Computer naming conventions are like creating an Active Directory hierarchy – there is no wrong or right. Its more about what best suits your current and future needs. Over the years my naming conventions have evolved and below I will document my currently preferred method. First we will look at the technical constraints when naming them, and what characters I recommend using.
Ivan Dretvic
Automatically generate description field for computers in Active Directory
Having worked in help-desk roles in the past I know the importance of knowing which user has logged onto which computer. Its simple stuff really, but unless you have 3rd party systems like System Center 2012 (SC12) or client agents, its either hard or time consuming to find out the relation between users and computers. What we needed was an easy way to find out what the last logged on user was for every machine.
How to decomission Blackberry Enterprise Server Express 5.0 from our Exchange 2010 environment
It is inevitable that more and more organisations will be moving away from Blackberry more and more as the domination of iOS, Android and Windows Mobile continue to dominate the handset market. Well we have come to that point in now, where we have had a BES server running for over a year without a single user connecting to it, and now it is time to remove the server the right way.
After trawling through the labyrinth we call the internet it surprised me that finding all the information simply was not in the one place. Admittedly the uninstallation of BES is quite an easy task there are a number of tasks to do before and after… and ill show you what they are.
How to uninstall application (Silverlight in this instance) using a command prompt
Normally when I want to uninstall an application I will work through the below steps to get a simple clean uninstall script that is recommended. Unfortunately sometimes vendors dont provide this and you need to get creative in how you uninstall certain applications.
How to enforce Exchange ActiveSync Mailbox policies on mobile devices
Has your CTO/CFO/CEO/ITM (whatever acronym they decide to give themselves) asked you to lock down or secure mobile devices? Well if they haven’t then they sure as hell should! The security risks, in particular loss of confidential information from mobile devices is extremely high with more and more devices storing more data.
My URL is changing (ever-so slightly)
Hi All, Just a heads up to any returning readers out there. I have decided to change my URL. (its a small change). Here are the new details: New URL: https://ivan.dretvic.com Old URL: http://ivan.dretvich.com – the trailing ‘h’ has been dropped. They will both work but hyperlinks will now default to the new one. RSS … Read more
Deploying Adobe Flash Player 11.2 with auto-updating in an enterprise
Adobe have come to the mercy of IT administrators by introducing an auto updating feature for Flash Player. This is excellent news but now we need to get it to work in the real world
With the below configuration the end device should be able to automatically update without granting users extra permissions. The service can automatically update the files without user intervention and even if a browser window is open, it will update as soon as the browser is closed.
How to deploy mms.cfg config file to your Adobe Flash Player clients?
You have just downloaded the Adobe Flash Player distributable, created an mms.cfg configure file and you want to push it out to your network. You might be scratching your head on how to do this if you don’t have an enterprise software deployment solution?
Don’t worry – there is no need for that – all you need is Group Policy Preferences to push out your mms.cfg config file to your clients!
Exchange 2010 test scripts
I have a need to test our simple single server Exchange 2010 environment when doing upgrades and major changes. Generally it doesn’t happen very often so I tend to forget all the areas I really should be testing. This is a scribble of items that I feel I should test and may hopefully help others when they do their testing. I will be updating this post when do come up with additional tests – and potentially some PS scripts as well that help in the testing.
Upgrade Exchange 2010 SP1 to SP2 on a single server environment
I have read a number of documents online regarding the installation of Exchange 2010 SP2 where most are quite comprehensive however they lack in clear explanation of what to do in a single server environment. Below are the steps I used to install Exchange 2010 SP2 on an Exchange 2010 SP1 UR4 single server environment that also had Forefront for Exchange installed.
Before we begin I must say this entire setup process is using the Command Line Interface. Its a very basic setup so don’t be scared of doing things using the command line.