MUSINGS

Author: Matt Marschall

How to run a PASSIVE FTP server on Windows Server with a Cisco Router
28 Mar
Posted in Cisco No comments

How to run a PASSIVE FTP server on Windows Server with a Cisco Router

If you intend to run an internet facing FTP server you have 2 options for FTP, active or passive. The easiest option for an FTP server administrator is the active mode. In active mode the client makes a connection to the server on port 21. The server then makes an outbound connection on port 20 to the client on a random port (>1023) for data transfer. So for the FTP server administrator the only port redirection required is port 21, and firewall access required is port 21 inbound and 20 outbound. While this is great for the FTP Server admin your clients will most likely fail to achieve any data transfer. This is because most clients will have some form of firewall in place which will prevent the server from making the connection to the random port. Read more about How to run a PASSIVE FTP server on Windows Server with a Cisco Router …

Problem installing iTunes on Windows 7 – Apple Mobile Device Service ‘Rolling back action’
12 Dec
Posted in Devices 27 comments

Problem installing iTunes on Windows 7 – Apple Mobile Device Service ‘Rolling back action’

I recently came across a problem on a Windows 7 64bit laptop where Apple’s iTunes was failing to recognise a connected iPhone. It was giving a error that the wrong version of iTunes was installed and I should install the 64bit version of iTunes. As I had no idea how what had been performed up until this point I performed a full uninstall of iTunes. I then downloaded the latest version of iTunes 10.5.1 and ran through the installer. At one point during the install I noticed the install gave the message ‘Rolling back action’ and thought to myself this cannot be good.

At the end iTunes indicated it had a problem installing and I should try again. The weird thing is if you didn’t pay attention to the message you could quite easily click on ok and iTunes will work except it’ll fail to recognise any iPod, iPhone or iPad device. To help identify what actually failed to install I checked the windows services management console and found the Apple Mobile Device Service was missing. This makes sense because it’s that service which communicates with the iPhone. The question is why was the Apple Mobile Device Service (AMDS) failing to install?
Read more about Problem installing iTunes on Windows 7 – Apple Mobile Device Service ‘Rolling back action’ …

Internet Explorer proxy server settings not working? Check your exceptions.
11 Aug
Posted in Internet Explorer No comments

Internet Explorer proxy server settings not working? Check your exceptions.

Internet Explorer has the annoying habit of silently ignoring your proxy settings if it encounters a problem, which makes supporting and diagnosing the problem a pain in the proverbial.

What makes it even more difficult is the way Internet Explorer interprets the proxy settings has changed from version to version. Settings which worked in Internet Explorer 6 will fail in Internet Explorer 7. So make sure in a corporate environment you fully test the settings before you push out a new version of Internet Explorer to 1000 desktop PCs only to find they can no longer access the internet. The most common setting to fail is Read more about Internet Explorer proxy server settings not working? Check your exceptions. …