Part of [...]]]> I’m in the process of writing some of the more complicated PowerShell code I’ve ever written to automate some laborious tasks at my new job.  The process I generally like to take when writing something like this is to modularize parts/steps of the automation as standalone components to be reused and consumed elsewhere.

Part of what I’m automating requires running installation of software.  This software comes in 32-bit and 64-bit flavors, so picking the correct install bits is very important.  In searching for “the best” way to determine installed OS Architecture, it became very apparent that Admins out there were relying on, what I would characterize as, error prone methods.  I needed something that would work on Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2008 R2.  Yes I’m aware that 2008 R2 is x64 only, that makes things easier, but I need to have a streamlined and solid method of checking, regardless of what system is running the install task.

Starting with the Vista/Server 2008 , a new property was introduced to the win32_OperatingSystem class, called OSArchitecture which makes this relatively trivial.  However, I want something that will work on 2003 if needed.

I started looking at other WMI classes to find a reliable way to determine, without having to rely on parsing text strings of a Caption property or other various methods.  I ended up finding the win32_Processor class and found a quick and easy solution – the AddressWidth and/or Architecture properties.  The Architecture property would be ideal if looking for Architectures other than 32/64-bit.

Below is the extremely simple snippet to perform this check against the first and sometimes *only* CPU installed. I know I had very limited reliable information out there on this, so I hope this helps someone in the future.

#region OS detection
$proc = get-wmiobject win32_processor | where {$_.deviceID -eq "CPU0"}
	If ($proc.addresswidth -eq '64')
		{
		$OSArch = '64-Bit'
		}
	ElseIf ($proc.addresswidth -eq '32')
		{
		$OSArch = '32-Bit'
		}
#endregion OS detection

I’m not going to review the device in the traditional sense, but rather as a [...]]]> You may have heard about a big launch today if you’re a Google Android fan… namely the Android Honeycomb powered Motorola XOOM.  I was able to spend some uninterrupted hands-on time with the XOOM and got some fuzzy questions answered.

I’m not going to review the device in the traditional sense, but rather as a long time user of Mobility technology and daily user of the iPad for almost a year.

If you want unboxing reviews, check out the following:

The XOOM definitely felt heavier than the iPad and it is by almost a 50grams/0.11lbs.  Couple the weight increase with the wide screen form factor and the device feels like it’ll be difficult to ‘toss around’.  I use that phrase loosely .  I state this because the iPad is easy to tote around and one hand.

Legacy Blade Systems…..

Cisco UCS Chassis…..

]]> Cable management and Airflow…..

Legacy Blade Systems…..

Cisco UCS Chassis…..

]]> http://www.lopo.com/2011/01/14/one-reason-why-cisco-ucs-rules-in-a-picture/feed/ 2 http://www.lopo.com/2011/01/10/exchange-20072010-activesync-control-which-users-are-enabled-automagically/ http://www.lopo.com/2011/01/10/exchange-20072010-activesync-control-which-users-are-enabled-automagically/#comments Tue, 11 Jan 2011 05:01:13 +0000 John Barsodi http://www.lopo.com/?p=161 Last year when we launched support for Windows Mobile 6.x devices via Exchange ActiveSync, I had a challenge of making sure only approved users were enabled for ActiveSync support. By default in Exchange(all versions), all mailboxes are enabled for ActiveSync, and specifically with Exchange 2007 when the CAS role is installed into the Organization. I [...]]]> Last year when we launched support for Windows Mobile 6.x devices via Exchange ActiveSync, I had a challenge of making sure only approved users were enabled for ActiveSync support. By default in Exchange(all versions), all mailboxes are enabled for ActiveSync, and specifically with Exchange 2007 when the CAS role is installed into the Organization. I decided to write this quick script to fix this ‘feature’ and would allow me to run interactively or via the task scheduler.

Prerequisites:

1. Create a Universal security group
2. From the EMS, get the GUID for the newly created group

   Get-group 'Group Name' | Select GUID

   I wanted to use the GUID to prevent the script from breaking in the event someone changed the group name.

You will need to populate the $grpguid variable with the GUID you obtain from Prerequisite #2. Once complete, schedule to run on a machine that has the Exchange cmdlets and you will be off and running.  Once you want to control who is enabled, simply populate the group  that you created in Prerequisite #1 with users who’ve been approved to utilize ActiveSync.

###############################################
# ScriptName: Set-EAS.ps1
# Author:     John Barsodi
# Date:       1/12/10
# Version:    .1
# Desc:       Sets the EAS Mailbox feature to False if not member of
# Desc:       the AD group <Enter Your Group Name>
# Tags:       Group EAS
###############################################
Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.Admin
$AdminSessionADSettings.ViewEntireForest = $True
$grpGuid  = "YourGroupGUIDHere"
$grpdn = (Get-group $grpGuid).DistinguishedName
$grpBind = [ADSI]"LDAP://$grpdn"
$members = $grpBind.Member
$EnabledEAS = (Get-CasMailbox -resultsize unlimited | where {$_.ActiveSyncEnabled -eq "True"})
Foreach ($obj in $EnabledEAS){
	$UserDN = $obj.DistinguishedName
	$UserDisplayName = $obj.Name
  		If($members -contains $UserDN){
    		Write-Host -ForegroundColor Green "$UserDisplayName found in Group"
   		}
  		Else{
   			Set-CasMailbox $UserDisplayName -ActiveSyncEnabled $false
   			Write-Host -ForegroundColor Red "$UserDisplayName not found in Group"
  		}
}

You can download the script here: set-eas.txt

Feel free to leave any questions in the comments.

Winning the lottery.

Nope.  Perhaps next year… though it would help if I worked on playing [...]]]> This time of the year we see an overplay of “My Year in Review” type of articles and TV segments.  I, instead of looking at what DID happen, want to look at what DIDN’T happen for me this year.

Winning the lottery.

Nope.  Perhaps next year… though it would help if I worked on playing more often right?  I did win $9 on one of the 6 tickets I did buy.  Even better though, my wife gave birth to our beautiful baby girl.

Getting into a car accident.

Ooops, that DID happen.  Thanks ice + snow bank and the guy behind me who wasn’t paying attention and T-boned the rear passenger quarter panel/Tire of my Jeep.

Breaking/slowing my Starbucks habit.

I’m working on this currently.  Keurig FTW.  Hopefully my top 5 list for 2011 will not include this one.

Taking a trip to Sydney, Australia.

I want to get to Sydney someday.  I instead made it to Tokyo, Japan.  Amazing, amazing city/country.  Definitely need to get back there.

Die.

Nope, still alive and ticking, for today at least.  One thing that did die was my Gall Bladder and had that dude removed.

Welp those are some of the things that DIDN’T happen in 2010 to me.

I never make New Years resolutions because I’ve always thought they were pitfalls for failure and most of the time forgotten by January 21st.  However, this year I have some [...]]]> Well.. I run 1920×1200 resolution at home and 3 monitors at 1600×1200 at work… think I will strive for 2560×2048 and 1920×1200 respectively. ok that was lame.

I never make New Years resolutions because I’ve always thought they were pitfalls for failure and most of the time forgotten by January 21st.  However, this year I have some goals that I want to pursue and what better way to wrap them up than by claiming them as New Years resolutions?

The obligatory “Get into shape and lose x number of pounds”. Actually, I want to work on my conditioning the first 6 months of 2011 as I want to start training in July for a marathon in January 2012.  It’s a Rock’n Roll marathon in Phoenix, AZ and I ran it in 2005.  My goal is to improve on my 2005 time by 1hr 10 mins, but I will be satisfied with dropping 40 mins.   Developing a schedule and sticking to it will be critical.

Professional Growth.  I’m now the Team Lead/Architect for my group.  I touch a number of major technologies.  I want to get certified in the technologies that I spend the most amount of time with.  I’ve always had the opinion of “meh” when it comes to IT Certifications, but I’ve recently had a different outlook on taking a test and striving to complete the certification that aligns with your experience as something you have should do to remain attractive in the job market and validate your skills and experience to your current employer.

Two areas of technology excite me and I believe they are the direction of the industry and this is where I’ll focus over the next 12 months.

Messaging, Collaboration(UCC), and Mobility – Exchange 2007/2010, Office Communication Server 2007/Lync Server 2010, Email Archiving,  BlackBerry Enterprise Server, GOOD Technology, iOS, BlackBerry, Android, and Windows Phone 7.

2011 Goal: Achieve MCITP status for Exchange 2010 and Lync 2010.  I’m still debating about finishing my Exchange 2007 MCITP status.  I have 1 of the 3 required tests complete.  I don’t think it’d be terribly difficult to study up and pass the remaining two.

CLOUD! –  Vmware & Hyper-V R2, Cisco UCS, Storage, and Management tools.

2011 Goal: Work towards VCP status, training budget pending of course.  VMware requires a mandatory 5 day class before you can take the test.

Here’s to a successful 2011!