I’m a Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2010 Express newbie!

If you are trying to edit your code and you receive the error message Changes are not allowed if the assembly has not been loaded, make sure you’re not debugging! Press Shift+F5 to stop debugging.



Some of these Visual Studio error messages are unfamiliar to me (I've been an Eclipse person for 5 years...and I'm still waiting for it to load!)

Installing VMware vCenter CapacityIQ 1.5

To install vCenter CapacityIQ (also known as CapIQ or CIQ) there are a few prerequisites.

1. VMware vCenter Capacity IQ
   
   If you have a license for this product, you can download it from the VMware Downloads. If you want to evaluate this product, you can register for a free evaluation here. As of writing, the latest available version is CapacityIQ 1.5 (build 327748). The trial and full edition are the same package (CIQ-1.5.0.1470-ovf.zip)
   
2. Credentials
   
   You’ll need a username and password of an account with vCenter administration privileges: this can either be your vCenter service account or a dedicated service account with Administrator privileges at the vCenter root level. For the purposes of simplicity, I recommend using the vCenter service account.
   
3. License
   
   It’s not required for installation, but required to complete configuration. If you’re installing CapacityIQ for the purposes of evaluation, a key will appear on the VMware website after you’ve registered your details.
   
4. An IP address
   
   A valid IP address, subnet mask, gateway, DNS servers, proxy details (if applicable) and a hostname!
   
5. 260gb of free space on a datastore
   
   This space is used to store configuration and trending data (CapacityIQ does not reuse the statistics stored in vCenter). You can choose to use thin-provisioned disks if you don’t have 260gb in space: deploying as a thin will use 1.4gb, and thick will take 258gb. You can grow this space later.
   
6. Two secure passwords
   
   You’ll need to pick a password for the ciqadmin and root accounts. These need to be secure, as CapacityIQ has administrator-level access to vCenter and contains details of your capacity current state.

If you’re upgrading an existing instance of CapacityIQ, you’ll need to perform these pre-installation tasks.

1. Login to the vCenter CapacityIQ portal
2. In the Register vCenter CapacityIQ section, click Unregister

Installing VMware CapacityIQ is quite easy as VMware have packaged it as a OVF (Open Virtualization Format) package. OVFs are self-contained virtual machines that act like appliances.

To install CapacityIQ, perform the following tasks.

1. Extract the source media and place the CIQ-1.5.0.1470_OVF10.ovf file on your desktop.
   
2. In your vCenter client, click File > Deploy OVF Template…
   
3. On the Source screen, select the OVF file then click Next.
   
   
   
4. On the OVF Template Details screen, click Next to continue.
   
   
   
5. On the obligatory End User License Agreement screen, click Accept then click Next.
   
   
   
6. On the Name and Location screen, enter the hostname and select the location of the virtual machine then click Next.
   
   
   
7. On the Host/Cluster screen, select the host or cluster you want to run CapacityIQ on then click Next.
   
   
   
8. On the Datastore screen, select the datastore for the CapacityIQ VM then click Next.
   
   
   
9. On the Disk Format screen, select whether you want the CapacityIQ VM to be thin or thick provisioned. If you have enough space, select Thick provisioned format. If you’re short on space, choose Thin provisioned format. But be careful! If CapacityIQ gathers trending data quicker than anticipated, you could be in trouble!
   
   
   
10. On the Network Mapping screen, select the network you want CapacityIQ to be connected to, then click Next.
    
    
    
11. On the Ready to Complete screen, click Finish to deploy CapacityIQ.
    
    
    
12. You will see a status window while vCenter will deploy your OVF. (Why isn’t this just another task in the Recent Tasks area?!) When the deployment is complete, click Close.
    
    
    
    
13. Power on the CapacityIQ virtual machine and open the console.
    
14. On initial startup, you will be prompted to enter a root password. Enter this password then press enter. Re-enter the password then press Enter.
    
    
    
15. After entering the root password, you will be prompted to enter a ciqadmin password. Enter the password then press enter. Re-enter the password then press Enter.
    
     
16. After entering these passwords, you will be prompted to wait while CapacityIQ finished configuration. You can use this time to wonder why VMware didn’t ask you these questions during the initial OVF deployment.
    
     
17. Once CapacityIQ has completed configuration, you will see a text-mode setup screen. Select Configure Network then press Enter.
    
    
    
18. At the network configuration screen, enter the relevant network details. You can ignore the question about whether a proxy server is required to reach the internet, because CapacityIQ does not require internet access.
    
     
19. Now to configure the timezone, unless your datacenter is located in Iceland, United Kingdom, Ireland, Continental Portugal, Morocco, Senegal, Ghana or Côte d'Ivoire! Select Set Timezone (Current: UTC) from the main menu then press Enter.
    
    
    
20. Select your continent and then region from the list.
    
    
    
21. Once you’ve selected your timezone, select Yes to return to the main menu.
    Again, you’ve got to wonder why this information wasn’t asked for during the initial OVF deployment.
    
    
    
22. This completes the console based setup. You can now close the console window.
    
23. Open a web browser and access the IP address of the CapacityIQ appliance.
    
24. The certificate warning can be safely ignored. You’ll have the option of configuring a certificate from your own CA later.
    
    
    
25. At the CapacityIQ login page, login using the ciqadmin account.
    CapacityIQ doesn’t make effective use of screen real estate, but whatever: VMware have never been known for their great UIs.
    
    
    
26. You’ll know you’ve logged in correctly if you see the CapacityIQ front page. The first thing you want to configure is licensing. It’s important to configure licensing first because CapacityIQ has a bug which prevents you from configuring licensing after connecting to vCenter.
    
    To configure licensing, click the blue License tab.
    
    
    
27. CapacityIQ can take up to 30 seconds to configure a license.
    
    
28. When license configuration is complete, confirm the license type has changed from Demo to Valid.
    
    To return to the front page, click the blue Setup tab.
    
    
    
29. On the front page, in the Register vCenter CapacityIQ section, click the Register button.
    
    
    
30. In the registration screen, perform the following tasks
    • Select Use domain name
    • Select Use HTTPS (SSL Connections)
    • Enter the vCenter address
    • Enter the username and password for an account with vCenter Administrator credentials. If you are using a Windows domain, you will need to prefix the domain, ie. MYDOMAIN\vCenterAccount
    • Click Apply
      
      
      
31. CapacityIQ can take several minutes to register.
    
    
    
    If your server name is incorrect or you have network connectivity issues, you will receive the error Error: Unknown Error. Very helpful. If this occurs, you can use access the CapacityIQ command line via the console and use tools like ping to help troubleshoot.
    
    
    
    If your server name is correct but your username or password is incorrect, you will receive the error message Connection to the VC failed. Check your username and password and try again.
    
    
    
32. If your vCenter details are correct, the CapacityIQ registration status will change to Registered.
    
    
    
33. You can perform other tasks from the vCenter web portal, such as changing the ciqadmin password, configuring reporting through e-mail, downloading diagnostic information and performing updates. But for now, we are complete our initial configuration tasks. Click the Log out link in the upper-right corner.
    
34. Close the vCenter client and reopen it. If this is not done, you may receive an error message when trying to access the CapacityIQ plugin.
    
35. In vCenter, open the Plug-in Manager (Plug-ins > Manage Plug-ins)
    
36. In the Plug-in Manager, ensure that the CapacityIQ plugin is enabled. If it is not, right-click on it then click Enable. Click Close when done.
    
37. Navigate to Home > Solutions and Applications > Capacity IQ
    If you’re using vCenter Linked Mode, select your vCenter as well.
    
38. In vCenter, you will receive a security warning about an untrusted certificate from your CapacityIQ server. This can be safely ignored and the certificate can be safely installed (if you don’t have your own Certificate Authority). You can also ignore the security alerts – these are of the same nature. The CapacityIQ plugin is just a page from the CapacityIQ server rendered in Internet Explorer.
    
39. If you see this screen, congratulations, you’ve successfully setup CapacityIQ! Of course, your screen won’t have any nice graphs yet because CapacityIQ needs time to gather data. If you click on the Global Settings button, there are some minor settings you can change.
    
    

In later articles, I’ll discuss how to configure CapacityIQ to make your forecasting more accurate and relevant.

I’m typing in the correct password but SQL says login failed!

Did you notice that every task in Windows 2008 requires more clicks than Windows 2003? If you try to start the SQL Management Studio in Windows 2008, you’ll get the following error message.

Cannot connect to MYSQLSERVER\MYSQLINSTANCE. Additional information: Login failed for user ‘MyAdminAccount’. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 1846)

The extended error message is

TITLE: Connect to Server
------------------------------
Cannot connect to MYSQLSERVER\SQL001.
------------------------------
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Login failed for user 'MYSQLSERVER\sqladmin'. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 18456)
For help, click: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&EvtSrc=MSSQLServer&EvtID=18456&LinkId=20476
------------------------------
BUTTONS:
OK
------------------------------

Cause: The cause is that you didn’t click enough! In Windows 2008, you have to use Run as administrator to launch the SQL Server Management Studio. What a deceptive error message!

Database owner privileges error during vCenter Update Manager install

Another vCenter Update Manager install problem!

The DB user entered does not have the required permissions needed to install and configure VMware Update Manager with the selected DB. Please correct the following error(s) : The database user “ does not have db_owner privilege on the MSDB database.

Cause: You’ll encounter this problem if you are using a service account to install VUM. To solve this, temporarily give the service account the sysadmin server role. To do this, perform the following tasks.

1. Open the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio
2. In the Object Explorer, navigate to Security > Logins
3. Right-click on the user you’re using to install VUM then click Properties.
4. Click Server Roles
5. Select sysadmin then click OK.

Once you’ve installed VUM, you can remove the the sysadmin role from the service account.

Bits of ODBC advice for vCenter Update Manager

VMware vCenter Update Manager is a 32-bit application. If you install VUM on a 64-bit OS (ie. Windows Server 2008 R2) you’ll need to use the 32-bit ODBC Data Source Administrator tool to create the database connection. If you use the 64-bit tool, you will receive the following error message.

The DSN, ‘VUM’ does not exist or is not a 32 bit system DSN. Update Manager requires a 32 bit system DSN.
(where VUM is the name of your ODBC connection)

Cause: Using the ODBC tool in the Control Panel will create a 64-bit DSN. You need to use the 32-bit ODBC tool which is located at C:\Windows\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe. Do NOT use the odbcad32.exe located in the C:\Windows\System32 folder. While it has the same file name, they are two different files.

Links
Creating a 32bit DSN on a 64bit Windows machine, VMware Knowledge Base

Database problems with the vSphere Update Manager Download Service (UMDS)

While running the vmware-umds.exe tool, you might encounter this error message.

INFO -  [440] SQL execution failed: select id from VCI_SEQUENCE where name = ?
INFO -  [441] Bind parameters:
INFO -  [446] datatype: 11 size: 30
ERROR – [main, 565] “ODBC error: (42S02) – [Microsoft][SQL Server Native Client 10.0][SQL Server]Invalid object name ‘VCI_SEQUENCE’.” is returned when executing SQL statement “select id from VCI_SEQUENCE where name = ?”

Cause: The default database for the user has not been set to the UMDS database. To change the default database, perform the following tasks.

1. Open the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio
2. In the Object Explorer, navigate to Security > Logins
3. Right-click on the account you’re using to perform UMDS downloads/your UMDS service account then click Properties
4. Change the Default database to your UMDS database then click OK.

Unzipping ISOs with WinZip? Bad Idea! Microsoft Expression Studio Setup error

One of my new year goals has been to learn a new programming language. Having been on the infrastructure side of IT, I haven’t had to program on a daily basis since university. I downloaded the Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and Expression Studio 4 to get back in the programming groove, but nothing in IT is that simple! Upon trying to install ES, I received the following error message:

"Setup encountered an error: An attempt was made to load an assembly from a network location which would have caused the assembly to be sandboxed in previous versions of the .NET Framework. This release of the .NET Framework does not enable CAS policy by default, so this load may be dangerous. If this load is not intended to sandbox the assembly, please enable the loadFromRemoteSources switch. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=155569 for more information."

To make a long story short, it isn’t Microsoft’s fault! I had downloaded The Expression Studio ISO from MSDN and unzipped it with WinZip. Turns out there is a bug in WinZip’s support for ISO files: if you attempt to extract an ISO with WinZip, the output will become corrupted. This doesn’t just apply to Expression Web: I’ve encountered this problem unzipping SQL Server 2008 R2, ANSYS 12 and countless other products.

The solution is to either burn the ISO to CD (a waste of disc), extract the ISO using another program (such as WinRAR), or mounting the ISO as a drive using DaemonTools or PowerISO (both have freeware editions).

In the future, Microsoft should consider delivering their client software as MSI bundles or WIMs, similar to how Apple distribute software in Disk Image (DMG) format. This way, they control the package distribution end-to-end without need for third party extraction tools.

Links
Problems installing Expression Studio 4, Microsoft Expression Forums

AUSkey: Australian Government’s attempt at SSO

The Australian Government’s Standard Business Reporting program is attempting to roll out single-sign (SSO) on across all Federal government departments and some state government departments.

You know that problem of having too many different usernames and passwords to remember? Single sign-on is the solution to that. The concept behind SSO is that a user should only have one credential to access multiple services from the same entity. AUSkey is the Australian Government’s attempt at SSO.

Using an AUSkey is simple enough. When a user attempts to access a participating government e-service (i.e. the ATO Business Portal), they are prompted to select an AUSkey (digital certificate).

After selecting a digital certificate, you are prompted for a password.

After entering the password and clicking continue, the user is directed to the resource on the participating site.

For reasons unknown, SBR have chosen to use a Java applet to provide the authentication dialog. This Java applet must be installed on each device used to access AUSkey-authenticated systems.

Because an AUSkey might not always have the ability to install the AUSkey client (i.e. corporate environments), there is a ‘install to a USB’ capability. This installs a standalone/portable Firefox browser to a USB drive and preinstalls the AUSkey certificate (the AUSkey browser.exe file is visible but the AUSkey and AUSkey software for USB folders are hidden).

The Firefox browser is ATO branded and returns the user string
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-GB; rv:1.9.1.5) Gecko/20091102 Firefox/3.5.5 (AUSkey Mobile Access)

My observations so far:

• The sign-up process is overly complex. True to government form, there are too many unintuitive forms to fill out. People are familiar with the sign up/e-mail confirmation/login concept. AUSkey needs to be as easy to use as Microsoft Windows Live ID for for people to be enthusiastic about it.
• The AUSkey installer is just as convoluted. The Nullsoft MSI installer crashed upon first run, and appeared to stall repeatedly during the installation.
• AUSkeys aren’t portable. For an unknown reason, my desktop browser could not find the certificate installed on my USB key. I had to signup for an additional AUSkey.
• You should be able to use AUSkey without an installer. AUSkey uses Java-based browser plug-ins for the certificate selection. There are methods of requesting client certificates that don’t require Java applets. This is especially important since Microsoft doesn’t include it with Windows 7. and Apple is unlikely to bundle Java with their next MacOS release.
• Lack of browser support. The AUSkey software does not support Google Chrome or Internet Explorer 9 beta (yes, I know it’s beta! But one of the reasons Microsoft release beta products is to ensure day-one compatibility when the RTM version is released)
• Lack of multiplatform support. If you’re using Windows or MacOS X, you’re in luck. Linux, iPad, iPhone, Windows Phone 7, Telstra tablet? Sorry guys. I get the feeling SBR developed the user requirements five years ago and haven’t updated them since.
• Business users only. I’d like to use this on other government websites like Medicare Online. It’s silly that the authentication used to access my medical records is weaker than my tax records. I guess that shows who values IT more.
• Low amount of participating sites. I thought ASIC would be a number one citizen with AUSkey. If ASIC don’t support AUSkey, I have very little hope for the Department of Fair Trading NSW.
• The government is competing with…itself. According to the AUSkey website, “You'll no longer need different user IDs and passwords for each government agency that you have to deal with - the one AUSkey will work for all!”. According to the Australia.gov.au website, “Dealing with the Australian Government online just got easier, with a single [Australia.gov.au] account to sign on to multiple agencies”. Perhaps the government are trying a two-prong strategy: AUSkey for business and australia.gov.au ID for citizens? If so, what a waste of infrastructure!

AUSkey is promising but has a lot of progress to make. It will become a more compelling offering when more government online services support it. Until then, I’ll use it once a quarter to authenticate with the ATO for online activity statement submission.

How to transfer a domain from a RegistrarPDQ reseller

Recently I’ve experienced a lot of frustration with my webhost. In an attempt to move my domain and hosting away from them, I’ve had to deal with their RegistrarPDQ-rebranded domain registration system.

RegistrarPDQ is a domain registration system used by many small webhosts. Webhosts and resellers rebrand the RegistrarPDQ site with their own logo and colour scheme, but essentially they’re all the same. Unfortunately, the RegistrarPDQ site layout is unintuitive and many experienced users find it difficult to disable the reg-lock and find the EPP code: the two crucial items you need to transfer a domain to a new registrar! After a few frustrating minutes, I’ve figured out how to do it.

The first step is to disable reg-lock. Reg-lock prevents you from moving the domain to another registrar. To disable reg-lock, perform the following.

1. Login to your account
2. On the left-hand side, click Domain Names
   
3. Click You have x domain names with us.
   
4. Click on the domain name you want to change to another registrar.
5. Click Set Auto-Renew/Registrar-Lock Options for Domain Names and Services
   
6. Uncheck the box next to Do not allow this name to be transferred to another registrar then click Save Changes
   

The second step is to get the EPP code. The EPP code is used to verify the domain owner wants to move the domain to another registrar. To get the EPP code (also known as the Authorization Code or auth code), perform the following.

1. On the left-hand side, click Domain Names
2. Click You have x domain names with us.
3. Click on the domain name you want to change to get the code for.
4. Click Contact/WhoIs Information
   
5. Ensure the Registrant Contact details are correct, in particular the e-mail address (the EPP code will be e-mailed to the registrant contact so it must be correct!) If you update your e-mail address, click Save Changes.
6. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Email Authorization Code to Registrant.
   
7. Check your e-mail. The EPP should arrive quickly (it only took a minute for me)

I hope this assists you in moving to a more responsive, flexible and cheaper domain registrar (GoDaddy!)

Cannot complete the configuration of the HA agent on the host. Unable to contact a primary HA agent.

I don't like this error. It means that vCenter pushed config to ESXi, but ESXi didn't provide acknowledgement in time.

If an individual host is having a HA configuration error, simply right-click on that host and click Reconfigure for VMware HA. However, if the error is appearing on every host in your cluster, disable VMware HA on the cluster then and reenable it. Once you've done that, right-click on each host and click Reconfigure for VMware HA. There, done.

To install FIM portal, the setup needs to run under SharePoint Farm administrator account.

What is it with Microsoft and unintuitive setup error messages? When attempting to install the FIM Service and Portal component of Microsoft Forefront Identity Manager 2010, I received the following error message.

"To install FIM portal, the setup needs to run under SharePoint Farm administrator account with at least Open permission that allows users to open a Web site, list, or folder in order to access items inside that container. Please make sure you are a SharePoint Farm administrator with Open permission then click "Retry". Click "Cancel" to abort setup."

The problem? I was not in the SharePoint Site collection administrators group. To add yourself to this group, open Central Administration (Start > Administrative Tools > SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration), click Application Management, then Site collection administrators. Change the Primary Site Collection Administrator to the account used to install FIM.

Links
Installation Error while configuring FIM Service & Portal, Microsoft TechNet