Roachys Weblog

Well, the time has come to say goodbye to Ubuntu.  It’s been a fun relationship, but alas it’s time for it to end.  That’s not to say that the problem I have is with Ubuntu – it’s actually with a variety of circumstances that have caused me a MAJOR headache.

The problem lay within Debian and the OpenSSL project.  It seems that the package maintainers for Debian fixed a bug in OpenSSL without passing the fix upstream to the OpenSSL maintainers to check.  This fix has resulted in a major insecurity in a vast number of packages that depend on OpenSSL for any distribution that sits downstream of Debian.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20801/

While there is now an official resolution for this problem, it’s shaken my confidence in the way the Debian package maintainers apply bugfixes in their haste to get new releases out the door.

For those interested, the official resolution page on the Debian site is here.

Bear in mind that I run 5 Ubuntu machines (desktops and servers, work and home) each running some of the affected programs…..it’s a phenomenal headache for me.  Now picture those with hundreds (even thousands) of servers and workstations.   I can’t begin to imagine the trauma they are going through….

It’s because of this break of confidence that I have decided to cease using Ubuntu.  If the Debian package maintainers have disregarded policy in order to add value to their distribution in this case, where else have they fixed issues that may or may not have significant consequences…

I’ve played with Fedora previously – quite liked it as a distro, but preferred the user friendliness of Ubuntu – easy to use, but with all the benefits associated with most other Linux distributions.  I could do a Ubuntu install in 15 minutes that would be suitable for most people, with full hardware support – but for more intensive server applications, all the boxes were ticked too.

So, I’m now in the process of my Fedora migration….starting with this laptop.

Bit of an awkward fix, unfortunately, as this involves having access to a Windows/Outlook setup, but to add a Public folder that exists on Exchange, it needs to be bookmarked as a favourite for Evolution to pick it up.

For example, we use a public folder for shared (company-wide) contacts here.  To add the folder I just log onto my account on a Windows machine, then added that public folder as a favourite.

After logging out of evolution and back in, I could then see these “public” contacts under the contact folder (CTRL+2).

For roaming users who need to connect to services where there is no available WiFi, this is a useful solution.

We use an unlimited data plan with O2 which also has advantages – no further costs for users using the Blackberry as a GPRS modem!

1 – Ensure latest version of Blackberry Desktop Software is installed.

2 – Connect the Blackberry and check that under Device Manager->USB Devices that the Blackberry is listed (if it is not installed correctly, reinstall drivers from:

C:\program files\common files\research in motion\Drivers

3 – In Device Manager, under ports, you should see an RIM Virtual Serial Port – if not install from the location above.

4 – Next, add a modem in Control panel (using a Standard 33.6 modem). Connect to the virtual serial port listed in step 3.

5 – Under the advanced tab for the modem we just added in the extra initialisation commands box type:

+cgdcont=1,”IP”,”mobile.o2.co.uk”

…assuming o2 is your mobile carrier!

Now set up a new dialup connection using this modem.  Username and password have no significance, just set the phone number to dial as:

*99#

Uncheck the box that says “make this the default internet connection”

Ok,  so I must have not been paying attention for the last few months…..but apparently the nice Mr Reznor has released a couple of albums under a CC licence….

http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/8267

This is a pretty bold step forward for the music industry…..

This error occurs when trying to view Public Folders in the Exchange System manager when he SSL certificate name differs between the FQDN and the local server name.  The Exchange System Manager will not allow you to view the public folders as it believes the folder name to be incorrect.

This can be resolved using a front-end, back-end scenario, but what if you are stuck with a single Exchange server (ie. SBS) in your environment?

On following a few blogs and sites, the solution seems to be to remove SSL requirement for that particular folder in the IIS Manager.  This didn’t work for me though – and I found a lot of people out there with unresoved issues on Experts Exchange etc.

The end solution was to use the ADSIEdit utility to manually stop the Exchange System Manager from using SSL.

The steps are as follows:

1) Install the ADSIEdit Utility (one of the Windows Server 2003 Support tools) from your SBS2003 CD (CD2) using suptools.msi

2) Run a Microsoft Management console (Start->Run->MMC)

3) Open the ADSIedit.msc (browse to the Support Tools folder)

4) Browse through to

Configuration > Services >  Microsoft Exchange > Domain Name > Administrative Groups >     First Administrative Group > Servers > Servername > Protocols > HTTP > 1 > Exadmin

5) Right click msExchSecureBindings, and click Properties

6) Highlight :443: and click Remove

7) Click OK

Restart the Exchange System Attendant and the IIS Admin service

Exchange system manager will now no longer try to use SSL when connecting to the service.