How would you like to reset your webserver from anyplace. and device, anytime using a Citrix Xenapp Published App?

Often times as an administrator you are some place out in the field and you will get a call that your Web Server has crashed for some reason and needs reset. Or you want your helpdesk people to be able to reset the Webserver but not really have access to the actual desktop.

Here is a method I came up with to publish and Icon within Citrix Xenapp to allow an admin or helpdest staff to quickly do an IISReset remotely via Citrix Xenapp application to get your web server back going in most situations.

As a bonus this will give you a log file that gives you an idea when your web server is crashing and people are resetting it so you can research your log files for a fix.
Note that this script assumes that your Citrix Server is on the same network as your webserver.  I haven't tried it using IP addresses instead of a server name, but I suspect it might work as long as you are putting in an account that has admin priveleges on the Webserver in the script)

To get started you will need to do a few things.

Firstly you will have to download PSTools from Microsoft and copy the PSExec.exe file to the root of the Citrix server that you will be publishing the app to. Lets call that server CitrixAdmin henceforth. PSTools is written by Mark Russinovich and can be found at:
Link to information page on PSexec
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897553.aspx

Direct Download Link to PSTools.zip:
http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/PsTools.zip

Download, extract the PSTools zip to a folder on your CitrixAdmin server and then copy the PSExec.exe file in the root of your C: drive. Also copy the PSExec.exe file to the C: drive of your Webserver.

The other thing you will need to do is copy the IISreset command to your C:/ root of your Webserver from the C:\WINDOWS\system32 folder (open a command prompt and type: copy C:\WINDOWS\system32\iisreset.exe c:  or use Windows Explorer to do it)

Next you need to create a simple command batch file on your CitrixAdmin Server that will run your IISReset command on the remote server that we can publish in your Citrix APP farm.

In order for the IISReset and PSExec to run you will need to pick an account with admin priveleges.

Open up Notepad or your favorite text editor and add the following text between the lines:
_________________________________________________________________
Echo This is a script file to reset the Web Server
Echo The web server was reset at %time% %date%>>C:\WebReset.txt

Echo Off
c:\psexec.exe \\web -u administratoracct -p accountpassword c:\iisreset.exe /restart
exit
__________________________________________________________________
Save the file to the C:\ root folder (or another folder of your choosing) on the Citrixadmin server as "resetweb.cmd"



(In the above script you will need to change file://web/ to file://the%20name%20of/ your webserver. You will also need to change the administratoracct text with the account name that has admin priveleges on your Webserver and accountpassword with the password to that account. Note: yes it is open text password but this file will be on your CitrixAdmin server and not out on the web server)

OK so what this little script does is remotely run IISreset on the Webserver from your CitrixAdmin server.  Then it generates a file on the webserver called Webreset.txt that keeps track of the time and date that the script was run. You can even test the script by clicking on it and running it.  It will reset your IIS Web server so be certain that it is during off hours when you test this.

Now all that needs to be done is create a simple published application for the resetweb.cmd script file you created on the CitrixAdmin Server.

As a Citrix Admin you should know how to publish an application but I will give the steps here anyways. 
On your CitrixAdmin find and Open the Citrix Access Management Console and drill down to the Farm applications folder, right click on it and Select New/ Publish Application from the context menu. Proceed as if you are creating a new app by giving it a name, description etc. and go to next screen.  Keep the defaults on the application publishing screen as an application being published from the server and click next.

To set up the application on the Application Location Properties screen all you need do is type in:  C:\resetweb.cmd   into the Command Line field and C:\ into the working directory.  Finish through publishing the app by adding your users you want to be able to reset the web server and thats it! (note if you put the webreset.com into a different directory you will have to modify the command line and working directory with that directory and the psexec.exe file must also be in that directory.

Connect to your Citrix apps via your favorite device and you now will have an icon you can click on to reset your Web server from where ever you are at! And you will have a log file in the root of your webserver that will tell you whenever this is done.

Now that you have done this what other applications/scripts can you think of that you can use PSexec to run commands remotely via a Citrix published app to save on administration time? The possibilities seem endless.

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Fixing the Ofice 2007 Quick Access Toolbar for users with Roaming Profiles, QAT files do not roam from Locallow folder.

Hi All,
I went back and tackled this issue again. There are many sites out there that suggest the fix of this issue.

First some background. When Microsoft Office 2007 was released Microsoft placed the settings for the Quick Access Toolbar (.qat file) in the Locallow folder of the users profile. The locallow folder can never roam so if sites were using roaming profiles, a users settings they set on their Office Applications quick access tool bar would get lost after every logout of their session. This became quite a frustration for users.

Over the years many suggestions were given including using scripts to copy the qat files in and out of the users profile at login and logoff. A big pain, and a way to slow down logins. Microsoft released a "fix" to add a registry key to the users profile (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958062 and later included in Office 2007 Service Pack 2 )however, that fix was still a Manual fix. Admins had to edit each users registry in order for this to work.

Enterprising people came up with solutions to use Citrix Profiles in order to change the setting (http://blogs.sepago.de/helge/2009/12/09/fixing-office-2007s-quick-access-toolbars-with-citrix-user-profile-manager/)

Ok, but I don't use Citrix profiles and I have a thousand users with roaming profiles that have the issue.

SO, still searching I ran across an obscure blog posting by Kay Sellenrode that links to an Adm file that provides the ideal solution. Set the Key for the qat file redirection in the Microsoft or SP2 fix via Group Policy!
Kays post is here: http://geekswithblogs.net/ksellenrode/archive/2009/01/05/128362.aspxBravo!

So I guess the solution has been around a bit it just takes some searching to find it.
-------------
Here is Kay Sellenrodes Posting:
"A lot of people that migrated to Office 2007 probably ran into the issue that the QAT (Quick Access Toolbar) is not included in the Roamind profile.

This caused a lot of frustration, until a while ago the only solution was to have logon/logoff scripts that would copy the files over to a roaming location.
But Microsoft heard the complaints and they silently released an update to address this.
You are now able to move the QAT files to the roaming part of your profile through the following steps

Request the hotfix http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955142/?FR=1 (JK Or install Office 2007 Service Pack 2 is later fix)
In most cases this update is already installed, so you probably don't need it.
Change the Registry, so that the hotfix will become active, use one of the following three solutions
Install the ADM or ADMX template which you can find at http://blogs.platani.nl/downloads.php
If the System is not managed by policies you can change the following registry key for each user.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\Toolbars
QuickAccessToolbarRoaming DWORD with a value of 1

In case that you are using policies you can change the following registry key, though I would advise you to use the ADM or ADMX instead.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\Toolbars
QuickAccessToolbarRoaming DWORD with a value of 1 "
-----------
Of course the easiest solution for me was to download and use the sensational group policy template by platoni which worked like a champ. Links are below.

Office QAT ADM file ADM file to set the right policy value when using the Office 955142 hotfix (jk: or Service Pack 2) http://blogs.platani.nl/tools/OfficeQAT-ADM.zip


Office QAT ADMX file ADMX files to set the right policy value when using the Office 955142 hotfix (jk: or Service Pack 2) http://blogs.platani.nl/tools/OfficeQAT-ADMX.zip

We know how these items can "disappear from the web so here is the text from the  QAT.ADMX and QAT.ADM files in case they do so you can copy and paste and make your own. First the QAT,ADMX file:
--Right Click and use select all from the below box and then right click and copy the text into a text file to create your admx file.--
<br /><policydefinitions revision="1.0" schemaversion="1.0"><br /><br /><policynamespaces><br /><target namespace="FullArmor.Policies.AE30A6DE_AC2C_4094_926E_DCB7FD970712" prefix="fullarmor"><br /><using namespace="Microsoft.Policies.Windows" prefix="windows"><br /></policynamespaces><br /><supersededadm filename="c:\windows\inf\officeqat.adm"><br /><resources minrequiredrevision="1.0"><br /><supportedon><br /><definitions><br /><definition displayname="$(string.SUPPORTED_WIN2K)" name="SUPPORTED_WIN2K"><br /><definition displayname="$(string.ADMXMigrator_NoSupportedOn)" name="SUPPORTED_NotSpecified"><br /></definitions><br /></supportedon><br /><categories><br /><category displayname="$(string.OFFQAT)" name="OFFQAT"><br /></categories><br /><policies><br /><policy class="User" displayname="$(string.EnableRoamingQAT)" explaintext="$(string.EnableRoamingQAT_EXP)" key="Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\Toolbars" name="EnableRoamingQAT" presentation="$(presentation.EnableRoamingQAT)" valuename="QuickAccessToolbarRoaming"><br /><parentcategory ref="OFFQAT"><br /><supportedon ref="SUPPORTED_WIN2K"><br /><enabledvalue><br /><decimal value="1"><br /></enabledvalue><br /><disabledvalue><br /><decimal value="0"><br /></disabledvalue><br /></policy><br /></policies><br /></policydefinitions><policydefinitions revision="1.0" schemaversion="1.0"><br /><policynamespaces><br /><target namespace="FullArmor.Policies.AE30A6DE_AC2C_4094_926E_DCB7FD970712" prefix="fullarmor"><br /><using namespace="Microsoft.Policies.Windows" prefix="windows"><br /></policynamespaces><br /><supersededadm filename="c:\windows\inf\officeqat.adm"><br /><resources minrequiredrevision="1.0"><br /><supportedon><br /><definitions><br /><definition displayname="$(string.SUPPORTED_WIN2K)" name="SUPPORTED_WIN2K"><br /><definition displayname="$(string.ADMXMigrator_NoSupportedOn)" name="SUPPORTED_NotSpecified"><br /></definitions><br /></supportedon><br /><categories><br /><category displayname="$(string.OFFQAT)" name="OFFQAT"><br /></categories><br /><policies><br /><policy class="User" displayname="$(string.EnableRoamingQAT)" explaintext="$(string.EnableRoamingQAT_EXP)" key="Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\Toolbars" name="EnableRoamingQAT" presentation="$(presentation.EnableRoamingQAT)" valuename="QuickAccessToolbarRoaming"><br /><parentcategory ref="OFFQAT"><br /><supportedon ref="SUPPORTED_WIN2K"><br /><enabledvalue><br /><decimal value="1"><br /></enabledvalue><br /><disabledvalue><br /><decimal value="0"><br /></disabledvalue><br /></policy><br /></policies><br /></policydefinitions><br />
---End of ADMX file--

And here is the text from Qat.adm file
--Start cutting below this--
#if version <= 2 CLASS USER CATEGORY !!GPONLY_CAT POLICY !!GPONLY_POL KEYNAME Software\Policies PART !!GPONLY_TEXT1 TEXT END PART PART !!GPONLY_TEXT2 TEXT END PART END POLICY END CATEGORY CLASS MACHINE CATEGORY !!GPONLY_CAT POLICY !!GPONLY_POL KEYNAME Software\Policies PART !!GPONLY_TEXT1 TEXT END PART PART !!GPONLY_TEXT2 TEXT END PART END POLICY END CATEGORY #endif; version <= 2 #if version >= 3
CLASS MACHINE
CLASS USER
CATEGORY !!OFFQAT
KEYNAME Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\Toolbars
POLICY !!EnableRoamingQAT
VALUENAME QuickAccessToolbarRoaming
VALUEON NUMERIC 1
VALUEOFF NUMERIC 0
EXPLAIN !!EnableRoamingQAT_EXP
#if version >= 4
SUPPORTED !!SUPPORTED_WIN2K
#endif
END POLICY
END CATEGORY ;GENERAL
#endif
[strings]
; GPONLY
GPONLY_TEXT1="System Policy Editor does not support this policy template."
GPONLY_TEXT2="You must use Group Policy in Windows 2000."
GPONLY_CAT="Unsupported Administrative Template"
GPONLY_POL="OfficeQAT.ADM"
; SUPPORTED
SUPPORTED_WIN2K="At least Microsoft Windows 2000"
; CATEGORIES
OFFQAT="QAT files."
; CATEGORY EXPLANATIONS
OFFQAT_EXP="QAT files."
; POLICIES
EnableRoamingQAT="Change the default location of QAT files."
; PARTS
; POLICY EXPLANATIONS
EnableRoamingQAT_EXP="This setting let's you change the default location of your QAT files in Office 2007, so they are included in the roaming profiles."
---Stop cutting above here--


I hopes this solves your headaches on this issue!!

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Thin List Archives are now also available on YahooGroups and Open to ALL!!

Hi All,
With some changes Yahoo made recently to Yahoogroups, I have finally been able to open up for viewing/searching the Thin List archives that have been saving to Yahoogroups. Years ago (6/2002) I accidently set the list at Yahoo to private and was never able to change it back because of yahoo. It made it so no one could see the list, so I moved the list to Freelists,org. But THIN kept archiving and having messages saved at Yahoogroups.

For those that don't know the Thin list has been around since early 1997. The Thin.net Thin list was first on online website called Onelist, which got purchased by Egroups whom got purchased by YahooGroups. The archives of the list pretty much stayed in place during these transitions. The archives at Yahoo date all the way back until April 2000! The archives from 1996-2000 exist on the rare Thin Net archives CD that I produced years ago, as I ran it on my own personal servers for those 3 years back in those days.

Now EVERYONE can see, search and access the Yahoogroups Thin List archives!! Over 143,000 messages!!


If you don't like the freelists archive search at http://www.freelists.org/archive/thin this is a new option for you.

So another version of the Thin List archives that dates back further than the Freelists archives is available here:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/thin/

AND
This also gives you an additional RSS feed to use for the list at http://rss.groups.yahoo.com/group/thin/rss

(note that Freelists also has an RSS feed of the list at http://feeds.feedburner.com/freelists-feeds/thin )

(ALSO Note you can't subscribe/unsubscribe or manage any of your settings to the Thin list or do anything at Yahoo other than look at the archives, you will still have to do all changes you want at Freelists.)

Hopefully this will give you all another great resource and choice for finding answers from the archives. I am also hoping by opening the yahoo archives up that they will also get better indexed in the Yahoo search engine.
Regards,
Jim Kenzig
Thin List Moderator

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So you just got a new computer for Christmas. Now what?

(Note this was written 12/31/2008 and has been updated with Microsoft Security Essentials Link on 10/1/2009)

With the economy the way it is the price of the personal computer has reduced so drastically that many people are finally able to own one. I am writing this article for the first timer who just got a new computer this Christmas as a guide to places you can go to get help and point out some free utilities that will make your life easier.

First of all of course I am assuming since you are reading this that you have figured out how to get your computer hooked up to the internet. This was probably accomplished by the ATT, Time Warner, Comcast, Wowway, Directv, AOL, Geek Squad or whatever guy coming to your house, plugging in a box, running a utility on your computer, handing you a sheet of paper and Saying, Yup, you're all hooked up Maam, I gotta go call in..y'all have a nice day. You are left holding a stack of papers and trying to sort through the ugliness of it all.

If you just plugged your computer into the internet the FIRST and MOST IMPORTANT thing you want to do is Update, Update, Update. Assuming your computer is running some version of Windows be it Windows XP Windows 7 or Windows Vista you need to go out to the Microsoft Windows Update site BEFORE YOU GO ON ANY OTHER WEBSITE! To get to the windows update site open your Internet Explorer browser and click on the Tools Menu at the top and choose Windows Update from the drop down. One of two things will happen depending on what version of Windows you are running. If you are running Windows XP a new screen will popup and you may get a prompt asking to run ActiveX controls. Click OK. You may need to right click on a bar across the top of the screen and choose Allow active X control. Then you should click on the Grey Express button to start searching for updates. Once all updates are found Microsoft will give you a list of them. Click on the Install now link to install all of them. Wait until they are done installing. Click on Reboot if you are prompted to.

When the computer comes back up. Repeat the above procedure Over and Over and Over again until there are no critical updates left. DO NOT GO ON ANY OTHER WEBSITES UNTIL YOU HAVE DONE THIS! If it is Windows 7 or Windows Vista you are using, another Window will pop up with a yellow box that you need to click on to search for updates. Search for updates, allow Windows to install them, reboot if necessary, repeat, until it tells you there are no more updates. If you do not do anything else in this article to your PC this is the THE most important piece of inforamation you should take away from it.

Now your PC is updated and protected for the most part but you are still not ready to go off into the annals of the World Wild Web. If you did not have Microsoft Office and want to install that install it now. Put the disk in, follow the prompts, install it. If you are Windows XP go to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/FX101859091033.aspx otherwise if you are Vista go back to the Microsoft Update site and keep updating until there are no more. Lather, rinse, repeat. Install any other Microsoft software repeat.

Antivirus is next. Some computers come with Antivirus preinstalled or a trial version installed.

Whatever it is unless it is Microsoft Security Essentials, Mcafee or Trend, go to your control panel from your start menu and choose programs (or add remove programs on XP) and uninstall it and then go back to Best Buy or whatever computer store you bought it from and demand a discount on one of those packages because you just paid $500 for a computer from them and the AV software they installed is for the most part crap. There are free antivirus programs out there and I have written about them, but it is worth $30 to protect your investment and your time is worth more than that. Spend a weekend(weeks maybe even) without a PC while someone cleans off a virus for you and you will know what I mean. Symantec/ Norton Antivirus is just an OK product compared to Trend or Mcafee. Just trust me on it. One of my first jobs in IT over 25 years ago was as a Virus Technician at NASA Glenn (former Lewis) Space center. I've followed these products and know what is and isn't going to be useful.

Now install the Antivirus of your choice. Go into the program and run the update feature. Keep running it until there are no more updates. Lather, rinse, repeat.

NOTE: Since I wrote this, Microsoft Onecare has been Released as a FREE product called Windows Security Essentials. I highly reccomend you install this product which can be donloaded from: http://www.microsoft.com/SECURITY_ESSENTIALS/
Further Trend makes a web browser add on to keep you safe while you are surfing at:
http://free.antivirus.com/web-protection-add-on/ which should also be installed on all of your systems.

Now your experience on the web is useless unless you have 3 utilities installed on your computer and they are now owned by Adobe. They are Acrobat Reader, Shockwave, and Flash. The 4th program you'll need is Sun's Java. You may as well do these first.

Lets start with Shockwave first. Go out to the Adobe website at http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/ Click on the Yellow button that reads "Agree and Install now" If you are running Vista you may have to click OK on a User Access Control prompt

Uncheck the box to include Norton Security scan in the popup if you get it and click on Next, you may get a yellow bar across the top of your browser that you have to right click your mouse on to allow the installation. If all goes right shockwave will finish installing and you will be done.

Next lets install Adobe Flash. A LOT of websites require Flash. Head on over to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ Click to uncheck the box in front of "Free Google Toolbar" (you don't need it) and then click on the yellow Agree and install now button. You may have to click inside the box on the next screen on the Green Shield and choose Install ActiveX and then continue or Allow on the Windows Vista User Access Control prompt. Then Click Install in the next popup window. Flash should then be installed and you are done.


Adobe Acrobat Reader for PDF's at http://get.adobe.com/reader/ is installed in much the same way as the Flash Player. Be sure to click to UNCHECK the box in front of Free Google Toolbar and then click on the download button. Right click on the yellow bar across the top of your Internet Explorer browser window and choose Install Activex control from the drop down. If you have Vista as your Operating system click Continue on the User access control prompt that comes up. Next click on the Install button in the popup window. Follow the prompts to finish Adobe Reader installation. Note that there are other free versions of PDF readers like Foxit but Adobe is the industry standard.

Finally you will need Java installed. Go out to http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp
and click on the blue button that reads "Java Download" , if you are Vista, click Continue in the User access control popup you get, allow any other firewall prompts you may get. Then click on Install in the popup. The java installer will download java. Accept the license agreement by clicking on the accept button. Then click on Finish when it is done. Watch for check boxes along the way prompting to install MSN or Google Toolbar and uncheck those boxes if they come up.

Now you are ready to enjoy and surf the web. Try out your new installs over on my Stressedpuppy games Site at http://www.stressedpuppy.com/ it makes use of many of the plugins we just installed! Happy computing!

Here is an additional tip from Microsoft on what to do before you connect your computer to the internet: http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/advanced/xppc.mspx

And finally there are lots of other applications that you might want to install on your computer.  A new website that will install needed apps (many of the above listed ones included) is called Ninite.com.  Ninite lets you click on several choices to install multiple apps at once and it removes all the toolbars (yahoo, msn, google) etc prompts that most have. You can also install some Microsoft Products from this link IF you have the license for them.
Check out the site at http://www.ninite.com/

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Microsoft Releases Free Antivirus Solution

Today Microsoft Corporation Released Windows Security Essentials. A free solution for Genuine users of Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating system.

The product is lightweight, fast and will be updated by windows updates. The product is a stripped down version of the paid Windows Live Onecare product that Microsoft announced it would be discontinuing. The backup, multicomputer and firewall features have been removed from the Onecare product to make up Security Essentials.

Still a very compelling download if you are using some other free third part antivirus software.

You can download and get Windows Security Essentialst at:

http://www.microsoft.com/SECURITY_ESSENTIALS/

Note for those of you who use Grisoft AVG it installed right along side my AVG on my Windows 7 Installation without issue. Pretty cool. Trend Micro has yet to release a Windows 7 client for their SMB client suite so I can't say if it plays well.

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Windows 7 Remote Administrator Tools available

Microsoft has released the RTM version of the Windows 7 remote administrator tools which includes admx templates and updated versions of Remote Desktops and AD Users.

You can download it from:


http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=7d2f6ad7-656b-4313-a005-4e344e43997d

Note that even though the 64 bit version appears to be labeled AMD it should work on any processor.

After you install the MSU file you will have to go to the Control Panel, Programs applet and choose "Turn Windows Features On or Off" and select the administrative tools you want added and allow them to be installed.

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Listing of SBC Communities / New Xenapp CTO

Rich Crusco of Citrix has compiled an excellent very inclusive list of some of the best Citrix Community Websites. It brings back memories of Thethin.net and some of the links it had to offer. Great Job Rich!

You can check out the links page at:

http://community.citrix.com/display/cdn/Community+Featured

In other Citrix News Harry Labana has joined Citrix as VP and CTO of the XenApp product group. Harry is from Goldman Sachs where he was Vice President leading global efforts for Desktop and Application virtualization. I am certain he will be a great asset to the team.

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