Recently had an issue with a backup software that would get stuck in START_PENDING status at every startup. This caused it to be unable to be uninstalled, repaired, or forcefully removed and re-installed. Here is how we fixed it:
1. Find out the Service Name of the service by looking for it in the Services control panel:
2. Open command prompt as administrator
3. To get the PID type in – sc queryex [Service Name]
4. To kill the errant process type in – taskkill /f /pid [PID]
5. To remove the process type in – sc delete [Service Name]
One I had removed the process I restarted the server just to make sure then re-installed the software.
If your company needs help troubleshooting software issues, then contact us for assistance.
Every modern business has one thing in common – the internet.
Businesses are using computers, smart phones, tablets, etc. to connect to the internet for research, shopping, advertising, or any number of things. With a connection to the internet comes the need for routers, switches, wireless, and other network hardware to distribute internet connectivity across the company. There are malicious people on the internet that are setting traps and trying to break into companies which necessitate the use of tools like antivirus, internet filtering, spam filtering, and other protective measures. There are also people who work from their homes and need to have a way of tunneling safely into the network to use the resources there.
All of this has to be managed by someone in the company or you can contract with a managed IT service provider.
If your company needs help managing all the things connected to your internet, then contact us for assistance.
Make sure Hyper-V Host has CPUs than the combined total of CPUs for all servers being restored as these static until after the VMs are completely restored. If there is not enough CPU resources then the VMs will not boot.
Make sure Hyper-V Host has more than the combined total of RAM for all servers being restored as these settings are static until after the VMs are completely restored. If there is not enough memory then the VMs will not boot.
Create a SET NIC Team on the server (if you have multiple NICs)
Open Powershell as administrator
User the New-VMSwitch command to setup an external virtual switch to connect to for live connections
The AllowManagementOS is needed if you are using the same NIC team to access the VM host
Setup secondary Internal vSwitch to allow for testing before deploying
Setup Synology LUN targets for each VM to be restored. Make sure that they are big enough to hold all the full uncompressed size of the entire thick provisioned hard drives for the entire server.
Connect each LUN to the iSCSI Initiator on the VM Host. Make sure to bring them online, initialize them, and give them a drive letter. Synology needs this because it uses the SMB protocol to transfer the files during restore.
Make sure to allow the File and Printer Sharing app through the Windows firewall and open port 5986 to allow HTTP traffic for WinRM to allow Synology to query the Hyper-V settings.
Add the Hyper-V Host to the Active Backup for Business app.
Synology Active Backup Restore to Hyper-V
Open the Active Backup for Business app
Click on the Physical Server tab on the left
Select the server and click the Restore button
Select the point in time to restore from
Choose Restore to Microsoft Hyper-V
Choose Full Virtual Machine Restore
Change the Restore Name
Select a folder on the Hyper-V Host to place the configuration files
Select a folder on the Hyper-V Host to place each of the restore VHD files
Select a Virtual Switch on the Hyper-V Host to connect the VM to
Confirm the settings by clicking on the Done button.
After:
The VMs will boot with a single NIC and no network settings. Keep them offline and add additional NICs as needed to match the original setup. Then configure the NICs as before upon reboot. Make sure to connect to Internal Test Switch for initial steps.
Check hardware configuration of CPUs and RAM to determine if adjustments can be made. In particular, the RAM settings can be changed to startup, minimum, and maximum to allow for distribution of resources to VMs that have heavier workloads.
Boot VM to make sure it is functioning correctly. (first bootup can take upwards of 15 minutes)
Convert the VM from Gen1 to Gen2
Download Windows 10 ISO – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
The information technology industry, also known as the IT industry, is a sizable and quickly expanding sector that includes a wide range of computing-related activities, such as software development, hardware manufacturing, networking, data analysis, cybersecurity, and digital marketing, among others.
At Farmhouse Networking, we utilize the power of IT to help our clients improve their businesses and elevate their services to the next level. Our group offers expert assistance to networks for small- to medium-sized businesses. We possess the range and depth of expertise necessary to effectively operate business-class networks thanks to years of experience.
Our team has been fervently pursuing the best technologies and tools for our clients! Our passion for delivering nothing but the best for our partners. Today, we are proud to announce that we are reaping the benefits of the fruits of our labors as we introduce our latest Clutch award. We’ve been named as one of the game-changing IT Managed Service Providers in Portland.
Clutch, for those of you who aren’t familiar with this company, they are an established platform in the heart of Washington, DC, committed to helping small, mid-market, and enterprise businesses identify and connect with the service providers they need to achieve their goals.
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Clutch, their staff, and everyone else who helped choose our company for this game-changer award. We are sincerely touched and appreciative of your acknowledgment.
Our company would also like to express our appreciation to clients and partners for their support. To show our gratitude and appreciation, here are some of the teams’ favorite reviews throughout the years!
“Farmhouse networking always has the help we need and seems to look out for our company like it was their business. Scott is never pushy and is always available to answer questions so we feel confident in our decisions.” Josh Confer, Webmaster at Chief Aircraft Inc
“Their customer service has been outstanding. Working with them on this project is perfect because they are already familiar with our location.” Mikaila Herman, Office Manager at Chinook Forest Management
As our business continues to grow our focus is on providing white labeled Tier 3 IT support services, RMM as a service, and co-managed IT services. This blog will be highlighting tips for using Powershell to get an Export List of AD Users Last Login was more than 90 Days Ago.
Research
You need to find out what the Organizational Unit (OU) path that you are trying to get the count from. The following command will list all OUs in the domain.
Get-ADOrganizationalUnit -Filter 'Name -like "*"' | Format-Table Name, DistinguishedName -A
If you want the entire organization then you will need the top level information which looks like DC=[DomainName],DC=local
Variables
$SearchOU = This is the full DistinguishedName from the above output.
The script will take several seconds to run based on the number of users in the OU being searched. The output is saved to the local c:\support directory and you can modify this script to include the FTP upload based on our previous article – https://www.farmhousenetworking.com/rmm/automation/rmm-automation-export-log-files-to-ftp/ The script can also be easily modified to change the number of days since last login.
If your company is a MSP or wants to become one and automation just seems out of reach, then contact usto run your RMM for you.
As our business continues to grow our focus is on providing white labeled Tier 3 IT support services, RMM as a service, and co-managed IT services. This blog will be highlighting tips for using Powershell to get an Active Directory User Count.
Research
You need to find out what the Organizational Unit (OU) path that you are trying to get the count from. The following command will list all OUs in the domain.
Get-ADOrganizationalUnit -Filter 'Name -like "*"' | Format-Table Name, DistinguishedName -A
If you want the entire organization then you will need the top level information which looks like DC=[DomainName],DC=local
Variables
$SearchOU = This is the full DistinguishedName from the above output.
The script will take several seconds to run based on the number of users in the OU being searched. The output is an integer number. You can do the same sort of thing for an Active Directory Group Count or Active Directory Computer Count:
This is the tenth and finale in a series about the concept of Zero Trust, which means in the IT sense that you trust nothing and always verify everything surrounding and connected to your network. Today’s discussion will be on Cyber Security Audit.
Cyber Security Audit
Cyber Security Audit is a process where both internal and external systems are tested for their ability and susceptibility to being successfully attacked by hackers. This usually involves an inventory of current systems, research into known vulnerabilities, and testing of those found to see what information can be accessed. Once this process is complete a report is generated to detail both what is found and how those vulnerabilities can be addressed to protect the business’ most valuable commodity – information (intellectual property and client data). Here are some questions to ask:
Do you have an inventory of all assets in your organization? Is it up to date?
Have you tested your internal network for vulnerabilities?
Have you had a penetration test performed on your external network?
Do you know what compliance standards apply?
How do you document policies and procedures? Who oversees that?
If your company is wanting to have a free cyber security audit, then contact us for assistance.
When you think of cybersecurity, love and emotions are likely some of the last words that come to mind. However, scammers regularly depend on emotional connection to achieve their devious goals. According to the FBI, romance scams are at an all-time high, and accounted for the third highest internet crime loss in 2021.
Here at Farmhouse Networking, we account for human nature, and specifically gear our trainings towards helping people separate facts from feelings. When it comes to online romances, here are our top 3 red flags to look out for:
Things are intense: Online scammers want to act quickly before you suspect anything. They may profess their love for or even propose marriage after just a few months of talking.
Promises are broken: Since there is often an element of catfishing in romance scams, scammers may make plans to meet over video or in-person, but come up with last minute excuses to cancel.
They are far away: Similarly to #2, posing as a member of the military or international business person are common profiles of scammers, since they can easily avoid having to meet in-person.
Thanks to feelings of loneliness and isolation that often accompany winter, December through February is peak season for romance scams. Farmhouse Networking’s goal is for your employees to always feel confident and empowered to see through all kinds of phishing attempts. Thank you for being a valued customer, and know that we are always here to support you.
Had a local medial office want to move their current server into the cloud and because they are already an Office 365 customer, I chose to use Azure for their Virtual Machine. I helped them setup Azure to Araknis IPSec VPN to connect their headquarters to the hosted server. This tutorial will go into detail about the creation of this tunnel starting with the Microsoft Azure side first using Resource Manager. It will be using the following parameters:
VNet Name: TestNetwork
Address Space: 10.10.0.0/16
Subnets:
Primary: 10.10.10.0/24
GatewaySubnet: 10.10.0.0/24
Resource Group: TestResourceGroup
Location: West US
DNS Server: Azure Default
Gateway Name: TestVPNGateway
Public IP: TestVPNGatewayIP
VPN Type: Route-based
Connection Type: Site-to-site (IPsec)
Gateway Type: VPN
Local Network Gateway Name: TestSite
Local Subnet: 10.20.20.0/24
Connection Name: VPNtoTestSite
Configure an Azure VPN gateway
This part takes the longest, so it should be done first:
Click on the “+” icon at the top left hand side of the Resource Manager, then search for “Virtual Network Gateway” and click on the “Create” button.
Give the Virtual Network Gateway a name
Select matching Region to where Azure resources are located
Leave Gateway & VPN type the defaults
Choose a SKU <- These have changed since the article was created, so my “standard” now is WpnGw1 with Active / Active turned off (this is a good balance of performance and cost)
Choose or create a local network (not covered here, but must contain Gateway Subnet) that matches internal resources
Choose or create a Public IP Address
Leave the remaining values as their defaults and then click the “Create” button. (Please note the reminder that this takes 45 minutes to create!)
Configure an Azure Local Network Gateway
This is a reference to your on-premise network so that subnets can pass traffic:
Click on the “+” icon at the top left hand side of the Resource Manager, then search for “Local Network Gateway” and click on the “Create” button.
Give the Local Network Gateway a name
Select matching Region to where Azure resources are located
Specify the external IP address of the local on-premise site
Specify the on-premise address space (subnet)
Leave the remaining values as their defaults and then click the “Create” button.
Configure an Azure VPN Connection
This will create the tunnel from Azure to the on-premise site:
Click on the “+” icon at the top left hand side of the Resource Manager, then search for “Connection” and click on the “Create” button.
Choose “Site-to-site (IPSec)” as the connection type
Give the Connection a name
Select matching Region to where Azure resources are located
Leave the remaining values as their defaults and then click the “OK” button. On the summary screen click on the “OK” button to create the connection.
Choose the newly created Virtual Network Gateway
Choose the newly created Local Network Gateway
Specify a shared key
Leave the remaining values as their defaults and click the “Create” button.
This completes the setup of the Azure side of the VPN tunnel. Now to work on the Ubiquiti USG side.
Configuring an Araknis IPSec VPN Network
Connect to Araknis router (need at least a 310 for this to work)
Click on Advanced > VPN
Scroll down to IPSec and click add new tunnel
Fill in the Remote IP address of the Azure VPN Gateway
Fill in the Remote Subnet Mask
Make the following changes to IPSec Setup
That is all there is to it. If your company is currently using either Microsoft Azure or Araknis routers and would like a VPN created, then contact us for assistance.
In today’s social media age, we are more interconnected than ever before. While this can be great for keeping up with loved ones and shedding light on current events, it also opens a new door for scammers. Last year, annual reported losses from social media scams hit $1.1 billion. Here are the five most common types and our recommendations for protecting yourself, and your business, from them:
Phishing Scams: Scammers attempt to trick you into revealing personal information by posing as a trustworthy source in an email or message. To avoid these scams, never click on links from unknown sources and always verify the sender’s identity.
Impersonation Scams: Scammers create fake profiles and impersonate others to deceive and scam others. To avoid these scams, check profiles for authenticity by verifying their information, friends, and photos.
Giveaway Scams: Scammers promise a prize or giveaway in exchange for personal information or a payment. To avoid these scams, never give out personal information, and only participate in giveaways from reputable sources.
Investment Scams: Scammers promise high returns on investments, but it is just a trick to steal your money. To avoid these scams, do thorough research before investing, be cautious of unrealistic returns, and don’t fall for pressure tactics.
Malware Scams: Scammers use social media to spread malicious software that can harm your device or steal personal information. To avoid these scams, don’t download anything from untrusted sources and keep your device’s security software up-to-date. Our goal at (Company Name) is to keep you safe while you’re scrolling. Speaking of social media, feel free to follow us @[handle] on Facebook and @[handle] on Instagram for more security tips and product updates.
Our goal at Farmhouse Networking is to keep you safe while you’re scrolling. Speaking of social media, feel free to follow us on LinkedIn for more security tips and product updates.
