Server Core: Uninstalling an application without control panel

As I spend more time in Windows Server Core and Hyper-V Server I appreciate more of the under-workings of the operation system, I also appreciate GUI more :).  Without a control panel uninstalling an application is not as straightforward.

In a command prompt open up the registry editor:

 c:\>regedit.exe  

Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

Here installed programs are listed by application ID.

Browse through them and look for the Display Name to identify the application you need to uninstall.

There will be a key called UninstallString, right click to Modify and copy its contents:

This value will be used in the command prompt, running msiexec.exe with the /i switch.  /i configures the application.

Depending on the application, the uninstaller will run, which may be a GUI or another automated uninstaller.

You should see the Application ID removed from the Uninstall reg key from above.

List of White Noise / Ambient Sounds to stay focused and increase your productivity

One thing that has helped me stay focused is light background noise and sounds.  It helps drown out possible interruptions and people tend to not bother me with headphones on :). I keep it mixed up by rotating several difference sources; here is a list.

1. myNoise.net - Large collection of hand recorded sounds which are great quality.  Each sound has a mixer with presets that slightly changes the sound and can be 'animated'. 
2. A Soft Murmur - Easy to adjust volumes of different sounds to create your own mixes, with a master volume.
3. Noisli - Good selection of different sounds that can be individually controlled.  Love the railroad track.
4. Coffitivity - Cafe and other environmental sounds.
5. Rainy Cafe - You have Rain, and you have Cafe, simple interface so adjust the volumes how you see fit.
6. raining.fm - Rain, thunder, and lightening, can be mixed together.  The break and sleep timers are a nice addition.
7. ambient-mixer.com - Community driven noise and sound collections, large library.

TrippLite: Upgrading firmware on a SNMPWEBCARD

The TrippLite SNMPWEBCARD allows for remote access and alerting for TrippLite UPS's and PDU's.  Please read the resources below first.  This card I am upgrading is a Generation 3 card, came with version 012.004.052 of the firmware, and it will be updated to 012.006.064.  Download the latest firmware from the card's home page.  This is a folder that contains multiple firmware versions, as well as the massupdate.exe program.  I unpacked it to c:.

Make sure you read the READ ME - RELEASE NOTES, as firmware has to be updated in a certain order, the card can be bricked if it is updated incorrectly.  The update order for my card is to .55 then to .64.  The .55 update we will use FTP, then to go to .64 we will use the recommended massupdate.exe found in the Utility folder of the firmware package.

First connect the serial cable, this is a cable provided by TrippLite, other cables may not work.  Putty into the web card using the serial connection with the following settings:

If you have an issue connecting.  Connect via putty, unscrew and unslot the card, plug in the serial cable between the web card and PC/Server and slot the card back into the UPS/PDU.  This reboots the card and the stream should then output to the putty console.

Once connected to the card, login and reboot it:

We will use the serial stream to keep an eye on what the card is doing, but we will use command prompt with the windows FTP program to upload the new firmware.  Open a command prompt and browse to the firmware folder you unpacked.  Use FTP "IP Address" to open an ftp session with the web card, it will ask you to log in.

Change to binary mode with the 'bin' command and upload the firmware with the 'put' command, .55 in my case.  There is no tab completion, so type accurately.

Once it is uploaded type 'bye'.  The card will install the firmware and restart:

Upon bootup it shows the .55 firmware was uploaded.

Repeat the same steps to upload the pwralert.dat file:

The card will once again reboot, this may take awhile.

Before using massupdate.exe to update to .64, I had an issue with the application logging into the card to upload the new firmware, so I decided to reset the settings on the card.  This is done by rebooting the card and pressing a key on the console before 5 seconds is up.  It asks you if you want to reset the settings.  This changed the IP to dhcp and changed the admin password.  If you have issues with massupdate.exe connecting, this may fix it.

Now that we are on .55 we will use massupdate.exe found in the Utility directory (SNMPWEBCARD-FW-Gen3-12-6-064-RC1\Utility) to update the card the .64.

Open massupdate.exe.  Under Path of Files to Update click browse and select the Version directory (\SNMPWEBCARD-FW-Gen3-12-6-064-RC1\Firmware\Version 12.06.0064)

Click Add Devices at the bottom, enter the IP of the web card.  I used the default login.

Click update on the bottom and click Start on the progress window:

The image will upload and the card will reboot.  Be patient while the firmware installs, its a major upgrade and it takes awhile.

The card will reboot (again this is a long process) and you will be on the latest firmware.

Once the card is fully loaded you can connect to the web admin panel using the DHCP IP.  Also enjoy whitelisting all of the Java stuff, because the panel is Java, the browser will block it.

Resources

Make sure to go through these in detail, as well as the firmware readme file, as it is possible to brick the card.

http://www.tripplite.com/shared/techdoc/Owners-Manual/933179.pdf

Thanks to johndball.com, it seams his website is down, but please read his post on this card before you attempt a firmware update.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140216230929/http://www.johndball.com/2013/01/16/upgrade-the-tripplite-snmpwebcard-firmware/

Exchange 2013: Database copy has been blocked from automatic activation on server by an administrative action. Reason: None specified.

After updating two Exchange 2013 mailbox servers in a DAG environment to CU8 and running Test-Replicationhealth, Database Availability reported an error:

I tried to use -autosize to show the entire error which wouldn't work, but after googling around I found this:

 $r = Test-ReplicationHealth  
 $r | ?{$_.Result.Value -ne 'Passed'} | fl  

The entire error is as follows: Database copy 'DB01' has been blocked from automatic activation on server 'EXCH2' by an administrative action. Reason: None specified..

Its actually an easy fix, go into the ECP, Servers -> databases, suspend the passive healthy DB, wait a moment then Resume it.

Now test-replicationhealth again and you should be good.