Some time ago (2008 actually) I wrote a tool that can assign driveletters given a volumename. I use it myself after SysPrep operations to assign the desired drive letters. For instance after cloning a Virtual Machine from a template.

I noticed that I updated this tool sometime after the original post but never uploaded it here. The most important changes are:

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I was trying to create a (very) large Datastore on VMWare vSphere 4.1 but although VMWare correctly identifies the LUN on my SAN it refuses to create the Datastore and gives me this error:

The complete error text is

Call “HostDatastoreSystem.QueryVmfsDatastoreCreateOptions” for object “ha-datastoresystem” on ESX “<IP of ESX>” failed.

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Again a note that is mainly for myself since I tend to forget these kind of things and always spend much time to look it up…

Default settings for the HP 8/20q FC SAN Switch are:

username: admin
password: password
default ip: 10.0.0.1

As you may have read I am currently implementing VMWare vSphere 4 on several HP Proliant DL380 G7 machines.

I ran across an interesting knowledge base article from VMWare that describes a possible issue that is summarized as “Power on and storage operations are slow with the HP Smart Array P410i controller“.

Essentially this just means a performance issue and the resolution is to install an extra (256 MB) cache module on the RAID controller.

The Cache Module has HP article # 462968-B21 (not to be confused with 462969-B21 which is the Battery Kit).

Google search on 462968-B21.

If you are looking for the HP Simple SAN Connection Manager Software (aka HP SSCM) then you’ve come to the right place. HP seems to be really good at hiding their software on the web but I found it.

Go to http://www.software.hp.com/kiosk and user the following credentials to access:

username: SSCM_3X_KIOSK
password: s3*S#M1$

Then you can download by clicking Receive for Free.

EDIT: I also found a direct link on HP’s FTP Server

Just a reminder to Self for future reference, the default credentials for HP Storageworks P2000 (G3) are:

username: manage
password: !manage

I have started the implementation of a VMWare vShphere environment in which we are going to use an Altiris server for Deployment. Since we are using HP Hardware I needed the HP Branded version of Altiris (it’s called HP Rapid Deployment Pack aka HP RDP).

I had some troubles finding the download spot for it, that’s why I am sharing it here. Hopefully it will save others from a long search!

Last time I needed HP RDP I just went to the HP website, clicked Support & Drivers then selected Download drivers and software and in the Editbox entered “HP Rapid Deployment Pack” which leads to this page:

So where do we download it then?

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I recently bought a new router, a Netgear WNDR3700 and I noticed a silly bug. When you make a DHCP reservation in the webinterface it will present a list of existing clients which makes it easy to add them to the reservation list.

This seems to work fine at first but when I checked my IP with IPConfig I noticed that I received a different address. I checked the router’s log and saw this:

[DHCP IP: 192.168.2.29] to MAC address 00:21:5c:9a:a0:99, Thursday, September 23,2010 14:03:59

I noticed that the MAC address was lowercase here and not uppercase as in the webinterface. I changed the case in the webinterface and then it worked fine!

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Today I can proudly announce the official release of SasLibEx 2.0 which will bring support for new compilers, a native x64 version and some exciting new features!

New Compilers:

SasLibEx 2.0 introduces support for Visual Studio 2010 (C++), RAD Studio 2010 (Delphi and C++ personalities) and the new RAD Studio XE (Delphi and C++).

Native x64:

A separate native x64 version is available for Visual Studio 2005, 2008 or 2010 (C++).

New Features:

SasLibEx 2.0 introduces new unique features, the most important ones being:

• New method to simulate the Secure Attention Sequence (SAS aka Ctrl-Alt-Del) with only user permissions.
• New Switch console function to reconnect closed RDP sessions for remote control.
• SasLibEx could already Lock and Unlock (without credentials) the Desktop, now there is also a function to determine if a Desktop or Session is Locked.
• Log off any session from a service.
• Retrieve the user’s name from a service.

Just like the old features, the new features do not require User Account Control to be enabled, nor does it require signing your executables.

If you would like to know more, upgrade or order please contact me using the Contact Form or directly by e-mail:

If you didn’t read before about SasLibEx and what it can do please read my earlier posts about it.

Just a quicky, I am little excited because my certifications are going well.

Last month I passed the final exam for MCITP Enterprise Administrator and a few minutes agoI got a mail from Citrix confirming that I passed the beta exam for XenApp 6 which means I am certified (CCA for XenApp 6).

I may now call myself: MCITP Enterprise Administrator, MCSE and MCSA + Messaging, MCDBA and CCA 😛