Raymond – Page 3 – Almost a ninja

Resetting DSRM or Directory Services Restore Mode password in Server 2012 R2

Today I needed to reset a DSRM password, not because we forgot it, but more due to wanting to have different passwords for our domain controllers.

Although, you could have the same password for each Domain Controller – this is not always secure. If your server gets compromised and they hack the DSRM password, they will try that exact password on a different server in order to gain access to it.

What is DSRM?

DSRM is a special boot mode (or option) for Windows Server Domain Controllers (ONLY). Think of it as a kind of “SafeMode” for directory services. With DSRM, the administrator is able to repair, recover or restore Active Directory services. DSRM is configured during the promotion of Active Directory Services. This Administrator account that you configure is completely unrelated and separate to the DOMAIN\Administrator account.

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Initial Server Setup of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

Introduction:

This article assumes you have a freshly installed Ubuntu Server 16.04 instance and that your require some secure configurations and set up. In this article, you will increase the security and usability of your server and help give you a more solid foundation for subsequent actions.

Step 1: Install Openssh-Server

To login to your server (remotely via putty or some other ssh terminal client), you would need to have installed openssh server – if not, you can login directly to the console of the server, run the following command:

$ sudo apt-get install openssh-server

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Changing your vSwitch Names on ESXi Hosts

So, yesterday I thought to myself, hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we could change the names of the vSwitches on ESXi hosts. That way, it will quickly allow any one to see the different categories of switches – e.g. storage/management etc.

Turns out, this is possible. Thanks to a little bit of “hacking”, you can change the names of your vSwitches.