Cloud

Wipe Phone or Tablet From Office 365 Business or Enterprise

A good feature of Office 365 is that you can actually wipe a mobile device from it. This can be quite useful if a phone or tablet has been stolen or lost and you do not want people to access your enterprise data.

Microsoft Exchange Server also has this same feature and it is the same process in exchange to do this.

You can only clear the data from a device if it was set up to use Exchange ActiveSync. If the device was not setup with activesync then this will not work.

What you will need to do is:

  • login as the administrator to your office 365 portal.
  • Then navigate to the ADMIN section on the left hand side and select Exchange. This will then redirect you to the Exchange section of Office 365.
  • Inside the Exchange you will need to go to the recipients tab and select mailboxes(Mailboxes should be selected first anyway)
  • Then find the user that you want to wipe the mobile device for and select them
  • In the right hand side there will be a section saying mobile devices, click on that
  • Now it should have all the mobile devices that are associated
  • Select the mobile device that is lost or stolen
  • Up the top of the window you will be able to select wipe
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Windows Server

How to Transfer FSMO roles from old Server to new Domain Controller

When you migrate to a new Domain Controller you will need to transfer the FSMO(Flexible Single Master Operations) roles before you remove the original domain controller.

Transferring the RID, PDC and Infrastructure Master roles

  • Open the Active Directory Users and Computers console
  • Right click on Active Directory Users and Computers, then click connect to domain controller
  • Right click on the domain controller that will be taking over the roles
  • Click Operation Masters
  • Click the appropriate tab for each role that you want to transfer
  • Select change in the Change Operations Master console box
  • Click OK and exit the console

Transfer the Domain Naming Master Role

  • Open Active Directory Domains and Trusts Console
  • Right click Active Directory Domains and Trusts icon, then click connect to domain controller
  • Select the domain controller that you will be transferring the role to and click OK
  • Right click Active Directory Domains and Trusts and select Operation Masters
  • In the dialog click change
  • Then select OK and exit the dialog

Transferring the Schema Master Role

  • Open a Run dialog and type in “mmc”
  • In the new MMC console click the menu and select the Add/Remove Snap-in option
  • Select Add
  • Click Active Directory Schema
  • Click Add
  • Close the Add Snap-in dialog
  • Right click on the Active Directory Schema Icon and select “Change Domain Controller” option
  • Select “Specify Domain Controller and type the name of the new domain controller that will be taking over the Schema Master Role
  • Click OK
  • Right click Active Directory Schema and then click on Operation Masters
  • In the Schema Master console box click change
  • Click OK

 

Finishing off

Now you have moved all of the FSMO roles you can continue on and remove the old Domain Controller from the domain by using DCPROMO

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Windows

How to setup multiple touchscreens in Windows 8

When using multiple monitors the touch screens may not actually be detected as touch screen displays or it may think that the input for one touchscreen is the other so when you touch one touch display then it will react on the other one.

This is because the touchscreens require configuration, to calibrate the touch screen settings in windows 8 you need to:

  • Open the Control Panel (You can do this by right clicking on the start menu and selecting control panel)
  • In the search bar(at the top right hand corner of the control panel) type in “Tablet PC Settings” and press enter
  • Then select “Tablet PC Settings” in the main window
  • This will open the Tablet PC Settings panel, inside this panel click the Setup button
  • Then you will need to touch the displays that it tells you to

Now your touchscreens are setup and you will be able to use them properly.

Configure touch screens in windows 8

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Office 365

OST cannot be accessed because it is configured for a different mailbox error

ost file cannot be accessed because it has been configured for use with a different mailbox

I got this error after moving someone from a local Exchange 2003 server to Office 365.

When you open outlook you will get a message saying:

The file C:\Users\<username>\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\<emailaddress>.ost cannot be accessed because it has been configured for use with a different mailbox. 

From what I can figure out it is because it another exchange account with the same name but different credentials and on a different server but still using the same profile so outlook tries to use the same OST file.

How to fix the OST cannot be accessed error

To fix this issue what you need to do is configure a different email profile. To do this follow these steps:

  • Open Control Panel
  • Select Mail
  • Select Profiles
  • Add a new profile
  • Give the profile a name and hit OK
  • Then connect your email account using the correct credentials

Now when you open Outlook it should sync up with Exchange or Office 365.

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Windows

PPTP VPN Blocks Internet Connection on Windows 10

After setting up a PPTP VPN from my new Windows 10 computer I couldn’t get internet access.

So I tested to make sure it wasn’t just DNS playing up and pinged 8.8.8.8 but no good.

ping from Windows 10

So I tested pinging my default gateway and that worked, so then I tested pinging the default gateway of the remote network that I was connected to via the VPN and that also worked.

So I figured it must have something to do with Windows 10 not allowing split tunnels by default.

Configure Split Tunnel In Windows 10 PPTP VPN

You must be connected to the PPTP VPN for the network settings below to be available, if you are not connected to the VPN from Windows 10 then the network settings will not work.

Go to network and sharing center, you can get here by right clicking the network icon on the taskbar and selecting “Open Network and Sharing center”

Network and sharing center windows 10

Select “Change adapter settings”

Right click on the PPTP VPN connection and select properties

Select “Networking” on the top menu

Select “Internet Protocol Version 4(IPv4)” and click the “Properties” button

Another window will open, in this windows select “Advanced”

Tick the box that says “Use default gateway on remote network” and hit “OK”

advanced vpn settings windows 10

 

Now you will be able to browse the internet through the VPN on Windows 10.

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Windows

Connect to Office365 from Windows 7 with PowerShell

PowerShell is an incredibly powerful tool that for Windows Sysadmins is a must. Once you start using it you will not stop.  Microsoft does not give you access to the back end management software for Exchange so PowerShell is a must if you are going to use Office365 for a business.

Windows 7 by default will not let you connect to Office365 via PowerShell so there are a few steps that you will need to take before you can start using Powershell to manage your Office365 domain.

 

  • Make sure you have the latest version of PowerShell installed, if not then update it
  • Make sure that you have .NET 3.5.1 installed if not then install it
  • Download and install the Microsoft Online Services Sign-in assistant 
  • Install the Office 365 Cmdlets either 64 Bit or 32 Bit (check out this post if you don’t know what a Cmdlet is)

Now you should be able to connect to Office365 via Powershell in Windows 7. To do this run the following script:

Import-Module MSOnline
$O365Cred = Get-Credential
$O365Session = New-PSSession –ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri https://ps.outlook.com/powershell -Credential $O365Cred -Authentication Basic -AllowRedirection
Import-PSSession $O365Session -AllowClobber
Connect-MsolService –Credential $O365Cred

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Windows

Dual Monitors Not Lining Up Correctly

This is one of those frustrating problems that many people with multiple monitors have had and the resolution is actually quite simple

  • Right click on the desktop, click screen resolution.
  • In the dialog where you see two monitors drag them so they line up.
  • You should notice the jump increase and decrease with the alignment.
  • Ensure that the screens are lined up on the bottoms.

Done!! Now your monitors should be lined up perfectly and your mouse should move across them.

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Windows

Windows 10 Technical Preview Review and Features

Windows 10 Technical Preview is now released and is available for download. If you want you can download and install Windows 10 Technical Preview.

Microsoft has skipped a number in there naming scheme and completely missed Windows 9. There is a few different rumours about why Microsoft decided to skip the number 9 but really it doesn’t matter why because it is the same thing either way, Windows 9 is Windows 10.

For Windows 10 Desktop and Laptop users

It seems there was a lot of people that did not like Windows 8 and 8.1. Windows 10 will be a very important release for Microsoft as it will give them the chance to fix what many people think was wrong with Windows 8.

The Start Menu

So a few years ago when Microsoft released Windows 8 they wanted everybody to use the metro interface where the start menu is full screen and they said that it was just as good for touch screen users as traditional mouse and keyboard users. With Windows 10 they have melded the old style start menu and the metro into one. On the left is the traditional menu and on the right is a tiled menu.

If you do like the Metro-Style start menu there is an option to enable and disable both start menu options, I think they should have had this option in Windows 8 and is very good to see that the option to change to your own preference is very good.

windows 10 start menu

Virtual Desktops

In Windows 10 you have the option to use Virtual Desktops. If you are familiar with workspaces in Linux you will feel quite at home with Windows Virtual Desktops. Instead of just having one desktop per monitor you will be able to switch between multiple virtual desktops.

Improved snapping

The Snap function is also being improved, this allows windows to be easily tiles and snap into place.

Metro Apps in Desktop Windows

Rather than Windows forcing you to run your apps in full-screen mode in Windows 10 you are now able to run Metro apps on the desktop in a normal window. So now theoretically more Windows users might use Metro apps from the store. This may get more developers to make apps for the Windows Store for both Windows and Windows phone.

Improved Command Prompt

You will be able to paste using short-cut keys in the Windows 10, this is pretty good for the “geeky” people that like to get their hands dirty with scripting and stuff.

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PowerShell

Sending an email using PowerShell

PowerShell is proving to be a wonderful tool for Microsoft System Admins. The ability to send emails in a PowerShell script can be quite useful, you can use this simple little function to send an email from PowerShell.

You could potentially use this function to send you an email when an automatic PowerShell task runs and fails or if you want to notify yourself of something during the script.

The results of my test are below the PowerShell code.
Function SendMail{
#Set your outgoing SMTP Server, this will work as long as your server does not need authentication
$MailServer = "mail.bigpond.com" #Change this to our SMTP server
#Creating a Mail object
$MailObject = new-object Net.Mail.MailMessage
#Creating SMTP server object
$SMTP = new-object Net.Mail.SMTPClient($MailServer)
#Actual email text
$MailObject.From = "[email protected]"
$MailObject.ReplyTo = "[email protected]"
$MailObject.To.Add("[email protected]")
$MailObject.subject = "This is the test email"
$MailObject.body = "Hello," + "`r`n" + `
"Powershell is sending you an email"
#Send the email
$SMTP.Send($MailObject)
}

send email powershell script

Email received from my test
Email received from my test sending with PowerShell, it got filtered into spam but it worked!!
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Other

Email NDR Code Meanings

What is an NDR?

NDR stands for non-delivery report. When an email is rejected from an email server you may receive an NDR email, this usually happens because you have sent the email to an email address that does not exist.

This list of NDR codes and what they mean may help you for diagnosing your email issues, or issues with your exchange or Linux based email servers.

 

4.2.2 The recipient has exceeded their mailbox limit. It could also be that the delivery directory on the Virtual server has exceeded its limit. (Default 22 MB)
4.3.1 Not enough disk space on the delivery server. Microsoft say this NDR maybe reported as out-of-memory error.
4.3.2 Classic temporary problem, the Administrator has frozen the queue.
4.4.1 Intermittent network connection. The server has not yet responded. Classic temporary problem. If it persists, you will also a 5.4.x status code error.
4.4.2 The server started to deliver the message but then the connection was broken.
4.4.6 Too many hops. Most likely, the message is looping.
4.4.7 Problem with a timeout. Check receiving server connectors.
4.4.9 A DNS problem. Check your smart host setting on the SMTP connector. For example, check correct SMTP format. Also, use square brackets in the IP address [197.89.1.4] You can get this same NDR error if you have been deleting routing groups.
4.6.5 Multi-language situation. Your server does not have the correct language code page installed.
5.0.0 SMTP 500 reply code means an unrecognised command. You get this NDR when you make a typing mistake when you manually try to send email via telnet.
More likely, a routing group error, no routing connector, or no suitable address space in the connector. (Try adding * in the address space)
This status code is a general error message in Exchange 2000. In fact Microsoft introduced a service pack to make sure now get a more specific code.
5.1.x Problem with email address.
5.1.0 Often seen with contacts. Check the recipient address.
5.1.1 Another problem with the recipient address. Possibly the user was moved to another server in Active Directory. Maybe an Outlook client replied to a message while offline.
5.1.3 Another problem with contacts. Address field maybe empty. Check the address information.
5.1.4 Two objects have the same address, which confuses the categorizer.
5.1.5 Destination mailbox address invalid.
5.1.6 Problem with homeMDB or msExchHomeServerName – check how many users are affected. Sometimes running RUS (Recipient Update Service) cures this problem. Mailbox may have moved.
5.1.7 Problem with senders mail attribute, check properties sheet in ADUC.
5.2.x NDR caused by a problem with the large size of the email.
5.2.1 The message is too large. Else it could be a permissions problem. Check the recipient’s mailbox.
5.2.2 Sadly, the recipient has exceeded their mailbox limit.
5.2.3 Recipient cannot receive messages this big. Server or connector limit exceeded.
5.2.4 Most likely, a distribution list or group is trying to send an email. Check where the expansion server is situated.
5.3.0 Problem with MTA, maybe someone has been editing the registry to disable the MTA / Store driver.
5.3.1 Mail system full. Possibly a Standard edition of Exchange reached the 16 GB limit.
5.3.2 System not accepting network messages. Look outside Exchange for a connectivity problem.
5.3.3 Remote server has insufficient disk space to hold email. Check SMTP log.
5.3.4 Message too big. Check limits, System Policy, connector, virtual server.
5.3.5 Multiple Virtual Servers are using the same IP address and port. See Microsoft TechNet article: 321721 Sharing SMTP. Email probably looping.
5.4.0 DNS Problem. Check the Smart host, or check your DNS. It means that there is no DNS server that can resolve this email address. Could be Virtual Server SMTP address.
5.4.1 No answer from host. Not Exchange’s fault check connections.
5.4.2 Bad connection.
5.4.3 Routing server failure. No available route.
5.4.4 Cannot find the next hop, check the Routing Group Connector. Perhaps you have Exchange servers in different Routing Groups, but no connector.
5.4.6 Tricky looping problem, a contact has the same email address as an Active Directory user. One user is probably using an Alternate Recipient with the same email address as a contact.
5.4.7 Delivery time-out. Message is taking too long to be delivered.
5.4.8 Microsoft advise, check your recipient policy. SMTP address should be cp.com.
NOT server.cp.com.
5.5.0 Underlying SMTP 500 error. Our server tried ehlo, the recipient’s server did not understand and returned a 550 or 500 error. Set up SMTP logging.
5.5.2 Possibly the disk holding the operating system is full. Or could be a syntax error if you are executing SMTP from a telnet shell.
5.5.3 More than 5,000 recipients. Check the Global Settings, Message Delivery properties.
5.5.5 Wrong protocol version
5.6.3 More than 250 attachments.
5.7.1 Permissions problem. For some reason the sender is not allowed to email this account. Perhaps an anonymous user is trying to send mail to a distribution list.
Check SMTP Virtual Server Access Tab. Try checking this box: Allow computers which successfully authenticate to relay
User may have a manually created email address that does not match a System Policy.
5.7.2 Distribution list cannot expand and so is unable to deliver its messages.
5.7.3 Check external IP address of ISA server. Make sure it matches the SMTP publishing rule.
5.7.4 Extra security features not supported. Check delivery server settings
5.7.5 Cryptographic failure. Try a plain message with encryption.
5.7.6 Certificate problem, encryption level maybe to high.
5.7.7 Message integrity problem.

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