@scottalanmiller
Thanks for the clear answer. So if we use the current JRE Version we do not have to pay license fees.

@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

Unifi AP

I just wish they would finally integrate LDAP auth in their software

We may be one step closer, but it still does not make a lot of sense. With one specific switch model in between, uefi pxe works. Other switch models (also netgear) it does not. I've changed every single option on the working switch trying to "break" it to find out what option might be the issue on other switches in our network, but whatever options I've set uefi pxe boot kept working.
Here is a graphic to show what exactly I mean.
https://ibb.co/ZWLHpwb
How can it be that it does not work directly on the floor switch, but it does on a switch behind the floor switch?
Again, any hints are greatly appreciated

@Dashrender said in UEFI PXE Boot stopped working:

MS can role out BIOS/UEFI updates now. You sure you didn't get an update on those devices?

How about just resetting those UEFI to factory and trying again (making sure PXE boot is enabled after factory resetting).

We ruled that out because it happens on a multitude of different systems (different hardware), some haven't seen a network or booted windows for months.

@Pete-S said in UEFI PXE Boot stopped working:

I think MTU settings can mess with PXE/TFTP.

Anyway, nothing changes by itself and goes from working to non-working without reason. Just got to find what it is that has changed by logical troubleshooting and elimination.

I would start with wireshark on a port mirror to see the traffic the actual client is seeing. I don't know enough about PXE to be of any help however.

That's what's baffling, we know there had to be some kind of a change but there's only 2 of us managing anything IT related. Wireshark only shows that the packages are in fact being sent but don't arrive at the client or the client ignores them

@dbeato said in UEFI PXE Boot stopped working:

If it works on Legacy it should work on UEFI. What is the BIOS Setting for PXE on UEFI?

It should but it doesn't, we dont' understand it either. The BIOS is set to use UEFI and to allow pxe boot, uefi network stack is enabled.

We currently suspect some switches to not properly forward the dhcp packages but there seems to be no logic behind this because we definetly didn't change anything on them.

Last week pxe booting on uefi suddenly stopped working. BIOS/Legacy pxe still works. Wireshark shows us the communication with the windows dhcp server and the 3rd party network boot server.
DHCP Discover from client, containing a parameter request list
DHCP Offer from dhcp server containing an ip address
DHCP Offer from network boot server containing the tftp server ip

But the client newer responds with a request as it should, instead it seems to discard the dhcp offers and resends the discover until timeout. Comparing this communication to when a bios pxe successfully boots shows that the offer packets are identical.
It is irritating because there were no changes to any system when this stopped working, and the setup is very basic (one subnet, no broadcast blocking anywhere). It's the same client hardware as before (some dell desktops and lenovo notebooks).

Any tipps or ideas would be greatly appreciated

@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

Unifi AP

I just wish they would finally integrate LDAP auth in their software

@JaredBusch But should they? To a certain amount I think so, but it can not be a requirement for communication between teams. I should not have to pretty up my recommendations with business language for them to be taken serious but I will phrase them differently to make things clear for non-tech people. And I expect them to do the same for me. Work together not against each other right?

@nadnerB said in ANU hacked by phishing email through the preview pane:

@scottalanmiller said in ANU hacked by phishing email through the preview pane:

"The staff member only had to preview the email - not click a link or even open the message - for the hackers to get the information needed to access the ANU network."

Only problem with this statement... previewing and opening are the same thing.

We know that, but to the meatware they're two different things. One of those illogical fallacies that people don't question because some how it makes sense... mostly because they have no idea how it works.

While this may be true for some people I've seen way to many wilfully ignorant users to give everyone the benefit of doubt. Often they actively refuse to even use common sense because it's a computer and computer is magic, period. A lot of issues could be prevented by just thinking logically, like we do every day (I hope). This may also apply outside IT but I think not to this extent.

Of course in the real world I at least pretend to believe when a user says he tried - and while some of theyr actions make me question my world view they are also the foundation of my business and after all, a paying customer can have all he pays for.

@scottalanmiller said in Java JRE Licensing:

@FakeNoMore said in Java JRE Licensing:

What I do not understand is the licensing of the newer versions (10, 11). Is JRE 10 still free?

Java 11 is the current LTS release.
Java 12 is the current rapid release.

Avoid Java 10 or older at this point, anything that old is legacy. 11 & 12 are good options, 10 and older are not as they are neither current nor current LTS.

So do we have to install the whole jdk now on every system since there are no separate JRE builds anymore?
How does that play into possible license costs with basically the whole Java SE installed? The features that are not free are probably there but not used.

Edit: There doesn't seem to be a JRE anymore, only JDK.

@scottalanmiller
Thanks for the clear answer. So if we use the current JRE Version we do not have to pay license fees.

Hello there

I spent the past 3 days trying to figure out how the (not so new anymore) java licensing works, and I'm still not sure if I understand correctly.

Let's say we are a business with 60 workstations. We are only using the WIndows Java JRE workstation installation for appliactions that require it (the old vcenter web console for example). Currently Java JRE 8 is installed.

Now the updates for Java JRE 8 are no longer free for commercial use, but since they are for private use technically we could still install them without paying a license fee (obviously this is not an option).
What I do not understand is the licensing of the newer versions (10, 11). Is JRE 10 still free? Will there be free security updates? Or should I use OpenJDK, but then how do I roll out only the JRE out of openJDK?
I installed openJDK using the installer, but for example the vcenter web console did not work with openjdk installed and "normal" java uninstalled.

Every articel I've read was either talking about developers needing the full JDK specifically or did not come to any conclusion like "Yes, you can use jre 10 for free in a business environment" or "no you must buy licenses". I'm really starting to feel stupid, I know our requirements and quantity and product version yet I still can't get to a yes/no answer somehow.

So can you guys maybe enlighten me? I would greatly appreciate any help!

Hi everyone
I'm curious how you backup your personal data at home. It took me years to figure out the simple backup strategy I'm currently living, going from multiple backups on multiple external hard disks, cloud and NAS storage to where I am now. While I preach backing up data everytime data loss comes up with a friend, I myself neglected it for too long. There is luck involved in me never experiencing serious data loss before I finally found a way to make it comfortable for me.

So for now it looks like this:
Phone contacts and calendar entries get synced to my owncloud. Other data on the phone like pictures and such are not important or if so I upload them to the cloud on creation.
Everything important on my pc (including a synced version of my owncloud) is the a D : partition which gets backed up to one external hd using veeam agent - starting automatically as soon as I plug in said harddisk. Veeam makes incremental backups and every other month I'll do a full backup and delete the old backups.
That's it, always KISS if possible. All I have to do is plug in the external hd once a month, triggered by a recurring reminder in my calendar.

I'm aware that I have very little private data to backup, still I had to make it very easy for me to actually do backups on a regular basis.
Now, I'm curious how you backup your data outside work?