Cannot access a Netscaler logon page via Internet Explorer via HTTPS

If you are using Netscalers for load balancing and cannot access the GUI console via HTTPS, this may be because you are using the Netscaler built-in self signed certificate.  At the end of 2012, Microsoft pushed out a windows update that requires all SSL certs for be 1024bits minimum and the self-signed certificate is 512bit.  Have a look for the windows update KB2661254.

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX135480

The symptoms you will see are that you cannot click on the Continue to this website (not recommended) link despite you knowing that the certificate is unsigned.  Internet explorer will not give you a valid error message, but will just refuse to do anything.

To fix this:

• Install a real SSL certificate on the Netscaler
• Redo the self-signed certificate as 1024bit as per the Citrix article above
• Use Chrome or Firefox that do not enforce this requirement at time of writing

Windows update error 80072efd

When windows updates are checked against WSUS on a 2003 server, you may receive no error and no updates!  Check the windowsupdate.log file under c:\windows for the following line:

WARNING: SendRequest failed with hr = 80072efd. Proxy List used.

If you can see no proxy configured in Internet Explorer, open a command prompt and type proxycfg.exe.  If a proxy server is listed that shouldn’t be, simply run proxycfg.exe -d to set the server for direct access.

RVTools for VMWare

This is a great tool for auditing VMWare environments – www.robware.net

 

Windows 7 Power Report

If you have a laptop for day to day usage but you find it keeps running low on battery quickly, run the following command from a command prompt:

powercfg -energy

This runs for 60 seconds and produces a report which may prove useful in diagnosing the problem.

Also check:

1. Intel Rapid Storage driver is installed if required
2. Power savings settings on the intel wireless card in device manager and power options as newer cards can use a lot of battery power

Quickly delete files older than X days

A quick blast from the past.  If you don’t fancy using powershell, or if using a legacy 2003 server and want a quick way to delete files older than X days, use the following built in CMD command (for a scheduled task, etc) if Powershell is not an option:

forfiles.exe /p c:\FolderToClean /s /m *.log /d -7 /c “cmd /c del @file”

This searches for all files in the path given including subfolders for files with the .log extension which are older than 7 days and then deletes them.  A blast from the past, but saves using Powershell if you need.  You can pass through a move command, etc to move them elsewhere if needed.  The options are limitless!