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System administration

A collection of 22 posts

Screenshot showing a screen titled "BitLocker Drive Encryption". BitLocker shows as on for drive C, and there are options to suspend protection along with management tasks.

Is BitLocker broken? What's this about Yellow Keys?

Brief thoughts and guidance on the YellowKey exploit.

Moving Ghost to an updated Node version, and clearing the Yarn cache

I was recently trying to upgrade this blog from Ghost version 5.44.0 (very old, and had some security issues) to the latest release of Ghost. When I'd tried to upgrade previously (before I knew about the security issue), my attempts to upgrade failed with a number

Why "No change Friday"?

Why "No change Friday"?

Why can't we change things on a Friday?

A screenshot showing a red themed window titled "Wana Decrypt0r 2.0". The text explains files have been encrypted and that you need to pay to recover them.

Dealing with Ransomware - a real life tale

Thinking clearly during a ransomware attack is key, helping to save your data.

Link Aggregation on HP Comware

Link Aggregation on HP Comware

Instructions for how to set up a link aggregation on HP's Comware (not Procurve).

Six of my top networking tools

System administration

Six of my top networking tools

Six tools that I use incredibly regularly when administering networks.

What is a Next Generation firewall?

What is a Next Generation firewall?

A look at Next Generation firewalls and the extra services they often provide.

Problems with Systemd, Ghost and Node

I encountered a problem starting my Ghost blog recently, following an update of Node. This post takes you through the fix.

A question of ethics: filtering and censoring the Internet

A question of ethics: filtering and censoring the Internet

What's the difference between filtering and censorship? This is a fine line and something I discuss following years of managing web and email filters.

Managing WSUS: TLSv1.0 needed to import from the Windows Update Catalogue

Managing WSUS: TLSv1.0 needed to import from the Windows Update Catalogue

Importing updates to WSUS from the Windows Update Catalogue requires TLS v1.0 client and SHA.

A question of ethics: investigating users

A question of ethics: investigating users

Thoughts on being fair and considerate when investigating others.

A question of ethics: deleting emails from user mailboxes

A question of ethics: deleting emails from user mailboxes

A discussion about the ethics of deleting emails from someone else's mailbox.

Logging: getting the right balance

System administration

Logging: getting the right balance

Logging: what's too much? Is there too little? How long should I keep them? This post discusses factors to consider when configuring logging.

Business continuity - testing your disaster plan

System administration

Business continuity - testing your disaster plan

Testing your business continuity plan is a worthwhile exercise. When did you last test yours?

Why Google's GSuite isn't ready for enterprise

Why Google's GSuite isn't ready for enterprise

An explanation of why I don't feel Google's GSuite is ready for the enterprise yet.

Using Procmon and Wireshark to solve website access problems

System administration

Using Procmon and Wireshark to solve website access problems

When faced with an application that wouldn't connect to the Interet because the proxy was in the way, I used Procmon and Wireshark to prove that was really the problem.

Time travel and Active Directory replication - a tale from 2012

System administration

Time travel and Active Directory replication - a tale from 2012

When your Active Directory Domain Controllers experience time travel, replication goes up the creek. This is a tale of something that happened back in 2012.

My top five general tools

A brief run down of five of the general tools (programs) I use most.

A plea to software developers, vendors and support companies

System administration

A plea to software developers, vendors and support companies

A plea to software vendors so we can all work better together.

GSuite: Allowing users to publish files to the web (link sharing)

GSuite: Allowing users to publish files to the web (link sharing)

Sharing files by link outside of your GSuite organisation can be restricted by GSuite administrators. This post shows how to do that.

Preparing for a penetration test

Preparing for a penetration test

Some simple preparations will help you get the best value from your penetration test. In this post I discuss some low-cost suggestions.

Problems using "Microsoft Update Catalog" - user data persistence and the add-on

System administration

Problems using "Microsoft Update Catalog" - user data persistence and the add-on

On attempting to import updates to Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), which uses the Microsoft Update Catalog (or catalogue for us Brits) I was receiving an error about user data persistence. Despite following the instructions and enabling this in Internet Explorer the problem remained. This post explains how to resolve