Checking MX Records

If you ever stumble upon problems with MX records (like I did), nslookup may be your friend.

Basic command is easy:

nslookup -q=MX jmedved.com
Server:  ***
Address:  ***

Non-authoritative answer:
jmedved.com     MX preference = 10, mail exchanger = mail.jmedved.com
jmedved.com     MX preference = 21, mail exchanger = mail2.jmedved.com

jmedved.com     nameserver = ns2.mojsite.com
jmedved.com     nameserver = ns1.mojsite.com
mail2.jmedved.com       internet address = 89.201.164.205
mail.jmedved.com        internet address = 89.201.164.205
ns1.mojsite.com internet address = 89.201.164.100
ns2.mojsite.com internet address = 69.41.243.243

This will print information from your default DNS server, but since DNS information is not propagated immediately, you may wish to check what appropriate server has to say. Just append name of DNS server in charge for given domain (nameserver field) to existing command:

nslookup -q=MX jmedved.com ns1.mojsite.com
Server:  ***
Address:  ***

Non-authoritative answer:
jmedved.com     MX preference = 20, mail exchanger = alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
jmedved.com     MX preference = 30, mail exchanger = aspmx2.googlemail.com
jmedved.com     MX preference = 30, mail exchanger = aspmx3.googlemail.com
jmedved.com     MX preference = 30, mail exchanger = aspmx4.googlemail.com
jmedved.com     MX preference = 30, mail exchanger = aspmx5.googlemail.com
jmedved.com     MX preference = 10, mail exchanger = aspmx.l.google.com
jmedved.com     MX preference = 20, mail exchanger = alt1.aspmx.l.google.com

jmedved.com     nameserver = ns1.mojsite.com
jmedved.com     nameserver = ns2.mojsite.com
aspmx4.googlemail.com   internet address = 209.85.219.1
aspmx5.googlemail.com   internet address = 74.125.45.27
aspmx.l.google.com      internet address = 209.85.220.30
alt1.aspmx.l.google.com internet address = 209.85.216.97
alt2.aspmx.l.google.com internet address = 209.85.199.27
aspmx2.googlemail.com   internet address = 209.85.135.27
aspmx3.googlemail.com   internet address = 209.85.199.27
ns2.mojsite.com internet address = 69.41.243.243
ns1.mojsite.com internet address = 89.201.164.100

That gives you information fresh from the source.

You may wish to check information from all DNS servers for your site. It can happen that only primary DNS is updated with new information while secondary one has old one. This can lead to hard-to-track bugs since everything works properly but occasionally (when secondary DNS is queries) everything goes awry.

Re-enabling Hyper-V

I am in love with my Windows 7 installation, but I do have occasional need to go into dark alleys of system administration. With Hyper-V as a bait, it is really hard to resist.

In order to keep everything simple, I don’t have dedicated partition for it. I just create VHD file and install into it. It behaves like normal installation, but without all hassle with disk repartitioning.

I also found that quickest way to do this is filling VHD directly from install CD. After that, I just copy already existing boot loader entry and change it a little.

After installing Windows Server 2008 R2 in this manner and additional installation of Hyper-V role, everything seemed fine. Creating virtual machine went without a hitch. Only when I tried to start it, I got “The application encountered an error while attempting to change the state of ‘Test’”. Third line held a issues “The virtual machine could not be started because hypervisor is not running.”. Looking into details, there was one possible cause that applied here - incorrect boot configuration.

Underlying problem was that I copied Windows 7 boot loader configuration as base for my Windows Server 2008 R2. Configurations are quite similar except for one crucial detail - there is no hypervisorlaunchtype value name in Windows 7. This is not a big problem once and there is simple command to take care of it:

bcdedit /set "{identifier}" hypervisorlaunchtype "auto"
The operation completed successfully.

Identifier is of course guid of Windows Server 2008 R2 boot loader (you can find it out with bcdedit /v). If you want to change currently running instance, you can omit identifier altogether.

After one reboot, virtual machine starts without problems.

Windows 7 Is Available on MSDN

Windows 7 is available for download if you happen to be MSDN or TechNet subscriber. His friends Windows Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 will be also there in few days.

When Release Candidate went out, servers were under such load that even requesting a key was painfully slow. I hope that download servers will hold-on this time.

P.S. I will miss the betta fish.

Windows XP Mode - Release Candidate

Those interested in Windows XP Mode can now play with newest version. It is still not final, but release candidate is a big step. Small outline of what exactly was changed you can see at Windows 7 Team Blog.

I will wait for final Windows 7 RTM before I install it so I can only hope that Virtual PC got back all it’s “mojo” from old days. Try it your self at Virtual PC web pages.

Il Ritrovo-Cucina Casalinga Popolare

Where

Wühlischstraße 29, 10245 Berlin N52.50957 E13.45804

Location is at corner and during summer whole sidewalk is filled with tables. There are some tables inside but it is just too hot to sit if you come during sunny day. Whole place does look a little bit shabby.

What

I had pizza that will remain unnamed and I do hope that my forgiveness wasn’t side effect of eating it. On other hand, it may be worth of this little nuisance since pizza was quite good. I cannot say that it was best in Berlin since I haven’t check all other places, but I must admit that it was best pizza I had lately (in any country).

Cost

Pizza is around 8 € which is not too expensive when you take quality into calculation. Beer at 3 € is quite costly but those German beers (I had Berliner) flow so nicely that is impossible to mind too much.

Verdict

I’ll be back.