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Install and Run Multiple Tomcat and JAVA server instances on single Windows server Howto

Friday, June 17th, 2016

tomcat-windows-install-multiple-tomcats-on-one-single-windows-logo
I've had a task at my work place to install Multiple Tomcat servers on Windows 2012 Server R2 the task seems trivial however I've faced few minor issues and the few searches in Google returned very few articles discussing the topic and this give me the idea that it might be helpful to others to come up with my own article as this might save time for those Linux guys who need to install Multiple Tomcat instances on the same Windows server without spending too much time to dig into the arcane winblows.

I stumbled on some issues during installation  thus took the time to systemize below shortly how I managed to run 2 Tomcat servers on One Windows 2012 R2 machine.
 

First thing to do is to obtain latest compiled Tomcat server archive from Tomcat's official download page here.

Latest Tomcat stable release as of time of writting this article is 7.0.69, so I've downloaded 64 Bit archive (as the server is running X64 Operating system) and unarchived it twice on the Install server under 2 separate directory locations under:

 

D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-1

 

and

 

D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-2

 


Copy of the 7.0.69 X86 tomcat zip archive is here and X64 bit tomcat 7.0.69 is here

Once the files are properly untarred I also needed to download also Java as the WAR application supposed to run on the Windows machine had as requirement Java JDK 8.

Downloading Java is a trivial task, however in my case the server used to be in DMZ (Demiliterized Zone) / Firewalled network and hence instead of using the default Java installer provided from Oracle website which is trying to download from Internet, I had instead to download and use the Offline current JAVA 8u91 version.
Just for sake of some convenience I've made a mirrored version of X86 JAVA 8 (8u91) is here and JAVA 8u91 X64 version here

 

install-Java-JDK-and-JRE-8-on-Microsoft-Windows-howto

JAVA JDK install is a trivial task just run the isntaller set the proper locations initially for JDK base folder in my case this was:

 

D:\Java\jdk

 

and later throughout during install, I was asked also to fill in full path location for JRE, in my case this was

 

D:\Java\jre

 

It was a little bit surprising for me that JRE install path had to be entered and because I was not careful enough I had twice entered the same path for both JRE and JDK, i.e. entered on both prompts:

 

D:\Java

 

This caused issues and a messed Java install but I realized that after the 3rd re-install of Java when I decided to also read instead of by habit click Next / Next and Complete the install as used to be in the good old days of Windows XP and Windows 98 🙂

Once Java set up correctly I've tested it with:

 

C:\Users\georgi> java -version

 

 

test-java-version-on-microsoft-windows-command-howto-screenshot


It is also necessery to set properly following 2 JAVA command line environment variables:
 

JAVA_HOME
JRE_HOME


On the logged in user Environment Variables with which Tomcat will be running on how to do that check my previous article how to add Environment Variables on Windows
 

 

Make sure you have the following 2 environment variables set upped:

 

JAVA_HOME=D:\Java\jdk

 

 

JRE_HOME=D:\Java\jre

 


For one time set (assuming Java is installed) under D:Javajre and D:Javajdk, you will need to type in command prompt:

set JAVA_HOME=D:\Java\jdk

set JRE_HOME=D:\Java\jre

Once assured Java is running fine I proceeded to run the Tomcat serevrs, in order to make them working it was necessery to change all coinciding Port names under:

 

conf/server.xml

 

because if there are coinciding ports (assuming that like me you're trying to run both Tomcat under the same IP address), the servers will fail to run because they're trying to bind under the same Port TCP addresses.

Assuming that the tomcat archive files are copied from .zip into D:TomcatTomcat_Instance-1 and D:TomcatTomcat_Instance-2 folders and you have in each of the 2 the following directory structure:

 

    /bin : This directory contains the startup and shutdown scripts for both Windows and Linux.
    /conf : This directory contains the main configuration files for Tomcat. The two most important are the server.xml and the global web.xml .
    /server : This directory contains the Tomcat Java Archive files.
    /lib : This directory contains Java Archive files that Tomcat is dependent upon.
    /logs : This directory contains Tomcat’s log files.
    /src : This directory contains the source code used by the Tomcat server. Once Tomcat is released, it will probably contain interfaces and abstract classes only.
    /webapps : All web applications are deployed in this directory; it contains the WAR file.
    /work : This is the directory in which Tomcat will place all servlets that are generated from JSPs. If you want to see exactly how a particular JSP is interpreted, look in this directory.

 

You will need to edit server.xml in both of the Tomcats and make sure the configuration for ports is not coinciding, i.e., I've changed the following configurations for Tomcat_Instance-2 installation:

 

    Connector Port : This is the port where Apache Tomcat listen for the HTTP requests. Default port is 8080, I've changed this to 8089 for second Tomcat server
    Shutdown Port : This port is used when we try to shutdown the Apache Tomcat Server. Default port is 8005 so changed that to 8006 in Tomcat_Instance-2
    AJP (Apache JServ Protocol) Connector Port : The Apache JServ Protocol (AJP) is a binary protocol that can conduct inbound requests from a web server through to an application server that sits behind the web server.
I've commented out the configuration for AJP completely and used for my custom needs the following server.xml configuration:

<Connector port="11111" address="10.251.27.24" protocol="AJP/1.3" enableLookups="false"/>

    Redirect Port : Any redirection happening inside Apache Tomcat will happen through this port. In Apache TOMCAT there are two instance where redirect Port is mentioned. First one is for the Apache TOMCAT server and other one is for the AJP port. Default here is port 8443 so changed that one to to listen to 8444 instead.


Another thing necessery to do is to create setenv.bat file under both D:\TomcatTomcat_Instance-1\bin and D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-2\bin with following content:
 

set JRE_HOME=D:\java\jre
set JAVA_HOME=d:\java\jdk
exit /b 0

 


The quickest way to do it without bothering with Notepad text editor is by issuing:
 

 

cd tomcat\Tomcat_Instance1\bin
echo set JRE_HOME=D:\java\jre > setenv.bat
echo set JAVA_HOME=D:javajdk >> setenv.bat

 

cd tomcat\Tomcat_Instance2\bin
echo set JRE_HOME=D:\java\jre > setenv.bat
echo set JAVA_HOME=D:\java\jdk >> setenv.bat


The setenv.sh is a standard variables file read by Tomcat on Instance start up time
 

Next part of Tomcat installation is to install each of the 2 instances after defining CATALINA_BASE to point to first and second Tomcat instance directories, e.g open a Command Prompt (cmd.exe) and run there:

 

set CATALINA_BASE=D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-1

C:|> d:

D:|> cd Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-1\bin
 

 

D:Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-1\bin> service install Tomcat_Instance-1


You will get output like:

 

Using CATALINA_BASE:   " D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-1"
Using CATALINA_HOME:   " D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-1"
Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: " D:\TomcatTomcat_Instance-1\temp"
Using JRE_HOME:        "D:\java\jre"
Using CLASSPATH:       "D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-1\bin\bootstrap.jar; D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-1\bin\tomcat-juli.jar"

 


Then for the second Tomcat server instance run in command prompt:
 

 

set CATALINA_BASE=D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-2

d:

cd Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-2\bin
service install Tomcat_Instance-2

Using CATALINA_BASE:   " D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-2"
Using CATALINA_HOME:   " D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-2"
Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: " D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-2\temp"
Using JRE_HOME:        "D:\java\jre"
Using CLASSPATH:       "D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-1\bin\bootstrap.jar; D:\TomcatTomcat_Instance-2\bin\tomcat-juli.jar"

windows-running-two-tomcat-instances-on-the-same-single-server-screenshot


Here is all the service.bat batch file parameters:

 

D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-11\bin>service.bat /
?
Unknown parameter "/?"

 

Usage: service.bat install/remove [service_name] [/user username]


To test both Tomcat servers where they run simultaneously without issues, I run in 2 separate command prompts – opened (cmd.exe) two times and run in each of them:

What this little command does is uses Tomcat7.exe command to Add / Remove / Modify the Tomcat instance into Windows Services, the same can be happily done also with the good old
sc (service configure) windows command.

 

D:

cd Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-1\bin\startup.bat

D:

cd Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-2\bin\startup.bat
 

Both executed without errors in command line and to stop them I've pressed the usual CTRL+C.
To make sure once again both server instances ran wihtout errors, I've checked in D:TomcatTomcat_Instance-{1,2}logs/catalina*.log and in both of them all looked fine.
Another good check if you want to be 10000% sure Tomcat is running is to look up for Tomcat listening on above configured ports, for example run below in cmd:
 

D:Tomcat> netstat -a|findstr "8080"


I've also used the 2 following command to set up proper Services description for both of services:
 

 

D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-1\tomcat7 //US//Tomcat_Instance1 –Description="Apache Tomcat Server – Tomcat-Instance1.my-site.com"

D:\Tomcat\Instance_Instance-2\tomcat7 //US//Tomcat_Instance2 –Description="Apache Tomcat Server – Tomcat-Instance2.my-site.com "
 

 

A very helpful resource during the Apache (Windows Service) instance install / setup /modification that helped me is on Tomcat's official site here
 

N! B! Very important note to make here for anyone experiencing strange issues when trying to add multiple issues is below:

I've experienced some issues while trying to add the 2 Tomcat servers into Windows services initially with tomcat7.exe command like so:

Trying installing Tomcat71 service with cmd:
 

 tomcat7 //IS//Tomcat71 –DisplayName="Apache Tomcat 7" ^
     –Install="D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-1\bin\tomcat7.exe" –Jvm=auto ^
     –StartMode=jvm –StopMode=jvm ^
     –StartClass=org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap –StartParams=start ^
     –StopClass=org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap –StopParams=stop

 

And Tomcat72 instance with cmd:
 

 tomcat7 //IS//Tomcat71 –DisplayName="Apache Tomcat 7" ^
     –Install="D:\Tomcat\Tomcat_Instance-2\bin\tomcat7.exe" –Jvm=auto ^
     –StartMode=jvm –StopMode=jvm ^
     –StartClass=org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap –StartParams=start ^
     –StopClass=org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap –StopParams=stop

 

I've tried multiplet imes to Add and remove the Tomcat71 and Tomcat72 Windows service names (with) Tomcat DS (Delete Service)
 

tomcat7 //DS/Tomcat71
tomcat7 //DS/Tomcat72


And strangely the two instances were continuously crashing when I tried to start them (with Properties button and Start instruction) from Windows Task Manager (taskmgr.exe) -> Services

Finally I realized the issue is caused by some problems that somehow occured with Windows Service Names Tomcat71 and Tomcat72 by simply readding the two instances under another name the instances stopped crashing and all worked thanks to help of colleague Anatoliy who pointed me tot he problem by trying to install his own instances under a different service name).

Thanks God finally the 2 instances run fine !

 

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Posted in Everyday Life, Java, System Administration, Tomcat, Various, Web and CMS, Windows | 1 Comment »

How to shutdown Windows after 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. X hours with a batch script – Shutdown / Reboot / Logoff Windows with a quick command

Wednesday, August 17th, 2016

https://www.pc-freak.net/images/windows-pc-server-shutdown-after-3-5-hours-howto-shutdown-windows-with-command-batch

I recently wondered how it is possible to shutdown Windows in some prior set time lets say in 30 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours or 8 hours.

That's handy especially on servers that are being still in preparation install time and you have left some large files copy job (if you're migration files) from Old server environment to a new one
or if you just need to let your home WIndows PC shutdown to save electricity after some time (a very useful example is if you're downloading some 200GB of data which are being estimated to complete in 3 hours but you need to get out and be back home in 2 or 4 days and you don't want to bother connecting remotely to your PC with VNC or teamviewer then just scheduling the PC / server to shutdown in 3 hours with a simple is perfect solution to the task, here is how:

1. Open Command Prompt (E.g. Start menu -> Run and type CMD.EXE)

2. Type in command prompt

 

shutdown -s -t 10800

 

If you by mistake has typed it to shutdown earlier and suddenly you find out your PC needs to be running for a short more time in order to cancel the scheduled Shutdown type:

 

shutdown -a


Shutdown Windows command -s flag has also a possibiltiy to not shutdown but just logoff or if you just need to have the system rebooted a reboot option:
 


options    effect
-l         to log off
-r         to reboot

If you need to shutdown the PC after half an hour use instead the command:

 

shutdown -s -t 1800


shutdown-windows-pc-with-command-in-half-an-hour-screenshot.gif


Half an hour is 1800 seconds for one hour delayed shutdown use 3600 for 3 hours, that would be 3*3600 10800, for 5 hours 5*3600 = 18000 seconds and so on

 


An alternative way to do it with a short VBscript, here is an example:

Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

Dim Input
Input = "10:00"

'Input = InputBox("Enter the shutdown time here.","", "10:00")

For i = 1 to 2

CurrentTime = Time & VbCrLf

If Left(CurrentTime,5) = Input Then

objShell.Run "shutdown -s -t 00", 0
WScript.Quit 1

Else

WScript.Sleep 1000

End If

i=i-1

Next

Enjoy

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Posted in Curious Facts, Everyday Life, Various, Windows | 2 Comments »

Enable TLS 1.2 Internet Explorer / Make TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2 web sites work on IE howto

Monday, August 1st, 2016

Internet-Explorer-cannot-display-the-webpage-IE-error
 

Some corporate websites and web tools especially one in DMZ-ed internal corporation networks require an encryption of TLS 1.2 (Transport Layer of Security cryptographic protocol)   TLS 1.1 protocol   both of which are already insecure (prone to vulnerabilities).

Besides the TLS 1.2 browser requirements some corporate tool web interfaces like Firewall Opening request tools etc. are often are very limited in browser compitability and built to only work with certain versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer like leys say IE (Internet Explorer) 11.

TLS 1.2 is supported across IE 8, 9, 10 and 11, so sooner or later you might be forced to reconfigure your Internet Explorer to have enabled the disabled by OS install TLS 1.2 / 1.1.

For those unaware of what TLS (Transport Layer of Security) protocol is so to say the next generation encryption protocol after SSL (Secure Socket Layer) also both TLS and SSL terms are being inter-exchangably used when referring with encrypting traffic between point (host / device etc.) A and B by using a key and a specific cryptographic algorithm.
TLS is usually more used historically in Mail Servers, even though as I said some web tools are starting to use TLS as a substitute for the SSL certificate browser encryption or even in conjunction with it.
For those who want to dig a little bit further into What is TLS? – read on technet here.

I had to enable TLS on IE and I guess sooner others will need a way to enable TLS 1.2 on Internet Explorer, so here is how this is done:
 

Enable-Internet-Explorer-TLS1.2-TLS-1.1-internet-options-IE-screensho
 


    1. On the Internet Explorer Main Menu (press Alt + F to make menu field appear)
    Select Tools > Internet Options.

    2. In the Internet Options box, select the Advanced tab.

    3. In the Security category, uncheck Use SSL 3.0 (if necessery) and Check the ticks:

    Use TLS 1.0,
    Use TLS 1.1 and Use TLS 1.2 (if available).

    4. Click OK
   
     5. Finally Exit browser and start again IE.

 

Once browser is relaunched, the website URL that earlier used to be showing Internet Explorer cannot display the webpagre can't connect / missing website error message will start opening normally.

Note that TLS 1.2 and 1.1 is not supported in Mozilla Firefox older browser releases though it is supported properly in current latest FF releases >=4.2.

If you  have fresh new 4.2 Firefox browser and you want to make sure it is really supporting TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2 encrpytion:

 

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste TLS and pause while the list is filtered

(3) If the security.tls.version.max preference is bolded and "user set" to a value other than 3, right-click > Reset the preference to restore the default value of 3

(4) If the security.tls.version.min preference is bolded and "user set" to a value other than 1, right-click > Reset the preference to restore the default value of 1

The values for these preferences mean:

1 => TLS 1.0 2 => TLS 1.1 3 => TLS 1.2


To get a more concrete and thorough information on the exact TLS / SSL cryptography cipher suits and protocol details supported by your browser check this link


N.B. ! TLS is by default disabled in many latest version browsers such as Opera, Safari etc.  in order to address the POODLE SSL / TLS cryptographic protocol vulnerability

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Posted in Computer Security, Everyday Life, Internet Explorer, Various, Web and CMS, Windows | No Comments »

Windows 7 fix menu messed up cyrillic – How to fix cyrillic text in Windows

Friday, July 22nd, 2016

faststone-viewer-messed-up-menu-cyrillic-windows-7-screenshot

How to fix Cyrillic text on Windows 7

I've reinstalled my HP provided company work notebook with Windows 7 Enterprise x86 and had troubles with seeing Cyrillic written text, letters and fonts.
The result after installing some programs and selecting as a default language Bulgarian during installation setup prompt let me to see in some programs and in some of my old written text file names and Cyrillic WIN CP1251 content to be showing a cryptic letters like in above screenshot.

If you're being curious what is causing the broken encoding cyrillic text, it is the fact that in past a lot of cyrillic default encoding was written in KOI-8R and WIN-CP1251 encoding which is not unicode e.g. not compatible with the newer standard encoding for cyrillic UTF-8. Of course the authors of some old programs and documents are not really responsbie for the messed up cyrillic as noone expected that every Cyrillic text will be in UTF-8 in newer times.

Thanksfully there is a way to fix the unreadable / broken encoding cyrillic text by:

Going too menus:

Start menu -> Control Panel -> Change display language -> Clock, Language and Religion

Once there click the Administratibe tab

and choose

Change system locale.

windows-7_administrative_tab_change-system-locale

Here if you're not logged in with administrator user you will be prompted for administrative privileges.

select-system-locale-choose-bulgarian-and-hit-ok-windows-7

Being there choose your language (country) to be:

Bulgarian (Bulgaria) – if you're like me a Bulgarian or Russian (if you're Russian / Belarusian / Ukrainian) or someone from the countries of ex-USSR.
Click OK

And reboot (restart) your computer in order to make the new settings active.
 

This should be it from now on all cyrillic letters in all programs / documents and file names on your PC should visualize fine just as it was intended more or less by the cyrillic assumed creator Saint Climent Ohridski who was a  who reformed Cyrillic from Glagolic alphabet.

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Posted in Curious Facts, Everyday Life, System Administration, Various, Windows | 1 Comment »

Thursday, July 14th, 2016

use-remote-dns-on-mozilla-firefox-howto-windows-linux-logo.svg

If you're using Mozilla Firefox browser to browse the Web with Traffic Tunneling via SSH Tunnel to your own Linux server like I do in order to prevent yourself traffic to be sniffed from your Work corporate computer (as most of the corporations such as IBM / Hewlett Packard / Concentrix etc. are forcing all employee PC traffic to be  to be transported via default set Windows Corporate Proxy active for all browsers.

Then you will certainly also want to prevent the DNS requests to be not logged somewhere in your Corporate IT department thus the question arises:

How to force DNS requests to be made through the Proxy server (SSH host)?

Nomatter where you're using Firefox browser with advanced proxying plugin such as FoxyProxy FF add-on or the default Proxy FF features the DNS lookups might end up in Corporate set DNS servers often forced for the computer / notebook and impossible to be changed to a custom ones as many of the Corporation internal Sharepoints and domains are only visible from their internal networks.

Thanksfully in newer versions there is an easy way to do it directly from Visual menus via:

Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Network -> Settings

You will get a screen like below:
 

firefox-use-proxy-remote-dns-howto-screenshot

Just tick the Remote DNS and that will force Firefox to query remote Proxy server proxy DNS

 

If you happen to be running older Firefox which doesn't have the Remote DNS tick you can also try to set the setting manually:

 

  1. In firefox type this in your address bar:

    about:config

  2. Click I'll be careful I  promise.

  3. In the filter textbox, type: proxy

  4. Find the preference name called *network.proxy.socks_remote_dns*. Double click it to set it to true.

    i-will-be-careful-i-promise-firefox-windows-screenshot-warranty


network-proxy-socks-remote_dns-firefox-screenshot

Enjoy ! 🙂

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Posted in Curious Facts, Everyday Life, Firefox, Various, Windows | No Comments »

Windows unable to delete file, file locked unlocking with Unlocker tiny tool

Wednesday, April 13th, 2016

Windows-Unlocker-program-show-what-program-or-software-is-locking-your-file-why-file-cant-be-deleted-file-locked

If you want to delete some file on a Windows server or Desktop but you get the a dialog with an error saying:

"This action can't be completed because the folder or a file in it is open in another program"

windows-unable-to-delete-file-file-locked-get-what-is-locking-it-and-unlock-the-file-with-Unlocker-tiny-desktop-graphic-tool-0

Then you need to find out which Program is preventing the file from deletion / locking the file, I've earlier blogged on how to check which process locks file with tasklist or wmic Windows commands

However some users might prefer to not bother with command line check what is locking a file and then killing the Process manually with taskmanager (taskmgr.exe) but do both file unlocking from one single gui interface, that's especially for lazy novice users, gamers and most of Desktop Windows users.

If you're one of those lazy users you will appriace

Unlocker – a useful utility for unlocking files, it will help you figure out which file is using a file what program is using the file you're prevented to delete.
Unlocker is the tool for you if you get any of below error messages, when you try to delete a file:
 

  • Cannot delete folder: It is being used by another person or program
  • Cannot delete file: Access is denied
  • There has been a sharing violation.
  • The source or destination file may be in use.
  • The file is in use by another program or user.
  • Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.
     

windows-unable-to-delete-file-file-locked-get-what-is-locking-it-and-unlock-the-file-with-Unlocker-tiny-desktop-graphic-tool-1

If you stumble unto an locked file once you download and install Unlocker tool and launch the tool ( in case it disappers in future a mirror of Unlocker tool here ).
Once installed if you click properties over the file which is refused to be deleted you will get a new menu such as in below screenshot:

NB! Beware while installing Unlocker you might be offered to install a bunch of malware (make sure you deselect it). Also Unlocker's site is made in a way so the Download button could easily be confused with some Google Adsense

unlocker-windows-menu-added-to-properties-options-screenshot

Click on the file that is being locked and choose the Unlocker button, for example if you have a bunch of Videos installed and the video is being locked by VLC clicking on the file you will be shown VLC like in below screenshot

 

Unlocker-screenshot-locked-file-because-movie-opened-in-VLC

As you see you're shown the Process PID that is being used by the file the full path to the locking program and you have the option to quickly kill the process or unlock the file. Note that at some cases unlocking a file used by some critical program lets say Microsoft Word / Excel or OneNote could cause you a data loss, so before unlocking a file make sure you know what you're doing.

For more advanced users that still prefer GUI to find out what is Locking a file you can also check out Microsoft Process Explorer (advabced task manager) like tool.
If you haven't tried Process Explorer be sure to take a look at it as its a great tool for Win SysAdmins:

Process Explorer is very handy if you want to explore which .DLL (Windows Libraries) are used by a Process / Program

Windows-process-explorer-an-advanced-task-manager-for-windows-and-handy-tool-to-see-what-external-libraries-and-files-a-program-is-using.png

Windows-process-explorer-an-advanced-task-manager-for-windows-and-handy-tool-to-see-what-external-libraries-and-files-a-program-is-using-1

 

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Posted in Everyday Life, Various, Windows | No Comments »

Windows XP multicore not detected after CPU update – XP Enable multicore after singlecore install

Friday, April 8th, 2016

windows-xp-add-multicore-with-command-after-multiple-cpu-not-detected
These days it is not common to install Windows XP however for some old unsupproted applications that still work on XP in many countries  in Africa, Asia, Europe and even America. Custom patched Windows XP is still heaveily used for some corporate businesses in accounting and on airports and other government institutions even to these day, I'm aware of Windows still heavily used especially in  Russia, Belarus,Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Bulgaria etc.

Hence still there is plenty of softwares designed to work XP the good old Win XP and thus often XP needs to be emulated on VMs though officially not supported any longer  by Microsoft (its Support lifecycle End was for a last time on April 14, 2009).

Now I guess these days I guess nobody doesn't install and use Windows XP on a normal hardware PC Desktop / laptop but XP is continually installed on Virtual machine servers VMWare / VirtualBox.

Hence if you happen to have already migrated or installed some old Windows XP operating systems under VMWare for a corporate clients single core machine (no matter virtual or physical) and the client requires an update of hardware of the Virtual Machine you will be surprised that even though you add a second / third etc. core (new CPUs) the virtual machine hardware and restart the Windows XP installation.

It seems XP is designed to remember the install time CPU model hardware so once the VM and doesn't have a way to update its HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) definitions if you install it in Virtualbox thus to make XP recognize the extra added CPU cores it is necessery to do a small hack with a devcon.exe utility downloadable from Microsoft site to do the trick

1. Download the command line devicemanager utility (devcon.exe) from Microsoft Development Network MSDN here.

Note that it will work only if you use the correct version depending whether XP is  (x86/x64) bit install so check it out from My Computer -> Properties.

windows-xp-multicore-not-detected-enable-add-multicore-after-singlecore-windows-xp-install-with-devcon-exe

2  Next. Execute the following 2 commands:

    devcon sethwid @ROOT\ACPI_HAL\0000 := +acpiapic_mp !acpiapic_up
    devcon update c:\windows\inf\hal.inf acpiapic_mp

devcon.exe will  let the automatic hardware detection find out the extra CPU (multicores) added.
Wait 'till you get prompted for a reboot.
Be brave Reboot! 🙂

There is pretty much more fun useful things you can do with devcon.exe such as disabling USBs from command line,

DEVCON-command-DisableUSB_on-windows-xp-7-8-howto

listing your PCI devices and so on:

devcon-windows-command-to-list-pci-devices-on-xp7-win8-win10

You should now see all cores, hooray cores will appear in Task Manager / System Information.

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Posted in Virtual Machines, Windows | No Comments »

How to change / reset lost or forgot TightVNC administrator password

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

how-to-change-reset-lost-TightVNC-administrator-password

I have installed TightVNC to a Windows host just a few weeks ago in order to be able to manage remotely a Windows host and forgot to write down the administrator password 🙂 (stoopid!)

I had to explain to a friend remotely how to change the TightVNC admin password and it was a complete nightmare!

Shortly here is the exact menus one who wants to reset the password of a TigthVNC server after forgotten:

Start -> All Programs -> TightVNC
-> TightVNC Server (Service Mode) ->
TightVNC Service - Offline Configuration.

In the configuration dialog to popup there are the Server and Administration tabs through which a new password can be set.

After the password is change either a restart of the TightVNC server is necessery or a restart of the Windows PC.

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Posted in System Administration, Various, VNC, Windows | 25 Comments »

Check Windows Operating System install date, Full list of installed and uninstalled programs from command line / Check how old is your Windows installation?

Tuesday, March 29th, 2016

when-was-windows-installed-check-howto-from-command-line
Sometimes when you have some inherited Windows / Linux OS servers or Desktops, it is useful to be aware what is the Operating System install date. Usually the install date of the OS is closely to the date of purchase of the system this is especially true for Windows but not necessery true for Liunx based installs.

Knowing the install date is useful especially if you're not sure how outdated is a certain operating system. Knowing how long ago a current installation was performed could give you some hints on whether to create a re-install plans in order to keep system security up2date and could give you an idea whether the system is prone to some common errors of the time of installation or security flaws.

 

1. Check out how old is Windows install?

Finding out the age of WIndows installation can be performed across almost all NT 4.0 based Windowses and onwards, getting Winblows install date is obtained same way on both Windows XP / Vista/  7  and 8.

Besides many useful things such as detailed information about the configuration of your PC / notebook systeminfo could also provide you with install date, to do so just run from command line (cmd.exe).
 

C:\Users\hipo> systeminfo | find /i "install date"
Original Install Date:     09/18/13, 15:23:18 PM


check-windows-os-install-date-from-command-line-howto-screenshot

If you need to get the initial Windows system install date however it might be much better to use WMIC command to get the info:

 

 

C:\Users\hipo>WMIC OS GET installdate
InstallDate
20130918152318.000000+180


The only downside of using WMIC as you can see is it provides the Windows OS install date in a raw unparsed format, but for scripters that's great.

2. Check WIndows Installed and Uinstalled software and uptime from command line

One common other thing next to Windows install date is what is the Windows uptime, the easiest way to get that is to run Task Manager in command line run taskmgr

windows-task-manager-how-to-check-windows-operating-system-uptime-easily

For those who want to get the uptime from windows command line for scripting purposes, this can be done again with systeminfo cmd, i.e.:

 

C:\> systeminfo | find "System Boot Time:"
System Boot Time:          03/29/16, 08:48:59 AM


windows-os-command-to-get-system-uptime-screenshot

Other helpful Windows command liners you might want to find out about is getting all the Uninstalled and Installed programs from command line this again is done with WMIC

 

C:\> wmic /OUTPUT:my_software.txt product get name

 


get-a-full-list-of-installed-software-programs-on-windows-xp-vista-7-8-command-howto-screenshot

Alternative way to get a full list of installed software on Windows OS is to use Microsoft/SysInternals psinfo command:

 

C:\> psinfo -s > software.txt
C:\> psinfo -s -c > software.csv


If you need to get a complete list of Uinstalled Software using command line (e.g. for batch scripting) purposes, you can query that from Windows registry, like so:

 

C:\>reg query HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall


Command Output will be something like on below shot:

windows-OS-show-get-full-list-of-uninstalled-programs-using-a-command-line-screenshot

Well that's all folks 🙂

 

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Posted in Curious Facts, Everyday Life, Remote System Administration, System Administration, Various, Windows | No Comments »

Windows: command to show CPU info, PC Motherboard serial number and BIOS details

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016

windows-command-to-show-motherboard-bios-and-cpu-serials-and-specific-info-with-wmic

Getting CPU information, RAM info and other various hardware specifics on Windows from the GUI interface is pretty trivial from Computer -> Properties
even more specifics could be obtained using third party Windows software such as CPU-Z

Perhaps there are plenty of many other ones to get and log info about hardware on PC or notebook system, but for Windwos sysadmins especially ones who are too much in love with command prompt way of behaving and ones who needs to automatizate server deployment processes with BATCH (.BAT)  scripts getting quickly info about hardware on freshly installed remote host Win server with no any additional hardware info tools, you'll be happy to know there are command line tools you can use to get extra hardware information on Windows PC / server:

The most popular tool available to present you with some basic hardware info is of course systeminfo

 

C:\> systeminfo

Host Name:                 REMHOST
OS Name:                   Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard
OS Version:                6.3.9600 N/A Build 9600
OS Manufacturer:           Microsoft Corporation
OS Configuration:          Member Server
OS Build Type:             Multiprocessor Free
Registered Owner:          Registrar
Registered Organization:   Registrar
Product ID:                00XXX-X0000-00000-XX235
Original Install Date:     17/02/2016, 11:38:39
System Boot Time:          18/02/2016, 14:16:48
System Manufacturer:       VMware, Inc.
System Model:              VMware Virtual Platform
System Type:               x64-based PC
Processor(s):              1 Processor(s) Installed.
                           [01]: Intel64 Family 6 Model 45 Stepping 7 GenuineInt
el ~2600 Mhz
BIOS Version:              Phoenix Technologies LTD 6.00, 11/06/2014
Windows Directory:         C:\Windows
System Directory:          C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device:               \Device\HarddiskVolume1
System Locale:             de;German (Germany)
Input Locale:              de;German (Germany)
Time Zone:                 (UTC+01:00) Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm,
 Vienna
Total Physical Memory:     4,095 MB
Available Physical Memory: 2,395 MB
Virtual Memory: Max Size:  10,239 MB
Virtual Memory: Available: 8,681 MB
Virtual Memory: In Use:    1,558 MB
Page File Location(s):     C:\pagefile.sys
Domain:                    dom1.domain.com
Logon Server:              \\DOM
Hotfix(s):                 148 Hotfix(s) Installed.
                           [01]: KB2894852
                           [02]: KB2894856
                           [03]: KB2918614
                           [04]: KB2919355
…..


Now though systeminfo's hardware details and installed Windows KBXXXXX OS Hotfix patches are getting lists the command does not provide you with info about  system’s BIOS, thus to get this info you'll have to use also wmic (Windows Management Instrumentation Command).
 

 

So What Is WMIC?

WMIC extends WMI for operation from several command-line interfaces and through batch scripts. Before WMIC, you used WMI-based applications (such as SMS), the WMI Scripting API, or tools such as CIM Studio to manage WMI-enabled computers. Without a firm grasp on a programming language such as C++ or a scripting language such as VBScript and a basic understanding of the WMI namespace, do-it-yourself systems management with WMI was difficult. WMIC changes this situation by giving you a powerful, user-friendly interface to the WMI namespace.

WMIC is more intuitive than WMI, in large part because of aliases. Aliases take simple commands that you enter at the command line, then act upon the WMI namespace in a predefined way, such as constructing a complex WMI Query Language (WQL) command from a simple WMIC alias Get command. Thus, aliases act as friendly syntax intermediaries between you and the namespace. For example, when you run a simple WMIC command such as

Here is how to wmic to get PC Motherboard serial numbers, CPU and BIOS details:

 

C:\> wmic bios get name,serialnumber,version

 

Above will print  name if your BIOS, current version and it’s serial number if there is any.

If you need to get more info about the specific Motherboard installed on host:

 

C:\> wmic csproduct get name,identifyingnumber,uuid

 

This command will show motherboard modification and it’s UUID

If you want to quickly get what is Windows running hardware CPU clock speed
 

C:\> wmic cpu get name,CurrentClockSpeed,MaxClockSpeed

 

Also if you have turbo boost CPUs above command will help you find what’s the Max Clock Speed your system is capable of for the current hardware configuration.

If you do have dynamic clock speed running, then add this line, will refresh and monitor the Clock speed every 1 second.
 

C:\> wmic cpu get name,CurrentClockSpeed,MaxClockSpeed /every:1

Actually wmic is a great tool

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Posted in Remote System Administration, System Administration, Various, Windows | No Comments »

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