As of this morning I could not access most secure web sites using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Every site came up with a secure certificate warning. Chrome kept telling me my connection wasn't private and there was no way to continue.
A wasted morning removing windows updates and some software I'd just installed didn't resolve the issue.
Only by change I noticed AVG listed as the first in the chain when I inspected the certificate in the browser bar.
I then disabled AVG online shield and everything started working again.
As always although AVG was 'up to date' it wasn't. I was running V16 rather than V18. AVG never warns you when a new major version is available.
I duly updated to V18 and everything continues to work.
Friday 25 May 2018
Monday 12 February 2018
HP ilo 2 java issues - Solved
Recently tried to connect to one of my HP Servers as I have in the past and I could net get ilo to work even though I tried Edge, IE, Chrome, Opera and Firefox (which used to work) on Windows 10 and Linux Mint. It seems they have all dropped support for Java which means console access is no longer possible.
Fortunately I have as a worst case backup for such situations still have a Vmware VM running XP which I fired up and it worked flawlessly.
However this situation is less than ideal as I'd like to be able to access consoles from my standard desktop or even my laptop.
After many hours of searching and trying things I finally have a solution which works with ilo2 (versions 2.05 thru 2.30)
You need to install Firefox ESR which is the last version of firefox before java support was dropped. The extended support release is designed for administrators like you and me for this very purpose. Better news still is it can be installed alongside your existing firefox so you need only fire it up when needed. It is also available on all platforms.
Please ensure you only install the 32 bit version as the 64 bit version does not include Java support. I suggest you install it in a custom directory.
On Windows 10 you should find it then works fine although you need to remember to put the ip of the secure console in your Java trusted sites using the Java config manager.
You may get Java errors the first time you try and fire up the console window. If you do close the window and fire it up again.
You may also see a grey screen or diagonal grey stripes, if you do scroll to the middle of the console window and click on activate plugin or enable Java. Don't forget to scroll back to the top left of your window to see the console.
Finally you will get untold security messages but just ok them and pass on Java upgrades.
If the console doesn't connect, then again close and reopen and it normally connects the second time.
Successfully working on 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Windows 10 with Java 8 151 and 161 installed.
Firefox ESR also works on Linux Mint with IcedTea (Java equivalent) installed.
Footnote: You need Firefox ESR V52, later versions which it will auto update to will not work. I've also had recent issues with ilo2 2.05 not working so upgrade to ilo2 2.30 if you can.
Fortunately I have as a worst case backup for such situations still have a Vmware VM running XP which I fired up and it worked flawlessly.
However this situation is less than ideal as I'd like to be able to access consoles from my standard desktop or even my laptop.
After many hours of searching and trying things I finally have a solution which works with ilo2 (versions 2.05 thru 2.30)
You need to install Firefox ESR which is the last version of firefox before java support was dropped. The extended support release is designed for administrators like you and me for this very purpose. Better news still is it can be installed alongside your existing firefox so you need only fire it up when needed. It is also available on all platforms.
Please ensure you only install the 32 bit version as the 64 bit version does not include Java support. I suggest you install it in a custom directory.
On Windows 10 you should find it then works fine although you need to remember to put the ip of the secure console in your Java trusted sites using the Java config manager.
You may get Java errors the first time you try and fire up the console window. If you do close the window and fire it up again.
You may also see a grey screen or diagonal grey stripes, if you do scroll to the middle of the console window and click on activate plugin or enable Java. Don't forget to scroll back to the top left of your window to see the console.
Finally you will get untold security messages but just ok them and pass on Java upgrades.
If the console doesn't connect, then again close and reopen and it normally connects the second time.
Successfully working on 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Windows 10 with Java 8 151 and 161 installed.
Firefox ESR also works on Linux Mint with IcedTea (Java equivalent) installed.
Footnote: You need Firefox ESR V52, later versions which it will auto update to will not work. I've also had recent issues with ilo2 2.05 not working so upgrade to ilo2 2.30 if you can.
Wednesday 10 January 2018
IBM Softlayer cloud console access using Windows 10
Having struggled for hours trying to get vpn access working with softlayer and then even longer to get Softlayer's java console software to work I finally managed to get console access working with some help from support.
So firstly, ignore anything on their control panel, pptp does not work with windows 10 nor does their java console which requires IE (not edge) or firefox (but not the current version).
Save yourself a huge amount of pain and download Motion Pro client for Windows
So firstly, ignore anything on their control panel, pptp does not work with windows 10 nor does their java console which requires IE (not edge) or firefox (but not the current version).
Save yourself a huge amount of pain and download Motion Pro client for Windows
https://speedtest.dal05.softlayer.com/array/MotionProSetup_win32.zip
https://speedtest.dal05.softlayer.com/array/MotionProSetup_win64.zip
https://speedtest.dal05.softlayer.com/array/MotionProSetup_win64.zip
Having installed that configure all the vpn connections you will need, the vpn servers can be found on this list.
https://www.softlayer.com/VPN-Access
Copy the link for the server you want and then edit it like so:-
https://vpn.mil01.softlayer.com/prx/000/http/localhost/login
becomes
vpn.mil01.softlayer.com
Use the profile add option in motion pro to create a vpn connection, set the host name to vpn.xxxx.softlayer.com, specify your vpn username and password. You should then be able to connect.
If you don't know your vpn username and password, go to https://control.softlayer.com/account/users/vpn in the control panel, your username should be displayed (if not add one), enable automatic SSL access and set a strong password.
Once you have a vpn connection you need to fire up a VNC viewer such as tight vnc.
You will need to find the VNC connection details, to do this go to your virtual server in the control panel, drill down to the device details by clicking on it and then use the action option on the right and select console access.
Capture the connection and login details from the pop up window that appears and then close it.
Server Name: myserver.mydomain.com
Address: 10.X.XX.XX Port: YYYY
Username: root Password: 12345678
Username: root Password: 12345678
Now start your vnc viewer and enter the remote host and port as 10.X.XX.XX::YYYY, click on connect, when prompted for the password enter it and the console should appear (no need to enter a username).
You can save the details somewhere secure for each server so all you have to do next time is connect up the saved vpn connection, fire up your vnc viewer, select the correct connection and enter the associated password.
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