RootPrompt -- Nothing but Unix http://RootPrompt.org News and information for Unix Sysadmins en-us Code by Noel Davis Straight Talk: Luke Kanies of Puppet (20 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10981 This week, I am pleased to get some time with Luke Kanies, the developer of Puppet, an open source, automated, systems management language and toolset. Luke was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to let us in on the secrets of his vision for Puppet. Chuck Talk: Hi Luke, before we begin, I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit about your background, and how you came to the decision to develop Puppet? Luke Kanies: I spent a long time as a Unix sysadmin, gradual 24-hour test drive: PC-BSD (20 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10977 This is a FreeBSD spin off."PC-BSD is not a Linux distribution, but rather it could be considered among the first major FreeBSD-based distributions to live outside of the official FreeBSD. Like most distributions, it has implemented certain features in a way that attempts to distinguish it from the competition, and I will focus mostly on these differences. This test drive is intended to give an overview of what PC-BSD is and why one would consider using it." 24-hour test drive: PC-BSD Splitting Apache Logs With vlogger (20 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10978 Vlogger is a little tool with which you can write Apache logs broken down by virtual hosts and days. With vlogger, we need to put just one CustomLog directive into our global Apache configuration, and it will write access logs for each virtual host and day. Therefore, you do not have to split Apache's overall access log into access logs for each virtual host each day, and you do not have to configure Apache to write one access log per virtual host (which could make you run out of file descr Build Linux lab equipment from a Sony PS3 (20 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10982 The Cell Broadband Engine (Cell/B.E.) processor has attracted a lot of fashionable attention for applications involving game playing and network data processing. However, there are many other, arguably more entertaining uses for this technology. This article shows you how to take the Cell Broadband Engine (Cell/B.E.) processor from an off-the-shelf Sony PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) and use it to construct a piece of Linux-based laboratory equipment to generate and analyze signals on your Cell/B.E.-b Beryl, Compiz, And Metisse - The 3D Desktop (20 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10980 After having included the AIGLX, Xgl and Compiz 3D desktop technologies in Mandriva Linux 27, Mandriva has added all the latest 3D desktop updates in Mandriva Linux 27 Spring, like Metisse and Beryl. Howto Change Default text editor in Debian Etch (20 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10979 By Default Debian Etch Provides the nano editor you need to follow this procedure.In this example i want to use vi editor as my default editor.This is Veryuseful if you want to change Default editor to your own choice. Full Story Creating A Local Yum Repository (CentOS) (19 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10971 Sometimes it can be handy to set up your own repository to prevent from downloading the remote repository over and over again. This tutorial shows how to create a CentOS mirror for your local network. If you have to install multiple systems in your local network then all needed packages can be downloaded over the fast LAN connection, thus saving your internet bandwidth. netselect-apt - Tip to select the fastest Debian m (19 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10972 This article explains how to find out the fastest Debian mirror. At last count there are well over 2 mirrors and the popular idea of selecting the mirror closest to ones geographical location cannot always give the best data transfer speeds. By using netselect-apt, you can find the right mirror which gives you the fastest speeds. Read netselect-apt - Tip to select the fastest Debian mirror Howto Setup Dual Monitors with NVidia in Ubuntu (19 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10975 This tutorial explains how to setup Dual Monitors with NVidia in Ubuntu.It's quite a pain to get dual monitors working your first time using Linux, however I hope this guide will make the process relatively quick and painless. Full Story Setting up TinyMCE (19 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10976 By: Bruce Byfield Moxiecode's LGPL-licensed TinyMCE (Tiny Moxiecode Editor) is a JavaScript program that lets users enter formatted text in HTML forms without having to know HTML tags. It's bundled in many blogging and content management systems. If you want to use TinyMCE in your own Web applications, you'll find basic setup to be quick and easy, but advanced configuration can become complex as you sort out dependencies and conflicts. Here are some tips and advice on integrating TinyMCE wi Samba: How to share files on your LAN (19 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10974 This tutorial will show how to set samba to allow read-only file sharing for your LAN computers as guest (without be prompted for a password). Because users won't be prompted for a user/password, this tutorial is meant to be installed in a LAN where all host are to be trusted. Sharing files without authentication Fyodor on Nmap and Sourcefire collaboration (19 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10973 By: Joe Barr Sourcefire and Insecure.org announced today that they will collaborate to develop an open source Nmap-based vulnerability detection tool. The engine will come from Insecure.org, based on its Nmap Scripting Engine (NSE), and Sourcefire will develop plug-ins for the engine. Read more at Linux.com. Retrieving Emails From Remote Servers With getmail (18 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10964 Getmail is a program for retrieving emails from remote servers; it is very similar to fetchmail, but more flexible. For example, it can be configured to deliver mails directly to a Maildir or mbox mailbox without the need for an MTA such as Postfix, but of course it can also pipe the mails through an MTA if you want. Getmail can use so called filters such as SpamAssassin and ClamAV to scan the mails, and you can even tell getmail to delete mails on the original server only after a certain n Know Your Regular Expressions (18 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10965 Essential aids in building and testing regular expression on UNIX systems. Discover the available tools and techniques that can help you learn how to construct regular expressions for various programs and languages. New PCLinuxOS 2007 looks great, works well (18 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10970 By: Susan Linton PCLinuxOS is a live CD distribution that enables users to test Linux without actually having to install it. The highly anticipated new version, PCLinuxOS 27, was released on Monday. Its intuitive selection of software, high level of stability and functionality, and the quality of the graphics make this the distribution's best release ever. Read more at Linux.com. Secure VNC with two-factor authentication (18 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10969 VNC is the most popular remote access solution today. However, it was developed to provide remote access, not to provide secure remote access. Administrators have to add security to VNC by tunneling it through an encrpyted channel such as SSH and adding a layer of authentication. In this article, we will show you how to combine the NoMachine NX server to encrpyt VNC and remote X session combined with two-factor authentication from WiKID Systems to create a secure, fast remote access solutio Performance Tuning Subversion (18 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10968 Subversion is one of the few version control systems that can store binary files using a delta algorithm. In this article, senior developer David Bell explains why Subversion's performance suffers when handling binaries and suggests several ways to work around the problem. Share files with friends while chatting using Qnex (18 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10967 By: Mayank Sharma Two of the most popular open source instant messaging clients, Pidgin (formerly Gaim) and Kopete, can work with multiple protocols, but neither is a great option when it comes to sharing files with friends. For that, try Qnext, a multi-protocol IM client with which you can share files with not only IM buddies but also contacts in your address book. Read more at Linux.com. BeleniX 0.6 at last! (18 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10966 By: Shirl Kennedy BeleniX .6 has finally arrived. The latest iteration of this "live CD" OpenSolaris distribution hits the Web just about six months after .5.1 was released. This release includes several improvements, including a bundled Nvidia 3D accelerated driver and desktop effects. Read more at Linux.com. How To Compile A Kernel - Debian Etch (15 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10957 Each distribution has some specific tools to build a custom kernel from the sources. This article is about compiling a kernel on a Debian Etch system. It describes how to build a custom kernel using the latest unmodified kernel sources from www.kernel.org (vanilla kernel) so that you are independent from the kernels supplied by your distribution. It also shows how to patch the kernel sources if you need features that are not in there. Apache: Creating A Session-Aware Loadbalancer (15 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10958 mod_proxy_balancer is an Apache module that lets you create a loadbalancer. This loadbalancer retrieves requested pages from two or more backend webservers and delivers them to the user's computer. An important feature of mod_proxy_balancer is that it keeps track of sessions so that a single user always deals with the same backend webserver. The economics of hosting MMOGs and performance iss (15 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10963 Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) are extremely complicated software systems that require massive infrastructures. This article, the second in a series of articles covering MMOGs, looks at some of the economic factors involved in hosting an online game. Learn how the physical infrastructure, power, networking, and cooling contribute to the overall cost of hosting an MMOG. Part one of this series shines light on the systems, storage, and networks needed to run MMOGs with optimum pe Simple but powerful audio editing: Jokosher 0.9 re (15 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10962 By: Shirl Kennedy Jono Bacon, one of the Jokosher developers and Ubuntu's community manager, has announced the third public release of Jokosher, a multi-track audio studio that aims to make audio editing easy. Read more at Linux.com. Create a Multicluster Environment using GPFS (15 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10961 Learn how to construct and deconstruct a simple multicluster using the General Parallel File System (GPFS), and remotely add an existing GPFS cluster to another cluster. GPFS is the parallel file system from IBM for AIX 5L and Linux clusters made up of System x and System p computers. OSS hits the beach in Florida (15 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10960 By: Bob Currier Driving to your favorite beach only to find it covered with dead fish is no fun. Scientists at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, have eliminated the guessing game by using Linux and open source software to give surf seekers some cool online tools for picking the best beach. Read more at Linux.com. ZFS on a laptop? (14 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10955 Way cool feature of zfs."One of the most important things a user needs to do on a laptop is to back his data up. Copying your data to DVD or an external drive is one way. ZFS snapshots with 'zfs send' and 'zfs recv' is a better way. Due to its architecture, snaphots in ZFS are very fast and only take up as much space as much data has changed. For a typical user, taking a snapshot every day, for example, will only take up a small amount of capacity." ZFS on a laptop? Use SMF to detect problems quickly (14 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10952 This article shows how you can use the new SMF tools provided with Solaris to monitor running services. It will also give you a simple script that can automate the procedure. How to use SMF to quickly detect problems Top Tuning Tips to Make Your MySQL Fly (14 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10951 Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP form the basis of the LAMP architecture for Web applications. This third article, the last in a series of three, focuses on tuning the database layer for maximum efficiency. The first article covers the basics of LAMP, while the second article focuses on steps you can take to optimize Apache and PHP. Installing And Working With eyeOS Under Debian 4.0 (14 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10953 This tutorial shows how you can install eyeOS on a standard Linux system. EyeOS is a kind of operating system which works online, i.e. it manages files on the server and enables the user to upload, download and edit files. Xubuntu 7.04(Feisty Fawn) Screenshots Tour (14 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10954 Xubuntu is a complete GNU/Linux based operating system with an Ubuntu base. It is lighter on system requirements and tends to be more efficient than Ubuntu with GNOME or KDE, since it uses the Xfce Desktop environment, which makes it ideal for old or low-end machines, thin-client networks, or for those who would like to get more performance out of their hardware. Full Story nBox - Envision your network with nBox (14 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10959 The life of a systems or network administrator requires us to maintain an expansive understanding of our network infrastructure to more effectively manage it. Amidst volumes of complex data that some IT problems present and network management is no exception to these complications. Visual tools allow us to better see trends and make sense of the macro view of our networks. Ntop, nBox, nProbe are just the right FOSS tools that can help us gain greater insight. Essential Features and the Solr Schema (14 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10956 Solr is an enterprise-ready, Lucene-based search server that supports faceted searching, hit highlighting, and multiple output formats. Learn how to easily incorporate its impressive full-text search functionality into your Web applications. Linux configure point to point tunneling PPTP VPN (13 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10946 With this tip you will be able to work from home using VPN and that too from Linux / FreeBSD system for the proprietary Microsoft Point-to-Point vpn server. Different organization uses different VPN connection options such as SSL, PPTP or IPSEC. When you need to access corporate network and its services, you need to login using VPN. The Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) is a method for implementing virtual private networks. It works on Data link layer (#2 layer) on TCP/IP model. Pe Installing Xen On CentOS 5.0 (i386) (13 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10947 This tutorial provides step-by-step instructions on how to install Xen on a CentOS 5. system (i386). Xen lets you create guest operating systems (*nix operating systems like Linux and FreeBSD), so called virtual machines or domUs, under a host operating system (dom). Using Xen you can separate your applications into different virtual machines that are totally independent from each other, but still use the same hardware. Installing The PHP-MSSQL Module On CentOS 5.0 (13 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10948 As you might have noticed on Centos 5., there is no PHP-MSSQL module/extension available in the default yum repositories. So if you want to use it you can alter the PHP binary or you can compile an mssql module/extension. In this article I will explain how to compile the mssql module/extension. Lock down the GNOME desktop with Pessulus (13 Jun 2007) http://RootPrompt.org/article.php3?article=10950 By: Anže Vidmar Looking for a way to limit users' functionality on a publicly available machine, such as a kiosk machine for conference attendees? No one wants people trying to alter their systems for fun or malice. If you're running the GNOME environment, you can turn to a tool called Pessulus -- a lockdown manager for the GNOME desktop. Read more at Linux.com.