Zachary Armstrong's Blog

CentOS release 5.3 (Final) Yum Update fails with Traceback

zach — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:40:23 +0000

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If you’re seeing something along these lines:

root@server [~]# yum update file
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
* base: mirrors.serveraxis.net
* updates: yum.singlehop.com
* addons: centos.cs.wisc.edu
* extras: centos.cs.wisc.edu
base | 1.1 kB 00:00
updates | 951 B 00:00
addons | 951 B 00:00
extras | 1.1 kB 00:00
Excluding Packages in global exclude list
Finished
Setting up Update Process
Resolving Dependencies
–> Running transaction check
—> Package file.x86_64 0:4.17-15.el5_3.1 set to be updated
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “/usr/bin/yum”, line 29, in ?
yummain.user_main(sys.argv[1:], exit_code=True)
File “/usr/share/yum-cli/yummain.py”, line 229, in user_main
errcode = main(args)
File “/usr/share/yum-cli/yummain.py”, line 145, in main
(result, resultmsgs) = base.buildTransaction()
File “/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/__init__.py”, line 647, in buildTransaction
(rescode, restring) = self.resolveDeps()
File “/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/depsolve.py”, line 704, in resolveDeps
for po, dep in self._checkFileRequires():
File “/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/depsolve.py”, line 939, in _checkFileRequires
if not self.tsInfo.getOldProvides(filename) and not self.tsInfo.getNewProvides(filename):
File “/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/transactioninfo.py”, line 414, in getNewProvides
for pkg, hits in self.pkgSack.getProvides(name, flag, version).iteritems():
File “/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/packageSack.py”, line 300, in getProvides
return self._computeAggregateDictResult(”getProvides”, name, flags, version)
File “/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/packageSack.py”, line 470, in _computeAggregateDictResult
sackResult = apply(method, args)
File “/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/sqlitesack.py”, line 861, in getProvides
return self._search(”provides”, name, flags, version)
File “/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/sqlitesack.py”, line 43, in newFunc
return func(*args, **kwargs)
File “/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/sqlitesack.py”, line 837, in _search
for pkg in self.searchFiles(name, strict=True):
File “/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/sqlitesack.py”, line 43, in newFunc
return func(*args, **kwargs)
File “/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/sqlitesack.py”, line 586, in searchFiles
self._sql_pkgKey2po(rep, cur, pkgs)
File “/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/sqlitesack.py”, line 470, in _sql_pkgKey2po
pkg = self._packageByKey(repo, ob['pkgKey'])
File “/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/sqlitesack.py”, line 413, in _packageByKey
po = self.pc(repo, cur.fetchone())
File “/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/sqlitesack.py”, line 68, in __init__
self._read_db_obj(db_obj)
File “/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/sqlitesack.py”, line 94, in _read_db_obj
setattr(self, item, _share_data(db_obj[item]))
TypeError: unsubscriptable object

There is a simple solution to fix this problem!

All you have to do is run yum clean dbcache

You should then be able to update!

root@server [~]# yum clean dbcache
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
8 sqlite files removed
root@server [~]# yum update file
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
* base: mirrors.serveraxis.net
* updates: mirror.steadfast.net
* addons: centos.cs.wisc.edu
* extras: centos.cs.wisc.edu
base | 1.1 kB 00:00
base 3272/3272
updates | 951 B 00:00
updates 323/323
addons | 951 B 00:00
extras | 1.1 kB 00:00
extras 266/266
Excluding Packages in global exclude list
Finished
Setting up Update Process
Resolving Dependencies
–> Running transaction check
—> Package file.x86_64 0:4.17-15.el5_3.1 set to be updated
–> Finished Dependency Resolution

Dependencies Resolved

================================================================================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
================================================================================
Updating:
file x86_64 4.17-15.el5_3.1 updates 318 k

Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Install 0 Package(s)
Update 1 Package(s)
Remove 0 Package(s)

Total download size: 318 k
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
file-4.17-15.el5_3.1.x86_64.rpm | 318 kB 00:01
Running rpm_check_debug
Running Transaction Test
Finished Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
Updating : file [1/2]
Cleanup : file [2/2]

Updated: file.x86_64 0:4.17-15.el5_3.1
Complete!

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Large File Transfers from Windows to Linux to Windows Being Corrupted

zach — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:16:50 +0000

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In the office, we have a Linux box which we use to delegate access to a certain set of production servers. CIFS mount points are shared out through FTP, allowing us to control who can access what.

We recently ran into a problem. A few large zip files were transferred to production and I was asked to unzip them. The first set of four zip files were unable to be extracted, reporting a premature end of file. I had the user recompress the files using 7zip (winrar was used originally). This also did not solve the problem. Next, we tried a different FTP client. No dice.

Next, I watched a file transfer as it happened. The users FTP client reported the transfer to be complete; however I noticed some strange behavior. The transfer was still in progress from what I saw. On the production Windows server, I watched the file continue to grow for over 100 megabytes and about 3 to 5 minutes after the client reported the transfer as being complete. This was my first clue that something strange was going on.

It seemed as though there was some sort of caching going on, and I wondered if this was somehow corrupting the files. After a bit of googling, (term: ftp to cifs share corrupting), I came across this page: Copying large files to CIFS mount (XP) may corrupt data!?

Turns out the problem is exactly the same as his. Simply remounting the shares with the forcedirectio flag solved the problem. For example, in fstab, the following line:

//productionserver/share1 /mnt/share1 cifs credentials=/etc/.cifs,rw 0 0

was changed to

//productionserver/share1 /mnt/share1 cifs credentials=/etc/.cifs,rw,forcedirectio 0 0

Next I did

umount /mnt/share1
mount /mnt/share1

Then to test, we transferred some large files, performed checksums and all was better in the world.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

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Upgrading to Wordpress 2.7 Makes Admin Menus Disappear

zach — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:54:31 +0000

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If your Admin Menus look funky after upgrading to wordpress 2.7, like shown below:

Wordpress 2.7 + Admin Drop Menus plugin bug

The fix is quite simple. You likely are using the Admin Drop Menus plugin. This plugin is not compatible with wordpress 2.7. The simple fix is to disable the plugin. Simply add the following to your admin url: plugins.php

In my case, I have the url: http://blog.zacharyarmstrong.com/wp-admin/ which I turn into http://blog.zacharyarmstrong.com/wp-admin/plugins.php

From there, you can deactivate the plugin and all should be fixed!

Fixing the Perl Module “only available with the XS version” Error

zach — Sun, 25 May 2008 03:03:07 +0000

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When trying to install or upgrade a perl module using cpan, you may get an error stating that the module you are trying to install “is only available with the XS version”

This error tends to rear its ugly head after you have updated perl. The module Scalar::List::Utils contains both an XS and a pure perl version. Many other modules rely on the XS version in order to function. This is where you run into that error.

Fortunately the fix is quite simple! Simply reinstall Scalar::List::Utils manually.

wget http://cpan.netnitco.net/authors/id/G/GB/GBARR/Scalar-List-Utils-1.19.tar.gz
tar zxvf Scalar-List-Utils-1.19.tar.gz
cd Scalar-List-Utils-1.19
perl Makefile.PL
make test install

Once this is done, try performing the installation of the module that failed with the “is only available with the XS version” error. It should now complete successfully!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tags: cpan, perl, xs, scalar::list::utils, scalar-list-utils, module

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Giving root level permissions to users in Linux

zach — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:25:29 +0000

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To give users in linux similar privileges to root, sudo is the way to go.

To set up sudo, follow the following steps. demoman is the sample username and 123456 is the sample password

adduser demoman -p 123456
sudoedit -e /etc/sudoers

Look for the lines that read:

## Allow root to run any commands anywhere
root ALL=(ALL) ALL

After that, add the following:

demoman ALL=(ALL) ALL

You can grant certain may different privileges to users besides full root level access… Read up on the different capabilities of sudo for more details.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tags: sudo, linux, sudoers, root, sudoedit, privileges

Openfire (Wildfire) Stops Accepting New Connections

zach — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:58:08 +0000

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There’s an issue with Openfire (formerly known as Wildfire – the open source Jabber-based IM server) and large amounts of users. The Openfire server stops accepting new connections when approximately 1000+ concurrent users are logged in. This issue seems to be caused by a maximum open file limit per process being hit. I figured out the following solution after a half day or so of researching and testing. This applies to Fedora Core 7 Linux, but should work with any Linux-based OS capable of running Openfire.

To permanently increase the maximum open file limits:

vi /etc/security/limits.conf

Append the following lines to the end of the file:

*                hard    nofile          64000
root             hard    nofile          64000
daemon           hard    nofile          64000

A reboot is required for these changes to take effect. I’m not sure of the issues this may cause with the OS, but so far I haven’t run into any.

Use at your own risk!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tags: openfire, wildfire, linux, fedora, fedora core 7, open file limit, root, jabber, im, limits.conf

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Vista Default Browser Issue

zach — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:28:28 +0000

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I was having issues getting Flock to be my default browser in Vista. Flock, which is an awesome browser based on the Firefox browser, was set as my default browser within Vista. However, when clicking on links and whatnot in emails, IMs and RSS feeds on Trillian, etc, the websites were opening in Internet Explorer (IE7). This is not good.

I tried going to default programs, removing IE7 from being the default for everything, setting Flock as the default for everything, setting Flock as the default for .url and many more.

After scouring the depths of the internet for more than 30 minutes, I found a really simple solution.

Press the Windows+R key (or go to Start -> Run) and enter the following:

flock.exe -silent -setDefaultBrowser

or for Firefox users:

firefox.exe -silent -setDefaultBrowser

You may or may not have to specify the path to the executable. You can find this by right-clicking the shortcut for the browser and going to properties. Copy the Target field completely and paste that into the Run dialog. For example:

“C:\Program Files (x86)\Flock\flock\flock.exe” -silent -setDefaultBrowser

Notice how I kept the quotes and there’s a space between the last quote and -silent.

Hopefully this will help some of you out there having the same issue!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tags: flock, firefox, vista, browser, default browser, windows, ie7, internet explorer, urls

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Neverwinter Nights 2 UI Mods – Vertical Hotbar

zach — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 19:05:33 +0000

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Due to popular demand, I present the vertical hotbar.

The 2-column version is exclusively available on nwvault. To get the 2-column vertical hotbar, please click here.

Please don't forget to vote for it!

Neverwinter Nights 2 UI Mods – Tiny Inventory

zach — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 13:51:46 +0000

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The default inventory uses really large icons and sorts your carried items over 4 “bags” (pages) of inventory. I wanted to be able to see all of my inventory at the same time. Given that motivation, I created this Tiny Inventory mod.

This file is only available on nwvault. You can download it by clicking here. Please vote for it as well.

to install:

unzip to: put it in “My Documents\Neverwinter Nights 2\ui\default”

This should create an inventoryscreen.xml file. All done!

Neverwinter Nights 2 UI Mods – Tiny Spellbook

zach — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 13:30:32 +0000

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The default spellbook has really large icons and lots of wasted space. I wanted to be able to see more of my spells on screen at once. Given that motivation, I created this Tiny Spellbook mod. For all casters, a perfect companion to this mod is my 5-row hotbar mod.

This file is only available on nwvault. You can download it here. Please vote for it on nwvault.
to install:

unzip to: put it in “My Documents\Neverwinter Nights 2\ui\default”

This should create a spells_known.xml file and a spells_memorized.xml file. All done!