Security resets on Sunday

[aebrown]

It was 10:05 EST

My apologies for the unnecessary tangent. My DST settings were wrong.

[aclawson]

The clean installation instructions did not help (they are also very much out of date as the Afaria client is no more).

Clean installation + restore from backup + initial send/receive (which is successful) then restart MLS

When back into the system I click send/receive and immediately get the error message about reading from the database. I click OK four times and the S/R completes normally but I can't save any changes to membership records (a child's baptism for example).

And now when I try to restore from an earlier backup file I am told that there is insufficient space on the drive.

[aclawson]

Hmmm.... whole bunch of ntfs errors in event viewer and chkntfs isn't working. Running a chkdsk now, will take a few hours to scan and repair the physical sectors.

But MLS has been reinstalled several times so it is probably in entirely different sectors by now.... out of curiosity does anybody know which SQL engine MLS uses?

[johnshaw]

Perfect reason to have an image... I would've given up hours ago, rebuilt it and be done. The imaging process would negate the need to repair disk issues as well. However, if you have a bad drive, of course, it's not going to be effective.

I wonder if the FMG should be keeping a spare that can be used in times like this. We really are just too busy anymore to have time to mess around with a computer.

[aclawson]

Unfortunately an image would not have helped in this situation as the data file itself is corrupted. I suspect (but cannot prove) that there may be a version mismatch between the MLS application and the version in the datafile (actually, I'm just grasping at straws here trying to figure it out) but have no way of testing this theory as I have no way to install an earlier version of MLS to test.

[johnshaw]

Imaging saves hours of work you've already been doing... it would not have helped with the specific MLS issue you are having, I agree.

[craiggsmith]

Just wanted to add my vote (again) for support on Sunday, at least for security resets. I've needed two in the last two months. One ward had some database corruption. When it was fixed during the week by support they forgot to reset the security token. I just got another ward locked out for no explainable reason though.

I assume the security token is a simple file somewhere; I know that if you do a clean install and copy the entire MLS folder over you don't need to request a security reset (at least this was possible not too long ago). Anyway know what this file is? It seems that if you just kept a backup of it somewhere it could solve a lot of problems.

It boggles my mind that they have support for 40-50 useless hours during the week but not for the 8 hours when we really need it. Especially when they have other support people working. Getting donations timely is a huge priority for the Church, so it doesn't make sense. I discussed this with support directly once and they said that my Stake President needs to complain; the technical people have no influence. It doesn't seem like something he should have to worry about though; he has a lot on his plate.

[russellhltn]

I assume the security token is a simple file somewhere; I know that if you do a clean install and copy the entire MLS folder over you don't need to request a security reset (at least this was possible not too long ago). Anyway know what this file is? It seems that if you just kept a backup of it somewhere it could solve a lot of problems.

Please note that the Forum Code of Conduct forbids posting "Methods for circumventing Church policies or security mechanisms".

I discussed this with support directly once and they said that my Stake President needs to complain; the technical people have no influence. It doesn't seem like something he should have to worry about though; he has a lot on his plate.

The stake president doesn't need to worry about it - if it feels it's a big enough issue, he needs to raise it with the area authority. That is the pipeline to the brethren who control the church.

[craiggsmith]

Please note that the Forum Code of Conduct forbids posting "Methods for circumventing Church policies or security mechanisms".

I apologize, I forgot about this, but I am not suggesting circumventing any policy or security mechanism, although I guess a procedure.

The stake president doesn't need to worry about it - if it feels it's a big enough issue, he needs to raise it with the area authority. That is the pipeline to the brethren who control the church.

Maybe "worry" isn't the right word, but it's adding something to an already overflowing plate. And the temporal/technical areas of the church are managed by a separate chain of command (except at the highest levels of course), and I'm not sure why this would have to go up through the ecclesiastical channels when other things don't. But I don't want to start a lengthy discussion on this topic.

[jdlessley]

Maybe "worry" isn't the right word, but it's adding something to an already overflowing plate. And the temporal/technical areas of the church are managed by a separate chain of command (except at the highest levels of course), and I'm not sure why this would have to go up through the ecclesiastical channels when other things don't.

There are some things that can only be accomplished through the Priesthood chain of authority since the decisions to make the changes are made or approved by the Priesthood Department. Input from the Church membership for these changes are effected by going up the chain.