Domain Services for Windows

DSfW 2008 R2 Schema Update

DSfW is in the process of being updated to 2008 R2 schema and needs your help.  If you are interested in beta testing the next version of DSfW please send an e-mail to pmadhan@microfocus.com and Chitradevi.Kumaraswamy@microfocus.com with a subject line ‘Interested in Domain Services for Windows Beta Program’

The final version will support 2012 schema, aes encryption, and fine grained password policies.  This is exciting and would be a great project to be part of.  This is your chance see and be a major contributor for the coming versions of DSfW.

For more information on this project please go to the coolsolution page below.

Updating DSfW Environment to AD2008 R2 Level – Beta Planned

Logon-Logoff / Power-on-Shutdown Scripts Execution for Windows Clients of DSfW

A new coolsolution has been released allowing the login and logoff tasks on a workstation.  The script can also power down or power on workstations.  Administrators and end users can automate these tasks.  The scripts can be stored in the netlogon or sysvol on the primary domain controller which will sync it out to the other DCs.  The profile tab of user properties, or Logon GPO can be used for integrating these scripts into startups and shutdown cases.

Go to novell.coolsolutions.com to download the script and read more about what you can do with this script.

March 2015 OES 11 SP2 Scheduled Maintenance Update 10332

March 2015 OES 11 SP2 Scheduled Maintenance Update 10332

 

How to apply the patch with zypper.  YaST Online Update can also be used.

1) List repositories to ensure the update the server is registerd and the updated repository is present
zypper lr
Should see the following:
nu_novell_com:OES11-SP2-Updates | OES11-SP2-Updates | Yes | Yes

2) List the Updates
zypper pch OES11-SP2-Updates
Should see the following:
OES11-SP2-Updates | oes11sp2-March-2015-Scheduled-Maintenance | 10332 | security | Needed

3) Install the maintenance patch
OES11SP2
zypper up -t patch oes11sp2-March-2015-Scheduled-Maintenance

4) Then list the patches again to verify the patch is listed as Installed
OES11SP2
zypper pch OES11-SP2-Updates

Should see the following:
OES11-SP2-Updates | oes11sp2-March-2015-Scheduled-Maintenance   | 10332 | Installed

5) To apply all OES11 SP2 updates run the following command
zypper up -t patch -r OES11-SP2-Updates

6) To apply all SLES 11 SP3 updates run the following command
zypper up… Continue reading

January 2015 Scheduled Maintenance Update

January 2015 Scheduled Maintenance has been released

How to apply the patch with zypper.  YaST Online Update can also be used.

1) List repositories to ensure the update the server is registerd and the updated repository is present
zypper lr
Should see the following:
nu_novell_com:OES11-SP2-Updates | OES11-SP2-Updates | Yes | Yes

2) List the Updates
zypper pch OES11-SP2-Updates
Should see the following:
OES11-SP2-Updates | oes11sp2-January-2015-Scheduled-Maintenance | 10105 | security | Needed

3) Install the maintenance patch
OES11SP2
zypper up -t patch oes11sp2-January-2015-Scheduled-Maintenance

4) Then list the patches again to verify the patch is listed as Installed
OES11SP2
zypper pch OES11-SP2-Updates

Should see the following:
OES11-SP2-Updates | oes11sp2-January-2015-Scheduled-Maintenance   | 10105

5) To apply all OES11 SP2 updates run the following command
zypper up -t patch -r OES11-SP2-Updates

6) To apply all SLES 11 SP3 updates run the following command
zypper up -t patch -r… Continue reading

December 2014 Scheduled Maintenance Update

December 2014 Scheduled Maintenance has been released

How to apply the patch with zypper.  YaST Online Update can also be used.

List repositories to ensure the update the server is registerd and the updated repository is present
zypper lr
Should see the following:
nu_novell_com:OES11-SP2-Updates | OES11-SP2-Updates | Yes | Yes

zypper pch OES11-SP2-Updates
Should see the following:
OES11-SP2-Updates | oes11sp2-December-2014-Scheduled-Maintenance | 9879 | security | Needed

[clear-line]Install the maintenance patch
OES11SP2
zypper up -t patch oes11sp2-December-2014-Scheduled-Maintenance

Then list the patches again to verify the patch is listed as Installed
OES11SP2
zypper pch OES11-SP2-Updates

Should see the following:
OES11-SP2-Updates | oes11sp2-December-2014-Scheduled-Maintenance   | 9879

To apply all OES11 SP2 updates run the following command
zypper up -t patch -r OES11-SP2-Updates

To apply all SLES 11 SP3 updates run the following command
zypper up -t patch -r SLES11-SP3-Updates

Key DSfW specific bugs fixed with this maintenance… Continue reading

New Features in DSfW OES11SP2

There is a great article on Novell CoolSoltutions about the New Features in DSfW OES11SP2.

It gives great information on the new features with screenshots and explanations. Take a look and learn more about the new features of DSfW.

New DSfW Monitor Script

I previously created two scripts, dsfw_processcheck.sh and dsfw_portchk.sh, one to monitor pids and one to monitor ports.  With the two script they are helpful to ensure the DSfW services are up.  A new script combines the two and adds additional options.  The script not only checks for pids and ports, but it can be used to create a cron job to run the script every 10 minutes by adding the “add” switch.  To remove the cron job use the “rm” switch.

If a DSfW server running DNS (or not) has a DSfW specific process stop or crash a quick stop gap measure is to monitor the DSfW processes and restart them if one or more of the DSfW processes stop.

If the DSfW server is an Additional Domain Controller (ADC) DNS might not be configured on the server.  If DNS is not running on the… Continue reading

Adding displayName to DSfW user accounts

BES10 requires AD authentication so DSfW is being deployed to accomplish this in eDirectory environments.
The displayName attribute is one attribute that must be populated.

The following attributes must be populated for BES10
displayName
mail
samAccountName
distinguishedName
objectGUID

All but two are automatically populated on DSfW users.
displayName and mail are not.  Hopefully mail is already populated since this is for an e-mail application.  displayName most likely is not.

This video will go over a script that can be used populate displayName with the value used in samAccountName.  It will also show you how to modify the script if the value from another attribute is desired to be used for displayName.

The script does the following search to find users and generate a ldif file

ldapsearch -Y EXTERNAL -LLL -Q -b “$DEFAULTNAMINGCONTEXT” -s sub ‘(&(objectclass=user)(samAccountName=*)(!(|(objectClass=Computer)(displayName=*)(cn:dn:=users)(ou:dn:=oessystemobjects))))’ dn: samAccountName |sed s[samAccountName[‘changetype:modify\nadd: displayName\ndisplayname'[g | grep -v ^# >/tmp/add_displayname.ldif

As… Continue reading

Latest DSfW Health Check Script

I’ve received a great deal of feed back on the DSfW Health Check Script and applied some changes.
I am always looking for suggestions. I’ve created an updated video with the latest script. Watch to to learn about configuring it for your specific needs.

 

DSfW and eDirectory Health Check

It is a good idea to periodically check the health of DSfW and eDirectory servers.

This video concentrates on a script I wrote that can be ran on both eDirectory and DSfW servers.

The script demonstrated in this video is called dsfw_edir_healthchk.sh.  To get the latest version of the script click on the DSfW Health Check link in the download section on DSfWDude.com.

A great TID to start off with for a eDirectory health check is TID 3564075.
On a DSfW server start off with an eDirectory health check as well as TID 7001884 which has DSfW specific commands to check the health and overall operation of a DSfW server.

The script does most of the suggestions in both TIDs mentioned above plus a few more checks.

For eDirectory there are 8 checks the script does and… Continue reading

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