If for some reason you cannot open the BlackBerry Administration Service, check that the HTTP SSL service isn't running (IIS will have this running, but in this case it wasn't so be wary :), as it will be locking down your 443 port, as you would expect :)
Had me stumped for a while there.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
I'm on Twitter - succumbing to pressure, finally they say....
Yes.... yes I am.... Suprise suprise(now facebooks another issue, don't get me started!).
Love twitterberry, essential app not to be hidden away :)
Needs more features, and I'm sure they'll come, no need to discuss.
Anyway, follow me on a more rounded IT perspective in my day to day travels @ http://www.twitter.com/ashleyarmitt
:)
Love twitterberry, essential app not to be hidden away :)
Needs more features, and I'm sure they'll come, no need to discuss.
Anyway, follow me on a more rounded IT perspective in my day to day travels @ http://www.twitter.com/ashleyarmitt
:)
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Top BES 5.0 Review
Located Here
Brendan Zivcic has just posted a great summary of the experience and features of BES 5.0 over @ blackberrycool.com.
Great to see fellow lovers of the Black fellowiship getting involved.
When you have a chance, go through it and take it in, well worth the read as it's well summarized for you marketing types out there, to the point.
Brendan Zivcic has just posted a great summary of the experience and features of BES 5.0 over @ blackberrycool.com.
Great to see fellow lovers of the Black fellowiship getting involved.
When you have a chance, go through it and take it in, well worth the read as it's well summarized for you marketing types out there, to the point.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
BES 5.0
Well... now the cats out of the Bag...
I can finally talk about BES 5.0 ! Yay!
I have been using it now for the last two months, and have sat the 5.0 Beta Exams in Domino and Exchange, and I'd like to say that I am extremely impressed with 5.0.
But first, we will need to address the change in Administration of the server for the critics. I like it and I hate it at the same time. I see in large organizations with multiple admins and a distributed help desk environment do need to have something that is easily accessible and not a strain on the COE, so having a Web Based only administration method seems the logical choice here, but.... the 4.1 console has been around for a while now and the popularity of BES has multiplied immensely since 4.0 and people have really fallen in love with the 4.1 console. One particular point was in service pack 2 when RIM re-introduced the right - click due to popular demand, this was such a relief as we all came from 4.0 right? Well now we have gone back to a web based, no right click version, that seems like it takes twice as long to do anything again, now I do realise for 5.0 that this is there first to the masses release and haven't perfected it yet, the 4.1 optional extra admin service was not widely used and still isn't so I guess a true reflection on the usability wasn't established.
Here's a thought RIM.
Why not have an option in the install to chose the default install ?
1. Web Based
2. Console
and then run setup again to install either at a later date.
As for the other well published features, mirroring,ha etc... they are fantastic, great direction from RIM.
I think BES 5.0 coupled with SQL 2005, Exchange 2007/Domino 8, Wireless Upgrades, and 5.0 Handset Code on a Bold is going to absolutely blow all the competition away, yet again!
Price it right and watch it fly!
I can finally talk about BES 5.0 ! Yay!
I have been using it now for the last two months, and have sat the 5.0 Beta Exams in Domino and Exchange, and I'd like to say that I am extremely impressed with 5.0.
But first, we will need to address the change in Administration of the server for the critics. I like it and I hate it at the same time. I see in large organizations with multiple admins and a distributed help desk environment do need to have something that is easily accessible and not a strain on the COE, so having a Web Based only administration method seems the logical choice here, but.... the 4.1 console has been around for a while now and the popularity of BES has multiplied immensely since 4.0 and people have really fallen in love with the 4.1 console. One particular point was in service pack 2 when RIM re-introduced the right - click due to popular demand, this was such a relief as we all came from 4.0 right? Well now we have gone back to a web based, no right click version, that seems like it takes twice as long to do anything again, now I do realise for 5.0 that this is there first to the masses release and haven't perfected it yet, the 4.1 optional extra admin service was not widely used and still isn't so I guess a true reflection on the usability wasn't established.
Here's a thought RIM.
Why not have an option in the install to chose the default install ?
1. Web Based
2. Console
and then run setup again to install either at a later date.
As for the other well published features, mirroring,ha etc... they are fantastic, great direction from RIM.
I think BES 5.0 coupled with SQL 2005, Exchange 2007/Domino 8, Wireless Upgrades, and 5.0 Handset Code on a Bold is going to absolutely blow all the competition away, yet again!
Price it right and watch it fly!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
SRP Dispatcher Dropouts and Non-Starts
Although it is not recommended to be running 3rd Party software on a BES, it is most offen the case that there will be other software, for some strange and obscure reason, on the server sucking down those precious resources.
If by chance you happen to come accross a rogue (for theatrical reasons) application that just so happens to leech onto port 3101, and you don't want to change the port for some reason, then the best way to do this is to modify the registry to lock the blackberry app to the port explicitly.
Heres a good little doc from MS - M$
If by chance you happen to come accross a rogue (for theatrical reasons) application that just so happens to leech onto port 3101, and you don't want to change the port for some reason, then the best way to do this is to modify the registry to lock the blackberry app to the port explicitly.
Heres a good little doc from MS - M$
if you do a pilot, do a pilot
Taken from itnews.com.au
Large organisations need to get better at "moving faster" when projects are working better than expected and putting a stop to projects when things aren't going so well, he said.
"Also, if you do a pilot, do a pilot," he said. "How many of you have done a pilot that somehow becomes a production system? We put out a BlackBerry pilot to 50 staff, when it got to 1000 staff, questions were asked. It was a pilot you couldn't turn off."
=========
This is sooo true, as I have seen many a pilot move into production within a few months, with no great thought to how the solution (sometimes it wasn't even implemented as a solution!) is giong to operate in 6/12/18 months at down the track. And typically it ends up being in the too hard basket and doesn't ever get proper funding or resources to make it have HighAvailability/Redundancy and scalable.
On a side note, send me an email, if you need some advice, I'm alway willing to help (and maybe charge at the same time :) ).
Large organisations need to get better at "moving faster" when projects are working better than expected and putting a stop to projects when things aren't going so well, he said.
"Also, if you do a pilot, do a pilot," he said. "How many of you have done a pilot that somehow becomes a production system? We put out a BlackBerry pilot to 50 staff, when it got to 1000 staff, questions were asked. It was a pilot you couldn't turn off."
=========
This is sooo true, as I have seen many a pilot move into production within a few months, with no great thought to how the solution (sometimes it wasn't even implemented as a solution!) is giong to operate in 6/12/18 months at down the track. And typically it ends up being in the too hard basket and doesn't ever get proper funding or resources to make it have HighAvailability/Redundancy and scalable.
On a side note, send me an email, if you need some advice, I'm alway willing to help (and maybe charge at the same time :) ).
Friday, January 23, 2009
Barack Obama - Special Package ???
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24951266-5012572,00.html?referrer=email
Referring to the above link...
As the article states, the US President has allegedly received a " "super encryption package" custom-built by the National Security Agency. ".
Someone like myself is intrigued by this as with a device that is straight out of your local Blackberry store you have the ability in conjunction with a BES to use AES 256 bit encryption of the data in transit aswell as the data on the device and/or memory card. On top of this you can use certificate based authentication aswell a secure mime. You can alos use your favourite VPN with a token and use a swipe card reader aswell. You can also change your key store password any time you like if you feel it is has been comprimised (so slim of a chance), also firewall for random messages and unwanted services and default application permissions, just incase this gets into a bit of trouble some how, secure encrypted carrier phone calls, not to mention the total control from the BES using a private peer to peer encryption key and minimising password attemps, compelxity requirements, disabling non essential blackberry services, duress notification, wipe on holstering etc... the list goes on ........
Now my math is pretty good, but to do the math on the above I can only imagine the amount of time needed for the best spec PC to allow someone to hack into an Obama layer cake like this.
My predication is that there is actually nothing special besides what I have mentioned, out of the box delivered by the Blackberry that the National Security Agency has done.
I can only imagine that there has been an application on there that has been placed to provide challenge questions periodically or the like, to ensure it is actually the president using the device... or something of the like.
I think an internal attack from within the network is more likely than someone wirelessly launching an attack on Obamas baby blackberry, but, it's about getting stolen I would say.
Anyway, that's my Two Cents.
Referring to the above link...
As the article states, the US President has allegedly received a " "super encryption package" custom-built by the National Security Agency. ".
Someone like myself is intrigued by this as with a device that is straight out of your local Blackberry store you have the ability in conjunction with a BES to use AES 256 bit encryption of the data in transit aswell as the data on the device and/or memory card. On top of this you can use certificate based authentication aswell a secure mime. You can alos use your favourite VPN with a token and use a swipe card reader aswell. You can also change your key store password any time you like if you feel it is has been comprimised (so slim of a chance), also firewall for random messages and unwanted services and default application permissions, just incase this gets into a bit of trouble some how, secure encrypted carrier phone calls, not to mention the total control from the BES using a private peer to peer encryption key and minimising password attemps, compelxity requirements, disabling non essential blackberry services, duress notification, wipe on holstering etc... the list goes on ........
Now my math is pretty good, but to do the math on the above I can only imagine the amount of time needed for the best spec PC to allow someone to hack into an Obama layer cake like this.
My predication is that there is actually nothing special besides what I have mentioned, out of the box delivered by the Blackberry that the National Security Agency has done.
I can only imagine that there has been an application on there that has been placed to provide challenge questions periodically or the like, to ensure it is actually the president using the device... or something of the like.
I think an internal attack from within the network is more likely than someone wirelessly launching an attack on Obamas baby blackberry, but, it's about getting stolen I would say.
Anyway, that's my Two Cents.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Interim Security Update 2
Has been released.
Word of note, is that when you apply it to an early service pack, i.e. sp3 and upgrdae to say, sp5 you will have to reapply the patch again, sounds obvious, but i'm sure a ton of BESAdmins will forget to do this simple thing.
Word of note, is that when you apply it to an early service pack, i.e. sp3 and upgrdae to say, sp5 you will have to reapply the patch again, sounds obvious, but i'm sure a ton of BESAdmins will forget to do this simple thing.
Back from the dead...
It's been a while, as I have been on two months Holdidays :)
But i'm back and better this year.
But i'm back and better this year.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
4.7 Install - End User License
One little addition to the usual boring install of 4.7 is this little puppy.
Administrative Puposes ? or is this for other sinister uses ???
after running through the boring install hundreds of times over the years, the EULA was always the same until this showed up and why it was made so prominent i don't understand.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
No Clean Feed Support
Although not Blackberry Specifically related, I thought this is one thing that could effect Mobility Devices in general and that is internet filtering. Latency and throughput is already slow enough, now the Government wants to slow mobile devices down further.
So i've added the nocleanfeed link up the top.
Fingers crossed this is immediately knocked back in parliament asap....
So i've added the nocleanfeed link up the top.
Fingers crossed this is immediately knocked back in parliament asap....
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Exam Day Number 2 :)
I am now a Blackberry Certified Solution Designer :)
Now all I have to wait for is the Certified Trainer Exam and that will be a pip :)
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Exam Day :)
A Good day today.
Now I am officially a Blackberry Certified System Administrator
Now for the Solution Designer Exam Next Week :)
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Highly Recommend this Interview with Senior Product Marketing Manger from RIM
CLICK HERE
Quotes of the session -
Quotes of the session -
"The convergence of four screens - TV, Home PC, Work PC, and Blackberry"
Friday, August 22, 2008
The one and only Bold
Well, here I am, sitting @ Stanwell Park, enjoying the view.
I thought, i'll make a phone call to my wife, so I get out the Bold, and the headphones that come with the bold since I have not used them, and begin to make a call and to my frustration theses stupid suction based earphones were unusable!!!
The headphones are rubbish RIM !!! Why did you go and re-invent the wheel ????????
Highly highly annoying.
They keep falling out and there is absolutely no bass and that kind of chord is frustrating as it has friction on your clothes and is hard to move around.
Well all as I can say, since I have been using the Bold for a while now is that the only thing I can complain about the Bold is infact not even technically part of the Bold.
The Bold lives up to all the reviews scattered accross the Net. I'll have to disagree with the fragile'ness of the device as I am finding it very similar to the Curve, fingeres crossed.
The screen is freakishly amazing. iPodone's screen quality is no match.
I probably use my device Half/Half as I travel 2.5hours each way every day to work and including wekends for Business/Recreation and I am finding this device has two distinct cores that have been meshed into one perfect blend of an Enterprise Consumer device.
If RIM don't sell millions of these puppy's then the order of the universe has been adjusted and i'm not writing this!
Battery life is true, hardcore using and abusing of all features on this device with only 1 initial charge from out of the box gave me 8 hours and 50% battery level left, once you have had it for longer it starts to be 2 full days of hardcore business and recreational (awake hours) use, so you don't even worry about the battery running flat that day if you charged it fully before you left no matter what you have on.
WIFI - What can I say ? this device with it's 624Mhz processor was build for WiFi, sending emails, IM'ing, Webbrowsing, felt like the only bottleneck was my ISP! the device even has quicker communication arrows and that was @ 48mbps.
It seemlessly cuts over from Cellular to Wifi and initiates that 443 connection effortlessly and quickly without any user action once setup.
Now wheres that UMA client?????? and why can't we use it in Australia ??????????
Media upgrade was evolution and is a definate compeditor for other media devices in the consumer space, video is seemless getting atleast 32fps without flicker. Audio is outstanding.
Great job RIM, well done, EXCEPT THE FREAKING EARPHONES!!!!
Hopefully I will resist the urge to come in and edit this and make it into 50 pages as I have fallen in love.
a quote that rings true, "Once you go Bold, there's NO going Back!"
I thought, i'll make a phone call to my wife, so I get out the Bold, and the headphones that come with the bold since I have not used them, and begin to make a call and to my frustration theses stupid suction based earphones were unusable!!!
The headphones are rubbish RIM !!! Why did you go and re-invent the wheel ????????
Highly highly annoying.
They keep falling out and there is absolutely no bass and that kind of chord is frustrating as it has friction on your clothes and is hard to move around.
Well all as I can say, since I have been using the Bold for a while now is that the only thing I can complain about the Bold is infact not even technically part of the Bold.
The Bold lives up to all the reviews scattered accross the Net. I'll have to disagree with the fragile'ness of the device as I am finding it very similar to the Curve, fingeres crossed.
The screen is freakishly amazing. iPodone's screen quality is no match.
I probably use my device Half/Half as I travel 2.5hours each way every day to work and including wekends for Business/Recreation and I am finding this device has two distinct cores that have been meshed into one perfect blend of an Enterprise Consumer device.
If RIM don't sell millions of these puppy's then the order of the universe has been adjusted and i'm not writing this!
Battery life is true, hardcore using and abusing of all features on this device with only 1 initial charge from out of the box gave me 8 hours and 50% battery level left, once you have had it for longer it starts to be 2 full days of hardcore business and recreational (awake hours) use, so you don't even worry about the battery running flat that day if you charged it fully before you left no matter what you have on.
WIFI - What can I say ? this device with it's 624Mhz processor was build for WiFi, sending emails, IM'ing, Webbrowsing, felt like the only bottleneck was my ISP! the device even has quicker communication arrows and that was @ 48mbps.
It seemlessly cuts over from Cellular to Wifi and initiates that 443 connection effortlessly and quickly without any user action once setup.
Now wheres that UMA client?????? and why can't we use it in Australia ??????????
Media upgrade was evolution and is a definate compeditor for other media devices in the consumer space, video is seemless getting atleast 32fps without flicker. Audio is outstanding.
Great job RIM, well done, EXCEPT THE FREAKING EARPHONES!!!!
Hopefully I will resist the urge to come in and edit this and make it into 50 pages as I have fallen in love.
a quote that rings true, "Once you go Bold, there's NO going Back!"
Monday, August 11, 2008
Exchange, Groupwise and Lotus Domino
Has there ever been a comparison between the three for BES ?
In the coming weeks I will be doing a direct comparison between all three environment for BES and to find out which service wins the speed race.
Of course it will be fair as all results will be quantitive and not objective.
Internal BES competition. Why compare other Mobility Servers when there has yet to be a true competitor ?
will keep you posted....
In the coming weeks I will be doing a direct comparison between all three environment for BES and to find out which service wins the speed race.
Of course it will be fair as all results will be quantitive and not objective.
Internal BES competition. Why compare other Mobility Servers when there has yet to be a true competitor ?
will keep you posted....
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Official Proof of the Kickstart Flip Phone(s) ? :)
There are multiple references to the Flip phone(s) in the Policy Reference Guide for 4.1.6....
Seems all the rumours were true.
Heres an extract of one mention....
Force Memory Clean When Closed IT policy rule
Description
This rule specifies whether BlackBerry® 8220 and BlackBerry® 8210 smartphones run the memory cleaner application when
the flip is closed.
Default setting
The default setting is False.
Minimum requirements
• Java® based BlackBerry 8220 device
• Java based BlackBerry 8210 device
• BlackBerry® Device Software Version 4.6
• BlackBerry® Enterprise Server Version 4.1 SP6
Seems all the rumours were true.
Heres an extract of one mention....
Force Memory Clean When Closed IT policy rule
Description
This rule specifies whether BlackBerry® 8220 and BlackBerry® 8210 smartphones run the memory cleaner application when
the flip is closed.
Default setting
The default setting is False.
Minimum requirements
• Java® based BlackBerry 8220 device
• Java based BlackBerry 8210 device
• BlackBerry® Device Software Version 4.6
• BlackBerry® Enterprise Server Version 4.1 SP6
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Guest Blogger @ Blackberryforums.com
Throughout the years, i have posted, replied, mentioned and blogged a fair bit about Blackberry, now it has led me to the Mothership of Blackberry Socialites, the Blackberry Forums.
I'm now a Guest Blogger for Blackberry News dot com :)
Look out for my postings.... if your smart :)
P.S. they pay good :)
I'm now a Guest Blogger for Blackberry News dot com :)
Look out for my postings.... if your smart :)
P.S. they pay good :)
Sunday, June 8, 2008
HTML Email at Long Last !!!
Thankfully, over the weekend, RIM upgraded there Asia Pacific BIS Servers to 2.5, thus allowing HTML Email and a whole host of other features.
I say it's fantastic, give it a go.
I have HTML email running on our 4.5 BES but I guess i'll have to wait for corp IT to upgrade to 5.0 or the Hack, to get my BES emails in HTML.
One more box ticked on the Microsoft Push solution, couple that with the Bold then I really cannot see 1 particular advantage over Blackberry Microsoft has.
I plead with you all to write a comment and tell me just one ?
----
EDIT - SP6 is released! Let the HTML Email FLooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow!!!
I say it's fantastic, give it a go.
I have HTML email running on our 4.5 BES but I guess i'll have to wait for corp IT to upgrade to 5.0 or the Hack, to get my BES emails in HTML.
One more box ticked on the Microsoft Push solution, couple that with the Bold then I really cannot see 1 particular advantage over Blackberry Microsoft has.
I plead with you all to write a comment and tell me just one ?
----
EDIT - SP6 is released! Let the HTML Email FLooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow!!!
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