For any administrator, who want to use any kind of free tools to have better access or monitor some functionalities in Windows environments, here we have a list of many free tools. Just look which is usable for you and use it:
https://4sysops.com/best-free-windows-admin-tools/
And please, test it in test environment prior you use it in production. Many times tolls are not exactly the same as you expect..
Tag: Essentials server
Forgot ILO Password?
No problem. You can reset it via software from your operating system. It is possible to do it from almost any Windows server system and from Linux (from Linux I didn’t try).
To do this, you have to install HP Lights-Out Online Configuration Utility for the system that you are using. You can download it form HP web page, where the drivers are located.
After you have installed this software, you will need a XML file with this content:
<ribcl VERSION=”2.0″>
<login USER_LOGIN=”Administrator” PASSWORD=”boguspassword”>
<user_INFO MODE=”write”>
<mod_USER USER_LOGIN=”Administrator”>
<password value=”YourNewPassword”/>
</mod_USER>
</user_INFO>
</login>
</ribcl>
I know, that the login password (the old one) is not correct, but you don’t need to know it (scary…), it will work.
Save this file into the folder C:\Progam Files\HP\hponcfg and launch the command prompt as Administrator. Navigate to the folder and type:
Hponcfg /f YourFile.xml /l YourLogFile.txt
You will be noticed that script worked correctly. Now you have just to login into ILO with the new password.
Easy to do it. Maybe too easy.
More reading:
Export ILO configuration
Essentials functionality with more than one DC
Some of us want to use Essentials server rule for federation with Office365 in small companies, where we have more than one DC. Until now, this was a non supported functionality and it was not possible to install it (in this case, you received an error, that this is possible only on a DC – here is the article). August rollup for Server 2012R2 solves this issue and now it is possible to use the Essentials sync option for Office 365 also if you have more than one DC. You can download the update here..
Problems with Essentials role configuration
In some cases, you can have different errors when you try to configure Essentials role on Standard Windows Server 2012R2. First you have to check is if they are all FSMO roles hosted on the server where you are trying to install the Essentials role. This is an obligated condition.
The second error is also frequent and I found it when I tried to migrate SBS 2008 or 2011 to Standard server 2012R2 with Essentials role enabled. The error (as you can see on the picture) is very bad documented and it is practically impossible to understand what is wrong.
The next step that an Administrator has to check is the Event viewer and here is the situation more clearly.
Event ID: 7000
Source: Service Control Manager
Description: The Windows Server Essentials Management Service failed to start due to the following error: The service did not start due to a logon failure.
If you see this error, you have just to find the Error 7041, where is listed the username responsible for this event (usually is ServerAdmin$ or MediaAdmin$). The second way to find the right account is open the Service manager console and check which account is used for starting Windows Server Essentials Management Service.
When you know the account name, you have to assign to this account “Run as a service” right in the Default Domain Controllers Policy. To do this open Group Policy Editor and Edit the Default Domain Controllers Policy.
Add to the missing account Run as Service right in “Computer Configuration>Windows Settings>Security Settings>Local Policies>User Rights Assignment”, close the console and restart the server.
When the server comes up, you will be able to configure successfully Essentials role.
Good luck..
PowerShell in Essentials Server 2012R2
For anyone who want to know and use PowerShell as much is possible, here it is a list of all commands that you can use with Server Essentials role. There are many commands and you can do almost all configurations and management from Shell. It is just a different way… and sometimes it is a better way..
