Windows 2012 – CLI

Activating Windows 2012 with powershell:

(or use sconfig)

slmgr.vbs –ipk <productkey>
slmgr.vbs –ato

 

Rename the sever:
  • Determine the current name of the server with the hostname or ipconfig command.
  • In Windows PowerShell, run Rename-Computer.
  • Restart the computer.

 

Installing GUI with powershell:

(or use sconfig)

Install-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Shell, Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra

An other option is to use dism

Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:ServerCore-FullServer /featurename:Server-Gui-Shell /featurename:Server-Gui-Mgmt

If this fail, you need to mount the files.

1. Create a folder to mount WIM (mkdir c:\mountdir)

2. Check the index number needed for a server with GUI image (where d is the DVD drive)

dism /get-wiminfo /Wimfile: d:\sources\install.wim

We want to install the SERVERSTANDARD so the index number will be 2

3. Mount the WIM for Server Standard:

dism /mount-wim /wimfile: d:\sources\install.wim /Index:2 /mountdir:c:\mountdir /readonly

4. Start powershell and execute:

Install-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra, Server-Gui-Shell –restart –source c:\mountdir\windows\winsxs

5. Restart the server

 

 

Remove the GUI with powershell:
Uninstall-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Shell, Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra

 

SCONFIG

Use SCONFIG to configure a lot of options (domain/Computername/updates/nic/…)

 

For other options to remove/install the GUI look at http://www.howtogeek.com/111967/how-to-turn-the-gui-off-and-on-in-windows-server-2012/

Configure a Server Core Server: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj592692.aspx#BKMK_1_5

How to completely remove Symantec Antivirus (without entering password)

CleanWipe Utility

The cleanwipe utility is used to completely remove Symantec Antivirus and Symantec Endpoint Protection products. 
To obtain Cleanwipe please contact Symantec Technical support.

Once the utility has been obtained please follow these instructions:

This utility can be run on Windows 2000, Windows XP (32 and 64 bit), and Windows Server 2003 (32 and 64 bit.)

Warnings:
Do not run this utility on Windows NT, Windows 9x, or Windows Me.
Do not run this utility on systems that have Symantec AntiVirus 8.x or below installed.

You cannot select individual applications to remove. 

CleanWipe may remove LiveUpdate.

CleanWipe will remove Virus Definitions if you select Yes to "Do you want to do a detailed MSI Product Code registry search?...", even when selecting No to "If Virus Defs remain after uninstalling Symantec products do you want to uninstall the Virus Defs?". If you have other Symantec applications that use the VirusDefs folder, it is recommended that you make backup copy of the VirusDefs folder before running the CleanWipe tool. The VirusDefs folder is located under C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\

When using the CleanWipe utility, please be aware that it removes the following products and components from the computer:

Alert Management Server
Firewall Administrator
Quarantine Console
Quarantine Server
Symantec AntiVirus (Version 9.x and above)
Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition
Symantec Client
Symantec Client Firewall
Symantec Client Security
Symantec Endpoint Protection
Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager
Symantec LiveUpdate
Symantec Network Access Control
Symantec Sygate Enterprise Protection
Symantec System Center
Symevent

If you have other Symantec applications on the computer that depend on any of the applications listed above, those applications may not function properly. The customer may need to re-install the missing applications after running CleanWipe.

Note: The zip file is password protected.
Un-Zip Password: symantec

1. Extract the file to a new folder in a convenient location, such as the Desktop, using the un-zip password provided above.
2. Browse to the new folder and execute the utility by double clicking 'CleanWipe.exe'
3. Follow the on-screen instructions.

The utility runs in verbose mode and will ask you about the components you want uninstalled.

Note: If the CleanWipe utility fails to remove Symantec Endpoint Protection, please proceed through the manual uninstall procedure for the version of the product you have installed.

You can find the manual uninstall instructions in the following document: 

Title: How to manually uninstall Symantec Endpoint Protection client from Windows 2000, XP and 2003, 32-bit Editions
Solution ID: 2007073018014248
Document URL:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ent-security.nsf/docid/2007073018014248

Title: 'Manual uninstallation documents for Symantec Client Security products'
Solution ID: 2002031914291648
Document URL: http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ent-security.nsf/docid/2002031914291648

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SQL Server 2008 R2 – Unattended Silent Install

To create an Unattended Silent Install, you first need a configuration file with all the right settings in it. To create the file, run a installation of SQL and select all required settings. Continue the installation until you reach the “Ready To Install” step. In this step you will see the location of the configuration file (see the image below).

 

In this case it is: C:\program files\microsoft sql server\100\setup bootstrap\log\20120524_103756\configurationfile.ini

You can cancel the setup proces now.

 

Edit the configuration file as follows:

 

  • Set QUIET to “True”. This specifies that Setup will run in a quiet mode without any user interface (i.e. unattended installation)QUIET=”True”
  • Add IACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS and set its value to “True”. This is to required to acknowledge acceptance of the license terms when the /Q (i.e. QUIET) parameter is specified for unattended installations.ACCEPTSQLSERVERLICENSETERMS=”True”
  • Remove the UIMODE parameter as it can’t be used with the QUITE parameter.
  • IF used SQL as the Securitymode, use SAPWD to set a password for the SA account
    SAPWD=”a complex password”
  • Set TCPENABLED to yes if you want external connections to you SQL instance
    TCPENABLED=”1″

 

Now you have your configuration file ready run SQL with the following command:

“<path to SQL setup folder>\setup.exe” /ConfigurationFile=”<path to config file>”

View BSOD (blue screen) crash information stored in dump files

Description

BlueScreenView scans all your minidump files created during ‘blue screen of death’ crashes, and displays the information about all crashes in one table. For each crash, BlueScreenView displays the minidump filename, the date/time of the crash, the basic crash information displayed in the blue screen (Bug Check Code and 4 parameters), and the details of the driver or module that possibly caused the crash (filename, product name, file description, and file version).
For each crash displayed in the upper pane, you can view the details of the device drivers loaded during the crash in the lower pane. BlueScreenView also mark the drivers that their addresses found in the crash stack, so you can easily locate the suspected drivers that possibly caused the crash.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

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Changing the default SQL Server backup folder

When installing SQL, you can change the default SQL Server backup folder. When you want to change this afterwards you can’t do this through a gui.

 

If you want to change the path open REGEDIT and navigat to the following key (or similar for your instance or SQL version:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.50.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQLServer

Change the BackupDirectory key to the desired path.

This default path will be used when backing up a database.

Default Backup Path in SQL 2008

In the SQL Server 2008 setup you can now set the default backup location but in case you set it wrong or need to change it at later time the SSMS interface does not provide you with any options to do that. You can do the same thing as in 2005 …

Go to following key in Registry and put the new path in …

First we need to determine the instance Name; go to
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\Instance Names\SQL\]

Note down the value for the default instance usually MSSQL10.MSSQLSERVER (note they changed the naming convention of instance names from MSSQL.Instance# to MSSQL10.InstanceID which you enter in at install time).

Now go to …
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQLServer\]

And change the value for BackupDirectory to the new value.

Now if you modify a Maintenance Plan it will grab the new value. You don’t need to restart server or services.

 

source: http://sqllearnings.blogspot.com/2009/03/default-backup-path-in-sql-2008.html