Today one of my Outlook power users received an error while trying to add a spam rule filter. The error was…
“One or more rules could not be uploaded to Exchange server and have been deactivated. This could be because some of the parameters are not supported or there is insufficient space to store all of your rules.”
It turns out that Exchange has a rule for the size of mailbox rules.
The rules size limit for mailboxes in Exchange Server 2007 (and later) has a default size of 64 KB per mailbox. The total rules size limit is also customizable limit up to 256 KB per mailbox.
Recently I had a user whose Out of Office Reply was stuck on. I hadn’t encountered this and a simple Google search and the fix was allegedly as simple as choosing start, run, Outlook .exe /cleanrules. This didn’t work so I did option 2 which was logging in to Online Web Access (A silly name that seems redundant) and turning off the auto responder. It was fixed in a snap… until it resurfaced a day later.
Another odd feature of this bug was the fact that you couldn’t turn on/off the auto responder nor edit the auto responder via Outlook.
We are a Microsoft Exchange 2010 shop with users that use Outlook 2007 or for the majority OWA. Don’t Judge! It’s just part of the joys of being a grossly underfunded IT department. It appears via more Googling that this is a common problem amongst users of Exchange 2010 and Outlook. There were a lot of web pages advertising they could fix my problem but the solutions were varied and many I didn’t feel comfortable using.
I pondered… Could I fix this using Powershell?
I bet I can. In simple terms, Microsofts Powershell is a powerful command line utility that allows a system administrator to use simple commands, script command etc and give full access to local and remote computers including COM and WMI features. Microsoft’s TechNet website has complete documentation of available commands.
The first command I ran was Get-MailboxAutoreplyConfiguration username
It shows the mailbox out of office responder, state enabled or disabled.
The next command I ran was Set-MailboxAutoreplyConfiguration username –AutoReplyState DISABLED
This command disables the auto responder.
I logged into Outlook and now I could edit and change the auto responder.
Fun Fact of the Day:
Why is “out-of-office” abbreviated “OOF” in Microsoft documentation?
At my day job we are experimenting more and more with server virtualization. We have been playing with VMware as our platform. We currently run one physical server (host) with 6 different virturalized servers.
We recently purchased a new HP DL 380 G8 server with dual Intel® Xeon® E5-2603 (1.80GHz/4-core/10MB/80W) Processors and 64 GB (16x4GB) Dual Rank x8 PC3L-10600 (DDR3-1333) memory. This would supplement our current VMware server and give us redundancy and fail-over capabilities.
The first step in the process was to download the latest and greatest currently at VMware ESXi 5.1. I download it and its in the form of an ISO. Not a big deal I have a utility to burn it to DVD and make it bootable for install. Whoops the new DL380 doesn’t have a CD/DVD drive.
I find a tool on line called Linux Live USB Creator. It works great to create a bootable USB device using Linux. The tool allows you to include your ISO to start as well. The tool worked flawlessly. However I discovered that the VMware ISO I had was missing some HP Drivers.
I quickly searched the VMware site and found the HP specific ISO. Unfortunately the links for the HP stuff were broken.
Another quick search and I found another tool to create a HP specific ISO. The tool is the ESXI Customizer. It requires the installation of the VMware vSphere PowerCLI.
It has become apparent to me in job interview that interviews are amazed or aghast at the fact that I am a jack of all things IT. I think it bewilders many people. My job basically is to do what is needed to design, build and keep up a 24x7x365 IP Network and a Public Switched Telephone Network for a large 911 call center. In an effort to legitimize my jack of all trades IT, I thought that I would like to show/share some of my tasks. Today’s task is assembling our newest server.
We are an HP shop. We get the best deals on HP products and HP has been reliable for our needs at 911. Today’s server will be a new file and print server. We had a budget of only $4000 for this server and this is what we purchased,
4 – HP 300GB 6G Hot Plug 2.5 SAS Dual Port 10,000 rpm Enterprise Hard Drive
Smart Array P410i
2U Rack mount
I currently have 30 HP DL380 Gx
Because of our state contract with a vendor the server will come in a basic configuration of 1 CPU and no hard drives.
300GB 6G Hot Plug 2.5
Sometimes the RAM is included and installed and sometimes if we have made modifications it won’t be.
The hard drives are a simple install. Pull out the blanks, and open the hard drive latches and push into slot until the latch locks. It’s a simple no brainer.
After unpacking the server from its box the next step is to open it up. On the back of the server is a little tool that will allow you to open up the case. It also fits the entire group of tool-less screws in the case. The case top slides to the rear.
After opening the case we want to add our CPU. The first part is to remove the air ducting that directs the air to the CPU and RAM. It is just set on top and requires no tools to remove.
Next remove the strap that is installed for shipping. It is black and is screwed down to the CPU heat sink hold down. You can toss it when you are done. The CPU heat sink hold down has a lever. Pull it up and the whole hold down moves out of the way. Remove the black plastic cover that covers the CPU socket. Remove the cover that is held down by the CPU clamp hold down. To remove this cover you must unlock the CPU locking mechanisms’ arm and pull it up. The new CPU has a plastic installer. The new CPU’s are pin free but have contacts instead. The CPU must be installed in the proper position which is built to only install one way. The plastic applicator is shaped so that it goes in only one way and it perfectly aligns the CPU. Pinch the plastic release the CPU is released from its applicator. Next you must close the locking arm for the CPU and secure it under the clip that holds it secure.
The next step is to install the CPU heat sink. It already has the thermal grease applied to the heat sink. No hassle, no mess when trying to apply it. Put the heat sink on top of the CPU. The heat sink has three pegs that it sits on one on one side and two on the other. I did notice that there was a sticker that had a direction on it but it was in direct conflict with the posts the heat sink sits on. So I would say It’s 99% idiot proof. Once the heat sink is in place close the heat sink clamp and push the lever back down. The CPU is now installed.
Adding a second CPU increases the need for cooling. HP includes the additional fans for the CPU. They are a simple pull out the plastic divider and drop in the new fan. The fan module is directional but can only be installed in one direction.
Last thing to do is to put the plastic air ducting back in place and put the top back on. Sometimes aligning the tabs on the case top is tricky and sometimes you must realign the plastic ductwork for it to sit correctly. It’s not terrible difficult though.
Now the assembly of the server is mostly done. Now I need to find a place in the rack to mount it and begin installing Windows 2008 Server R2.
If you remote onto a Windows server with any kind of regularity, you will probably have come across a scenario where the number of concurrent connections has reached the limit or you have users logged in and you don’t know who the hell they are…
I found today using the wonderful power of Google that there is a command to look and see who is logged in.
From DOS Command Line type in:
query session /server:YOURSERVERNAME
YOURSERVERNAME Denotes your servers actual name.
If you want to boot any of the users off use this Command Line gem.
rwinsta /server:YOURSERVERNAME 1
YOURSERVERNAME Denotes your servers actual name. And 1 is the user ID.
No more getting up and running to the physical server to login to remote desktop and its also an easy way to check who is logged in for server reboots.
Enjoy
