Apache: Redirecting http to https using a .htaccess file

To redirect http traffic to https in Apache, create a .htaccess file with the following content:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI}

Place the .htaccess file in your website directory and that should be it.

NOTE: The rewrite module in Apache must be enabled for this to work. To check whether it is enabled, open your httpd.conf and make sure the line below is not commented:

LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so

If you’re running Apache on Windows, you won’t be able to create a file with a filename that starts with “.” so you will have to tell Apache to look for another file. To do so, simply open your httpd.conf and change the line:

AccessFileName .htaccess

to

AccessFileName ht.acl .htaccess

Instead of naming the file .htaccess, name it ht.acl. Restart Apache and it should work.

Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file

Error Message: “Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item.”

If you get this error when you tried to run an executable file, simply do the following:

1. Right-click on the file and choose Properties.
2. In the General tab, click the Unblock button at the bottom and hit OK.

Try running the executable file again and it should now work.

Exchange 2007 SP1: Message rejected as spam by Content Filtering

Error Message: “550 5.7.1 Message rejected as spam by Content Filtering.”

One of our users reported that after we applied Service Pack 1 and Update Rollup 1 to Exchange Server 2007, some of the emails that he has scheduled to send daily were getting rejected with the message above.

I guess the integrated anti-spam in Exchange got updated as well.

You can configure Content Filtering in Exchange to bypass specific users or domains.

Open the Exchange Management Shell:

# To check the Content Filter configuration, type in:

Get-ContentFilterConfig

# To set the Bypassed Senders (example):

Set-ContentFilterConfig -BypassedSenders donotspamme@calazan.com, jdoe@abc.com

# To set the Bypassed Sender Domains (example):

Set-ContentFilterConfig -BypassedSenderDomains calazan.com, *.xyz.com

Important Note: BypassedSenders and BypassedSenderDomains are multivalued properties. When you use the Set-ContentFilterConfig cmdlet, it will overwrite the values of those properties. If you just need to add more senders or domains, please follow the example below.

# To add Bypassed Senders:

$x = Get-ContentFilterConfig

$x.BypassedSenders += “jsmith@google.com”, “bhope@yahoo.com”

# To remove Bypassed Senders (can only be done one at a time):

$x = Get-ContentFilterConfig

$x.BypassedSenders -= “jsmith@google.com”

# To empty the list:

Set-ContentFilterConfig -BypassedSenders $null

Exchange Management Tools SP1: Service Remote Registry failed to reach status “Stopped”

I got this error while upgrading the Exchange Management Tools on my Windows XP computer at work to Service Pack 1. I checked the services and the Remote Registry service is stuck at “Stopping” status.

To fix this, simply set the Remote Registry service’s startup type to Manual, reboot your computer, try installing Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Management Tools again and it should now install successfully. The Remote Registry service will automatically start and the startup type will go back to Automatic after the installation.

Upgrading to Exchange Server 2007 SP1

We just upgraded from Exchange 2007 RTM to Exchange 2007 SP1 yesterday morning and I’m happy to say that the upgrade went very smoothly. It took about 20 minutes.

Here are some things to consider:

1. Install .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 before upgrading. This may not be required but Microsoft recommends it.
2. If you have more than one Exchange server, Microsoft recommends that you upgrade the servers running the Mailbox server role last. Upgrade your servers in the following order:
   1. Client Access servers
   2. Unified Messaging servers
   3. Hub Transport servers
   4. Edge Transport servers
   5. Mailbox servers
3. If you have third party software running on the Exchange server, stop the services/processes for those software before running the SP1 installation (e.g. antivirus, Backup Exec Remote Agent, etc.).
4. Check the compatibility of other software that use/connect to the Exchange server. Some examples:
   1. BlackBerry Enterprise Server. We have BES version 4.1.3 and I can confirm that this version works with Exchange 2007 SP1. E-mails, contacts, calendar, tasks, notes, Out-of-Office are synchronizing properly. No issues so far. I’m assuming that higher versions would also work.
   2. Symantec Backup Exec 11d. Make sure that you upgrade the Exchange Management Tools on the server running Backup Exec to Service Pack 1 as well (and install other patches for Exchange that you have installed on your Exchange server) or you may get this error: Unable to complete the operation for the selected resource using the specified options. The following error was returned when opening the Exchange Database file: ‘-514 The version of the log file is not compatible with the ESE version.’ Go here for more details: http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/289970.htm.

5. Read the release notes.

Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (KB945684) was also just released three days ago and you may want to install this as well.

Heroes Happen Here

My co-workers and I attended the Microsoft launch event in New York yesterday for Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, and SQL Server 2008. The theme of the event was “HEROES happen {here},” where the heroes are the IT workers who make the technology work.

Overall, the event was pretty good, there were a few technical glitches during the keynote but nothing major. All of their demos were running in Hyper-V.

I attended the infrastructure session which covers Windows Server 2008 and I have to say that I’m now very excited to really play around with the new features in this new version of Windows after attending this presentation. I really didn’t know much about it before the event.

Here are some of the new features in Windows Server 2008:

1. Server Core installation option (Finally!!! This is a minimal installation of Windows Server 2008, no GUI. This is a very nice option if you want a server to perform a dedicated task, like a print server for example. It requires less disk space, better performance, better security, and less things to manage and patch)
2. Read-Only Domain Controllers (RODC)
3. Terminal Services enhancements (TS RemoteApp, TS Gateway, TS Web Access, TS Session Broker, TS Easy Print)
4. Group Policy improvements (Ability to search, filter, and add comments)
5. Network Access Protection

They also gave away some free software:

• full version of Windows Vista Ultimate with SP1 32-bit
• full version Visual Studio 2008 Standard
• 1 year evaluation of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise 32-bit and 64-bit
• community technology preview of SQL Server 2008 Developer 32-bit and 64-bit

It looks like I’m gonna be pretty busy this weekend.

Also see: http://www.calazan.com/microsoft-launch-event-2008/

Bill Gates Drops to Third Place

After 13 years straight of being the richest person in the world, Bill Gates drops to third place, behind Warren Buffett and Carlos Slim Helú.

Here’s Forbes‘ list of the 10 richest people in the world:

1. Warren Buffett - U.S. - $62 billion
2. Carlos Slim Helú - Mexico - $60 billion
3. Bill Gates - U.S. - $58 billion
4. Lakshmi Mittal - India - $45 billion
5. Mukesh Ambani - India - $43 billion
6. Anil Ambani - India - $42 billion
7. Ingvar Kamprad - Sweden - $31 billion
8. K.P. Singh - India - $30 billion
9. Oleg Deripaska - Russia - $28 billion
10. Karl Albrecht - Germany - $27 billion

Full article here.