WIF Custom STS metadata file editor

The last couple of days I have been wondering in the magic world of Identity Federation. Although the windows identity foundation SDK provides a great tool to associate an RP (Relying Party) application with an existing STS (Security Token Service), it requires that the STS have a Federation metadata xml file. If you simply want to automatically generate the STS from the application, then the SDK provide the automatic STS generation on the right click of the RP website, which generates a new STS web site (in c#) based on the RP’s web config file. On the other hand, if you are up to creating a new custom STS without the RP, then you have to manually create the manifest file, which is really very frustrating! On my search around the net I found a couple of federation metadata file creators but none of them had the ability to edit an existing one. Unfortunately, I had to edit the manifest file quite often and thus I had to create a tool to do so. This is why I created the STS Federation Metadata Editor which you may download freely on the following link.

Hope this simplifies your custom STS development efforts!

Autostart application that requires UAC on user logon in windows 7 without verifying them

I wanted to make windows autorun some application (like openvpn-gui and SQL 2005 Service Manager) whenever I logged in in order to have them loaded in the tray. Placing them in the Startup folder would autostart them but I had to confirm both of them in the UAC (User Account Control) since they both run as administrator. In order to bypass this, I had to schedule them in the windows scheduler. In order to do so you must follow the following steps.

Hard reset password on asp.net membership provider (applied to DNN)

I just moved a DNN (DotNetNuke) installation from a computer to another and restored the database in order to be able to work locally. DNN uses asp.net Membership as its default security provider thus I could not login to the web site (all passwords are encrypted using the local machine key). In order to override the password I wrote the following lines of code:

Dim mu As MembershipUser = Membership.GetUser("MyUserName")
mu.ChangePassword(mu.ResetPassword(), "mytoughpassword")

In the default page’s init event. This is the way to programmatically change any membership account’s password.

Happy coding and don't forget to delete the above mentioned lines after reseting the passwords!

Επιδιόρθωση του MBR

Όσοι έχουν dual boot windows με Linux με boot loader το grub έχουν σίγουρα αντιμετωπίσει το φαινόμενο να μην ξεκινάει ο υπολογιστής και να πετάει κάποιο σφάλμα ο grub. Σε αυτές τις περιπτώσεις, μια επανεγκατάσταση του grub μπορεί να επιλύσει το πρόβλημα που αντιμετωπίζεται. Για αυτό μάζεψα παρακάτω τις οδηγίες που επιτυγχάνουν την επιδιόρθωση του boot sector.

OpenVPN 2.1.1 with save-password enabled (VPNUK Edition)

A couple of days ago, I received an email from VPNUK asking whether I could compile the latest openvpn (2.1.1) with save-password enabled and if I could make a setup that would include their pre-configured config files in the config folder.
I accepted the challenge and not only did I build the latest version of openvpn with save-password enabled, I also modified the openvpn-gui application in order to provide the end users the means to set their connections’ credentials.

In the beginning I added a new menu item that said “Change credentials…” but later on I decided to modify the build-in “Change password” menu item. The modified version will detect whether or not you have the auth-user-pass in you .ovpn file and if you have it, it will display the following dialogue:

I also modified the installation a little bit in order to fix a couple of bugs (uninstalling while openvpn –gui is running etc) and add a few extra things (reboot at the end of the setup, autostart openvpn-gui etc).
If you are interested in downloading this modified version you can download it from VPNUK’s website by clicking here.

By the way, you should totally check out VPNUK.info! They provide cheap, amazingly fast vpn access to hundreds of remote servers all around the world. While testing the application I was able to stream TV episodes from a well know USA channel that only streams inside the US. So if you need to fake your ip and let others think that you are in another country, don’t miss VPNUK (you can even ask for a free trial).

PS: This build includes both the x86 and x64 TAP drivers

Unwanted languages in the language bar.

A few days ago, i noticed that i had in my language bar 5 language options, instead of 2 that i had configured for my English Windows 7. I checked it out and i had, for no obvious reason, Japanese (JP), Chinese (CH) and Korean (KO). I looked in my "Text Services and Input Languages" where i could only see the Greek and English keyboards that i had installed. Reboot didn't help so in order to get rid of them, i had to manually add them and after applying the changes i removed them. That worked for me and now i only have my original keyboard settings. I have no idea how i got them there in the first place...

Just for reference, the steps where:

1. Open "Text Services and Input Languages"
• Right click on the Language bar → Settings...
  OR
• Control Panel → Region and Language → Keyboards and Languages → Change Keyboards... 
2. Click Add...
3. Select the Keyboards you want to add. In my case:
• Chinese (Simplified, PRC) → Chinese (Simplified) - US Keyboard
• Japanese (Japan) → Japanese
• Korean (Korea) → Korean
4. Click OK
5. Click Apply
6. Select and click Remove each language you don't want.

Update [16/03/2011]:

According to Sinsoul's comment below, the reason appears due to installed MS Office profiling tools. He suggested that you should also remove all unwanted languages from the language options in office profiling tools. Here's how:

Start -> Microsoft Office -> Microsoft Office Tools -> Microsoft Office 2007 Language Settings

On the right list (labeled "Enabled editing languages") select each language you don't want and click Remove.

SINERGIJA 09, Βελιγράδι, Σερβία – Ημέρα 0

Ξεκινάει σήμερα το ΙΤ συνέδριο SINERGIJA 09 της Microsoft στο Βελιγράδι της Σερβίας. Το ταξίδι ήταν πολύ καλό και η πόλη ακόμα καλύτερη. Τεράστιοι δρόμοι, τέλεια ρυμοτομημένη αστική περιοχή και άφθονο πράσινο είναι τα βασικά χαρακτηριστικά της άκρως φιλικής παραποτάμιας πόλης στην οποία θα γίνει το συνέδριο.

Η πόλη χωρίζεται σε δύο βασικές περιοχές: το κέντρο ή «παλιά πόλη» και το νέο Βελιγράδι. Στο νέο Βελιγράδι υπάρχουν κυρίως γραφεία εταιριών και από ότι μας είπαν οι ντόπιοι, δεν έχει κάτι να δεις. Το δωμάτιο μου έχει την ακόλουθη θέα από το νέο Βελιγράδι: