The feedback received on the WSUS presentation was quite positive. Hopefully the evaluation forms back that up.
Before heading backup up I stopped in at a client we have in Calgary to set up a couple of new backup hard drives and try and get their copier to e-mail PDFs into a SharePoint library.
It’s not like we have not done this before!
But, no matter what we tried, we could not get this particular copier to send e-mail via SBS 2008. There will be more troubleshooting to be done to figure out the “why” as it does not make sense.
I ended up being there until late working on that. So, after working on that for a while some Windows Server 2008 x64 updates were installed on SBS and a reboot was to be had with the hope that something would kick into gear and start working.
Well, after the reboot things did not improve so we decided to call it a night as I still had a 3.5 hour drive ahead of me.
About an hour into the drive, our client called to say that his and his wife’s systems were not able to connect to Exchange via Outlook Anywhere and that their iPhones stopped syncing earlier that evening . . . right around the time the updates and reboot happened.
The TS Gateway service was up and running despite the fact that no one could RDP into the server using the remote.domain.com gateway or via RWW.
This particular server has a DRAC installed so I was able to remote into the console and work on the server from Red Deer where I stopped to address the problem.
Nothing looked to be amiss and there were absolutely no clues in the logs as to why the TS Gateway service was not allowing anything through.
After running the Fix My Network wizard with nothing turning up, the Set Up Your Internet Address wizard, and then the Certificate wizard to reseat their GoDaddy certificate, nothing changed.
As a last resort, a reboot was initiated.
Since this troubleshooting was going on in a Red Deer parking lot via a 3G+ Internet connection, I left the DRAC console window open and started back on my way towards Edmonton/St. Albert.
This particular box takes about 15-20 minutes to reboot.
One advantage of having a Solid-State Drive in the Tecra was the ability to drive off without worrying about a hard drive problem due to the bumps and vibrations of driving.
An RDP shortcut on the Tecra’s desktop was saved with credentials embedded before heading out.
About 20 minutes into my resumed trip the SBS 2008 logon screen showed up. A double tap later and the SBS 2008 desktop showed up after a minute or so.
The key to figuring out what was happening was when the console screen went black, the Dell BIOS POST stuff went by, and then a Windows Registry update series of registry strings went by.
It seems that some of the updates applied before the previous reboot did not take properly and required yet one more reboot before things settled down.
We will make sure to check that the TS Gateway service is functioning as expected after updates as its misbehaving impacts a lot of different SBS services.
Once logged off the server the Tecra was shut down and I had an almost uneventful trip home.
A rather large Coyote jumped out in front of me from the median side of the highway close to Leduc. It is the first time that I have laid into the brakes hard enough to set off the ABS on dry pavement all the while swerving to avoid the animal.
Needless to say I barely missed the coyote and was a little surprised that they could be Jacklit. It pretty much stood still as soon as it turned its head towards me.
I did not have to worry about being tired for the rest of the ride home! ;)
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)
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