Citrix Licensing Server Vendor Daemon Down

I had recently setup a Citrix Licensing Server 11.11.1 (build 13012).  It is a VM running on ESXi 5.1.  The installation gone through smoothly with the license file imported.

I restarted the Citrix Licensing Server after the completing the setup which is my usual practice to make sure things still work after a reboot.

After the reboot, I launched the Citrix License Administration Console and saw a critical alert.

Vendor daemon down: CITRIX

On the right pane, it showed “No such product or vendor exists: CITRIX”

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Missing Source Disk In VMware vCenter Converter

Last night I was trying to convert a physical server to a virtual machine using VMware vCenter Converter.  However, one of the disk from the source is not showing up in VMware vCenter Converter.

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Passed My PMP Exam

After procrastinating for many months, I finally scheduled my PMP (Project Management Professional) exam in June.  I did not have much choice on the date and needed to get it done before November.  Lesson learnt, schedule your exam earlier.  So I scheduled to take my exam on the 9th September.

My study materials:

• Rita Mulcahy's PMP Exam Prep 7th Edition
• PMBOK Guide 4th Edition
• PM FASTrack PMP Exam Simulation Software

Finding time to study is really tough.  I have to squeeze every minute of my lunch time to study and study till late night. 

First, I read the Rita Mulcahy's PMP Exam Prep thoroughly one time to close up gaps between what I know about Project Management and what is expected by Project Management Institute (PMI).  I played the Rita Process Chart game a few times which helped me to get a good overview of how the processes fit into the five process groups.

Then I read the PMBOK Guide.  The PMBOK gave a good overview of the five process groups and nine knowledge areas.  I didn’t spend too much time on the PMBOK Guide as compare to Rita Mulcahy's PMP Exam Prep.  However, the PMBOK Guide did strengthen my understanding of the mapping of the five process groups and nine knowledge areas.

Finally, I used the PM FASTrack PMP Exam Simulation Software for my final preparation.  First, I took the simulation test by knowledge area and each test can take up to two to three hours.  Then I took the SuperPMP with timing which helped me to gauge the time I need to complete the 200 questions.  I spent substantial amount of time doing these simulation test but it really prepared me well for the real four hours exam.

On the exam day, I arrived at the venue one and a half hour earlier.  Waited for forty five minutes before the test center opened.  I had to produce two IDs (one ID must have photo) for verification.  I was not allow to bring anything into the exam room, not even a watch.

I spent about three hours to complete the 200 questions and another 30 minutes to review my answers.  It took a while for it to generate the scoring report and the screen will be in plain white.  The scoring report shows a pass or fail result and proficiency level for each of the process group.  It does not show percentage of your score.

This is really a tough exam so you need to plan your study well and don’t run behind schedule.  Good Luck!

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Create Dell DR4000 CIFS Disk Storage in Symantec Backup Exec 2012

I was trying to create a Disk Storage in Symantec Backup Exec 2012 pointing to a Dell DR4000 CIFS share.  I go through the steps in creating Disk Storage in Symantec Backup Exec 2012.

I chose Disk-based storage for the type of storage.

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VMware VirtualCenter Server failed to start after migrating to another datacenter

In my previous post Migrating VMware vCenter With Veeam Backup & Replication, I talked about the challenges I faced in migrating a vCenter VM across vCenter Datacenter managed by the vCenter itself.

Towards the end of the previous post, I mentioned that after successfully migrating the vCenter VM using Veeam Backup and Replication, I faced another issue.  The VMware VirtualCenter Server service failed to start.

The following error was found in the Windows application log.

The description for Event ID 1000 from source VMware VirtualCenter Server cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer. If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event. The following information was included with the event: Failed to intialize VMware VirtualCenter. Shutting down... the message resource is present but the message is not found in the string/message table

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Migrating VMware vCenter With Veeam Backup & Replication

I have a vCenter managing two Datacenter (DC1 and DC2).  The vCenter is a virtual machine in DC1 Datacenter.  There is no shared storage between the two Datacenters.  I need to migrate the vCenter from DC1 to DC2 due to storage performance issue in DC1.  In DC1, there is only vSphere Standard Switch (VSS) so the vCenter is connected to VSS.  In DC2, vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) is being use.

There are basically two major challenges in migrating the vCenter from DC1 to DC2.

1. Copying the vCenter’s VM files from DC1’s storage to DC2’s.  vMotion without shared storage feature does not work.  Using vCenter Converter to do a V2V does not work because it detected the destination host is managed by the vCenter and prevented it.  Shutting down the vCenter VM, copying out the VM files from the source datastore to an intermediate storage and then copying back to the destination datastore will take very long and causes extended downtime (remember the source storage is having performance issue).
2. With the vCenter powered off for copying, the VDS will not be available for selection in DC2.  The copied vCenter will not be able to connect to the VDS in DC2 because it is not available.  If the copied vCenter cannot connect to the VDS in DC2 then the copied vCenter cannot work but VDS needs vCenter.  It is a dead-lock situation.

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vCenter CPU and Memory Usage Not Working

One of my ESXi host was having “Monday Blue” (let’s call it blue host) this morning and decided to play a trick on me.  After logging on to vCenter, I saw many virtual machines were migrating off from the blue host to another ESXi host. 

I clicked on the Summary tab of the blue host and was shocked to see the CPU usage and Memory usage showing 0 MHz and 0.00MB respectively.  There were virtual machines running on the blue host but vCenter was not getting the usage information from the blue host.  The migration happened so fast that the other host was feeling the strain.

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Backup Exec Remote Agent Crashed When Backing Up SharePoint 2010 Server Farm

I logged a case with Symantec Technical Support regarding Backup Exec Remote Agent crashing when I tried to backup SharePoint 2010 Server Farm in early April.

After a few attempts of verifying the configuration and troubleshooting, I was given a temporary workaround to bypass the SharePoint backup so that I can backup the content databases.  I have described how to do it in Bypassing Symantec Backup Exec 2012 SharePoint backup.

My case was escalated to Symantec Engineering Team with lots of logs collected.  In early May, Symantec had identified the cause of the issue was because my SharePoint 2010 Server Farm has more than 200 content databases.  The http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH205286 Symantec article describes the issue.

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Backup Exec - Snapshot technology error (0xE000FE1F): The device cannot be found

In the entry Bypassing Symantec Backup Exec 2012 SharePoint backup, I mentioned that I am not able to backup my SharePoint 2010 farm and as a temporary workaround, I am backing up the content databases.  Symantec has been working on my case and I received a second debug binary from them yesterday to test it out.

After putting in the debug binary version of ndmpsrvr.dll into all my SharePoint and SQL servers, I started a test backup but it failed with the following error.

V-79-57344-65055 - Snapshot Technology: Initialization failure on: "SharePoint – sharepoint.deinfotech.com80\Content-DB 1 (SQLP01\SP_ROOTSITE)". Snapshot technology used: No.

Snapshot technology error (0xE000FE1F): The device cannot be found.

Check the Windows Event Viewer for details.

V-79-57344-65055 - Snapshot Technology: Initialization failure on: "SharePoint - sharepoint.deinfotech.com80\Content-DB 100 (SQLP01\Content_IT)". Snapshot technology used: No.

Snapshot technology error (0xE000FE1F): The device cannot be found.

Check the Windows Event Viewer for details.

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Renting Pocket WiFi in Japan

My family had a holiday trip to Osaka Japan last week.  Just a day before flying off, we started searching information of pre-paid data SIM card in Japan so that our mobile devices can connect to Internet to make video/voice calls and for navigation. 

Initially, we set our eye on b-mobile Visitor SIM pre-paid card which costs ¥3,980 for 14 days but realized that we do not have a compatible MiFi and planned to buy one.  While searching for a compatible MiFi, we noticed there are lots of MiFi rental service in Japan which includes data plan (known as Pocket WiFi).  Here are some providers for Pocket WiFi.

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Microsoft Surface Pro

I was asked to configure a Microsoft Surface Pro for office use.  The Microsoft Surface Pro running Windows 8 Pro is powered by 3rd generation of Intel i5 processor.  It weighs about 900g which is about 240g heavier than the Dell Latitude 10.  The dockable keyboard sold separately is an useful accessory to have.  There is no SIM slot for Microsoft Surface Pro so WIFI is needed to get on to Internet.  The maximum configuration comes with 128GB storage which is double of Dell Latitude 10 maximum configuration.  It is quite a nice tablet but it will be good if it can “slim” down reduces in weight.

As part of the setup, I joined the Microsoft Surface Pro to our Active Directory domain.  After joining to the domain, the swipe up to get to the logon screen was disabled.  There is a message on the upper left corner which read “Press and hold the Windows button, and then press the power button to sign in.”.  This is different from Dell Latitude 10 which is a combination of volume up button plus power button.

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Dell Latitude 10 Tablet

I was given the opportunity to get my hand on a demo unit of Dell Latitude 10 Tablet installed with Windows 8 Pro.  The tablet is powered by Intel Atom Processor Z2760 and weighs 660g.  There is no dockable keyboard like the Microsoft Surface.  There is a docking station for the tablet where I can connect up keyboard but I find the docking connector a bit flimsy.  The configuration that I get also comes with micro-SIM slot.  The speaker is located at lower right corner of the back and my right hand tends to cover it while holding it.  Overall, it is still a decent tablet which allows I can get some works done on the go however an option with a dockable keyboard and shifting the speaker up will be good.

Before returning the demo unit, I reset it back to the default factory settings and it is really easy with Windows 8.  Here are the steps to do the reset.

Slide from right to left to call out the charm bar.  Touch on Settings.

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Free Symantec Backup Exec V-Ray Edition

Last week I have received two Symantec Backup Exec V-Ray Edition licences which also comes with one year of maintenance support.  Thanks to Matt Stephenson for informing me about the deal.  Also thanks to Iesa Behbehani for the help in getting the licences.

If you are a VMware vExpert, VMware Certified Professional or VMware Certified Instructor, you can get the free licences by submitting the request at http://bit.ly/BE_vExpert.

If you are a MVP, you can get the free licences by submitting the request at http://bit.ly/BE_MVP.

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vCenter Health Service–Health information is missing

I deployed VMware vCenter Operations Manager 5.7 (vCOPS) standard edition two weeks ago and saw that the Health badge having a score of 98.  Further drilling showed that vCenter was having an issue with an event status of vCenter Health Service–Health information is missing.

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Revival of a water damaged iPhone 4

It started when an iPhone 4 (not mine) accidently dropped into somewhere with water (ahem, I should not name it) and was damaged.  First mistake by the owner was to try powering it on but I can understand the anxiety to make sure the iPhone is still working.  However, doing so will just cause damage to the electronic parts.  She should have let the iPhone to dry up and there are lots of discussion on the Internet on how to do it.  One method that I have come across is to bury the iPhone in a pack of rice which will help to speed up the drying process.

Anyway, the owner was able to power up her iPhone but found that she was unable to charge it and iTune couldn’t detect the iPhone.  The battery went flat the next day and she was still not able to charge it.  So I helped to disassemble her iPhone and clean up the remaining water.  It did not solve the charging problem but I noticed that the battery was a bit bloated.  We ordered a battery which costs only USD4.15 but it took about 2 weeks to arrive.

I replaced the bloated battery and was able to power on the iPhone again.  Below is the picture of the bloated battery.

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Hold back your upgrade to vCenter Server 5.1 Update 1

If your vCenter Server login domain user account is associated with a large number of domain groups and multiple domains are configured as SSO identity sources, then you might not be able to logon to vCenter Server via the vSphere Web Client/vSphere Client after upgrade.

For more information check out this VMware Knowledge Base.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2050941

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Bypassing Symantec Backup Exec 2012 SharePoint backup

I am problem backing up my new SharePoint 2010 Farm using Symantec Backup Exec 2012 for the past few weeks and have been working Symantec support to resolve it.  The remote agent on the SQL Server crashes and the backup will fail.  The problem has yet to be resolved as Symantec Engineers are still analyzing the collected logs.

All my SharePoint and SQL servers are virtual machines running in VMware ESXi 5.1 and I thought of backing up the virtual machines for the time being but unfortunately ESXi 5.1 is still not supported by Backup Exec 2012 SP1 as described in http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/updated-quality-wins-every-time-vsphere-51-support.

So for the time being, I am backing up the SharePoint databases from the SQL Server.  However, when I tried to backup the databases in the SQL Server, Backup Exec is aware that SharePoint databases are hosted on the SQL Server.

Microsoft SharePoint Resources appears in the backup job properties.

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ASUS RT-N66U Dark Knight

After a few months of tolerating with the bad wireless signal and speed performance from using the wireless router given by my local ISP, I decided to get it replaced. 

I have quite a number of wireless devices at home ranging from laptops running Windows OS, MacBook, iOS devices, Androids devices, Blackberry devices.  Out of all these devices, iOS devices and MacBook have the worst wireless performance when using the ISP’s wireless router.  Below is the speed test result of my iPad.

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Upload Failed You are required to sign in to upload your changes to this location

I checked out an Excel file from a SharePoint 2010 document library.  After the Excel file had been checked out, I proceed to edit it with Microsoft Excel 2010.  I saved the Excel file after editing but when I tried to check in the Excel file, it failed!

The error message is Upload Failed You are required to sign in to upload your changes to this location.

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Adding 32-bit print driver on 64-bit Windows

Recently I tried to add the 32-bit printer driver for our “FX Apeosport 550 I” multi-function printer on a Windows Server 2008 R2 print server (which is 64-bit) and encountered a small issue.

On the Sharing tab of the printer, I clicked on the Additional Drivers button.

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