Rico Troubleshooting Encounter: January 2014

How to collect IBM Dynamic System Analysis(DSA) logs for an ESXi server

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It is possible to gather DSA data from an IBM server running ESXi without having to boot with a bootable CD or reboot the server at all.

From any machine, Windows or linux, you can run the latest release of the DSA tool, then reference the ESXi server using commandline parameters when running the DSA tool.

Step 1: Download the appropriate IBM DSA utility on any windows server that has connectivity to ESXi server.

Step 2: Open the command prompt and go to the directory where the DSA utility presents.

Step 3: Enter the below command to collect system information

#ibm_utl_dsa_dsyt85t-3.40_portable_windows_x86-64.exe --vmware-esxi user:password@ip-address

Note: this will take some time to gather diagnostics logs and store it in C: drive.

How to reset mysql root password

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C.5.4.1.1. Resetting the Root Password: Windows Systems
On Windows, use the following procedure to reset the password for all MySQL root accounts:

Log on to your system as Administrator.
Stop the MySQL server if it is running. For a server that is running as a Windows service, go to the Services manager: From the Start menu, select Control Panel, then Administrative Tools, then Services. Find the MySQL service in the list and stop it.
If your server is not running as a service, you may need to use the Task Manager to force it to stop.
Create a text file containing the following statements. Replace the password with the password that you want to use.
```
UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('MyNewPass') WHERE User='root';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
```
Write the UPDATE and FLUSH statements each on a single line. The UPDATE statement resets the password for all root accounts, and the FLUSH statement tells the server to reload the grant tables into memory so that it notices the password change.
Save the file. For this example, the file will be named C:\mysql-init.txt.
Open a console window to get to the command prompt: From the Start menu, select Run, then enter cmd as the command to be run.
Start the MySQL server with the special --init-file option (notice that the backslash in the option value is doubled):
```
C:\> C:\mysql\bin\mysqld-nt --init-file=C:\\mysql-init.txt
```
If you installed MySQL to a location other than C:\mysql, adjust the command accordingly.
The server executes the contents of the file named by the --init-file option at startup, changing each root account password.
You can also add the --console option to the command if you want server output to appear in the console window rather than in a log file.
If you installed MySQL using the MySQL Installation Wizard, you may need to specify a --defaults-file option:
```
C:\> "C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.0\bin\mysqld-nt.exe"
         --defaults-file="C:\\Program Files\\MySQL\\MySQL Server 5.0\\my.ini"
         --init-file=C:\\mysql-init.txt
```
The appropriate --defaults-file setting can be found using the Services Manager: From the Start menu, select Control Panel, then Administrative Tools, then Services. Find the MySQL service in the list, right-click it, and choose the Properties option. The Path to executable field contains the --defaults-file setting.
After the server has started successfully, delete C:\mysql-init.txt.

You should now be able to connect to the MySQL server as root using the new password. Stop the MySQL server, then restart it in normal mode again. If you run the server as a service, start it from the Windows Services window. If you start the server manually, use whatever command you normally use.

C.5.4.1.2. Resetting the Root Password: Unix Systems

On Unix, use the following procedure to reset the password for all MySQL root accounts. The instructions assume that you will start the server so that it runs using the Unix login account that you normally use for running the server. For example, if you run the server using the mysql login account, you should log in as mysql before using the instructions. Alternatively, you can log in as root, but in this case you must start mysqld with the --user=mysql option. If you start the server as root without using --user=mysql, the server may create root-owned files in the data directory, such as log files, and these may cause permission-related problems for future server startups. If that happens, you will need to either change the ownership of the files to mysql or remove them.

Log on to your system as the Unix user that the mysqld server runs as (for example, mysql).
Locate the .pid file that contains the server's process ID. The exact location and name of this file depend on your distribution, host name, and configuration. Common locations are /var/lib/mysql/, /var/run/mysqld/, and /usr/local/mysql/data/. Generally, the file name has an extension of .pid and begins with either mysqld or your system's host name.
You can stop the MySQL server by sending a normal kill (not kill -9) to the mysqld process, using the path name of the .pid file in the following command:
```
shell> kill `cat /mysql-data-directory/host_name.pid`
```
Use backticks (not forward quotation marks) with the cat command. These cause the output of cat to be substituted into the kill command.
Create a text file containing the following statements. Replace the password with the password that you want to use.
```
UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('MyNewPass') WHERE User='root';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
```
Write the UPDATE and FLUSH statements each on a single line. The UPDATE statement resets the password for all root accounts, and the FLUSH statement tells the server to reload the grant tables into memory so that it notices the password change.
Save the file. For this example, the file will be named /home/me/mysql-init. The file contains the password, so it should not be saved where it can be read by other users. If you are not logged in as mysql (the user the server runs as), make sure that the file has permissions that permit mysql to read it.
Start the MySQL server with the special --init-file option:
```
shell> mysqld_safe --init-file=/home/me/mysql-init &
```
The server executes the contents of the file named by the --init-file option at startup, changing each root account password.
After the server has started successfully, delete /home/me/mysql-init.

You should now be able to connect to the MySQL server as root using the new password. Stop the server and restart it normally.

Linux 2

Step 1: Stop MySQL daemon if it is currently running
Depending on the operating system MySQL is installed on, the daemon can be checked/stopped differently. Here is an example on how to do it in Unix-like systems.

[ NOTE ]: You might need to run it as a Unix System superuser (root) - depending on 
          how the system is configured, and what permissions your Unix account is granted)

Here is how to stop/kill the existing mysql daemon, in case it is running:

      ps -ef | grep mysql      - checks if mysql/mysqld is one of the running processes.
 
      pkill mysqld             - kills the daemon, if it is running.

Note: if pkill (’process kill’) is not on a particular Unix system, use kill -9 ‘pid’, where ‘pid’ corresponds to processes that were found with ps -ef | grep mysql
Step 2: Run MySQL safe daemon with skipping grant tables

      mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables &

Step 3: Login to MySQL as root with no password

      mysql -u root mysql

Step 4: Run UPDATE query to reset the root password
In MySQL command line prompt issue the following two commands:

      UPDATE user SET password=PASSWORD("ualue=42") WHERE user="root";
      FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

“ualue=42” is a common password for “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” people which reads “Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything=42“
Step 5: Stop MySQL safe daemon
Follow the first two steps, but this time kill (pkill) “mysqld_safe” instead of “mysqld”
Step 6: Start MySQL daemon
Depending on the operating system (Unix-like examples):

      /etc/rc.d/rc.mysql start

      /etc/init.d/mysql start

      /etc/rc.5/mysql start

etc.. check existing MySQL configuration
Step 7: Root password is reset and ready to use
Password is reset. Privileges are flushed. Start MySQL and login as root with the password set in step 4:

      mysql -u root -p mysql

Note: sometimes (most of the time) ‘root user’ privileges are required for the system (OS) in order to stop/start processes

Troubleshooting WSUS Agents that Are Not Reporting to the WSUS Server

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The WSUS client agent may not report to the WSUS server for many reasons. Here I'll go through some of the reasons and how you can troubleshoot the process. There are also some situations you may run into where some or all clients stop reporting to the server and these steps will also help for those scenarios as well.

1. Make sure that the client has the proper WSUS settings

On the client run gpresult or rsop.msc to make sure that the details of the WSUS server exist. If not then a couple possible causes include:

The system does not have the group policy from the Domain.
The Group Policy is not been targeted to the client system.

To address this, you need to make sure that the group policy is successfully updated on each client and that the WSUS setting is properly configured. For more information on this see the following TechNet documentation:

Configure Automatic Updates by Using Group Policy

In case you are using a registry modification or local policy make sure that the same is applied. The registry location where the WSUS server configuration is stored is below:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
"WUServer"=" http:// >""
"WUStatusServer"=http:// > …etc

Further options on the WSUS Agent settings are available here:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU]
"AUOptions"=dword:0000000X …etc

You can find more details on how you can use scripts to configure the WSUS settings from the following link:
http://msmvps.com/blogs/athif/archive/2005/09/14/Manually_Configure_WUA.aspx

Once you have made sure that the WSUS settings are configured correctly you can move on to next step.

2. Make sure that the agent services are up and running

You need to make sure that the WSUS agent service (Automatic Updates) and BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) are running. The System\Application event viewer events can help you identify and troubleshoot this issue. If you suspect your issue may be related to issues with the Automatic Update or BITS services, here are few links that can be helpful in troubleshooting these types of issues:

KB331716 - List of known issues for Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)

KB969632 - Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) does not start in Windows XP, and you receive a message in the System log: "The Background Intelligent Transfer Service service terminated with service-specific error 2147500037 (0x80004005)"

KB883614 - You receive a "Windows Update has encountered an error and cannot display the requested page" error message when you try to install an update

KB959894 - Error message: “The necessary service "Automatic Updates" (WUAUSERV) is not started or Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) is disabled. Error 0x8DDD0018” or Error codes 0x80244019 or 0x80070422 when attempting to install updates.

3. Make sure the WSUS server is reachable from the client

Make sure that you can access the site /iuident.cab">/iuident.cab">/iuident.cab">http:///iuident.cab and download the file without errors. If this fails then some possible reasons include:

There is a name resolution issue on the client.
There is network related issue (e.g. there's a proxy configuration issue, etc.).

One of the most common issues we see is the proxy issue. For that you can check the windowsupdate.log (C:\windows\) and see if there are any proxy related errors. If yes then you can run the proxycfg command to check the win http proxy settings. For more information on the proxycfg command you can check the following link:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms761351(VS.85).aspx

Most of the clients will have the proxycgf utility but if not then you can download it here:

KB830605 - The Proxycfg.exe configuration tool is available for WinHTTP 5.1

If you are finding proxy errors then what you can do is go to Internet Explorer –> Tools -> Connections –> LAN Settings and configure the correct proxy and make sure you can reach the WSUS URL specified. Once done you can copy these user proxy settings to the win http proxy settings using the proxycfg –u command.

Once the proxy settings are specified you can run wuauclt /detectnow and check the windowsupdate.log for errors.

4. Make sure the agent is healthy and working

If you still have errors you can check the windows update agent version. The details on how to do this are here:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb680319.aspx

If you find that the agent is not up to date then you can update the windows update agent to the latest here:

KB949104 - How to obtain the latest version of the Windows Update Agent to help manage updates on a computer

For more information see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb932139.aspx

You can also use the utility provided in KB971058 that will help you to sort out most of the issues with the agent. Once you've run the fix or updated the agent you can run wuauclt /detectnow and check the windowsupdate.log to make sure there is no issues.

5. Automatic Update Agent Store is corrupted

When we have issues with the ability to download updates and we're experiencing errors relating to the software distribution store then try the following on the client:

a. Stop the Automatic Updates service
b. Rename the software distribution folder (i.e. C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution).
c. Restart the Automatic Update service
d. Run wuauclt /resetauthorization /detectnow
e. Run wuauclt /reportnow

6. Clients with the Same SUSclient ID

This issue can happen when we image systems and the clients end up having the same SUSclientID. The result is that only one among these clients will appear in the console. You may also see that out of a group of these clients, only one appears at a time but the exact one that does appear may change over time. For those clients that are not registering due to the SUS GUID issue we can use the following:

a. Stop the automatic service
b. Delete the SUSclientID reg key

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate

c. Restart the automatic service
d. Run wuauclt /resetauthorization /detectnow
e. Run wuauclt /reportnow

7. Conflicts with System Center Configuration Manager

This can occur if ConfigMgr 2007 had been previously installed on the server as a Software Update Point (SUP) and Automatic Update reporting events was set to "Do not create WSUS reporting events". The solution is to revert the setting back to "Create all WSUS reporting events" unless ConfigMgr 2007 was uninstalled.

An alternate solution is to use this application to change the level of reporting.

Note : Most of these issues can be traced from windowsupdate.log and the error codes it contains. For understanding what the error codes mean you can check the following link: http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/archive/windows_update_codes.htm .

Note: This information was originally contributed by Sudheesh Narayanaswamy, Support Engineer, on the WSUS SupportTeam blog:

http://blogs.technet.com/sus/archive/2009/11/17/tips-for-troubleshooting-wsus-agents-that-are-not-reporting-to-the-wsus-server.aspx

http://blogs.technet.com/sus/archive/2008/11/12/wsus-clients-install-updates-properly-but-don-t-send-any-status-reports-back-to-the-server.aspx

Nagios XI "NSP: Sorry Dave, I can't let you do that" Errors

This is usually related to time out of sync.
Update the time manually.

Error:
NSP: Sorry Dave, I can't let you do that

Solution:
date MMDDhhmmCCYY
(where MM is month, DD is day, hh is hour, mm is minute, and CCYY is the year)

Reference acticles:
http://assets.nagios.com/downloads/nagiosxi/docs/Changing_The_XI_System_Time.pdf
http://support.nagios.com/wiki/index.php/Nagios_XI:FAQs#Resolving_.22NSP:_Sorry_Dave.2C_I_can.27t_let_you_do_that.22_Errors

Nagios XI SQL Error

Error:
SQL: SQL Error [ndoutils]:Table './nagios/nagios_servicestatus' is marked as crashed and should be repaired

Solution:

Repairing MySQL Tables

First, login to your Nagios XI server as the

root user.

Next, stop the MySQL database server with the following command:

service mysqld stop

Run the Nagios XI database repair script with the following command:

/usr/local/nagiosxi/scripts/repairmysql.sh nagios

The script will check and repair all tables in the nagios MySQL database. This process may take several minutes to complete, depending on the size of your database.

Once the script has completed, start the MySQL database server with the following command:

service mysqld start

Reference articles

http://assets.nagios.com/downloads/nagiosxi/docs/Repairing_The_Nagios_XI_Database.pdf

How to Route only specific ports through VPN (openvpn) via Tomato firmware

Excellent write up by in this source link

Codes below are credited to Grdnkln in the forum.

# This code goes in the WAN UP section of the Tomato GUI.
# This code based on the contributions from this thread:
# http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?threads/route-only-specific-ports-through-vpn-openvpn.37240/
#
# And from material in these articles:
# http://linux-ip.net/html/adv-multi-internet.html
# http://fedorasolved.org/Members/kanarip/iptables-howto
#
# This script configures "selective" VPN routing. Normally Tomato will route ALL traffic out
# the OpenVPN tunnel. These changes to iptables allow some outbound traffic to use the VPN, and some
# traffic to bypass the VPN and use the regular Internet instead.
#
# To list the current rules on the router, issue the command:
#      iptables -t mangle -L PREROUTING
#
# Flush/reset all the rules to default by issuing the command:
#      iptables -t mangle -F PREROUTING
#

#
# First it is necessary to disable Reverse Path Filtering on all
# current and future network interfaces:
#
for i in /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/*/rp_filter ; do
echo 0 > $i
done

#
# Delete and table 100 and flush any existing rules if they exist.
#
ip route flush table 100
ip route del default table 100
ip rule del fwmark 1 table 100
ip route flush cache
iptables -t mangle -F PREROUTING

#
# Copy all non-default and non-VPN related routes from the main table into table 100.
# Then configure table 100 to route all traffic out the WAN gateway and assign it mark "1"
#
# NOTE: Here I assume the OpenVPN tunnel is named "tun11".
#
#
ip route show table main | grep -Ev ^default | grep -Ev tun11 \
| while read ROUTE ; do
      ip route add table 100 $ROUTE
done
ip route add default table 100 via $(nvram get wan_gateway)
ip rule add fwmark 1 table 100
ip route flush cache

#
# Define the routing policies for the traffic. The rules will be applied in the order that they
# are listed. In the end, packets with MARK set to "0" will pass through the VPN. If MARK is set
# to "1" it will bypass the VPN.
#
# EXAMPLES:
#
# All LAN traffic will bypass the VPN (Useful to put this rule first, so all traffic bypasses the VPN and you can configure exceptions afterwards)
#    iptables -t mangle -A PREROUTING -i br0 -j MARK --set-mark 1
# Ports 80 and 443 will bypass the VPN
#    iptables -t mangle -A PREROUTING -i br0 -p tcp -m multiport --dport 80,443 -j MARK --set-mark 1
# All traffic from a particular computer on the LAN will use the VPN
#    iptables -t mangle -A PREROUTING -i br0 -m iprange --src-range 192.168.1.2 -j MARK --set-mark 0
# All traffic to a specific Internet IP address will use the VPN
#    iptables -t mangle -A PREROUTING -i br0 -m iprange --dst-range 216.146.38.70 -j MARK --set-mark 0
# All UDP and ICMP traffic will bypass the VPN
#    iptables -t mangle -A PREROUTING -i br0 -p udp -j MARK --set-mark 1
#    iptables -t mangle -A PREROUTING -i br0 -p icmp -j MARK --set-mark 1

# By default all traffic bypasses the VPN
iptables -t mangle -A PREROUTING -i br0 -j MARK --set-mark 1
iptables -t mangle -A PREROUTING -i br1 -j MARK --set-mark 1

# Enable VPN for a specific range
iptables -t mangle -A PREROUTING -i br0 -m iprange --src-range 192.168.1.20-192.168.1.50 -j MARK --set-mark 0

# Spotify explicitly uses the VPN
iptables -t mangle -A PREROUTING -i br0 -m iprange --dst-range 78.31.8.1-78.31.15.254 -j MARK --set-mark 0
iptables -t mangle -A PREROUTING -i br0 -m iprange --dst-range 193.182.8.1-193.182.15.254 -j MARK --set-mark 0

MAC OS X Mountain Lion: Shortcuts for taking pictures of the screen

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Pictures of the screen (screenshots) are saved as files on the desktop, but if you prefer to put a screenshot in the Clipboard, hold down the Control key while you press the other keys. You can then paste the picture into a document.

Action	Shortcut
Take a picture of the whole screen	Command (⌘)-Shift-3
Take a picture of part of the screen	Command (⌘)-Shift-4, and then drag the crosshair pointer to select the area. Continue to press the mouse button, release the keys, and then press Shift, Option, or the Space bar while you drag to resize the selection area. When you are ready to take a picture, release the mouse button. To cancel, press Escape before you release the mouse button.
Take a picture of a window or the menu bar	Command (⌘)-Shift-4, press the Space bar, move the camera pointer over the area to highlight it, and then click. To cancel, press Escape before you click.
Take a picture of a menu, including the title	Click the menu to display the menu commands, press Command (⌘)-Shift-4, and drag the crosshair pointer over the area. To cancel, press Escape before you click.
Take a picture of the menu without its title	Click the menu to display the menu commands, press Command (⌘)-Shift-4, press the Space Bar, move the camera pointer over the menu to highlight it, and then click. To cancel, press Escape before you click.

You can also take pictures of the screen using the Grab app.
Some apps, such as DVD Player, may not let you take pictures of the screen.

How to boot to desktop mode in Windows 8.1

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1. After booting Windows 8.1 , click the Desktop tile to enter Desktop mode.

2. Right-click any open area in the taskbar, then click Properties.

3. Click the Navigation tab, then check the box next to Go to the desktop instead of Start when I sign in.

4. Click OK, then reboot. Windows should plunk you right into Desktop.

Rico Troubleshooting Encounter