Category Archives: Support

Windows Server 2022 – How to Sync Time from External Time Source?

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This is a quick post showing how you can sync your domain controllers with an external time source like time.windows.com or ntp.pool.org. By default, all machines in the domain will sync time from the domain controller which is the internal time server. If you have more than one DC then time will sync from the DC that holds the PDC emulator FSMO role. To check which DC is the PDC emulator in your domain you need to run:

command in PowerShell like so:

Once the PDC emulator role is established there are a few commands we need to run in order for time to sync. These are (run on the PDC emulator in PowerShell):

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VMware vSphere 5.5: Installing vCenter results in “Error 29102. Unable to Contact Lookup Service. Check vm_ssoreg.log in the system temporary folder for more details.”

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Recently I have been re-installing my home lab due to the 60 day trial license coming to an end and discovered something odd. During the installation of vCenter 5.5 on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 I came across the following error:

VMware_vSphere_5.5_Installing_vCenter_results_in_Error_29102_Unable_to_Contact_Lookup_Service_1.png

The solution was rather simple but not straight forward to work out initially. My internal network ID for VMware hosts is 10.10.0.0/24 but what I was missing is the corresponding rDNS zone in my DNS (reverse). The minute I have created 0.10.10.in-addr-arpa the error went away. What makes this even stranger is the fact I have to redo my lab every 60 days and this is the first time this error has come up!

VMware vCenter 5.5 Update 2 Service Health displays Storage Monitoring Service Initialization Failed

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Don’t we all just love to see everything in green/healthy/hunky dory state when it comes to service availability? I know I am definitely one of those that do (OCD and all that..)

If you’re running VMware vCenter 5.5 Update 2 you might find, upon checking, that VMware vCenter Storage Monitoring Service has an alert with a message stating that Service Initialization Failed:

VMware_vCenter_5.5_Update_2_Service_Health_displays_Storage_Monitoring_Service_service_initialization_failed_1

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Veeam Endpoint Backup – how to change backup name after altering hostname of a source machine

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I have been using the free version of Veeam Endpoint Backup (VEB) product since it was first released and it works wonders. Really good software that just keeps getting better and better. You can not only backup desktop and laptops but also VMware virtual machines with PCI pass-through devices which Veeam Backup & Replication 9 cannot properly backup since snapshots are not allowed when PCI-e devices are in use. Another good use case for VEB is the ability to backup Hyper-V hosts themselves. I have a large number of Hyper-V boxes dotted around and although I use Veeam Backup & Replication to back up the virtual machines I still need some sort of backup for the hosts. VEB fills this gap perfectly and in the unlikely event of a disaster, I would use VEB to restore the host (C drive i.e. the OS) and Veeam B&R to get my virtual machines back (D drive where the VMs sit). This setup works really well and I already had to use it once!

One thing however that didn’t quite make to the GUI yet is the slightly annoying fact when you point the backups to SMB share and change the hostname of the source machine the backup name doesn’t reflect the new hostname within the share. In my example my Core i3 test bench used to be called DESKTOP-9H9LL2J but now I have changed its name to SPN-TESTB-01 to comply with my standard naming convention. In an ideal world, the backup folder should also change its name but that’s not the case. Here are some examples, hostname has been clearly changed to DESKTOP-9H9LL2J:

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NetApp VSC 5 breaks after updating VMware vCenter to 5.5 update 3b

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More SSLv3 (Poodle vulnerability) woes as this time NetApp VSC 5.0 is broken!

So my vCenter 5.5 update 2a got updated to update 3e without much of a problem but SRM and VSC are busted now. Great. Virtual Storage Console sort of works but the backup jobs tab hasn’t got any entries and you cannot re-create them due to the following errors:

NetApp_VSC_5_breaks_after_updating_VMware_vCenter_to_5.5_Update_3b_1

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ESXi 5.5 update 3b (build 3248547) host fails to connect to vCenter 5.5 U2 after patching…

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To cut this long story short – if you have vCenter Server 5.5 update 2 you will have issues if you patch your hosts to the latest available patch level for ESXi. VMware disabled SSLv3 (POODLE and all that..) in update 3b for ESXi meaning if your vCenter Server is running update 2 you won’t be able to connect until the vCenter is patched to update 3b as well. Running ESXi hosts on update 3b and having vCenter Server on update 2 is normally a perfectly valid configuration but because SSLv3 got disabled as part of this process the connectivity is broken.

Example error messages in vpxd log file when patched host in being added to vCenter Server include:

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Renaming Local Site on VMware SRM 5.8 from its default value

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Pretty silly thing to do really – I have left the default site name when installing SRM 5.8 so it has FQDN of my vCenter box instead of a proper name:

Renaming_Local_Site_on_VMware_SRM_5.8_from_its_default_value__1

From vSphere Web Client point of view having FQDN in there is not ideal as well as introducing confusion which site is which (live vs. recovery):

Renaming_Local_Site_on_VMware_SRM_5.8_from_its_default_value__2

To get the site name changed we need to edit vmware-dr.xml which lives (by default) in the following location:

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Windows Server 2012 R2 Explorer Reports Wrong Disk Size?!?

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I have been struggling to fix this rather weird disk space issue for quite some time now. Basically, underlying thin provisioned disk on vSphere 5.5 was extended by additional 5GB (from 125 to 130GB) and expanded using Disk Management from within the OS as per the normal routine. No problems thus far BUT Explorer in Windows Server 2012 R2 was not reporting the increased space and was still showing the 125GB total size! How odd. Here is the screenshot for illustration purposes showing Disk Management and Windows Explorer both reporting different values!

Windows_Server_2012_R2_Explorer_Reports_Wrong_Disk_Size_1

I must have done the disk space increase from vSphere and extension from the guest OS hundreds of times and never had any real issues. There are tons of potential solutions to this problem, quite a few posted here:

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CrashPlan 4.3.0 shows “Unable to connect to backup engine, retry?”

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CrashPlan woes continue!

This error is from an earlier version of the CrashPlan software i.e. 4.3.0 which one of my customers is still running. So here it is – fully appreciate you won’t be able to read native Polish language but the error states that:

“Unable to connect to backup engine, retry?”

CrashPlan_4.3.0_Unable_to_connect_to_backup_engine_retry_1

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The CrashPlan Setup Wizard ended prematurely…

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Monday morning eh? It surely is!

Trying to install CrashPlan 4.4.1 (CrashPlan-x64_4.4.1_Win.exe) is proving to be a lot more hassle than it should..

Error messages shortly after kicking off the .msi installation:

The CrashPlan Setup Wizard ended prematurely
CrashPlan setup ended prematurely because of an error. Your system has not been modified. To install this program at a later time, please run the installation again.
Click the “Finish” button to exit the Setup Wizard.

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