IMPORTANT: I assume you can already create and view other DomU virtual hosts on your Xen server. I also assume you are using a system that supports Intel-VT extensions and that those extensions are properly enabled. Keep in mind that the CPU, the motherboard, and the BIOS all need to support VT extensions. You may also need to enable VT extensions within your BIOS.

First, prep your server as per Microsoft KB 314082. You will save the entire block of registry changes into a “.reg” file and merge with your own registry so that Win2K will recognize your Xen IDE adapter. You will extract the IDE related driver files that they list (Atapi.sys, Intelide.sys, Pciide.sys, and Pciidex.sys) into “system32\drivers\”. I installed a barebones Win2K PRO test DomU before spending a lot of time attempting a migration, so I simply copied the listed driver files from that working DomU to the physical system we were about to migrate. I only copied files that did not already exist. I did not overwite any existing files.

Second, you will want to copy each hard disk in your WIN2K system to an image of equal size. Our WIN2K system had a 20GB hard disk, which we cloned to a 20GB image file on the Xen server. If your WIN2K system has large disks and a lot of unnecessary disk space (ie: 500GB, of which 450GB is free), consider using some sort of tool to migrate the system to a smaller disk (ie: 100GB, of which 50GB would be free) before proceeding. Otherwise, the disk image you copy to your Xen server will be wasting a lot of space!

Our system had a single hard disk, so we only had to create one image using the command below. Repeat this for each hard disk in your system. In our example below, the hard disk from the original system was presented as “/dev/hde”, and the image was saved to “/vservers/win2k-example/win2k.img”. Adjust your paths accordingy. Copying our 20GB disk to an image took just over 10 minutes.

time dd if=/dev/hde of=/vservers/win2k-example/win2k.img bs=4k

Lastly, we will create the file containing settings for this DomU. Our file was located at “/etc/xen/win2k-example” and had the following contents. I’m not sure that all of these settings are relevant, but this working config should give you a good starting point.

import os, re
arch = os.uname()[4]
if re.search('64', arch):
    arch_libdir = 'lib64'
else:
    arch_libdir = 'lib'

kernel = "/usr/lib/xen/boot/hvmloader"
builder='hvm'

memory = 512
shadow_memory = 8
name = "win2k-example"
vif = [ 'type=ioemu, bridge=xenbr0' ]

vcpus=1
disk = [ "file:/vservers/win2k-example/win2k.img,hda,w", "phy:/dev/hda,hdc:cdrom,r" ]

vnc = 1
vncunused = 1
vncconsole=1

boot="dc"
#boot="c"

acpi = 1
apic = 1
device_model = '/usr/' + arch_libdir + '/xen/bin/qemu-dm'
stdvga=0
serial='pty'

usbdevice='tablet'

Now we can boot our new Windows 2000 DomU virtual host. Be prepared to reconfigure TCP/IP settings for your “new” network card and to resolve other driver issues after the migration.

xm create win2k-example

2008/09/14 – Jason Klein

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Due to the nature of mobile users, the BackupPC server may not be able to reliably locate and connect to the SSH service on these PCs. Besides, numerous users have reported problems with BackupPC via SSH, due to an alleged bug in the Cygwin SSH server. If your Windows PC is accessible via SSH, running BackupPC via rsync over an SSH tunnel works fine. Simply write pre-backup and post-backup scripts to initiate an SSH tunnel and tear down the SSH tunnel when you are finished.

I have found that using a combination of OpenVPN and Cygwin Rsync Server works well when performing backups of mobile Windows PCs. We use OpenVPN to maintain a secure connection between the PC and the BackupPC server. We then configure BackupPC to connect to the Rsync Server on the Windows PC via the VPN connection. The ONLY problem we have had with this is reminding users to make sure their OpenVPN connection is always working. The Windows GUI for OpenVPN does not always automatically reconnect to the BackupPC server between suspend-power operations on laptops. It generally does fine between reboots, though.

The documentation below assumes you are already successfully using BackupPC to backup local hosts. The documentation does not cover installation or configuration of BackupPC for local hosts.

Preparing SSL Certificates for OpenVPN server

OpenVPN requires one SSL certificate for your OpenVPN server and one SSL certificate for each OpenVPN client. We will assume you do not already have a public key infrastructure in place. We will begin by creating a Certificate Authority (CA) key, then we will create a key for the server (signed by CA key) and a key for the first client (also signed by the CA key). You will need to create an additional key for each additional client.

NOTE: If you are managing a large number of hosts, you should replace the example common names and file names with actual hostnames for the BackupPC server (ie: backuppc.example.com) and each BackupPC client (ie: laptop3241.example.com). This will make it much easier for you to manage a large number of certificates.

# Create a directory for storing your certificates
mkdir /opt/ssl
chmod 700 /opt/ssl
cd /opt/ssl

# Generating Certificate Authority Keys (Common Name: "ca")
openssl genrsa -des3 -out ca.key 1024
openssl req  -new -x509 -days 3650 -key ca.key -out ca.cer

# Generating OpenVPN Server Keys (Common Name: "server")
openssl req -new -out server.csr
openssl rsa -in privkey.pem -out server.key
openssl ca -policy policy_anything -cert ca.cer -in server.csr \
	-keyfile ca.key -days 365 -out server.crt

# Generating OpenVPN Client Keys (Common Name: "client1")
openssl req -new -out client1.csr
openssl rsa -in privkey.pem -out client1.key
openssl ca -policy policy_anything -cert ca.cer -in client1.csr \
	-keyfile ca.key -days 365 -out client1.crt

Install and Configure OpenVPN on the BackupPC server

cd /opt/
wget http://dag.wieers.com/packages/openvpn/openvpn-2.0.7-1.el4.rf.i386.rpm
wget http://dag.wieers.com/packages/lzo/lzo-1.08-4.2.el4.rf.i386.rpm
rpm -ivh lzo-1* openvpn*

cd /etc/openvpn/
vi server.conf
cp /opt/ssl/ca.crt .
cp /opt/ssl/server.crt .
cp /opt/ssl/server.key .
openssl dhparam -out dh1024.pem 1024

chkconfig openvpn on
service openvpn restart

If you are running an IPtables Firewall, you must accept OpenVPN traffic (1194/udp) on the BackupPC server. Edit your iptables script and the rule shown below right above or right below similar UDP rules. Afterwards, restart iptables to force changes to take effect.

vi /etc/sysconfig/iptables
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 1194 -j ACCEPT

service iptables restart

Install and Configure OpenVPN on the BackupPC client

Download and install the newest Windows OpenVPN GUI package with TAP interface from the following website. During installation, accept all of the default options. You MUST reboot after installation, or else the VPN connections will not work properly. When you are finished, you should have a new OpenVPN GUI icon in your tray and a new TAP interface in you list of Network Connections.

Website Link: http://openvpn.se/

For this example, we used OpenVPN 2.09 GUI 1.0.3. We provided a link to the version we used for this example, but highly recommend installing the latest version once you have things up and running!

Download Link: http://openvpn.se/files/install_packages/openvpn-2.0.9-gui-1.0.3-install.exe

COMMON PROBLEM: The TAP interface does not appear in your Network Connections. If this happens, your registry is missing one of the following keys/folders that is required for TAP interface installation (who knows why, it doesn’t appear to be used). Simply create an empty key/folder in it’s place, then uninstall OpenVPN, then reinstall OpenVPN.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce]

After installing the OpenVPN GUI, you need to copy several files to the following directory. Be sure to rename the client files to client.crt and client.key. This allows you to use the same OpenVPN config file (.ovpn) on each mobile computer.

C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config\

ca.crt		# copied from /opt/ssl/ca.crt on your BackupPC server
client.crt	# copied from /opt/ssl/client1.crt on your BackupPC server
client.key	# copied from /opt/ssl/client1.key on your BackupPC server
server.ovpn	# download via link below

Download Link: server.ovpn

You must edit “server.ovpn” and change “backuppc.example.com” (see line 41) to the actual hostname of your BackupPC server. Your mobile PCs should be able to PING the BackupPC server via this hostname.

FIREWALL NOTE: If you are using firewall(s), you will need to allow OpenVPN traffic (1194/udp) from the mobile PCs to the server. Be sure to update firewalls that may restrict outbound traffic on the mobile PC network as well as firewalls that may restrict incoming traffic on the BackupPC server network. Most importantly, be sure to update your host based firewall on your BackupPC server so that it does not block these incoming connections. An example for updating the iptables firewall running on your BackupPC server was shown above.

When you are finished, you should be able to ping your BackupPC server (10.8.0.1) from your BackupPC client. You should also be able to ping your BackupPC client from your BackupPC server. The IP address assigned by the VPN should appear in a balloon popup window when your OpenVPN GUI tray icon changes to a green color.

NOTE: If you can ping the server from the client, but not vice-versa, check your Windows Firewall. You may need to allow Incoming Echo Requests under ICMP Settings on the Advanced firewall configuration tab.

Configure OpenVPN to Start Connection Automatically

OpenVPN GUI can start a connection automatically when it runs. To enable autoconnect simply add this string to the command that starts the OpenVPN app:

  --connect client1.ovpn

In Windows, you need to append it to the following registry key: OpenVPN-Startup.reg (right-click, save, and run)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"openvpn-gui"="C:\\Program Files\\OpenVPN\\bin\\openvpn-gui.exe --connect client1.ovpn

Change client1 as needed for the name of each client config file.

Configure OpenVPN server Static IP for “client1″ (first client)

You must assign a static IP address to each VPN client so that the BackupPC server can locate the correct client each time it performs a backup of the client.

cd /etc/openvpn/
vi ccd/client1	# file name MUST match the Common Name on client SSL certificate
ifconfig-push 10.9.0.1 10.9.0.2

vi /etc/hosts	# hostname MUST match the Common Name on client SSL certificate
10.9.0.1                client1

Configure OpenVPN server Static IP for “client2″ (additional clients)

Routing for the static IP above had already been configured. You must configure routing for each new static IP block as shown below.

cd /etc/openvpn/
vi ccd/client2  # file name MUST match the Common Name on client SSL certificate
ifconfig-push 10.9.0.5 10.9.0.6

vi server.conf	# configure routing for new static IP (near similar line 152)
route 10.9.0.4 255.255.255.252

vi /etc/hosts   # hostname MUST match the Common Name on client SSL certificate
10.9.0.5                client2

Download Link: server.conf

Install and Configure Cygwin Rsync Server on the BackupPC client

CYGWIN NOTE: If you are only using Cygwin to run an Rsync Server on your client PC, they you can use the standalone installation package for the Cygwin Rsync Server below. If you are using other Cygwin items on the client PC, you need to install the Rsync Server through the standard Cygwin setup menu. We will assume no other Cygwin software is installed.

Download and install the newest Cygwin Rsync Server (cwRsync Server) package from the following website. During installation, accept all of the default options. You can ignore the service account password. No need to reboot after installation. When you are finished, confirm that you have a new Rsync Server service in your list of Windows Services. Configure the service for “automatic” startup rather than “manual” startup.

Website Link: http://www.itefix.no/phpws/

For this example, we used Cygwin Rsync Server 2.0.10. We provided a link to the version we used for this example, but highly recommend installing the latest version once you have things up and running!

Download Link: http://superb-west.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/sereds/cwRsync_Server_2.0.10_Installer.zip

COMMON PROBLEM: The “Rsync Server” service would not appear in the service list. Conflicting versions of Cygwin software on a system WILL cause you problems, so uninstall other Cygwin software packages if possible. We had to uninstall an older Cygwin-based SSH tools we previously used to backup these Windows PCs before we could successfully install a working copy of the Cygwin Rsync Server.

After installing the Cygwin Rsync Server, you need to copy several files to the following directory. I recommend you generate a new randon password for the rsyncd.secrets file on each client computer. Each line of the rsyncd.secrets file contains a valid username/password for the Rsync Server.

C:\Program Files\cwRsyncServer\

rsyncd.conf		# downloaded via link below
etc\rsyncd.secrets	# downloaded via link below

Download Link: rsyncd.conf
Download Link: rsyncd.secrets

After you have finished configuring rsync (above), start/restart the Rsync Server service. You can do this through Windows Services or by using the following commands.

net stop rsyncserver
net start rsyncserver

NOTE: You can confirm that the Rsync Server is running via “netstat -an” and confirming that TCP port 873 is LISTENING. You can also confirm that the Rsync Server is running via “telnet localhost 873″ which should show you “@RSYNCD: 29″ (press CTRL+] to exit, then type “quit” to close telnet). If either of these tests fail, restart Rsync Server and test again.

You should be able to connect to the Rsync Server from the BackupPC server over the VPN. If you cannot, you will need to allow an exception for “Rsync Server” port “873″ protocol “TCP” in your Windows Firewall.

[root@backuppc backuppc]# telnet 10.9.0.1 873
Trying 10.9.0.1...
Connected to client1 (10.9.0.1).
Escape character is '^]'.
@RSYNCD: 29

Once you have confirmed you can connect to the Rsync Server on the Windows client from the BackupPC server, you can configure of client backups on the BackupPC server.

Configure client on the BackupPC server

Edit the following files within your BackupPC directory.

conf/hosts		# add host entry similar to example below.
pc/client1/config.pl	# downloaded via link below

Example Host Entry:
client1		0       admin@example.com	client1user

Download Link: config.pl

You must update the client IP address in config.pl (line 8, line 16) to reflect the VPN address you assigned to the client. BackupPC will connect to the Rsync Server on this IP address.

You must update the client password in config.pl (line 19) to reflect the password you assigned in “rsyncd.secrets” file.

NOTE: Use WordPad to edit these files (not NotePad). Be sure that you have several blank lines at the end of your “rsyncd.secrets” file. Due to a bug with the Cygwin Rsync Server, it cannot read a username/password pair if it is in the last line of the secrets file.

Afterwards, reload the BackupPC server so that it will read these new configuration settings.

[root@backuppc pc]# service backuppc reload

The new client should appear in your BackupPC interface and can now be backed up!

2006/12/01 – Jason Klein

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When incoming calls are received by the SPA-3000, they are forwarded to the Asterisk PBX with CALLER ID information and can be routed like any other POTS trunk (ie: as per Incoming Calls config and/or Inbound Routing config by CID). When outgoing calls are placed through the SPA-3000, this device dials the number and connects the call. The person making the call WILL hear the DTMF tones (aka touch tones) that are dialed by the SPA-3000 just before the call is connected. I have not been able to find a way of preventing this (yet).

Configuring Trunk within Asterisk PBX using AMP

Login to AMP (Asterisk Management Portal). Navigate to Setup, Trunks, and choose “Add SIP Trunk”.

General Settings

Outbound Caller ID:    (leave blank - cannot be used by POTS line)
Maximum Channels:  1   (required - see note below)

NOTE: Each SPA-3000 supports a single channel. You need to setup multiple trunks for multiple SPA-3000 devices.

Outgoing Dial Rules

Dial Rules:
1+NXXNXXXXXX		; prefix 10 digit dialing with "1"
1NXXNXXXXXX		; allow all 11 digit dialing as-is
NXXXXXX			; allow all 7 digit dialing as-is

Outgoing Settings

Trunk Name: pstn_spa01

Peer Details:
auth=md5
context=from-pstn
dtmfmode=inband
fromuser=asterisk
host=10.10.10.21	; IP address of SPA device
insecure=very
nat=yes			; omit if no NAT exists between PBX and SPA
port=5061
secret=012345678901
type=peer
username=asterisk

Incoming Settings

User Context: spa01

User Details:
allow=ulaw
context=from-pstn
disallow=all
dtmfmode=inband
host=10.10.10.21	; IP address of SPA device
insecure=very
nat=yes			; omit if no NAT exists between PBX and SPA
secret=KzBTALezmG1a
type=friend

Registration

Register String: 	; omit - not necessary to register w/ SPA device?

Configuring Outbound Routing within Asterisk PBX using AMP

Login to AMP (Asterisk Management Portal). Navigate to Setup, Outbound Routing, and choose “Add Route”.

Add Route

Route Name:		; user preference, avoid special characters here?
pstnspa1

Dial Patterns:		; dial 5 plus 11 digit, 10 digit, and 7 digit numbers
			; omit each "5|" to use trunk without dialing prefix
5|1NXXNXXXXXX		; accept 5 + 11 digit dialing
5|NXXNXXXXXX		; accept 5 + 10 digit dialing
5|NXXXXXX		; accept 5 + 7 digit dialing

Trunk Sequence:		; add each available SPA-3000 trunk
SIP/pstn_spa01
SIP/pstn_spa02
SIP/pstn_spa03

Configuring the Sipura SPA-3000

The following example only illustrates changes to default settings. Start by performing a factory reset of your SPA-3000. Connect a handset to the PHONE jack on the SPA-3000 and dial “****” to access the configuration menu, then dial “73738#” (aka “RESET#”) to perform a factory reset.

Login to the web interface of your SPA-3000, click “Admin”, then click “Advanced”. Configuration changes for each tab/page are shown below.

SYSTEM

USER PASSWORD:		secretpwd		; secures the SPA web interface
						; username 'user' or 'admin'?

DHCP: 			no			; recommend static ip address
STATIC IP: 		10.10.10.21
NETMASK: 		255.255.255.240
GATEWAY: 		10.10.10.30

HOSTNAME: 		voip-spa1		; optional
DOMAIN: 		example.net		; optional
PRIMARY DNS: 		10.10.10.2		; optional
SECONDARY DNS:		10.10.10.3		; optional
PRI NTP:		ntp1.example.net	; optional
SEC NTP:		ntp2.example.net	; optional

SIP

RTP Packet Size:	0.020		; improves sound quality (was 0.030)?

REGIONAL

TIME ZONE: 		GMT-05:00	; Central Time Zone

PSTN LINE

NAT Mapping Enable:	yes	; only change if NAT exists between PBX and SPA
NAT Keep Alive Enable:	yes	; only change if NAT exists between PBX and SPA

PROXY:			10.10.10.24	; IP address of Asterisk PBX
USE OUTBOUND PROXY:	yes
REGISTER:		no
REGISTER EXPIRES:	3600
MAKE CALL W/O REG:	yes
ANSW CALL W/O REG:	yes

DISPLAY NAME:				; leave blank
USER ID:		3501		; optional?
PASSWORD:				; leave blank

DTMF Process INFO:	Yes		; default value
DTMF Process AVT:	No		; resolve issues with DTMF
DTMF Tx Method:		Auto		; default value

DIAL PLAN 8:		(S0<:s@10.10.10.24:5060>)
					; forwards incoming PSTN calls to PBX
					; resolve issues with DTMF

VOIP-TO-PSTN GW ENABLE:	yes
VOIP CALL AUTH METHOD:	http digest
ONE STAGE DIALING:	yes
LINE1 VOIP CALLER DP:	none
VOIP CALLER DEFAULT DP:	none
LINE1 FALLBACK DP:	none

VOIP USER 1 AUTH ID:	asterisk
VOIP USER 1 DP:		none
VOIP USER 1 PASSWORD:	012345678901

PSTN-TO-VOIP GW ENABLE:	yes
PSTN CALL AUTH METHOD:	none
PSTN RING THRU LINE 1:	no		; incoming calls do not ring LINE1
PSTN CID FOR VOIP CID:	yes
PSTN CALLER DEFAULT DP:	8

PSTN ANSWER DELAY:	5		; answer incoming PSTN call in X sec
					; need to allow time for CALLER ID
					; if no CID, you can safely set to 0
					; was set to 16

Note regarding FAX transmissions

We have not been able to successfully receive fax transmissions using this configuration, but not for lack of trying. We were also attempting to use a Digium TDM card to accept faxes for a while, with mixed results. We finally concluded that faxing capabilities of Asterisk were not reliable enough for production. Rather than moving to an Asterisk Fax solution, we moved from our older *NIX fax server to an online fax provider who accepts our faxes and forwards them as PDF images.

2006/10/15 – Jason Klein

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If you find a native driver that is compatible with the printer AND is available on both the RDP server as well as the RDP client, then you should install a second printer on the client that uses this driver. We normally rename this second printer to match the original printer name and then add a “(TS)” suffix to the printer name. Remember that you must also install this printer driver on the Terminal Server before automatic printer mapping will occur. The simplest way of doing this is to create a printer with this driver on an unused port (ie: LPT3) and then remove the printer. The necessary driver files will be installed during creation of the printer.

2006/07/21 – Jason Klein

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Begin by mapping a drive to the Solomon IV share on your file server. We setup our login script to map the “S:” drive to the “\\exfs01\sol32″ share.

Next, we will install the Solomon IV client on the Terminal Server by opening “Add/Remove Programs” and clicking the “CD or Floppy” button. Then, we browse to the SETUP.EXE file on the mapped drive. In our case, the path was “s:\rms\sol32\wrkstn\setup.exe”. We HIGHLY recommend you reboot the terminal server immediately after any software installation. Traditionally, it has been important to use the “Add/Remove Programs” menu while installing software on a Terminal Server to automatically enable INSTALL mode. You can manually change to INSTALL mode with the change command (run “change user /?” for details).

At this point, you will most likely receive the following error when you try to click Print or Print Preview within Solomon IV.


Crystal Reports Helper Application for Solomon IV

Cannot start print job.
Report: s:\rms\sol32\ao610dp.rpt
Crystal Print Engine Error: 0 - Error in formula ,
'ToNumber(RIPARAM("BaseCuryDecPl"))'
The ) is missing.


You may also receive missing file errors for “p2lodbc.dll”, “p2sodbc.dll”, and/or “u2fodbc.dll” when you try to run certain queries and/or printing filters.

If you receive either of these errors, execute the following batch file while logged into Terminal Server as a Solomon IV user. Each user must execute this script. We made the script available through the user Start Menu within Terminal Server sessions as “Repair Solomon IV” and instructed each user to run the script if/when they encountered the above errors. The script simply copies required files from the Solomon IV network share to the necessary directory within each user profile.


@echo off

mkdir "%HOMEPATH%windows\system32\"
copy /y c:\system\sol32\system32\* "%HOMEPATH%windows\system32\"


The contents of the CRYSTAL directory in this example were copied from “s:\rms\sol32\wrkstn\windows\crystal\”, and the contents of the SYSTEM32 directory in this example were copied from “s:\rms\sol32\wrkstn\windows\winsys\” AND from “s:\rms\sol32\wrkstn\windows\winsys\register\”. You could modify the script to copy all files directly from these directories into the corresponding directories in the user profile. You could also modify the script to copy files only if they are missing and then launch the Solomon IV application. The Solomon IV icon could then be pointed to the script (instead of the .exe) and automatically resolve this missing file problem for new users.

The errors listed above were immediately prevented / resolved after copying these files to the user profile.

Solomon IV version 4.21SP2.1465

2006/07/20 – Jason Klein

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This article demonstrates how to map ANY working client printer within a terminal server session. Although I would still recommend settling on a compatible driver when possible (ie: Use “HP LaserJet 1100″ driver on both ends if you have an LJ 1200), this method allows black and white (and possibly color) printing on any working client printer from within an RDP session.

Setup the printer on the client and confirm it is working by printing a test page. This article assumes the printer is working properly on the client computer. You can use any driver you need to at this point. The driver does not need to be supported by Windows Terminal Server!

We are going to setup a generic postscript printer on the client that accepts jobs and then prints them to the desired destination printer using a combination of RedMon, Ghostscript, and GSview. Once this is working, we can easily configure the terminal server to recognize this postscript printer.

Download and install the most recent version of AFPL Ghostscript and GSview available for your client computer. Make note of the installation directory you use for GSview (usually c:\program files\ghostgum\gsview\gsprint.exe). The default install options are sufficient. At the time of this article, I used AFPL Ghostscript 8.54 Win32 and GSview 4.8 Win32 on a Windows XP SP2 client.

Download and install the most recent version of RedMon – Redirection Port Monitor. This will add a “Redirected Port” to the list of port types you see when you try to add a new printer port to your computer. No install options are presented when you run SETUP.EXE. At the time of this article, I used RedMon 1.7 Win32 on a Windows XP SP2 client.

Create a new printer on the Windows client. After you click “Add a Printer”, choose “Local Printer” (do not auto detect), then choose “Create a new port” (type of port: Redirected Port, port name: use the default), then choose the “Apple LaserWriter II NT v47.0″ printer driver, then name the printer “Terminal Services Printer”. Do not make this your default printer. Do not print a test page (yet).

Now we need to install the same driver to your server. We will create an identical printer (on a fake/unused port) and then remove the printer. You may be asked if you want to remove the printer drivers from the terminal server. Be sure to answer NO, because we will need to keep the drivers! Once these drivers are available on the terminal server, automatic printer mapping can occur for any client that is using the exact same driver.

Create a new printer on the Windows Terminal Server. Use the same method and same driver as described for the Windows client (above). It is extremely important that the driver shown in the “Advanced” printer properties tab is IDENTICAL on the client and server, otherwise automatic printer mapping will not occur. If the LaserWriter driver mentioned above is not available on both systems, find/use another common PostScript driver that is available on both systems.

Now that your generic postscript printer has been created on the client and on the server, we need to configure the Redirected Port on the Windows client. Open the properties window for this new printer, then click “Configure Port” on the Ports tab. Redirect this port to the program gsprint.exe (located in c:\program files\ghostgum\gsview\gsprint.exe). Arguments for this program should be simlar to the following example. The printer name provided must EXACTLY match the name of the destination printer! Very important! The “-color” parameter would allow color printing in this particular example (assuming the printer was capable of printing in color). And the final dash “-” is REQUIRED or else the postscript data will not be received by gsprint.exe.

-printer “HP DeskJet 720C Series” -color -

The default settings for the other options will usually work fine. The “Output” default setting should be “Program handles output”. The “Printer” setting is unused/unavailable in this configuration. As a personal preference, I change the “Run” option from NORMAL to HIDDEN so that the GhostScript window does not appear. I also enable the “Run as User” option so that I am prompted for a filename if I send jobs to my local PDF writer. The shutdown delay could be increased from 300 seconds if you find that it takes more than five minutes for your computer to redirect an incoming job to the destination printer.

At this point, you should be able to print a test page through this new postscript printer. The test page should be redirected to your destination printer driver and successfully printed on your printer. If it is not, review your settings and/or review instructions for Emulating a PostScript printer on a Windows host. This article is partially based on instructions from that page.

Attempt to login to the Windows Terminal Server with your RDP client. If the local postscript printer does not appear (pre-Windows 2003 client?), the local RDP client is preventing redirection because it does not recognize the port type. You can resolve this problem by forcing the client to redirect all ports. You should add a DWORD value named “FilterQueueType” with value “FFFFFFFF” to “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Terminal Server Client\Default\AddIns\RDPDR”. Refer to Microsoft Knowledgebase Article # Q302361 for more information regarding this configuration update.

2006/07/20 – Jason Klein

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First, you will need to purchase a compatible USB cable (generic) at your local Radio Shack for $10-20. When you connect the phone to your system, Windows XP will fail to locate a compatible driver. I managed to find a driver (9x,NT,2k,XP) that works with the Samsung SPH-A680. Download and extract samsung-sph-a680-usb-drivers.zip, then point the hardware detection wizard toward the extracted files. Windows XP users may receive a warning that their driver is not signed. This is normal and can be ignored.

You do not need to install a proprietary dialer. Once the phone is recognized by Windows as a USB modem, create a new PPP dialup internet connection that uses this modem and dial into “#777″ (#ppp) with any username and password. This Sprint PCS dialup number does not seem to require authentication.

While connected to the internet through my Sprint PCS phone, I experienced 300-400ms ping times to google.com. Although I did not run any type of bandwidth tests, my max throughput seemed to range from 32-64k (seemed comparable to 33.6k – 56k dialup).

2006/06/26 – Jason Klein

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Building the MEGARAID.ko Kernel Module

You may be able to skip this section by using the files I built. If these files do not work, you will need to build your own kernel modules. You will need to extract each file with bunzip2. [megaraid.ko] [megaraid.ko.smp]

Temporarily setup CentOS4 on another computer. You should only use RPMs from the CD, so that the module you build is compatible with the installation Kernel provided on the CD. In addition to the bare bones installation, you will need the following RPMs:

gcc-3.4.4-2.i386.rpm
cpp-3.4.4-2.i386.rpm
glibc-devel-2.3.4-2.13.i386.rpm
glibc-headers-2.3.4-2.13.i386.rpm
glibc-kernheaders-2.4-9.1.98.EL.i386.rpm

kernel-devel-2.6.9-22.EL.i686.rpm

kernel-smp-2.6.9-22.EL.i686.rpm
kernel-smp-devel-2.6.9-22.EL.i686.rpm

Compile the UP (uniprocessor) “megaraid.ko” module first. You will download and extract the source for this module (local copy of megaraid.tar.bz2). Then you will compile the module for use with the 2.6.9-11.EL kernel. Afterwards, you must format a floppy disk and copy the new file to floppy (for use later).

cd /opt
wget http://www.tuxyturvy.com/files/megaraid2.tar.bz2

mkdir /usr/src/megaraid
cd /usr/src/megaraid
tar jxvfp /opt/megaraid2.tar.bz2

make -C /lib/modules/2.6.9-11.EL/build SUBDIRS=/usr/src/megaraid modules

fdformat /dev/floppy
mkdosfs /dev/floppy

mkdir /mnt/floppy
mount /dev/floppy /mnt/floppy 

cp megaraid.ko /mnt/floppy/
umount /mnt/floppy

Compile the SMP (multiprocessor) “megaraid.ko” module next. You will compile the module for use with the 2.6.9-11.ELsmp kernel. You should also copy this module to floppy (as a separate file name).

mkdir /usr/src/megaraid-smp
cd /usr/src/megaraid-smp
tar jxvfp /opt/megaraid2.tar.bz2

make -C /lib/modules/2.6.9-11.ELsmp/build SUBDIRS=/usr/src/megaraid-smp modules

cp megaraid.ko megaraid.ko.smp

fdformat /dev/floppy
mkdosfs /dev/floppy

mkdir /mnt/floppy
mount /dev/floppy /mnt/floppy 

cp megaraid.ko.smp /mnt/floppy
umount /mnt/floppy

Manually Loading the MEGARAID.ko Kernel Module

Now you are ready to begin installation of CentOS4 on your Dell PowerEdge system with the unsupported PERC2/SC or PERC2/DC raid controller. When you first boot the CD, type “linux noprobe” to avoid automatic hardware detection. Otherwise, the system will automatically load the (wrong) “megaraid_mbox” module.

linux noprobe

When you choose CDROM install, you may receive an error telling you “no cdrom found”. You will need to load the module for the CDROM’s SCSI (or IDE) controller. In our case, we loaded driver “aic7xxx” for our SCSI controller. You should also load your network driver while you can. In our case, we loaded the “3c59x” driver.

Now we will manually load the “megaraid.ko” driver from our floppy disk. Follow the instructions below, starting with CTRL-ALT-F2 to change to a shell prompt.

CTRL-ALT-F2
mkdir /mnt/floppy
mount /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy
insmod /mnt/floppy/megaraid.ko
CTRL-ALT-F1

You can now continue with your installation. The OS will be able to see and partition the volume(s) configured on your PERC2 SCSI raid controller. You must manually install the module BEFORE you press the reboot button at the end of the installation!

Manually Installing the MEGARAID.ko Module

First we will install the UP (uniprocessor) module for use with the 2.6.9-22.EL kernel. We start by switching to a shell console, then copy the “megaraid.ko” module from our floppy to the hard disk. Afterwards, we update modprobe.conf and build a new initial ramdisk image for this kernel.

CTRL-ALT-F2
cp /mnt/floppy/megaraid.ko /mnt/sysimage/lib/modules/2.6.9-22.EL/kernel/drivers/scsi/megaraid.ko
chroot /mnt/sysimage
cp /etc/modprobe.conf /etc/modprobe.conf.orig
vi /etc/modprobe.conf
diff /etc/modprobe.conf /etc/modprobe.conf.orig
4c4
< alias scsi_hostadapter1 megaraid
---
> alias scsi_hostadapter1 megaraid_mbox

cd /boot
/sbin/mkinitrd initrd-2.6.9-22.EL.img.megaraid 2.6.9-22.EL
cp initrd-2.6.9-EL.img initrd-2.6.9-EL.img.orig
cp initrd-2.6.9-22.EL.img.megaraid initrd-2.6.9-EL.img
exit
CTRL-ALT-F1

Then we will install the MP (multiprocessor) module for use with the 2.6.9-22.ELsmp kernel using a similar method.

CTRL-ALT-F2
cp /mnt/floppy/megaraid.ko.smp /mnt/sysimage/lib/modules/2.6.9-22.ELsmp/kernel/drivers/scsi/megaraid.ko
chroot /mnt/sysimage
cp /etc/modprobe.conf /etc/modprobe.conf.orig
vi /etc/modprobe.conf
diff /etc/modprobe.conf /etc/modprobe.conf.orig
4c4
< alias scsi_hostadapter1 megaraid
---
> alias scsi_hostadapter1 megaraid_mbox

cd /boot
/sbin/mkinitrd initrd-2.6.9-22.ELsmp.img.megaraid 2.6.9-22.ELsmp
cp initrd-2.6.9-ELsmp.img initrd-2.6.9-ELsmp.img.orig
cp initrd-2.6.9-22.ELsmp.img.megaraid initrd-2.6.9-ELsmp.img
exit
CTRL-ALT-F1

Now the UP and SMP kernels have been configured with the new (old) “megaraid.ko” module! You should be able to boot from both of these modules with support for your PERC2/SC or PERC2/DC controller!

2006/05/18 – Jason Klein

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