Greenbone GSM/OpenVAS CIDR file

A consideration when creating a scan task is to configure it for a single host, multiple hosts via range, or CIDR format. A limitation that exists is the number of hosts that a single scan can be performed on. This limitation is, "The maximum netmask is /20. This equals 4096 addresses." If you're attempting to import a file that contains the hosts, and networks to scan, you may come across a error message that is not overly helpful. The error message is, "Error in host specification". The error message may be correct if you fat fingered one or more entries per line in the file that GSM doesn't like. The error message may instead not be correct in the sense that there is no problem with formatting, but in the number of hosts specified in the file. This particularly comes into play if you're specifying large class numbers, which of course means a large number of hosts. For example, despite the limitation being 4096, specifying 16 entries with a C class /24 CIDR notation, the file will still throw the error. Reducing the file by one to 15 entries and moving the 16th entry to another file to be used for a scan task will give the desired results.

SAP Crystal Reports trial key for older releases

While SAP doesn't come out and say it, it is possible to obtain a trial key for older releases where needed by registering an account with them in order to obtain a Crystal Reports 2016 keycode which will work with an older release such as what I deployed which was 2011 SP12 which was end of life, and end of support. This particular version was required to maintain compatibility with a software package that a client is using. In summary, as of the time of this writing, a new trial key will work with older versions, at least as far back as 2011 SP12.

SSRS native does not bind TCP ports configured

Should you be finding that an installation of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is not binding to the configured TCP ports, the best place to look is in the log files. A default installation will be located at the following location: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services\SSRS\LogFiles. The log files in particular are named RSHostingService_* and you'll then likely be able to isolate the cause of the problem. In my case, it was a matter of installing SSRS after SQL Server that was purchased through volume license where product keys are not provided through the web site. The product key for SQL server purchased and downloaded via this manner is actually available on the ISO image in the root folder in a file named Default.ini. Use this product key to register SSRS. Note that if you've previously installed SSRS in trial mode, all of the enterprise features are enabled. If applying a server standard license, SSRS will complain loudly about various things, such as the Scale-Out not being supported which is what I was presented with. I hope that this helps someone else that forgot to license their SSRS installation and cannot figure out why it doesn't work after the evaluation period expires.