After the retro server had not been started for a long time, I was suddenly greeted by a dialog box with the message “This copy of Windows Server 2003 R2 must be activated” with the options “Yes,” “No,” or “Cancel,” the latter of which shut down the server.

When I selected “Yes,” the WGA activation dialog box familiar from XP appeared with the text “This copy has already been activated.” Clicking ‘OK’ only took me back to the first message. “No” did not change anything at all. Great, a dead end.

What to do?

After googling the error message in fragments in English (“Error: This copy of Windows must be activated before you can log on.”), I came across a solution. This is presented by “The Rambling IT Man” on his blog (archive.org), which is hosted directly by WordPress.

I am “reblogging” the content of his solution mainly to present the process in German. At the same time, this provides a second version of the information, as websites unfortunately often disappear at some point.

The solution:

The process should work both in a VM and on a physical server. In my case, it worked immediately on a physical server.

Step 1: Shutdown

Shut down Server 2003 R2.

Step 2: Boot again

Restart the computer, pressing “F8” repeatedly to display the startup options.

Step 3: Safe mode

When the menu appears, select “Safe Mode” (first option). If not, restart and try again with “F8”.

Step 4: Run

Either press the Windows key + R or select “Run” from the Start menu.

Step 5: Command line

Execute this command exactly, Oo are not zeros but letters. Pay attention to upper and lower case!

rundll32.exe syssetup,SetupOobeBnk

Step 6: Wait

Wait a moment until the “Busy” icon appears on the mouse cursor. No confirmation will follow.

Step 7: Final reboot

Simply restart the server. The message should now disappear for at least 30 days, allowing you to log in normally and, if necessary, fix the underlying problem or back up your data.

Thanks, “The Rambling IT Man”!

Der Beitrag Reactivation of Windows Server 2003 (R2) erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

Like so much else in my hardware collection, this 19″ computer server from HP with a height of 1U came into my possession as electronic waste. Like all servers with a space-saving design (DL stands for “Density Line”), this one is really very loud when the fans kick in – this is clearly audible every time it boots up before the BIOS POST (only then does the PWM speed control kick in).

An unexpected finding is that when you update the BIOS to a newer version, the “HP Integrated LightsOut iLO 100c” remote management must also be updated accordingly, otherwise the fans will run continuously at full speed and cannot be regulated. The iLO firmware update must be performed via FreeDOS or MS-DOS from a USB stick smaller than 32 GB* (or from a disc that must first be burned for this purpose), as was previously the case with the BIOS update. You first have to know that this is how it works. At first, I assumed that something had to be reconfigured after the BIOS flash and that I just couldn’t find the options.

When I found out that the management solution also had to be updated and that it worked right away, I was relieved and the room became much quieter.

Documentation from HP (“QuickSpecs”)

Here I have included the technical capabilities of this server as a PDF file:

Hardware

The parts for this server are now very cheap because they have long been obsolete. Whenever I came across something suitable, I upgraded it. As a result, the specifications now differ greatly from the original ones (my configuration included one of the weaker dual-core Xeon models and 2 GB of RAM, for example).

At the moment, it has HP’s top-of-the-line quad-core processor, 8 GB ECC RAM, and as many data carriers as SATA-II ports. That’s five, and there are six ports on the board. One of them is occupied by the DVD burner. That works out well: if you subtract the boot drive, you’re left with four ports, which is ideal for two RAID1 arrays of two data carriers each – that’s exactly how I configured the whole thing. I don’t think I need any more than that anyway, after all, the approach is “retro” and “compute,” not “storage.”

The slots for expansion cards are empty.

Operating systems

A triple boot setup consisting of Windows Server 2000, 2003 R2, and 2008 is installed. All are 32-bit and run in parallel on an OEM SATA SSD from Toshiba (MBR). Booting is done via BIOS.

Ideal for running server software from the early 2000s.

Photos

Der Beitrag Retro Server: HP ProLiant DL120 G5 erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

There’s not much to write:
These scripts are a real gold mine and make life so much easier. The fact that they are constantly updated is also not a matter of course. Rarely have I found something so useful for an operating system.

Many thanks to the original creator, tteck, who has sadly since passed away.
The scripts are available here:

https://github.com/community-scripts/ProxmoxVE

Thanks to the community for continuing this project!

Der Beitrag Proxmox VE Helper Scripts erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

The procedure is described in detail on the official wiki. I will now summarize it briefly and clearly. I am assuming use without a subscription, as is common in a private setting.

Requirements

• PVE 8 must be updated to the latest possible version, at least v8.4.1.
• SSH access is recommended.
• For safety reasons, back up everything.
• At least 5 GB of free space in the root partition, preferably 10 GB.

When using Proxmox Backup Server or Ceph, there are a few more things to consider.

Let’s go…

The Proxmox team has really simplified the process. There is a script that automatically checks whether everything is ready for an upgrade. You can run it with the following command:

pve8to9 --full

pve8to9 --full

If problems arise, the easiest thing to do is to google the issues. I didn’t encounter any serious problems. Then continue with these commands, one after the other:

apt update
apt dist-upgrade
pveversion

apt update
apt dist-upgrade
pveversion

The version displayed at the end should be at least 8.4.1, as mentioned above. Now the repositories are adjusted:

sed -i 's/bookworm/trixie/g' /etc/apt/sources.list
sed -i 's/bookworm/trixie/g' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-enterprise.list

sed -i 's/bookworm/trixie/g' /etc/apt/sources.list
sed -i 's/bookworm/trixie/g' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pve-enterprise.list

The new PVE 9 repository in deb822 format can be added as follows (No Subscription!):

cat > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/proxmox.sources << EOF
Types: deb
URIs: http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve
Suites: trixie
Components: pve-no-subscription
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/proxmox-archive-keyring.gpg
EOF

cat > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/proxmox.sources << EOF
Types: deb
URIs: http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve
Suites: trixie
Components: pve-no-subscription
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/proxmox-archive-keyring.gpg
EOF

You can then check whether it works with:

apt update
apt policy

apt update
apt policy

The repository must also be updated for Ceph (No Subscription!):

cat > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ceph.sources << EOF
Types: deb
URIs: http://download.proxmox.com/debian/ceph-squid
Suites: trixie
Components: no-subscription
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/proxmox-archive-keyring.gpg
EOF

cat > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ceph.sources << EOF
Types: deb
URIs: http://download.proxmox.com/debian/ceph-squid
Suites: trixie
Components: no-subscription
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/proxmox-archive-keyring.gpg
EOF

apt update
apt policy

apt update
apt policy

The biggest and final step follows now:

apt dist-upgrade

apt dist-upgrade

A lot of work is currently being done, and after a final restart, the upgrade to PVE 9 should have gone smoothly. After that, you can search for updates in the web GUI as usual; none should be found.

Der Beitrag Upgrade Proxmox VE from version 8 to 9 erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.