Portlock SMART Suite: Common administrative scenarios

Below is a list of possible issues and scenarios an administrator may face while managing their environment as well as possible solutions that Portlock SMART Suite for Windows provides. There may be more than one possible solution for any one scenario.

Scenario 1: Backup file or directories. Your system has a power failure and is unable to boot. You urgently require access to specific directory or virtual machine.

Solution:

Boot your system with Portlock SMART Suite for Windows
Map a drive using Portlock Drive Map or connect an external USB device
Start Portlock Drive Explorer
Browse your file system for your files, directories or VHD (virtual hard drive)
Copy data to temporary location

You now have the ability of opening your files or booting your virtual machine on a new system.

Note: Portlock SMART Suite for Windows supports Plug and Play devices. Your external device does not need to be connected before the boot sequence.

Scenario 2: Create a Portlock SMART Suite for Windows bootable USB device. Your system doesn't have a physical CD-ROM drive. CD-ROM's are not always included with servers. Several options enable you to use Portlock SMART Suite without a physical CD-ROM.

Solution:

Boot a secondary server with Portlock SMART Suite
Start Portlock Drive Explorer
Choose "Create a Bootable USB Drive" from the Tools menu
Insert a USB device and walk through the wizard
Ensure the BIOS is set to boot from USB

Scenario 3: You are operating Windows Server 2008 Core on a headless system (no monitor, keyboard and mouse) and you need to make some configuration changes with Portlock SMART Suite for Windows.

Solution: Burn the Portlock SMART Suite for Windows ISO file onto a CD-ROM and put into a running Windows Server 2008 Core or Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 system. You may also hard boot the system to with the ISO file.

If hard booting:

Once booted, download and install a VNC viewer. This will allow you to remotely connect to the system running Portlock SMART Suite for Windows.
Load the VNC viewer and type the IP address of the system running Portlock SMART Suite
Password to connect is "portlock"

SMARTsuite.exe

To run Portlock SMART Suite for Windows from a system already booted with a Windows operating system, run the SMARTsuite.exe file, located at the root of the CD.

Once burned to CD, put into the running system's CD-ROM drive
You can remotely connect to your server with RDP (Windows Remote Desktop)
Windows automatically assigns a drive letter for the CD-ROM
Start SMARTsuite.exe from the root of the CD-ROM

Scenario 4: Portlock SMART Suite for Windows does not see your device. You started Portlock SMART Suite for Windows but it does not see your Ethernet adapter. This will prevent you from changing your IP address.

Solution: With Portlock SMART Suite for Windows started, open Portlock Device Manager.

Select the "Upload" icon to upload a detailed list of your supported and unsupported devices to the Portlock Driver Library. This will ensure that we are able to add support for your device in a future build.
Download the device driver from the vendor website. You will be looking for the Windows Server 2008 driver as this CD is based upon WinPE 2.1. If a Windows Server 2008 driver is unavailable, then try a Windows Vista or Windows XP driver.
Copy all driver files for your device to one of the following: USB, floppy, mapped drive, CD, etc.
From Portlock Device Manager, select the" Install" icon or "Install Driver" from the Action menu. This requires you to locate and load the driver (.INF).
Portlock SMART Suite for Windows should now see your device.
Also see: /support/training_videos/device_manager.aspx

Note: This same process will apply to any device driver, specifically storage and network adapters. Not all device drivers are able to load during run time. Some require a reboot, in which case we will need to add support for your device directly into our build environment.

Scenario 5: Application installation. You wish to install WinRM or any other application on your system.

Solution: Open SMARTsuite.exe from the root of Portlock SMART Suite for Windows on a running system.

Open Mozilla Firefox, located on the "Internet" tab
You can now browse to the application website and download to any specified location

Scenario 6: My Hyper-V Server 2008 system had a power failure and when I attempt to boot, I receive a blinking cursor.

Solution: Windows Repair.

Boot Portlock SMART Suite for Windows from the ISO file or from SMARTsuite.exe located at the root of the burned ISO CD-ROM on a running system.
Select "Windows Recovery Environment" on the "Repair" tab.
Walk through the wizard for automatically detecting and repairing your system.

Scenario 7: My Windows Server 2008 Core system is being setup as my DHCP server and you need to change the preferred DNS server address.

Solution: Portlock Network Configuration

While your system is running, put the Portlock SMART Suite for Windows CD into your CD-ROM drive. Launch SMARTsuite.exe, which is located at the root of the CD-ROM (after it's burned from the ISO).
Windows assigns a drive letter which you can use to launch SMARTsuite.exe from the command prompt. Once you have changed directories to your CD, launch Portlock SMART Suite for Windows by simply typing SMARTsuite.exe and hitting enter.
Example: D:\SMARTsuite.exe
Load Portlock Network Configuration.
With your Ethernet adapter selected, choose the "Advanced" tab.
Change the IP address of the preferred DNS server and hit apply. Note: This applies to any network configuration changes that need to be made.

Note: You can use the "diskpart" command and "list volume" to find the assigned drive letter of your CD/DVD.

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Portlock SMART Suite: Common administrative scenarios