command will re-create the “owa” virtual directory under the Default Web Site.

New-OWAVirtualDirectory -OWAVersion "Exchange2007" -Name "owa (Default Web Site)"

When you run this command, if you get an error as follows, it is possible that IIS is set to work in the 32 bit mode and not the required 64 bit mode.

New-OwaVirtualDirectory : An error occurred while creating the IIS virtual directory ‘IIS://mailserver.somewhere.com/W3SVC/1/ROOT/owa’ on ‘mailserver’.
At line:1 char:24
+ New-OWAVirtualDirectory <<<< -OWAVersion "Exchange2007" -Name "owa" -Website "Default Web Site"

To make IIS work in the 64 bit mode, you need to run the following command:

cscript %SYSTEMDRIVE%\inetpub\adminscripts\adsutil.vbs SET W3SVC/AppPools/Enable32bitAppOnWin64 0

Just in case you do not have the adsutil.vbs script in your adminscripts folder, you can download it from here.

Drop me a line to let me know if this post has helped you!