Over the last few days KB970892 has consitently failed to install on our SQL Servers via Windows Update. The following instructions will get it working.

Once the update fails to install, you’ll likely have to reboot as the system will be flagged as pending a reboot. Once rebooted we need to attempt to complete the SQL Server installation:

1. Open up Add or Remove Programs, select Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and click Change
2. On the Component Selection screen, choose Database Engine under SQL Server 2005 Instances and click Next
3. On the Feature Maintenance screen, choose Database Engine and click Next
4. Go through the setup wizard until the Change or Remove Instance screen. Then click Complete the suspended installation.
5. Follow through the wizard, if you get a prompt for the files point it at your SQL SP3 installation media and continue.

If you’re using SQL Server 2005 Express you can extract SQLEXPR32.EXE with the /x switch.

The installation will likely fail with the following error:

SQL Server Setup has encountered the following problem: [Microsoft][SQL Native Client][SQL Server]Password validation failed. The password does not meet Windows policy requirements because it is too short.. To continue, correct the problem, and then run SQL Server Setup again.

Edit C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Upgrade\sqlagent90_msdb_upgrade.sql with notepad or similar.

Change password on line 30683 to something more complex, from:
encryption by password = 'Yukon90_'
To (for example):
encryption by password = 'Yukon90_23423ASDzz}{'

Then further down, change line 30977 to reflect the same value:

From
set @exec_str = N'add signature to ' + @sp + N' by certificate [##MS_AgentSigningCertificate##] with password = ''Yukon90_'''

To
set @exec_str = N'add signature to ' + @sp + N' by certificate [##MS_AgentSigningCertificate##] with password = ''Yukon90_23423ASDzz}{'''

Cancel out of setup. Back in Add or Remove Programs choose Change again for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 continuing through the wizard as before. This time, you wont get the error and the upgrade will complete.

When attempting to troubleshoot an OCS connectivity issue earlier this week I stumbled across the following websites, they’re definitely worth bookmarking.

• Exchange Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer
• OCS Remote Connectivity Analyzer

Both domains look to be owned by Microsoft and are hosted on servers run by Microsoft. Even so, I’d suggest using a test account rather than your own.

So, you’ve got an old Google Appliance kicking around? Maybe from an expired Google Enterprise Partner Program (GEP) agreement? Why not turn it into an ESX server.

Once your license has expired, you’ll want to do is check with Google and make sure they don’t want the hardware back (they never do, but best to check). It’s safe to say that doing this is going to void your warranty.

The first thing you’re going to need to do is reset he password on the BIOS so that you can change the boot order. The easiest way to do this is to open the chassis and remove the jumper labeled PWRD_EN. The jumper is located just behind the memory towards the rear of the server. The next time you boot you can hit F2 to get into the BIOS.

With the BIOS now open, set the option to boot form the front USB ports. You’re going to want to flash the BIOS with a newer, non-branded one. A Google appliance is just a Dell PowerEdge 2950 with a yellow coat of paint and a snazzy front bezel. Head over to the Dell site and download the latest BIOS (I used 2.6.1). Once downloaded, run the utility to create a BIOS update floppy disk.

With the floppy disk in hand, connect an external USB floppy drive to one of the front USB ports and boot from your BIOS update disk. The update will give you an error message saying that a Dell PowerEdge 2950 BIOS cannot be applied to a Google Enterprise Search Appliance. Fear not, when the update exits it’ll leave you at a DOS prompt. Run the following command:

020601 /forcetype

It should complete successfully and reboot. Remove the floppy drive, enable visualization support in the BIOS and then install ESX. If you don’t have a USB CD drive handy, check out my guide on installing ESX from a USB Key.