Sometimes you need to create an additional SQL Server Login (user) for your database (databases). Here is a small T-SQL snippet that creates such a login for contained databases in SQL Server and adds memberships.
Monitor SQL Server and databases in depth using Zabbix
Keeping your SQL Server and databases in top shape is key for a good performing SQL Server database server and its databases. A good performing server makes happy customers, and that’s what puts bread on the plank, right? In this post I’ll show you how you can use Windows Performance counters, PowerShell and Zabbix for in depth monitoring of your SQL Server server and SQL databases.
Configure Windows Debugging Symbols in WinDbg
Before you can properly debug crash and memory dumps in Windows (Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows Server), you need to install WinDbg -Windows Debugger- and its debugging symbols. In this article I explain how to set up these debugging symbols for WinDbg in Windows.
Extract files from an MSI package
Windows has the ability to allow the MSI package (.msi file) contents to be extracted using the command line or via a script. I keep forgetting the correct msiexec syntaxis to use to extract files from an .msi file (MSI package), so here is a short post with the command.
Connect to a KVM host through an ssh tunnel and arbitrary port in Windows 11 and WSL 2
If you need to connect virt-manager to a KVM host over ssh in Windows, then Windows 11 and WSL 2 made things a whole lot easier for you. Even if you need to connect virt-manager through an ssh tunnel and arbitrary port because your network is reachable only through a bastion host with ssh key authentication. Here is how.
Windows 11/10 and WSL 2 DevOps environment
In this post I describe some of the settings and changes I made to make my Windows 10 and Ubuntu WSL into a fully fledged development environment. Here are the settings and tools I use for DevOps/SysOps on Windows.
YubiKey support in OpenSSH for Windows 11 and Windows 10
Since Win32-OpenSSH version 8.9.1.0p1-Beta there is decent support for FIDO/U2F hardware authenticators. This means we can use a YubiKey with Windows 11 and Windows 10, w00h00! In this post, I’ll show you how to install Microsoft OpenSSH client in Windows 11 and Windows 10, and how to configure your YubiKey. If you follow this guide and all goes well, you no longer need additional tools like Git Bash or MremoteNG/MobaXterm.
Monitor .NET CLR Garbage Collected heap from your web application
Are you worried about your .NET webapp running out of memory? In order to let your .NET (web) application run smooth over a longer period of time, it is important to monitor the .NET CLR Garbage Collector (GC) and collection. The what? The .NET Common Language Runtime Garbage Collector. Here is how you can monitor this in a Zabbix template using Powershell WMI / CIM and Win32_PerfRawData_NETFramework_NETCLRMemory Windows Performance Counters.
Quickly check EnableTrailerSupport isn’t set in your network for http.sys (CVE-2022-21907)
If you want to find out fast if your IIS webservers have EnableTrailerSupport enabled for https.sys in the registry, here is a small PowerShell method. All you have to do is set the correct SearchBase.
Adding VirtIO drivers to Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE)
If you need to add VirtIO drivers to your Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) to recover your Windows virtual machine, here is how. The following steps come in handy if you found out the hard way you don’t see any disks in Windows RE after a hard crash. As have I…
Retrieve SSH public key from Active Directory for SSH authentication
If you want to be able to log on to your Windows Servers through Win32 OpenSSH, you can make use of SSH public key authentication through a ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file. But if you have tens (hundreds) of servers and/or users, perhaps it’s easier to retrieve user SSH public keys from Active Directory (AD). In this article I’ll explain how.
Install SQL Server cumulative updates silently
Install SQL Server update silent: installing SQL Server cumulative updates is always a cumbersome, and quite daunting task. Unpacking and running the CU installer is a slow process, you have to click through a lot of screens, and it’s hard to get it to install silently. But here is how!
Remove computer object from Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) in PowerShell
Here is a short PowerShell snippet for you to remove a computer object from Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). In an elevated PowerShell session, adjust the following to your environment and execute:
How to add, list and remove IP addresses in Windows Firewall
Yesterday, I showed you how to block IP addresses in Windows Firewall using PowerShell. This comes in handy when blocking IP addresses that are brute-force attacking your servers. In this short post I’ll show you how to bulk add IP addresses in Windows Firewall, list an IP address and how to remove all IP addresses from Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security.
Block brute force attacks on SQL Server, block IP addresses in Windows Firewall using PowerShell
This PowerShell solution blocks IP addresses that are trying to brute force your SQL Server logins, by blocking IP addresses in Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security. For the time being, some manual labor is involved, but it is still manageable. You can use this to create your own solution to block offending IP addresses in SQL Server’s firewall.