Troubleshooting Client Network Connection Problems

How to resolve client network connection problem:

1)  Take a quick look at the physical connection to ensure the cat 5 cable is properly connected.  On some laptops, you will see a flashing light indicating some level of connectivity.

2)  Using a command window, type in ipconfig /all.  The results should look something like this.



3)  The physical connection for the ethernet adapter is the last one called Realtek.  The other ones are for VMware server that I am also running.  Note that in this instance this workstation is not using DHCP.  The ip address being used is 192.168.1.91 and the gateway is 192.168.1.1.   This means I am using a static ip rather than one being dynamically issued by a DHCP server.  If I was using a DHCP server, the only difference you might is that DHCP is enabled with all the rest being the same.  You may want to confirm if this is the correct DHCP server.  For example if you are using a wireless connection, it is possible for you to connect to a router other than the one you are expecting.

4)  Assuming there is no issue with the DHCP server and what IP address, subnet mask, default gateway and DNS servers being issued there are a few other checks to be made.

a)  Ping 127.0.0.1  This is the localhost address and will work if TCP/IP stack is OK.  If this fails, you should re-install TCP/IP.

b)  Ping the local address.  In my example, this would be ping 192.168.1.91.  This will confirm the IP address for the client has successfully been bound to the physical card.  If this fails, either the drivers for the network card is problematic or the network card itself is failing or has failed.  I would first try to re-install the drivers.

c)  Ping default gateway.  In my example, this would be ping 192.168.1.1.  This will help confirm the connectivity to another device in your network.  If this fails, check the physical connections including the cable itself from the client to the default gateway device.

d)  If there are other intermediate devices such as a switch, you will need to investigate.  Commands such as tracert could be useful.

e)  Ping remote IP address.  If you are debugging a problem at home, the next IP address I would ping is the cable modem.  For me, I know the IP address is 192.168.100.1.  If you can get to that, I could try the ISP gateway.  In my example the IP address is 64.71.255.198.  From here, you could try other ones you know.

Disabling Windows 2003 Shutdown Tracker

I have always found the Windows 2003 Shutdown Tracker extremely annoying.  Definitely I have no interest in using this in my home network.

How to Disable Windows 2003 Shutdown Tracker:

1)  Click Start > Run.

2)  In the Run box type "gpedit.msc"

3)  You will need to expand some of the folders by clicking on the + sign.  Go to Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System

4)  Double click Display Shutdown Event Tracker and select the Disabled checkbox and press OK

5)  That's it!

My Own ESXi Server Part 9 Creating a VM

Having following the previous 7 parts of My Own ESXi Server, you are now ready to create your first virtual machine (VM).

How to Create a Virtual Machine

1)  From the main window of vSphere Client, click Create a new virtual machine.

2)  On the Configuration, click Next.

3)  Change the name of VM as you see fit and click Next.

4)  If you have multiple datastores to choose, select one and click Next.

5)  Select Guest Operating System and then Version, and click Next.

6)  Adjust the Virtual disk size and click Next.

7)  Check Edit the virtual machine settings before completion and click Continue.

8)  Select New CD/DVD.

9)  Check Connect at power on.  Check Datastore ISO File and click Browse.

10)  Browse datastore to location of the already uploaded iso and click OK.

11)  Click Finish.

12)  You should now see your VM listed in the inventory.  Please note that you still have to install the operating system.  Start the VM by selecting it and right-click and select Power > Power On.  You will need to look at the Console to see the actual screen.

13)  If you completed the OS installation, you should now have you first VM ready to use!

Related Posts:
Part 1  The Time Has Come
Part 2  Running ESXi on VMware Fusion
Part 3  Building My ESXi Server
Part 4  Installing ESXi 4 on a USB Stick
Part 5  Installing vSphere Client on Windows
Part 6  Updating ESXi using vSphere Host Update Utility
Part 7  Browsing the VMware ESXi Datastore
Part 8  WinSCP to the Rescue
Part 9  Creating a VM
Part 10  Downloading a Virtual Machine

***Updated March 26th 2010
I have decided to continue the series with at least the following:

Part 11  Running vSphere Client from Ubuntu
Part 12  Running vSphere Client from Mac OS
Part 13  Adding/Removing a VM to ESXi
Part 14  Export in ESXi
Part 15  Deploying OVF Templates
Part 16  Adding a License Key

My Own ESXi Server Part 5 Installing vSphere Client on Windows

In my previous post My Own ESXi Server Part 4 Installing ESXi on a USB Stick, I covered how to install the to get ESXi Server installed.  So, now you are ready to access this server from a client computer.  To do so, you will need to install vSphere Client.  The vSphere Client can be installed on Windows, Linux or Mac OS.  This post will cover how to install vSphere Client on Windows XP.

How To Install vSphere Client on Windows XP

1)  You can get the vSphere Client in a couple of ways.  When you download the ESXi Server, you may have chosen to down the vSphere Client at the same time.  If not, you can also download it directly from your ESXi Server.  In my example, the address of my ESXi Server is 192.168.1.10.  Using a browser, go to http://192.168.1.10.

2)  You will see a certificate error message.  Click Continue to this website (not recommended).

3)  You will now be at the VMware ESXi 4 Welcome Screen.  Click Download vSphere Client.

4)  Once your vSphere Client executable is downloaded, you can double-click to start the install.

5)  Click OK for English.

6)  Click Next.

7)  Click Next to agree to User License Agreement.

8)  Enter User Name and Organization and click Next.

9)  Check Install vSphere Host Update Utility 4.0.  We will need this later on.  Click Next.

10)  Click Next to confirm Destination Folder.

11)  Click Install.

12)  With the Installation Completed, click Finish.

Connecting to ESXi Server with the vSphere Client

1)  Start the vSphere Client shortcut on your desktop.

2)  Enter the ip address of your server, with the user name of root and the password you customized on your ESXi Server.  Click Login.

3)  Check Install this certificate and do not display any security warnings at the bottom of the window. Click Ignore.

4)  You will now see the vSphere Client Main Window.  Congrats!

Related Posts:
Part 1  The Time Has Come
Part 2  Running ESXi on VMware Fusion
Part 3  Building My ESXi Server
Part 4  Installing ESXi 4 on a USB Stick
Part 5  Installing vSphere Client on Windows
Part 6  Updating ESXi using vSphere Host Update Utility
Part 7  Browsing the VMware ESXi Datastore
Part 8  WinSCP to the Rescue
Part 9  Creating a VM
Part 10  Downloading a Virtual Machine

***Updated March 26th 2010
I have decided to continue the series with at least the following:

Part 11  Running vSphere Client from Ubuntu
Part 12  Running vSphere Client from Mac OS
Part 13  Adding/Removing a VM to ESXi
Part 14  Export in ESXi
Part 15  Deploying OVF Templates
Part 16  Adding a License Key

Why did it take me so long to start using Dropbox?

Why did it take me so long to start using Dropbox?  I certainly understood what it is capable of doing and heard many people raving about it.  Perhaps, I did not know what problem it solved for me!  Being concerned with security, I am not planning on using for anything personal, financial or confidential.  What then can I use it for?  I thought this could be a good place for me to put computer manuals and software tools that I use often.  I could then have them kept in sync across all the different machines I use and that would mean Mac, Windows and Linux.

I started testing using Dropbox on Mac, Windows and Linux.  I have been blown away so far!  My use case is simple.  In the past, I would either use a usb drive to copy data from one machine to another.  Or I would log in one machine and connect to another and copy files across.  With Dropbox, all I need to do now is create a set up on each machine I use, then all I need to do is drop files into the drop area on one machine and I can pick it up on another.  As soon as I remove the files on one machine, the others show a message that the files have been deleted.  The sync is amazingly fast.

I can see using this as a way to keep documents handy all the time.  I am planning on keeping various computer documents here for reference.  Notice that I still do not plan on keeping anything personal, financial or confidential ..... at least not yet.

JDiskReport

There are lots of software tools out available that can help you understand how the space on your drive is being used. I always try to put the largest drive possible in any computer I own. Still there are times when space available runs a bit low and I need to figure out what I should delete or perhaps move off another drive. Whenever this happens on Windows, I tend to gravitate back to using JDiskReport.

Once installed you will be presented with the JDiskReport page letting you choose what drive or directory path you want to report on.

Once the scan is complete you will be presented with a report that you can analyze. 

The two areas I typically focus on first are:
1)  Which folder is taking up the most space.  You can easily tell by viewing the pie chart.  You can drill down as necessary.

 2)  The Top 50 largest files.

After analyzing these and cleaning up whatever I don't need or want, I might rerun the report if I deleted a lot of files.  Otherwise, I would take a quick look for anything unusual.

Let Windows Speak To You

In my previous post Let Your Mac Speak To You, I covered how you can get your Mac to convert text to speech. For Windows users, you can also do the same with ClipSpeak.

1) Using a browser, go to http://clipspeak.codeplex.com.
2) Download the latest version of ClipSpeak.
3) Expand the zip file and start ClipSpeak.
4) All you need to do is select some text (e.g. from a web page) and copy (Control-C).  It will automatically start speaking.

Remote Desktop - Part 6 Remote Desktop Web Connection for Windows

I previously covered how to remote desktop back into Windows in my post Remote Desktop - Part 2 Getting Back to Windows.  Now I want to show you how to connect using Windows Remote Desktop Web Connection.

The basic steps are:
1) Install Remote Desktop Web Connection
2) Configure Internet Information Services (IIS)
3) Enable Remote Desktop
4) Configure Windows XP firewall
5) Connect to an Enabled Remote Desktop Web Connection


Step 1.  Install Remote Desktop Web Connection
1) Go to Control Panel and open Add or Remove Programs.

2) Click Add/Remove Windows Components.

3) Select Internet Information Services, and then click Details.

4) Select World Wide Web Service, and then click Details.

5) Select Remote Desktop Web Connection, and then click OK.

6) Click OK to close Subcomponents of Internet Information Services (IIS) window.

7) Click Next in the Windows Components Wizard window

8) The install starts and shortly after you may be prompted for the XP CD. Click OK and either insert the cd or point to where the files can be found to allow the install to complete.

9) Click Finish.

Step 2.  Configure Internet Information Services (IIS)
1) Go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services. Note depending on your view, the path may be Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > Administrative Tools > Internet Information

2) Expand your local computer, expand Web Sites, expand Default Web Site. You should now see a folder called tsweb.

3) Right-click the tsweb folder and then click Properties.

4) Click the Directory Security tab.  Click the Edit button in Anonymous access and authentication control.

5) Check the Anonymous access check box on the Authentication Methods dialog box, and then click OK.

6) Click OK to close the tsweb Properties window.

7) Right-click the Default Web Site and then click Properties. As port 80 is a highly-used port and may be used by other software installed on your computer, I recommend changed it to some value between 1000 to 65535. I chose 1234. Change the TCP Port and click OK.

9) If your Default Web Site is Stopped, right-click and then click Start.

Step 3.  Enable Remote Desktop
To Enable Remote Desktop to a Windows XP Professional system,
1)  Click Start.
2)  Right-click My Computer, choose Properties.
3)  Select Remote tab.
4)  Select the checkbox Allow users to connect remotely to this computer.
5)  Click on Select Remote Users.  Confirm that the user you want to remote login with.


Step 4.  Configure Windows XP firewall
As I used a non-standard TCP port 1234 for the remote desktop web connection, I will also need to configure the firewall on XP.

1) Go to Control Panel > Windows Firewall. Note depending on your view, the path may be Control Panel > Security Center > Windows Firewall.

2) As you can see, the firewall is on. Click on the Exceptions tab.

3) Although, the Remote Desktop service is checked, it is configured for port 3389. You can select the Remote Desktop service and click Edit to confirm.

4) Click Add Port.

5) For the Name, enter Remote Desktop Web Connection. For the Port number, enter 1234. Click OK.

6) The Remote Desktop Web Connection port has now been added

7) Click OK.

Step 5.  Connect to an Enabled Remote Desktop Web Connection
To connect to a computer supporting remote desktop web connection

1) Start Internet Explorer and enter http://[ip address]:port/tsweb. In my example I set up remote desktop web connection on my computer call main that has an ip address of 192.168.1.91. The port I configured above was 1234. The url would then be http://main:1234/tsweb or http://192.168.1.91:1234/tsweb.

2) You may notice a prompt at the top of your screen to install Terminal Services ActiveX Client. Click to start the install.

3) You should now see the Remote Desktop Web Connection Window. Enter ip address of the computer you are connecting to and click Connect.

4) You will get a warning message. Click Connect.

5) Enter your User name and Password and click OK.

6) You should now see your remote desktop!