Aleksandar's computer workshop
Let's see what Aleksandar was fixing today.
My findings, tips & tricks related to computers, internet, programming and other stuff I was working with.

How to move Windows DNS Server zones to another Windows DNS server

March 23, 2010 01:11 by Aleksandar

If you are looking to transfer an entier DNS Server including Active Directory settings and things like that, you may better use DNSDump.cmd script from here: http://www.reskit.net/DNS/dnsdump.cm_

Just to migrate the zones, simply do following:

1. On the DNS server that is currently hosting the DNS zone(s), change any Active Directory-integrated zones to standard primary. This action creates the zone files that are needed for the destination DNS server.
2. Stop the DNS Server service on both DNS servers.
3. Manually copy the entire contents (subfolders included) of the %SystemRoot%\System32\DNS folder from the source server to the destination server.
4. On the current (old, source) DNS server, start Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
5. Locate and click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\DNS\Zones
6. Export the Zones entry to a registry file.
7. Locate and click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DNS Server\Zones
8. Export the Zones entry to a registry file.
9. On the destination (new) DNS server, double-click each registry file to import the Zones subkeys into the registry.
10. Bring the current DNS server down and transfer its IP address to the destination DNS server.
11. On the destination DNS server, start the DNS Server service. To initiate the registration of the server's A and PTR resource records, run the following command at a command prompt: ipconfig /registerdns
12. If this server is also a domain controller, stop and restart the Net Logon service to register the Service (SRV) records, or run the following command at a command prompt: netdiag /fix
13. The standard zones that were previously Active Directory-integrated can be converted back to Active Directory-integrated on the replacement DNS server if it is a domain controller.
14. Verify that the SOA resource records on each zone contains the correct name for the primary server and that the NS resource records for the zone(s) are correct.


inSSIDer is (much better) replacement for antient Netstumbler

June 4, 2009 21:27 by Aleksandar

inSSIDer is an free, award-winning Wi-Fi network scanner application for Windows Vista and Windows XP.
It scans networks within reach of your computer's Wi-Fi antenna, tracks signal strength over time, and determines their security settings (including whether or not they're password-protected).

NetStumbler, the most popular Wi-Fi network scanner, is free, but it hasn't been actively developed for years, and it doesn't work well with Vista or 64 bit OS.

inSSIDer, on the other hand, works like a charm on both Vista and XP, 32 and 64 bit, and it's open-source.

This must-have for hunting down Wi-Fi networks on the road.

Features

  • Works with internal Wi-Fi radio
  • Wi-Fi network information (SSID, MAC, data rate, signal strength, security, etc)
  • Group by Mac Address, SSID, Channel, RSSI and "Time Last Seen."
  • Graph the strength of received signal in dBm over time
  • Filter access points in an easy to use format.
  • Highlight access points for areas with high Wi-Fi concentration.
  • Open source (Apache License, Version 2.0)

URL: http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider


How to debug HTTP requests when developing and testing Web applications and clients

June 4, 2009 16:33 by Aleksandar

Have you ever found yourself wondering how browser interacts with your Web application? Have you encountered a strange performance bottleneck that you can't track down? Are you curious about which cookies are being sent, or what downloaded content is marked as cacheable?

In Web and Internet development you are unable to see directly what is being sent and received between your web browser / client and the server. Without this visibility it is difficult and time-consuming to determine exactly where the fault is.

Don’t give up, there are some applications to help you out.

On developers computer (client side) you will go for HTTP proxy like Fiddler or Charles.
For server debugging (in most situations) you can't use proxy. In that case you have to use network packet sniffer or network protocol analyzer like Wireshark (used to be known as Ethereal)

About Fiddler

Fiddler is a Web Debugging Proxy which logs all HTTP(S) traffic between your computer and the Internet. Fiddler allows you to inspect all HTTP(S) traffic, set breakpoints, and "fiddle" with incoming or outgoing data. Fiddler includes a powerful event-based scripting subsystem, can be extended using any .NET language and has ready powerful extensions.

Fiddler is freeware and can debug traffic from virtually any internet application, including Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and thousands more.

It will run only on Windows.

http://www.fiddler2.com/




About Charles

Charles is a web proxy (HTTP Proxy / HTTP Monitor) that runs on your own computer. Your web browser is then configured to access the Internet through Charles, and Charles is then able to record and display for you all of the data that is sent and received.

Charles makes debugging quick, reliable and advanced; saving you time and frustration!

Key Features

  • SSL Proxying – view SSL requests and responses in plain text
  • Bandwidth Throttling to simulate slower Internet connections including latency
  • AJAX debugging – view XML and JSON requests and responses as a tree or as text
  • AMF – view the contents of Flash Remoting / Flex Remoting messages as a tree
  • Repeat requests to test back-end changes
  • Edit requests to test different inputs
  • Breakpoints to intercept and edit requests or responses
  • Validate recorded HTML, CSS and RSS/atom responses using the W3C validator

It is shareware, and you may try Charles for 30 days.

It will run on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux/Unix.

http://www.charlesproxy.com/


About Wireshark

Wireshark is the world's foremost network protocol analyzer, and is the de facto (and often de jure) standard across many industries and educational institutions.
Network professionals, security experts, developers, and educators around the world use it regularly.
It is freely available as open source, and is released under the GNU General Public License version 2.
It is developed and maintained by a global team of protocol experts, and it is an example of a disruptive technology.
Wireshark used to be known as Ethereal. If you're still using Ethereal, it is strongly recommended that you upgrade to Wireshark.
Wireshark development thrives thanks to the contributions of networking experts across the globe. It is the continuation of a project that started in 1998.

Wireshark has a rich feature set which includes the following:

  • Deep inspection of hundreds of protocols, with more being added all the time
  • Live capture and offline analysis
  • Standard three-pane packet browser
  • Multi-platform: Runs on Windows, Linux, OS X, Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and many others
  • Captured network data can be browsed via a GUI, or via the TTY-mode TShark utility
  • The most powerful display filters in the industry
  • Rich VoIP analysis
  • Read/write many different capture file formats: tcpdump (libpcap), Pcap NG, Catapult DCT2000, Cisco Secure IDS iplog, Microsoft Network Monitor, Network General Sniffer® (compressed and uncompressed), Sniffer® Pro, and NetXray®, Network Instruments Observer, NetScreen snoop, Novell LANalyzer, RADCOM WAN/LAN Analyzer, Shomiti/Finisar Surveyor, Tektronix K12xx, Visual Networks Visual UpTime, WildPackets EtherPeek/TokenPeek/AiroPeek, and many others
  • Capture files compressed with gzip can be decompressed on the fly
  • Live data can be read from Ethernet, IEEE 802.11, PPP/HDLC, ATM, Bluetooth, USB, Token Ring, Frame Relay, FDDI, and others (depending on your platfrom)
  • Decryption support for many protocols, including IPsec, ISAKMP, Kerberos, SNMPv3, SSL/TLS, WEP, and WPA/WPA2
  • Coloring rules can be applied to the packet list for quick, intuitive analysis
  • Output can be exported to XML, PostScript®, CSV, or plain text  

It runs on Windows, OS X, Linux and UNIX

http://www.wireshark.org/

 

 

 


MAC Address Decoder

October 2, 2008 12:42 by Aleksandar

Nice online tool to identify the manufacturer by looking up the Ethernet MAC address.

http://www.techzoom.net/lookup/check-mac.en