Undocumented Sanity

Ok, this post probably isn't going to be very exciting, unfortunately. I'm not super passionate about e-mail, but it's kind of a requirement in order to progress in this series. But, in order to get e-mail working, we are going to need DNS. So I'm going to have a Ubuntu machine running PowerDNS to handle that. We'll start by installing the relevant packages: sudo apt update && sudo apt install pdns-server pdns-backend-sqlite3 sqlite3 pdns-recursor -y Below I'm going to include all of the configuration files from how I set up my instance of PowerDNS so that you can follow along (why would you do that to yourself?). On my Docker Host, I also installed pdns-admin (again, see configs at the bottom for the docker-compose that I used for that. I then added the relevant domains for this part of the project, which are retromail.com and pinnacledataworks.com. (I also added cisco.com because I'm working on grabbing pages from Internet Archive from around 200...

I covered some of this in my last video , but I can include more of the boring details here. Let's start with the overall topology - for context "Nexion" is my retro ISP, and Pinnacle Dataworks is my first retro customer: Full configurations are referenced at the bottom of this post. My goal for Pinnacle Dataworks was to build a network that could have existed in 2005, and I got somewhat close. According to this press release , the Cisco 3825 router was scheduled to begin shipping in October 2004. The IOS version is slightly too new, dated in 2006, but I couldn't find a version that included voice features that had a 2005 (or earlier) date on it. The 3524-PWR switch had been announced in 2000, so it was well established by this point. And running a software version from 2004 works for me. I've since procured a slightly more time-relevant device since then, but this will do for now. In terms of phones, I'm rocking the 7940, which was also announced in 2000, ...

Getting Creative Again – and Reinstalling 2005 in 2025 It’s certainly been a while—and a lot has changed in my life. But I’ve been wanting to get back into more creative projects, especially the kind that mix creativity with something deeply technical. This one definitely checks both boxes. Get ready to Collaborate like it's 2005! Please check out my YouTube video . Installing Cisco CallManager 4.1(3) on VMware in 2025 When I first had this idea, I figured it would be a quick weekend project—knock it out in a couple of days and move on. Many months later, I can finally call it a success. The Classic Method (That No Longer Works) Historically, you'd follow a guide like this one to install CallManager 4.x. It relied on: Installing vanilla Windows 2000 Server Modifying the registry to bypass hardware checks Applying Cisco OS update files like win-OS-Upgrade-K9.2000-2-6sr4.exe But in 2025? These Cisco OS update files have vanished from the internet. Despite...

Well, it's been a while since I've written anything here. Since my last post, a lot of things have happened. One of those things perfectly illustrates a poorly thought out aspect of Cisco Licensing, especially for Unified Communications running on VMware. I've believed forever that using the Primary DNS and NTP servers as part of the License MAC generation was a bad idea, but I never really thought about how unpleasant it could be. I recently traveled to Brazil to deploy our UC-on-UCS environment there, and built out all of the servers. When I first arrived onsite, I contacted our systems team and requested they send me the DNS/NTP information that I would need to use for the build (and licensing). They sent me the information without any hassle, which was a huge bonus. Fast forward, installation is done, I'm back home, and I set up RTMT. Low and behold, I'm getting alarms that the Primary NTP server is inaccessible. Hmmm, that's odd, but sure enough, I can...

It's been awhile since I've posted here, and that is primarily because of a job change. Although there are all sorts of negative things I could say about my previous employer, I will instead focus on the positive aspects of my new position. Instead of being solely responsible for practically everything in the enterprise, I am now the Senior Engineer over Global Telephony. There are dedicated teams handling Network, Security, and Servers, and that allows me to focus my efforts and produce quality work. So, that being said, I will be posting more about Telephony, and less about other Data Center stuff. So, what is going on in my life? New CUCM Cluster in London, planning a new CUCM Cluster for Brazil, a CUCMBE installation in Singapore, and a CUCM Migration here in the States. That should keep me busy for a couple of months...

Now that vSphere 5 has officially been announced, has anyone else reviewed the licensing changes [PDF]? They are changing the model to begin capping the total vRAM at a socket-license level. So, it works out like this, for each socket, these are the vRAM entitlements per license level: - 24GB vRAM for Essentials Kit - 24GB vRAM for Essentials Plus Kit - 24GB vRAM for Standard - 32GB vRAM for Enterprise - 48GB vRAM for Enterprise Plus Let's say that you are using an 8-node cluster, each with 96GB of Physical RAM, and each with Enterprise Plus licensing. That means you are now entitled to 768MB of Virtual RAM. Now let's say that you use a script, such as this one , to determine how much vRAM is in use in your current environment. If the answer is >768MB, you are now out of compliance. Let's say that you have fairly low consolidation ratios and you are consuming 1024MB of RAM. That means you need to purchase and additional 256MB of vRAM licensing, which equates to 6...