Active Directory / GPO / DNS / DHCP

Add an Active Directory user to the Local Administrators Group using Group Policy (GPO)

by

In this post, I will show you how to add a user to the Local Administrators Group on the machines using GPO. Point to note that this procedure is not limited to adding a user to local Administrators group. You can use the process to rename, create or delete a Local Group (by selecting different Action in the GPO setting). We will choose Update Action as we are updating Local Administrators Group. We will be using Group Policy Preferences (GPP) to complete …

Read moreAdd an Active Directory user to the Local Administrators Group using Group Policy (GPO)

Exchange 2010
Office 365

How to decommission Exchange Server 2010 after Office 365 Migration

by

Scenario Organization has moved all their mailboxes to the Exchange Online from On-Premise Exchange 2010 server. MX Record is cutover to office365 (inbound and outbound mail flow is moved to office365). Active Directory Synchronization is being used for Syncing the users to Azure Active Directory. Requirement Decommission Exchange 2010 server from the environment while keeping the Active Directory Synchronization through Azure AD Connect active / running. Procedure You may have used Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) or Third party Tools to migrate the …

Read moreHow to decommission Exchange Server 2010 after Office 365 Migration

Office 365
Powershell

Office365/Exchange Online – Messages are not moving to Archive Mailbox after Applying Retention Policy | Litigation Hold | Retention Hold

by

Recently came across an issue where we had applied the Mailbox Retention Policy for all the users but for some of the users, emails were not getting moved to Online Archive Mailbox. After investigating on this issue, it was identified that the retention hold was enabled on these users mailbox which was not allowing the messages to move to Archive Mailboxes. I have used below commands to check the Retention Hold value for the users and updated this value to fix the …

Read moreOffice365/Exchange Online – Messages are not moving to Archive Mailbox after Applying Retention Policy | Litigation Hold | Retention Hold

Azure Active Directory

Azure AD – Self Service Password Reset (SSPR)

by

Summary: In this post, we will see how to enable Self Service Password Reset on Azure for Office365 Users and how its managed and synced back to On-Premise Active Directory. Description: SSPR includes features such as Password Change, reset, Unlock and writeback to on-premise Active Directory. License Requirement: As we are working with Hybrid User which is synced from On-Premise AD to Azure AD and also have the requirement of On-Prem Writeback therefore Microsoft 365 Business or Azure AD Premium P1 or P2 License …

Read moreAzure AD – Self Service Password Reset (SSPR)

Azure Active Directory

Office 365 User Validation Error [Failed to Sync the ArchiveGuid]

by

Recently came across an issue on Office 365 Portal after clicking on a users with archiving enabled. The Users properties pane was showing an error message on the top of the screen. The error message is mentioned below. Please note the guid’s and correlation Id may be different in your case. When you have users synced from local Active Directory to Azure Active Directory and you have a local exchange server or you have decommissioned the exchange server, you may see that …

Read moreOffice 365 User Validation Error [Failed to Sync the ArchiveGuid]

Cisco Switch

How to Recover Password of Cisco Switch 2960 (Step-by-Step Guide)

by

What if you have forgot the administrator password of the Cisco 2960 Switch and you try real hard to remember it and type the passwords but none of them work. This post will come to the rescue when you will have to recover the password without losing the running configuration. Lets Start! 1) Connect your console cable to the switch and open the terminal emulator software e.g. Putty on the machine (as shown below). Please make sure the correct COM Port is mentioned in the Serial Line box below. You can check the …

Read moreHow to Recover Password of Cisco Switch 2960 (Step-by-Step Guide)

Citrix XenApp 6.5 Server Decommissioning Checklist

by

There are various reasons for decommissioning a Citrix XenApp 6.5 server e.g. you have upgraded the Citrix Environment to 7.X or the product is end of life or it could be to save the cost of running and maintenance of the old servers. But before you do, make sure all the Application and Server Dependencies are taken in to account and migrated to the new servers. Here is a list of steps which you can use to decommission a Citrix XenApp Server. Its a very basic …

Read moreCitrix XenApp 6.5 Server Decommissioning Checklist

NetScaler

How to Download the Certificate from NetScaler in PFX Format

by

Once the certificate has been uploaded on the NetScaler in .crt and .key. Its very easy to download it back in the PFX format from the NetScaler. Please follow the below steps and download the certificate along with Private Key. Once Exported, you can save the Password Protected PFX in a secure location.

Windows 10

Disable TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 on Windows 10 machines through GPO

by

Transport Layer Security (TLS)  – TLS protocol is used to provide privacy and data integrity between two communicating applications. SSL and TLS are both cryptographic protocols but because SSL protocols does not providers sufficient level of security compared to TLS, SSL 2.0 and SSL 3.0 have been deprecated. TLS 1.0 was released in 1999, TLS 1.1 was released in 2006, TLS 1.2 was released in 2008 and TLS 1.3 was released in 2018. Most of the companies and Internet Browsers are now …

Read moreDisable TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 on Windows 10 machines through GPO

Outlook 2016 – Disable Recent People and Other Suggestions Autocomplete view

by

When we type an email address in Outlook to send an email, Autocomplete feature provides a list of Recent People and Suggestions in the drop down list.The latest update provides up to 5 suggestions. If you want to delete an email ID from other suggestions list then there is no X sign next to it and you will not be able to remove the entry, If you like the Old Autocomplete format which display’s full list then you can use below registry …

Read moreOutlook 2016 – Disable Recent People and Other Suggestions Autocomplete view

Windows 10

Windows 10 Startup Error: Windows cannot access \\server\foldername Error code: 0x80070035 The Network path was not found.

by

Issue Description: When a client PC is restarted and after the user sign-in to the computer, Error message “Windows cannot Access \\<server>\<foldername>” pop-up shows on the desktop screen and user is unable to see any desktop icons and Task bar Pinned items. This issue generally occur when you have re-directed Desktop and Documents folder to a file server using Folder Redirection GPO and is usually fixed (temporarily) by performing multiple restarts of the PC. Error 1: Windows cannot access \\server\<re-directed folder> (In …

Read moreWindows 10 Startup Error: Windows cannot access \\server\foldername Error code: 0x80070035 The Network path was not found.

Office 365

How to configure Office 365 SMTP Relay for Multi Functional Devices (Printers, Scanners etc.)

by

When you move all mailboxes to the office365 (“cloud”), the next thing in your task is to migrate the SMTP Relay Service. If you plan to keep your existing on premise exchange server then it can be used / utilized as a SMTP Relay server. Else, if you plan to decommission the exchange server for good, in that case you can utilize Office365 as a SMTP Relay server to relay the emails. There are three methods which you can use to configure …

Read moreHow to configure Office 365 SMTP Relay for Multi Functional Devices (Printers, Scanners etc.)

Cisco Router

How to Recover enable password / enable secret of Cisco Router

by

Cisco Router Password Recovery: In case if you forgot the password of Cisco Router, its very easy to recover it. I recently got into an issue where i could not remember the enable password or enable secret set on the Cisco Router. I had to go into the Recovery Mode and through password recovery procedure was able to recover it successfully. The Procedure i am showing you is from Cisco Router 4331 ISR but it should work on other Cisco Routers as well. Please note that …

Read moreHow to Recover enable password / enable secret of Cisco Router

Microsoft Teams
Office 365
Powershell

How to disable a particular service or license for example Teams from office 365 assigned license plan using Powershell

by

When you assign office 365 license to a user, office 365 services are available to the users like Teams or SharePoint etc. You can enable or disable a specific license for an office 365 account or all office 365 accounts using powershell. Steps: 1) Open Powershell and connect to MSOnline Powershell Module using command connect-msolservice. If you do not have MSOnline Module Installed, you can download it by clicking on MSOnline Offline Installer. Follow the instructions to install the Package Install Powershell Module Manually or use …

Read moreHow to disable a particular service or license for example Teams from office 365 assigned license plan using Powershell