Technoblog.org

How to kill a VM (VMware ESX 4.0)

Alright, it happens from time to time. Virtual Machines get stuck.
Sometimes during boot, sometimes during shutdown and sometimes during a restore operation.

So how do I kill a Virtual Machine?

I wrote this post, back in 2009, for ESX 3.5:
http://technoblog.org/2009/01/how-to-kill-a-stuck-or-hung-vm-vmware-esx-35/

Both the “vmware-cmd /.vmx stop hard” method, and the following methods work, sometimes.. :

1. sudo vm-support -x
2. sudo less -S /proc/vmware/vm//cpu/status
3. sudo /usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmkload_app -k 9

But, when both of those fail? Then what?
How to kill a stuck VM when everything else fails?

It’s a bit brutal, but it works, but be warned, you might corrupt your VM.

1. sudo bash (for simplicity)
2. ps -ax | grep 3. Find the first number to the left, in the string with the right VM. This is the PID.
4. kill -9

Brutal? Yes. Efficient? Yes.

Tags: ESX 3.5, ESX 3.x, ESX 4.0, esxi, ESXi 3.5, ESXi 3.x, vm-support, vmkload_app, vmware, VMware ESX 3.5, VMware ESX 4.0, vmware-cmd, vSphere 4.0

Trend Micro OfficeScan: Installation

Here we go. The first article in my OfficeScan how-to series.

So, how to install Trend Micro OfficeScan 10.0:

These are the steps:

1. Generate Trial license

2. Download software

3. Prepare server

4. Install OfficeScan server

More »

Tags: how to, install OfficeScan, OfficeScan, OfficeScan 10, Trend Micro

OfficeScan how-to series

I have had an overwhelming response to my “Thoughts about OfficeScan 10“.

And I’m simply not able to answer all the questions regarding installation and troubleshooting.

Therefore I have decided to write a series of posts/articles, to try to answer all of your questions, and to cover some general topics.

So, this is the articles I’ve planned to write:

Trend Micro OfficeScan: Installation

Trend Micro OfficeScan: Smart Scan Server

Trend Micro OfficeScan: Deployment

Trend Micro OfficeScan: Server Components

Trend Micro OfficeScan: Troubleshooting

If anyone has any request/wishes regarding content and topics, please feel free to leave a comment!

Read the original thoughts on OfficeScan 10 (just me ranting):

http://technoblog.org/2009/09/trend-micro-officescan-10-some-thoughts/

Tags: how to, OfficeScan, OfficeScan 10, Trend Micro

How to save to Google Bookmarks in Google Reader

How to save a blog post or an article in your Google Reader directly to your Google Reader?

As far as I know there is no button for this in Google Reader. However, Google Reader has the nice “Send to” feature.

By adding Google Bookmarks as a custom “Send to”, you can simply press “Shift+T” to save whatever you are watching to Google Bookmarks.

To create a custom “Send to” click “Settings” then “Reader Settings” (Upper left corner.

Go to the “Send to” tab. And on the bottom of the page, click “Create a custom link”

Enter “Google Bookmarks” as the name.

Enter “http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=edit&output=popup&bkmk=${url}&title=${title}” as the URL.

And enter “http://www.google.com/favicon.ico” as the Icon URL.

Press save.

Now youre done! Simply press “Shift+T” while reading something in your Reader to add it to Bookmarks.

Note: If it isnt working, you may have an issue with popup-blocking. Sending to Google Bookmarks opens a popup windows.

Tags: Bookmarks, Google, Reader, RSS

Mac OS X Security Configuration Guides

Apple has now released a 272-pages Security Configuration Guide for Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).

Security guides for Mac OS X 10.3, 10.4 and 10.5 are also available at the same site:

Mac OS X Security guides:

http://www.apple.com/support/security/guides/

Tags: apple, mac os x, Security guide

Check Point SecureClient Vista and Windows 7 64-bit

Check Point just announced public Early Availability for their new VPN client “Discovery”.
Which is going to replace SecureClient. With Discovery comes support for XP, Vista and Windows 7 for both 32-bit and 64-bit.

Read Check Point SE Patrick Waters’ full blog post here:
http://fireverse.org/?p=468

And download the Migration Guide here:
http://www.fireverse.org/Discovery/Check_Point_EA_Discovery_MigrationGuide.pdf

Why You Should Migrate to Discovery (copied from the Migration Guide)
Check Point recommends that all customers upgrade from SecureClient to Discovery as soon as possible, because Discovery has these capabilities:
-  Supports both 32 and 64 bit Windows Vista and Windows 7
-  Uses less memory resources than SecureClient
-  Automatic disconnect/reconnect as clients move in and out of network range
-  Seamless connection experience while roaming
-  Automatic and transparent upgrades, with no administrator privileges required
-  Supports most existing features of SecureClient, including Office Mode, Desktop Firewall, Secure
Configuration Verification (SCV), Secure Domain Login (SDL), and Proxy Detection
-  Supports many additional new features, and will support even more new features in the near future
-  Does not require a SmartCenter server upgrade
-  Discovery and SecureClient can coexist on client systems during migration period

Tags: Check Point, Discovery, SecureClient, VPN

New version of Process Explorer (and some other tools)

Microsoft Sysinternals just released a new version of Process Explorer (v12).
In the new version you can see what svchost is hosting, the mapping of service names to threads and the TCP/IP tabs on Vista/Win 7. There are also some features related to IE8.

Process Explorer:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

They also updated som other tools:

VMMap
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/sysinternals/dd535533.aspx

DiskView
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/sysinternals/bb896650.aspx

Read the entire blog post here:
http://blogs.technet.com/sysinternals/archive/2010/03/25/updates-process-explorer-v12-vmmap-v2-62-diskview-v2-4-sdelete-v1-7.aspx

Tags: Microsoft, Process Explorer, Sysinternals

Trend Micro OfficeScan 8.0 Windows 7 Support

With the newest patch, OfficeScan 8.0 supports Windows 7.

This is Trend Micro OfficeScan 8.0 SP1 Patch 5

Full readme can be found here:
http://www.trendmicro.com/ftp/documentation/readme/OSCE_80_Win_SP1_Patch5_en_readme.txt

It’s important to notice that only the following drivers are compatible with Windows 7:

Virus Scan Engine (8.952 or higher)
Virus Cleanup Engine (6.2.1016 or higher)
Anti-rootkit Driver (2.8.1063 or higher)
Common Firewall Driver (NSC) (5.8.1092 or higher)

Virus Scan Engine and Virus Cleanup Engine can be updated from the Active Update server.

Anti-rootkit Driver and the Common Firewall Driver (NSC) are included in this patch.

I haven’t had time to test if this actually works on Windows 7. If anyone has, please feel free to leave a comment. I will test it as soon as I can.

Tags: OfficeScan, OfficeScan 8, Trend Micro, Windows 7

Trend Micro: Rollback of VSAPI Version 9.000 from ActiveUpdate

Some of might have noticed this, but I’m writing a post about it any way.

Trend Micro is now rolling back the VSAPI 9.000 from ActiveUpdate. Reason: “There have been reports of issues on the following products scanning certain malformed PDF files”.

The version available through ActiveUpdate is now 9.100.1001, this is essentially version 8.952.

The products affected are:
OfficeScan
ServerProtect
Worry-Free Business Security (WFBS)

Earlier, they sent out an advisory about VSAPI 9.000 and problems with Windows NT (think it was OfficeScan 7.3 and ServerProtect). The problems resulted in the Scan Engine being unable to load the pattern files.

Read the entire Customer Notification here:

CUSTOMER NOTIFICATION Rollback of VSAPI Version 9.000 from ActiveUpdate

Tags: ActiveUpdate, OfficeScan, OSCE, Serverprotect, Trend Micro, VSAPI, VSAPI 9.000, WFBS, Worry Free Business Security

Finjan how-to: Install Vital Security 9.2 on NG Appliance

You might have  read the release notes for Finjan Vital Security 9.2, and found that the instructions doesn’t make much sense. E.g.:

- The files are not available

- The notes are referring to files not available on the Finjan web site

- The instructions are incomplete, and doesn’t work.

(http://www.finjan.com/objects/NGupdates/OSupdates/vs_ng_os_update_9.2_release_notes.htm)

Here are working instructions on how to install Vital Security v. 9.2 on a NG-appliance.

More »

Tags: Finjan, Finjan Appliance Image, Finjan Vital Security, NG-5000, VS 9.2