Script changes description of My Computer icon to display Computer: ComputerName

Can be very handy when troubleshooting computer remotely when we require user to tell us name of the computer user works on.
Script works on Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7.

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This is simple Lab environment I built when was working on IPsec VPN tunnel between our internal network environment and 3rd party vendor systems. As we had some issues with establishing IPsec communication, to make sure that everything is fine on my side I start replicating live environment in Lab. To build test environment quick I use GNS3 as platform to run Dynamips hypervisor for IOS. That speeds up whole process of preparation and testing.

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Set of screenshots from old archives. It shows how to setup DAG on Microsoft Exchange Server 2010.

If there will be interest in that subject I will put some description around that, just request that in comments.

Otherwise, enjoy step-by-step screenshot guide for DAG on Exchange 2010

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Sometimes i thappens that SmartConde VNC Manager fails to activate. In that case follow steps below to fix issue with licensing:

1. Open cmd.exe and change directory to:
   • Enterprise Edition: C:\Program Files\SmartCode Solutions\VNC Manager (Enterprise Edition)\
   • Standard Edition: C:\Program Files\SmartCode Solutions\VNC Manager (Standard Edition)\
2. Run the following command: vncmanager.exe /licdev
3. You will be prompted to enter a serial number. You must complete this step. After that the application will close.
4. Start SmartCode VNC Manager normally via the start menu shortcut.

Source: SmartCode Knowledgebase

In previous article I described how-to Deploy Parsoid on openSUSE 13.1 (which turns out to be quite a challenging task). Parsoid is component required for VisualEditor. Now it’s time for VisualEditor deployment.

Downloading VisualEditor

At the moment, when I’m doing deployment, stable version of MediaWiki is 1.24.2. VisualEditor is an extension written for certain version of MediaWiki, hence we can’t just download latest version and use it. It has to be specific release for specific MediaWiki version.

So, first we download VisualEditor for MediaWiki 1.24.2:

git clone -b REL1_24 https://github.com/wikimedia/mediawiki-extensions-VisualEditor.git
cd mediawiki-extensions-VisualEditor/
git submodule update --init

Once it’s done we need to place content of mediawiki-extensions-VisualEditor in extensions/VisualEditor folder under MediaWiki folder structure.

Finally, once we have all files in proper places it’s time to inform MediaWiki about VisualEditor.

Changes to LocalSettings.php

Changes which have to be applied to LocalSettings.php:

# VISUAL Editor
require_once("$IP/extensions/VisualEditor/VisualEditor.php");
$wgDefaultUserOptions['visualeditor-enable'] = 1;
$wgHiddenPrefs[] = 'visualeditor-enable';
$wgVisualEditorParsoidURL = 'http://localhost:8000';
$wgVisualEditorParsoidPrefix = 'localhost';

From now on you can enjoy VisualEditor until you decide to upgrade to newer version of MediaWiki.
Prior to that I would suggest to check if there is VisualEditor available for new release and test it prior to live deployments.

Another small app written in Adobe Flex. This time to decrypt passwords stored in Cisco VPN PCF file. Just simply copy enc_GroupPwd or enc_UserPassword to decryptor and click Decrypt button 🙂

Using this small app you can decode:

• enc_GroupPwd – VPN group password from PCF file
• enc_UserPassword – VPN user password from PCF file

For that small webapp to work Adobe Flash Player is required.

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In order to install MySQL/MariaDB database engine on CentOS follow these:

[root@localhost ~]# yum install mariadb-server
[root@localhost ~]# systemctl enable mariadb
[root@localhost ~]# systemctl start mariadb

[root@localhost ~]# mysql_secure_installation
/usr/bin/mysql_secure_installation: line 379: find_mysql_client: command not found

NOTE: RUNNING ALL PARTS OF THIS SCRIPT IS RECOMMENDED FOR ALL MariaDB
      SERVERS IN PRODUCTION USE!  PLEASE READ EACH STEP CAREFULLY!

In order to log into MariaDB to secure it, we'll need the current
password for the root user.  If you've just installed MariaDB, and
you haven't set the root password yet, the password will be blank,
so you should just press enter here.

Enter current password for root (enter for none):
OK, successfully used password, moving on...

Setting the root password ensures that nobody can log into the MariaDB
root user without the proper authorisation.

Set root password? [Y/n] Y
New password: 
Re-enter new password: 
Password updated successfully!
Reloading privilege tables..
 ... Success!


By default, a MariaDB installation has an anonymous user, allowing anyone
to log into MariaDB without having to have a user account created for
them.  This is intended only for testing, and to make the installation
go a bit smoother.  You should remove them before moving into a
production environment.


Remove anonymous users? [Y/n] y
 ... Success!

Normally, root should only be allowed to connect from 'localhost'.  This
ensures that someone cannot guess at the root password from the network.

Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n] n
 ... skipping.

By default, MariaDB comes with a database named 'test' that anyone can
access.  This is also intended only for testing, and should be removed
before moving into a production environment.

Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n] y
 - Dropping test database...
 ... Success!
 - Removing privileges on test database...
 ... Success!

Reloading the privilege tables will ensure that all changes made so far
will take effect immediately.

Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n] y
 ... Success!

Cleaning up...

All done!  If you've completed all of the above steps, your MariaDB
installation should now be secure.

Thanks for using MariaDB!
[root@localhost ~]#

Recommended is also to deploy phpMyAdmin, if you don’t have any issues with installing web server on same box as database.

That will simplify MySQL/MariaDB management.

If you have to move Mozilla Thunderbird data from one computer to another, you can do it by simply copying files between computer.

Folder with Thunderbird profiles is located here:

%APPDATA%\Thunderbird\Profiles\

There will be at least one or more sub-folders with profile data.

What you need to copy is content of Thunderbird profile you want to migrate to new computer.

On destination computer install Thunderbird and in same folder there will be sub-folder with default profile.

Copy all file from source profile to destination and that’s it.

How that helps with migrating Thunderbird between folders/drives or computers.

In this article will go through configuration of Cisco Easy VPN along with Microsoft NPS RADIUS on Windows Server 2008 R2.

Article covers:

Let’s go…

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Just released small app for Android platform. This app allows to decrypt type 7 password from Cisco devices as well as passwords from Cisco VPN profiles (PCF files).

Password which can be recovered using this app:

• wireless keys fro Cisco access points,
• RADIUS/TACACS shared secrets
• NTP authentication keys
• Enable passwords (NOT enable secrets, which are stored using MD5)
• enc_GroupPwd – VPN group password from PCF file
• enc_UserPassword – VPN user password from PCF file

You can find app in Google Play: