Fix my network wizard – SBS 2008

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Today I discovered the usefulness of the “Fix my network” wizard in Windows SBS 2008.

You access it by opening the Windows SBS Console, Clicking on the Network tab, and then clicking on the Connectivity sub-tab.

One of the tasks on the right panel will be the “Fix my network” wizard.

sbs2008-console1

fix-my-network

This wizard contains around about 70 different fixes for various network / DNS / IP related issues. With SBS 2003, I often found that re-running the Connect to Internet Wizard on the many different SBS servers I worked with would solve problems experienced with DNS, DHCP, IP settings etc… Well with SBS 2008, it seems they have created this wizard solely for that purpose.

Anyway I was having an issue running the Connect to Internet wizard on the 2008 machine today – I was getting a DNS error and the CTIEW would not complete. I ran the “Fix my Network” wizard and it found a problem with the DNS server (It had stopped – and I didn’t think to check this!) It also picked up that IPv6 for DHCP wasn’t configured (Not that I needed this). After completion, it re-enabled the service and installed the IPv6 DHCP range for me. Turns out that there was a conflict between the two servers that caused the DNS server service to stop.

This is a very handy tool to use when short on time with SBS 2008 network troubleshooting and it is good to see MS implementing handy tools like this with their products – simple and functional!

DNS for tld’s not working on SBS 2008 when using root hints

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After one day, you may find your Windows 2008 DNS Server is unable to resolve names in some top level domains (TLD’s) like .co.uk, .cn, and .br when it is configured to use root hints. This may also be seen with other top level domains too. According to Microsoft, a network monitor trace should show that the DNS Server does not send any DNS traffic out to the internet. The Windows 2008 DNS server returns SERVFAIL to the client or when using nslookup. I have not used Network Monitor to verify this myself, but I am sure if you loaded it up and used this MS KB to set up a trace that you would be able to verify this symptom.
Workarounds include restarting the DNS server, clearing the DNS cache, setting maxcachettl to 2 days or greater, and using DNS Forwarders instead of root hints.

 

This currently occurs with default SBS 2008 installs that have been configured to use root hints for DNS lookup. I have recently noticed this behaviour myself with two different SBS 2008 installs.

 

If you want to use root hints, you can set the maxcachettl registry value on the Windows 2008 DNS Server as follows:
1. Start Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
2. Locate the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DNS\Parameters
3. On the Edit menu, click New, click DWORD (32-bit) Value and then add the following value:
Value: MaxCacheTtl
Data Type: DWORD
Data value: 0x2A300 (172800 in decimal = 2 days)
4. Click OK.
5. Quit Registry Editor.
6. Restart the DNS server.

 

Another way to get around this issue is to use the following method (I personally prefer this way):

1. Open up DNS under Administrative tools from the SBS server’s start menu.
2. Right click on the server name and select Properties.

 

dns-console1

 

3. Go to the Forwarders tab and click on the “edit” button.
4. Enter the primary DNS address of your ISP (In this case mine was BT so I used 194.72.0.98) and click Ok.
5. The forwarders section will now attempt to automatically resolve the FQDN for that IP. (Note you can also probably enter your router’s IP address in the forwarders section which should then get your SBS to look to the router for DNS information).

 

dns-console-properties

 

6. Click Ok to close the properties window and then close your DNS console.

 

DNS lookups for the TLDs should now be working again. If not, stop and restart DNS or give the server a reboot.

Cannot save the attachment. Can’t create file in Outlook.

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Had this problem on a PC today – Outlook was having trouble opening .MHT file attachments from a contact item. Any attempt to open any .MHT file would result in an error message stating “Cannot save the attachment xxxxxxxxx.mht. Can’t create the file. It then asked to open the folder / file in question and check security permissions. This could happen for any attachment type, but in my case it was .MHTs.

Anyway the quick solution I found is to browse to the “OutlookSecureTempFolder” and remove all files listed in that directory. Close and restart Outlook and everything should be working again. Credit to this page where I found the solution.

1. Open REGEDIT.EXE and go to Edit -> Find… In the Find dialog box type “OutlookSecureTempFolder” without the quotes and locate that registry key.

2. That key will contain the actual folder location, and will look like:

C:\Documents and Settings\%USER_NAME%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK#\ (where # is a random letter or number)

3. Copy the location of that folder.

4. Click on Start -> Run… and paste the folder location from step #4 then click OK.

5. Windows Explorer will open that folder. Please, delete all files present.

6. Restart Microsoft Outlook and you should be able to open your attachments.

A quick update to this – the error occurs when you have the same document saved in this folder 99 times. This seems to be the maximum limit of times you can have an attachement from Outlook saved into this “temp” folder. Each time you open a file with the same file name from Outlook a new copy is saved here. For example (filename.zip (1) filename.zip (2) etc.)

Symantec System Center 10.1 not pushing out license files or definition updates

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Today I had the issue whereby System Center would not update license files (.slf) for client PCs for a group in the console.

I could add the .slf on the server directly, but could not add it for each client PC. I could also not send virus definition updates to each client either, as the licenses had expired.

Anyway, it turns out that the Windows Firewall in XP for each of the clients was blocking these from going through. To resolve, just remotely manage the PC in question from the Computer Management console (Right-click My Computer, select Manage). Then click Action – Connect to another Computer. Type in the PC name and click Ok.

Once connected, browse to the services section, find the Windows Firewall / ICS service and right-click it. Select Disable from the menu.

disable-firewall

Now that the Windows Firewall is disabled, use the Symantec System Center console to push out the new license file for that PC in question, or a series of PCs.

install-licensefile

Once done, you can right click the selection of PC’s and update the virus definitions.

Be sure to turn the firewalls back on if you happen to use Windows Firewall / Internet connection sharing.