Cool Tricks and Tools

How to Enable Auto Logon for Windows Joined as Domain Member

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Follow these procedure to force Windows to skip and bypass asking user for user to select or input user name and password:

  1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK. In Windows Vista or 7, simply type regedit in Start Search and hit Enter.
  2. Navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
  3. Double-click the DefaultUserName entry, type the user name to log on with, and then click OK.
    1. If DefaultUserName registry value name is not found, create the new String Value (REG_SZ) with value name as DefaultUserName.
  4. Double-click the DefaultPassword entry, type the password for the user account under the value data box, and then click OK.
    1. If there is no DefaultPassword value, create a new String Value subkey (REG_SZ) with DefaultPassword as the value name.
  5. In Windows, DefaultDomainName has to be specified as well, else Windows will prompt of invalid user name with user name displayed as .\username. To do so, double click on DefaultDomainName, and specify the domain name of the user account. If it’s local user, specify local host name.
    1. If the DefaultDomainName does not exist, create a new String Value (REG_SZ) registry key with value name as DefaultDomainName.
  6. Double-click the AutoAdminLogon entry, type 1 in the Value Data box, and then click OK.
    1. If there is no AutoAdminLogon entry, create a new String Value entry (REG_SZ) with AutoAdminLogon as the value name.
  7. If exist, delete the AutoLogonCount key.
  8. Quit Registry Editor.
  9. Click Start, click Restart, and then click OK.
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DNS, Virtualization

Changing the name of an ESX or ESXi host

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To rename a VMware ESX host:
  1. If the ESX host is part of a Cluster, remove it from the cluster.
  2. If the ESX host is managed by VirtualCenter/vCenter, disconnect and remove the ESX host from the vCenter.
  3. Make the modifications in your DNS environment to reflect the correct name and IP association for the new name.
  4. Log in as root to the console of ESX host.
  5. Using a text editor, change the name and domain name, if applicable, of the host in these files:
    • /etc/hosts
    • /etc/sysconfig/network
  6. Execute this command where hostname is the new FQDN hostname for the ESX host:

    esxcfg-advcfg -s hostname /Misc/HostName

  7. Reboot the ESX host.
  8. Join the ESX host to VirtualCenter / vCenter and clusters.
To rename a VMware ESXi host:
  1. If the ESXi host is part of a Cluster, remove it from the cluster by Entering Maintenance mode first.
  2. If the ESXi host is managed by VirtualCenter/vCenter Server, disconnect and remove the ESXi host from the cluster.
  3. Connect to the host directly with a vSphere Client.
  4. Click on the ESXi host.
  5. Click on the Configuration tab.
  6. Click on DNS and Routing.
  7. Click on Properties.
  8. Edit the Name: field in the DNS Configuration tab. Change anything else that is necessary in your environment.
  9. Click OK.
  10. Join the ESX host to VirtualCenter/vCenter and clusters.
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Monitoring

Enabling SNMP on Windows OS

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STEP 1:
Open up the Control Panel and go to Programs.  Click on “Turn Windows features on or off”

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP 2:
Check the box to enable SNMP.  Dont forget to enable the WMI as this adds additional OID’s for you to monitor.


 

 

 

 

 

STEP 3:
Open up SERVICES and find the SNMP Service and double click on it.  This will provide you with a Service Dialog box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP 4:
Click on the AGENT tab.  Type in your contact info (such as your email or phone number).  Type in the Location and/or Name of this server you are monitoring.  Make sure to select ALL check-boxes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP 5:
Click on the SECURITY tab and select the radio button that says “Accept SNMP packets from any host”

(NOTE: as long as you only set Read Only access to the Community string in Step 6, there is NO security risk)


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP 6:
Click on The ADD button to add a new Community string.  My suggestion is to add a community string that is not the standard “public” community string.  Make up a string that fits your Company, department, etc…, and make sure you set it as READ ONLY!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP 7:
Open up the SERVICES window and you can now restart the SNMP service and you are ready to monitor your server!

(NOTE: you will need to enable port 161 for SNMP traffic if you have a firewall between your monitoring system and the server you just configured)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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