Helpful Things

Amazon AWS (EC2/VPC) Network Connectivity/Latency Issues

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:29:00 GMT

Another day, another nugget - this was too was so obscure I had to share. We recently migrated to use Amazon's AWS and EC2 (VPC) for a great deal of our infrastructure. Overall, fantastic - we can respond and build complete environments in hours. However, we started to see random network connectivity and latency issues with certain machines - they would be available for a couple hours at a time and then completely stop responding to *ANY* network requests. The only way to recover was to reboot the instance and start over...

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IIS7 Web Setup / Install on 64-bit OS Trickery

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 18:17:00 GMT

Another offering of random web deployment goodness...If you have been developing web applications for some time and turn the key to install the solution on a 64-bit system, in particular one hosted on a Windows 2008 solution, you may run into any one of the following errors (even if you are doing any Any CPU build):...

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.NET 2.0 Web Setup Project Install Requiring .NET 4.0

Sat, 22 May 2010 15:00:00 GMT

If you have been successfully deploying web setup projects built in Visual Studio 2008 and migrate to VS2010 to find that your resulting installations require .NET 4, and correctly setting the pre-requisites on the installation doesn't help, this entry is for you...

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Visual Studio "Unrecoverable build error"

Tue, 05 May 2009 05:13:00 GMT

Not too long ago, after uninstalling a trial of a .NET licensing component (that shall remain nameless), I started receiving random errors within Visual Studio 2008. It wasn't until I received the following error from building a deployment project that a solution became clear...

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DotNetNuke and GoDaddy

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 04:41:03 GMT

****UPDATED FOR USE ON GODADDY 2/2009****

Not too long ago, I spent FARRRR to much time trying to figure out how to do a manual install of DotNetNuke on my GoDaddy hosting account. After MUCH pain and frustration, I finally figured it out. However, for those lucky saps out there who don't want to experience this and simply get something working within 15 minutes, you can find the solution here and regurgitated below; I have validated it with the 4.x.x releases as well (and BTW, a "Deluxe" GoDaddy plan at the time of this writing went for around $6/mo):

First off, you need a GoDaddy hosting account. You need at least the "Deluxe Plan" because DNN requires a MS SQL 2000 database, and that is not an option on the "Economy Plan"

Step 1: Get your virtual directory setup

Login to your GoDaddy.com account
From the top menu, click ~~My Account~~ "Hosting -> My Hosting Account"
~~On the icon that says "Hosting & Email", click "Web Hosting & Databases"~~
You should see a list of your hosted sites, for the site in question, click ~~"Settings"~~ "Manage Account"
Expand the "Content" section, and click on the "File Manager" icon
On the ~~right, click "Custom Directory Permissions"~~ left in File Manager, click the "Create New Directory" link
In the box, pick a name, this will be the location of your DNN site (eg www.mysite/portal, portal being the name you put in the box now). ~~Click EACH checkbox.~~ Write down the folder name you use here (eg "portal"), we'll need this later.
Save your settings by clicking "OK"
In the directory listing, check the directory we just created, and click the "Permissions" button at the top right. Select the Read and Write checkboxes
Save your settings by clicking "OK"
Now lets go back to the ~~page where it lists your sites (look at step 3 above)~~ manage account screen
~~Click~~ Expand "Databases"
Select "Sql Server". ~~Under~~ In the database screen, click "Create New Database", ~~Create a MS SQL database~~. For username/password I suggest using the same as your GoDaddy login, or just write it down, we'll need this later.
Its going to take a while for the new folder to process and be setup, same with the database.
The last part here is that after the database has been created and setup, we need both the server and database name. Going back to ~~where your sites are (again look at step 3)~~ the manage account screen, ~~click on~~ expand Databases, click on Sql Server, and you should see a new record showing your new database. From here we need the server name by clicking on the "edit" or pencil icon to the right of the database; this should be the ~~leftmost column~~ "Host Name" and should look something like: whsql-v02.prod.mesa1.secureserver.net (write this down).
On this same line, under DB Name, is the database name, should look something like: DB_10421 (write this down)

Step 2: Get DNN & Config

First off, goto http://www.dotnetnuke.com/ and register for an account (takes 1 min), then login
Now you have access to the download site.
Get the Source Distribution (for this example I got version 3.0.13), and download it to your computer.
Unzip the file to some folder.
Before we upload, lets modify the web.config file, this should be in your new unzipped folder, or if you have version 3.1.0, then locate a file named release.config and copy this file and rename it as web.config.
There is only one line you need to modify, its about the 22nd line and looks like this:
For Server, replace "(local)", with the database server name that you wrote in the above steps.
For Database, replace DotNetNuke with the database name that you wrote in the above steps
For uid & pwd, this is the username and password that you used to create your database, write them here.
Your new line should look something like this:
OPTIONAL (yet recommended): On the 55th line you'll see: . If you want to get useful errors, you need to change this parameter to "Off", like this:
Save this file.

Step 3: Upload DNN to your site

Now FTP to your site (don't have a client? try CuteFtp, or search google for a client), your FTP server name/ip is the same as your site, and your login is the same as your GoDaddy login.
Locate the virtual folder you created from the first steps above. Copy all the files from your recent download into here.

Step 4: Install

Just go to your virtual directory, and the install will start itself, so for example: http://www.mysite.com/portal
The setup will begin to run and display its progress and any error messages

Thats it! Its recommend that you immediately change the password for both the Host and Admin accounts.

Enjoy!

IIS7 Web Setup/Install & Error Status 1603

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:58:52 GMT

So, its been a while since I have had the opportunity to blog, but this one was obscure enough that I had to share a little bit of 'know'. Recently I built a staging environment for my company to be able to push our applications through typical deployment 'tiers', and decided that Windows Server 2008 and IIS7 would be a jolly challenge for the web environment. So, off I went installing the minimum amount of information needed in order to deploy our compiled web setup MSIs.

The time came to install the MSI for the web solution, and the setup simply died with the message 'The installer was interrupted before could be installed. You need to restart the installer to try again'. Like a good little instruction follower, I did, to the same result. Upon inspecting the application log files, this knowledge packed message gets displayed:

Windows Installer installed the product. Product Name: . Product Version: . Product Language: 1033. Installation success or error status: 1603.

Long nights and story short, in order to install a web setup project on Windows Server 2008 and IIS 7, you need to install the IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility role service.

I hope this serves you as well as it served me.

Escaping XML in C#

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:29:09 GMT

=== UPDATE ===

Although the solution below is fine and dandy, this one is MUCH better...

XmlDocument document = new XmlDocument();
return document.CreateTextNode("YB < U").OuterXml;

If you want to add the text as the inner text of another XmlNode, simply add the XmlText result from the CreateTextNode(...) via the node's AppendChild(...) method.

Enjoy.

=== ORIGINAL ENTRY ===

Typically, when dealing with text in XML it is best practice to wrap the text secion in a CDATA element to ensure that there will be no issues when dealing with illegal characters. However, for the times when manually escaping characters in XML is necessary, rather than writing your own escaping helper class, use this one:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.security.securityelement.escape(VS.80).aspx

Best of luck!

Team Foundation Server - Deleting a Project

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 19:57:33 GMT

At some point in time when you are learning to leverage TFS, you will notice the lack of graphical support to remove projects that you no longer wish to have in your repository - sure, you could use the ol' "command line", but why? I found a great resource from a gentleman by the name of Julien Lavigne, who shared the source to his graphical solution found here. I took it one step further and made the gui stretch the way I expected it to during a resize, and created an MSI setup file with credit to Julien that you can download from my 'Downloads' section also found here. After fixing some compile errors, this worked right out of the gate for me and was exactly what I was looking for.

Cheers.

SharePoint 2007 - Identity references could not be translated error

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 19:47:23 GMT

So, if you have ever 'hap-hazardly' renamed a sharepoint 2007 host machine (without preparing sharepoint for the event), you will notice that sharepoint will refuse to work and documentation is 'skinny' to say the least. Here is what worked for me on a windows 2003 host (mine was in a farm):

1. Make sure Windows 2003 SP2 is installed.
2. Locate the 'stsadm.exe' file (e.g. :\program files\common files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\bin)
3. Open a command window, navigate the the location of the file, and run the following command (obviously changing the appropriate values):
     stsadm -o renameserver -oldservername $OLDSERVERNAME -newservername $NEWSERVERNAME
4. Now, run the following command (obviously changing the appropriate values):
     stsadm -o updatefarmcredentials -identitytype configurableid -userlogin $USERLOGIN -password $PASSWORD
     4a. If you receive an 'Invalid parameter' error, run the following command:
             stsadm -o updatefarmcredentials -userlogin $USERLOGIN -password $PASSWORD
5. Run the following command:
     IISRESET /NOFORCE
6. Run the 'Sharepoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard', usually found at: Start >> All Programs >> Microsoft Office Server. Just click next, next, next, finish (don't change anything).

Hope this helps!

Sheep, Wolves, and Sheep Dogs

blogs@nitiative.com — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:41:09 GMT

OK, I wasn't going to place anything opinionated on this blog, but I found the following article and thought it deserved at least some daylight...

This letter was written by Charles Grennel and his comrades, veterans of the Global War On Terror. Grennel is an Army Reservist who spent two years in Iraq and was a principal in putting together the first Iraq elections in January 2005.

They wrote it to Jill Edwards, student at the University of Washington, who did not want to honor Medal of Honor winner USMC Colonel Greg Boyington.

Ms. Edwards, other students and faculty do not think those who serve in the U.S. armed services are good role models.

To: Jill Edwards, Student, University of Washington

Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs

Miss Edwards, I read of your student activity regarding the proposed memorial to Colonel Greg Boyington, USMC, and a Medal of Honor winner. I suspect you will receive many angry emails from conservative people like me.

You may be too young to appreciate fully the sacrifices of generations of servicemen and servicewomen on whose shoulders you and your fellow students stand. I forgive you for the untutored ways of youth and your naivete. It may be that you are simply a sheep. There's no dishonor in being a sheep, as long as you know and accept what you are.

William J. Bennett, in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997, said "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident. We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people, not capable of hurting each other except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.

Then there are the wolves who feed on the sheep without mercy. Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that, or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

Then there are sheepdogs, and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf. If you have no capacity for violence, then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined [yourself as] an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the unsheltered path.

Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.

We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes them sheep.

They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms, and fire exits throughout their kids' schools. But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kids' school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard. So they choose the path of denial.

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot, and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheepdog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic, such as ours. Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land.

They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports, in camouflage fatigues, holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go Baa. Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them.

This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog, when the wolf is at the door. Look at what happened after September 11, 2001, when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be.

Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter. He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed, right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day.

After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America, said "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." You want to be able to make a difference. There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that would destroy 98 percent of the population.

Research was conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders, and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said they specifically targeted victims by body language:

Slumped walk, passive behavior, and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself.

Some people may be destined to be sheep, and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.

Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When they learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd and the other passengers confronted the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business people, and parents - from sheep to sheepdogs - and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.

Edmund Burke said "There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men." Here is the point I want to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature, the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They don't have a choice.

But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision. If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep - and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die, if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you.

If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down, and you will never have rest, safety, trust, or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip, and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.

This business of being a sheep or a sheepdog is not a yes/no dichotomy.

It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep, and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between.

Since 9/11, almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously.

Its OK to be a sheep, but do not kick the sheepdog. Indeed, the sheepdog may just run a little harder, strive to protect a little better, and be fully prepared to pay an ultimate price in battle and spirit with the sheep moving from "baa" to "thanks."

We do not call for gifts or freedoms beyond our lot. We just need a small pat on the head, a smile, and a thank you, to fill the emotional tank which is drained protecting the sheep. And, when our number is called by The Almighty, and day retreats into night, a small prayer before the heavens just may be in order to say thanks for letting you continue to be a sheep. And be grateful for the millions of American sheepdogs who permit you the freedom to express even bad ideas.

Charles Grennel