Using Active Directory Snapshot and Dsamain Tool

A snapshot is a form of historical backup that captures the exact state of the directory service at the time of the snapshot was taken. You can recover deleted AD items form snapshot taken by you if the Object that you want to recover was present at the time of snapshot creation.

Step 1: Creating an AD DS Snapshot

1. Open the command prompt.
2. Type ntdsutil press Enter.
3. Type snapshot press Enter.
4. Type activate instance ntds press Enter.
5. Type create press Enter.
6. You should get a successful creation message with a unique GUID number for each snapshot, copy it.
7. Exit from the command prompt. And delete Dixit user that we have created in previous post from AD to test Snapshot.

 Step 2: Mount an Active Directory snapshot

1. Open cmd prompt as a Admin privilege type ntdsutil (a command line utility to manage AD database).
2. Type snapshot then press Enter:
3. Type activate instance ntds press Enter
4. Type list all press Enter
5. Type mount <GUID> is the GUID returned by the Create command in Step 1.
6. Type quit press Enter
7. Type quit press Enter
8. Type the following command to add your snapshot with LDAP instance.
9. Type dsamain /dbpath C:\$SNAP_datetime_volumec$\windows\ntds\ntds.dit /ldapport 44000 press Enter

Step 3: Explore a snapshot with Active Directory Users and Computers

1. Switch to Active Directory Users and Computers. Right-click and then click Change Domain Controller.
2. Click <Type a Directory Server name[:port] here>, type seat2.mumbai.com:44000, and then press Enter. Click OK. (replace your domain name and port number).
3. Double-click mumbai.com.
4. Double-click the Sales OU.
5. Locate the Dixit user account object. Note that the Dixit object is displayed because the snapshot was taken prior to deleting it. Great You have done this.

Step 4: Unmount an Active Directory snapshot

1. You can also unmount AD snapshot if there is no requirement for it, Follow next steps to achieve this.Open command prompt as an admin privilege and Type the following commands:
2. Type ntdsutil press Enter
3. Type snapshot press Enter
4. Type activate instance ntds press Enter 
5. Type list all press Enter 
6. Type unmount guid (replace guid with your snapshot GUID).
7. Type list all press Enter.
8. Type quit and exit form cmd.

If you encounter any error kindly drop your query in the comment box.

How To Enable Active Directory Recycle Bin

Configuring the Active Directory Recycle Bin
AD Recycle Bin allow you to restore accidentally deleted AD objects without the need of restoring complete AD Database, but first of all, you need to Enable this feature. So that is what we are going to describe.

Step 1: Enable the Active Directory Recycle Bin

1. Login to your Server, Open Server Manager, click Tools, and then click Active Directory Administrative Center (ADAC).
2. Click (Mumbai local) (My Domain Name).
3. In the Tasks pane (Right Corner), click Enable Recycle Bin, click OK, and then click OK.
4. Press F5 to refresh ADAC.

Step 2: Create and delete test users

1. Either from Active Directory Administrative Center, or from Active Directory Users and Computers
2. Select Sales OU and create new User with the following information, and then click OK.

•  Full name: David
•  User UPN logon: David
•  Password: Pass@123
•  Confirm password: Pass@123

1. Repeat the previous steps to create a second user, Dixit.
2. Select Dixit. Right-click the selection, and then click Delete.
3. Click Yes at the confirmation prompt.

Step 3: Restore the deleted users

1. In Active Directory Administrative Center, click Mumbai (Local), and then double-click Deleted Objects. 
2. Right-click Dixit, and then click Restore To.

3.In the Restore To window, click the Sales OU, and then click OK.

4.Confirm that Dixit is now located in the Sales OU. 

I hope you have enjoyed this new feature. Write comment if you have any query regarding this topic.

DHCP Backup and Restore with Windows Server 2012

The DHCP database is a dynamic database containing data that is related to scopes, address leases, exclusions and IP reservations.

By default, the DHCP database files are stored in the %systemroot%\System32\Dhcp folder.

You can back up a DHCP database manually, or you can configure it to back up automatically. An
automatic backup is called a synchronous, A manual backup is called an asynchronous backup.

Using Netsh (You can also use GUI method for same from dhcp management console)

You can use netsh commands to back up the database; this is useful for backing up the database to a remote location using a script file.

The following command is used to Export and import dhcp database. (DHCP data for all scopes)
Open CMD as admin privilege and type following command.
Syntax:
netsh dhcp server export "c:\YourFolder\YourFile.txt" all

Netsh utility for DHCP backup restore

Example:
netsh dhcp server export "c:\Database\DhcpFile.txt" all
To restore the DHCP database, use the following command:
Syntax:
netsh dhcp server import "c:\YourFolder\YourFile.txt" all
Example:
netsh dhcp server import "c:\Database\DhcpFile.txt" all
Nice you finished it.
Note: If you are using this command on same server for testing purpose, kindly remove scopes from dhcp console before restoring otherwise you might get error like existing database.

What is Cloud Computing

Hello friends today i am going to describe a highly demanding computing model in now days,  that is what called Cloud Computing. Cloud Computing is a computing model, not a technology where customers join the “cloud” to access IT resources  (such as disk space, servers, desktops and softwares) which are priced on the base of on-demand (means you need to pay for that you want to use).

                                          Image source www.tvgconsulting.com


Basically IT resources are rented and shared among multiple consumers much like as we takes office space, apartments, or house rooms on lease or rent from our landlord.  In a very simple way, cloud Computing is simply IT services sold and delivered over the Internet.

A key point to remember is that your data resides on someone else’s server (cloud service providers).
The most concerns is to trust and control issues, are you really want to trust on cloud service providers.
I know that you may have some questions about Cloud Computing, here is most popular question asked by IT candidates:

Why we need to use Cloud computing when we can create and/or configure our own network, resource, or service?

Yes you are right but first of all tell me, Why we takes rooms, flats, on rent or lease when we can make or purchase our own home. Yes we can create your own IT Setup also but there are some conditions when we can't do this.

1- I don't have sufficient money to deploy our own IT setup.
example: I have just $1000 budget and home bid is $5000 so how i can purchase this.

2- We just want to deploy our IT setup for short time period (temporary).
Example: I have contract for a  project on LINUX based system up to six month only.

3- We want to switch to any technology, anytime whenever required rapidly.
For example i want to switch from MICROSOFT to REDHAT technology.

The Cloud computing may be solution for all of the above problems.

Cloud Computing service providers combine virtualization, and Internet connectivity technologies to provide the service. Cloud computing is not new technology but are packaged, sold and delivered in a new way.

Types of Cloud Computing
1- SaaS (Software As A Service)
Is the most widely known and used form of cloud computing. It provides all the functions of a traditional application to many customers and often thousands of users, but through a Web browser, not a locally-installed application. Means you can access software from your web browser that are installed on Cloud provider's end.
Example: Applications like Gmail, Yahoo mail etc, Social Networking sites like Facebook etc.

2-PaaS (Platform as a Service)
Delivers virtualized servers on which customers can run existing applications or develop new ones without
having to worry about maintaining the operating systems, server hardware, load balancing or computing capacity. Means you can purchase a virtual Server from Cloud providers instead of purchasing it physically.
Example: Windows azure, Force.com, Google App Engine.

3-IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
IaaS is designed to replace the functions of an entire data center including virtualized server, network, storage and softwares. This saves a lot of time and expense.
Example Amazon.com 

Please like and share, if this is useful for you

How to Install RHEV Hypervisor

Install Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor
Ofter successfully installing Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager (in my previous post). The next step is to install your Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor hosts, which will be used to run your virtual machines.
Follow these steps

1. Download the latest version of the rhev-hypervisor* package from Red Hat Network.

2. Install the RPM on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system.

# yum localinstall rhev-hypervisor*.rpm

3. Insert a blank CD into your CD writer. Use the cdrecord utility to burn the hypervisor ISO image
onto your disc. (you can also install RHEV-H through PXE Lan if you have allready configured RIS server).

# cdrecord dev=/dev/cdrw /usr/share/rhev-hypervisor/rhev-hypervisor.iso

Now you can use it to boot the machine to install Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisors
Follow therse steps:
1. Insert the RHEV Hypervisor installation CD into your CD-ROM drive and Reboot the machine.

1-Select boot from the hypervisor installation media.

2. Select Install RHEV Hypervisor.

3. Ensure that the local internal hard drive as the boot device and select Continue.

4. Select local internal hard drive a the installation device and select Continue.

5. Enter a password for local console access and confirm it.

6. Select Install and press Enter.

7. Once installation is complete, Reboot the hypervisor. Remove the installation disc.

8. After rebooted, you will be taken to a login shell. Log in as the admin user with the password you provided .

Now you have console of Hypervisor where you can configure RHEV-H according to your Lab setup.

A. Select the Network tab. Fill in the required fields as shown in the following example. Enter the DNS and NTP Server address according to your environment.(192.168.0.254 in my case).
hostname:  localhost.localdomain .
DNS1:      192.168.0.254
NTP1:       192.168.0.254

Select Apply and press Enter.

Select eth0 device and press Enter to access the interface configuration menu to configure IP Address.

Under IPv4 Settings, select DHCP or Static IP addressing. for example
IP= 172.124.0.201 Mask=255.255.255.0
GW= 172.24.0.254
Select Apply and press Enter.

C. Select the RHEV-M tab. Configure the following options:
• In the Management Server field, enter rhevm.pod0.example.com (This will be your Management Server, means RHEV-M in my case it is rhevm.pod0.example.com).

• In the Management Server Port field, enter 443.

• Tick the Connect to the RHEV Manager and Validate Certificate checkbox.

D. The Set RHEV-M Admin Password field allows you to specify the root password for the hypervisor, and enable SSH password authentication from the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager.

Select Apply and press Enter. validate its certificate. Select Approve and press Enter.

Accept all other default settings.

E. Finally, select the Status tab. Select Restart and press Enter to reboot the host and apply all changes.
You have now successfully installed a Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor.