How To GeeK

Moniting System Nagios with CentOS

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:38:00 -0700

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Chinese Train that Never Stops

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 20:39:00 -0700

Stopping and accelerating again at each station will waste both energy and time. But in this brilliant new Chinese train innovation No time is wasted- get on & off the bullet train without the train stopping. The bullet train is moving all the time.

A mere 5 min stop per station (elderly passengers cannot be hurried) will result in a total loss of 5 min x 30 stations or 2.5 hours of train journey time!

How it works (view the movie):

1. To board the train : The passengers at a station embarks onto to a connector cabin way before the train even arrives at the station. When the train arrives, it will not stop at all. It just slows down to pick up the connector cabin which will move with the train on the roof of the train.

While the train is still moving away from the station, those passengers will board the train from the connector cabin mounted on the train’s roof. After fully unloading all its passengers, the cabin connector cabin will be moved to the back of the train so that the next batch of outgoing passengers who want to alight at the next station will board the connector cabin at the rear of the train roof.

2. To get off the train: As stated after fully unloading all its passengers, the cabin connector cabin will be moved to the back of the train so that the next batch of outgoing passengers who want to alight at the next station will board the connector cabin at the rear of the train roof. When the train arrives at the next station, it will simply drop the whole connector cabin at the station itself and leave it behind at the station. The outgoing passengers can take their own time to disembark at the station while the train had already left. At the same time, the train will pick up the incoming embarking passengers on another connector cabin in the front part of the train’s roof. So the train will always drop one connector cabin at the rear of its roof and pick up a new connector cabin in the front part of the train’s roof at each station.

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Add Folders to My Computer

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 08:03:00 -0700

I always thought that it would be pretty nice to be able to add the most used folders and applications to My Computer. I personally use My Computer to achieve two goals. First I use it to access my DVD and virtual drives to start applications for instance. The second use is that I access folders that I tend to use very often. Folders like my mp3 collection, profile folders and several applications fall under this category as well.
The free software Folder2MyPC is able to add folders to My Computer. This is only one of the features but the most important one for me. Just execute the program and follow the Create Folder menu to create a new folder that appears in My Computer afterwards. I tested it on my Vista notebook where the folder appeared immediately and on my XP desktop where it did not show up. I suspect this is because I use customized themes. Maybe it appears when I restart my computer.

Folder2MyPC

Besides adding folders to My Computer you can also add any application to My Computer or the Control Panel. This is another great way of being able to access several applications fast without having to use the start menu, shortcuts or browse the computer to find them.
The control panel could for instance contain links to applications that test the system or that offer advanced features not found in the default Microsoft programs.
Another useful feature of Folder2MyPC is that you can add – and remove – default Windows folders to My Computer as well. This includes links to Administrative Tools, Program Folders, Printer & Faxes and the Temporary Internet Files.
The application Folder2MyPC is small, lightweight, easy to use and is available for Windows Vista and Windows XP / 2000.

Thanks to:
http://www.ghacks.net/2007/07/05/add-folders-to-my-computer/

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Integrate the Terminal with the Desktop On Linux

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 08:01:00 -0700

Over the years there have been all sorts of fun ways to edit one’s Linux terminal window. In addition to editing all the boring old things like text color and scroll settings, people have edited their headers, terminal behaviors, and even integrated an entire terminal window into their background.
Many people are fond of that last one, but it isn’t really all that easy to do. Most people employ the help of little programs for things like that, but the software used to embed the terminal is rarely updated to new versions of various distros.
One, however, has stayed intact, and this tutorial will help you through the process of putting the terminal right where we all need it – on the desktop.
First of all, you need to create a new Terminal profile that will run under the parameters you will set later. Open up your Terminal, then go to File, New Profile, type “Transparency” (without the quotes) as the title, and then click Create.

This creates the profile necessary to continue. You now need to fix a few settings. Under Title and Command, change the initial title to Transparency and select Keep Initial Title in the drop down menu. Select transparent under the Background tab, and set it to be as (you guessed it) transparent as you like. Some people prefer completely clear, but make sure the font color will stand out against your existing desktop background.
Next you want to download the program that will make all this possible. In your terminal, type:
sudo apt-get install devilspie
Next, you need to create a configuration file for your profile:

mkdir ~/.devilspie

gedit ~/.devilspie/Transparency.ds

Then take the following piece of code and pasted it in Transparency.ds:

( if

( matches ( window_name ) "Transparency" )

( begin

( set_workspace 4 )

( undecorate )

( skip_pager )

( skip_tasklist )

( geometry "890x694+178+58" )

( below )

( pin )

( println "match" )

)

)

Almost there! Now all you need to do is make sure that your computer opens a Terminal window in this manner each time it boots. Under System Settings open Startup Applications. First, click add, and under command, type:
devilspie -a
Then click enter. Click add again, and under command type:
gnome-terminal –window-with-profile=Transparency
That’s all there is to it. Reboot your system, and when it comes back up you should find a handy terminal window built right into your desktop, ready to work at whatever you desire.

If the configuration listed here does not quite work for you, experiment with the code you pasted in Transparency.ds under “geometry”. Those are the parameters the system uses to place the box. Of course, you can always fiddle with the color and transparency settings assigned to the profile by going to the Terminal and clicking on Edit, then Profile Preferences.
This neat, quick little quick little fix will be of interest to your Linux inclined friends and make Windows users wonder why they can’t do the same thing.

Thanks to:
http://www.ghacks.net/2011/06/04/integrate-the-terminal-with-the-desktop-on-linux/

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Ubuntu Face Authentication / Face Recognition Login

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:36:00 -0700

You've probably seen/heard about the sophistication technology that accessing computers using face authentication? face is scanned through a video camera and if the face was recognizable in the database then you will be able to access computers or go into the room they will be.

imege from topnews.in

Now with ubuntu technology we can do it, some requirements that must be filled is in your computer must have a video camera / webcam and some library tobe install. How to make automatic login using face authentication, follow step bellow :

Add the PPA repository and Update

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:antonio.chiurazzi/ppa && sudo apt-get update

Install the Ubuntu Face Authentication / Face Recognition Library

sudo apt-get install pam-face-authentication

Tweak and Edit The System
Now to add the face authentication module to GDM, Ubuntu's default login-manager:

sudo sed -i '1i auth sufficient pam_face_authentication.so enableX' /etc/pam.d/gdm
sudo sed -i '1i auth sufficient pam_face_authentication.so enableX' /etc/pam.d/gnome-screensaver

Depending on your webcam model/make you may need to install and add libv4l to preload:

Create the file /etc/ld.so.preload
Paste in the path to the v4l1compat.so file commonly found in /usr/lib/libv4l

Open "Face Trainer" (Application > Other), system will scan your face and add to database so that the system recognize your face while logi

Go to System > Administration > Users and Groups, change the password to Asked to login

Go to System > Administration > Login Screen, choose "Show the Screen for choosing who will log in", whis action will disable automatic login.

Done, you can logoff the system and test face authentication login in your ubuntu.

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Tips to Change Linux / Ubuntu Man page into PDF

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:27:00 -0700

A man page is "guidance" page which defaultly installed when relevant application installed. man is short of "manual " which can be access through simply command man + name_of_command, for example if we want to see the manual page of "locate" then type "man locate". By changing the man pages into PDF files it would make easier to read and distribute. Here is tutorial How to change Linux / Ubuntu Man page into PDF.

To convert a man page to PDF we need such ghostscript application installed, type following command in terminal to install :

    sudo apt-get install ghostscript

use following command to start convert linux man page to PDF

    man -t name_of_command | pdf2ps - name_of_file.pdf

Example :
Here is example how to make PDF file of locate manual page.

      man -t locate | pdf2ps - locate.pdf

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Install CPU-G ; Yet Another CPU-Z on Ubuntu

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:21:00 -0700

You must have known CPU-z, a windows application that lets you to find out Hardware information of your system. Now we have similar application named CPU-G with actually have same function and 'interface' that's run on ubuntu.


CPU-G that run on Ubuntu 11.04

How to install CPU-G on Ubuntu

First before you install it, download CPU-z source installer (*.deb) here, wait until download process finish, go to CPU-G download directory then type following command in your terminal

sudo dpkg -i cpu-g_0.9.0_i386.deb
sudo apt-get -f install

change "cpu-g_0.9.0_i386.deb" with CPU-G file installer you have download.

How to run CPU-G on Ubuntu

How to install it is quiet simple, open your terminal or type ALT + F2. then type "cpu-g" there. The CPU-G should running on.

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Configuring Postfix and dovecot POP3 and IMAP on Red Hat or Centos using local system accounts

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:34:00 -0700

Postfix is one of the most widely deployed mail servers. In this tutorial, I will first show you how to configure Postfix for local system accounts and then I will describe how to configure Dovecot for POP and IMAP servers so remote users can retrieve their emails using email clients like Mozilla Thunderbird, Evolution or Microsoft Outlook etc. This howto is written for Red Hat, Centos or Fedora like distributions but can be applied to any other distributions too.

Example domain used in this how-to is linuxgravity.com, please replace it with your own domain name.

First thing we need to do is to install Postfix. On Red Hat/Centos/Fedora etc, install it like below

yum -y install postfix

After installing remove original main.cf

rm -f /etc/postfix/main.cf

Now create main.cf like below

nano /etc/postfox/main.cf

and paste (ctrl+shift+v) the following:

myhostname = mail.linuxgravity.com
inet_interfaces = all
mydestination = $myhostname, localhost.$mydomain, localhost, $mydomain

Save it by pressing ctrl+x, Enter and then y.

Let me explain what the above means.

myhostname is the name we give to this mail server. Our DNS entry must have mail.linuxgravity.com as mx record to be able to send and receive emails. Check my earlier tutorial Configuring Bind9 Domain name server on Centos or Red Hat on how to do that. myhostname is the basis for other configuration parameters such as mydomain name which is the internet domain this mail server. Postfix will remove the first part from myhostname (mail in this case) and set to mydomain i.e. it will become mydomain=linuxgravity.com.

inet_interfaces = all will make Postfix listen on all network interfaces. Default is to listen on local interface only.

mydestination sets all the domains that this server will accept emails for. Here we are accepting emails for mail.linuxgravity.com, localhost.linuxgravity.com, localhost and linuxgravity.com. In main.cf, you can use an earlier defined parameter by putting $ before it.

That’s it. Now we can test if emails are sent and received properly. On local system, add a user ‘user1′

useradd user1

Set password for user1

passwd user1

Send an email to user1 from root

echo "This is a test email" | mail -s "test email" user1

switch to user1

su - user1

and check email with mail command

mail

Press ENTER to see the email body and ctrl+D to quit.

On another system, install Postfix, switch to Postfix using system mail switcher and then send a test email to user1

echo "This is a test email from another host" | mail -s "test email from external system" user1@linuxgravity.com

On mail server, check if user1 has received the email as described above.

Dovecot – POP3

To make remote users able to send and receive emails, we need to install and configure POP or IMAP server. Our choice here will be Dovecot.

First install it with the following command

yum -y install dovecot

Open nano dovecot.conf

nano /etc/dovecot.conf

and uncomment the following line

protocols = imap imaps pop3 pop3s

If using Outlook 2003, also uncomment this line too

pop3_uidl_format = %08Xu%08Xv

Save it (ctrl+x, y).

Start dovecot

/etc/init.d/dovecot start

I will show you how to configure Evolution. Same settings applies to other mail client. On the same system or another one open Evolution. If do not have any account already created, it will walk you through creating one. Fill in the required information at identity screen like below

Fill in the Receiving Mail screen as shown

The Sending Mail configuration screen should look like below

Now send a test email to root@linuxgravity.com and check the email from root account using mail program.

Configuring Evolution for IMAP is the same as POP3 except that at Receiving email screen, we select IMAP instead of POP.

From Edit Menu in evolution, click Preferences, select the POP account we set up earlier and delete it. Then click add, fill in the identity screen as for POP. Receiving Mail screen for IMAP should like this

Sending email setting should be identical as for POP.

Now send a test message to root@linuxgravity.com to make sure that IMAP server works.

To configure our mail client for POPS (secure POP aka ssl), we will delete the account we set up for IMAP and add another one like before but will select SSL Encryption to be use as secure connection under Security as shown below

Once again finish the wizard and send a test email.

You will see the dummy certificate created by Dovecot for SSL as shown below

IMAPS (secure IMAP) set up is similar to POPS except we choose IMAP at Receiving mail screen like below

Our next step is to create our own self-signed certificates for SSL. To do that we will first backup the dummy certificates

cd /etc/pki/dovecot
mv   certs/dovecot.pem     certs/dovecot.pem_bak
mv   private/dovecot.pem    private/dovecot.pem_bak

Then open dovecot-openssl.cnf

nano /etc/pki/dovecot/dovecot-openssl.cnf

and edit it like below (replacing information relevant to you). Pay special attention to common name (CN), it must be same as your email server name or *.yourdomain.com.

[ req ]
default_bits = 1024
encrypt_key = yes
distinguished_name = req_dn
x509_extensions = cert_type
prompt = no

[ req_dn ]
# country (2 letter code)
C=CA

# State or Province Name (full name)
ST=Quebec

# Locality Name (eg. city)
L=Montreal

# Organization (eg. company)
O=Linuxgravity

# Organizational Unit Name (eg. section)
OU=IT

# Common Name (*.example.com is also possible)
CN=mail.linuxgravity.com

# E-mail contact
emailAddress=admin@linuxgravity.com

[ cert_type ]
nsCertType = server

Run the certificates creation script that comes with Dovecot

/usr/share/doc/dovecot-1.0.7/examples/mkcert.sh

Restart Dovecot

/etc/init.d/dovecot restart

Try to use existing POPS (SSL) or IMAPS (SSL) account or create new one and you will be presented with the new public certificate as show

Troubleshooting:
Don’t forget to open appropriate ports for SMPT, POP, IMAP, POPS, IMAPS. Checkout /etc/protocols which default ports are used by these protocols.

This was basic Postfix and POP/IMAP configuration. In future tutorials I will show you more complex set up that will be based on this one so make sure you followed this one correctly.

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Simple SoftRAID CentOS Tutorial for NAS

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:30:00 -0700

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Linux is Not Windows

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 07:59:00 -0700

In the following article, I refer to the GNU/Linux OS and various Free & Open-Source Software (FOSS) projects under the catch-all name of "Linux". It scans better.

!=
(Linux is Not Windows)

If you've been pointed at this page, then the chances are you're a relatively new Linux user who's having some problems making the switch from Windows to Linux. This causes many problems for many people, hence this article was written. Many individual issues arise from this single problem, so the page is broken down into multiple problem areas.

Problem #1: Linux isn't exactly the same as Windows.

You'd be amazed how many people make this complaint. They come to Linux, expecting to find essentially a free, open-source version of Windows. Quite often, this is what they've been told to expect by over-zealous Linux users. However, it's a paradoxical hope.

The specific reasons why people try Linux vary wildly, but the overall reason boils down to one thing: They hope Linux will be better than Windows. Common yardsticks for measuring success are cost, choice, performance, and security. There are many others. But every Windows user who tries Linux, does so because they hope it will be better than what they've got.

Therein lies the problem.

It is logically impossible for any thing to be better than any other thing whilst remaining completely identical to it. A perfect copy may be equal, but it can never surpass. So when you gave Linux a try in hopes that it would be better, you were inescapably hoping that it would be different. Too many people ignore this fact, and hold up every difference between the two OSes as a Linux failure.

As a simple example, consider driver upgrades: one typically upgrades a hardware driver on Windows by going to the manufacturer's website and downloading the new driver; whereas in Linux you upgrade the kernel.

This means that a single Linux download & upgrade will give you the newest drivers available for your machine, whereas in Windows you would have to surf to multiple sites and download all the upgrades individually. It's a very different process, but it's certainly not a bad one. But many people complain because it's not what they're used to.

Or, as an example you're more likely to relate to, consider Firefox: One of the biggest open-source success stories. A web browser that took the world by storm. Did it achieve this success by being a perfect imitation of IE, the then-most-popular browser?

No. It was successful because it was better than IE, and it was better because it was different. It had tabbed browsing, live bookmarks, built-in searchbar, PNG support, adblock extensions, and other wonderful things. The "Find" functionality appeared in a toolbar at the bottom and looked for matches as you typed, turning red when you had no match. IE had no tabs, no RSS functionality, searchbars only via third-party extensions, and a find dialogue that required a click on "OK" to start looking and a click on "OK" to clear the "Not found" error message. A clear and inarguable demonstration of an open-source application achieving success by being better, and being better by being different. Had FF been an IE clone, it would have vanished into obscurity. And had Linux been a Windows clone, the same would have happened.

So the solution to problem #1: Remember that where Linux is familiar and the same as what you're used to, it isn't new & improved. Welcome the places where things are different, because only here does it have a chance to shine.

Problem #2: Linux is too different from Windows

The next issue arises when people do expect Linux to be different, but find that some differences are just too radical for their liking. Probably the biggest example of this is the sheer amount of choice available to Linux users. Whereas an out-of-the-box-Windows user has the Classic or XP desktop with Wordpad, Internet Explorer, and Outlook Express installed, an out-of-the-box-Linux user has hundreds of distros to choose from, then Gnome or KDE or Fluxbox or whatever, with vi or emacs or kate, Konqueror or Opera or Firefox or Mozilla, and so on and so forth.

A Windows user isn't used to making so many choices just to get up & running. Exasperated "Does there have to be so much choice?" posts are very common.

Does Linux really have to be so different from Windows? After all, they're both operating systems. They both do the same job: Power your computer & give you something to run applications on. Surely they should be more or less identical?

Look at it this way: Step outside and take a look at all the different vehicles driving along the road. These are all vehicles designed with more or less the same purpose: To get you from A to B via the roads. Note the variety in designs.

But, you may be thinking, car differences are really quite minor: they all have a steering wheel, foot-pedal controls, a gear stick, a handbrake, windows & doors, a petrol tank. . . If you can drive one car, you can drive any car!

Quite true. But did you not see that some people weren't driving cars, but were riding motorbikes instead. . ?

Switching from one version of Windows to another is like switching from one car to another. Win95 to Win98, I honestly couldn't tell the difference. Win98 to WinXP, it was a bigger change but really nothing major.

But switching from Windows to Linux is like switching from a car to a motorbike. They may both be OSes/road vehicles. They may both use the same hardware/roads. They may both provide an environment for you to run applications/transport you from A to B. But they use fundamentally different approaches to do so.

Windows/cars are not safe from viruses/theft unless you install an antivirus/lock the doors. Linux/motorbikes don't have viruses/doors, so are perfectly safe without you having to install an antivirus/lock any doors.

Or look at it the other way round:

Linux/cars were designed from the ground up for multiple users/passengers. Windows/motorbikes were designed for one user/passenger. Every Windows user/motorbike driver is used to being in full control of his computer/vehicle at all times. A Linux user/car passenger is used to only being in control of his computer/vehicle when logged in as root/sitting in the driver's seat.

Two different approaches to fulfilling the same goal. They differ in fundamental ways. They have different strengths and weaknesses: A car is the clear winner at transporting a family & a lot of cargo from A to B: More seats & more storage space. A motorbike is the clear winner at getting one person from A to B: Less affected by congestion and uses less fuel.

There are many things that don't change when you switch between cars and motorbikes: You still have to put petrol in the tank, you still have to drive on the same roads, you still have to obey the traffic lights and Stop signs, you still have to indicate before turning, you still have to obey the same speed limits.

But there are also many things that do change: Car drivers don't have to wear crash helmets, motorbike drivers don't have to put on a seatbelt. Car drivers have to turn the steering wheel to get around a corner, motorbike drivers have to lean over. Car drivers accelerate by pushing a foot-pedal, motorbike drivers accelerate by twisting a hand control.

A motorbike driver who tries to corner a car by leaning over is going to run into problems very quickly. And Windows users who try to use their existing skills and habits generally also find themselves having many issues. In fact, Windows "Power Users" frequently have more problems with Linux than people with little or no computer experience, for this very reason. Typically, the most vehement "Linux is not ready for the desktop yet" arguments come from ingrained Windows users who reason that if they couldn't make the switch, a less-experienced user has no chance. But this is the exact opposite of the truth.

So, to avoid problem #2: Don't assume that being a knowledgeable Windows user means you're a knowledgeable Linux user: When you first start with Linux, you are a novice.

Problem #3: Culture shock

Subproblem #3a: There is a culture

Windows users are more or less in a customer-supplier relationship: They pay for software, for warranties, for support, and so on. They expect software to have a certain level of usability. They are therefore used to having rights with their software: They have paid for technical support and have every right to demand that they receive it. They are also used to dealing with entities rather than people: Their contracts are with a company, not with a person.

Linux users are in more of a community. They don't have to buy the software, they don't have to pay for technical support. They download software for free & use Instant Messaging and web-based forums to get help. They deal with people, not corporations.

A Windows user will not endear himself by bringing his habitual attitudes over to Linux, to put it mildly.

The biggest cause of friction tends to be in the online interactions: A "3a" user new to Linux asks for help with a problem he's having. When he doesn't get that help at what he considers an acceptable rate, he starts complaining and demanding more help. Because that's what he's used to doing with paid-for tech support. The problem is that this isn't paid-for support. This is a bunch of volunteers who are willing to help people with problems out of the goodness of their hearts. The new user has no right to demand anything from them, any more than somebody collecting for charity can demand larger donations from contributors.

In much the same way, a Windows user is used to using commercial software. Companies don't release software until it's reliable, functional, and user-friendly enough. So this is what a Windows user tends to expect from software: It starts at version 1.0. Linux software, however, tends to get released almost as soon as it's written: It starts at version 0.1. This way, people who really need the functionality can get it ASAP; interested developers can get involved in helping improve the code; and the community as a whole stays aware of what's going on.

If a "3a" user runs into trouble with Linux, he'll complain: The software hasn't met his standards, and he thinks he has a right to expect that standard. His mood won't be improved when he gets sarcastic replies like "I'd demand a refund if I were you"

So, to avoid problem #3a: Simply remember that you haven't paid the developer who wrote the software or the people online who provide the tech support. They don't owe you anything.

Subproblem #3b: New vs. Old

Linux pretty much started out life as a hacker's hobby. It grew as it attracted more hobbyist hackers. It was quite some time before anybody but a geek stood a chance of getting a useable Linux installation working easily. Linux started out "By geeks, for geeks." And even today, the majority of established Linux users are self-confessed geeks.

And that's a pretty good thing: If you've got a problem with hardware or software, having a large number of geeks available to work on the solution is a definite plus.

But Linux has grown up quite a bit since its early days. There are distros that almost anybody can install, even distros that live on CDs and detect all your hardware for you without any intervention. It's become attractive to non-hobbyist users who are just interested in it because it's virus-free and cheap to upgrade. It's not uncommon for there to be friction between the two camps. It's important to bear in mind, however, that there's no real malice on either side: It's lack of understanding that causes the problems.

Firstly, you get the hard-core geeks who still assume that everybody using Linux is a fellow geek. This means they expect a high level of knowledge, and often leads to accusations of arrogance, elitism, and rudeness. And in truth, sometimes that's what it is. But quite often, it's not: It's elitist to say "Everybody ought to know this". It's not elitist to say "Everybody knows this" - quite the opposite.

Secondly, you get the new users who're trying to make the switch after a lifetime of using commercial OSes. These users are used to software that anybody can sit down & use, out-of-the-box.

The issues arise because group 1 is made up of people who enjoy being able to tear their OS apart and rebuild it the way they like it, while group 2 tends to be indifferent to the way the OS works, so long as it does work.

A parallel situation that can emphasize the problems is Lego. Picture the following:

New: I wanted a new toy car, and everybody's raving about how great Lego cars can be. So I bought some Lego, but when I got home, I just had a load of bricks and cogs and stuff in the box. Where's my car??

Old: You have to build the car out of the bricks. That's the whole point of Lego.

New: What?? I don't know how to build a car. I'm not a mechanic. How am I supposed to know how to put it all together??

Old: There's a leaflet that came in the box. It tells you exactly how to put the bricks together to get a toy car. You don't need to know how, you just need to follow the instructions.

New: Okay, I found the instructions. It's going to take me hours! Why can't they just sell it as a toy car, instead of making you have to build it??

Old: Because not everybody wants to make a toy car with Lego. It can be made into anything we like. That's the whole point.

New: I still don't see why they can't supply it as a car so people who want a car have got one, and other people can take it apart if they want to. Anyway, I finally got it put together, but some bits come off occasionally. What do I do about this? Can I glue it?

Old: It's Lego. It's designed to come apart. That's the whole point.

New: But I don't want it to come apart. I just want a toy car!

Old: Then why on Earth did you buy a box of Lego??

It's clear to just about anybody that Lego is not really aimed at people who just want a toy car. You don't get conversations like the above in real life. The whole point of Lego is that you have fun building it and you can make anything you like with it. If you've no interest in building anything, Lego's not for you. This is quite obvious.

As far as the long-time Linux user is concerned, the same holds true for Linux: It's an open-source, fully-customizeable set of software. That's the whole point. If you don't want to hack the components a bit, why bother to use it?

But there's been a lot of effort lately to make Linux more suitable for the non-hackers, a situation that's not a million miles away from selling pre-assembled Lego kits, in order to make it appeal to a wider audience. Hence you get conversations that aren't far away from the ones above: Newcomers complain about the existence of what the established users consider to be fundamental features, and resent having the read a manual to get something working. But complaining that there are too many distros; or that software has too many configuration options; or that it doesn't work perfectly out-of-the-box; is like complaining that Lego can be made into too many models, and not liking the fact that it can be broken down into bricks and built into many other things.

So, to avoid problem #3b: Just remember that what Linux seems to be now is not what Linux was in the past. The largest and most necessary part of the Linux community, the hackers and the developers, like Linux because they can fit it together the way they like; they don't like it in spite of having to do all the assembly before they can use it.

Problem #4: Designed for the designer

In the car industry, you'll very rarely find that the person who designed the engine also designed the car interior: It calls for totally different skills. Nobody wants an engine that only looks like it can go fast, and nobody wants an interior that works superbly but is cramped and ugly. And in the same way, in the software industry, the user interface (UI) is not usually created by the people who wrote the software.

In the Linux world, however, this is not so much the case: Projects frequently start out as one man's toy. He does everything himself, and therefore the interface has no need of any kind of "user friendly" features: The user knows everything there is to know about the software, he doesn't need help. Vi is a good example of software deliberately created for a user who already knows how it works: It's not unheard of for new users to reboot their computers because they couldn't figure out how else to get out of vi.

However, there is an important difference between a FOSS programmer and most commercial software writers: The software a FOSS programmer creates is software that he intends to use. So whilst the end result might not be as 'comfortable' for the novice user, they can draw some comfort in knowing that the software is designed by somebody who knows what the end-users needs are: He too is an end-user. This is very different from commercial software writers, who are making software for other people to use: They are not knowledgeable end-users.

So whilst vi has an interface that is hideously unfriendly to new users, it is still in use today because it is such a superb interface once you know how it works. Firefox was created by people who regularly browse the Web. The Gimp was built by people who use it to manipulate graphics files. And so on.

So Linux interfaces are frequently a bit of a minefield for the novice: Despite its popularity, vi should never be considered by a new user who just wants to quickly make a few changes to a file. And if you're using software early in its lifecycle, a polished, user-friendly interface is something you're likely to find only in the "ToDo" list: Functionality comes first. Nobody designs a killer interface and then tries to add functionality bit by bit. They create functionality, and then improve the interface bit by bit.

So to avoid #4 issues: Look for software that's specifically aimed at being easy for new users to use, or accept that some software that has a steeper learning curve than you're used to. To complain that vi isn't friendly enough for new users is to be laughed at for missing the point.

Problem #5: The myth of "user-friendly"

This is a big one. It's a very big term in the computing world, "user-friendly". It's even the name of a particularly good webcomic. But it's a bad term.
The basic concept is good: That software be designed with the needs of the user in mind. But it's always addressed as a single concept, which it isn't.
If you spend your entire life processing text files, your ideal software will be fast and powerful, enabling you to do the maximum amount of work for the minimum amount of effort. Simple keyboard shortcuts and mouseless operation will be of vital importance.
But if you very rarely edit text files, and you just want to write an occasional letter, the last thing you want is to struggle with learning keyboard shortcuts. Well-organized menus and clear icons in toolbars will be your ideal.
Clearly, software designed around the needs of the first user will not be suitable for the second, and vice versa. So how can any software be called "user-friendly", if we all have different needs?
The simple answer: User-friendly is a misnomer, and one that makes a complex situation seem simple.
What does "user-friendly" really mean? Well, in the context in which it is used, "user friendly" software means "Software that can be used to a reasonable level of competence by a user with no previous experience of the software." This has the unfortunate effect of making lousy-but-familiar interfaces fall into the category of "user-friendly".

Subproblem #5a: Familiar is friendly

So it is that in most "user-friendly" text editors & word processors, you Cut and Paste by using Ctrl-X and Ctrl-V. Totally unintuitive, but everybody's used to these combinations, so they count as a "friendly" combination.
So when somebody comes to vi and finds that it's "d" to cut, and "p" to paste, it's not considered friendly: It's not what anybody is used to.
Is it superior? Well, actually, yes.
With the Ctrl-X approach, how do you cut a word from the document you're currently in? (No using the mouse!)
From the start of the word, Ctrl-Shift-Right to select the word.
Then Ctrl-X to cut it. The vi approach? dw deletes the word.
How about cutting five words with a Ctrl-X application?
From the start of the words, Ctrl-Shift-Right
Ctrl-Shift-Right
Ctrl-Shift-Right
Ctrl-Shift-Right
Ctrl-Shift-Right
Ctrl-X And with vi?
d5w
The vi approach is far more versatile and actually more intuitive: "X" and "V" are not obvious or memorable "Cut" and "Paste" commands, whereas "dw" to delete a word, and "p" to put it back is perfectly straightforward. But "X" and "V" are what we all know, so whilst vi is clearly superior, it's unfamiliar. Ergo, it is considered unfriendly. On no other basis, pure familiarity makes a Windows-like interface seem friendly. And as we learned in problem #1, Linux is necessarily different to Windows. Inescapably, Linux always appears less "user-friendly" than Windows.
To avoid #5a problems, all you can really do is try and remember that "user-friendly" doesn't mean "What I'm used to": Try doing things your usual way, and if it doesn't work, try and work out what a total novice would do.

Subproblem #5b: Inefficient is friendly

This is a sad but inescapable fact. Paradoxically, the harder you make it to access an application's functionality, the friendlier it can seem to be.
This is because friendliness is added to an interface by using simple, visible 'clues' - the more, the better. After all, if a complete novice to computers is put in front of a WYSIWYG word processor and asked to make a bit of text bold, which is more likely:

He'll guess that "Ctrl-B" is the usual standard

He'll look for clues, and try clicking on the "Edit" menu. Unsuccessful, he'll try the next likely one along the row of menus: "Format". The new menu has a "Font" option, which seems promising. And Hey! There's our "Bold" option. Success!

Next time you do any processing, try doing every job via the menus: No shortcut keys, and no toolbar icons. Menus all the way. You'll find you slow to a crawl, as every task suddenly demands a multitude of keystrokes/mouseclicks.
Making software "user-friendly" in this fashion is like putting training wheels on a bicycle: It lets you get up & running immediately, without any skill or experience needed. It's perfect for a beginner. But nobody out there thinks that all bicycles should be sold with training wheels: If you were given such a bicycle today, I'll wager the first thing you'd do is remove them for being unnecessary encumbrances: Once you know how to ride a bike, training wheels are unnecessary. And in the same way, a great deal of Linux software is designed without "training wheels" - it's designed for users who already have some basic skills in place. After all, nobody's a permanent novice: Ignorance is short-lived, and knowledge is forever. So the software is designed with the majority in mind.
This might seem an excuse: After all, MS Word has all the friendly menus, and it has toolbar buttons, and it has shortcut keys. . . Best of all worlds, surely? Friendly and efficient.
However, this has to be put into perspective: Firstly, the practicalities: having menus and toolbars and shortcuts and all would mean a lot of coding, and it's not like Linux developers all get paid for their time. Secondly, it still doesn't really take into account serious power-users: Very few professional wordsmiths use MS Word. Ever meet a coder who used MS Word? Compare that to how many use emacs & vi.
Why is this? Firstly, because some "friendly" behaviour rules out efficient behaviour: See the "Cut&Copy" example above. And secondly, because most of Word's functionality is buried in menus that you have to use: Only the most common functionality has those handy little buttons in toolbars at the top. The less-used functions that are still vital for serious users just take too long to access.
Something to bear in mind, however, is that "training wheels" are often available as "optional extras" for Linux software: They might not be obvious, but frequently they're available.
Take mplayer. You use it to play a video file by typing mplayer filename in a terminal. You fastforward & rewind using the arrow keys and the PageUp & PageDown keys. This is not overly "user-friendly". However, if you instead type gmplayer filename, you'll get the graphical frontend, with all its nice, friendly , familiar buttons.
Take ripping a CD to MP3 (or Ogg): Using the command-line, you need to use cdparanoia to rip the files to disc. Then you need an encoder. . . It's a hassle, even if you know exactly how to use the packages (imho). So download & install something like Grip. This is an easy-to-use graphical frontend that uses cdparanoia and encoders behind-the-scenes to make it really easy to rip CDs, and even has CDDB support to name the files automatically for you.
The same goes for ripping DVDs: The number of options to pass to transcode is a bit of a nightmare. But using dvd::rip to talk to transcode for you makes the whole thing a simple, GUI-based process which anybody can do.
So to avoid #5b issues: Remember that "training wheels" tend to be bolt-on extras in Linux, rather than being automatically supplied with the main product. And sometimes, "training wheels" just can't be part of the design.

Problem #6: Imitation vs. Convergence

An argument people often make when they find that Linux isn't the Windows clone they wanted is to insist that this is what Linux has been (or should have been) attempting to be since it was created, and that people who don't recognise this and help to make Linux more Windows-like are in the wrong. They draw on many arguments for this:

Linux has gone from Command-Line- to Graphics-based interfaces, a clear attempt to copy Windows

Nice theory, but false: The original X windowing system was released in 1984, as the successor to the W windowing system ported to Unix in 1983. Windows 1.0 was released in 1985. Windows didn't really make it big until version 3, released in 1990 - by which time, X windows had for years been at the X11 stage we use today. Linux itself was only started in 1991. So Linux didn't create a GUI to copy Windows: It simply made use of a GUI that existed long before Windows.

Windows 3 gave way to Windows 95 - making a huge level of changes to the UI that Microsoft has never equalled since. It had many new & innovative features: Drag & drop functionality; taskbars, and so on. All of which have since been copied by Linux, of course.

Actually. . . no. All the above existed prior to Microsoft making use of them. NeXTSTeP in particular was a hugely advanced (for the time) GUI, and it predated Win95 significantly - version 1 released in 1989, and the final version in 1995.

Okay, okay, so Microsoft didn't think up the individual features that we think of as the Windows Look-and-Feel. But it still created a Look-and-Feel, and Linux has been trying to imitate that ever since.

To debunk this, one must discuss the concept of convergent evolution. This is where two completely different and independent systems evolve over time to become very similar. It happens all the time in biology. For example, sharks and dolphins. Both are (typically) fish-eating marine organisms of about the same size. Both have dorsal fins, pectoral fins, tail fins, and similar, streamlined shapes.
However, sharks evolved from fish, while dolphins evolved from a land-based quadrupedal mammal of some sort. The reason they have very similar overall appearances is that they both evolved to be as efficient as possible at living within a marine environment. At no stage did pre-dolphins (the relative newcomers) look at sharks and think "Wow, look at those fins. They work really well. I'll try and evolve some myself!"
Similarly, it's perfectly true to look at early Linux desktops and see FVWM and TWM and a lot of other simplistic GUIs. And then look at modern Linux desktops, and see Gnome & KDE with their taskbars and menus and eye-candy. And yes, it's true to say that they're a lot more like Windows than they used to be.
But then, so is Windows: Windows 3.0 had no taskbar that I remember. And the Start menu? What Start menu?
Linux didn't have a desktop anything like modern Windows. Microsoft didn't either. Now they both do. What does this tell us?
It tells us that developers in both camps looked for ways of improving the GUI, and because there are only a limited number of solutions to a problem, they often used very similar methods. Similarity does not in any way prove or imply imitation. Remembering that will help you avoid straying into problem #6 territory.

Problem #7: That FOSS thing.

Oh, this causes problems. Not intrinsically: The software being free and open-source is a wonderful and immensely important part of the whole thing. But understanding just how different FOSS is from proprietary software can be too big an adjustment for some people to make.
I've already mentioned some instances of this: People thinking they can demand technical support and the like. But it goes far beyond that.
Microsoft's Mission Statement is "A computer on every desktop" - with the unspoken rider that each computer should be running Windows. Microsoft and Apple both sell operating systems, and both do their utmost to make sure their products get used by the largest number of people: They're businesses, out to make money.
And then there is FOSS. Which, even today, is almost entirely non-commercial.
Before you reach for your email client to tell me about Red Hat, Suse, Linspire and all: Yes, I know they "sell" Linux. I know they'd all love Linux to be adopted universally, especially their own flavour of it. But don't confuse the suppliers with the manufacturers. The Linux kernel was not created by a company, and is not maintained by people out to make a profit with it. The GNU tools were not created by a company, and are not maintained by people out to make a profit with them. The X11 windowing system. . . well, the most popular implementation is xorg right now, and the ".org" part should tell you all you need to know. Desktop software: Well, you might be able to make a case for KDE being commercial, since it's Qt-based. But Gnome, Fluxbox, Enlightenment, etc. are all non-profit. There are people out to sell Linux, but they are very much the minority.
Increasing the number of end-users of proprietary software leads to a direct financial benefit to the company that makes it. This is simply not the case for FOSS: There is no direct benefit to any FOSS developer in increasing the userbase. Indirect benefits, yes: Personal pride; an increased potential for finding bugs; more likelihood of attracting new developers; possibly a chance of a good job offer; and so on.
But Linus Torvalds doesn't make money from increased Linux usage. Richard Stallman doesn't get money from increased GNU usage. All those servers running OpenBSD and OpenSSH don't put a penny into the OpenBSD project's pockets. And so we come to the biggest problem of all when it comes to new users and Linux:
They find out they're not wanted.
New users come to Linux after spending their lives using an OS where the end-user's needs are paramount, and "user friendly" and "customer focus" are considered veritable Holy Grails. And they suddenly find themselves using an OS that still relies on 'man' files, the command-line, hand-edited configuration files, and Google. And when they complain, they don't get coddled or promised better things: They get bluntly shown the door.
That's an exaggeration, of course. But it is how a lot of potential Linux converts perceived things when they tried and failed to make the switch.
In an odd way, FOSS is actually a very selfish development method: People only work on what they want to work on, when they want to work on it. Most people don't see any need to make Linux more attractive to inexperienced end-users: It already does what they want it to do, why should they care if it doesn't work for other people?
FOSS has many parallels with the Internet itself: You don't pay the writer of a webpage/the software to download and read/install it. Ubiquitous broadband/User-friendly interfaces are of no great interest to somebody who already has broadband/knows how to use the software. Bloggers/developers don't need to have lots of readers/users to justify blogging/coding. There are lots of people making lots of money off it, but it's not by the old-fashioned "I own this and you have to pay me if you want some of it" method that most businesses are so enamoured of; it's by providing services like tech-support/e-commerce.
Linux is not interested in market share. Linux does not have customers. Linux does not have shareholders, or a responsibility to the bottom line. Linux was not created to make money. Linux does not have the goal of being the most popular and widespread OS on the planet.
All the Linux community wants is to create a really good, fully-featured, free operating system. If that results in Linux becoming a hugely popular OS, then that's great. If that results in Linux having the most intuitive, user-friendly interface ever created, then that's great. If that results in Linux becoming the basis of a multi-billion dollar industry, then that's great.
It's great, but it's not the point. The point is to make Linux the best OS that the community is capable of making. Not for other people: For itself. The oh-so-common threats of "Linux will never take over the desktop unless it does such-and-such" are simply irrelevant: The Linux community isn't trying to take over the desktop. They really don't care if it gets good enough to make it onto your desktop, so long as it stays good enough to remain on theirs. The highly-vocal MS-haters, pro-Linux zealots, and money-making FOSS purveyors might be loud, but they're still minorities.
That's what the Linux community wants: an OS that can be installed by whoever really wants it. So if you're considering switching to Linux, first ask yourself what you really want.
If you want an OS that doesn't chauffeur you around, but hands you the keys, puts you in the driver's seat, and expects you to know what to do: Get Linux. You'll have to devote some time to learning how to use it, but once you've done so, you'll have an OS that you can make sit up and dance.
If you really just want Windows without the malware and security issues: Read up on good security practices; install a good firewall, malware-detector, and anti-virus; replace IE with a more secure browser; and keep yourself up-to-date with security updates. There are people out there (myself included) who've used Windows since 3.1 days right through to XP without ever being infected with a virus or malware: you can do it too. Don't get Linux: It will fail miserably at being what you want it to be.
If you really want the security and performance of a Unix-based OS but with a customer-focussed attitude and an world-renowned interface: Buy an Apple Mac. OS X is great. But don't get Linux: It will not do what you want it to do.
It's not just about "Why should I want Linux?". It's also about "Why should Linux want me?"

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How to configure linux yum server step by step guide Example and Implementation

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 06:43:00 -0700

YUM stands for Yellow dog Updater, Modified because it is based on YUP, the Yellow dog Updater. Yellow Dog is a version of Linux for the Power Architecture hardware. YUP, and later YUM, were written by the Linux community as a way to maintain an RPM-based system.

Advantages of YUM

Automatic resolution of software dependencies. If a package installation or upgrade request is made and requires the installation or upgrade of additional packages, YUM can list these dependencies and prompt the user to install or upgrade them.
Command-line and graphical versions. The command-line version can be run on a system with a minimal number of software packages. The graphical versions offer ease-of-use and a user-friendly graphical interface to software management.
Multiple software locations at one time. YUM can be configured to look for software packages in more than one location at a time.
Ability to specify particular software versions or architectures. Software locations accessible by YUM can contain multiple versions of the same RPM package and different builds for different architectures such as one for i686 and one for x86_64. yum can easily check the appropriate version and download it.
While it's unlikely that you'll have an Internet connection during the exam, you could have a network connection to a local repository. So you should be ready to use the yum command during the Red Hat exam.

How to create dump of RHEL CD

Whether you perform network installation or create yum repository file you need dump of RHEL CD. It is generally created on server in RHCE exam. Candidate is given a location of this dump to perform network installation. We will create dump of RHEL CD on /var/ftp/pub and use this for network installation or to create yum repository files.

Check how many space is available on /var partition mimimun 4 GB space is required

Now mount RHEL dvd on mnt and copy entire disk on /var/ftp/pub

Dump is created on /var/ftp/pub now you can umount RHEL dvd

Configure yum server

RHCE EXAM QUESTION
Backup of the Redhat Enterprise Linux 5 is taken in /var/ftp/pub on server named Server.example.com. You can install all required packages using yum by creating the repository file.

Pre quest of yum server

we assume that you have completed these pre quest of yum server

A Linux system with hostname Server.example.com and with ip address of 192.168.0.254
Dump of RHEL disk on /var/ftp/pub location

Once you have completed these pre quests follow this guide.

change directory to /var/ftp/pub/Server yum and createrepo rpm are required for yum server install them Now install createrepo rpm

After installing necessary package change directory to /var/ftp/pub

Now create repository of Server directory repository of all rpm will be created in few minute Now create repository for VT In few second all necessary repository will be created for VT Now create errata directory and repository for it

During the process of creating repository two hidden directory with named .olddata is created automatically remove them

Now check hostname and change directory to /etc/yum.repos.d. copy sample repository file to the file with hostname And open it Default repository file look like these Remove defaults line and set new location of Sever and VT as shown here Save file with :wq and exit

Now remove all temporary data file with yum clean all command

Congratulation You have successful create yum server

To test yum server remove telnet package After checking all dependences it will ask for conformation press y Now install telnet package from yum server After checking all dependences it will ask for conformation press y

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Setting Up A Virtual Linux Web Server : The VMware Server

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 05:32:00 -0800

I started as a webmaster about 13 years working for a small ISP which mainly hosted websites on Linux boxes. At that time, a 128 Kb ISDN link was enough to feed about 5 servers running about 100 websites. Most residential Internet users were connecting through those hot 14,400 bps modem that just came out. The sky was the limit.
Today, I’m still managing a handful of web servers, probably not as many as I once did. Still, most of them are running Linux and I’ve got maybe 2 or 3 web servers running on Windows and IIS. Nowadays, I’m more into dynamic website development. There isn’t a day that I don’t need to test different configurations whether it is to test new versions of PHP, Apache or MySQL or simply to optimize server performance.
As you’ve probably experienced before, testing out new technologies may compromise your server’s stability and performance. That’s where testing servers come in handy. The thing is that you may not have a bunch of computers waiting to be reinstalled over and over just for that purpose. This is why we are going to install our own web server running on a virtual Linux box hosted on a Windows plateform.

Getting VMware Server

Now you can get VMware server for free and it’s a full version! Totally legal! How cool is that? At the time of writing this post, the latest VMware server version is 1.0.3. You can get it here :
http://register.vmware.com/content/download.html
or you can try this direct link to the binary file :
http://download3.vmware.com/software/vmserver/VMware-server-installer-1.0.3-44356.exe)
Before you go any further, please note that you will need a truckload of resources to run a virtual server, mostly RAM. I run an Intel Dual Core 1.8 Ghz computer with 2 Gb of RAM and 250 Gb of hard disk space.
Now that you’ve downloaded VMware Server, launch the installation and select the custom setup type. When asked to specify what features to install, you may want to disable the “VMware Management Interface”.

Why? Because this installs a web application through which you can manage your VMware server. Now this may not be a problem but you’ll need IIS to be installed and running if you want that option. For my part, I prefer using the GUI provided with the installation as I already got an Apache HTTP server running locally on my host machine and I don’t want to mess that up. You can pretty much leave all other setup options to default.
The VMware setup will install a virtual NIC (Network Interface Card). You may want to keep that in mind if you eventually run into network problems with other applications such as a VPN or a software firewall.
When done installing, reboot your computer and voila! A brand new VMware server on your PC.
Come back soon as we will continue the installation of our virtual Linux web server.

Note : I am running a french version of Windows so the screenshots may show some french labels.
Now that you’ve got your VMware server running, let’s prepare it to install CentOS 5. This is my favorite free Linux distribution because it’s derived from RedHat’s Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Therefore, it is really easy to find packages and documentation.
Start by launching the VMware Server Console and select Local Host.

Click on New Virtual Machine from the main screen and select the Typical machine configuration. When asked about the guest operating system, select Linux and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 as CentOS is not available.

Now enter your virtual machine’s name (this is just for the purpose of managing your virtual machines and will not appear anywhere in the OS’ configuration). You must also specify where the virtual disks will reside. Please note that having a dedicated partition or better, a dedicated hard drive, to store the virtual drives may increase performance significantly.

Select the type of network connection that will be made available for your virtual machine.

For my part, I use « Bridge Networking » as my virtual machine will have an IP address on the external network because I want it to be accessible to my LAN. If you want your virtual machine to be accessible only from your host, you can use « Host Only Networking ».
Now for the virtual hard drive, specify how much space is needed.

Don’t worry about disk space as you will be able to increase later if needed. Make sure you check « Allocate all disk space now » otherwise the file’s size will increased as it’s needed and performance will be affected. You could also choose to split the virtual disk into 2 GB files if more performance is needed.

Note : I am running a french version of Windows so the screenshots may show some french labels.
Now that your VMware server is installed and that your virtual machine is ready, let’s install CentOS 5. First of all, you will need to download the six ISO images from http://www.centos.org. At the time of this writing, I’ve downloaded the images from http://ftp.telus.net/pub/centos/5.0/isos/i386/
It is not necessary to burn all those images on CD as VMware can map a virtual CD to an ISO image.
First, let’s click on Edit virtual machine settings from our Red Hat Linux tab.

We need to map the virtual CD drive to the first CentOS ISO image.

Next we will be giving a little more RAM to our virtual machine. Let’s upgrade it to 512 MB.

When done, click OK and start the virtual machine so it will boot from the virtual CD.
At the startup screen, simply press Enter to install in graphical mode.

The next steps are really not technical so I’ll go over them quickly. These are the values I’ve selected but feel free to set your own selection if appropriate.

Testing Media CD Before Installation : Skip
Language to use during the installation process : English
Select the appropriate keyboard for the system : U.S. English

The installer will then tell you that the partition table on device SDA is unreadable and will offer you to initialize the drive. Answer “Yes”.
When asked about partitioning the hard drive, simply select “Remove linux partitions on selected drives and create default layout”.

Here are some other settings I will quickly go through :

Network Devices : DHCP (you can set a static IP address if you prefer)
Hostname : automatically via DHCP
Miscellaneous Settings : nothing to set unless you’ve set a static IP address.
Timezone : America/New_York
Root Password : set it to whatever you want the root password to be.

Now for the default installation packages, I’ve just checked the “Server” checkbox as the “Desktop – Gnome” was already selected.

If that were to be a full blown production server, I would’ve took the time to set the right package selection but this is only a test server so I won’t spend time on this. Now the installer will verify package dependencies, format the hard drive and then proceed to installation so that leaves you time to get a coffee (or two).
When asked to insert another disc, double-click on the cdrom drive icon at the bottom-right corner of the VMware window. Select the required ISO image and click OK.

You should be done installing by the fifth CD (depending on if you’ve selected some other packages). Now reboot your virtual machine, there is still some configuration to do.

Here are the settings I’ve used :

Firewall : I’ve disabled it since this test machine doesn’t need that much protection.
SELinux : Enforcing
Date and Time : Self-explanatory
Create User : Create a user account

Click “Next” until you’re done. You can now log on your brand new CentOS server with either your root or personnal user account.
Come back soon for more information on how to setup Apache, PHP and MySQL!

It’s been a little while since I posted part 3 of this tutorial so let’s get this thing going. At this point we have a Linux CentOS 5 server running. Now we need to install and configure all the major web services : Apache, PHP and MySQL.
For the most part of this article, I will be using the command line interface through SSH and not the default GUI (Gnome). You can download putty.exe, an SSH client, at http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html
Starting Apache Web Server
If you followed the previous parts of this tutorial, Apache 2.2 should be installed by default. You only have to make sure the service is started at boot time. To ensure that the httpd service is started automatically, type : chkconfig httpd on . This will add the httpd startup / shutdown scripts in the proper directories.
Now even though we configured the httpd service to start automatically, it is not started unless you rebooted the server. Simply type “service httpd start” to launch the Apache web server.
To make sure the web server is running, open a web browser on your host system (ie. not on your virtual machine) and try to access http://[your virtual machine’s ip]. If you don’t know your virtual server’s ip address, type “ifconfig” at the command prompt. If the web server is installed correctly and running, you should see a “Apache 2 Test Page”.
Installing MySQL Database Server
Great we now have a web server running so let’s install our database server. Again we’ll be using YUM to install MySQL so issue the following commands :

# yum update yum
# yum –y install mysql mysql-server

When the installation is completed, launch the MySQL server service by issuing : service mysqld start
We also want that service to be launched automatically so type the following command :

# service mysqld start

Now that we have our MySQL server running, let’s set the password for the root user :

# mysqladmin –u root password ‘new password’
# mysqladmin –u root –p –h your_hostname password ‘new password’

Installing PHP
At the command prompt, simply issue:

# yum –y install php

The PHP version available at the time of this writing is 5.1.6.
Now let’s restart the httpd service:

# service httpd restart

We’re now going to test our PHP installation. Create a new file named “index.php” into the folder /var/www/html. In that file, simply copy the following line :

Now again, open a web browser at the address http://[your virtual machine’s ip] and you should see PHP’s information page :

Well that’s about it, you got yourself a virtual CentOS 5 web server. I will not go into details about how to configure Apache, MySQL, PHP or even hardening your Linux box but stay tuned for more tutorials on the subject.

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Ubuntu LAMP Server With Torrentflux In VMware

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 05:24:00 -0800

Ubuntu LAMP Server With Torrentflux In VMware

This tutorial is meant for Linux newbies who want to try and build a Ubuntu Server box as a web
server and torrent client. It is a step by step instruction on how to do this in VMWare on Windows XP to get the feel of it. I wrote this after, being a Linux newbie myself, a lot of trial-and-error and googling. Hope this helps you!
TheÂ virtual machineÂ youÂ create here isn't meant to work as a server at home. Apache MySQL, PHP and Torrentflux are available for Windows as well, so thatÂ wouldÂ workÂ justÂ theÂ same.
I was playing with the idea of getting some old pc and install it with Ubuntu LAMP server. A stand-alone web server, separate from my desktop-machine. While this box would be on all the timeÂ itÂ couldÂ asÂ wellÂ downloadÂ someÂ torrents.Â ButÂ beforeÂ reallyÂ buyingÂ aÂ pcÂ iÂ wantedÂ toÂ seeÂ
howÂ itÂ wouldÂ turnÂ outÂ toÂ seeÂ ifÂ itÂ isÂ whatÂ iÂ hadÂ inÂ mind.Â That'sÂ whyÂ iÂ madeÂ itÂ inÂ VMwareÂ andÂ
afterwardsÂ madeÂ thisÂ tutorial.

Required downloads

If you don't have VMWare:

VMWare Player
VMX Builder (it's on the bottom of the page)

Ubuntu 6.06 Server get the "PC (Intel x86) server install CD" (no need to burn it to a CD, the iso is enough) Â

Step 1: Installing VMWare Player and VMXBuilder

This step is out of scope of this how-to, if there are a lot of questions about it i might try to explain this.
VMXBuilder is a handy tool to create virtual machines that you can use with VMWare player.
See the VMX Builder page for installation notes.
Â

Step 2: Creating a Virtual machine for VMWare

Start VMXBuilder.
Choose: File - Create new virtual machine
Choose your Machine-location (I used c:\vms\UbuntuServer)
Enter a display name for the VM
For the options tab use the following Options:

There is no need to change anything else.
For the hardware tab there's a little more to do

Give the machine some more memory (it's important to leave sufficient memory for your host OS). My machine has 1 GB internal memory, i gave the VM 400 MB of it.
Add a network adapter via new hardware

In the same way add a Hard Disk and a DVD/CD-ROM drive.
Optionally install more (like USB, but that's up to you)
The network is standard configured the right way (it will be a machine on your network and have it's own IP-address)
Create a hard disk: choose 'Create new'

In the screen i use the following settings (I don't have VMWare and do have contig in my path)

I choose a 4GB disk size, this is enough for your Ubuntu installation. On your hard disk this 'virtual hard disk' will only occupy as much space as it needs but it won't exceed 4GB. When everything went OK a message box showing your current disk information should appear
Finally set up the CD-ROM player to use your downloaded iso of ubuntu server 'ubuntu-6.06-server-i386.iso'.
Save your Virtual Machine.

Step 3: Start your virtual machine and install Ubuntu

(If you have some sort of firewall installed on your host pc this might be the moment to temporarily disable it. I use the Sunbelt Kerio Firewall and I haven't got it to let the virtual machine use the network, any expert ideas? )

If at any time during this  install it seems to have stopped, try again without using your pc at the  same time or maybe swith of any screen-savers. I've had some problems  with that in the past. (Reboot the machine)

Make sure you have a working internet connection.
Start VMWare Player
Open your Ubuntu Server machine (look for the vmx file in your virtual machine folder)
When the machine is booting up: left-click with your mouse in your machine.
When the Ubuntu-menu appears, choose: 'Install a LAMP Server'

For this tutorial we choose "english" as the language and as Country: United States. Step through
some other install screens, most of them are pretty obvious. Choose a nice servername, optionally set-up a proxy server.
When it comes to partitioning your disk: no worries, this virtual machine only knows of your virtual hard disk. Everyting else is save, so choose:

Write the changes to disk and answer the questions about your time-zone.
Walk through the username and password screens. Wait untill the installation completes, if any error screens appear: good luck :)
If everything went fine you see

(There's no need to remove a cd since you're using an iso.)
Press continue, the machine reboots.

Step 4: Getting it to work

I don't know about you but after rebooting the machine it seems to get stuck at "booting the kernel".

Here's how to fix that

This procedure needs an internet connection, so make sure you have a working one!

Reboot your machine by exiting the machine (press ) and choose

Left-click with your mouse in your machine.
And press to enter the boot-menu, choose CD-ROM After booting from the cd, your're back in the install menu. In this menu choose 'Rescue a broken system'

Walk through the familiar looking screens until you get to

Choose /dev/discs/disc0/part1
Choose Execute a shell in /dev/discs/disc0/part1
and continue in the next screen.
You are now in a console environment where you can execute commands. Enter

sudo apt-get install linux-686

When asked to continue choose 'Y'
When this is done: Congratulations: you just installed a new kernel for linux!
At the prompt type:

exit

You return to the rescue operations screen where you choose 'Reboot the system' Now you should be able to get to the logon screen

Note

As you probably found out by now: Ubuntu Server does not have a graphical interface. I think that's a good thing so i'll continue this how-to for using the command line.
For some commands you need super-user rights, the command 'sudo' gives you them. A command started with sudo always asks for a password: use your own.

Step 5 (Optional): Make system up-to-date

Logon with your username and password.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

In my case this screen appeared:

press Y ...Wait patiently untill everything is done installing...

Step 6: Downloading Torrentflux 2.1

On your host, find out a working link for downloading Torrentflux at http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/torrentflux/torrentflux_2.1.tar.gz?download
Choose a location near you and choose download. Cancel the download and write down the link shown below in blue (haven't found a way to paste text into my vmware-window yet)

back in your machine type:

wget

e.g.

wget http://belnet.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/torrentflux/torrentflux_2.1.tar.gz

If you need to use a proxy server begin with setting up your proxy server in you current environment:

http_proxy=http://:;export http_proxy

or if you want this to be permanent: edit the /etc/wgetrc and fill the proxy settings there.
To edit the /etc/wgetrc file you need to know how to use vi, this is beyond the scope of this how-to.
Result:

Step 7: Installing Torrentflux

All right, we downloaded Torrentflux, now on to installing it. Set mysql root password:

mysqladmin -u root -p password

when asked for a password: just press
it's the current mysql root password which isn't assigned yet.

Unpack Torrentflux:

tar zxvf torrentflux_2.1.tar.gz
cd torrentflux_2.1
mysqladmin -u root -p create torrentflux

cd sql
mysql -u root -p torrentflux < mysql_torrentflux.sql

cd ../html

Set up the config.php:

vi config.php

Now edit the settings as below:

Consult a vi manual to find out how vi works.
After saving your updated config.php file copy the files to your web server root directory:

sudo mkdir /var/www/tf
sudo cp -rf * /var/www/tf

Create a folder to save the downloaded torrents

cd /home
sudo mkdir shared
sudo chmod 777 shared
cd shared
mkdir torrent
chmod 777 torrent

Step 8: Test!

If everything went OK it's time to try if it's working and to set up the last bits in Torrentflux. To find out what the ip address is of your new server:

ip address

Look for the eth0 network card:
in my case the ip address is: 172.16.50.83

On your host: open your webbrowser and go to:

http:///tf

Tadaaaa! :)

Login with: root and mysql password:
As a final step: change the path to: /home/shared/torrent and press 'Update settings'

Configuring Torrentflux further is beyond the scope of this how-to.

Congratulations, you now have a working webserver with Apache, MySql, PHP and Torrentflux.

Step 9 (Optional): Installing SSH

Torrentflux has a nice system to download your downloaded files from your server but I prefer some sort of secure ftp-connection.
I installed openssh for this, this is how:

sudo apt-get install openssh-server

No need to start it or anything. it's ready for use with e.g. WinSCP or PuTTY.

Step 10: Shutdown your Ubuntu server

sudo shutdown -h now

If you don't want to shutdown but simply log-off:

exit

For More Check Related Links :

How to setup LAMP server

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 04:47:00 -0800

LAMP is an acronym for a solution stack of free, open source software, originally coined from the first letters of Linux (operating system), Apache HTTP Server, MySQL (database software) and Perl/PHP/Python, principal components to build a viable general purpose web server[1].

The exact combination of software included in a LAMP package may vary, especially with respect to the web scripting software, as PHP may be replaced or supplemented by Perl and/or Python.[2] Similar terms exist for essentially the same software suite (AMP) running on other operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows (WAMP), Mac OS (MAMP), Solaris (SAMP), or OpenBSD (OAMP).

Though the original authors of these programs did not design them all to work specifically with each other, the development philosophy and tool sets are shared and were developed in close conjunction. The software combination has become popular because it is free of cost, open-source, and therefore easily adaptable, and because of the ubiquity of its components which are bundled with most current Linux distributions.

01_Setting_Up_Lamp-Login_Start_YaST

02_Setting_Up_Lamp-Install_Apache

03_Setting_Up_Lamp-Configure_Apache

04_Setting_Up_Lamp-Install_MySQL

05_Setting_Up_Lamp-Configure_MySQL

06_Setting_Up_Lamp-Checking_PHP

07_Setting_Up_Lamp-Testing_HTML_Requests

08_Setting_Up_Lamp-Testing_PHP_Requests

09_Setting_Up_Lamp-Testing_MySQL_Server

10_Setting_Up_Lamp-Testing_PHP_MySQL

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Missing or Corrupt Error Message System32\Drivers\Ntfs.sys

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Tue, 4 Jan 2011 00:11:00 -0800

Computer Repair: Missing or Corrupt Error Message System32\Drivers\Ntfs.sys

To resolve this problem do the followings:-
1] Boot computer with the Windows XP CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive.
2] To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.
3] At the command prompt, type the following commands:-

cd \windows\system32\drivers [Press the ENTER Key]

ren ntfs.sys ntfs.old [Press the ENTER Key]

If the ntfs.sys file is there and corrupt it will rename it. If it is not there then it was missing.

4]At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
copy X:\i386\ntfs.sys drive:\windows\system32\drivers [Where X=CD-ROM Drive]

5]Remove the Windows XP CD from CD-ROM drive, type quit, and then
press ENTER to quit the Recovery Console.

6. Restart the system.

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Missing or Corrupt Error Message System32\Drivers\Fastfat.sys

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Tue, 4 Jan 2011 00:05:00 -0800

Computer Repair: Missing or Corrupt Error Message System32\Drivers\Fastfat.sys

To resolve this problem do the followings:-
1] Boot computer with the Windows XP CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive.
2] To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.
3] At the command prompt, type the following commands:-

cd \windows\system32\drivers [Press the ENTER Key]

ren fastfat.sys fastfat.old [Press the ENTER Key]

If the fastfat.sys file is there and corrupt it will rename it. If it is not there then it was missing.

4]At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
copy X:\i386\fastfat.sys drive:\windows\system32\drivers [Where X=CD-ROM Drive]

5]Remove the Windows XP CD from CD-ROM drive, type quit, and then
press ENTER to quit the Recovery Console.

6. Restart the system.

For More Check Related Links :

How to Backup and Restore your Windows Drivers

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Mon, 3 Jan 2011 23:16:00 -0800

How to Backup and Restore your Windows Drivers by Britec
Learn how to back up your Windows drivers from an existing Windows so that in case if you faced a Windows crash or wanted to format and re-install the Microsoft Windows you can use them to restore all your hardware drivers again.

Freeware Software

Double Driver Download
http://www.briteccomputers.co.uk/down...

Windows Driver backup Download
http://www.briteccomputers.co.uk/down...

Fabs Auto backup Download
http://www.briteccomputers.co.uk/down...

Chily Softech Download
http://www.briteccomputers.co.uk/down...
------------------------------
http://www.britec.org.uk
http://www.pcrepairhertfordshire.co.uk

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Diagnose and Fix Blue-Screen Crashes

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Mon, 3 Jan 2011 23:12:00 -0800

Troubleshoot PC crashes, lockups and other instabilities with the free Windows Debugging Tools

There’s nothing quite as frustrating. One moment you’re working at your PC, the next your screen turns blue and your system reboots, destroying all unsaved work. Then, an hour or so later, it happens again. What’s going on? To diagnose and fix blue-screen crashes you need to know what is causing them. But don’t expect Windows to help. Head off to ‘Problem Reports and Solutions’ in Vista, for instance, and you’ll typically see useless crash descriptions like ‘Windows shut down suddenly’. Gee, thanks.

If your blue screen of death displays on an angle, we'd wager you've got a problem with your monitor. Just theorising.

Fortunately there’s a free alternative: Microsoft’s debugger, WinDbg. Point this at the last crash dump and it can tell you the most likely file, DLL or driver behind the crash; list everything else that was running; warn you of potential memory leaks; and provide useful troubleshooting and diagnostic information. If your PC is unstable then there’s no better tool to find out the cause.

Configure WinDbg

Microsoft does its best to hide WinDbg. You’ll have to download the Windows Driver Kit ISO image, a chunky 619MB, and then burn it to disc. Launch KitSetup and you’ll be presented with a list of various driver development options. Just check the box for ‘Debugging Tools for Windows’ and click ‘OK’.
For WinDbg to work properly it must be able to download ‘symbols’: files that help the debugger convert raw binary information into the function and variable names used by Windows components. These can be saved locally – a good idea as it’ll mean you only have to download them once. Create a folder for them – something like ‘C:\Windows\Symbols’ will be ideal. You’ll then need to tell the program where its symbols can be found and saved. Click Start, type WinDbg and click the ‘WinDbg.exe’ link to launch the debugger. Click ‘File | Symbol File Path’ to see the current path. Next, enter a path like SRV*c:\windows\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols in the box, where ‘c:\windows\symbols’ is replaced by the path to your own local symbol folder.

Windows Driver Kit contains the WinDbg component.

Click OK, close the program and click ‘Yes’ when asked if you want to save information for workspace – this will save the path you’ve just entered. It’s important to check that Windows is configured to create memory dump files when your PC crashes, because WinDbg needs these to figure out what was happening at the time. To set this up, click Start, right-click ‘Computer’ and click ‘Properties | Advanced system settings | Startup and Recovery Settings’. Ensure that the ‘Write an event to the system log’ box is checked to make sure that Windows collects information on your crashes. Next, clear the ‘Automatically restart’ box so that you’ll have a chance to read any on-screen error messages, and select ‘Kernel memory dump’ in the ‘Write debugging information’ list to ensure Windows saves all its memory blocks if it crashes.
Make a note of the dump file name – it’s probably ‘Memory.dmp’. This is the crash dump file you’ll need to locate later. Finally, click ‘OK’ to finish the job.

Create a report

Once WinDbg has been set up, it’s surprisingly easy to use at a basic level, and absolutely anyone can use it to find out more about their system’s last crash. To give this a try for yourself, click Start, type WinDbg and click the WinDbg link. Click ‘File | Open Crash Dump’, then navigate to and select your last crash dump file. This will probably be at?‘\Windows\Memory.dmp’, although you may have additional files in ‘\Windows\Minidump’.
Click ‘Open’, then wait as the file is analysed. This can take a while – five minutes or more – depending on the complexity of the dump file and the speed of your PC, so be patient. A ‘0 : kd>’ prompt appears at the bottom of the screen when it’s done, and you can then scan the rest of the report to see what’s on offer.

The crash dump can make for interesting reading.

Typically, near the bottom of the report, you’ll see a line like ‘Probably caused by : driver.sys’, where ‘driver.sys’ is replaced by the name of the file that WinDbg believes was responsible for the crash. Perfect! If you don’t recognise the name, Google it – maybe with additional keywords like blue screen – and you might immediately discover the app behind the instability, as well as some potential fixes.
Blue-screen crashes can be complicated, though, because the file that caused the crash isn’t necessarily the one responsible for your problems. That sounds odd, but look at it this way: if a faulty driver gives Windows an incorrect memory location, then this may be passed on to several other Windows components. Eventually one may try to access the memory, triggering a crash in that file – but the real problem is in the driver.
If WinDbg names some core Windows component or another application that you’re sure is working just fine, then it may be a problem like this. You’ll need to do a little more research to figure out what’s really going on.

Dig a bit deeper

Scan your WinDbg report again, looking for lines highlighted with ‘** ERROR’, complaining that ‘symbols could not be loaded’ for a particular file. If you’ve correctly configured WinDbg then it will be able to load symbols with Windows components with no problem, so you’ll know that these must be third-party drivers that were active at the time of the crash. Anything named like this is a possible culprit: again, search the web for the filename and you may locate other crash reports.
If that turns up nothing then click in the command line at the bottom of the WinDbg window, type !analyze –v (the ‘-v’ means ‘verbose’) and press [Enter] for a more detailed analysis of your crash file. The verbose report will be very much in developer-speak, with lots of figures, pointers, and development-related jargon, but you don’t have to understand all of it. Just pick out the parts that provide more information.
You’ll probably see an error message that spells out the crash reason, for instance. In one of our tests, the first report simply said our crash was ‘probably caused by nvlddmkm.sys’. The verbose report explained that the crash occurred when an ‘attempt to reset the display driver and recover from timeout failed’, which is much more specific and useful. If something similar appeared for you then you might install the latest driver updates for your display driver, and maybe that would solve the problem.
The verbose report may also contain details of the stack, essentially a list of the functions being called by Windows and your software immediately before the crash. This looks complicated – and to be honest, it is – but again, you don’t have to understand every word. All you’re looking to do is figure out what your PC was trying to do when the crash occurred, and the stack can offer very useful clues.

Read the stack

Open a crash dump file in WinDbg, type the command k and press [Enter], and you’ll see the stack, which is a list of the program functions that were called just before your crash occurred. These activities could give you a clue as to the general cause of your crashes.

The stack is baffling at the best of times, but it's the key to discovering the source of crash problems.

The oldest function on the stack is at the bottom, so you should start there and read up. Each line has two memory-related values followed by a function name, such as this: ‘00000000 00000000 nt!KiThreadStartup?+0x16’. Forget the numbers – it’s the function name that matters. In this case, the ‘nt’ before the exclamation mark tells us it’s a Windows kernel function, and ‘KiThreadStartup’ means it’s starting a thread.
You’ll almost certainly have different function names in your stack, but unless they’re very vague, don’t spend too long Googling them. All you really need to do is figure out generally what your PC was doing when it crashed. If most of the names begin with ‘dxgkrnl!-something-’, these are DirectX Graphics Kernel functions. This means your PC was engaged in something video-related when it crashed, so the video driver may be the cause. If a function begins with ‘tcpip!’ then it’s network-related, ‘ntfs!’ refers to the filesystem, ’mm!’ is the memory manager, and so on. The activity you find may not be the cause of the crash, but it’s another factor to consider.

Examine your system

If the standard and verbose reports can’t explain your crashes, you should take a closer look at your PC’s configuration at crash time. It’s just a matter of choosing the right command.
Typing !vm and pressing [Enter] will display comprehensive details on your system’s memory use, for instance. Scroll down the report, looking for oddities. For example, is there a warning of ‘excessive usage’ around the ‘paged pool’ or ‘non-paged pool’ details? This could mean that you have a resource leak somewhere, perhaps a driver that’s allocating Windows resources but not releasing them.
Is your paging file near its maximum size, maybe? If this is happening, it may also be aused by a resource leak, or perhaps you’ve manually set it to a size that’s smaller than it needs to be. Finally, below the general report is a list of Windows components and the RAM they were consuming at crash time. Does anything stand out?
The Process command can also be useful, as it shows you the system processes that were running at crash time. Type !process 0 0 (to clarify, those are zeroes) and press [Enter] to get the full list. Look for the HandleCount number here – this shows you how many Windows objects a process has open. This is normally a few hundred, perhaps a few thousand in some cases, but if it’s many thousands without an obvious good reason – it’s not an antivirus tool scanning your entire system, for instance – then again this might indicate that there’s a problem.
For the in-depth report on exactly which processes were in memory when your PC crashed, type lmv and press [Enter]. The command is an abbreviation for ‘Loaded Modules Verbose’, and the report gives you a very long list of programs, drivers and Windows components that were active at crash time. Have a scroll through the list, and you’ll probably find many drivers that you never knew you had. On our test PC, for instance, were drivers installed by HWiNFO32, VMware, VirtualBox, Paragon Partition Manager, assorted security tools and more.
If you want to keep similar third-party drivers on your PC, that’s fine. If you spot any relating to applications that you no longer use, though, it’s a good idea to uninstall them. There’s no guarantee that it will stop your blue-screen crashes, but you’ll free up a few system resources and simplify your system, and that’s always a solid step forward.
Perhaps the most important point of all is not to give up. Crash dump analysis is tricky, and WinDbg won’t always help with every crash, but you should keep digging anyway. It’s likely that, before long, it will provide the clues you need to get your PC running smoothly again.

Diagnose locked and hung applications

WinDbg isn’t just about troubleshooting blue-screen crashes – it can provide useful information regarding regular application crashes and hangs, too. If a program seems to have locked up, for instance, then press [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[Esc] to launch Task Manager, click the Applications tab, right-click the hung application and select ‘Create Dump File’. This only works in Windows Vista and 7, though, not XP.

See what your running processes are doing with your system's memory.

After a moment or two Task Manager will tell you where on your system it has created the file (this will usually be somewhere under ?‘\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local’). Launch WinDbg, click ‘File | Open Crash Dump’ and open that file, using the command !analyze –hang –v for more clues about the cause of the problem.
You can use the other WinDbg commands we’ve described here, too, but application dumps contain different information to regular crash dump files, and the results aren’t always as clear. You’re unlikely to get accurate memory information from the !VM command, for instance. The differences mean that you should be careful how you interpret application crash dump reports.

Use workspaces

By default WinDbg will regularly ask if it should save information for workspace. Essentially this means saving your current settings, and when you first enter the symbol path this is essential. Otherwise, though, we’d recommend clicking the ‘No’ button – it’ll ensure the program works with its default settings, which is probably best for casual WinDbg users. If you find yourself using WinDbg a lot, though, it may be worth learning how workspaces can help. The NT Debugging blog has a detailed post that explains all that can be found at bit.ly/99yPCU.

For More Check Related Links :

Build a Browser-Friendly Website

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 09:34:00 -0800

Complete an exhaustive soak test to minimise any niggling browser problems your site may experience when going live.

Building a great website is tough, but finishing the code and layout is only half the story. Too many sites have problems after going live because they weren’t tested properly first. Lots of things can and do go wrong, from poorly formatted code that some browsers choke on, to pages that break when opened on other platforms. If you developed your site on a Mac, what guarantee do you have that it’ll look the same on a PC, for example?

Your site is a prism for browser light. Make sure it's not a flawed one.

Even now, when HTML structures are likely to be served as part of a CMS template system, it’s important that all the basics are in place. You need a soak test: a checklist of crucial areas that you can test are working before the site goes live. That’s exactly what we’ve put together here. Follow our tips and your site will be as problem-free as possible.

Clean up your code

Clean, glitch-free code with no stray tags or unclosed comments looks better, is easier to edit and is less likely to spring surprises on you when your site goes live. WYSIWYG web authoring tools already include features for tidying up your code. Let’s face it – some of us really need them. Dreamweaver will even format and indent your HTML following your configuration guidelines. Go to ‘Commands | Clean Up HTML’ or ‘Clean Up XHTML’.
We prefer to run static code through HTML Tidy, which is available as a stand-alone program from http://tidy.sourceforge.net/#binaries, or as a plug-in for manual code-editing tool NoteTab Light. The software deletes stray tags, adds any missing tag elements and completes open tags for you.

Meet HTML standards

Compliance with World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards makes your sites more accessible and usable, and also helps them to perform well on multiple platforms. You can see whether your site is compliant with XHTML and CSS standards by using W3C’s online validation tools. You’ll find the main testing page at http://validator.w3.org. This gives you a full breakdown of all the syntax and code errors in any page submitted. You can then update your code in accordance with the guidelines. Don’t be disheartened if your site fails. Some of the web’s biggest sites have XHTML errors according to the validator, including Google and Microsoft’s homepages.

There are numerous tools online that will validate your site for compliance with the relevant standards.

To use the W3C’s validation tool, go to http://validator.w3.org and enter the URL of the web page you wish to test. You can also upload code from a local machine or paste HTML mark-up into the Direct Input box. The validator can only check one page at a time.

Meet CSS standards

There’s a second service available to help you check and correct CSS scripts. It can be found at http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator. Again, you can point the validator to a version of the file you wish to check online, upload the code or paste it directly into a box.
The errors returned come with detailed explanations of how you can fix them. The validator will identify even the smallest of problems, including missing line terminators and brackets.

Enable resizing

Remember the early days of the web, when sites came with front-page disclaimers such as 'Optimised for Internet Explorer at a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels'? How we groaned. Don't forget that people are viewing your site on different platforms, with different display settings and monitor resolutions. Enabling your page to resize to any browser means that it will work better on multiple platforms, from desktop machines to handheld devices. The key is to use percentage sizes when creating

layers rather than specifying fixed sizes. It’s a tough habit to get into, especially if you’ve become used to creating exactly positioned layouts.

Resizer is essential for testing the flexibility of your site's design.

First, check that your site looks good on the largest monitor size your setup can muster, then work backwards – down to 800 x 600 pixels. Right-click your Windows desktop and choose ‘Properties’. Click ‘Settings’ and you’ll be able to change your default desktop resolution using a slider. If you use Vista, choose ‘Personalise’ from the contextual menu instead. It’s even easier in Windows 7 – there should be a right-click menu item labelled ‘Screen Resolution’. Some video card control panels let you do this without venturing into Windows’ display settings.

Test on all browsers

It’s important to make sure that pages look the same in the big five browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera. Fire up your site in each of these and make a careful comparison. Here’s a quick tip: if you have two browsers open showing the same page, right-click on an empty part of the Windows taskbar and choose ‘Tile windows horizontally’ (or ‘Show windows side by side’ on Windows 7). This makes it easier to spot differences.
Five browsers on one system may seem like overload, but there are ways to cut that down. If you’re a Firefox user, you can install IE Tab, a plug-in that enables you to view pages using Internet Explorer’s rendering engine. There’s also Chrome View, which renders pages in Firefox using Google Chrome. In short, get Firefox.

Test on Macs and PCs

Your pages should look the same on Macs as they do on PCs running Windows, whether you have access to one or not. The best method is to borrow a Mac to test your site. If you’re developing for a professional audience, you can employ the services of Browsercam instead.

The Litmus test. Run your site through actual browsers on actual operating systems. For a price...

Litmus uses a bank of testing machines running multiple browsers on all the main OSes. For a subscription fee of $49 (£30) a month, it lets you test an unlimited number of web pages. You enter your site’s URL and receive screenshots as it appears on Macs and Windows systems running any of 24 web browsers. Most of the important ones are included, with different iterations of Firefox, IE and Chrome on Windows, and Safari and Camino on the Mac. The only current important omission we can spot is the Mac version of Chrome. $39 (£24) buys you a 14-day ‘project pass’, which is a good choice if you only have a single site to test.

Testing for free

These are trying financial times for most of us, so here are a couple of free solutions. The runaway leader is Adobe Lab’s Flash- and Flex-based BrowserLab. It’s similar to Litmus in that it gives you a side-by-side view of a given URL in a set of chosen browsers. The tool is currently in limited beta and you’ll need an Adobe user account to use the service. Once in, you enter a URL, pick a browser and platform (or choose from the default browser set), then pick your view. As well as side-by-side comparisons, there’s an ‘Onion Skin’ mode that helpfully enables you to see the output of one browser laid over that of another. BrowserLab renders pages using the main browsers on Mac and Windows.
If you’re unable to access BrowserLab, BrowserShots was once a favourite of ours and is still good for checking multiple versions of Internet Explorer on Windows. Support for Macs has waned, but there are Linux- and Windows-based WebKit browsers included. WebKit is the rendering engine used in Apple Safari, and Google Chrome uses a tweaked version.

Check your gamma

A perennial brain-ache for designers working on Macs and PCs is that, until recently, Mac displays had different default gamma settings to PC monitors. These settings determine the relative brightness of the screen. PCs have a gamma setting of 2.2, whereas Macs had a gamma setting of 1.8. We say ‘had’, because that changed with the release of OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), which sets display gamma to 2.2 – the same as PCs and TVs. Even so, many people still use older Macs, and there’s a disproportionate number of Mac-based designers. The result? Images produced on pre-Snow Leopard Macs can look muddy on PCs, while PC-created pics can seem washed out on older Macs. The solution is to check images at both gamma settings to make sure they look OK either way.

You can never be entirely sure of the look of your site, but it does pay to test varying gamma settings.

Adobe Photoshop has a built-in Mac (or PC) gamma preview feature. Select ‘2 Up’ in the Save for Web dialog, then set an image to render using the setting ‘Macintosh (no colour management)’. It’s arguably more important that Mac-based designers get it right than PC users – and if you’re a Mac owner, you can switch your display to PC gamma in the Display section of the System Preferences panel. Click ‘Colour’, choose the current profile and click ‘Calibrate’. Work your way through the Display Calibration Assistant and choose ‘2.2 Television Gamma’.

Buy a Mac

If you have a lot of sites to test, it might be worth investing in one of Apple’s diminutive Mac Minis. They start at £510 (or even less on the second-hand market), are small, stylish and make excellent media centre PCs. Load yours up with Google Chrome, Camino and Firefox and you’ll be ready to test as many sites as you need to. You don’t even need to leave your PC to do so – you can use free remote desktop software TeamViewer to access and control any application on a TeamViewer-equipped Mac from a PC, or vice versa. The machines don’t even have to be on the same LAN, because connectivity is routed over the internet.

DDA accessibility

Your site needs to be accessible to all users – that’s the law. The Disability Discrimination Act is the main legislation covering this area, and the guidelines you need to match have been laid out by the World Wide Web Consortium. Full details are at www.w3.org/WAI.

Accessibility testing will help make your site available to all potential visitors.

There are fewer online accessibility testing services available in 2010 than there were in 2000 because many of them have become commercial. For example, you can use Adobe Dreamweaver to produce an accessibility report. Go to ‘Site | Reports’, then go through the Accessibility section to select elements to test.
Fujitsu offers a free tool that does a similar job, letting you test your site locally on Windows or Mac OS X. Download the Web Accessibility Inspector from www.bit.ly/aDgNZD. There’s also the Fangs screen reader emulator (www.bit.ly/bDhCfQ). It’s an add-on for Firefox that shows you how your pages will be seen by readers, enabling you to tweak the textual content.

Speed

The need for speed never went away – you should still optimise images and link to multimedia rather than embedding it directly. This is particularly pertinent in the light of Google’s recent admission that page speed is a component of its labyrinthine page rank algorithm.
OctaGate SiteTimer is a free service that not only tells you how speedy your pages are to download, but also pinpoints exactly where any bottlenecks may occur. As pages download, SiteTimer saves data on every element, recording how long each takes to download. More recently, Google came up with Page Speed, a Firefox add-on that you can use to generate a report on your code and your web server’s efficiency in delivering it. If there’s a bottleneck, Page Speed will find it.

User experience testing

Big web companies pay lots of cash to have their sites tested by specialist usability testing agencies. They’re looking for problems with the navigation system, embedded media and the site’s overall flow. However, you can cobble together your own tests with very few resources. All you really need is a group of people, some computers, a site to test and the right set of questions. Your first task is to gather a test group together. The group doesn’t have to be large, but its makeup should correspond roughly to your site’s target demographic.
Present your subjects with variations on your site or page design. Are you unsure where the shopping cart works best, or whether that dark, hi-tech colour scheme works better than a lighter, cleaner presentation? Try the different layouts out on your group of test subjects.
Put together a list of questions to ask your test group. You could ask them to rate site navigation, look and feel and whether they could easily find what they wanted. You could also ask them specifically what they liked and disliked about each aspect of the site.

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Trap Wi-Fi Thieves

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 09:33:00 -0800

Bolster your wireless network’s security and find out if there’s a neighbourhood Wi-Fi leech sucking your bandwidth

Turn the tables on the masked criminal looking to capture the valuable data being transferred on your wireless network.

Wireless networks are a wonderful invention. With them you can easily deploy a complex network of computers without the need to wire them up beyond finding power sockets for each. Unfortunately, this ease of use can mean that, without proper precautions, neighbourhood parasites can leech bandwidth and generally use your network against your wishes. Trapping such people is easy with a little thought and some borrowed equipment, as we will demonstrate.
Start by grabbing these tools. InSSIDer, an open source Windows tool, is used for scanning and reporting on local wireless networks. Find the latest version at www.metageek.net/products/inssider. Wireshark is the industry standard network traffic monitor is perfect for sniffing out illegal connections. Grab it from www.wireshark.org. Now we're ready to begin.

What is wireless?

What’s usually called Wi-Fi belongs to a family of wireless networking technologies more properly called IEE 802.11.These all use the same protocol for transmitting and receiving data over short distances. Home wireless routers and hubs (commonly called a wireless access points) conform to the 802.11g variant of the specification. This uses transmission frequencies centred on 2.4GHz. Each transmission channel gives a raw data throughput of either 54 or 65 Mbits/sec depending on your equipment. However, the useful data transmission rate is more like 19 Mbits/sec – the rest of the available bandwidth being used for error correction, encryption and packet collision detection.
Wireless LANs operate on one of 13 channels. If you’re getting low data transfer rates, it’s worth changing your wireless access point to use a different channel because the chances are that another network in the neighbourhood is using the same one. Using the same channel won’t cause data leakage onto other networks because each is also uniquely identified and should feature strong encryption.

Encrypt to survive

Encryption is vital in wireless networks. There are two main standards in popular use. The first, older, and decidedly less secure standard is called Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). The original idea behind WEP was that it would be as secure as using a wired network. However, it’s been widely known for around half a decade that if you can capture enough data packets of a secure connection, its WEP encryption can be cracked using freely available hacking tools.
After cracking WEP encryption on a target network, it’s possible for a hacker to then read the login credentials required to connect to that network. After that, it’s a case of discovering and exploiting whatever vulnerabilities he finds on the network to consolidate his hold over it, possibly by deploying a keylogger to snatch identities, as well as using your computers for the storage of files he wouldn’t necessarily want on his own network. And, of course, the core aim is likely to leech your bandwidth to download undesirable content.
For this reason, WEP should no longer be used. In its place, your wireless network should support WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access – it’s part of the 802.11g standard). This features far stronger encryption and the tools used to crack it are still either at the proof-of-concept stage or take so long to run that updating your passwords regularly will mean that your wireless network remains a very slippery target indeed.
If your network is still set up to use WEP, stop reading immediately, log into your wireless access point’s web interface, to go to the admin page and select WPA (or if available, the stronger variant WPA2) and save the configuration. Now disconnect and reconnect your computers to the network and they’ll begin using the stronger encryption. That done, let’s now explore the neighbourhood.

Network Discovery

The first task a hacker will go through when scouting for Wi-Fi targets is checking the potential networks that are in range to find the best one to attack. While you could simply use your computer’s Wi-Fi connectivity software to discover local networks, there are better tools available online that will show you far more.
One such tool is the free InSSIDer from MetaGeek (www.metageek.com). After downloading, installation on a computer with a wireless network card is as simple as running the installation package and clicking Next a couple of times.
You don’t need to be a member of a wireless network to run InSSIDer. Run it and select your wireless network interface from the pull-down list at the top of the InSSIDer window. Click the Start Scanning button and the interface begins to fill with networks. At the top is a table containing a line for each network the program discovers. This contains information ranging from the wireless access point device each network uses, and the name (called the SSID) of the network, to the signal strength and the type of security used.
In the lower, larger section of the interface are real time graphs of the signal strengths of each network as they change over time. Water in the atmosphere absorbs radio waves, so if the weather’s bad, you may see lower signal strengths than on a bright, dry day. Such fluctuations in atmospheric interference will cause networks on the edge of the detectable range to occasionally pop up and disappear again.

InSSIDer shows you – and any passing ne’er do wells - exactly what’s going on in the wireless neighbourhood.

In the right hand pane is a chart showing the signal strengths as the height of a set of bell curves centred on the channels used. If you’re not getting very good bandwidth over your wireless network, try changing the access point’s channel to one that isn’t in use by the networks around you and reconnect.
As a general guide, the RSSI (received signal strength indication) column in the table is a useful measure of the distance between you and each network’s base station. This can be used to get a rough idea of whose networks you can see if they’ve not been readily identifiable from their SSID.
The SSID is the “service ser ID”. This is the user-defined name of the network. When you buy a new wireless access point, the SSID will usually be set to a default. If you leave this as it is, it gives people a good indication that little if any configuration or security work has been done. If the network is also using the insecure WEP encryption (or worse, no encryption at all), it is open to easy abuse.
InSSIDer gives you a great way to see what Wi-Fi networks are in your neighbourhood. However, if you find a network that has no protection at all, don’t be tempted to join it and leech bandwidth. It may that an incompetent neighbour has set it up and doesn’t realise that it’s open to abuse, but it may equally have been set up deliberately. It’s possible that someone may have set up a data collection utility such as Wireshark on the open network. If you connect to the network, the person who owns it will be able to see everything you do.

To Catch a Hacker

So let’s turn the tables. Let’s now use this technique to set a tricky trap for anyone in the vicinity who may fancy exploring networks and leeching bandwidth that doesn’t belong to them. It’s a technique you can use to monitor traffic on your own networks in general as well as to determine if someone’s trying to use your wireless network. The technique is one of many dubbed a ‘honeypot’ – something which looks sweet and inviting but may in fact contain hundreds of stinging bees.
Honeypots are computers or even entire networks that seem to be unprotected. They’re designed to tempt hackers and malware to explore and infect them. In reality, they’re heavily monitored and protected, and some even use sophisticated software that can exactly emulate the responses to attacks generated by real computers. Researchers use them to detect new strains of malware, but we can use a honeypot wireless network to catch bandwidth leeches.
The technique involves setting up a wireless network without any protection and monitoring it for unauthorised connections. The network is physically isolated, but anyone joining it illegally won’t know that. It just looks like a juicy connection waiting to be exploited.
To set up a simple wireless honeypot, you first need a spare wireless access point for potential hackers and freeloaders to attempt to access. This is plugged into an old network hub. The hub is important because whatever traffic it receives on one port, it automatically retransmits it on all others. This doesn’t happen in a network switch, which is why we need a hub. Into another port on the hub you plug a computer running a traffic-monitoring program, begin collecting data, and wait for the fun to begin.
The monitoring program we’ll use is the industry standard, open source Wireshark. This is used by network security professionals the world over and is very easy to set up and use.

Setting the Trap

Go to the Wireshark site and download the latest Windows version. This is compatible with all supported versions of Windows form XP onwards. As with InSSIDer, installation is a simple matter of running the downloaded executable and accepting the defaults. Unlike Linux, Windows doesn’t have the ability to put its network card into “promiscuous” mode. In this mode, it will accept all traffic, thereby allowing Wireshark to monitor whatever flows past. To enable the card to be put into promiscuous mode, part of the Wireshark installation procedure will install a library called WinPcap.
Once installed, run Wireshark and select your wired network interface card from the interface list. This begins a collection session. You should begin to see traffic being sent every few seconds by the wireless access point as it monitors and discovers resources, and asks who has which IP address. You’ll also see traffic from the PC upon which Wireshark runs sending traffic.

Wireshark installed. The interface is very simple to use – just select an interface and it begins collecting traffic.

On the monitoring PC, log into the wireless access point’s web-based management page and set security to “none”. If there’s a function for returning it to its factory settings, run this to reset all passwords.
Test your handiwork by joining the network wirelessly from another computer. On the joining computer, open a command line and enter the command ‘ipconfig/all’. Find the wireless network card’s details in the morass of information that appears. Make a note of its IP address. If you now click the source or destination columns in Wireshark to sort the incoming information, you can easily find the traffic being generated by this IP address.
The traffic reveals a surprising amount of detail, including the machine’s name and its MAC address. If, while monitoring, you find other computers joining the network, you know someone is exploring. Their machine’s Windows name, as well as its MAC and current IP addresses, will be recorded by Wireshark.

Wireshark in the act of capturing data flowing into the honeypot from a computer that has just joined the wireless network.

The person who connected was obviously scanning the neighbourhood looking for new networks to join, so why not have a little fun by letting him know you’re on to him? Try changing the name of the network to his computer’s name or some other piece of identifying information, and crank the security up to WPA2, ensuring that he won’t be able to do anything about it. Doing so may scare him sufficiently to leave you well alone in future.

Change Your Defaults

Changing all the default settings for your wireless access point is, after engaging WPA or WPA2 encryption, one of the best yet simplest things you can do to remain secure.
To begin, change the administration password for the access point. The default may seem obscure to you, but there are plenty of default password lists available online that will enable someone to change your configuration (and even lock you out) very easily.
Change the network name (the SSID) to something other than the default and turn off the option to broadcast it. After all, there’s no reason unauthorised computers should know anything about your network – not even the name. In Windows this should make the network appear as an unknown network.
Work your way through your wireless access point’s manual and get to know its more obscure and possibly unique security features. If your broadband connection is always on, for example, and if your access point supports restricting access by time of day, set up a schedule to prevent access between perhaps midnight and 8am when you’re not using the network.
It’s also important to learn how to reset your access point’s settings back to the factory defaults. This is important for both if you decide to sell the equipment, and also if you either forget a password or want to start again from scratch.

Generate Memorable, Strong Passwords

Strong passwords are more essential to life online than ever before, but the technology to crack them has kept pace with the rest of computer technology. Simple dictionary words are no longer considered secure, and neither is the technique of combining two short words into one.
Random jumble of letters, numbers and symbols make the strongest passwords, but they’re also the easiest to forget, so here’s a technique to generate complex passwords that are also very memorable. The key is to generate them from a song you personally know well, but which no one else knows you know.
Take the initial letters from the first line or so and the resulting jumble of letters is quite random. Change the vowels to numbers (or even the symbols above the numbers on the keyboard), for even greater complexity.

Test the strength of your passwords to withstand automated cracking using Microsoft’s own online tool.

You can test the strength of your proposed password using Microsoft’s online password strength tester at: tinyurl.com/yaej5yu. Aim for a rating of “strong”, but if you can manage “best” by combining more than one line from the song into the password, all the better.
If you forget your password, start with the first line of the song, convert it into a password and try it. If it doesn’t work, move onto the next, and so on. Provided you never divulge the song from which the passwords were generated, they’ll remain very difficult to crack. When it comes time to change the password, simply generate it from the next line on from the last.

MAC Address filtering

As another line of wireless defence, if your access point supports it, enable MAC address filtering. The MAC (media access control) address is a globally unique hardware address assigned to every network card on the planet. By only granting access to those computers whose MAC addresses appear on a list maintained by the wireless access point, you can make it far more difficult for would-be hackers.
To find the MAC address of a Windows computer, open a command line and enter the command ‘ipconfig/all’. This lists the details of all network cards, both wired and wireless. The MAC address is in the form nn-nn-nn-nn-nn-nn, where each ‘nn’ is a pair of hex digits, and is called the physical address. An example would be 00-71-45-32-A4-F7. In Linux, the command iwconfig will give you details of the wireless network card.
You may need to look through the manual for your wireless access point to find out how to enable MAC filtering and how to enter MAC addresses, but once done, only your computers should be able to join your wireless network.
There are several sneaky tools that will enable a hacker to spoof his MAC address, but they rely on being able to gain access to traffic to find an existing, authorised MAC address. In a domestic environment, hackers with so much knowledge shouldn’t be a worry.

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FreeBSD For Beginners

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 09:27:00 -0800

If operating systems were ski runs, Linux would be a relatively challenging blue. Get ready for the BSD red run.

Any operating system that contains the letters B, S and D usually conjures images of geeky elitism, arcane interfaces and the undead world of UNIX. Despite its similarity, this is an image Linux has largely been able to shake off, thanks to its friendly graphical installers and configuration tools. But BSDs can offer a unique insight into what has made Linux popular, as well as an opportunity to hone your command-line and trouble shooting skills in a world that might be getting too easy. And while you do need a little technical confidence to get any BSD system up and running, it's not half as difficult as it first appears.

FreeBSD is not as demonic as its logo might suggest. Honest.

FreeBSD is a the most popular implementation of version 4.4 of the Berkeley Software Distribution. This was the original BSD, a version of UNIX that was developed between the late-70s and the mid-90s and used a famously liberal licence. This licence has meant that anyone can use, copy and redistribute and re-implement its code and APIs. Which is exactly what FreeBSD attempts to do, alongside other projects like OpenBSD and NetBSD. In turn, there are many projects like Apple’s OS X that build upon the foundations in FreeBSD, all thanks to the liberal licences of the original.

Step 1: Prologue

There are several important differences between FreeBSD and Linux, but the most fundamental is the kernel. The term ‘Linux’ is most often used to refer to the entire operating system, from the boot code and drivers to the desktop and the applications. We’d call Ubuntu, Fedora and OpenSUSE different versions of Linux, for instance. But this definition isn’t accurate. ‘Linux’ should only really refer to the kernel - the chunk of code at the heart of the system that deals with hardware, networking, drivers, storage, CPU and process management, and the BSD kernel is entirely different.
The Linux kernel that was originally developed by Linus Torvalds, and it’s still the only part of the whole operating system he has control over. The remainder of what makes a complete operating system, the windowing environment, the desktops and the applications, are pulled from open source project that are mostly using one of the the GNU Public Licences. Hence, the official name for the entire Linux operating system is really GNU/Linux to show that there are two parts of the whole project. Which is why replacing the kernel isn’t a trivial operation.

Don't be scared of text mode. It's part of Linux's legacy, and serves a very useful purpose.

Any new kernel needs to be broadly compatible with Linux so that the remainder of the software stack can be ported without too much difficulty. Fortunately, both FreeBSD and Linux are UNIX-alike, which means there are many similarities, and the result is that with a standard installation, you'll find many of the tools you're already familiar with, albeit in a different configuration.
Many system administrators feel FreeBSD is has been a more stable choice for servers over the years, and that it can out-perform its cousin on certain tasks. It's also a great choice if you want to run a server on limited hardware, as the requirements for a BSD-based system are often less than for the Linux equivalent. FreeBSD, for example, lists its minimum requirements as a 486 CPU with 24MB RAM, which is quite staggering in today's world of terabytes and quad core processors. FreeBSD is also a i386-based platform. There are ports to other processors, but the project's focus has always been compatibility with Intel's standard architecture, and as a result, could be better suited to the majority of machines that parts of the Linux kernel.

Step 2: Installation

While there are Live CD versions of FreeBSD, the traditional install disc is still the most common medium for getting hold of the latest version. But you'll need to steel yourself against its antiquated installation mechanism.
When you boot your machine with the disc in the drive, the first thing you’ll see is the black and white ASCII art of the install menu. You won't see any other graphical embellishment until you're able to boot successfully into a working desktop. For most installs, you’ll need to choose option 1 from the menu, but if you’re using an older machine, you may want to try 2 (with ACPI disabled) to avoid any potential problems.

Unlike trial Linux installation packages like Wubi, installing BSD has a tendency to be destructive. Make sure you're not going to obliterate anything important before continuing.

You’ll then have to wait a few moments while various kernel messages scroll by before you’ll see the text-based installation and configuration screen. If you’ve used Debian, this kind of text installer will feel familiar. There's no linearity to the install process. You can move backwards and forwards through the various options, and continue to make adjustments to the installation until you quit the installer and restart the system.
For a basic, working environment, you will need to do at least the following. Select the second option in the menu to initiate a ‘Standard Install’ and read the information on the screen that follows. The next page displays ‘fdisk’, the disk partitioning and formatting tool. Press F1 for documentation, but if you’re using your entire hard drive for this installation, press ‘a’ to select everything, followed by ‘q’ to apply the changes. This will delete everything currently on the drive, so be careful.
The next page will ask if you want to install a boot loader, which is the menu that lets you choose between whatever operating systems you have installed. Choose the second option (BootMGR), and on the following page, you need to create the various partitions used by FreeBSD using the same fdisk-like interface we've just seen.
Once again, if you're using an entire drive for the installation, you can just press ‘a’ to let the installer create the most appropriate array of partitions followed by ‘q’ to make the changes permanent.
The next page will ask you to choose a distribution. Unlike a Linux distribution, FreeBSD uses the term to refer to the default selection of packages that are to be installed. Select 'Custom' and add 'base' and 'kernels > GENERIC' to your installation.
This will give you enough package to get a working system, and we'll need to add the desktop environment at a later stage. Return to the 'Exit' option at the top of the list and press space to jump into the package installation routine.

Step 3: Post-Install

After all the preliminary configuration has completed, you’ll be asked whether you want to configure any Ethernet or SLIP/PPP devices. Select ‘Yes’ if you are connecting to the internet through your machine’s ethernet port, and you should see your adaptor listed in the top of thew connections list. Choose the adaptor, say no to IPV6, say yes to DHCP and skip through the configuration page to the OK button. Say 'no' to your machine being a network gateway,'no' to enabling any inetd services or running SSH, FTP and NFS server and clients, and don't edit the console settings. You can safely setup a timezone for your machine and enable the PS2 mouse emulation if you're using one.

Don't worry too much about your initial selection of packages. You can easily add more later.

Say 'Yes' to the next question, and you'll now be looking at the package manager. This is where you choose what applications you want to be installed on top of the default option we chose earlier, and there are thousands of packages to choose between. For a simple setup, jump into the ‘x11’ menu and select the 'kde4-4.3.1' package. It's exact name will depend on the version of FreeBSD you’re playing with. If you’re not a fan of Gnome, you could also choose ‘gnome2-2’ from the same list of packages. Selecting either will also mark their dependencies for installation. You also need to select xorg-7, and any other packages you know you're going to need.
When you’re ready to go, jump back to the top package list, select ‘Install’ and press space. You’ll need to wait a while for all the packages to install. The next step is to create a user account. You can do this by saying 'Yes' to the option, then selecting 'Add User', and entering a user name in the page that follows. Select OK to make the change permanent and exit from the users and groups menu. You'll then be asked for the system manager's password, and you'll need to type this twice.
After that, you can say ‘No’ to the post-install configuration request and wait for your machine to reboot. You're now at the point where you should have a basic, working installation, and you can quit from the installation menu and restart your system.

Step 4: Configuration

When your machine re-appears, you'll be greeted by the sombre monochrome of the command line. Login as 'root' with your system manager's password. For both Gnome and KDE, you need to add the following two lines to the '/etc/rc.conf' configuration file:

dbus_enable="YES" hald_enable="YES"

Unfortunately, you're going to need to use the 'vi' text editor. Type 'vi /etc/rc.conf' to load the file. Press 'i' to enter insert mode, move to a new line and type the following. Press escape to exit insert mode, followed by ':wq' (without quotes) to save the changes and quit the editor. Next type 'reboot' to restart your system.

FreeBSD doesn't come with a desktop activated by default, but it's simple enough to change.

When you get back to the login screen, enter your user account details this time, and when you get dropped back to the command line, type 'vi .xinitrc' and add the following line to the file:

exec /usr/local/kde4/bin/startkde4

This is telling your system that when the X.org graphical system starts, you want KDE to be used as your desktop environment. Save and exit vi.

Step 5: Launch Desktop

Usually, at this point, you need to create an 'xorg.conf' file to define the display properties for your machine. But recent releases of the X server are able to create a working configuration without any further editing. Which means typing 'startx' is all you need to do to launch a graphical environment running KDE. If this doesn't work, then you will need to create create a working /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.
But with FreeBSD 8, it's more likely that you are now looking at KDE running through its Akanadi porting routines as it builds up a configuration for your desktop. After a couple of minutes, this will leave you with a KDE desktop running on-top of FreeBSD, and you've just earned another trophy for your awards cabinet.

At long last: a GUI! And one of the more stable interfaces you'll find. Here's hoping BSD serves you well.

This is exactly the same KDE you'll find on Linux, and you'll be hard pressed to find any difference between the way it works on FreeBSD and the way it works with Kubuntu. It's only when it comes to system configuration that you'll notice because FreeBSD doesn't have any graphical configuration tools, which means if you need to change anything, you've got to be prepared to go back to the command line. But that's another story.

Build a Netbook NAS With Linux

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 09:26:00 -0800

Is your netbook nearing the end of its usefulness as a portable? Are you desperate for some network storage? Kill two birds with one stone.

The network-attached storage (NAS) business is booming. Everyone needs a convenient storage pod for the gigabytes of data they accumulate, and they want to be able to access it from anywhere on the local network and the wider internet. As a result, the hardware is getting increasingly powerful. High-end NAS boxes for small businesses and large homes are moving from Arm processors to Intel’s Atom platform, and turning simple file servers into far more capable mini-machines in the process. One of these expanded NAS boxes could operate as a web server, a media transcoder, a UPnP streaming hub for your PS3 and Xbox, and even a virtual desktop. The only problem is that these boxes are expensive – and that’s before buying the hard drives.

OK, it won't look exactly like this. And it's unlikely to have the capacity of an actual NAS. But we reckon there's no better use for that old netbook.

Fortunately, there’s a cheaper way. These NAS boxes aren’t the only hardware to use Intel’s Atom: it’s also used in many netbooks. These machines are often cheap, accessible and easily configurable, and they’re all well suited to the task regardless of their age. They’re energy efficient, unburdened by extra hardware, feature both wireless and wired interfaces, and are small, quiet and cool. Attach a hard drive or two to a USB port, configure the operating system and you’re ready to go. We’re going to turn one of these netbooks into a super-powered NAS using some external USB storage, a LAN connection and some install media.

Install UNR

Not all Linux-based operating systems for netbooks are equal. Linpus, as bundled with the original EeePC, is particularly ill-equipped for updates and customisation, so don’t mess around with your default install if you ever want to use your machine as a netbook again. For these reasons, and to keep your current netbook data safe, we’re going to create a NAS configuration that will sit on a USB flash drive rather than your netbook’s internal storage. This will enable you to return your netbook to normal laptop duties whenever the need arises by simply removing the USB stick. However, you could omit the USB flash drive requirement and just install a new operating system over the old one if you prefer.

Start by installing an appropriate distro. UNR is hard to beat in this context, although you might choose a non-graphical version for your NAS.

There are two popular netbook distributions that we could easily shoehorn into NAS operating systems. The first is Intel’s Moblin, a finely tuned version of Linux that makes good use of a netbook’s limited capabilities. The only problem is that it’s not that easy to modify with simple packages. That leaves us with Canonical’s Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR), a special version of its Ubuntu operating system tailored for netbook hardware and screen sizes. The great advantage that UNR has over Moblin is that it has access to the massive library of packages that are available to any Ubuntu user, so installing and configuring these packages is an identical process on both systems.
To install UNR on your netbook, you need to get hold of an ISO of the latest release (see www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download-netbook). You then have two options. If you’ve got a Windows machine handy, burn the ISO to a disc and run the usb-creator.exe application from it. This will automatically install the distribution onto a USB stick without any further hassle. The second option requires a machine running Ubuntu. Use the Synaptic package manager to download and install a package called usb-creator. After this is done, run USB Startup Disk Creator from the Launch menu. In the top panel of the window that appears, click on the ‘Other’ button and point the file requester in the direction of your UNR ISO. In the lower panel, make sure you select your inserted USB device and click on ‘Format’. Get the wrong device and you’ll lose any data it contains, so be careful.
The end result of both methods is that you’ll have UNR installed on a USB stick. You can now boot into this operating system by simply inserting the USB stick into a spare port on your netbook and rebooting. When the UNR desktop appears, you’re ready to reconfigure.

Add connections

Your netbook is going to need to be connected to your LAN, either through a wireless router or a wired one. The connection is configured through the Connection icon in the top-right border of the main UNR screen. Wireless connections are easier to achieve. Your netbook hardware will be detected and your computer will join the network automatically after you’ve entered any required passwords. However, the wired connection is better for both power use and performance. If you’ve got a spare Ethernet port on your wireless router, for example, you can use this to bridge the wireless connection from your network to the wired connection on your netbook.

Plug in an external drive and Ubuntu should display its contents.

The wired connection will stop your wireless bandwidth becoming saturated if your NAS box is uploading or downloading from the internet, and will provide other wired devices with a faster route to your data. UNR is designed to be easy to use on smaller devices. Instead of the old desktop metaphor used by standard Ubuntu, you’ll find a large array of icons arranged to mimic Ubuntu’s standard Launch menu. Click on a category in the left panel, for instance, and your screen will fill with the icons for the applications contained within the menu. And when you launch an application, UNR cleverly merges the titlebar into your screen’s top bar, saving space on small screens. But these are only cosmetic changes, and you’ll find the same old Ubuntu beneath the surface. Now we need to configure it to automatically mount your remote storage.
When you connect your external USB storage device, UNR will automatically mount the device and launch the file manager to display its contents. Your device’s actual location on the filesystem will depend on its type and name, but you can find any automatically mounted devices listed under the ‘/media’ branch from the File System icon in the manager. When you’ve identified your drive, make sure you remember its location; you’ll need this to enable either the mount point (or, more sensibly, a folder within the mount point) to be shared across your LAN.

Install Samba

Before augmenting your NAS with any other features, it’s important to get the basic functionality right. To share files on your netbook USB drive with all the other machines in your network, you need to install a server called Samba. This is the open-source implementation of Microsoft’s network protocol, which means that it will work with all of the Windows, OS X and Linux machines on your LAN. It’s the most common fileserver system and it’s used by many NAS devices. UNR doesn’t waste netbook space installing Samba by default, so you need to install it manually.

It's fairly easy to get file sharing working under the auspices of Samba.

As with the desktop version of Ubuntu, this is best done through the Synaptic package manager, which can be found in the Administration section of the System group of applications. Just search for samba and install the resulting package. After the package has installed, switch back to the file manager view for your USB storage device. Create the directory you want to be shared across your network and right-click on the folder. You should now see ‘Sharing Options’ listed in the menu that appears. When you select this, a window will open. From that window, enable the ‘Share this folder’ and ‘Guest Access’ options. The latter could be a security risk, as it means anyone with access to your LAN will be able to read the files on your NAS. This is fine if you trust your network, but unacceptable if your network is shared. In those cases, leave ‘Guest access’ disabled and make sure that each machine you want to share the folder with has a user account and password that has an identical name and password to an existing account on your netbook.
You might also want to tick the ‘Allow others to create and delete files in this folder’ box, unless you want your file sharing to be read-only. When you’ve finished with the options, click on ‘Create share’ and ‘Add the permissions automatically’ in the window that pops up. You should see that the folder icon for your share now has two arrows across it to indicate that the folder is being shared across your LAN.

Access your files

You can now access your files from other computers on your LAN, and your NAS box should appear within their network folders.

Just type the relevant location into the address bar to access your new share.

If you need to specify an address, such as from OS X’s ‘Go | Connect to a Server’ menu or Gnome’s equivalent ‘Go | Location’ menu option, then type smb://ubuntu into the location field. This is the default hostname for our new installation, and ‘smb’ is requesting access through the Samba protocol. After a few seconds, you’ll see the folder you just created appear, and you’ll be able to access files and folders within that directory as if they were local. Congratulations, your netbook is now a NAS device!

Add online backup

To bring your NAS in line with more functional boxes, it’s time to add some packages. Backup is at the top of our list, and UNR has a feature called Ubuntu One that’s perfect for this job. This service automatically copies your local files to a remote server. You can then download them from the server to any Ubuntu machine with an Ubuntu One account. Configuration is easy: just look for the Ubuntu One logo in the Internet category, click on it and either enter your account information or create a new account. You’ll then be asked to verify your computer’s name and say that you’d like the data to be synced. A free account can store up to 2GB of data, but you can subscribe to the commercial service if you want to store more.

Ubuntu One is a decent choice of online backup tool, although you may quickly run out of space if you're installing a NAS-load of drives.

Switch to the file manager and you should see a new Ubuntu One folder. Anything you place here will be synchronised with the Ubuntu One server. Right-click on it to enable it as a shared folder.

Security and remote access

There are many security issues surrounding opening your NAS box up to the internet, but UNR should be up to the task as long as you keep your system up to date and install any patches. You should receive automatic update alerts, but this can be a problem when using your netbook as a NAS if you end up not looking at the screen very often. The easiest solution is to enable a mode where updates are applied automatically. Find and click on the Software Sources icon and in the window that appears switch to the Updates tab. This page manages the background update tasks, and you need to tick the ‘Install security updates without confirmation’ box and change the update frequency to one your connection can handle. ‘Daily’ is fine for most installations.
If you want internet access to your box, the safest way is to use SSH (the secure shell). This provides command-line access to your NAS box using a tool such as Putty on Windows machines, or the ‘ssh’ command in Linux. You’ll need to install the openssh-server package on your box. To connect, forward TCP port 22 to your NAS box through your router and log in with your standard account details. If you prefer a graphical desktop, install the tightvncserver package on your NAS and type tightvncserver :1 into the command line to create a new session. Any VNC client on your LAN can now access a desktop on the NAS using the address ‘ubuntu:1’. To access your desktop from the internet, use SSH to pipe the VNC port through the SSH connection with ssh -L 5901:localhost:5901 ubuntu.address and use a local VNC client to access ‘localhost:5901’.

Add more functionality

The best reason for using UNR on a netbook to create a NAS is that you can augment your installation with all kinds of functionality, from web servers to media players. One of the most popular is MediaTomb, a UPnP-compatible media streamer and transcoding tool that’s easy to install and configure. Install it by opening the Synaptic package manager on your netbook and searching for mediatomb. There will be several dependencies. After installation has completed, switch to the Sound and Video application launcher window and you’ll find a new MediaTomb icon. Double-click this and Firefox will launch, loading the MediaTomb web-configuration panel.
From MediaTomb’s web page, you can navigate to your media files on your storage device. Click on the ‘+’ symbol on the right to add them to the MediaTomb library. MediaTomb supports all the most common media formats. After a few moments, you’ll be able to view or listen to your content on any UPnP-compatible client such as Windows Media Player, RhythmBox, a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360. To run a web server from your NAS box, install the apache2 package, then type http://localhost into Firefox to see a web page that declares ‘It works!’.
EXTRA: Check out TechRadar’s pick of the 15 best netbooks in the world today

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Multi Boot Linux From USB

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 09:25:00 -0800

Launching a single Live CD Linux distribution off a USB thumb drive is so last year

Running Linux from a USB stick is a fun and sometimes useful distraction. It can be handy if you want to try another distribution, for example, but can't commit to the drive space. Or perhaps your netbook insists on running Windows while your heart hankers for Ubuntu. But running a single, monogamous distribution can be a little limiting, and there's only one reason why you can't squeeze a few more alongside on any decent-sized USB stick: it used to be quite a difficult process.

You can cram multiple operating systems on a single USB stick if you're clever.

Don't get us wrong, multi-booting off a hard drive has become relatively easy. Distributions will do all the hard work for you, and even manually adding your own options to the Grub bootloader isn't that difficult or dangerous any more. But a Live USB installation is different. The root file system is compressed into a single file, and this needs to be expanded into an area of open temporary memory as the system boots, usually through some custom Grub trickery and an ISO loader. With multiple Linux distributions on the stick, this process needs to be configured for each. And while it's possible to do this manually, it's a long and arduous task. Fortunately, there's a better solution available.

Formatting the stick

Before we get to the specifics, we first need to make sure the USB stick is primed and ready to go. Specifically, it needs to be formatted as FAT32 - the same as older Windows installations. To do this from Ubuntu, install the 'gparted' package from Synaptic and launch the application from the Administration menu with your USB stick connected. GPartEd represents partitions on your drives in a horizontal block. But it does this for every drive on your system, and for this reason it's vital you select the correct device from the drop-down menu on the top-right. Make sure it has the same capacity and brand as your USB device, and that the current partition table is what you'd expect. Changes made within GPartEd are permanent and destructive, which could put all your valuable data at risk. If no partition table is detected, you will first need to make one by selecting 'Create Partition Table' from the device menu. You can then right-click on the free grey area within the blank partition table and select 'New'. Now select FAT32 from the dropdown File System menu and click on 'Add'. Next, from the main window, click on the small 'Apply' tick icon in the toolbar. This will then create and format the new partition. Lastly right-click on the new partition, select 'Manage Flags' and enable 'Boot' - although this isn't always necessary.

Install Multiboot

We now need to install the tool that's going to build the USB stick, and there's a choice of two. The first, and the easiest to install, runs from Windows. It's called Multiboot and it's an executable where you drag and drop the distributions you're interested in, declare the USB destination for the amalgam, and press go. We've covered this process in more detail top right. For Linux users who want to stay within the Linux desktop, there's an equivalent, unrelated, project with the same name, Multiboot-3, which can be found at www.liveusb.info/dotclear. You will need to grab and install this manually as it's not part of the Ubuntu package repository.

Multiboot-3 makes this kind of installation easy.

The utility is distributed as a tar.gz file, which you will first need to unarchive. You can do this from the GUI by double-clicking the file, or selecting 'Extract' from the right menu. Either method will result in a single file script file, install-depot-multiboot.sh. If you're using Kubuntu, rather than Ubuntu, you will need to install the zenity, xterm and gksu packages through the package manager, since each of these is used within the script. More importantly, you will need version 2 of the Grub bootloader for older versions of Ubuntu. Finally, you need to make sure your USB key is mounted in the correct position. The script expects to find a FAT32 formatted device in the '/media' directory. This should happen automatically when you insert the device, but KDE users may need to click on the notifier icon to mount it.

Prepare Multiboot

The script now needs to be run using your system administrator credentials. You can do this easily from the Gnome desktop by double-clicking on the script. It will open a shell that asks for your administrator password. You can also run the script from the command line by typing sudo ./install-depot-multiboot.sh. After the script has started, it will take a few minutes to run because it's grabbing and configuring lots of different tools in the background, after which it will launch. When you want to run the script again, you can quickly start it from either KDE's 'Utilities' menu, or Gnome's 'Accessories' menu. When the main window first appears, the script will check to make sure it detects a USB device with the correct format. You may also see a warning about Grub2 being installed on the 'mbr'. This is just a reminder that if you have any other booting operating systems on your memory stick, these will no longer work after the multiboot installation. You also need to validate the USB stick, first by selecting it in the middle list, and then by clicking on the 'Validate' button. It may rename your partition to give it a new label, and ask you to disconnect and reconnect your USB device for the change to be registered. If this happens, you'll also have to quit and restart the application and click on Validate again.

Grab some ISOs

After the validation process, you should now be looking at a completely different window, and this is the point where we download and install whichever distributions you want to try. There is a list of those that have been tested and found compatible at the Multiboot website, but this list has also been embedded within the application itself, and can be found by clicking on the 'Menus' button, followed by 'Download LiveCDs'. We'd recommend starting with something small, such as Slitaz, with perhaps an ISO of Ubuntu that you might have handy for some more complex work. Your distribution ISOs can now be added to the USB installation by dragging each ISO file from the file manager or desktop into the lower pane of the Multiboot window. As you do this, you should see your USB stick spring into life. This is because as soon as you drop the file, Multiboot will write the distribution to your storage medium and pop-up an Xterm shell, which will ask for your administrator password. This is required so that the Grub bootloader can either be installed, or updated with details for the new distribution. When the process has finished, you should be able to see the distribution listed in the main window, alongside an icon for your chosen version. With each additional distribution, you'll need to go through the same steps. Another option you might want to choose is the 'Add persistent mode' from the 'Menus' button. As you might be able to guess, this will add an area of persistent storage to your USB device, so that you can save files and change a configuration from within a distribution, and your settings and files will be saved for a future session - just as they would on a local disk. It's a great feature, but there is one major drawback. You can only enable persistent storage for a single distribution. To enable it, select which distribution in the list you want to bestow these powers on, followed by Menu Command. A small window will appear asking you how much space you'd like allocated to the persistent storage, followed by some USB activity. Your chosen distribution has been duplicated, and now includes persistent storage.

Running live

You might have noticed that Multiboot includes several test modes for you to try before you go to the trouble of rebooting your machine with the USB stick connected. The quickest way to test that booting is working correctly is to click on the 'Q' symbol. This will launch QEMU, which obviously needs to be installed, then configure it to use your USB stick as the boot device. QEMU is a simple piece of virtualisation software. It's not great for full desktop environments, but it's perfect for checking boot configuration and command line tools. If everything is working, you should see the rather ugly Grub boot menu appear, and this should list all the distributions you've added through Multiboot. Selecting any one of the distributions will cause QEMU to boot the distribution. But unless you've got a fast machine with lots of memory, this might take some time. Now you know there's a working Grub configuration with the correct distributions listed, we'd recommend rebooting your machine and attempting to boot the USB stick off real hardware. There shouldn't be any problems with this.

Use QEMU to check your boot configuration.

Older hardware might not support USB booting, but this is becoming an increasingly rare occurrence. You may also need to change the order of the boot devices on your system to push USB hardware above your internal drives. You can usually do this from a boot menu - commonly accessed by pressing [F8] - but you may also need to spend some time messing around with the BIOS settings for your motherboard. Look out for USB booting and boot priority. But most systems will automatically detect your USB device and boot from this without any prompting, hopefully leaving you with the same Grub menu you saw in QEMU. If you select one of the distributions now, you will find your machine boots much quicker than both the virtual version and the equivalent distribution booting off an optical disc. And when you want to try another distribution, just reboot your machine. But the best thing about Multiboot is that if you want to install another distribution, you don't have to start again with a blank USB stick. Just use the same device with the Multiboot application, which will then detect your current list of installed distributions and enable you to add as many as space allows. It's perfect for testing, troubleshooting, experimentation and moments of idle curiosity.

Troubleshooting your installation

One of the best things about the Linux version of Multiboot is that it provides several excellent options for testing your USB stick after you've installed the distributions. QEMU is the quickest and the easiest to use, but it won't let you use your distributions particularly effectively, as it's too slow. A better option is to use VirtualBox - a much more comprehensive virtual machine environment - which will need to be installed beforehand through the Synaptic package manager. You can then test your USB stick using the 'Cube' icon or the option from Multiboot's test menu. You can use this menu to test the ISO of the distribution if you're having problems after the boot menu. But because it's a full virtualisation environment, you can also test a range of options, such as persistent storage, without waiting an age for QEMU to boot. Some machines can't get to the boot menu, and this is likely to be because they're too old to boot off a USB device. Multiboot has another solution - that is to create a simple boot CD that will load the USB drivers and then let you boot from the USB stick. You can create this disc from the option in the 'Boot' menu.

Multiboot from Windows

If you don't have a Linux installation handy, and still want to experiment with multi-booting Linux distributions off a USB stick, there's an application you can use from Windows that does the same thing. Multiboot for Windows is almost identical to its Linux counterpart, and won't complain quite so much about the label on a USB stick. It can also download distributions from within the application, so you don't need to be quite so prepared either. Just insert your USB stick and run the application. The most important option to get correct is your selection from the 'Select your USB Flash drive' menu in the top-left of the window. Your system devices will only be listed as drive letters, rather than anything descriptive, which means you have to be absolutely certain the drive letter you select is your USB drive. Get this wrong and you may lose valuable data, so always check from your file browser beforehand. You can then choose the distribution you want to install from the list. Here are two further options... You can either use the file requester to point Multiboot at the location of the pre-downloaded ISO image for the distribution, or enable the 'Opted to Download the ISO' checkbox. The latter will download the distribution automatically before writing it to the USB stick. When everything is setup, just click on 'Create' to build the stick. To add another distribution, just run the Multiboot tool again.

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Game Over, Google search!

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 09:23:00 -0800

Forget simple keyword searching - you'll soon be able to find what you're looking for with almost anything, or just have it come to you.

Why type when you can just find what you need?

The days of typing a couple of simple words into a text box to find websites are over. The future of search will see us being presented with what we want, without us realising we’re performing a search. Imagine search engines that are able to understand voice commands and act on them intelligently; that can understand how we talk in real life; that can identify objects from a photograph we’ve taken or from a barcode that we’re pointing our phone at; that can use where we are in the world to find relevant results; that can find the right point in a TV programme from us saying a quote from it; and that can use our social profile on Facebook to show us what we like, who we like and what we might want to share.
All this may sound like pie in the sky, but these technologies exist and the companies behind them are fighting to be the next big thing in search. Here are 20 sites that offer the future now, even if no individual one ends up taking the Google throne just yet...

Vlingo - Voice-based search

Why type when you can just say what you want to find? Vlingo is a phone app that lets you say “Coffee shops in Soho” to your phone, and opens up a Google map with all of them marked on it. There have already been five million downloads, so there’s no question that there’s a demand for this kind of app. It may be easy to dismiss it as a gimmick, but if you believe the company’s claim that using voice commands to complete your tasks gets them completed two and a half times faster, it could be a real time-saver over the next few years.

Siri - Voice-based personal assistant

Siri, the mobile personal assistant, works in similar ways – voice activated, and using location mapping and a mash-up of various websites to complete tasks for you, such as booking a taxi or buying tickets to see a film. Just launch the app, say something like “Book a romantic French restaurant in Soho for 7.30” and Siri converts your words into text, asks you to confirm it’s got it right, then gets to work. Siri consults restaurant review sites to find an appropriate romantic restaurant at your location, and then goes to a site such as OpenTable to check for reservations and to book your table. It then displays the result and you click a button to confirm. Siri was recently acquired by Apple, so we see big things in its future.

TinEye - Reverse image search

Moving from voice to images, the website and phone app TinEye, from Idée Inc, lets you find upload an image and find where it’s used on the web. It searches using the image itself, and according to its creators, it’s the “first image search engine on the web to use image identification technology rather than keywords, metadata or watermarks”. When you submit your reference image, TinEye creates a unique fingerprint based on its composition, and then searches the 1.5 billion images in its database for others with the same or a partial fingerprint match. This means it only returns images that are the same as the original, rather than of a similar subject matter. It can also find instances of the image that are digitally altered, making it ideal for finding copyright infringers.

Pikadeo - Find products with your phone camera

Pikadeo is an image-recognition tool that lets you use your cameraphone to identify a product, such as a CD or DVD. Pikadeo says it can deal with poor-quality shots and even deformations of the image – if you were taking a picture of a plastic bag, for example – and can recognise products from posters, packaging, magazine pages and labels.
Pikadeo uses image-matching software to find the product and provide a mash-up page of places to buy it, its Wikipedia entry, mentions of it on review sites and links to sites such as IMDB. It has over 200,000 entries over five categories, so you should be able to find information on at least the most common products you photograph.

Mobile Concierge - Tracking where you shop

A different type of product search comes from Mobile Concierge, developed by Cisco Systems and IBM. It uses precise geolocation to provide you with information and offers on the products around you while you shop. Once you sign up to the shop’s app it can track your position down to the metre, providing you with information and deals specific to the aisle you’re on or the product you’re passing. These ‘micro-location’-based services change according to your loyalty to the shop and your previous shopping habits there. You can also search the store’s products, and be led there by a virtual map.

ScanLife - Search by barcode

ScanLife turns your cameraphone into a barcode scanner, letting you search for prices and information at the click of a button. There’s no need to search by keywords or type in a long web address as the barcode will take you directly to the correct product and let you know if you’re about to be ripped off, thanks to its price comparison. Before making an investment, you can also check what other people think about the product through the reviews.

123people - Real-time people search

Ever wondered how easy it is to find details about you or someone else on the web? 123people is a real eye-opener. Just type in someone’s name and it provides a real-time mash-up of where that name is mentioned on various websites. That includes YouTube, Twitter and IM accounts, pictures and videos tagged with that name, listings on phone sites such as 192.com that show how long the person has been at their current address, their age bracket and who they live with. It even pulls out Amazon wish lists! It’s an impressive demonstration of just how much information is available about you online.

Klout - Social media authority search

Klout has made it its mission “to accurately measure and provide context around who a person influences and the specific topics they are most influential on”. It provides a measure of your authority in the social sphere – specifically, Twitter. This may sound prosaic, but this could be an important factor in how real-time searches offered by sites such as Bing or Google will be displayed in the future. Google already ranks by authority for its main web results (it decides this by monitoring the number of people linking to your site), so wouldn’t it make sense to order posts based on your perceived authority in the subject?

Xyggy - Item-based search

Forget text or image-based searching – how about searching with anything at all? Xyggy is based on how humans learn new concepts and generalise. As founder Dinesh Vadhia says, “Do we use keywords when we search for that childhood photo? Yet text-search is the dominant mode in our digital lives. Imagine a world of search where everything is an item that can be dragged in and out of the Xyggy search box to find similar items in ranked order.”
Xyggy uses a framework called Bayesian Sets, which can recognise relationships between different objects. This means that you can hone your searcxh by adding different items to the Xyggy search box. If you’re a fan of patents, you can try out Xyggy Patent – you enter one idea and immediately see anything similar in ranked order.

Haika - Semantic search

Haika is a search engine built from scratch using semantic principles to ensure results as close as possible to what the user typed in. It calls the technology behind the search engine QDEXing, which focuses on natural language processing methods to deliver ‘meaningful’ search results. It pulls in results from the general web, news sites, blogs, Hakia Galleries, something it calls ‘credible sources’ (typically Wikipedia), video and images.

Yummly - Semantic food search portal

There are a lot of sites out there that aggregate food recipes from around the web, but Yummly is one of the most powerful because of the way it’s been programmed to understand semantic food connections like ‘olive oil is found in Mediterranean cooking’. You can filter the 500,000 recipes listed on the site by type of food, course, ingredients, allergies, nutritional values, price, cuisine, time and taste. It will even recalculate the amount of ingredients needed when cooking the recipe for different numbers of people.

Cpedia - Encyclopaedia populated by search terms

Imagine that instead of getting a numbered list of separate results on entering a search term, you got a magazine-like article containing all the information the search engine found on that topic. Well, that’s the idea behind Cpedia, developed by ex-Google employees Anna Patterson and Russell Power. In use, it’s a bit hit and miss, with results becoming garbled as it tries to remove duplication from the various sources pulled in by your search term. However, this does mean more original facts are pulled out in the report it generates than are apparent in a typical search, so as the algorithm develops, it really could revolutionise how we gather information from the web.

Flokoon - Visual search for media

Flokoon lets you explore the web in a more visual way than straight text searching. It’s about media, pulling sounds from Last.fm, videos from YouTube and images from Fotolia. The interesting thing is the way it displays those results. Using a hub-and-spokes visual representation that uses images to represent the artists/videos/songs, the relationships between the results are much easier to follow than regular descriptions could be.

TotalGuide EPG - Search via your TV

Who says you have to search using a computer or a phone? The latest televisions and set-top boxes come with their own hard drives and built-in connections to your PC, or direct to the web. The latest Electronic Program Guides (EPGs) don’t restrict themselves to showing you what’s on TV now – they can access other devices and browse any media, be it video, picture or sound, from any connected source. Rovi’s TotalGuide is one of the most interesting. It can track content on online services, video on demand, cable and satellite services, social media networks and even storage devices around the home. It also has a search feature called Six Degrees of Discovery, where you just highlight your favourite programmes or actors and let the EPG find similar content for you.

Hulu - Video caption search

Closed captions are the subtitles encoded into video for the deaf and hard of hearing, and they’re included on most professionally made programmes and films. Sites such as YouTube are trialling systems that analyse the speech in video and automatically add closed captions. These closed captions are timecoded text transcripts of what’s being said, making them a useful data source to find particular phrases or subjects.
Hulu, the US video-streaming site, has picked up on that and produced a closed captions search tool. Say you want to find a particular quote in a TV series and jump straight to it – just type, for instance, “Ah, beer. The cause of and the solution to all of life’s problems,” and it will jump to the right minute of the right episode of The Simpsons so you can hear Homer say it. It’s in beta at the moment, and unfortunately Hulu remains a US-only service, but it may become a very powerful media-finding tool in the future.

Blinkx - Video search

Blinkx uses a variety of techniques such as speech recognition, visual analysis and facial analysis to log as much information from videos as possible. It’s been around for a while in website form, and has indexed some 35 million hours of video, but its creators have plans to make the jump to set-top boxes in the very near future.
Blinkx founder Suranga Chandratillake explained to our sister site TechRadar, “If you type in Marrakesh, then the search will pick up every time on travel programs that the city is mentioned, eventually building up a whole stack of content centred around one subject. You will be able to define what you are interested in and essentially create your own compilation clip show catering to your interests and needs.”

Wikitude - Augmented reality encyclopaedia

Wouldn’t it be nice if, upon your arrival in a strange city, you could point your phone at a building and have it tell you something of the building’s history and point out other places of interest around it? Wikitude does exactly that, and it’s becomiing more useful and powerful by the day. With 10,000 points of interest that mash up geolocation, augmented reality and Wikipedia entries, it surely won’t be long before you can legitimately cancel the tour guides.

Yelp Monocle - Augmented reality reviews

Yelp probably isn’t a new name to you – it’s a business review site with the mission “to connect people with great local businesses”. And it’s working – there are over 12 million user reviews on the site, covering services from restaurants and bars to mechanics and dentists. What’s new, though, are the Yelp phone apps, which use augmented reality to let you point your phone at a restaurant and be told what other people think about it. It will also let you know if there are any money-off vouchers available for nearby businesses, as well as guiding you to recommended places using a virtual map feature.

Nomao - Social-based personalised location search

Instead of having to join a new site, it would be easier if you could just search your friends’ recommendations on sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Nomao is one good place to do this. It’s a personalised, location-based social search engine that offers you “results based on what you like”. It helps you find places like bars and restaurants based on previous places you’ve ‘liked’, on what your Facebook friends have ‘liked’ and from recommendations garnered from across the web. It can display these results via augmented reality, so you can find recommended venues just by pointing your phone at likely contenders.

Panorama - Let your browser take the wheel

Panorama (formerly Tab Candy) is a feature coming to Firefox 4.0 in the near future that gets rid of the problem of losing track of a browser tab when you have lots open at once. It enables you to pull out to see your tabs as screenshots in an Expose-style bird’s-eye view. It also lets you organise tabs into labelled groups – say, ‘Later reading’ and ‘Fun’. More interestingly though, it will enable you to share groups of tabs with your friends, and its search functionality lets you browse among your own tabs, your friends’ recommended sites, and even those of strangers. What’s more, Tab Candy will provide links to other sites that are related to the subject being displayed on the tab you’re on, be it similar subjects, similar pictures, prices or reviews for products you’re looking at.

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Ten Top Linux Window Managers

noreply@blogger.com (paramaguru) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 09:20:00 -0800

The window manager is the most important part of the Linux desktop environment. It defines how your windows look, how they behave, how applications are launched, and how they're closed. In many cases, window managers have evolved into complete desktop environments, helping with file management, configuration editing and computer management.

Give Tux the makeover the little penguin deserves. Although maybe we'd leave out the medallion.

They're at the very heart of your interaction with the system, but their best feature is that they're swappable, which sets Linux apart from both Windows and OS X. With Windows you're stuck with, well, Windows. With Linux, you have a choice. And whether you have a preference for a 'do everything' approach, or a 'do nothing at all' one, there's a window manager made for you.

1 – Gnome

Gnome is the first example of a window manager that's grown into a complete desktop environment. There's also a very good reason why Gnome has become the default desktop environment for the most popular Linux distributions, including Ubuntu and Fedora - it's because it's simple, concise and starting to look rather beautiful. Taking many cues from OS X, most functions can be reached in one or two clicks, and its designers have reduced screen clutter and superfluous options. There's an excellent network manager that can help you navigate even the most wayward wireless networks and inconsistent wired ones, while the new on-screen notification system - along with Empathy's support for Twitter, IM and Facebook - mean you have a full screen to fill with your own applications. Thanks to applications such as Firefox, Chrome and Gimp using the same graphics toolkit as Gnome, many of the most popular Linux applications will feel better integrated with the desktop.

2 – KDE

Gnome's great adversary is KDE, a feature behemoth. It's easy to use, but its many and varied options can drown the unwary. That's not to say it's unapproachable, though. The new window-snapping feature of the latest versions can emulate all the new snapping functions from Windows, and there's integrated support for desktop and panel widgets, nicknamed Plasmoids. These can be dragged and dropped from a small cashew symbol that sits on the top right of your desktop window. Many of KDE's community-developed features can be downloaded in-line using the 'Get New Stuff' feature of many configuration panels. This means KDE users are always experimenting, and always changing the appearance of their desktops. This can create problems, and recent versions of KDE are somewhat unstable.

KDE's visual effects are quite something.

KDE is the desktop to choose if you like eye candy, though. It integrates many of the visual effects that have made Linux famous, including the desktop cube, sliding spaces, wobbly windows, drop shadows and hardware zoom. The new 'Activity' feature means you can restrict visual elements to a specific task, such as 'Office' or 'Downtime', shifting between them as you would a virtual desktop.

3 – XFCE

Despite being marketed as a lightweight alternative to the likes of Gnome and KDE, you won't find any obvious functionality missing from XFCE: its configuration panels are comprehensive, and the flexibility in the window decoration design is also impressive. You can ape the look of many other popular window managers, as well as creating a custom layout. There's an integrated file manager called Thunar, a text editor called Mousepad and a custom CD/DVD burning tool, calendar and image viewer. But the key reason to run XFCE is for its speed. For a fully featured window manager, it still has a low set of requirements, and is ideal for older hardware and netbooks.

4 - Enlightenment (E17)

Enlightenment is more than a simple window manager, and less than a full-blown desktop environment. It calls itself a 'desktop shell' and attempts to make all your desktop tasks easily and quickly achievable. It's also the first of these environments that you're unlikely to find pre-packaged for your distribution. As a result, the easiest way to try it out is to download and run Elive, a Debian-based distribution built specifically to showcase Enlightenment's capabilities. Elive's Enlightenment looks fantastic. There are deep drop shadows and a dynamically scaling toolbar. Everything opens and moves very quickly. Elive has also pulled applications in from other desktops, such as the file manager from XFCE and Debian's older version of the Firefox web browser. However, there's a problem - if you want to install Elive, you have to make a donation of at least $15, which we feel is just too much.

5 – LXDE

The 'Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment' is aimed at older hardware, netbooks and low-powered thin clients. It manages this trick while remaining easy to use because a lot of effort has been spent creating the kind of configuration panels you'd expect to see in Gnome and KDE. There's an Appearances panel, for example, where you can change the look and feel of the desktop, and a Session Settings window that can be used to define what is and isn't launched at startup. Like many of the smaller desktops, LXDE is usually augmented with various tools and applications from other environments, including both Gnome and XFCE. The easiest way to get hold of LXDE is to either install Knoppix, or grab the latest LXDE-themed Ubuntu release, called 'Lubuntu'. The latter provides many more user-installable packages and several mainstream applications.

6 - Window Maker

Window Maker is an old-school window manager. It hasn't seen a stable release in over five years, but that doesn't mean you should write it off just yet. It's design was based on NeXT, the desktop that went on to be the foundation to OS X. The desktop panel, for example, is a low-resource alternative to the ones offered by Gnome and KDE, and you can find plenty of tiny panel applications that can make it a very functional part of your screen. These applets may even be compatible with your current panel. Window Maker's age gives it another advantage - it runs well on hardware from five years ago.

7 - Fluxbox

Based on Blackbox, Fluxbox can normally be installed from your distribution's package manager, and the three packages that come by default shed some light on its philosophy - the window manager, a configuration panel and the pager. The window manager is lighter than most. You won't find many icons in the launch menu, for instance, and the default toolbar at the bottom of the screen is filled with text. This makes it quick, but it will take a while to learn where your applications are hidden. Despite the graphical brevity, you'll still find many modern window management features. Applications will snap to a screen's borders, for instance, and the left/right cursor keys in the toolbar will quickly skip between the four virtual desktops. If you need something with a little more shine than simple X11, but don't need any guidance, Fluxbox is the window manager for you.

8 - AmiWM

If you're of a certain age, this is pure nostalgia. AmiWM is a window manager that's designed to look and feel like the old Commodore Amiga WorkBench. It apes version 3.x, rather than the earlier 1.x and 2.x releases, and this means the default background colour is slate grey, while the window borders are blue. You can even slide down the main window to reveal the default X server that's running in the background.

AmiWM might not look like much, but it's in a class of its own in terms of efficiency.

Despite looking just like an Amiga, it's actually a very fast and well-behaved window manager. You can launch all your favourite Linux applications, and even use the 'Execute Command' functions, just like the old Amiga. Any normal Linux application you might be used to will automatically look like it's been transported back to 1988 - except this time, there's memory protection for the multitasking, and hard drives are affordable.

9 – Sawfish

The unique selling point for Sawfish is that it's built using a Lisp-based programming language. If that doesn't scare you off then Sawfish might be for you. It's one of the most user-configurable and quick window managers you can try. Almost every function has a user-defined keyboard shortcut, and you can change the way it reacts to events within the window manager. Sawfish was Gnome's window manager before Metacity, and as a result, it doesn't have some fundamental features, like a desktop panel. This means you'll get your hands dirty, both to install and configure it. It doesn't look too bad, in a Matrix-style, mid-90s kind of way, but if you don't like the look, it's easy to change. Other users have come up with dozens of better examples and the whole project is still being actively developed.

10 – IceWM

IceWm is based on Motif, the ageing native toolkit for the X Windows system. This is brave when you consider that Motif is part of the reason why many developers have tried so hard to create an improved desktop experience! However, Motif does have its good points - it features a very clear and concise design, and IceWM borrows from this, adding lots of improvements. You can control everything from the keyboard, there's a taskbar with launch menu, virtual desktops and both Gnome and KDE compatibility. The theming engine is impressive, and most default installations include so many that IceWM needs an A-Z menu to list them all. IceWM is still being actively developed, it's a great modern equivalent to the usual suspects, and about as hard to use as Windows 98.

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Linux is Not Windows

!= (Linux is Not Windows)

Problem #1: Linux isn't exactly the same as Windows.

Problem #2: Linux is too different from Windows

Problem #3: Culture shock

Subproblem #3a: There is a culture

Subproblem #3b: New vs. Old

Problem #4: Designed for the designer

Problem #5: The myth of "user-friendly"

Subproblem #5a: Familiar is friendly

Subproblem #5b: Inefficient is friendly

Problem #6: Imitation vs. Convergence

Problem #7: That FOSS thing.

How to configure linux yum server step by step guide Example and Implementation

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Setting Up A Virtual Linux Web Server : The VMware Server

Getting VMware Server

Ubuntu LAMP Server With Torrentflux In VMware

Ubuntu LAMP Server With Torrentflux In VMware

Required downloads

Step 1: Installing VMWare Player and VMXBuilder

Step 2: Creating a Virtual machine for VMWare

Step 3: Start your virtual machine and install Ubuntu

Step 4: Getting it to work

Note

Step 5 (Optional): Make system up-to-date

Step 6: Downloading Torrentflux 2.1

Step 7: Installing Torrentflux

Step 8: Test!

Step 9 (Optional): Installing SSH

Step 10: Shutdown your Ubuntu server

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Diagnose and Fix Blue-Screen Crashes

Troubleshoot PC crashes, lockups and other instabilities with the free Windows Debugging Tools

Configure WinDbg

Create a report

Dig a bit deeper

Read the stack

Examine your system

Diagnose locked and hung applications

Use workspaces

Build a Browser-Friendly Website

Complete an exhaustive soak test to minimise any niggling browser problems your site may experience when going live.

Clean up your code

Meet HTML standards

Meet CSS standards

Enable resizing

Test on all browsers

Test on Macs and PCs

Testing for free

Check your gamma

Buy a Mac

DDA accessibility

Speed

User experience testing

Trap Wi-Fi Thieves

Bolster your wireless network’s security and find out if there’s a neighbourhood Wi-Fi leech sucking your bandwidth

What is wireless?

Encrypt to survive

Network Discovery

To Catch a Hacker

Setting the Trap

Change Your Defaults

Generate Memorable, Strong Passwords

!=
(Linux is Not Windows)