“There was a problem initializing WDS mode.”

This error started after a recent migration of the network to vlans, mstp, and vrrp at the core.  The pxe/wds/dhcp servers have changed addresses however remain in the same VLAN.  All configurations have been updated accordingly, dhcpd options, correct ip-helper addresses, etc..

While I haven’t had much time to look at it, a quick work-around seems to place the client within the same vlan as the wds server.  I’ll try to look at this some more when I have time.

• Windows 7 - I’ve been using it since beta, RC and RTM.. I like it
• 10Ggb Networking – Starting using 10Gb iSCSI with our homemade SAN.
• Cisco ASA – Replaced all PIX at various locations with spankin new ASAs..
• Barracuda Web Filter – Replaced Websense with Barracuda Web Filter for big savings.
• Barracudaware – Barracuda purchased Yostemite Backup and lowered the retail price even more.  It is now my recommended backup software for any network.
• AT&T Opt-E-man vs. XO T3 – Should have performance results comparing our 50mb Opt-E-man vs. our XO T3 soon, which is the better deal?
• RSTP Redundancy – Completed our fully redundant Layer2 network with some additional procurve switches and RSTP.  In the process of pushing a new vlan scheme with MSTP for load balancing and redundancy.

Barracuda recently entered the content filtering market with their appliance, and after a 30-day demo of their 610 model we decided it was the way to go. While it lacks some of the features of Websense, it will free up 2 servers and $8,000/yr in software renewals which is well worth the initial appliance cost.

The primary downside to the Barracuda was the lack of a Remote Filtering agent, which means our remote users and offices will have to proxy through our central office. With our new 50mb Opteman on the way, and utilizing Frontmotion Firefox ADM to force proxy settings, this won’t be a problem.

However..

Attempting to remove the Websense Desktop Client turned out to be more of a hassle then expected. When attempting to use the same .msi for the uninstall as used for the initial install, I would get “This action is only valid for products that are installed” as seen here:

After ensuring the .msi I was using was identical to what was used for the installation, I reinstalled the WDC then proceeded to remove it immediately which worked without issue. With a little GPO help, I was able to push this out to all workstations:

@echo off
REM WDC_Uninstall.bat
REM Copyright (c) 2009 Jared Orzechowski <jaredo at ameritech dot net>
 
if exist "C:\Program Files\Websense\WDC" GOTO :Uninstall
GOTO :End
 
:Uninstall
echo Removing Remote Client Filter
net use Y: \\domain.com\DFS\Client_installs\CPMClient /Y
start /wait msiexec /i Y:\CPMClient.msi REINSTALL=ALL REINSTALLMODE=veums PASSPHRASE=somepass REBOOT=NO /qn
"C:\Program Files\Websense\WDC\wdc.exe" -ds somepass
sc stop WebsenseDesktopClient
start /wait msiexec /x{14D74337-01C2-4F8F-B44B-67FC613E5B1F} /qn /norestart
net use Y: /DELETE /Y
rmdir /S /Q "C:\Program Files\Websense\WDC"
GOTO :End
 
:End
echo Operation Complete..

Our Zenoss deployment currently runs on CentOS, so I put down a method to shut down each type of host from a linux platform.  After much researching and testing, this is what I came up with (and am currently using in my shutdown script).

For Windows:

net rpc SHUTDOWN -C "Automated shutdown" -f -I "$server" -W $domain -U $username%$password

I replaced my arguments with some that would be more readable.  User and password are separated with %.

For Linux:

CMD="ssh -l $username $server shutdown -h now"
              expect -c "
              match_max 100000
              spawn $CMD
 
              expect {
                \"Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?\" {
                send \"yes\r\"
                exp_continue
                }
                \"password:\" {
                send \"$password\r\"
                expect -re \"$username*\"
                }
              }
              "

I wanted to shutdown linux servers without using keys but had to overcome the “do you want to connect” prompt.  In order to do that I had to use exact which can be installed with “yum install exact”

By turning these into functions and passing arguments, you can make a shutdown script in a couple of minutes.

The installation was a breeze with the rpm package and running the configuration script was pretty flawless. So I logged in through the Remote Management Console (https/port 8333), and created a fresh host. After copying over a Win2k3 iso, mounted the image and began the installation.

(On a side note I was doing this remotely, and found out that in order to use the Remote Console Client, I needed to allow ports 8333 and 902 through the firewall)

The initial Windows installation zipped right through, however, when I went to configure the network adapter none was listed. So I took a look at the Device Manager and BAM!

This device cannot start. (Code 10)

Having never come across this on VMware/Windows installation, I decided to reinstall my Windows host. Same thing.. So let’s install the driver.. that we need to download.. with no network card..

Lucky for us we have VMware! Downloaded the latest PCNet Family drivers for Windows 2003, tossed them in an .iso image, and mounted it to the Virtual CD-Rom for the host. Once I extracted/updated the driver, everything was running smooth again.

Download the .iso image here: AMD Driver v4
MD5: 78159679b644e64c0ca5618bc4de1995

KB #315231

This article describes how to configure Microsoft Windows XP to automate the logon process by storing your password and other pertinent information in the registry database. This feature permits other users to start your computer and to use the account that you establish to automatically log on.

Important If you turn on autologon, using Windows XP becomes more convenient. However, using this feature can pose a security risk.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

If you set a computer for automatic logon, anyone who can physically gain access to the computer can also gain access to everything that is on the computer, including any network or networks that the computer is connected to. Additionally, if you turn on automatic logon, the password is stored in the registry in plain text. The specific registry key that stores this value is remotely readable by the Authenticated Users group. Therefore, only use this setting if the computer is physically secured and if you make sure that users who you do not trust cannot remotely see the registry.

You can use Registry Editor to add your log on information. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate the following registry key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
3. Using your account name and password, double-click the DefaultUserName entry, type your user name, and then click OK.
4. Double-click the DefaultPassword entry, type your password under the value data box, and then click OK.If there is no DefaultPassword value, create the value. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. In Registry Editor, click Edit, click New, and then click String Value.
   2. Type DefaultPassword as the value name, and then press ENTER.
   3. Double-click the newly created key, and then type your password in the Value Data box.

   If no DefaultPassword string is specified, Windows XP automatically changes the value of the AutoAdminLogon registry key from 1 (true) to 0 (false) to turn off the AutoAdminLogon feature.

5. Double-click the AutoAdminLogon entry, type 1 in the Value Data box, and then click OK.If there is no AutoAdminLogon entry, create the entry. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. In Registry Editor, click Edit, click New, and then click String Value.
   2. Type AutoAdminLogon as the value name, and then press ENTER.
   3. Double-click the newly created key, and then type 1 in the Value Data box.
6. Quit Registry Editor.
7. Click Start, click Restart, and then click OK.

After your computer restarts and Windows XP starts, you can log on automatically.

If you want to bypass the automatic logon to log on as a different user, hold down the SHIFT key after you log off or after Windows XP restarts. Note that this procedure applies only to the first logon. To enforce this setting for future logoffs, the administrator must set the following registry key:

You can also use turn on automatic logon without editing the registry in Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition and in Microsoft Windows XP Professional on a computer that is not joined to a domain. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type control userpasswords2, and then click OK.Note When users try to display help information in the User Accounts window in Windows XP Home Edition, the help information is not displayed. Additionally, users receive the following error message:
   Cannot find the Drive:\Windows\System32\users.hlp Help file. Check to see that the file exists on your hard disk drive. If it does not exist, you must reinstall it.
3. Clear the “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer” check box, and then click Apply.
4. In the Automatically Log On window, type the password in the Password box, and then retype the password in the Confirm Password box.
5. Click OK to close the Automatically Log On window, and then click OK to close the User Accounts window.