Quantcast
Channel: Symantec Connect - ブログエントリ
Viewing all 5094 articles
Browse latest View live

Odd Restore behaviour in new Enterprise Vault 11 Search

0
0

A few weeks ago I helped on a forum post on the Symantec Connect forums (If you're an EV person, and don't use those forums, you should!). The issue was about the 'typical' secretary/manager relationship that exists in many companies around the world, and the issue related to restoring items.

Say you have a typical secretary/manager relationship and, when logged in as the secretary, you try to restore something to the managers Inbox folder. The user interface in the new Enterprise Vault 11 Search application is pretty slick and it lets you pick the folder you want to restore the item to. In my case I chose the Inbox of the Managers mailbox.

When the "Restoring" window then pops up, unfortunately it says it's restoring it to:

\\sec1@ev.local\Inbox

argghh That's the secretaries folder.  That's not what I selected in the previous step.

Turns out that this is a bit of a bug, I think, and the person on the forums was going to follow this up with Symantec. Hopefully it will be something that will be fixed in the future.


Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) Migrator Facts in Enterprise Vault

0
0
Behind-the-scene architecture details, feature usage & Troubleshooting tips about Amazon S3 as secondary storage Mirgator of data in Symantec Enterprise Vault

In the blog, I will introduce details about Amazon S3 cloud migrator feature & its usage in Enterprise Vault. This will help you to understand architecture, feature details, how to use it as secondary migrator in Enterprise Vault & if any problem, how to start troubleshooting it.  

 

In Enterprise vault world, what is use of Amazon S3 cloud migrator?

  • Customer can use Amazon S3 as a secondary storage location in the cloud to store data which is CAB files, created by the Enterprise Vault file collection software, which in turn contains *.DVS* files.
  • In Enterprise vault 11, the feature name has been changed from Symantec Enterprise Vault Cloud Storage Connector (Amazon S3; Rackspace or AT&T Synaptic) to Symantec Enterprise Vault Cloud Storage Secondary Migrator.

 

Details of Feature Usage

  • Enables Migration of archived data to Amazon S3 cloud storage.
  • Enables Retrieval of archived data from Amazon S3 cloud storage.
  • Enables Expiration of archived data from Amazon S3 cloud storage.

 

What’s the minimum requirement?

  • The Enterprise Vault 10.0.1 or later installation supports migration to Amazon S3 storage
  • Amazon S3 account
  • At least one Amazon S3 bucket to store data.

 

Some interesting facts\issues highlighted via this article:

  • Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) store Multi Region support: Enterprise Vault started with support for Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) by store the buckets storage based in US region. Enhancing this capability further, now with Enterprise Vault 10.0.4 onwards, customer can now choose other geographical regions as well where Amazon Simple Storage Service stores the buckets that they create using the Administration Console (VAC). A different Amazon S3 store region is an option to customers to optimize latency, minimize costs, or address regulatory requirements. Objects stored in one Amazon S3 store region never leave that region unless customer explicitly transfer them to another Amazon S3 store region.
  • With Enterprise Vault 10.0.4, list of Amazon S3 store regions supported via Enterprise Vault are: US Standard, US West (Oregon), US West (Northern California), EU (Ireland), Asia Pacific (Singapore), Asia Pacific (Sydney), Asia Pacific (Tokyo), South America (Sao Paulo). The Advanced tab of the vault store partition properties includes the Amazon bucket region parameter, which provides various region options.
  • With Enterprise Vault 10.0.4 we support Amazon S3 instances across the world using both HTTP and HTTPS

 

Oh that’s great, what’s the architecture?

  • The architecture is based on time tested Symantec’s OST framework. Well in Simple terms, here is how EV will communicate with Amazon S3 for storing, retrieval and expiration:

 

Architecture.jpg

 

Backend of this architecture

  • Answer is: Enterprise Vault Storage Streamer API:

The Enterprise Vault Streamer exposes interfaces that benefit the communication of Enterprise Vault with third party Storage System Vendors components that store, retrieve and delete Enterprise Vault content stream to and from a storage system.

 

As shown in the pictorial representation, the Vendor’s Streamer Plugin implements all the interface methods exposed by EV Streamer API. This facilitates Enterprise Vault, which in turn loads the Vendor’s Streamer Plugin DLL and calls appropriate method to read and write data to the Vendor’s Storage System. The Streamer storage could be presented as a primary or secondary storage in the Enterprise Vault Administration Console.

backend Architecture.png

 

Worth noting here: There are other devices that also make use of EV Streamer API. Please check Compatibility Guide for supported devices as well as related blogs on Streamer API devices.

 

Troubleshooting Tips?

  • Verify the correctness of Amazon S3 configuration parameters and/or Server connectivity issues by clicking the ‘Test’ button on Partition’s Advanced tab.
  • Set LogLevel parameter to ‘Everything’ for verbose logging of Amazon S3 OST Plugin.
  • Set Dtrace on StorageFileWatch.exe to monitor migration activity (data upload and empty cab deletion).
  • Set Dtrace on EVStgOfflineOps.exe to monitor retrieval or restore activity.
  • Set Dtrace on StorageManagment.exe to validates the configured settings and monitor ‘Test’ button functionality.
  • For further refinement, set Dtrace filter on “OST Streamer” keyword to view Amazon S3 OST Plugin specific log messages.

 

Troubleshooting Scenarios & Solutions:

  • Scenario 1 – Amazon Region: Enterprise Vault version 10.0.4 onwards, when a customer choose a regions where Amazon Simple Storage Service stores the buckets, it should immediately reflect in the configuration page as well as in the configuration file (perf file). Just in case, if the new region changes, to store the buckets, are not reflected (for example from US region to Sydney region in the Advance configuration tab on EV), it may result in bucket to be created in US region only.

Solution: To solve such issues, one needs to make sure that the right configuration is entered in Enterprise Vault (Advanced tab of the vault store partition properties). Second, make sure you have right account\credential for the new region. Third, check the integrity and location of bucket by logging into Amazon S3 account via browser and verifying bucket and location.

 

  • Scenario 2 – CURL Proxy Settings:  Many customers prefer to use and configure proxy with Amazon S3 in Enterprise Vault. The CURL proxy settings (with or without SSL) can be entered in Enterprise Vault in Advanced tab of the Vault Store Partition properties. If there are any issues in this, the way customer can troubleshoot is by narrowing it down if this is an EV configuration issue or in general network issue. In browser, one can type https://s3.amazonaws.com and check if it is hitting correctly with same proxy settings (as entered in the Advanced tab of the vault store partition properties). If results vary in both cases, then it may be a pointer as which part the issue is.

For example, in case if you get HTTP error 400 (For example something like this in dtrace:  EV:M     OST Streamer: [TID:7584] [Plugin] <= Recv header, 0000000026 bytes (0x0000001a)|0000: HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request|), it’s worth to check who is throwing HTTP error 400 – configured proxy or the Amazon cloud (you can use wireshark or similar tool to find that).

Second, it’s worth checking which proxy type is used – .

 

What’s not supported?

  • As of now, Enterprise Vault current implementation of Amazon S3 plugin, does not support SSE (Server side encryption).

 

Need more information? – Look for these Technote

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH206024 

Both these issues related to configuration, has been addressed in 10.0.4

 

Hope you found this information useful. Comment if you want to know anything further on this topic. smiley. Thanks for reading this blog and sharing your valuable feedback. 

 

 

GLOSSARY

TERM

DEFINITION

 

 

 VAC

Enterprise Vault Administration Console for Configuring and Managing Archiving Target, Policies and Vault Stores.

Amazon S3

Amazon  Simple Storage Service

Content Stream

Data in the form of bytes of stream to be stored.

OST Adapter

OST Adapter  - a.k.a EV Streamer Plugin for OST

It’s a COM dll that implements all the methods exposed by IEVContentStreamer interface and acts as a bridge between Enterprise Vault Server and OST layer

 

DVS File

Digital Vault Saveset. DVS file is a single piece of archived content and the associated ownership. It is a fully self contained storage structure and is itself in compressed format. Every single file or email you successfully archive should have a corresponding .DVS file. Note: A DVS file is mainly stored on Primary Storage

CAB File

A CAB file is collection of one or more .DVS files. A CAB file merely clubs DVS files and doesn’t further compress them. Purpose of creating a CAB file is to migrate it to cheaper secondary storage.

 

Altiris 7.1 Custom inventory for Autodesk

0
0
Autodesk Inventory

I started to hunt as many have before for a custom inventory for Altiris 7.1 that would get the Autodesk information like in Altiris 6.5. Every time I thought I had the script working I would find a different product it was not getting the information on correctly. Or in some case it just would not read a registry field like it would all the others. As I started to look I found the reason was not all the registry fields patterns where the same in about 2012 they changed the format of the registry configuration. There are also other products in Autodesk that the path in the registry was different or the field I wanted had a different name from one product to the next. So I started to compile a list of all the software I may need and looked for the registry keys I would need to make a functional custom inventory script for Autodesk. Just so we can all get it out yes I know I could have broken parts of this down into functions and had the script shorter but at the time I was not thinking about that. This script is VBS with tables in altiris as follows: ProductName, Release, SerialNumber, LocaleID, KeyName and StandaloneNetworkType. I found as I worked through this KeyName was no longer needed but rather then make a new Altiris inventory table I left it and have my script filling the column with "No Longer Needed"  You can leave it or remove that is your call.

 

 

  '===================================================================================================================
'      On Error Resume Next

'Create instance of Wbem service object and connect to namespace
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" & "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set objRegistry = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\default:StdRegProv") 

'====================================================================================================================
'Create instance of Altiris NSE component
Dim nse
Set nse = WScript.CreateObject ("Altiris.AeXNSEvent")

' Set the header data of the NSE
' Please don't modify this GUID 
nse.To = "{1592B913-72F3-4C36-91D2-D4EDA21D2F96}"
nse.Priority = 1

'Create Inventory data block. Here assumption is that the data class with below guid is already configured on server
Dim objDCInstance
Set objDCInstance = nse.AddDataClass ("{<Custom Inventory table GUID>}")

Dim objDataClass
Set objDataClass = nse.AddDataBlock (objDCInstance)
'==============================================================================

Dim oShell
Set oShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim sCompName, strProductName, objItems, i

'List of Autodesk products to review
Dim objAutodeskProducts  'Create a variable that will be a Dictionary
Set objAutodeskProducts = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")

objAutodeskProducts.Add "0", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R17.0\ACAD-5001:409" 
objAutodeskProducts.Add "1", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R17.2\ACAD-7001:409" 
objAutodeskProducts.Add "2", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R17.2\ACAD-7001:416" 
objAutodeskProducts.Add "3", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R17.2\ACAD-7007:409" 
objAutodeskProducts.Add "4", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R17.2\ACAD-7002:409" 
objAutodeskProducts.Add "5", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD LT\R11\ACLT-4001:409" 
objAutodeskProducts.Add "6", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD LT\R12\ACADLT-5001:409"
objAutodeskProducts.Add "7", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD LT\R13\ACADLT-6001:409" 
objAutodeskProducts.Add "8", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD LT\R14\ACADLT-7001:409" 
objAutodeskProducts.Add "9", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD LT\R14\ACADLT-7001:410" 

objItems = objAutodeskProducts.Items
For i = 0 To objAutodeskProducts.Count -1
sCompName = objItems(i)

strProductName = sCompName & "\ProductName"

If KeyExists(strProductName)Then

strProductName = oShell.RegRead(sCompName & "\ProductName")
strRelease = oShell.RegRead(sCompName & "\Release")
strSerialNumber = oShell.RegRead(sCompName & "\SerialNumber")
strLocaleID = oShell.RegRead(sCompName & "\LocaleID")
strKeyName = "No longer inventoried"
strStandaloneNetworkType = oShell.RegRead(sCompName & "\StandaloneNetworkType")

            'Add a new row
            dim objDataRow
            set objDataRow = objDataClass.AddRow
                'Set columns
                objDataRow.SetField 0, strProductName
                objDataRow.SetField 1, strRelease
                objDataRow.SetField 2, strSerialNumber
                objDataRow.SetField 3, strLocaleID
                objDataRow.SetField 4, strKeyName
                objDataRow.SetField 5, strStandaloneNetworkType
        
End If
Next

Dim oShell2
Set oShell2 = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim sCompName2, strProductName2, objItems2, i2

'List of Autodesk products to review
Dim objAutodeskProducts2  'Create a variable that will be a Dictionary
Set objAutodeskProducts2 = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")

objAutodeskProducts2.Add "0", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.0\ACAD-8001:409" 
objAutodeskProducts2.Add "1", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.2\ACAD-A001:409" 
objAutodeskProducts2.Add "2", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.2\ACAD-A001:40A" 
objAutodeskProducts2.Add "3", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.1\ACAD-9004:409" 
objAutodeskProducts2.Add "4", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.2\ACAD-A000:409" 
objAutodeskProducts2.Add "5", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.0\ACAD-8007:409" 
objAutodeskProducts2.Add "6", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.2\ACAD-A007:409" 
objAutodeskProducts2.Add "7", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.0\ACAD-8002:409" 
objAutodeskProducts2.Add "8", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.1\ACAD-9002:409" 
objAutodeskProducts2.Add "9", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.2\ACAD-A002:409" 
objAutodeskProducts2.Add "10", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.1\ACAD-9005:409" 
objAutodeskProducts2.Add "11", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.2\ACAD-A005:409" 
objAutodeskProducts2.Add "12", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD LT\R15\ACADLT-8001:409" 
objAutodeskProducts2.Add "13", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD LT\R16\ACADLT-9001:409" 
objAutodeskProducts2.Add "14", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD LT\R16\ACADLT-9001:40A" 
objAutodeskProducts2.Add "15", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD LT\R17\ACADLT-A001:409" 

objItems2 = objAutodeskProducts2.Items
For i2 = 0 To objAutodeskProducts2.Count -1
sCompName2 = objItems2(i2)

strProductName2 = sCompName2 & "\ProductName"

If KeyExists(strProductName2)Then

strProductName2 = oShell2.RegRead(sCompName2 & "\ProductName")
strRelease2 = oShell2.RegRead(sCompName2 & "\Release")
strSerialNumber2 = oShell2.RegRead(sCompName2 & "\SerialNumber")
strLocaleID2 = oShell2.RegRead(sCompName2 & "\LocaleID")
strKeyName2 = "No longer inventoried"
strStandaloneNetworkType2 = oShell2.RegRead(sCompName2 & "\AdLM\Type")

'           Add a new row
            dim objDataRow2
            set objDataRow2 = objDataClass.AddRow
'               Set columns
                objDataRow2.SetField 0, strProductName2
                objDataRow2.SetField 1, strRelease2
                objDataRow2.SetField 2, strSerialNumber2
                objDataRow2.SetField 3, strLocaleID2
                objDataRow2.SetField 4, strKeyName2
                objDataRow2.SetField 5, strStandaloneNetworkType2
        
End If
Next

Dim oShell3
Set oShell3 = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim sCompName3, strProductName3, objItems3, i3

'List of Autodesk products to review
Dim objAutodeskProducts3  'Create a variable that will be a Dictionary
Set objAutodeskProducts3 = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")

objAutodeskProducts3.Add "0", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R19.0\ACAD-B001:409" 
objAutodeskProducts3.Add "1", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R19.0\ACAD-B001:40A" 
objAutodeskProducts3.Add "2", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R19.1\ACAD-D001:409" 
objAutodeskProducts3.Add "3", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R20.0\ACAD-E001:409" 
objAutodeskProducts3.Add "4", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R19.0\ACAD-B000:409" 
objAutodeskProducts3.Add "5", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R19.0\ACAD-B007:409" 
objAutodeskProducts3.Add "6", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R19.1\ACAD-D005:409" 

objItems3 = objAutodeskProducts3.Items
For i3 = 0 To objAutodeskProducts3.Count -1
sCompName3 = objItems3(i3)
strSubName3 = left(sCompName3,60)

strProductName3 = sCompName3 & "\ProductName"

If KeyExists(strProductName3)Then

strProductName3 = oShell3.RegRead(sCompName3 & "\ProductName")
strRelease3 = oShell3.RegRead(sCompName3 & "\Release")
strSerialNumber3 = oShell3.RegRead(sCompName3 & "\SerialNumber")
strLocaleID3 = oShell3.RegRead(sCompName3 & "\LocaleID")
strKeyName3 = "No longer inventoried"
strStandaloneNetworkType3 = oShell3.RegRead(strSubName3 & "\AdLM\Type")

'           Add a new row
            dim objDataRow3
            set objDataRow3 = objDataClass.AddRow
'               Set columns
                objDataRow3.SetField 0, strProductName3
                objDataRow3.SetField 1, strRelease3
                objDataRow3.SetField 2, strSerialNumber3
                objDataRow3.SetField 3, strLocaleID3
                objDataRow3.SetField 4, strKeyName3
                objDataRow3.SetField 5, strStandaloneNetworkType3
        
End If
Next

Dim oShell4
Set oShell4 = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim sCompName4, strProductName4, objItems4, i4

'List of Autodesk products to review
Dim objAutodeskProducts4  'Create a variable that will be a Dictionary
Set objAutodeskProducts4 = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")

objAutodeskProducts4.Add "0", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD LT\R18\ACADLT-B001:409" 
objAutodeskProducts4.Add "1", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD LT\R18\ACADLT-B001:40A" 
objAutodeskProducts4.Add "2", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD LT\R20\ACADLT-D001:409" 
objAutodeskProducts4.Add "3", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD LT\R20\ACADLT-D001:40C" 

objItems4 = objAutodeskProducts4.Items
For i4 = 0 To objAutodeskProducts4.Count -1
sCompName4 = objItems4(i4)
strSubName4 = left(sCompName4,63)

strProductName4 = sCompName4 & "\ProductName"

If KeyExists(strProductName4)Then

strProductName4 = oShell4.RegRead(sCompName4 & "\ProductName")
strRelease4 = oShell4.RegRead(sCompName4 & "\Release")
strSerialNumber4 = oShell4.RegRead(sCompName4 & "\SerialNumber")
strLocaleID4 = oShell4.RegRead(sCompName4 & "\LocaleID")
strKeyName4 = "No longer inventoried"
strStandaloneNetworkType4 = oShell4.RegRead(strSubName4 & "\AdLM\Type")

'           Add a new row
            dim objDataRow4
            set objDataRow4 = objDataClass.AddRow
'               Set columns
                objDataRow4.SetField 0, strProductName4
                objDataRow4.SetField 1, strRelease4
                objDataRow4.SetField 2, strSerialNumber4
                objDataRow4.SetField 3, strLocaleID4
                objDataRow4.SetField 4, strKeyName4
                objDataRow4.SetField 5, strStandaloneNetworkType4
        
End If
Next

Dim oShell5
Set oShell5 = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim sCompName5, strProductName5

sCompName5 = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R15.0\ACAD-1:409" 

strProductName5 = sCompName5 & "\ProductName"

If KeyExists(strProductName5)Then

strProductName5 = oShell5.RegRead(sCompName5 & "\ProductName")
strRelease5 = oShell5.RegRead(sCompName5 & "\Release")
strSerialNumber5 = oShell5.RegRead(sCompName5 & "\SerialNumber")
strLocaleID5 = oShell5.RegRead(sCompName5 & "\LocaleID")
strKeyName5 = "No longer inventoried"
strStandaloneNetworkType5 = "Autodesk 2000 no network type"

'           Add a new row
            dim objDataRow5
            set objDataRow5 = objDataClass.AddRow
'               Set columns
                objDataRow5.SetField 0, strProductName5
                objDataRow5.SetField 1, strRelease5
                objDataRow5.SetField 2, strSerialNumber5
                objDataRow5.SetField 3, strLocaleID5
                objDataRow5.SetField 4, strKeyName5
                objDataRow5.SetField 5, strStandaloneNetworkType5
        
End If
'Next 

Dim oShell6
Set oShell6 = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim sCompName6, strProductName6

sCompName6 = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\Inventor\RegistryVersion18.0"

strProductName6 = sCompName6 & "\ProductName"

If KeyExists(strProductName6)Then

strProductName6 = oShell6.RegRead(sCompName6 & "\ProductName")
strRelease6 = oShell6.RegRead(sCompName6 & "\ProductVersion")
strSerialNumber6 = oShell6.RegRead(sCompName6 & "\SerialNumber")
strLocaleID6 = "No Local ID"
strKeyName6 = "No longer inventoried"
strStandaloneNetworkType6 = oShell6.RegRead(sCompName6 & "\LicenseMode")

'           Add a new row
            dim objDataRow6
            set objDataRow6 = objDataClass.AddRow
'               Set columns
                objDataRow6.SetField 0, strProductName6
                objDataRow6.SetField 1, strRelease6
                objDataRow6.SetField 2, strSerialNumber6
                objDataRow6.SetField 3, strLocaleID6
                objDataRow6.SetField 4, strKeyName6
                objDataRow6.SetField 5, strStandaloneNetworkType6
        
End If
'Next 

Dim oShell7
Set oShell7 = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim sCompName7, strProductName7

sCompName7 = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\Navisworks Simulate\11.0"

strProductName7 = sCompName7 & "\ProductName"

If KeyExists(strProductName7)Then

strProductName7 = oShell7.RegRead(sCompName7 & "\NAVSIM-1\Product Name")
strRelease7 = oShell7.RegRead(sCompName7 & "\NAVSIM-1\Version")
strSerialNumber7 = oShell7.RegRead(sCompName7 & "\NAVSIM-1\Serial Number")
strLocaleID7 = "No Local ID"
strKeyName7 = "No longer inventoried"
strStandaloneNetworkType7 = oShell7.RegRead(sCompName7 & "\AdLM\Type")

'           Add a new row
            dim objDataRow7
            set objDataRow7 = objDataClass.AddRow
'               Set columns
                objDataRow7.SetField 0, strProductName7
                objDataRow7.SetField 1, strRelease7
                objDataRow7.SetField 2, strSerialNumber7
                objDataRow7.SetField 3, strLocaleID7
                objDataRow7.SetField 4, strKeyName7
                objDataRow7.SetField 5, strStandaloneNetworkType7
        
End If
'Next 

Dim oShell8
Set oShell8 = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim sCompName8, strProductName8

sCompName8 = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\Navisworks Simulate x64\11.0"

strProductName8 = sCompName8 & "\ProductName"

If KeyExists(strProductName8)Then

strProductName8 = oShell8.RegRead(sCompName8 & "\NAVSIM-1\Product Name")
strRelease8 = oShell8.RegRead(sCompName8 & "\NAVSIM-1\Version")
strSerialNumber8 = oShell8.RegRead(sCompName8 & "\NAVSIM-1\Serial Number")
strLocaleID8 = "No Local ID"
strKeyName8 = "No longer inventoried"
strStandaloneNetworkType8 = oShell8.RegRead(sCompName8 & "\AdLM\Type")

'           Add a new row
            dim objDataRow8
            set objDataRow8 = objDataClass.AddRow
'               Set columns
                objDataRow8.SetField 0, strProductName8
                objDataRow8.SetField 1, strRelease8
                objDataRow8.SetField 2, strSerialNumber8
                objDataRow8.SetField 3, strLocaleID8
                objDataRow8.SetField 4, strKeyName8
                objDataRow8.SetField 5, strStandaloneNetworkType8
        
End If
'Next 

Dim oShell9
Set oShell9 = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim sCompName9, strProductName9

sCompName9 = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\Revit"

strProductName9 = sCompName9 & "\ProductName"

If KeyExists(strProductName9)Then

strProductName9 = oShell9.RegRead(sCompName9 & "\2014\REVIT-05:0409\ProductName")
strRelease9 = oShell9.RegRead(sCompName9 & "\2014\REVIT-05:0409\Version")
strSerialNumber9 = oShell9.RegRead(sCompName9 & "\2014\REVIT-05:0409\SerialNumber")
strLocaleID9 = "No Local ID"
strKeyName9 = "No longer inventoried"
strStandaloneNetworkType9 = oShell9.RegRead(sCompName9 & "\Autodesk Revit 2014\AdLM\Type")

'           Add a new row
            dim objDataRow9
            set objDataRow9 = objDataClass.AddRow
'               Set columns
                objDataRow9.SetField 0, strProductName9
                objDataRow9.SetField 1, strRelease9
                objDataRow9.SetField 2, strSerialNumber9
                objDataRow9.SetField 3, strLocaleID9
                objDataRow9.SetField 4, strKeyName9
                objDataRow9.SetField 5, strStandaloneNetworkType9
        
End If
'Next 

Dim oShell10
Set oShell10 = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim sCompName10, strProductName10

sCompName10 = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\Structural"

strProductName10 = sCompName10 & "\ProductName"

If KeyExists(strProductName10)Then

strProductName10 = oShell10.RegRead(sCompName10 & "\RSA\27.0\RSAPRO-2014:409\Product Name")
strRelease10 = oShell10.RegRead(sCompName10 & "\RSA\27.0\RSAPRO-2014:409\Version")
strSerialNumber10 = oShell10.RegRead(sCompName10 & "\RSA\27.0\RSAPRO-2014:409\Serial Number")
strLocaleID10 = "No Local ID"
strKeyName10 = "No longer inventoried"
strStandaloneNetworkType10 = oShell10.RegRead(sCompName10 & "\License\RSA 2014\LicType")

'           Add a new row
            dim objDataRow10
            set objDataRow10 = objDataClass.AddRow
'               Set columns
                objDataRow10.SetField 0, strProductName10
                objDataRow10.SetField 1, strRelease10
                objDataRow10.SetField 2, strSerialNumber10
                objDataRow10.SetField 3, strLocaleID10
                objDataRow10.SetField 4, strKeyName10
                objDataRow10.SetField 5, strStandaloneNetworkType10
        
End If
'Next 

Dim oShell11
Set oShell11 = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim sCompName11, strProductName11

sCompName11 = "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\3dsMaxDesign\16.0"

strProductName11 = sCompName11 & "\ProductName"

If KeyExists(strProductName11)Then

strProductName11 = oShell11.RegRead(sCompName11 & "\ProductName")
strRelease11 = oShell11.RegRead(sCompName11 & "\Release")
strSerialNumber11 = oShell11.RegRead(sCompName11 & "\SerialNumber")
strLocaleID11 = "No Local ID"
strKeyName11 = "No longer inventoried"
strStandaloneNetworkType11 = oShell11.RegRead(sCompName11 & "\AdLM\Type")

'           Add a new row
            dim objDataRow11
            set objDataRow11 = objDataClass.AddRow
'               Set columns
                objDataRow11.SetField 0, strProductName11
                objDataRow11.SetField 1, strRelease11
                objDataRow11.SetField 2, strSerialNumber11
                objDataRow11.SetField 3, strLocaleID11
                objDataRow11.SetField 4, strKeyName11
                objDataRow11.SetField 5, strStandaloneNetworkType11
        
End If
'Next 

nse.SendQueued

Function KeyExists(key)
    Dim objShell
    On Error Resume Next
    Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
        objShell.RegRead (key)
    Set objShell = Nothing
    If Err = 0 Then KeyExists = True
End Function

SysAdmin Day Interview with Ted Kekatos

0
0
Happy International SysAdmin (System Administrator) Appreciation Day

SYSAdmin_Final_1200px.png

Ted Kekatos is the founder of “System Administrator Appreciation Day” and the site http://sysadminday.com. He kick-started the tradition 15 years ago in the summer of 1999 (sysadmin day is always the last Friday of July). This week he was kind enough to carve out some time from his IT work to answer some of my less-than-professional questions about himself and sysadmins (IT people/role) in general.

ME: Let’s start with some easy, get-to-know-ya questions… Coffee, tea, or Mountain Dew?

TED: Mountain Dew if I had to pick, but my favorite is Orange Crush.

PC or Mac?

PC. I actually started with the CP/M OS in early 80’s, then worked on MSDOS for Victor computer company which then essentially went defunct when the IBM-PC came out. I do admire the Mac from afar.

1999 question (year Ted started sysadmin day): Nintendo N64 or Sega Dreamcast?

Neither. I’m actually not a big gamer. But I did build my own Pong game once with transistor circuitry hardware. My parents were supportive of my hobbies, and there was an old article in Popular Electronics (1976) that gave step-by-step instructions on how to make the circuitry from scratch. I was a teenager at the time and I still have the Pong game but I have no idea if it still works.

1999 again - Netscape 4.0 or Internet Explorer 5.0?

I was working for a Microsoft Visual Basic development company at the time, as an IT manager, so I definitely would have been using Internet Explorer.

Quiona patty or bacon-wrapped cheeseburger?

Bacon-wrapped cheeseburger. I don’t even know what that other thing is. Let me Google it. Huh.

A national holiday may not be feasible for sysadmin day but what about a commemorative stamp or a virtual bitcoin image with your headshot on it?

How about a beer mug?

Nice!
This will be the 15th year of sysadmin day since you started it. For wedding anniversaries that’s either Crystal (traditional) or watches (modern). What special gift might folks give sysadmins this year along those lines?

Easy. “Black Plastic,” as in a Playstation 4.

We found a cake that someone made to look like a computer motherboard for sysadmin day. What’s your favorite original gift or cake you’ve seen given in recognition of sysadmin day or just to thank someone who is in IT?

I heard of someone getting a $500 gift card. That seems pretty cool. I like hearing about random sysadmin parties being put together in various countries. Some of them are pretty elaborate. Flickr even has a sysadmin day tag if you want to check out event pictures or post some pictures of your own (https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/sysadmin+day/)

We’re seeing a shift in the ‘nerd’ perception of tech savvy folks to being somewhat cooler. Yet there still seem to be some negative stereotypes from sitcoms to movies, and advertising. Is the perception of a sysadmin’s role evolving to a more accurate place?

There have always been nerds for thousands of years. But as technology has become a more integral part of our lives, knowing someone who understands the technology is valuable. It’s like having a doctor in the family. I think that helps with the perception over time.

What can sysadmins do to help the rest of their company understand what they do and why it’s critical to the success and growth of the business?

A lot of people don’t understand each other’s jobs. I’ve been told I’m a good teacher and perhaps as evidence of that, I often get assigned new technical employees so that I can act as a mentor for their first few months on the job. I think that helps with good company culture. Being known as a helpful teacher probably makes employees more willing to approach me as an IT worker/advisor.

Last one. Anything else you’d like to share before we sign off?

Yes. HP had a print Ad many years ago for the HP LaserJet 4000 with a sysadmin guy sitting at a desk in his cubicle with a line of folks waiting to give the sysadmin various gifts and fruit baskets. It showed folks had appreciation for a better printer in the office.  After I showed that around to some coworkers and friends, I came up with the idea for sysadmin day. The “Internet Way-Back Machine” may have a copy of the original site (found it). While originally I had to email all kinds of different people and outlets to get traction, 15 years later I don’t have to promote the site or day anymore. It has a life of its own and I love that, it’s fantastic.

 

(P.S. from James… and of course, there’s always a relevant XKCD comic)

Symantec Storage Foundation and High Availability Solutions (SFHA) 6.1.1 is now available

0
0

Symantec Storage Foundation and High Availability Solutions (SFHA) 6.1.1 is now available for AIX, Solaris(SPARC), Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and SUSE Linux.

6.1.1 is a Maintenance Release (MR), refer to the Release Notes for more information.

SORT links are below

Use SORT notification to receive updates on new patches and documentation

 

Cheers

tony

RankProductRelease typePatch nameRelease date
1Storage Foundation HA 6.1Maintenance Releasesfha-sol11_sparc-6.1.12014-07-23
2Storage Foundation HA 6.1Maintenance Releasesfha-sol10_sparc-6.1.12014-07-23
3Storage Foundation HA 6.1Maintenance Releasesfha-sles11_x86_64-6.1.12014-07-23
4Storage Foundation HA 6.1Maintenance Releasesfha-rhel6_x86_64-6.1.12014-07-23
5Storage Foundation HA 6.1Maintenance Releasesfha-rhel5_x86_64-6.1.12014-07-23
6Storage Foundation HA 6.1Maintenance Releasesfha-aix-6.1.12014-07-23

 

Resource Manager errors with duplicate right-click Items and Altiris 7.5 SP1

0
0

 

When we upgraded our production SMP server from 7.5HF2 to 7.5SP1 we noticed a lot of errors sloshing around our event logs in the days that followed,

  1. Access Denied: No Permission to view task history
  2. Unhandled Exception: An entry with the same key already exists
  3. Unable to create menu item as there due to an XML schema error. An entry with the same key already exists

 

LOGVIEWER.png

The first error initially dominated the logs (occuring every few seconds) and then it eased, becoming less frequent (perhaps hourly) and sporadic.

The second and third errors always occured together and only started appearing once the techs started using the console following the upgrade. It turned out that these two errors conincided with a broken resource manager. When console users double-clicked a computer object in the console this screen appeared,

Server_Error_0.png

 

So not very pretty. This error occured even for Symantec Administrators and, as stated above, coincided perfectly with errors 2 and 3 above in the event logs.

After chatting to Altiris Support and uploading my logs and a profiler dump, it turns out that the second two errors were known issues with HF4 (TECH215778: SMP 7.5 HF4 - Error while opening resource manager for User or computer resources). The query in that tech article didn't help locate the issue so I wrote one that might help,

select Name,MyCount from 
(select COUNT(*) as MyCount,Name from vItem
 where ClassGuid='AD07C90E-BFB5-4C7E-8F26-B2A57574EC03'
group by Name) xxx
where MyCount>1

This query searches the editable item actions (class type Altiris.NS.EditableItemAction.EditableResourceItemAction) and sees if any have the same name. And indeed it found the duplicate names and resolved them. With that change, those last two errors vanished and Resource Manager popped back into life.

As an aside, this is a pain as we wanted to have our right-click actions grouped in folders according to role for increased visibility of each roles items. Now we can't do that so ultimately that means a re-think.

As for the first error.... still working on it...

 

 

Windows 7 and SMP7.5 Migration Complete!

0
0

Last week saw us having a few festivities to mark the end of a major project here; our XP to Windows 7 migration. We're all pretty chuffed with what we've achieved here; a very smooth user upgrade with remarkably few hitches considering from start to finish the project of migrating nearly 2900 machines took 7 months. 

Windows7_Rollout_1.png

This really was a remarkable success. The target time to migrate a user's desktop from XP to Windows 7 was set at 1hr, and this average time was to hold no matter what the site link speed was, and despite the fact that machines would be competing with up to 15 machines being deployed concurrenty.

Most of the migrations were also complicated by the fact that they were at user's desks which were distributed across 50 sites. To enable the deskside techs to focus on confirming machine configuration, specialist software requirements, and the securing/restoration of local user data, the deployment aspect of the migration had to be spot on. The migration process would involve a skeleton ground crew, and thus required a high degree of automation. The tool chosen to execute the migration was DS6.9 and it performed well; 189,000 migration tasks were executed with a four nines accuracy. That's impressive.

Hidden within this project however was another project; our migration to version 7.5 of the Symantec Management Platform. Unknown to most of our users, when they were migrated to Windows 7, they were also migrated to SMP 7.5. This migration was just as smooth. Although we had secured a couple of emergency lifelines within Symantec just in case, it turned out that there was no need to use them. Key points we found were,

  • The new SMP SQL used about 50% less CPU resource on our virtual infrastructure despite the database being twice the size and a more aggressive delta update schedule
     
  • No service anomolies as yet to report
     
  • Only minor issues raised to Altiris Support in the migration to SMP 7.5; no show stoppers at any point
     
  • No requirement from me (as yet) to create lots of custom SQL queries to help manage our client estate. Out-of-box functionality now good enough to keep us moving 'off-piste'. 
     
  • Much simplified application deployment and reporting (using compliance and flipbooks). Much in the way of day-to-day resource savings here.
     
  • Don't be afraid to lean on your Symantec reps and Partner. They've got the experience you'll need.
     
  • Read the release notes, check out the known issues (it can be embarrasing if you skip this step)
     
  • Check out issues being raised here on Symantec CONNECT. You never know... they just might apply to you!

Important to our implementation was the concept of keeping it simple. So we've only implemented the solutions we really needed,

  1. Software Management
  2. Inventory
  3. Real-time and remote control
  4. Monitor

Timescales were simply too tight to include anything else. The only customisations we went for here were in the UI to give different roles a different console feel. We don't use Patch, Asset or Deployment in the 7.5 world yet. And our software management currently does not utilise supercedence. As we're sub 5000 clients, we also have a single NS server (no hiearchy) and one site server which hosts task services. 

With the migration done and dusted, we've also just recently upgraded to SP1 with only one impacting issue raised; a broken resource manager. This was due to the fact we have duplicate names for our right-click menu tasks (see my other blog today for details) so was nice and simple to resolve. Other than that, I would say it's all pretty much smooth running here.. touch wood.... ;-)

Final words of advice are test as much as you can. Yes, you'll always miss something but you can avoid those nasty show shoppers by testing, testing and then testing again. Good luck!

 

New Back Door Trojan Program is No Fool


Backup Exec 2012 and Oracle RAC database tree visualization

0
0

Hello to everyone,

I was facing problems while configuring a backup exec job with Oracle RAC over Linux environment.
I would like to share how it was solved.

Scenario:

Using Symantec Backup Exec 2012, Oracle RAC and Red Hat 6.3

Problem:

While configuring a backup exec job with oracle RAC, on 'Backup Selection' tab it was not possible expand Oracle RAC database tree.

Error messages: Oracle Database "Instance"(Unavailable) or Authentication failed on connection

Solution:

Add O/S user that has DBA privileges (the owner of oracle binaries) to the beoper group
Copy /etc/oratab to /etc/VRTSralus/beoratab
Do not eeplace the dbname entries in /etc/VRTSralus/beoratab with the name of the instance of the RAC database on that machine. Keep the same.
This example uses the root account to configure the agent.

Note: the user account with which you are logged in the server cannot be a member of the Oracle DBA group.  If root is a member of the Oracle DBA group, expect to see problems verifying the credentials. Make sure you have installed the 64-bit agent if you are running 64-bit O/S.  The 32-bit version will install but it will also exhibit problems verifying the credentials.

Only for information:

Oracle SIDs on each node vs the database instance. Each node of the RAC has an Oracle SID which can be different from the database name
Each node's Oracle SID can be identified by the environment variable ORACLE_SID (echo $ORACLE_SID at a command line).
 

Example (2-node RAC) :
Physical Host Name ORACLE_SID Database Instance Name DatabaseID
OracleServer1 PHAROS1 PHAROS 3514636826
OracleServer2 PHAROS2 PHAROS 3514636826

To find the database instance name and database identifier (DB-ID)

sqlplus SYS as SYSDBA
or to connect to a specific Oracle SID, sqlplus SYS@PHAROS1 as SYSDBA
select DBID,NAME from v$database;

Continuing Solution Item:

Commands to run the agent configuration tool:

su - root
/opt/VRTSralus/bin/AgentConfig

[root@oracle1 bin]# ./AgentConfig
Symantec Backup Exec Remote Agent Utility
 Choose one of the following options:
 1.  Configure database access
 2.  Configure Oracle instance information
 3.  Quit
Please enter your selection: 1

Configuring machine information
 Choose one of the following options:
 1. Add system credentials for Oracle operations
 2. Edit system credentials used for Oracle operations
 3. Remove system credentials used for Oracle operations
 4. View system credentials used for Oracle operations
 5. Quit
 Please enter your selection: 1
 Enter a user name that has local system credentials: root
 Enter the password:
 Re-enter the password:
 Validating credentials.......
 Do you want to use the full computer name/IP address for Oracle operations? (Y/N): Y
 Enter the full computer name or IP address: oracle_node_name.include.fully.qualified.domain.name
 Do you want to use a custom port to connect to the media server during Oracle operations? (Y/N): N
 Commit Oracle operation settings to the configuration file? (Y/N): Y
 SUCCESS: Successfully added the entry to the configuration file.

Configuring machine information
 Choose one of the following options:
 1. Add system credentials for Oracle operations
 2. Edit system credentials used for Oracle operations
 3. Remove system credentials used for Oracle operations
 4. View system credentials used for Oracle operations
 5. Quit
 Please enter your selection: 4
 Entry 1
    ObjectName: DBAID
    Port: 5633
 Entry 2
    ObjectName: Machine
    HostUsername: root
    FQDN: name.include.fully.qualified.domain.name
    Port: 5633

Configuring machine information
 Choose one of the following options:
 1. Add system credentials for Oracle operations
 2. Edit system credentials used for Oracle operations
 3. Remove system credentials used for Oracle operations
 4. View system credentials used for Oracle operations
 5. Quit
 Please enter your selection: 5

Symantec Backup Exec Remote Agent Utility
 Choose one of the following options:
 1.  Configure database access
 2.  Configure Oracle instance information
 3.  Quit
 Please enter your selection: 2
 

If this computer is a RAC node, you must perform additional steps for configuration before you continue.                                                                                At this point the above note is referring to the afore-mentioned prerequisite: copy of /etc/oratab called /etc/VRTSralus/beoratab with the database instance name entries:

The ortab file would contain the following information on both the nodes.
+ASM1:/oracle/product/10.2.0/asm:N
PHAROS:/oracle/product/10.2.0/db:N

The beoratab file on NODE 1 should not be modified to reflect the ORACLE_SID for that node as shown below.                                                               Same thing has to be done on the NODE 2

beoratab file on NODE 1
+ASM1:/oracle/product/10.2.0/asm:N
PHAROS:/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1:N

beoratab file on NODE 2
+ASM1:/oracle/product/10.2.0/asm:N
PHAROS:/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1:N

Configuring the Oracle Agent
 Choose one of the following options:
 1.  Add a new Oracle instance to protect
 2.  Edit an existing Oracle instance
 3.  Delete an existing Oracle instance
 4.  View Oracle instance entries that have been added in the Remote Agent Utility
 5.  Quit
Please enter your selection: 1

Select an Oracle instance to configure
 Entry 1. PHAROS
 Enter the number 0 to go back
Enter your selection: 1

Enter the Oracle database SYSDBA user name: SYS
Enter the Oracle database SYSDBA password:
Re-enter password:
Validating credentials.......

If you get to this stage and it reports "failed to login" please check the correct 64bit/32bit agent has been installed and that the account used to execute this AgentConfig is not a member of the OracleDBA group.  Follow the steps on screen and answer the prompts.  To check, select option 4 to view the oracle instance entries that have been added... it should read something like:

Entry 1
 ObjectName: PHAROS
 DatabaseLogin: SYS
 MediaServerName: BE11d.local.domain.net
 JobTemplate: Default

The MediaServerName should be the Fully Qualified Domain Name.  Check that name resolution is working, adding the FQDN to the HOSTS file if appropriate

Repeat for each node of the RAC

....

Let me clarify that I was following the steps indicated by Lilavati(http://www.symantec.com/connect/forums/backup-exec-and-oracle-rac-linux-question), but it was not working for me. So I decided keep the Oracle database instance name PHAROS instead of Oracle instance names PHAROS1 and PHAROS2 of each node in the configuration process. Further more, it was not necessary configure BE Console (Backup Exec Settings -> Oracle).

...

Hope it can really help any colleague.

Hugs,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Cristiano S.

지능적인 신종 백도어 트로이 목마 프로그램

Dragging and Dropping to Virtual Vault

0
0

Quite often end-users make use of Virtual Vault to archive things that they no longer need in their mailbox. How do they do this? What happens to the Virtual Vault files? Let's see...

First of all, as we all know, Virtual Vault and Vault Cache work in tandem. Virtual Vault itself really consists of just a metadata cache (the MDC file). If you have that, then you have Virtual Vault in your Outlook mailbox profile. Here is one for my test user:

2014-07-27_11h31_47.png

When I drag and drop some items from my mailbox into Virtual Vault, what happens to them?

First of all, they are added by the Enterprise Vault Outlook Add-in to the MDC file. Here you can see the size difference from the previous screenshot, after I dragged and dropped a folder from Outlook into Virtual Vault:

2014-07-27_11h35_42.png

At this point that might be all that happens. You can see the items which are waiting by looking at the synchronisation window:

2014-07-27_11h37_37.png

In the background though the next time the Vault Cache synch operation runs the items will be sent to the Enterprise Vault server for actual archiving. And on the synch after that, the items will become 'just' stubs again in the MDC file.

The MDC file though won't shrink in size. It's one of the things with 'all' PST files; they don't automatically shrink when data is removed from them.

Donna O’Hear Joins Symantec to Lead Vertical Channels

0
0

I’m pleased to announce the appointment of Donna O’Hear to the position of Senior Director, North America, Vertical Channels. In this role, Donna will bring her expertise to help lead Symantec’s channel efforts in the federal, state and local government, healthcare and education markets. She’ll be taking on this unique role as we’re making continued investments in the channel in the vertical space, and we’re confident that her years of leadership experience in addition to our commitment to grow and evolve our program will help make our partners successful.

120px_Donna O'Hear.jpg   Donna has more than 20 years of experience developing strategies and leading teams to accelerate revenue and increase profits for IT products and services through OEM, channel resellers, systems integrators and service providers. She is also an expert in federal contracting, financing and leasing. Donna joins us from Avaya Government Solutions, where she led a team responsible for partner enablement, growth and profitability for the federal market. She has also held channel roles at Harris Corporation, Cisco and GE Capital.  

This role is unique in that it’s focused on working to evolve our channel programs to be more targeted and effective, providing value into the vertical markets.  Understanding the unique nuances of each of the industries, how they tie back to Symantec solutions, and how Symantec can help our partners add value in those industries via the right coverage model and enablement will be key.

I’m excited for Donna to join the Symantec team and I’m certainly not the only one. Rob Potter, Vice President, Federal at Symantec shared with me how he’s looking forward to working with Donna due to her excellent track record in key vertical markets. “Donna has a wealth of experience making channel programs successful,” he said. “At Symantec, she will be the conduit for our teams to engage with organizations in these key verticals. This is great news for our partners focused on vertical markets and another example of our continued commitment to the channel.”

My colleague Greig Patton, Vice President, Enterprise at Symantec also had this to add: “Donna has robust experience across these industries, relevant channel management experience and really strong technical knowledge.  She’s at the intersection point of where Symantec, our partners and vertical markets will meet to help our partners become even more effective.”

This is an exciting time for Symantec and our partners. We’re seeing considerable interest from organizations in healthcare, education and government, which have expressed a renewed focus on the importance of IT and security. We will continue to invest in this space, and develop new programmatic elements and resources in the future.

Snifula Banking Trojan Back to Target Japanese Regional Financial Institutions

Cyber Shakedowns: A Hacker's New Payday

0
0

Cyber extortion and ransomware are among the fastest growing criminal tactics. Sometimes the threats are real, and sometimes they are just a trick to get businesses and individuals to pay up. We look at the motives and methods for the latest in this type of cybercrime, and offer advice on how to deal with these types of attacks and protect your assets.

日本の地方金融機関を狙い始めたトロイの木馬 Snifula

0
0

Snifula の新しい亜種は、日本の小規模の地方銀行を標的としています。


Analysts see Symantec’s Vision through customer eyes

0
0

Symantec is in transition and so, too, are the problems that customers are asking us to solve. We believe that the time to simplify and integrate one of the industry’s broadest portfolios is now, refocusing on what’s needed most, in order to fulfil those customers’ widely diverse and ever-expanding expectations.

That is a role we are more than happy to take on at Symantec, especially as more and more organisations are telling us that what they want, most of all, is a trusted IT advisor that can help them seize new opportunities, reduce risk and cost, and ensure that services and data are available, resilient and compliant. In other words, they want a simpler way to grow their business – and a partner to keep their systems and people safe on that journey.

Go_CMYK_0_0.jpgSymantec has been making important changes over the last 18 months  that will help us better serve our customer’s needs today, but also into the future – changes that impact every aspect of our business. Much of that is driven by the ‘heavy lifting’ that we’ve been doing behind the scenes: the transformation that is making us more efficient and effective. How? By streamlining our middle management, refocusing our salesforce, and simplifying internal processes to increase productivity.

Why Symantec? Because we have a portfolio that is uniquely positioned to meet those needs. And I’m pleased to report that this is not just us saying so. Eight Symantec customers and three partners were happy to endorse Symantec’s trusted advisor role to their businesses in front of a packed room of analysts at Symantec Vision in Las Vegas a couple of months ago.

Unifying Information Management

Three customers spoke openly at Vision about how they are working with Symantec to unify information management. The challenge is that data now all too often exists in silos that need to be joined together into a unified whole. So Symantec is developing an Information Fabric Platform that uses metadata to automatically map, classify, manage, protect and streamline the search and discovery of unstructured data.

Another key customer described how it has been working with Symantec to streamline its backup processes. In just a few years, its data has expanded to the point where it is now carrying four times more servers, packed with customer transactions. A series of Symantec NetBackup appliances, remotely and centrally administered, has provided the solution, freeing up staff to concentrate on more mainstream activities.

Analysts also heard from another customer in the financial sector that had to implement new controls within 30 days, in order to receive federal TARP funds – a deadline that seemed impossible to meet. However, I’m happy to say that Symantec engineers immediately took on the challenge and came up with a solution that integrated identity access management with Symantec Data Insight and Data Loss Prevention, saving the day. “Symantec made our IT department look like a superstar,” one executive noted. That’s an endorsement we are grateful to accept and will endeavour to live up to that.

Unifying Security

At Vision, four other customers also talked about the ways in which Symantec is unifying security and the payback that this is delivering:

  • One Midwest bank integrated its point security solutions by monitoring these through Symantec Managed Security Services, enabling it to automate many security functions and control security labour costs.
  • Another reduced malware events 70% by turning to Symantec.cloud protection for web and email, with Symantec Endpoint Protection automatically enforcing policies that shut out additional attack vectors.
  • The third major customer evaluates risk exposure by using Symantec solutions when considering new marketing initiatives. It has proved a vital asset in protecting customer data.
  • And the fourth has turned to Symantec Mobile Management Suite to wrap a layer of protection around mobile applications and data, with the ability to change security policies ‘on the fly’.

Simplifying partner success

But such successes are not something you can achieve in isolation. Our partners also play a vital role in getting Symantec solutions to market, delivering to the same high standards we set ourselves. One of the key messages we flagged up at Vision was how we have redesigned our Partner Programme, rebuilding it from the ground up, to reinforce that philosophy every step of the way. It means wholehearted commitment to, and greater rewards for, those partners who, across a range of competency areas, deliver the greatest value to our customers.Prosper_CMYK_0.jpg

So, what can you expect next from Symantec? First and foremost, we are planning to pick up the pace of our transformation, with a new innovation model focused on bringing to market new, integrated solutions. And we will continue to enhance our existing solutions and develop others that integrate with our own. We are bringing to market a whole suite of updates around Advanced Threat Protection, mobile, information archiving and other solutions across our information protection portfolio. On the ATP front, we now have a whole new approach to advance threat protection, delivering even stronger safeguards and business value.

We’ve created new centres of excellence, such as the Appliance Centre, which takes the lessons learned from creating the fastest-growing, purpose-built integrated backup appliance, and more efficiently share them for other aspects of our business that could benefit from a delivery model.

Our pledge is to help our customers meet their needs simply, safely and quickly – and then push on from there to meet their evolving requirements.

The Symantec goal is to fundamentally change the way security is delivered and information is managed through our integrated efforts and ecosystems. That indeed is the vision; now we are ready to deliver against that.

Check out the highlights from the Industry Analyst conference, (Registration required to download content) and some videos from Vision 2014 on SymantecTV

How to check all device drivers installed on your system

0
0

InstalledDriversList by NirSoft is a portable tool that lists all device drivers that are currently installed on your system.
As shown in the image below, for every device driver is shown : Driver Name, Display Name, Description, Startup Type, Driver type, Driver Group, Filename, File Size, Modified/Created Time of the driver file, and version information of the driver file.

InstalledDriversList.jpg

Available 32-bit and 64-bit versions. InstalledDriversList is also available in several other languages
Supported OS: Windows Xp , Windows Vista , Windows 7 , Windows 8 , Windows 8.1 – (x86 and x64 bit)

License: Freeware

Link : InstalledDriversList  

DeepSight Global Incident Map

0
0

Symantec’s Cyber Security Group has updated the intelligence available in the DeepSight Global Incidents widget on the MSS and DeepSight portal.  We have added a completely interactive environment, that will allow you to search for events by city, or by threat name this will allow you see at a glance hotspots in the threat landscape as well as search for global distributions of specific threats. 

 

Additionally you can expand this widget to full screen and more completely interact with the information.  There is an information button on the widget, and updates to the documentation have been made.

This Feature goes live on July 30th at 6:30AM EDT.

Attached is an FAQ which should help answer any questions regaridng this new feature.

Sustainability Spotlight - Decreasing the Impact of Your Next Business Trip

0
0

From climate change to cyber security to employee diversity, corporate responsibility (CR) and sustainabilitytouches every aspect of Symantec’s business. We’ve defined our strategy and are continually working towards our goals to operate as a responsible global citizen. In addition to our dedicated global corporate responsibility team, every day Symantec employees across the world are helping us deliver on this, creating value for both our business and our stakeholders.

We are happy to bring you an ongoing feature of the CR in Action blog – the Sustainability Spotlight - that profiles employees and their contribution to Symantec’s CR and sustainability efforts. Some are members of our CR team, others contribute through our Green Teams or volunteering, some have seen an opportunity and developed programs in their function or region -- all are making a difference.

Today we hear from Claire Blades, Director of Global Travel & Meetings, about how, through her role at Symantec and personal passions, she is working to promote more sustainable travel options for Symantec employees and corporate travelers.

 

As the Director, Global Travel & Meetings, I manage the corporate travel and meetings process for Symantec employees, including travel arrangements/booking, reimbursement, and corporate meetings solutions. As most of you know, there are numerous environmental impacts – some obvious, some more discreet - in corporate travel. These range from the distance and form of transportation, to the efficiency and environmental credentials of the carrier we choose, to the environmental impacts of our lodging (both the hotel itself, as well as our own practices while traveling).  The choices we make as individuals when booking our travel can make a significant difference in all of these areas.

Over six years ago, as part of the expansion of Symantec’s Corporate Responsibility program, I was tasked with developing a Sustainable Travel Program and action plan to decrease the environmental impacts of Symantec’s corporate travel. At the time, I was already an active member of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and was invited to join the organization’s sustainability committee, both because I knew it would help me learn from others, but also due to my own personal passion to help the corporate travel industry develop more sustainable practices.

I quickly became chair of the GBTA’s Sustainability Committee and still serve as the chair today. This involvement has been invaluable to my sustainability work at Symantec, ensuring I am knowledgeable on key sustainable travel trends and putting me at the center of the latest sustainability initiatives for corporate travel. For example, I was involved in the development of the sustainability HCMI standards for hotels that are now used by various companies, including Symantec, in their RFPs for hotel programs.  Additionally, our committee spearheaded Project Icarus– one of the most highly regarded sustainability programs for the global business travel and meeting industry. Project Icarus ensures travel professionals and suppliers have the latest tools and resources to build and manage a sustainable travel program. In the future, we hope to support the development of additional standards for air and ground transportation.

At Symantec, our Sustainable Travel Commitment is comprised of three main components: reducing emissions from business travel, promoting more sustainable commute options and increasing the sustainability of our corporate events. Through this policy we reduced GHG emissions from our business travel by 3,015 metric tons CO2e, equivalent to an 8% absolute reduction between FY12 and FY13.  

I am primarily focused on the first two aspects, and currently working to further engage suppliers in our program. Additionally, many of our suppliers are making great investments in improving their sustainability through efficient fuel sources, waste reduction efforts, and more. A continual challenge is how I communicate this great work to show employees the full benefits of the partners we work with.

Although sustainability is just a small portion of my job, it is one of the aspects I enjoy the most. I see the direct benefit for our company, our employees and our planet, and feel good that I am contributing to a more sustainable future for our company. 

My final message to everyone is to make smart choices when you travel:

  • Don’t travel if you don’t have to, and take advantage of technology such as video conferencing that makes it easy to have face-to-face meetings without traveling. For example, at Symantec we encourage employees to use our state-of-the-art video and audio technology HP Halo Collaboration Studios for face-to-face collaboration when possible.
  • When you do travel, check to see if your company has a sustainable travel policy that enables you to choose eco-friendly options, or if your travel provider allows you to choose more sustainable options. For example, numerous car rental companies offer efficient fuel options including hybrids or electric vehicles, and airlines allow you to purchase carbon offsets that reduce the impact of your travel.  Additionally, many airlines and hotels have corporate responsibility programs and are working hard to improve the efficiency of their operations through waste, water and energy reduction efforts.
  • At Symantec, we encourage employees to use our online booking tool (where available) to choose the most sustainable options.  For example, they can choose our preferred suppliers who have been chosen for showing they decrease impacts in various ways and where available, employees can book hotels with a Green Leaf next to their name.

Every bit counts. Collectively we are reducing the environmental footprint of corporate travel and showing the industry as a whole that sustainable travel options are the preferred choice.   

 

Claire Blades is Director of Global Travel and Meetings at Symantec.

 

How to Contribute to OpenStack ?

0
0
OpenStack Contribution Process Overview

Contribution Process Overview

 

Screen Shot 2014-07-29 at 2.10.25 PM.png

 

Step 1: Registration

This step describes end-to-end registration process so that you can start contributing to Openstack. Here are just a few ways of how you can become part of community:

  • Report a bug / Apply a bug fix
  • Blueprint Engagement
  • Code Reviews

Registration Checklist:

Here is the registration checklist:

  • GitHub
  • Launchpad
    • SSH Key
  • Join the OpenStack Foundation
    • Individual Member
  • Gerrit Account (OpenStack Code Review)
  • Sign Contributors License Agreement
    • Individual

 

Registeration Process:

Setup Launchpad Account

Launchpad is where OpenStack hosts all of its projects. Go to the Launchpad login page to register using your full name, email address, and choose desired password. Your LaunchpadID will be autoselected for you with format of <FirstName>-<LastName>. Then go to https://launchpad.net/~LaunchpadID to upload your SSH public key using the instructions specified on the page.

Launcpad account is necessary for mutliple reasons:

  • Report bugs

  • Contribute code

  • Edit the wiki

  • Review code

  • Post to the mailing list

  • Access Jenkins site

 

Fill out information in RED BOX to create an account on Launchpad:

register-launchpad-account_0.jpg

 

Upload and associate SSH keys to your Launchpad account:

 

launchpad-account.jpg

 

Generate SSH keys using instructions from https://help.github.com/articles/generating-ssh-keys, if you don't have one. Copy and paste the contents of your SSH public key to associate it with your Lanchpad account:

Screen Shot 2014-07-29 at 2.48.55 PM.png

 

Join the OpenStack Foundation

Join the foundation as an individual member. Complete the individual member application here: https://www.openstack.org/join/register/.

When signing up for Foundation Membership, make sure to give the same E-mail address you’ll use for code contributions, since the Primary Email Address in your Foundation Profile will need to match the Preferred Email you set later in your Gerrit contact information. Here, is the sample application form:

foundation-form.jpg

 

Gerrit Account (Openstack Code Review)

Visit https://review.openstack.org/ and click the Sign In link at the top-right corner of the page. Log in with your Launchpad ID.

Set up your SSH account for Gerrit. OpenStack applies a code review process to guarantee the code quality. Go to https://review.openstack.org/#/settings/ssh-keys, and upload your SSH public key.

 

gerrit-account.jpg

Sign Contributors License Agreement (Corporate and Individual)

Agree to the Individual Contributor License Agreement and provide your contact information.

Your full name and E-mail address will be public (since they also appear in project commit logs) and the latter needs to match the user.email in your Git configuration. Make sure the primary E-mail address always matches the one you set for your OpenStack Foundation Membership–otherwise Gerrit will give you an error message and refuse to accept your contact information.

The other contact information (postal address, phone numbers) will be kept confidential and is only used as a fallback record in the unlikely event The OpenStack Foundation needs to reach you directly over code contribution related matters. This contact information can also be easily updated later if desired.

 

contributor-agreement.jpg

At this point, you should be registered as Openstack contributor and should be able to access your Launchpad account and Gerrit code review account.

Step 2: Setup Development Enviornment

Setting up development enviornment depends on what kind of OpenStack project you are working on, documentation or OpenStack services.

Note: This setup was tested on Ubuntu 12.04 with Python 2.7.

Setup for Documentation:

Let's look at how to setup development enviornment for OpenStack Manuals.

  • Install Apache Maven, Git, and git-review:
$ sudo apt-get install maven git git-review 
  • Get a copy of the docs source files:
$ git clone https://github.com/openstack/openstack-manuals.git
  • Switch directory to openstack-manuals:
cd openstack-manuals
  • Enter your Gerrit account information, this is only one time setup to configure git review on your system : 
$ git review -s

 

Setup for OpenStack services:

These tools are needed on your system, git, setuptools, pip, and gcc.

  • Update apt-get:
sudo apt-get update
  • Installing git:
sudo apt-get install git
  • Installing setuptools:
sudo apt-get install python-setuptools
  • Installing Pip:
wget https://raw.github.com/pypa/pip/master/contrib/get-pip.py
sudo python get-pip.py
  • Installing gcc:
sudo apt-get install gcc
  • Installing additional packages:
sudo apt-get install python-dev libevent-dev libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev libsasl2-dev libsqlite3-dev libssl-dev libldap2-dev libffi-dev
  • Make a clone of the code from OpenStack Github repository, for example, Keystone:
git clone http://github.com/openstack/keystone.git
cd keystone
  • Enter your Gerrit account information, this is only one time setup to configure git review on your system : 
$ git review -s

 

Step 3: Applying a fix

 
Applying a fix to OpenStack Manuals
 
  • Making sure we have the latest updates from upstream:
$ git checkout master
$ git pull --ff-only origin master
  • Create a branch for the bug that you are working on, for example, bug # 999999:
$ git checkout -b fix-for-999999 (or bug/999999)
  • Locate the issue and apply your fix
  • Generate documentation artifacts
$ mvn clean generate-sources
  • Verify your changes in the generated HTML or PDF output looks good.
  • Commit your changes
$ git commit -a
 
# Add a header in commit message which must be less than 50 characters.
# Add detailed description in commit message.
# The description can consists of multiple lines, each line must be less than 80 characters.
# Add bug, blueprint # from Launchpad with tag like "Closes-bug: #<Bug No.>
  • Request a review for your committed changes
$ git review

 

  • Gerrit creates a new review request for your changes:

 

review-request-example-1.png

 

Applying a fix to OpenStack Service (Keystone)

  • Making sure we have the latest updates from upstream:
$ git checkout master
$ git pull --ff-only origin master
  • Create a branch for the bug that you are working on, for example, bug # 999999:
$ git checkout -b fix-for-999999 (or bug/999999)
  • Apply fix for the issue and add unit tests, if needed.
  • Run unit tests:
$ ./run_tests.sh
  • Commit your changes:

$ git commit -a
 
# Add a header in commit message which must be less than 50 characters.
# Add detailed description in commit message.
# The description can consists of multiple lines, each line must be less than 80 characters.
# Add bug, blueprint # from Launchpad with tag like "Closes-bug: #<Bug No.>
  • Build committed changes locally by running tox:
$ tox
  • Request review for your committed changes:
$ git review 
 

Congratulations! You are now part of OpenStack community.

 

Viewing all 5094 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images