Humans are Dead

Dual NIC address configuration

2012-01-17T23:55:00.000+02:00

Quick howto.
Say we deploy an FTP server with dual NIC with the following address setup:


eth0: private IP (LAN address)

eth1: public IP

Issue.
After testing out the setup locally, we enter the public addresses for eth1 but internet access gets cut off.

Howto?
Remove the line specifying the default gateway for eth1 and add a line for the broadcast address if missing. Restart networking and test it out.

Sample /etc/network/interfaces file:



auto eth0

iface eth0 inet static

address 192.168.2.100

netmask 255.255.255.0

broadcast 192.168.2.255



auto eth1

iface eth1 inet static

address 33.110.9.106

netmask 255.255.255.240

gateway 33.110.9.97

Why?

Only the Internet-facing machine should have a "gateway" declaration. The other interface will simply broadcast packets intended for the other subnet which the machines on that network will read.
The gateway declaration tells the OS where to send packets that have no local destination, so it must be unique.

Source: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1802563

Migrating from Gmail to Google Apps

2011-01-08T02:15:00.002+02:00

We're deploying Google Apps on Agnus Radio and the original mail from a Gmail account must be migrated to the new branded account. Since there is no official tool available it's going to be done on a Linux box with a nifty tool by the name of imapsync.

Depending on the size of your inbox this will probably take hours. Let's get started. Open up a Linux box or SSH to it, because it's cooler. I'm using Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" Server, but anything will do. Install imapsync and the necessary dependencies.

$ sudo apt-get install imapsync

Now create three empty files. One for the script and the other two for the passwords for the two accounts.



$ cat /dev/null > run-imapsync

$ cat /dev/null > passfile1

$ cat /dev/null > passfile2

Paste the code below to the run-imapsync file. Don't forget to change user@gmail.com and user@domain.com to the addresses in question.

#!/bin/bash

imapsync --host1 imap.gmail.com \

--port1 993 --user1 user@gmail.com \

--passfile1 ./passfile1 --ssl1 \

--host2 imap.gmail.com \

--port2 993 --user2 user@domain.com \

--passfile2 ./passfile2 --ssl2 \

--syncinternaldates --split1 100 --split2 100 \

--authmech1 LOGIN --authmech2 LOGIN \

--allowsizemismatch \

--useheader "Message-ID" \

--useheader "Date" --skipsize \

--regexmess 's/Delivered-To: user\@gmail.com/Delivered-To: user\@domain.com/gi' \

--regexmess 's/<user\@gmail.com>/<user\@domain.com>/gi' \

--regexmess 's/^((To|From|Cc|Bcc):.*)user\@gmail.com(.*)$/$1user\@domain.com$3/gim'

--regexmess 's/Subject:(\s*)\n/Subject: (no--subject)$1\n/ig' \

--regexmess 's/Subject: ([Rr][Ee]):(\s*)\n/Subject: $1: (no--subject)$2\n/gi'

Next edit passfile1 and passfile2 to match the passwords and make run-imapsync as executable. In case your cofused passfile1 is for your Gmail account and passfile2 should match the password for your Google Apps account.

$ nano passfile1
...
$ nano passfile2
...
$ chmode 744 run-imapsync

Check everything again to be correct, run the script and go hibernate until it's finished. Don't forget to delete the two files with the passwords after the process is finished.

$ ./run-imapsync

References:

http://www.thamtech.com/blog/2008/03/29/gmail-to-google-apps-email-migration

http://base6.com/2009/06/15/migrating-from-gmail-to-google-apps/

http://www.linux-france.org/prj/imapsync_list/msg00277.html

Culture shock

2010-11-16T12:00:00.000+02:00

Childhood nightmare gets trashed.

White crap, boxed, for sale.

AC on a commercial sign.

Smiley face on the bus.

Illegal parking, quick, call the... uhm. Nevermind.

Rainbow cow in Bucharest.

Funny juice. Reminds me of a wacky moose, rather than a grapefruit juice.

Range Over!

Penis tree. Parents, hide your porn.

Your body is Shreck-coloured.

Smiley pavement.

Insignificant price drop.

File crap.

Confused extinguisher. Do you use it for water of fire?

Ethical tea partnership. Against all the rude teas out there.

Trashed car in Poland.

Space History lounge @ Science Museum, London

2010-09-01T12:00:00.003+03:00

This is a quick look around the Space History lounge of the Science Museum in London. This is my actual visiting pace. Fairly dark, mysterious hall. Some impressive thrusters, "small" rockets, space suit, Apollo Capsule and other geeky stuff.

Shot August 10, 2010 with phone camera.

Cameo by Lehel & Cristi.

Soundtrack made in Reason.

HOWTO: Auto Delete with a Cron Job

2009-12-21T22:06:00.013+02:00

When was the last time you got a cronjob? Here's a hot one. I needed to have an FTP space automatically cleaned by old files because of quota issues. The platform is an Ubuntu 9.10 Server, but the method can be applied to older releases also.

The first step is to mount the FTP account on the filesystem, done with curlftpfs. Install it by:

sudo apt-get install curlftpfs

Create a mount directory, like:

sudo mkdir /media/dirtyftp

Note the uid and the gid of the current user:

id

Yes, just type it and hit Enter.

Open /etc/fstab:

nano /etc/fstab

Add the line:

(Where user is your FTP user name, password is your corresponding FTP password and dirtyftp.url is the your FTP's URL, /media/dirtyftp is your mountpoint, userid and groupid is your current user's uid and gid.)

curlftpfs#user:password@dirtyftp.url /media/dirtyftp fuse allow_other, uid=userid,gid=groupid 0 0

Save (Ctrl-O) and close (Ctrl-X) nano and mount the FTP:

mount -a

Check if it's working:

cd /media/dirtyftp
ls -la

If it's empty then you've misspelled something or the dirty FTP account is actually a saint. Next, we need to create the script and schedule a job.

Go to your home directory or wherever you like and create a new file:

cd ~
touch cleanthedirrrtyftp

Edit it:

nano cleanthedirrrtyftp

Enter:

#!/bin/bash
find /media/dirtyftp/ -mtime +14 -type f -exec rm -rf {} ;\
find /media/dirtyftp/ -mindepth 2 -type d - empty -exec rmdir {} \;

Customize it after your taste. The first line will remove any file that is two weeks or older by the "modified time". Any file will be "modified" when you upload it so if it's older than specified it gets deleted. The value +14 is given in days. The second line deletes the directories left empty after the file massacre. It searches for empty directories with depth of at least 2. As we have a catalog style directory structure, this won't remove any folders from the root directory. Say you have two users, Steve and Barbie. Because a Barbie can't use a computer all her files are very old and will get deleted. This leaves at least one empty directory ("Barbie") on the FTP server. If you don't have the -mindepth 2 argument set, the empty "Barbie" directory also get's wiped out along with it's containing empty folders. Then when Barbie gets really evolved and will be able to use a computer, she will be very mad at you.

(Refer to the find man page for other options.)

Ok. Save the script (Ctrl-O) and close the editor (Ctrl-X), then make the script executable:

chmod a+x cleanthedirrrtyftp

Open the crontab:

crontab -e

Enter the following line:

(Where username is your current user's name.)

00 15 * * * /home/username/cleanthedirrrtyftp

This will execute the script every day at 15:00. Crontab's mask is:

.---------------- minute (0 - 59)
| .------------- hour (0 - 23)
| | .---------- day of month (1 - 31)
| | | .------- month (1 - 12) OR jan,feb,mar,apr ...
| | | | .---- day of week (0 - 6) (Sunday=0 or 7) OR
| | | | | sun,mon,tue,wed,thu,fri,sat
| | | | |
* * * * * command to be executed

Cron on Wikipeda

;)

Synergy server/client autostart

2009-12-16T20:34:00.002+02:00

Synergy is a great tool to connect two or more computers together to share a common keyboard and mouse. You can read more about it on synergy2.sourceforge.net. If you run it on Windows under a restricted account, the server is tricky to autostart when you log in. You have another issue if you tried it, as you now have constant notifications of "Access denied" whenever you close the configuration window. Remedy:

I assume Synergy is properly set up and working. Close the configuration app, if you have it open but let the server running. We have to remove manually Synergy's autostart.

(If you have similar problem with the client, the steps apply with changes noted.)

As Administrator open regedit and go to the following location and verifiy the values before deleting: "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\"
Server: Delete the keyword "Synergy Server"
Client: Delete the keyword "Synergy Client"
Switch back to the user account
Go to "My Documents" (or Documents on Vista/7) and delete "synergy.sgc".
Close Synergy (taskbar, right)
Open the configuration app
Click "AutoStart...", then "Uninstall" to disable default autorun and click "Close"
Click "Start" to restart the Synergy
If there's no connection to the client(s) try "Force Reconnect" on the server

To have it properly autostart:

Go to Start Menu > All Programs
Right click on "Startup" and click "Open"
Create a shortcut with the following target:
Server: "C:\Program Files\Synergy\synergys.exe" --no-daemon --debug WARNING --name *SERVERNAME* --address :24800
Client: "C:\Program Files\Synergy\synergyc.exe" --no-daemon --debug WARNING --name *CLIENTNAME* *SERVERNAME*:24800
Where you replace *SERVERNAME* (and *CLIENTNAME*, if applicable) with the corresponding value (whitout asterisk, obviously).

This value can be found in the registry in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\ under the "Synergy Server/Client" (or similar) keyword.

Remember to make all the steps on the user account, except delelting the registry key. You should now have a perfectly running Synergy autostart.

(Tested with Synergy 1.3.1)

Drum gear mashup

2009-12-15T14:10:00.000+02:00

2009 was a long year but a good one in drum gear acquisition. Here's a mash-up in chronological order.

1. Sabian 14" AAX Stage Hats

They are really nice. I don't had the chance to try them out before purchase so I listened all night to the samples from sabian.com and this was my favorite at 2 am, so I bought them.

2. Sabian 16" HHX Plosion Crash

I had two of my cymbals stolen in a concert in The Republic of Moldova (actually it was partly our fault) so it was a huge demand for a new crash. These are really wonderful if you play them gracefully. They tend to choke if you're really excited. However it would be rude to ask to enjoy more punishment from a 16". I'm not a heavy-hitter, so it's not a (big) issue.

3. Tama 14"x6,5" Artwood Custom AM1465BN Snare Drum

I liked writing that down. It's all maple and black nickel hardware. Of course Rimshot is better than Black Nickel Hardware so "that" part of the hoop is nickel-les. It's a great snare. It could do better, but you will be still satisfied with it. But if you find it's sweet spot it could be the king of the night. Search for it!

4. SKB Roto X Cymbal Vault and Rockbag Drummer Caddy

Hardware time! The SKB case is awesome, 5*! Well deserved, cymbals. Rockbag can have the stars for ingenuity but the old lady who's sewed my hardware bag can kiss my ass. On the first occasion the stitching was gone. And of course the wheels will brake. So, if you'd like a Drummer Caddy, you're better off buying a cymbal case from SKB.

5. Tama HT741 Ergo-Rider with Backrest

Classic "stupid chair => back problems" survivor has to get a special treat. This one is so special that it's almost retarded. Excellent design, sturdy and it makes you feel like a king! And yes, size matters. It's bigger than in the picture and even bigger than you (or only I?) would imagine. If you have a case for it, give me a call. But none of this matters on the stage. If you can forget about the chair when you're drumming then it is an excellent throne. This one is.

6. Tama HH905 Lever Glide Hi-hat Stand

I had all the chances in the world to by a direct-pull or Velo Glide hi-hat stand so, obviously, purchased this one instead. Very stable, clever. You'll notice right away that the dynamic range of the hi-hat is doubled. It's very precise and diverse. Favorite. Not to mention that the Kevlar strap can dodge bullets!

7. Tama HC73BWN Roadpro Boom Cymbal Stand

The new one with the Cymbal Mate. The stand is great. Especially the nylon washer in the leg joints. And it's cool that now you can use "mate" and "joints" in on paragraph, without getting arrested (or grounded). I'm curious if the Mate will hold it's threads.

AutoIt3 - Shutdown

2009-12-14T16:49:00.001+02:00

Today's nifty script will power down a computer. It displays a message first, so you can override it. Message timeout is shorter for the early hours.


; Shuts down the computer with override
; (c) 2009 Tamas Adorjani

; set the timeout
If @HOUR <> $msgtimeout = 10 ; 10 minutes
Else
 $msgtimeout = 20 ; 20 minutes default
EndIf

; display warning message
$warningmsg='System is scheduled to shut down.'
$warningmsg&='Click "Cancel" to postpone.'&@LF&@LF
$warningmsg&='Task will start at '&@HOUR&':'&$msgtimeout
$result = MsgBox(0x41131, "Shutdown", $warningmsg, $msgtimeout*60)

If $result =2 Then Exit

; Shutdown (1) + Powerdown (8) + Force (4)
Shutdown(13)

AutoIt3 - Winamp volume

2009-12-13T14:10:00.001+02:00

The following little script sets the volume fader of Winamp to 80% (or other value). The catch is that Winamp uses a custom skin and constantly changing window title. To find it we need to search by classname with:

Opt ("WinTitleMatchMode", 4) ;Sets the mode to 'classname=*' titlematch$WAhandle = ControlGetHandle("classname=Winamp v1.x", "", 0) ;Gets the Winamp

The volume bar can be set addressed only by HWND from a dll call. Here's how:

; Sets the Volume on Winamp to 80%
; (c) 2009 Tamas Adorjani


$WinampOpen = ProcessExists("winamp.exe")
If NOT $WinampOpen Then Run("C:/Program Files/Winamp/winamp.exe")
Const $WM_USER = 0x400
Opt ("WinTitleMatchMode", 4) ;Sets the mode to 'classname=*' titlematch
$WAhandle = ControlGetHandle("classname=Winamp v1.x", "", 0) ;Gets the Winamp
DllCall("user32.dll", "int", "SendMessage", "hwnd", $WAhandle, "int", $WM_USER, "int", (80*255/100), "int", 122)

AutoIt3 - PPT Automation

2009-12-12T14:10:00.003+02:00

Here's another AutoIt3 script. This time we'll automate a Paralell Port Timer used to switch on the emitter at specific intervals. We have to set it up for two intervals: 12:00-15:00 and 03:00-08:00. The timer also has a nag screen because it uses an unregistered version of IOPort library.

So it's time for AutoIt + Scheduled Tasks to the rescue! I've written a common code for both schedules, but the intervals could be easily modified before compile.

The scripts sets the delay time between window operations to 0 ms and refocuses every time to avoid program halt.

Opt("WinWaitDelay", 0)

Code follows.


; Sets PPT.exe to specified time
; (Handles nag screen and click-resistant)
; (c) 2009 Tamas Adorjani

#include <guiconstantsex.au3>
#include <windowsconstants.au3>

; TIMESET
; Start time (HH:MM:SS)
$sHH = "03"
$sMM = "00"
$sSS = "00"
; End time (HH:MM:SS)
$eHH = "07"
$eMM = "59"
$eSS = "59"

; Show popup window
;BlockInput(1)

Beep(500, 200)
Beep(750, 125)
GUICreate("Agnus Bot", 400, 80, -1, -1, $WS_POPUPWINDOW, $WS_EX_TOPMOST)
$msg = GUICtrlCreateLabel("Configuring PPT... ("&$sHH&":"&$sMM&":"&$sSS&"-"&$eHH&":"&$eMM&":"&$eSS&")", 80, 34)
GUISetState()

; Close if open
$PPT = ProcessExists("PPT.exe")
If $PPT Then ProcessClose($PPT)

Opt("WinWaitDelay", 0)
Run("C:/Program Files/Port/PPT.exe")
WinWait("IOPort, Copyright (c) 1998-2002 WINSOFT")

; If focus lost
$NagActive = WinActive("IOPort, Copyright (c) 1998-2002 WINSOFT")
If NOT $NagActive Then WinActivate("IOPort, Copyright (c) 1998-2002 WINSOFT")
Send("{ENTER}")

; Keep focus and set time
WinWait("Paralel port timer")
WinMove("Paralel port timer", "", 56, 569) ; for 1024x768 screen
$WinActive = WinActive("Paralel port timer")
If NOT $WinActive Then WinActivate("Paralel port timer")
SendKeepActive("Paralel port timer")
Send($sHH&"{TAB}"&$sMM&"{TAB}"&$sSS&"{TAB}"&$eHH&"{TAB}"&$eMM&"{TAB}"&$eSS)

; Done.
Sleep(1000)
GUICtrlDelete($msg)
Sleep(250)
GUICtrlCreateLabel("Done.", 80, 34)
Sleep(1250)
;BlockInput(0)
Send("!{TAB}")

AutoIt3 - Configure BrowseAmp GT3

2009-12-11T19:12:00.007+02:00

The radio studio I'm working in depends heavily on scheduling, IT-wise, as we broadcast only 8 hours (in two segments) daily. As we have a senile BrowseAmp GT3 plugin for Winamp it needed to be configured automatically. Quite straightforward, here's the code:


; Cures senile BrowseAmp plugin
; (c) 2009 Tamas Adorjani

#include <guiconstantsex.au3>
#include <windowsconstants.au3>

; Show popup window

BlockInput(1)

Beep(500, 200)
Beep(750, 125)

GUICreate("Agnus Bot", 400, 80, -1, -1, $WS_POPUPWINDOW, $WS_EX_TOPMOST)
$msg = GUICtrlCreateLabel("Configuring BrowseAmp GT3...", 80, 34)
GUISetState()

; Open Winamp, if closed
$WinampPID = ProcessExists("winamp.exe")
If NOT $WinampPID Then Run("C:/Program Files/Winamp/winamp.exe")

; Open Browseamp config window
Opt("WinTitleMatchMode", 4) ;Sets the mode to 'classname=*' titlematch
$WAhandle = ControlGetHandle("classname=Winamp v1.x", "", 0)  ;Gets the Winamp
Opt("WinWaitDelay", 0)
If NOT $WinampPID Then WinWait($WAhandle)
WinActivate($WAhandle)
Send("^{TAB}") ; beats me
Send("^p")
Sleep(1000)
Opt("WinTitleMatchMode", 1)
WinActivate("Winamp Preferences")
Send("{DOWN 22}")
Send("{TAB}{TAB}browseamp")
Send("!c")

; Config
ControlClick("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TPageControl; INSTANCE:1]") ; select tabs
ControlSend("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TPageControl; INSTANCE:1]", "{LEFT 5}") ; select tab "server setup" (failsafe)
ControlClick("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TBitBtn; INSTANCE:3]") ; "stop server"
ControlClick("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TEdit; INSTANCE:2]", "", 2) ; select port field
ControlSend("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TEdit; INSTANCE:2]", "8000") ; enter port "8000"
ControlClick("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TPageControl; INSTANCE:1]") ; select tabs
ControlSend("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TPageControl; INSTANCE:1]", "{RIGHT 2}") ; select tab "music folder"
ControlClick("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TEdit; INSTANCE:1]", "", 2) ; select "root folder"
ControlSend("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TEdit; INSTANCE:1]", "{BS 100}") ; delete text
ControlSend("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TEdit; INSTANCE:1]", "D:\") ; enter "D:\" as root folder
ControlClick("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TCheckBox; INSTANCE:4]") ; check "allow browsing outside root"
ControlClick("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TCheckBox; INSTANCE:3]") ; select "display other drives"
ControlClick("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TPageControl; INSTANCE:1]") ; select tabs
ControlSend("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TPageControl; INSTANCE:1]", "{RIGHT}") ; select tab "skins"
ControlClick("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TComboBox; INSTANCE:1]") ; open drop-down menu
ControlSend("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TComboBox; INSTANCE:1]", "", "eXtended") ; select "eXtended" skin
ControlClick("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TPageControl; INSTANCE:1]") ; select tabs
ControlSend("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TPageControl; INSTANCE:1]", "{LEFT 3}") ; select tab "server setup"
ControlClick("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TBitBtn; INSTANCE:3]") ; "start server"
ControlClick("BrowseAmp GT3 - Configuration", "", "[CLASS:TBitBtn; INSTANCE:2]") ; "Close"

; Close "Winamp Preferences" window
WinActivate("Winamp Preferences")
Send("{ENTER}")

; Done.
GUICtrlSetData($msg, "")
Sleep(250)
GUICtrlSetData($msg, "Done.")
Sleep(1250)

BlockInput(0)
Send("!{TAB}")

More AutoIt3 scripts to come.

WDS Facts

2009-09-25T02:44:00.006+03:00

The switch from my workplace is filling up (D-Link DGS-1008D) and I need to add a new office computer. Because we have an ex(tra) router lying around, I decided it's WDS time.

A Wireless Distribution System (WDS) is a system that enables the wireless interconnection of access points in an IEEE 802.11 network. It allows a wireless network to be expanded using multiple access points without the need for a wired backbone to link them, as is traditionally required. The notable advantage of WDS over other solutions is that it preserves the MAC addresses of client packets across links between access points.

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Distribution_System)

It basically creates a wireless bridge between two compatible wireless routers or APs so you don't have to run extra cables. It makes sense if you're planning to put up a bunch of these.

Pros:

more network coverage
some redundancy
no extra wires
it's cool

Cons:

bandwidth split in half
dynamically assigned and rotated encryption keys are not supported (WEP only)
no guaranteed interoperability

The keyword today is Interoperability. Our main router is a Linksys WRT54GL spiced up with the custom Tomato firmware (polarcloud.com/tomato) and a stock MSI RG54SE. I was very pleased with the MSI router, aside the broken Reset button, it was quite reliable, although Linksys + Tomato is a perfect match. So, do they work together? No. Well, not quite.

Tomato is very easy to configure, but the MSI firmware doesn't let you to disable the WAN port. If set up properly you can wiev the MSI from Tomato as a connected WDS device, but the they cannot ping each other (nor any other devices connected to them). Tinkering with the options does not affect anything, except if you set the same IP address to both LAN and WAN on the MSI, then the reboots will get exponentially sluggish.

If you are about to try this yourself, here's what you could expect from the MSI. Tomato has no issues here.

on almost any settings change the router is rebooted
when initially setting up the router, unscrew the antenna so the two wireless network won't clash (if you have similar settings on both routers)
after you set the LAN IP, ping it constantly for monitoring
if you have more than 4-5 ping timeouts after reboot (after applying changes), manually reboot by pulling out the power cord for a few seconds
if Google Chrome sometimes issues "Error 0 (net::OK)", reload or use another browser (for your patience's sake)
the optimum ping performace is 1-2 ms latency and one timeout when rebooting / applying changes

Bottom line: if you want maximum interoperability use two identical products or better any two routers with the same custom firmware (Tomato, DD-WRT etc). And once again for the record: does WDS work between Linksys WRT54GL with Tomato and MSI RG54SE? No.

HOWTO: TightVNC through Router with DDNS

2009-01-13T18:45:00.004+02:00

I admninister a small group of computers at work. Because it's quite far from where I live, I decided that it's time for VNC. Here's the deal: 4 computers, including 3 Windows XP and one running Ubuntu. Every computer has two users: one unprivileged and an administrator accout, exept the Linux box, which has Ubuntu's "root-les" policy. Every unit logs in to the user account automatically. All computers connect to the Internet through a gigabit router with dynamic IP.

Here's what we will do:

1. Download and install application
2. Configure password and the first test
3. Set up DDNS
4. Assign static IP addresses
5. Configure incoming port on VNC servers
6. Create firewall exceptions
7. Set up port forwarding
8. Celebrate

Let's start with the PCs running Windows. From and Administrator account, download TightVNC (http://www.tightvnc.com/download.htm) and run the setup all the computers. Choose to install it as a service and to start it right away.

Now, it could be very helpful if you have say two computers near each other. Go to PC 1 and edit your settings using "Programs > TightVNC > Administration > Show Default Settings"

Enter passwords for you and for the voyeur. Click "Apply" and go to page "Administration".

Now uncheck the box "Enable build-in HTTP server" as we will use the client instead. Click "OK" and move to PC 2 to do the same thing.

OK, let's test it out. From the command prompt type "ipconfig" and hit enter to get the IP address of PC 2. Write it down and go to PC 1. A quote from Wikipedia:

VNC by default uses TCP ports 5900 through 5906, each port corresponding to a separate screen (:0 to :6). A Java viewer is available in many implementations such as RealVNC on ports 5800 through 5806, allowing clients to interact through, among other things, a Java-enabled web browser. Other ports can be used as long as both client and server are configured accordingly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VNC

Fire up the TightVNC Viewer. Enter the previously collected IP address followed by ":5900" indicating the TCP port number, like this:

Now two things could happen: 1. a password prompt or 2. a dialog box telling you the there is no password set. If you have no. 2, note that "TightVNC > Documentation > Installation and Getting Started" has the following magic lines:

If you want to install TightVNC on a number of computers, and do not want to repeatedly enter the same password on each machine, install TightVNC once and set the password, then copy the registry settings to other computers. TightVNC settings can be found in the following sections in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ORL\WinVNC3

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ORL\WinVNC3

Go to PC 2, look up these entries in regedit and delete the keys "Password" and "PasswordViewOnly" and set the passwords again with "TightVNC > Administration > Show Default Settings". You can set the same values for "TightVNC > Show User Settings", just to be shure.

Celebrate the victory by changing the Desktop background remotely. Next, make these settings on all of the machines and test it out. Notice that you can only access the account you first logged in to. We're going to address this issue later on.

Ok, you have working VNC connections all over the LAN, it's time to configure it to work through the router. We have a dynamic ip, but luckily the router support DDNS updates. Go to http://www.dyndns.com/ and set up a free account and choose a domain. If you don't know your WAN IP address, go to http://whatismyip.com/ to find it out. You now have a proper internet name for the human kind. It's time to get rid of the router's default username/password. Change it.

The next issue is how to make a VNC connection to a specific computer. First, you have to know where to look for given machine. Access your router's admin panel and find out the DHCP assign range. It's mostly between 100-200 if the router is at 1, or 1-100 if the router is at 254. Count all the computers, and assign them numbers from 1 to 6 (or less) in your head. Go to the first computer and change it's IP address to static, assigning an address NOT INCLUDED in the DCHP assing range. If you have a DHCP range of, say, 100-200, name it 192.168.1.11 and the next one 192.168.1.12, etc. Go through all your computers. You may not want to disable DHCP on the router, as it comes quite handy when you have wireless and people over with laptops. It works also for the computers you don't want to install VNC on.

Now let's set up the client softwares to accept connection on a specific port. Open up "TightVNC > Administration > Show Default Settings" and under "Display or port number to use" check "Display" and enter 1 for the first computer. You now have Display 1 assigned to Computer 1, at IP address 192.168.1.11. It's easy. Again, go through all your machines, assign Display 2 to Computer 2, with IP address 192.168.1.12, etc. Display and port are practically synonims, as display 0 stands for port 5900, display 1 stands for port 5901, and so on.

To get around the Windows Firewall, go to "Control Panel > Security Center > Windows Firewall", make sure that "Don't allow exceptions" is NOT checked, go to the "Advanced" tab and right to "Local Area Connection" under "Network Connection Settings" click "Settings...". Under the "Services" tab, click "Add...". Enter "VNC" as "Description of service", the computer's name or IP in the next field as host and TCP port 5901 for both internal and external. Add this exception on the other machines. Again for computer 2, enter port 5902, and so on. Without the firewall exception, after the first connection the port will be blocked. So you'd have good first run and an successive failures after that.

(Why allow the first connection and THEN close the port? It's surely not really secure, but it could be a psychological burden for the newbie hacker. Also, if later you have trouble connecting through the DDNS address, but successful with local IP addresses, go to http://www.gotomyvnc.com/ to test your WAN IP for incoming port exceptions. If you see port 5901 closed that you tried first, but port 5900 that you never touched open, your safest bet it's a missing Windows Firewall exception.)

We now have machines with static IP addresses, firewall exceptions and client software listening to the correct port. Let's set up the router to forward the requested port to the intended computer. If you have troubles with port forwarding, refer to http://portforward.com/ on how to forward a port on your router. Start with Computer 1, by entering it's IP address and intended TCP port for the remote connection. It should be port range 5901-5901 for IP address 192.168.2.11 or similar. On with the next computer, the new entry will be port range 5902-5902 for IP address 192.168.2.12, etc. VNC uses TCP connections, selection port type "TCP" should be enough. If later you have troubles with your connections maybe you can try to set this value to "Both".

Fire up the TightVNC client and test it. If everything's OK, you can celebrate with a massive remote desktop background change torrent over your network. Congratulations, you've made it!

For the Linux box, go to http://www.ubuntu-unleashed.com/2007/10/setup-vnc-server-for-ubuntu-gutsy.html and follow the easy 4-step guide. To make it run at startup, go to "Administration > Sessions", click "Add" under the "Startup Programs" tab and enter "x11vnc -forever -usepw -httpdir /usr/share/vnc-java/ -httpport 5800" into the field "Command:". If you didn't already, set up a static IP address. Go to "Administration > Network", unlock the panel, select "Wired connection" and click on "Properties". Now click to unckeck "Enable roaming mode" and change configuration to "Static IP address". This will be computer 0, so the IP address should look something like: 192.168.1.10. You can access it through port 5900 with TightVNC Viewer.

Note the you can address a remote computer with a display number and port also. Instead of "yourname.dyndns.com:5901", you could type "yourname.dyndns.com:1" to connect to computer 1.

IMPORTANT NOTE: the IP addresses listed here are for demonstration purphoses! Your settings may vary depending on the hardware and configuration. Also you can forward any port to any IP, listening to any port (in theory).

Right here. Right now.

2008-01-21T16:30:00.001+02:00

Welcome to the very first blog post. Many will come. And the main theme will be, what am I doing in a professional way. It will be a drumblog & Co. Because we all know what our great drummers are doing, lets find out what are the not-so-well-known drummer in context is up to.

Ok. First I hate templates, so I will try my own designs. Let's put the power into the chicken!

In the meantime I will post the rules of this Blog.

1. I will not post regularly,
2. I will post when I want, what I want,
3. You comment when you want, what you want,
4. I will make my best efforts not to delete aggressive comments,
5. You will be nice to me,
6. You can send me chocolate, too,
7. Drums rock,
8. If you don't accept the rules, fuck you!

More later.
TTYS!