Windows Server 2012 Step by Step Book

This is my first book published on December 2 2012. The following is the chapters available in detailed in the book titled “Windows Server 2012 Step by Step”

Chapter 1: Introduction to windows server 2012

Chapter 2: Installing and navigating windows server 2012

Chapter 3: Server Roles and Features

Chapter 4: Active Directory Domain Services

Chapter 5: Active Directory Certificate Services

Chapter 6: Active Directory Federation Services

Chapter 7: Active Directory Rights Management Services

Chapter 8: Networking Infrastructure

Chapter 9: Failover Clustering

Chapter 10: Remote Desktop Services

Chapter 11: Security, Protection and protection

Chapter 12: Building Private Cloud with Hyper-V

Chapter 13: Web Server (IIS)

Chapter 14: BranchCache Server configuration

Chapter 15: Routing and Remote Access Server Configuration

Chapter 16: Windows Deployment Services

Chapter 17: Windows Server Update Services

Chapter 18: Volume Activation

Chapter 19: File and Storage Services

Chapter 20: Print and Document Services

Chapter 21: Network Policy and Access Server

Chapter 22: Group Policy Object

Chapter 23: Migrating from Server 2008 to Server 2012

Chapter 24: Supporting Windows Server 2012

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Regards,

Raihan Al-Beruni

Step by Step: How to deploy AutoCAD 2010 or Inventor 2010 through GPO

 

Install License Server

Prepare a Windows Server 2003 or Windows server 2008 machine

Add License server to domain

Insert AutoCAD 2010 or Inventor 2010 Disk1 into DVD or convert DVD into ISO and mount it with server’s DVD if you are virtualizing license server.

In the AutoCAD Installation wizard, click Install Tools and Utilities. On the Select Autodesk Network License Manager and click Next.

click I Accept>click Next.

On the Select the Installation Location page, accept the default installation Path

On the Configuration Complete page, click Configuration Complete to return to the confirmation page.

Install page, click Install.

When the Installation Complete page displays, click Finish.

Configure License Server

Obtain a license file from vendor before config.

In the Lmtools program, on the Service/License File tab, make sure the Configure Using Services option is active. Click the Config Services tab. In the Service Name list, select the service name you want to use to manage licenses.

By default, the service name is FLEXnet Service 1. If FLEXnet® is managing other software on your computer in addition to Autodesk, you can change the service name to avoid confusion, for example, you can rename FLEXnet Service 1 to Autodesk Server1.

In the Path to Lmgrd.exe File field, enter the path to the Network License Manager daemon (lmgrd.exe), or click Browse to locate the file. By default, this daemon is installed in the C:\Program Files\Autodesk Network License Manager folder.

In the Path to the License File box, enter the path to your license file, or click Browse to locate the file.

In the Path to the Debug Log File box, enter a path to create a debug log, or click Browse to locate an existing log file. It is recommended that you save to the \Program Files\Autodesk Network License Manager folder. The log file must have a .log file extension. For new log files, you must enter the .log extension manually.

To run lmgrd.exe as a service, select Use Services.

To automatically start lmgrd.exe when the system starts, select Start Server at Power Up.

Click Save Service to save the new configuration under the service name you selected in earlier step. Click Yes when prompted if you would like to save the settings to the service.

Click the Start/Stop/Reread tab and do one of the following: If a service has not yet been defined for Autodesk, click Start Server to start the license server.

If a service for Autodesk is already defined and running, click ReRead License File to refresh the Network License Manager with any changes made to the license file or Options file.

The license server starts running and is ready to respond to client requests.

Close license manager.

Create Network Deployable Package

Note: You must create deployable Admin package in UNC path.

 

 

Verify the installation package

Log on to a client machine as an Admin. open command prompt.

From command prompt change directory to the location where you created admin package

Type msiexec.exe /i acad.msi /t acad-AutoCAD2010.mst /q

Wait until installation finish

Test AutoCAD 2010 or Inventor 2010 by running the program

Deploy Through GPO

Log on to DC or another machine with GPO management console installed using domain admin right

Select organisational unit in GPO>Right click>Create and link new GPO

Right click newly created GPO>Edit

In the Group Policy Object Editor
dialog box, under Software Settings, right-click Software Installation,
and click New ➤ Package.

In the Open dialog box, make sure the Windows Installer Packages file
(acad-<deplolyment name>-for-GPO.msi) is selected, and click Open.
If you created the administrative image in a location different from the
application distribution share point, find the administrative image
location, and click acad-<deployment name>-for-GPO.msi. Substituting
<deployment name> for the name of the deployment used as the basis for  this GPO package.

Click on Advance

On the Modifications tab, click Add.

In the Open dialog box, click the transform package file (acad-<deployment name.mst) created by the Deployment wizard, and then click Open.  If you created the administrative image in a location different from the  application distribution share point, find the administrative image location and select the transform package file (acad-<deployment name.mst).

UNC Path are:

\\server\Deployment\AdminImage\x86\acad\acad.msi.

\\server\Deployment\AdminImage\x86\acad\acad-AutoCAD2010.mst

This must be repeated for the language pack which is located at

\\server\Deployment\AdminImage\x86\acad\un-us\AcadLP.msi.

\\server\Deployment\Tools\GPO.mst

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Service Ports: The entrance to the Programs/Application/Web on Your Systems

A port is an application or process specific software construct serving as a communications endpoint used by Transport Layer protocols of the Internet Protocol Suite such as TCP and UDP. A specific port is identified by its number, commonly known as the port number, the IP address it is associated with, and the protocol used for communication. Transport Layer protocols such as TCP and UDP specify a source and destination port number in their packet headers. A port number is a 16-bit unsigned integer ranging from 0 to 65535.

An advertised service is simply a service/application/web available over the Internet from its assigned port. If your machine isn’t offering a particular service, and someone tries to connect to the port associated with that service, nothing will happen. Someone is knocking on the door, but no one lives there to answer. For example, HTTP is assigned to port 80 though, again, there’s no reason why you couldn’t run it on port 8080 or any available port. If your machine isn’t running an HTTP-based web server and someone tries to connect to port 80, the client program receives a connection shutdown message as an error message from your machine indicating that the service isn’t offered.

By historical convention, major network services are assigned well-known, or famous, port numbers in the lower range from 1 to 1023. These port numbers to service mappings are coordinated by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) as a set of universally agreed-on conventions or standards.

The higher port numbers from 1024 to 65535 are called unprivileged ports. They serve a dual purpose. For the most part, these ports are dynamically assigned to the client end of a connection. The combination of client and server port number pairs, along with their respective IP host addresses, and the Transport protocol used, uniquely identifies the connection. Additionally, ports in the 1024 through 49151 ranges are registered with the IANA. These ports can be used as part of the general unprivileged pool, but they are also associated with particular services such as SOCKS or X Window servers. There are also ports registered to the specific computer vendor or manufacturer for specific purposes. Very Common officially used Port numbers are:

Port Name	Port Number	Description
FTP	21/TCP	command
FTP	20/TCP	Documents
SMTP	25/TCP	Mail
POP3	110/TCP	pop-3
IMAP	143/TCP & UDP	Internet Message Access Protocol
Telnet	23/TCP
SSH	22/TCP	Secure Shell
LDAP	389/TCP & UDP
HTTP	80/TCP	WWW, WWW-HTTP
HTTP Alt	8080/TCP
HTTPS	443/TCP	Secure WWW
VMware Console	901, 902 TCP & UDP
VMware Server Management	8222, 8333
DNS	42/TCP & UDP	Name Server
DNS Service	53/TCP & UDP
DHCP Server	67/UDP
DHCP Client	68/UDP
WINS	1512/TCP & UDP	Windows Internet Name Service
NTP	123/UDP
NNTP	119/TCP	Network News Transfer Protocol
AUTH	113/TCP	authentication
FINGER	79/TCP
Nick name	43/TCP	Whois
MTP	57/TCP	Mail transfer
Gopher Protocol	70/TCP
Kerberos Authentication	88/TCP & UDP
RPC	135/TCP & UDP
Netbios	137-139 TCP & UDP	NETBIOS Name Service
SNMP	161/TCP & UDP	Simple Network Management Protocol
RPC	135 & 530/TCP & UDP
IPSec	1293/TCP,UDP
MSSQL database Server	1433/TCP	MS SQL
MSSQL database Monitor	1434/UDP	MS SQL
Radius Server	1812,1645/TCP,UDP1813, 1646/TCP & UDP	AuthenticationAccounting
NFS	2049/UDP	Network File Systems
RDP	3389/TCP	Remote Desktop Protocol
YAHOO! Messenger	5050/TCP
AOL Messenger	5190/TCP
Windows Live Messenger	6891–6900/TCP,UDP
VNC	5800/TCP, 5500/TCP
EMC Clarion	6389/TCP
L2TP	1701/TCP & UDP	Layer Two Tunnelling Protocol
PPTP	1723/TCP & UDP	Point to Point Tunnelling Protocol
AD Windows Share SMB	445/TCP & UDP	Windows Share
SCOM, MOM	1270/TCP & UDP	Microsoft Operations Manager

Further Study:

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

Microsoft Documentation for well known Port

Keywords: TCP, UDP, Ports, IANA

How to avoid network and systems nightmare

There is no perfect IT infrastructure in real world. A downtime can happen to anyone at any time, but there are ways to minimize the impact or avoid the nightmare.  The best way to avoid such catastrophes to adopt proactive approach rather then reactive when designing, deploying and maintaining your systems and network. Being prepared for the worst can save you when the worst does eventually happen.

Step1 Proper documentation

Document network layout, subnet, IP addresses, Visio diagram, password, config files, operation manual, software license, service tag, vendor and supplier contact. document filed away in a quickly accessible location.

Step2 Be organised

Organise data centre, cabling, label servers & switches, Label CDs and DVDs.

Step3 Maintain standard

Maintain standard hardware and software, SOE, application. Maintain standard vendor and supplier. Create specific contact point for each vendor.

Step4 upgrade and patch up

Deploy patches and hotfix using WSUS deployment or other means. update antivirus and orchestrate virus scanning.

Step5 Diagnose and troubleshoot

Run diagnostic tools such as addiag, netdiag, dcdiag. use third party tools like solarwinds engineers tools, desktop central, manage engine AD plus, wireshark, prtg network traffic grapher.

Step6 Backup

Backup file server, AD, database, ESX using BackupExec or commvault or Veeam. restore backed up data time to time in different location to test your backup.

 

Bad things might happen so being prepared you can avoid catastrophe. you can have peace of mind and feel confident while doing your work. What else you suggest to avoid a nightmare?

How to create Admin image of Solidworks 2009 and deploy through GPO or command prompt

you must have solidworks license server installed and running before you prepare admin image.

Step1

Open a Command Prompt window (in Windows, click Start, Run, type cmd, and click OK) and enter:

msiexec /a \\yourserver\solidworks2009\swwi\data\English_i386_SolidWorks.msi

In the SolidWorks Setup Wizard, follow the on-screen instructions.

Step2

Go to the folder that contains the administrative image from Command Prompt window. Type following. The command should be in the format:

\\yourserver\solidworks2009\solidworks\SWCreateMST.exe “\\yourserver\solidworks2009\solidworks\english_i386_SolidWorks.msi” INSTALLDIR=”C:\Program Files\Solidworks” SOLIDWORKSSERIALNUMBER=”xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx” ADDLOCAL=SolidWorks,English,Manuals,Intel_Modules_AgeiaX86 OFFICEOPTION=0

Here, xxxx-xxxx is serial number. The transform file, English_i386_SolidWorks.mst, is created in the folder that contains the administrative image.

Step3

3. In the Active Directory, edit the Published Apps policy for the group or groups to deploy the SolidWorks software.

4. In the Group Policy dialog box, expand Computer Configuration and Software Settings.

5. Right-click Software installation and select New, Package.

6. Browse to the administrative image and click Open.

7. In the Deploy Software dialog box, select Advanced published or assigned, then click OK.

8. In the SolidWorks Properties dialog box, on the Modifications tab:

a. Click Add.

b. Browse to the .mst file.

c. Click Open.

Click OK.

 Command prompt deploy:

msiexec /i \\yourserver\Solidworks2009MSI\Solidworks\English_i386_SolidWorks.msi /qn TRANSFORMS=”\\yourserver\Solidworks2009MSI\Solidworks\English_i386_SolidWorks.mst”