Access Director 3.0 Released

The future of Windows is coming on July 29

To make your next Windows experience even better – We have just released the next version of Access Director.                                                                                               Using Access Director you will be able to secure your desktop, simple and easy!

– Run your desktop in a non-elevated user context
– Elevate only needed applications with a single click
– Elevate in your current user-context without affecting other unsecured applications like IE or Office

What’s in Access Director 3.0 ?

– Updates to support the next Windows experience (10)
– Support for integration modules
– Minor bug fixes

Get it from the Download Center

Direct Download Link

Installing UniFi controller in Debian 7 (wheezy)

Installing UniFi controller in Debian

1. Edit /etc/apt/sources.list
Add:
# Ubiquiti UniFi updates
deb http://www.ubnt.com/downloads/unifi/distros/deb/debian debian ubiquiti

2. Add GPG keys
Run:
sudo apt-key adv –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com –recv C0A52C50
sudo apt-key adv –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com –recv 7F0CEB10

3. Run the following commands
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install unifi

It should now start and be running at https://:8443/

NOTE:

You might have to modify the path in for java in /etc/init.d/unifi                                                I had to change this from JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk to  JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64

UniFi Controller default TCP ports:

unifi.shutdown.port=8081 (for management purpose)
unifi.http.port=8080 (device inform)
unifi.https.port=8443 (controller UI / API)
portal.http.port=8880 (portal redirect port for HTTP)
portal.https.port=8843 (portal redirect port for HTTPs)
unifi.db.port=27117 (local-bound port for DB server)

And UDP port 3478.

Installing mFi controller in Debian 7 (wheezy)

I’ve been running the mFi controller on a Windows server, but wanted to move it to my Debian box – The install for Windows is quite simple, click and run – but for Debian a few more steps is required, so here is what I did to get it up and running

I am running Debian 7 (7u2 – Wheezy)

1. Edit /etc/apt/sources.list
Add:
## Debian Wheezy (7.0)
deb http://dl.ubnt.com/mfi/distros/deb/debian debian ubiquiti

2. add GPG Key
sudo apt-key adv –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com –recv C0A52C50

3. Run the following commands
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mfi

It should now start and be running at https://<yourserver>:6443/

NOTE: If your not already running MongoDB, The installation guide can be found here Install MongoDB on Debian

Raspberry Pi 2 Overclocking options

Raspberry Pi 2 Overclocking options

  • arm_freq– Frequency of ARM in MHz.
  • core_freq -Frequency of GPU processor core in MHz. It has an impact on ARM performance since it drives L2 cache.sdram_freq -Frequency of SDRAM in MHz.
  • over_voltage – ARM/GPU core voltage adjust. Values above 6 are only allowed when force_turbo or current_limit_override are specified (which set the warranty bit).
  • force_turbo – Disables dynamic cpufreq driver and minimum settings below. Voids Warranty.
  • initial_turbo -Enables turbo mode from boot for the given value in seconds (up to 60) or until cpufreq sets a frequency. Default 0
  • arm_freq_min – Minimum value of arm_freq used for dynamic clocking.
  • core_freq_min – Minimum value of core_freq used for dynamic clocking.
  • sdram_freq_min – Minimum value of sdram_freq used for dynamic clocking.
  • temp_limit – Overheat protection. Sets clocks and voltages to default when the SoC reaches this Celsius value. Setting this higher than default voids warranty. Default 85
  • disable_splash – If set to 1, avoids the rainbow splash screen on boot.
  • boot_delay – Wait for x number of seconds in start.elf before loading kernel. Default 1
  • gpu_mem – GPU memory in megabyte. Sets the memory split between the ARM and GPU. ARM gets the remaining memory.

 

force_turbo=1 Voids Warranty!!!

Intel NUC adding the missing SMBIOS information

Today I encountered the Intel NUC (NUC5i3RYH).

The task was simple, Add Drivers to WinPE & Create Driver Package for Windows 8.1

Unfortunately, the Intel NUC (NUC5i3RYH) was missing vital SMBIOS information ;(

The System Management BIOS (SMBIOS) defines access methods and data structures for BIOS that stores information on specific computers.

Example SMBIOS categories include:

  • Manufacturer
  • Product Name
  • Version
  • Serial Number
  • System SKU Number
  • System family
  • Chassis Asset Tag

I ran the following commandline: wmic csproduct get *

The result concluded that all information (except the SMBIOS GUID) was missing.

In my case, I needed the Product Name to match the actual model number – The info is needed to apply a specific driver package for the model using Configuration Manager or MDT

The Product Name can be verified using commandline: wmic csproduct get name

When assigning drivers from the task sequence in Configuration Manager or MDT I usually use:

SELECT * FROM Win32_ComputerSystem WHERE Model LIKE “%TYPE%”

or for Lenovo

SELECT * FROM Win32_ComputerSystemProduct WHERE Version LIKE ‘%TYPE%’

So what to do?

Intel has released a tool to modify the bios: Intel® Integrator Toolkit (download: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/22856)

Using the tool is pretty simple:

  1. Download and Install Intel® Integrator Toolkit
  2. Start the tool
  3. Select download and customize bios in the wizard
  4. Choose your model from the list
  5. Select your BIOS
  6. Click Download and customize
  7. In the SMBIOS tab add the info you need
  8. Click Save
  9. In File Menu, click Create BIOS Install Package
  10. Save your EXE file
  11. Now run the file on the model you need to update with the information – it works from within Windows or from Windows PE.

After the reboot you will need to confirm the BIOS upgrade.

The added information is now available for use

Advanced Installer

For many years I’ve been working with Wise Package Studio, the best tool ever for application repackaging projects. Since Wise Package Studio is End of life – announced in December 2011. Now seemed like a good time to find a new tool, Flexera Admin Studio seemed like the obvious choice, but is rather expensive (still a great tool)

In some cases Orca (http://www.technipages.com/download-orca-msi-editor) would get the job done, but still would take a long time

I remembered coming across Advanced Installer at TechEd NA, so decide to have a look at the tool

There is a free trial from the website and also a free version: http://www.advancedinstaller.com/download.html

Advanced Installer comes in multiple versions, I choose to test the Architect version, mainly because it had the following features highlighted

  • Repacker
  • App-V
  • SCCM
  • MSI Quick-Edit

My test of the product was a great success !

Today I will recommend this product to my customers looking to repackage or edit MSI’s, it has a nice and intuitive interface, much like Wise Package Studio had 😉

Have a look at some of the videos from Advanced Installer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIPx2SPC1K7_DoPdVeFHoNg

 

 

Windows 8.1 RTM app samples

This sample pack includes all the app code examples developed and updated for Windows 8.1 RTM. These samples should only be used with the released version of Windows 8.1 and Visual Studio 2013 RC. The sample pack provides a convenient way to download all the samples at once. The samples in this sample pack are available in C#, C++, and JavaScript

Direct download link: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=322042

Just some handy blogs =)

Some nice blogs 🙂

The App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
The WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/
The SCMDM Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/mdm/
The ConfigMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
The OpsMgr Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/operationsmgr/
The SCVMM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm/
The MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
The DPM Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
The OOB Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/oob/
The Opalis Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/opalis

Don’t forget about PowerCFG :)

Checkout PowerCFG…

just a few examples:

Changes plan to “High Performance”

powercfg -s 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c

also works from task sequence – cmd.exe /c “powercfg -s 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c”
just a few exampes:

powercfg /change “always on” /standby-timeout-ac 0
powercfg /change “always on” /hibernate-timeout-ac 0
powercfg /setactive “always on”

Read more at: Using PowerCfg to Evaluate System Energy Efficiency