To reset the secure connection between a workstation and a domain controller.

netdom reset MACHINE /domain:DOMAIN

To see what site your computer think it belongs to

nltest /dsgetsite

A nice utility to get some basic information regarding your system is systeminfo.

Simply type systeminfo at the command prompt.

I installed my first Hyper-V Server 2008 on a HP ProLiant DL380 G5 server the other day. HP have a good document that describes what is involved to make it work.

Since Hyper-V Server is built on Windows Server Core it does not have much of a GUI so it might be a bit tricky to find the different tools. I really wanted to configure the HP Event Notifier. This tool will send you notifications by email when the system detects warnings or errors with the server hardware. I also like HP Management Agents where you can trigger an SNMP trap which you can use to test if the configuration of HP Event Notifier is working.

To get the paths to the tools I looked at a server running Windows Server 2008 with GUI :)

Event Notifier Config
C:WINDOWSsystem32CIMntfylwconfig.exe

HP Management Agents
C:WINDOWSsystem32cpqmgmt.cpl

To force Windows Update to check for new updates you can use the command:

wuauclt /detectnow

The log file is located at:

%WINDIR%\SoftwareDistribution\ReportingEvents.log

You can use WMIC to get information regarding your computer. You can call WMIC in different ways. Here are a couple of examples on how to retrieve the make, model and serial number.

Method one is to first enter the WMIC console. Do so by typing wmic at the command prompt. Once in WMIC you can typ the following commands.

To get Make
CSProduct Get Vendor

To get Model
CSProduct Get Name

To get Serial Number
CSProduct Get IdentifyingNumber

Another way of calling WMIC is dircetly from the command prompt. Replace HOSTNAME with the host you want to query. If you want to query the local machine you are on, just enter a . (dot).

To get Make
wmic /node:”HOSTNAME” CSProduct Get Vendor

To get Model
wmic /node:”HOSTNAME” CSProduct Get Name

To get Serial Number
wmic /node:”HOSTNAME” CSProduct Get IdentifyingNumber