Michael Phillips Blog

Migrating from DasBlog to WordPress

So I don’t really Blog very much anyway, but that just means, that I want to keep all the entries that I have created over the past 5 years.  In moving to a new Blog, I don’t want to just dump the old stuff. 

WordPress is pretty popular with the group I work with, so that is what I decided to go with.  The problem…  there isn’t an importer for WordPress from DasBlog.  I did a search and came up with a few good posts, but I am not as knowledgeable as I should be so it took a little work to figure it all out.  This is the post that gave me the most help:
http://www.kavinda.net/2008/10/23/migrating-from-dasblog-to-wordpress.html

Here is what I did:

1. Build a server – I am using Server 2008 x64 Standard
   1. Install the IIS Role
   2. Install IIS Role Services
   3. Download and install the URL Rewrite Module http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/465/url-rewrite-module-configuration-reference/
2. Setup MySQL
   1. I just went to http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/ and downloaded the latest version.  I had a little bit of trouble with the install, because I tried to use a password with quotes in it.
3. Setup PHP
   1. Again, I just went to http://www.php.net/downloads.php and downloaded the latest version.  I believe I had to select the CGI setup, but I don’t remember for sure… 
4. Copy old web site content to new server (I have other things on the site besides the Blog)
   1. The nice thing about my situation is that I can leave the old stuff in production while I  figure out the new stuff.  Copying my old stuff over (minus the old Blog) was very simple.
5. Create web site and point to the directory that I copied over.
   1. Also, I had to set the default document as index.php for the Blog
   2. Setup URL Rewrite to get “Pretty URLs”
6. Export old Blog content
   1. This was the hard part.  I used a utility that I downloaded from http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/DasBlogML to convert my posts to BlogML.
   2. Then I used  the import module that I got from http://www.kavinda.net/content/other/BlogML-WordPress-Import.zip
   3. The import leaves a handy little permalinkmap.csv file.  I used Excel and Notepad to change it up a little bit to make lines that looked like: http://www.nukeitmike.com/blog/2009/02/18/ldquoFailedToSetEventLoggingrdquoErrorWhenLoggingIntoCitrixApps.aspx,http://nim.nukeitmike.com/Blog/2009/02/18/failed-to-set-event-logging-error-when-logging-into-citrix-apps/ look like <add key=”/2009/02/18/ldquoFailedToSetEventLoggingrdquoErrorWhenLoggingIntoCitrixApps.aspx” value=”/2009/02/18/failed-to-set-event-logging-error-when-logging-into-citrix-apps/” />  
   4. Add URL Rewrite to enable old links to get to the new post address.  With IIS 7 and the URL Rewrite module you can add the lines that were created in the above step to the webconfig file to get the old links to point to the new links.

So even though this is an exceptionally long post compared to most that make, I didn’t include most of the details…  guess you will just have to ask if you need to know…

“Failed to set Event Logging” error when logging into Citrix Apps

Users are getting the above error due to an invalid entry in the APPSRV.INI file. To fix it:

1. Open the appsrv.ini file located in the user’s Citrix ICA client folder, the default locations are:

In Windows Vista – C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\ICAClient\
In Windows XP – C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\ICAClient\

2. Find the line beginning with”LogFileWin32”, it should be near the top.

The default Value is:

In Windows Vista – C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\ICAClient\wfcwin32.log

In Windows XP – C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\ ICAClient\wfcwin32.log

I have been finding them with “User” instead of the actual name of the user.  For example: <LogFileWin32=C:\Documents and Settings\User\Application Data\ICAClient\wfcwin32.log>

Instead of : <LogFileWin32=C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Application Data\ICAClient\wfcwin32.log>

3. Update the entry to point to the correct location.

Log User off using Task Manager

I went to log a user off of a 2008 Terminal Server.  I got the access denied.  Then I went to the Processes tab and selected Show processes from all users.  Then I went back to the Users tab and logged of the user.

Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service

We recently implemented a new optical storage system using a software package that runs on Windows.  The particular machine that is used to host this application gradually had problems accessing the optical storage (which is essentially a NAS device) and would frequently pop the title message: Insufficient system resources exist to complete the required service. 

I thought this was a bit odd, considering the machine has 16GB of RAM, Dual Quad Core processors, and at fairly large amount of storage.  We kept thinking that there must be a driver issue, or some issue with the software, or even an issue with the optical storage.

I have no way to prove it, because I couldn’t ever tell for sure exactly how the system go to the point of not being functional, but the last thing I tried APPEARS to have worked…

I took out the /3GB switch in the boot.ini. 

That was 3 days ago and the system hasn’t had the issue since, even though it had gotten to the point where it was happening several times a day.  The thing that tipped me toward this as a possible solution was the fact that everything I read said that this was likely caused by a memory leak, but we didn’t seem to have memory issues (at least when we could get into task manager there didn’t seem to be much activity) and when I came across this post…  I took a chance and it seems to have fixed the problem for now.

Vista Shortcuts

I was reading some of the junk e-mail that Microsoft sends me and came across this article.  I wanted to save the shortcuts, a lot of which I knew (and use) but some of which are new to me:

http://www.windowsvistamagazine.com/UK/4352741765893343994/pc-heaven.html

Boost your productivity

Learn a few angelic Windows keyboard shortcuts

• Hold Shift when inserting a CD
  Prevent the CD from autoplaying
• F4 in Windows Explorer
  Display the address bar location list
• F5
  Refresh the screen
• Ctrl and Z
  Undo an action
• Ctrl and Y
  Redo an action, in case you’ve used undo incorrectly
• Shift and Delete
  Delete the selected file(s) without moving to the Recycle bin (be careful!)
• Shift and F10
  Display the shortcut menu for the selected item
• Alt and Tab
  Switch to the previously active window
• Alt and F4
  Close the active window
• Windows key and D
  Show the desktop
• Windows key and E
  Open Windows Explorer
• Windows key and F
  Open a Search window
• Windows key and G
  Cycle through Sidebar gadgets
• Windows key and R
  Open a Run window
• Windows key and T
  Cycle through and preview all the applications on the taskbar
• Windows key and 1
  Launch the first program on your Quick Launch toolbar
• Windows key and 2
  Launch the second program on your Quick Launch toolbar
• Windows key and Tab
  Use Flip 3D to cycle through all currently open applications
• Windows key and Spacebar
  Select the Windows Sidebar
• Ctrl and Mousewheel
  Changes the view of your current folder
• Left Alt and left Shift and Print Screen
  Toggles the highcontrast display

Windows Vista Magazine | PC Heaven

Server Core – A few notes and links to useful commands

I asked a coworker to find the method/command to run updates on Server Core and he came back with a link to this nice little script:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa387102(VS.85).aspx

And every time I forget the command to do something in Server Core, when I do a search to find it, I always come back with a link to this post:

http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/sanderberkouwer/archive/2007/08/13/changing-server-core-s-look-and-feel-part-1.aspx

And just because I am lazy, and don’t particularly like the command line (even though I like Server Core), I have created a folder with a few batch files that I use when I am setting up a Server Core machine.  For instance, I have a batch file that has the product key in it already and I run it to install the product key and activate. 

Dumb… or maybe not?

So I posted that I feel dumb some days, but when I wrote that, it was related to how frustrated I was trying to figure out System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Beta.  I thought that I had be shown the light by someone in the product team posting detailed instructions on how to do what I was trying to accomplish.  I would just like to set the record straight and say that IT STILL DIDN’T WORK!

Now I am running Hyper-V RC1 so SCVMM 2008 Beta doesn’t work with that yet anyway…  Ah, the joys of life on the bleeding edge….

Add or Remove programs in Server Core

Quoted from a blog by Sander Berkouwer

Add or remove programs

Again there are two ways to get information on the software that is installed onto your Server Core installation in absence of the “Add or Remove programs” Control Panel applet. (also known as appwiz.cpl)

Registry

The first way is by checking the registry keys underneath the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

Luckily Server Core offers regedit.exe and regedt32.exe to digg deep into the registry of our Server Core box. Actually the “Add or Remove programs” Control Panel applet checks these registry keys at well. Since we all know how long it takes to get a complete list of all the software on your windows box it’s obvious this method takes a lot of time.

As this TechNet page points out the software packages that are listed underneath the Uninstall registry key all have a registry value associated with the UninstallString. You can use this value as a command to uninstall the software.

WMI

The things that are better left unspoken : Add or Remove programs in Server Core

More on Using Server 2008 as your Desktop OS…

I have been working on configuring my laptop (a Lenovo Thinkpad T61) with all the tools and gadgets and STUFF that I like to have on my laptop.  Of course the Office products installed just fine, but when I went to install some of the other little things I use, like Windows Live Writer and Windows Live Messenger I got what anyone else will get if you just go to the Live site and try to install them:

Luckily, I managed to find a post where someone else was having the same sort of problem and that led me to a link to the actual installer instead of the WLinstaller.  The WLinstaller doesn’t do anything on 2008 except tell you it doesn’t like any Server OS.  Here is a link to a nice person who has the installer for just Windows Live Writer.  Go to the bottom of the page for the one that works.

For Windows Messenger, so far I have only been able to get 8.1 to install.  If anyone finds how to get the latest version installed, let me know…  I am guessing you should be able to do it if you can figure a way around that stupid installer…

Storage Power and Cooling Issues Heat Up

I am doing some research into our data center cooling requirements.  I came across this article and thought this bit was interesting:

So how much does it cost to power 100TB (raw) of storage, and how much CO₂ emissions are generated per year? That, of course, depends on the type of storage, the number and size of the disk drives, the cost per kWh of power, cooling costs and the average number of lbs of CO₂ produced per kWh.

One example is a single storage system using 750GB SATA disk drives yielding 144TB of raw storage in a single cabinet footprint, which would require less than 52,560 kWh and cost about $10,512 per year with an emissions footprint of about 39.42 CO₂ tons. To account for cooling costs, simply double the above numbers for a worst-case scenario. By comparison, a 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe generates about 7 to 10 tons of CO₂ per year, while a Lexus RX333, depending on miles driven, generates about 5-6 tons of CO₂ per year, and a 24 cubic foot refrigerator yields about 1.22 tons of CO₂ per year.

Storage Power and Cooling Issues Heat Up