To get a serial number remotely for any server/desktop/laptop
Run this command:
wmic /node:[remote computer name] bios get serialnumber
Or, if you would like to output to a text file:
set myfile = [The full UNC path with filename e.g. \\server\share\filename.txt]
wmic /append:%myfile% /node:[remote computer name] bios get serialnumber
Just open the shell with Admin rights, and type:
Get-WmiObject -ComputerName [remote computer name] -Class Win32_BIOS
or the short version:
gwmi -comp [remote computer name] -cl win32_bios
wmic cpu get name,CurrentClockSpeed,MaxClockSpeed This command will tell you the system motherboard (that happen to be the name) and it’s UUID
wmic bios get name,serialnumber,version This will tells you the name if your BIOS, current version and it’s serial number if there is any.
wmic csproduct Computer system product information from SMBIOS
Installing ADSI edit in Windows Server 2003
The ADSI (Active Directory ServiceInterfaces) editor is a management console that comes along with the Windows Server support tools. Using this you can edit each and every attribute of the objects present in your active directory database. The support tools for the Windows Server OS is present in the OS installation CD. It is located at [CDDRIVE]:\SUPPORT\TOOLS\SUPTOOLS.MSI
If you don’t have the OS CD you can download it from Microsoft
Download Windows Server 2003 Support Tools
After installation got to Start -> Run and type adsiedit.msc to get the ADSI edit console.
If you get an error message saying adsiedit.msc is not found you have to register the DLL file required for it manually.
To do this go to Start-> Run and type regsvr32 adsiedit.dll.
How to change the thick or thin provisioning of a virtual disk
Caution: Before following these procedures, it is highly recommended that you have a valid backup of the virtual machine and enough space to convert the virtual machine’s disk(s) from thin to thick.
To change the provisioning of a virtual machine base disk from thin to thick from the Datastore Browser:
- Power off the virtual machine.
- In vSphere Client, right-click the virtual machine in the inventory.
- Click Edit Settings to display the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box.
- Click the Hardware tab and select the appropriate hard disk in the Hardware list.Note: The Disk Provisioning Type section on the right displays either Thin Provision or Thick Provision. If the disk provision type is Thick, disk provisioning has already taken place. In this case, the disk provisioning is Thin.
- Click Cancel to exit out of Virtual Machine Properties dialog box.
- Click the Summary tab of the virtual machine.
- Under Resources, right-click the datastore where the virtual machine resides and click Browse Datastore.
- Double-click the virtual machine folder to display the .vmdk file.
- Right-click the .vmdk file, and click Inflate. The Inflate option converts the disk to thick provisioned.
- Reload the .vmx file. For more information see Reloading a vmx file without removing the virtual machine from inventory (1026043).
Notes:
- If the Inflate option is grayed out, this indicates that the virtual machine is not powered off or that it is not thin provisioned.
- There should be no snapshots and the conversion is performed on the base disk.
To convert a virtual machine base disk from thick to thin provisioning by changing the datastore and using offline virtual machine migration:
Note: This process requires more than one datastore. If only a single datastore exists, you can clone the virtual machine to a destination machine with thin provisioned disks instead of migrating.
- Power off the virtual machine.
- Right-click the virtual machine, and click Migrate.
- Click Change datastore.
- Click Next, and select a datastore that is not the same as the current datastore.
- From the dropdown, select the Thin Provision virtual disk format.
- Click Next, then Finish. You can monitor the progress of the conversion in the Tasks and Events view in vCenter Server.
Follow the below steps to do Storage vMotion from vSphere Webclient for vSphere 5.5:
- Right-click the virtual machine and select Migrate.
- To locate a virtual machine, select a datacenter, folder, cluster, resource pool, host, or vApp.
- Click the Related Objects tab and click Virtual Machines.
- Select Change datastore and click Next.
- Select “Thin Provision” for the virtual machine’s disks and click Next
- Select a virtual machine storage policy from the VM Storage Policy drop-down menu, click Next
- Select the datastore location where you want to store the virtual machine files and click Next.
- Review the information on the Review Selections page and click Finish.
How to Enable Remote Logins in a Windows server
Locate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\
fDenyTSConnections value is set to 1 by default to disable remote desktop; editing the value remotely to 0 will enable remote desktop
How to download Cleanwipe Utility
To download the utility, open the following web page in a browser:
https://fileshare.symantec.com
Log in with the following information:
Login ID: cleanwipeutility
Password: CL3@nw!p3
Once you have downloaded the utility, please follow these instructions.
Note: The .zip file may be password protected.
Un-Zip Password: symantec
DCICN Exam – Cisco Data Center Networking (640-911) details and Study Guide
The 640-911 DCICN “Introducing Cisco Data Center Networking” is one of the exams associated with the CCNA® Data Center certification. This 90-minute 65−75 questions exam tests a candidate’s knowledge of networking concepts for the Data Center environment, based on Nexus-OS. You will learn fundamental information on how a Data Center network works; and how to configure virtualization in the network, addressing schemes, troubleshooting and configuration skills. Candidates can prepare for this exam by taking the course 640-911 DCICN, “Introducing Cisco Data Center Networking”.
The following topics are general guidelines for the content likely to be included on the exam. However, other related topics may also appear on any specific delivery of the exam. In order to better reflect the contents of the exam and for clarity purposes, the guidelines below may change at any time without notice.
Download Complete List of Topics in PDF format
The Study/Learn tabs for the 640-911 DCICN Exam page.
DCICN Exam Topics  |
Duration | Learn More |
Media Type |
Access Now | ||
| Describe how a network worksHide Titles | ||||||
| Preparing for your CCNA Data Center Certifications Studies | 00:43:00 |  |
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| Internetworking Basics | 29 pages | |
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View Now | ||
| Understanding the TCP/IP Internet Layer | 00:25:00 | |
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Watch Now | ||
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01:29:42 | |
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Subscribe Now | ||
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01:13:40 | |
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Subscribe Now | ||
NX-OS and Cisco Nexus Switching: Next-Generation Data Center Architectures  |
480 pages | |
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Buy Now | ||
| Configure, verify and troubleshoot a switch with VLANs and interswitch communicationHide Titles |
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| Ethernet Technologies | 46 pages | |
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View Now | ||
| Introduction to LAN Protocols | 9 pages | |
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View Now | ||
| Understanding VLANS by Understanding MAC Table Operation | 4 pages | |
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View Now | ||
| Calculating an 802.1d Spanning-Tree Topology | 20 pages | |
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View Now | ||
| Implement an IP addressing scheme and IP Services to meet network requirements in a medium-size Enterprise branch office network |
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| IPAddressingGuide | 1 page | |
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View Now | ||
| IP Addressing and Subnetting for New Users | 12 pages | |
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View Now | ||
| Binary Game | Varies | |
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Play Now | ||
| Subnet Game | Varies | |
|
Play Now | ||
| Subnet Troubleshooting Game | Varies | |
|
Play Now | ||
| IP Routing – Introduction | Varies | |
|
Watch Now | ||
| Configure, verify, and troubleshoot basic router operation and routing on Cisco devicesHide Titles |
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| Routing Basics | 11 pages | |
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View Now | ||
| IP Routing – Introduction | Varies | |
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Watch Now | ||
| Introducing EIGRP | 00:22:00 | |
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Watch Now | ||
| Introducing the OSPF Protocol | 00:23:00 | |
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Watch Now | ||
| Nexus 7000 Series Data Sheet | 8 pages | |
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View Now | ||
| Nexus Licensing | 44 pages | |
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View Now | ||
Keyboard or mouse do not work in a hosted virtual machine
- Confirm that the virtual machine guest window currently has focus by clicking into the virtual machine’s console window. Keyboard or mouse input is only directed to the virtual machine when it has focus or is in full-screen mode.
- If your mouse is slow to respond or if it is working erratically, change the optimization settings. For more information, see Mouse movement is not smooth in a hosted virtual machine (1033416).
- If you are using a wireless mouse or keyboard, ensure that you have not connected it to the virtual machine by removing and re-adding the USB Controller from the virtual machine. For more information, see the Workstation Help topic Add a USB Controller to a Virtual Machine.
- Restart your host computer.
- For Windows hosts, use the Windows System Configuration (msconfig) utility to eliminate software and processes as possible causes. For more information, see Using the Windows System Configuration utility (1004010).
- For Linux hosts, start Linux in a mode that disables start daemons (typically run level 2; if your host lacks this, you may need to start in single-user mode). For more information, see Changing Linux run levels (1004015) or your operating system documentation.
Note: These next steps require a second mouse/keyboard. For more information, see Connecting a second mouse or keyboard directly to a hosted virtual machine (1033435).
- Look for non-Microsoft, non-VMware mouse/keyboard drivers or software installed in the virtual machine, and remove them.
- Re-install VMware Tools. For details, see Overview of VMware Tools (340).
What is Processor Queue Length?
A collection of one or more threads that is ready but not able to run on the processor due to another active thread that is currently running is called the processor queue. The clearest symptom of a processor bottleneck is a sustained or recurring queue of more than two threads. Although queues are most likely to develop when the processor is very busy, they can develop when utilization is well below 90 percent. This can happen if requests for processor time arrive randomly and if threads demand irregular amounts of time from the processor.
If queue occur frequently, You need to investigate the processes that are running when threads collect in the queue.
To determine this:
- Identify the processes that are consuming processor time. Determine whether a single process or multiple processes are active during a bottleneck. Running processes appear in the Instance box when you select the Process\% Processor Time counter. For more information, see “Processes in a Bottleneck” later in this chapter.
- Scrutinize the processor-intensive processes. Determine how many threads run in the process and watch the patterns of thread activity during a bottleneck.
- Evaluate the priorities at which the process and its threads run. You might be able to eliminate a bottleneck merely by adjusting the base priority of the process or the current priorities of its threads. However, Microsoft does not recommend this as a long-term solution. Use Task Manager to find the base priority of the process.
Different guidelines apply for queue lengths on multiprocessor systems. For busy systems (those having processor utilization in the 80 to 90 percent range) that use thread scheduling, the queue length should range from one to three threads per processor. For example, on a four-processor system, the expected range of processor queue length on a system with high CPU activity is 4 to 12.
On systems with lower CPU utilization, the processor queue length is typically 0 or 1.
There are other objects that track processor queue length. The Server Work Queues\Queue Length counter reports the number of requests in the queue for the processor on the selected server.
Syslog Server storage logs size calculation
Syslog Server storage calculation:
I want to modify the settings so that my logs size is upped from 2mb to 10mb and we rotate after 40 logs not 20.Here we need to do some planning to see if we have enough free space.
Count hosts: 100
Current size log max: 2
Current rotation count: 20
Total possible MB used: 100x2x20 = 4,000MB (4gb)
Count hosts: 100
Desired size log max: 10
Desired rotation count: 40
Total possible MB used: 100x10x40=40,000MB (40GB)
So the drive where your logs are stored would need 40gbfree in the above example to be able to service future demands.
How to modify the VMware Syslog Collector configuration after it is installed:
- Make a backup of the file:vCenter Server 5.5 and lower: %PROGRAMDATA%\VMware\VMware Syslog Collector\vmconfig-syslog.xml
vCenter Server 6.0: %PROGRAMDATA%\VMware\vCenterServer\cfg\vmsyslogcollector\config.xml - Open the copied file using a text editor.
- Under <defaultValues>, change any of the options to the required values.For example, to increase the log file size to 10 MB and to decrease the number of files retained to 20, modify the attributes:<defaultValues>
<maxSize>10</maxSize>
<rotate>20</rotate>
<sslPort>1514</sslPort>
</defaultValues>Note: This configuration in vCenter Server overrides the ESXi host configuration file.
- Save and close the file.
- Stop the VMware Syslog Collector service.
- Remove the file:
vCenter Server 5.5 and lower: %PROGRAMDATA%\VMware\VMware Syslog Collector\vmconfig-syslog.xml
vCenter Server 6.0: %PROGRAMDATA%\VMware\vCenterServer\cfg\vmsyslogcollector\config.xml
- Rename the copy of the modified file to:vCenter Server 5.5 and lower: %PROGRAMDATA%\VMware\VMware Syslog Collector\vmconfig-syslog.xml
vCenter Server 6.0: %PROGRAMDATA%\VMware\vCenterServer\cfg\vmsyslogcollector\config.xml - Start the VMware Syslog Collector service. It may be required to restart the syslog service on the ESXi host if logs are no longer updating on the Syslog Server. To restart the syslog service, see VMware ESXi 5.x host stops sending syslogs to remote server (2003127).
The maximum supported number of hosts for use with each vSphere Syslog Collector instance is 30, however depending on the load generated by your environment, you may encounter issues below this number.
To work around this issue, you can deploy multiple instances of vSphere Syslog Collector on separate Windows machine which allows you to distribute the load.
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